I have cleared another WIP, when it was blogged a few months ago it looked like this:
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sIt now looks like this:
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sI am pleased that I have finished it, but I am not totally pleased with it. It is thinner than I was aiming for, I wanted a sock weight and ended up with over 16WPI. I know how to fix this, next time thicker plies or more of them. I struggle with spinning thick, so that is challenge number one.
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It is also over twisted, I am hoping some of the experienced spinners out there can give me some advice on this.
As I was spinning thin plies (really very thin ones!) I need a lot of twist. I was using the middle ratio option and not treadling overly fast, so to me that seems like it should only just give sufficient twist for something so thin (otherwise what is the third ratio for?). So how come it was so over twisted? I am thinking to fix this I need to treadle slower, or draft faster and maybe use the largest ratio. Any thoughts wise and experienced spinners of the world?
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I really want to make some soft, squooshy yarn!
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I have another chunk of fibre that is going to be my trial piece. I am aiming for a thicker yarn (around DK weight) that is soft and squashy. Either a two or three ply.
My spinning wheel is a Kromski Prelude, and as far as I know I can only control the tension. I've found that to make soft squishy thicker yarns, I treadle a little slower, keep the tension a bit loose, and draft in such a manner that the yarn has a lot of "air" in it; I don't let it twist overmuch. If it does, I let that twist run into the yarn behind the drafting hand. Long-draw is helpful.
ReplyDeleteI've also found that a smoothly carded fiber is helpful to make thicker yarns. If I have to worry about slubs, the yarn gets tighter while I go back to pull them out. BFL is bad for that. Merino is good for a fluffy thick yarn.
I have eight ounces of lovely yellow merino that is calling to me now!
I have the reverse problem, I spin to thick. Good luck with your spinning!
ReplyDeleteSince posting my first comment, I've been at the yellow Merino, and still can't manage to spin as thickly as I want. Perhaps I should take a class!
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't look over-twisted to me; did your singles rest for awhile before you plyed? If so, that might make your skein act like it has active twist, but really it should be fine.
ReplyDeleteSince I don't spin yet, that skein looks fabulous to me. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you learned to spin, but is there any You-tube help out there for you (absent a class, of course)?
Happy fiber arts Friday!
oooh, I might try another fiber. I know when I first started spinning that I couldn't get the weight I wanted. I'm getting better about it now but I also have learned that wools-v-alpaca-v-silk-v-whatever makes a difference. I don't know...it's worth a shot to try a different fiber.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to find inspiration to pick up my spinning again, since it wasn't going very well. Yours is actually yarn! How cool!
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