Weekend Plying

I plied my merino/cashmere singles last night.  I have such a variety of fibers to spin, I typically don't feel badly when I finish one project as there is always another.  This fiber, from Spirit Trail, was wonderful to spin and I will miss spinning it.  I spun the singles on my Wyatt Norwegian wheel and plied it with the Woolee Winder on my Gem.  I expected to be plying over two days yet was able to finish plying in 2 hours or so (we were watching a DVD). 

As it dried today, I decided to put it back through on my Gem and add more plying twist.  Most of it was plied well, but there were some areas that I did not treadle as much.  I made a sample from the singles by tying the ends together, holding the twist, then releasing it so the plies would twist together.  I then broke the ends off and tied them together and washed this sample.  To make the same twist in my final yarn, I determined that I would add 4 treadles worth of twist (at the 10.5 ratio) and then 2 more as it wound on.  There are times that I lost count as I watched our DVD so some places were underplied.  I put the hank on my Nifty Swift and then used the 4.5 ratio to add more plying twist in the necessary places.  I have about 560 yards at about 28 wpi. I'm planning to knit the Flower Basket Shawl with this yarn as I think it will show off its color variations very nicely.   

Comments

[Ann]

The yarn is lovely - looks soft & smooth & the color is gorgeous. Great choice to knit the Flower Basket Shawl. It's on my list as well.

[textillian]

Such a vibrant color! It looks great. Isn't plying with the Woolee Winder the best?

[loribird]

Wow, that skein is a beauty. Looking forward to seeing it become a shawl!

[cheryl]

You spin beautifully. It will make a lovely shawl. Purples are my favorites.

[Peggy]

The yarn is awesome!!!!! I'm so impressed, really!!!!! Who'da thunk you could correct ply twist. :)

[Opal]

Oh that yarn defines beauty. I can't wait to see it knit up! The FBS is the perfect pattern for it.