My plying session this week was super fruitful! I finished my second skein of sparkly alpaca 2-ply.
This was 5 ounces of fiber that ended up turning into a 144 yard skein with 138 grams total weight. It worked out to a light worsted/heavy sport type skein. And the best news ever is that it is pretty darn close to the original skein so they should work together nicely!
I already have new fiber on the wheel and I will show you the awesomeness that this Targhee wool is doing! Happy spinning!!
I decided to ply my second go at this black and shiny Alpaca fiber. I teed up my lazy Kate and a huge ole mug of water.
The plying went beautifully and I think I even managed to spin this yarn somewhat close to the first skein! The sparkle is truly what gets me. It’s just so shiny but the skein isn’t scratchy.
The kiddos absconded with my fiber wash and bucket. So once I track that down I will get this skein washed and whacked. I’m hoping for close to 150 yards with a stretch goal of 175 yards. This will mean the two skeins together can make a substantial project!
Happy Spinning!!
My Shiny Black Alpaca 2-ply is done and dry. It came out GORGEOUS!
I did get a little aggressive on some part of the plying and even after a bath, some sections are over plied/very energized. I can probably send it back through my wheel in the opposite direction and take some of the crazy out.
It did stay a sport skein. I got 12 wraps per inch (mostly). This 133 gram skein came out to 160 yards. Will make a lovely project. I am thinking of gifting this to a coworker who is retiring that is into fiber. She doesn’t retire until March so I have time to ponder.
Happy Spinning!!
The hubby was in charge of bedtime last night so I had some free and clear time. The singles from my sparkly alpaca FLEW onto my wheel this week. The fiber was very excellently carded and it felt easy to spin.
I poured myself a strawberry blonde ale from a local brewery and started plying. The two bobbins are fairly well matched and I only had a few yards to chain ply at the end of one bobbin.
The skein is resting on its bobbin and waiting for a bath this weekend. Pre washing the yarn looks to be around 11 or 12 wraps per inch. So light DK to sport weight probably? It might change a little after its swim and whack.
Happy Spinning!!
My very barber poled Daffodil 2-ply is off the wheel and out of its bath. It’s not my normal color story but it came out very lovely.
This yarn is mostly a heavy DK weight with some thicker spots popping up now and then. It came out to 176 yards in a 122 gram skein. It just screams spring flowers with all those colors mixed together. The Romney is not next to skin soft, at least for me. But this would make great yarn for a hat or accessories.
I do plan to gift this yarn to a work fiber friend. Kinda worried I will freak her out as we have only met in the virtual world, lol. But I have come to value our collaboration and I enjoy sending joy to others.
Happy Spinning!!
It turns out I am getting better and faster about going through four ounces of fiber. My 100% romney in Waiting for Daffodils colorway has found its way onto two bobins.
This fiber is a mix of blues, yellows, greens and eve some pinky orange. The singles came out nice and easy. It’s getting easier to get a finer single but I still struggle with pieces that come out thick where the fibers might be a little felted or clumped. I am able to fix some and some just go through as “character”.
I am hoping to have some time this weekend to get these singles plied up. I made a new fiber friend in my work world and I think this skein (if it turns out) will be a gift.
Happy Spinning!!
Turns out that my practice at spinning is making me faster and more confident. I had a work colleague over for a patio chat one evening and I managed to get all four ounces onto bobbins.
This fiber is just so super soft. I am glad I don’t plan to wind these off into cakes. They would tangle like beast. Looking at these bobbins, I for sure will get barber-poled finished yarn. For now, I am going to rest these singles and try to get my mo-jo working back in the knitting direction.
Happy Spinning!!
Disaster adverted….mostly. My 2-ply did get completed after about an hour of untangling. I ended up with a couple small balls of singles that I attached to ends coming from my wheel and got those overlapped and plied. I then picked up the ends from the remaining cake and kept the cake between my thighs for control. This worked fairly well and I got the whole thing wrapped up last night.
I gave it a quick wash before work and hung to dry near the dehumidifier in the basement. It was dry enough last night to weigh and measure and skein up. I ended up with yet another worsted that varies between light and heavy worsted. The finished yardage was 72 yards and 62 grams. So just a little mini skein but super cute nonetheless.
And I have learned my lesson, next time I ply from a cake…..I will keep it controlled in my lap and not rolling around the floor!!
Happy Spinning!!
I have my blue Corriedale off the bobbins and ready for a nice wool bath.
This two ply is really energized as you can see the skeins are twisting back on themselves. I can tell I really put some extra twist into these skeins as I plied. I will lose some of this overtwist/energy when I was them.
And I can confirm that these skeins will be heavy worsted to maybe a light bulky weight yarn. The corriedale is not next to skin soft but I am interested to see if this softens any after washing. Happy Spinning!!
Confession, this blog post is brought to you by two snacks and Hotel Translyvania. I had to distract my children in order to get my Corriedale singles plied on Sunday.
I turned a podcast on in my headphone, grabbed an ice cold coca cola and set to plying. I really really enjoy having my Ashford lazy kate. It’s really helping me to keep better tension on my singles and make a more consistent plied yarn.
By looking at my bobbins, I think this will be a heavy worsted finished yarn. This took about two hours and my finished yarn filled two bobbins. I have those resting before I skein them off for their wash and set. It’s set to be a pretty crazy week so I’m not sure when I will carve out that time, but I’m interested to see how these skeins turn out!
Happy Spinning!!
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