Since the move to Pittsburgh, I’ve been doing a lot more spinning than knitting, but I haven’t kept up with blogging about my projects. I’m trying to remedy that. So here’s a quick, down and dirty, picture summary of one of my recently finished spinning projects.
The fiber is the third of three installments of a Bee Mice Elf club. I bought a double shot–8 ounces instead of 4–spun each braid end to end, then plied the two together. The fiber content is 40% Merino wool, 40% superwash Merino wool, and 20% silk.
Two 4-once braids of beautifully handdyed fiber
I fractal spun the fiber in double drive on an Ashford Traveller using the sliding hook flyer and its larger bobbins. The bobbin on the left is the split fiber.
I plied the two bobbins of singles together using Irish tension (bobbin lead). The 2-ply yarn wouldn’t all fit on one bobbin.
Here’s the plied yarn straight off the niddy noddy. It looks overplied, but a nice soak in water will help the twist relax.
Here’s the finished yarn. See, I told you a soak in water would cause the twist to relax. Both hanks are skeined together. Isn’t it purty?
I did a fractal spin with this fiber. I spun one braid end to end onto one bobbin. The I split the second braid once lengthwise, spun each length end to end onto another bobbin, spinning the colors in the same order. Then the two bobbins of singles were plied together using Irish tension.
I ended up with eight ounces and around 792 yards of sport weight 2-ply yarn. I’m very satisfied with how the plying turned out. Although I am a real noob at using Irish tension, the results are more than satisfactory.
All Kinds Of Knitting 