I chewed over how to deal with my blue mohair single quite a bit, but couldn't come up with a better plan than simply plying with itself. So when I found a moment I split the single in two and wound a plying-ball.
I love plying balls because they are so portable. All this busy week I toted my spindle and plying-ball with me wherever I went and worked a little on getting the project done. It was a perfect distraction in several places where I had extended waits.
I also love the magic of plying. A lot of people agonize over how to get a balanced yarn. I would, except that I ran into a great article over at HSJ Studio. Scroll down to the section "How to easily tell your plying is balanced - while you ply" and check out the picture there. You'll see that the fibers become aligned with your yarn when you are balanced. I never trust the ply-back test (my singles are rarely spun recently enough that it is a reliable method to check twist). But the way fibers line up in the yarn never lies. I check every once in a while while I'm plying to make sure I'm still getting everything lined up correctly.
Then, when I take my skein off the niddy-noddy and it twists up, I don't get in a twist along with it. I know that as soon as that skein hits my hot-water-bath, it's going to behave. And sure enough, even the most twisty skeins breathe a sigh of relief when they get dunked in the water and everything is quite happy after.
1 comment:
I can't wait to learn to spin. In fact, my friend who is an anesthesiologist is wanting to learn as well. Your info is really interesting to read.
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