Spun up colourways: FRET CFP-YFP

Whenever I dye up a new colorway, I always want to spin up a sample of it, just to see how it looks and give customers some idea of what their final yarn might look like. Sadly, I'm not very good about sitting down and doing the sampling, so it doesn't always work out that way.

When I spin at home, I usually open up a bag and start right in with no sampling whatsoever. Sometimes I've got a project in mind for the final yarn, sometimes not. But I don't usually sample unless I'm trying to reproduce a particular commercial yarn (I've blogged about my sampling experience previously) for a project. 

One of the best things about Wool House was the opportunity to try out some of the new colorways and do some sampling. I was there for a couple of hours each time, so a perfect amount of time to play around with spinning styles and plying styles and whatnot. I managed to sample three different colorways - today's example is some glorious, truly brightly colored Romney.

FRET CFP-YFP on Romney

I started with some of this gorgeous stuff. When I dye up a lot of fiber, I do more then needed for a particular number of bags (i.e. 17+ ounces to end up with four 4 oz bags). When the fiber gets split up for packaging, I pull off the slightly matted ends and however much more I need to pull off to get 4 oz bundles. Those leftover bits are then free for me to play with however I like. This time around, I sampled.

The three sample skeins: a 2-ply, a chain ply, and a true 3-ply (i.e. not chain plied).

First up is the 2 ply (left picture). I had three chunks of fibre that were more or less the same size, with more or less the same colour distribution, so I took the first one and split it lengthwise three times, generating four pieces of top that were roughly the same length. I spun two pieces on one bobbin, two pieces on another bobbin and plied them together. I ended up with a bit more yardage on one bobbin, so I wound it off around my hand and Andean plied the rest of the singles, which is my typical solution to uneven single amounts. 

I'd spun up a bit of this Romney before, and enjoyed it, but I was really impressed by how soft and silky it spun up in the final yarn. Romney is a long wool, and can be a bit on the coarser side, but this top is truly luscious. The final 2 ply is soft, with a really lovely drape and not a lot of elasticity (as you would expect from the breed).

The next sample I spun was the chain ply (middle picture). I split the fibre the same way and spun them all end to end. Then I plied from that. I've found that, while I need to stop and start when chain plying on my Lendrum, I can just set the speed on the miniSpinner down a bit lower and do the chaining without having to stop entirely. This goes back to my initial observation that I wasn't getting enough twist insertion with the miniSpinner. In this case, not a bad thing!

The chain plying plays up on the colour blending in this colourway - there are distinct solid turquoise and yellow sections, but a lovely green mix at the interfaces that is just what I was hoping for with this colorway. Result!

Last, but not least, the true 3 ply (right picture). For this I split the fiber a bit differently so I could get a fractal three ply. I pulled the length of top I had into 3 pieces of equal length. The first I split into half lengthwise, the second into quarters lengthwise, and the last I left intact. The end result is a yarn that has one ply running from blue to yellow to blue, one ply that goes blue/yellow/blue/blue/yellow/blue, and one that goes blue/yellow/blue/blue/yellow/blue/blue/yellow/blue/blue/yellow/blue. So some stretches are all one color, some are 2 plies color A/1 ply color B, and some sections are 1 ply color A/2 plies color B. I find this a really good technique for blending the colors in a handdyed top to reduce the amount of striping that shows up in the finished piece (particularly for sweaters or other larger projects). 

Of course the real test of all this sampling is knitting the swatches. I have good intentions to do so, but I suspect I might need another Wool House to actually sit down and get them done!

Chain plied Turkey Day

In the week leading up to Wool House, I was working on finishing up some Turkey Day Cheviot, with the idea of knitting up some matching socks. I used to knit a lot of socks, but have been feeling rather uninspired of late, so I decided that starting up socks out of handspun might be a good solution.

Turkey Day on Cheviot

I had a 4 oz bundle of fibre, so I split it down the middle lengthwise as evenly as I could without a scale, and spun a fine single on the miniSpinner. Once the singles were done, I chain plied (also called Navajo plying) and ended up with two more-or-less matching skeins.

I really like chain plying to preserve colour runs, although many people don't recommend chain plied yarns for socks. Because of the yarn structure (basically a long series of loops, kind of like crochet), there's an assumption that it won't wear as well as a true 3-ply. I have not done the experiment to actually test that assumption (knit two socks, one chain plied and one 3-plied and compare how well they stand up to being worn and washed), but Cheviot is a pretty sturdy wool, so I'm hopeful they'll wear well.

I haven't measured the yardage yet on these. The two skeins seem to be (to my eye) pretty close grist-wise, so I'm optimistic that I'll end up with a pretty good match. Worst case scenario, I'll end up with a pair of socks that start off matching in the feet and run astray somewhere on the leg - I can live with that!

I'm really looking forward to seeing how those blue and grey bits knit up against the warmer colours. And I'm also really looking forward to not having to think about knitting wool socks because my feet are so cold - I'm ready for winter to be over already!

Spinning in Public

This morning I went off Allison of Champagne and Qiviut to Somerset House to do a spinning demonstration for the Campaign for Wool's Wool House exhibition. Video was taken and subsequently posted on the Campaign for Wool Facebook page. So if you want to see/hear me, here's your chance!

Alli and I had a great time demonstrating our two very different types of spinning wheels, and it was fantastic to chat with people about spinning. We will both be back on Tuesday morning from 10:00 til about 12:30 or 1:00, but there are spinners there throughout the exhibition. If you get a chance to come by, please say hello!

(I'm spinning some FRET YFP-CFP Romney, just in case anyone is curious...)

A dip into the molecular lab and mathematics

I've just finished updating the shop with some really bright new colorways. I think the long, dragged-out winter season we're experiencing here in London is really starting to get to me. I want strong contrasts and warm tones to put on my head, feet and hands. 

Euglena on Brown Suffolk

This is the tamest of the colorways in this update: Euglena on Suffolk. I like how the bright, contrasting greens still show up on the darker brown fiber. This is a good choice if you want something a little less wild, and would be really good for some sturdy socks.

FRET YFP-CFP on Romney

From the tamest we go to the wildest - FRET YFP-CFP on Romney. This is a colorway inspired by a technique used in determining molecular interactions within cells. You can read more about it from links on the colorway page. And along with it, comes its blue/purple/red compatriot on Cheviot. I'm seeing these two as a grand, cheerful hat/mitten combination!

FRET BFP-RFP on Cheviot

I think this might be my favorite of all of the new colorways: Golden Mean on Shetland. I decided I needed some more yellows, and I'm not a big yellow person generally, so it was a bit of a struggle to get this one together. But I love the interplay between different warm tones and the purple. And this Shetland is so soft, that I want it cuddled up right next to my face: a cowl for sure!

Golden Mean on Shetland

I hope you are all managing the end of winter, wherever you may be, and keeping warm while you're doing it.

Happy spinning,

Rachel

Spinning singles for knitting

I've been experimenting with singles recently, and wanted to share some of my findings with you.

A few years ago, I was at a spinning workshop and the instructor was demonstrating how to spin a singles yarn. I asked a somewhat silly question: "How much twist do you add?" The (in retrospect) obvious answer was: "As much as you need to hold the single together." Seems pretty simple, doesn't it?

But this answer gets to the first, and in my mind, most important issue in successfully spinning singles: fibre choice. You want to start with a fibre that will stick to itself, so no silk or alpaca or plant fibres need apply. You also want a fiber that has at least a medium staple length, just for ease of spinning. If you're new to spinning singles, you'll probably be happier if you leave the merino aside for this round.

I started with some Corriedale in the Parakeet colourway.

Parakeet Corriedale prepped and spun up

I stripped the top into pieces that were approximately 0.5 in/1 cm wide and spun them using a short-forward draw. I find that the key to getting the right amount of twist lies in slowing down and using a lower ratio then I usually use. I had to make sure to treadle relatively slowly while I drafted, trying to insert enough twist to keep the single integrity without getting sections that were overtwisted.

This is the skein fresh off the niddy noddy - definitely not balanced! You can see that it's not the most even yarn ever - there are narrower sections with more twist, and puffier sections with less. This just shows how spinning a singles yarn is a really good way to see how twist gathers in areas with fewer fibers and jumps over thicker sections. If you are even a little bit interested in trying out art yarns, this is good practice!

Now, the next important step for ending up with a usable singles yarn for knitting is in the finishing process. I like to use a fulling finish to my singles yarns, allowing them to felt ever so slightly to help hold the single together. 

This process requires two containers of water - one hot and one cold, both with wool wash if you like (both containers in the picture have wool wash, even though only one is sudsy). Put the skein into the cold water and let it get wet.

Once the skein is wet through, transfer it to the hot wash and gently agitate the yarn. Now, I know that usually, as handspinners, we are doing everything we can NOT to agitate the yarn, but this is one time that you want to move the yarn around.

Give it a few stirs (with hands or an implement, however you like - my Speshul Snowflake hands don't like the hot water direct from my tap, so I use an old wooden spoon), and then pick it up out of the hot water and let as much hot water drain off into the bath as you can. Give it a squeeze if you like, then drop it down into the cold bath and gently agitate again.

You'll want to repeat this process from cold to hot to cold to hot to cold several times. As the fibres begin to full, you find the strands of the skein beginning to stick to each other a bit.

When you reach a point where the strands are clinging together but still easily pulled apart, it's time to stop. Put the skein into the cold bath and let it sit for a few minutes without agitation. Then take it out, squeeze or spin out the excess water, and let it hang unweighted to dry.

I ended up with about 100 yds of floofy singles from 2 oz of fiber (800 ypp) - about aran or worsted weight. I was hoping to have enough to knit up another topdown hat, but it might have to be for the kids instead of me.

I hope this has been helpful and/or interesting. Please post in the comments with any questions or experiences you've had with spinning singles.

Happy spinning!

Rachel