I recently started spindle spinning a 4 ounce bag of yak roving as I wanted a small project to pick up when I had a few minutes to spin. The staple length is about an inch and it is not the highest quality yak. There appears to be some kemp and a few guard hairs, but it still feels soft over all.
I selected my 0.5 ounce spindles (center and right) to spin such short stapled fibers. I want to spin a yarn strong enough to stay together yet not overspun into a wire. I ended up getting a lot of back spin with these light spindles, so I tried my 0.9 ounce spindle (left). Now I get no back spin, though I am not sure how much fiber I will get on the spindle before the yarn starts breaking.
I plan to spindle ply this yarn so I can keep a close eye on the feel of the resulting 2-ply yarn and maintain its softness. This yak has no bounce to it and would make a nice cowl or scarf.
Looks good. I really admire your patience in spindle spinning. Now that I have a wheel, I find that it's so much faster.
Posted by: Ann | December 17, 2011 at 08:08 PM
It looks great so far. With such a small staple, it would take a lot of twist to keep a stable yarn.
Posted by: textillian | December 18, 2011 at 09:15 PM