Fiber Fool

Fiber: Indigo Dyed CVM/Romeldale
Source: Handspun by Stefania at the 2006 Estes Park Wool Market
Draft Method: Long Backwards Draw, Woolen
Plies: 3
Weight: 3 oz
Yardage: 200 yds
Set Method: Warm Water, Unweighted Hang Dry
WPI: 17
Gauge: Sock/Fingering

I have to start out by confessing that I didn’t really spin on Friday night. I finished plying the smaller 50-yd skein early Friday afternoon. That skein is a tad lighter weight than the larger one because two of the plies came from a center pull ball I made from the singles remaining on the third bobbin of singles I spun. Evidently I got quite a bit finer on that bobbin. The third ply was, oddly enough, from what I think was my first bobbin.

While the hanks overall hang straight and appear balanced, upon closer inspection it just appears that the underplied and overplied sections must balance each other out. I had a hard time figuring how much twist needed to go into the three-ply yarn. Anyone got any tricks/suggestions/hints?

I had intended to do some spinning yet on Friday evening, but I had a terrible headache so I spent much of the evening dozing on and off on the futon while DH enjoyed some more of his SNL first season DVDs that he got from my mom and dad for Christmas.

I still followed through on my intentions and did some spinning on Saturday, however. I finally pulled out some superwash merino top that I bought at EPWM in 2005 from Bonkers Fiber when I bought my wheel. I kept hearing tales of how difficult superwash was to work with and I was in love with the color (Emerald Forest, though I find it more of a teal or turqoise than an Emerald) so I didn’t want to “ruin” it. I decided it was time to pull it out. I had success with the superwash wool I got at Brown Sheep last March so I was feeling a bit more confident.

I am so glad I pulled this out of the stash to spin. It is like spinning butter! It pre-drafts beautifully and spins into a super-fine worsted 31 wpi single with ease! It just flew out of my hands and made itself into the gorgeous singles, I swear! I shall have to put some on my shopping list for 2007 EPWM! Maybe a more eclectic colorway instead of a monochrome… We’ll see. Anyway, I took the length and broke it into thirds. Luckily enough they all weighed in the same. Then for the first third I split it lengthwise four times and spun from that. I’m hoping that fiber prep combined with the three plies will reduce the stripiness. But, we’ll see. If it is stripey I’ll enjoy that too.

I also decided to invoke my anal retentiveness in other ways. In the intermediate spinning class I took at Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins we were advised to make reference cards to keep on our knees so we could compare the single thinckness as we spun. So, once I settled into a comfortable single I pulled some off and wound it around a piece of cardboard. Then I took some of the active singles and let them ply back on themselves into a two-ply and a three-ply sample of about 8-9 inches in length. The two-ply will help me periodically check my twist and I am hoping the three-ply sample will make it easier to get a balanced final yarn.

The fiber was so easy to spin that I soared through the first bobbin before I knew it. I’m all set up to start the second bobbin so perhaps I’ll get to that some before Friday. I could see the siren song of this fiber calling to me. Perhaps even as early as today! :-) Of course it helps that my current knitting project is a bit of a disappointment. More on that later in the week though.

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1. First Skeins of 2007 Handspun, 2. 3-Ply Indigo CVM - Pre-Wash, 3. 3-Ply Indigo CVM - A Closer Look, 4. 3-Ply Indigo CVM - Post Wash