Thursday 6 October 2011

Something about spinning

Over the weekend I navajo plied the orange single from last week. Having the single wound into a ball made this much easier than the previous tangled version, so I will be doing that again when I am wheel plying spindle spun singles (btw that is really hard to say!).

Here is the finished three ply:


I have to say I love it, a lot. The colours are gorgeous, which I can't take credit for since I bought this one. It has also come out suprisngly soft and squishy considering a lot of the singles were very tightly spun by my new to spinning self.

There is a little difference in the weight along the length, the most recent parts are similar to a commercial 4 ply, the older stuff is a little thinner, but not so much that it does not work. I now have an idea how thin to spin to achieve sock weight, which with my sock obsession is the holy grail of my spinning.

The thing that dissappoints me slightly it that I don't seem to get very good mileage with my spinning. I was told by an experienced spinner that handspun gave a better weight:length ratio than commercial yarn but that does not seem to be the case with my spinning. This skein weighs 68g and I have estimated the length as 170m, for the thickness of the yarn this is not a great ratio. It also means I have no idea what to make with it. I had hoped to get enough for a small shawl but now I am thinking I might combine it with a commercial 4 ply to make a hat. I have too many neck warmer items anyway!

7 comments:

  1. I have taken a lot of my handspun and striped or used some other design to combine it with commercial to get shawls, hats, mittens, etc. Your yarn looks great.

    Yes, I don't get the mileage either...but I am still learning.

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  2. Very nice. I don't seem to get as much yardage as others but figure there are so many knitting patterns I should be able to find the right project for my yarn.

    Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

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  3. Ooo the colors are great, especially for this Autumn season.

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  4. I have never gotten more yardage from spinning than I get in a commercial skein of similar weight, but I wish I could! Your yarn is lovely, I'm sure it will make a great hat!

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  5. Beautiful yarn! I love orange - I agree with Wonder Why Gal, you could easily stripe your handspun with a mill spun yarn.

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  6. It's a very pretty yarn! I love knitting shawls using all different yarn and mixing hand spun and commercial. Whatever you make with it will be lovely, it has a nice glow about it!

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