MSWF - Swatches

I've been experimenting with this roving that I bought at MSWF from The Barefoot Spinner.  I would like to knit a cardigan.  I could be adventurous and design my own pattern or I could use on of my Knitting Pure & Simple patterns.  I guess I will spin the yarn first before I decide.  I spun some samples of singles yarn, washed them, blocked them, and knitted them up.  The one on the lower left is my first swatch.  I boldly decided this would likely be my yarn and spun quite a bit of it.  I used the 1:8 ratio on my Wyatt Norwegian and drafted about 1 treadle per inch.  This thin, wiry yarn is 20 wpi and 4.5 sts per inch on size 6 needles.  I then increased the take up and drafted about 2 inches per treadle for the bottom swatch on the left.  The resulting yarn is a bit uneven at 12 - 16 wpi and about 4 sts per inch on a size 8 needle.  My favorite is the swatch on the top.  I used my Lendrum with a ratio of 1:5 (the bulky/plying head) and drafted about 1 inch per treadle.  This yarn is much more even, about 14 - 16 wpi and a little over 4 sts per inch on size 8 needles, so I think we have a winner! 

Comments

[Opal]

Gosh, I hate to say it but they all look good to me! LOL Still, I love to hear the process you go through before you decide on how you spin a yarn for a specific project. So informative!

[textillian]

Right to work! WOW!

I do like the one that you spun on the Lendrum the best as well. It doesn't seem to bias as much.

Go Lendrum! (Sorry, Opal.)

[Peggy]

I like the top one best myself. Are you going to keep it in singles or spin and then ply?