good and bad

While I have begun spinning for the Tour De Fleece, it is time for a little pre-training show and tell.  Some good, some not so good.

Let’s start with the not so good.  You may remember a pretty little pile of fiber all ready to spin.

SO pretty.

The finished product is deceiving.  A pretty face hiding a dark secret.  First off, it is over plied.  This has been a common theme for me lately.  More important than the too tight twist, is it density.   For those of you that are not spinners, after a yarn is spun it gets a little soak in the sink.  After the yarn in saturated, it is toweled off, yank around a little and laid out to dry.  The water helps the twist to relax and even out.  Once it is dry, the twist is “set” and it is ready for knitting.  Every single hank of yarn I have spun and then brought to the sink has floated.  Those yarns took some squishing to get it to absorb water and settle in for its soak.  This yarn?  Straight to the bottom of the drink.  Densest thing I have ever seen. 

 

This yarn is not suitable for knitting.  However, I am pretty sure it would be great for weaving.  Too bad I am not a weaver.

After that little episode I needed something soft to spin.  Bring on the Mozart Orange.

I have no idea what type of fiber this is.  It was a gift from the, oh so talented Julie.   It is without a doubt the spongiest fiber I have ever spun. Really, that is the right adjective, spongy.  I decided to keep the squishyness so I spun and then plied this as lightly as possible.

The result is 100 yards of heavy worsted.  So light and soft.  This came off the wheel perfectly balanced, it did not need a bath J  It tells me it wants to be mittens.  Striped mittens.  Striping will require another color of fiber.  The search is on.

Comments

[Julia]

It's merino! Spongey, eh? What color do you want? I can send more :-)

[Emma]

The wensleydale felts really well, perhaps that is a way to save the handspun?
Could the orange be Targhee? I've found it to have a spongy texture as well. Lovely but totally different from anything else I have spun.