Apologies for posting this lot in utterly the wrong order for you. I had totally forgotten that I'd not yet posted the rest of the sampling, so with no further ado...
Part 3 - also known as attempting to learn how to spin supported!
Well I eventually got the hang of spinning on the Russian, albeit still as a park and draft style. My diameter control is almost none-existent in terms of anything intentional, but if I didn't think about it too hard (like when talking to utter strangers on a train!) it seemed to come out relatively even. I have since been told that spinning from the end of commercial top on a supported is a quick way to madness... but I've got to say it didn't work out too badly. Yes there are thick and thin bits but they're not a million miles different. Plying it also helped. Is is considerably less even than my drop spindled yarn, yes. Is it unusable, not at all. One thing I did notice though was that it bloomed much much more than the other yarns have done up to now. Annoyingly, and I should have thought about this before I did it, I don't know whether it is down to the spinning style introducing more air, or that I didn't weight it when I hung it to dry. Given the amount it bloomed I would guess at a combination of the two.
Part 4 - or how to do a 3ply on a vertical lazy kate/get yourself in utter tangles
I've not done a 3ply before but given my hankering for socks at the moment I thought an experimentation in this field would be a good idea. The single sample I have I've got to say doesn't feel representative of the majority of the cop. I think its a little thinner and a little more twisted. The backplied sample though starts to show the singles better. I'm not totally sure what use this had given that I then 3plied it but hey its there for reference :)
Ah the plying. Hmm never ever give a demo on how to ply something when you've never tried that particular version before. My kate is untensioned so the capacity for lots of backtwist and other general snarlyness is increased.... especially when you mix is a somewhat damaged wrist that can't turn in certain ways at the moment. Lesson learnt from this one? Wind a plying ball next time!
Problems with plying aside I was pretty chuffed with this yarn. I'd been aiming for a finished yarn of about 14wpi. On skeining it the initial yarn was closer to 18wpi so I decided to dry it unweighted in the hope that it would bloom a bit, and what do you know it did :) Turns out the Fleece & Fibre Sourcebook has it right. It wasn't as dramatic a change as the yarn done on the Russian (24 to 18 wpi) but an alteration of 18 to 15 wpi is still worth noting. The fabric has much more of the "sproing" that I'd expect from a sock weight yarn too. It is noticeably thicker between your fingers and has a nice bounce to it that I suspect would feel very nice in socks etc. Not convinced the fibres would hold up to that kind of abuse on their own though!
Part 3 - also known as attempting to learn how to spin supported!
Well I eventually got the hang of spinning on the Russian, albeit still as a park and draft style. My diameter control is almost none-existent in terms of anything intentional, but if I didn't think about it too hard (like when talking to utter strangers on a train!) it seemed to come out relatively even. I have since been told that spinning from the end of commercial top on a supported is a quick way to madness... but I've got to say it didn't work out too badly. Yes there are thick and thin bits but they're not a million miles different. Plying it also helped. Is is considerably less even than my drop spindled yarn, yes. Is it unusable, not at all. One thing I did notice though was that it bloomed much much more than the other yarns have done up to now. Annoyingly, and I should have thought about this before I did it, I don't know whether it is down to the spinning style introducing more air, or that I didn't weight it when I hung it to dry. Given the amount it bloomed I would guess at a combination of the two.
Part 4 - or how to do a 3ply on a vertical lazy kate/get yourself in utter tangles
I've not done a 3ply before but given my hankering for socks at the moment I thought an experimentation in this field would be a good idea. The single sample I have I've got to say doesn't feel representative of the majority of the cop. I think its a little thinner and a little more twisted. The backplied sample though starts to show the singles better. I'm not totally sure what use this had given that I then 3plied it but hey its there for reference :)
Ah the plying. Hmm never ever give a demo on how to ply something when you've never tried that particular version before. My kate is untensioned so the capacity for lots of backtwist and other general snarlyness is increased.... especially when you mix is a somewhat damaged wrist that can't turn in certain ways at the moment. Lesson learnt from this one? Wind a plying ball next time!
Problems with plying aside I was pretty chuffed with this yarn. I'd been aiming for a finished yarn of about 14wpi. On skeining it the initial yarn was closer to 18wpi so I decided to dry it unweighted in the hope that it would bloom a bit, and what do you know it did :) Turns out the Fleece & Fibre Sourcebook has it right. It wasn't as dramatic a change as the yarn done on the Russian (24 to 18 wpi) but an alteration of 18 to 15 wpi is still worth noting. The fabric has much more of the "sproing" that I'd expect from a sock weight yarn too. It is noticeably thicker between your fingers and has a nice bounce to it that I suspect would feel very nice in socks etc. Not convinced the fibres would hold up to that kind of abuse on their own though!
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