Tag Archives: merino

Gratuitous Handspun – Deep Regret 2-ply

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Another skein of handspun has joined the stash! This merino tencel blend absolutely flew off my wheel. I had prepared this roving into little nestlets and managed fairly thin singles. All in all I think this was managed across four or five days.

I spun two bobbins and with my “go-to” 2ply approach which resulted in a sport weight with some light worsted spots. Super super super happy with this one! The 2-ply was 150 yards of yarn over 113 grams with really lovely barber poling.

My bobbins weren’t quite even and I had a little leftover so I chain plied the remainder into a teeny tiny 3-ply skein. Its 8 yards over 10 gram so a little heftier skein but gorgeous nonetheless.

Now I just need to plot my next spin! Happy spinning!!

Let’s Barber-pole!

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I managed to squeak in some plying this past weekend in between laundry and dishes. Still trying to get my sea legs back after getting a cold. Darn boogers anyway!

I 2-plied the extra fine merino singles onto one super cute bobbin. I just let this fiber be what it wanted to be and didn’t try for anything in particular. I haven’t measured yet but I am guessing I have another worsted skein. I am going to let this sit on the bobbin and get it washed/whacked later this week.

But now….what to spin next??

Ultra Fine Merino

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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!!

From Batt to Singles

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The two ounces of this wee little bat didn’t take me long to get spun into singles. I have a finished bobbin of singles all ready to spend 24 hours in timeout.

I feel like a I have strong singles with good enough twist that I feel comfortable winding this off into a center pull ball. I will get out my tensioned lazy kate and ball winder to make my cake. But that is tonight’s task!

Happy Spinning!!

Mystery Grab Bag

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Back around Christmas time I grabbed some mystery grab bag fiber from Etsy to have for Santa to leave in my stocking. And Santa ended up leaving me some yarn instead of fiber and I kinda forgot about this tucked away in my closet until I did some spring cleaning.

On the left is some mystery fiber that looks to have a blend of silk, nylon and maybe a couple of different kinds of wools based on the wool crimp. I weighed it and it totals 3 ounces. The right is 8.5 ounces of a spinning kit from Melissa’s Yarn Barn. It is a solid merino braid and some locks of multi-colored wool or other fiber.

Both are interesting kits and not something I would usually pick for myself. But it adds nice variety to my spinning stash. Even if I don’t love the colors I will learn new things from the spinning process. Do any of you mystery grab bag?

Happy Spinning!!

Finished Cashmere

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My cashmere skein is completely dry and all measured up! This is my softest and finest spin yet. I am beyond happy with this one.

After finishing I ended up with 223 yards weighing 112 grams. This makes this skein DK in most spots with other sections more of a light worsted. I can tell my plying was tighter on this skein than any of my previous 2-plys. With this having cashmere content I put extra twist in it in order to reduce piling in its future knitted state.

I don’t have any projects in mind yet. I think I’m going to let this one marinate in the handspun stash for a minute. Happy spinning!!

Wash and Drying

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I managed to finish spinning the singles for my merino/cashmere singles this past week after I got back from my travel. I wound the singles into a cake so that I could ply from the inside and outside. IT…WAS….A….MESS!! I neglected to understand how badly the singles would get tangled. I had to break and and untangle my singles many times. But in the end, I made a skein!

The skein had a little over twist from plying as it didn’t hang completely straight off the plying bobbin. But I had confidence that a bath would fix it right up!

And I was right, a bath and a whack had this skein nicely balanced. Since it is 90+ degrees in Kansas now I set this skein outside in the sun to dry. And boy howdy, it dried in four hours! I need to take the time to weigh and measure this skein to find out what kind of yarn I made.

This finished yarn is SUPER soft and might the thinnest spinning I have made to date. I can’t wait to see what this measure out to be! I really feel the need to find a project to fit this spectacularly yarn….

Happy Spinning!!

It’s CASHMERE!

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My spinning of that farm/rustic lamb roving didn’t last. I just couldn’t find the drive to work with it. And some merino/silk/cashmere from Hipstrings may have show up in my mailbox this week, so the lamb got pulled off my wheel and this heavenly cloud is on!

I have never spun anything this soft or delicious. It’s a joy to work with. I only have four ounces to work with so I will fill a single bobbin. I hope then to be able to wind those single into a center pull ball to ply with.

Happy Spinning!!

That Was Quick

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I had some merino blend fiber jump on and off my wheel very quickly last week. I had four ounces a merino, bamboo and sparkle blend that I bought from The Shepherds Mill when I took spinning lessons.

I weighed and split the fiber in half so that I could work from two bobbins. This fiber just spun so smooth and quickly. I think the singles rested longer than it took for me to actually spin them. I did my go-to 2-ply and ended up with this skein.

It it is a little overspun and is twisting back on itself. But I think a good bath and a solid thwack should set this just fine. I think this will turn out to be a thick and thin worsted? I’ll do a final weight and measure after its dry.

Happy Spinning!!

FO Friday: Mirror Mirror 2-ply

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Some sparkly fun yarn has fallen off my wheel. I finished plying and have washed the 2-ply I made from my Christmas yarn from PB and Jellybean. I have named it Mirror, Mirror 2-ply!

I ended up with 233 grams/ 272 yards of a bulky 2-ply across two skeins. It’s not my most consistent spin and I was hoping it would come out closer to a worsted. But it’s marvelous finished spin and my kids LOVE it.

The photos really don’t do the purple sparkle justice. I am thinking this should be a cowl? But probably will percolate in the stash for a bit until it confirms to me what it wants to be. Happy Spinning!!