I finally finished spinning up the first plys on the two spindles that I had been practising on. I was getting a much finer thread on the Bosworth but decided to spin half and half over the two spindles I had been using hoping to get a more even yarn when I plied them together.
Here is the result of each ply with each of the spindles. Each one sitting next to the yarn that it produced.
As you can see I got much better results as I went on.
My next job was to work out how to ply without getting in a tangle. In the book I bought while I was on holiday it suggests putting the two balls under plant pots and bringing the yarn up through the drainage holes. Well I didn't have any plant pots but I am one for saving the empty plastic soup pots so I made some holes in the bottoms, thread the yarn through and then fixed the lids on so the yarn didn't fall out of the bottom.
I have to say I am very smug about this improvisation.
Then I was off plying although it took a little longer than I thought and by the end my back was aching quite a bit. I managed to get away without either of the plies getting too tangled at any one point and ended up with another spindle full of plied yarn having remembered to turn it anti-clockwise.
Next was grab two of the dining room chairs and wind up my skein.......
......and then secure it with a few holders in place.
I then lifted it off the chairs and guess what it hung pretty well open. I still need to soak it and do the distilled vinegar thing to relax the fibres and let them balance but I am already pleased with the results.
All I have to do now is decide what to knit it into.
NOTES:
1)I have named the Yarn - Purple Heart after the wood that the whorl on my Bosworth spindle is made out of.
2)The reference book I have been using is Start Spinning by Maggie Casey
3)It all takes a lot longer than you think, but it's fun.
6 comments:
i am thinking of learning to spin.
i lik eyour work; it inspires me. question: are the two small balls of blue the same as the purple heart? or two seperate projects? thanks for the book suggestion.
Yes the two small balls are the ones that I then plied together to make the finished skein. They were taken in daylight so the colour looks slightly different.
Hurrah! That all looks fantastic, you should be so proud of yourself. I think I might have a bit of spinning envy...
absolutely lovely...keep on spinning!!
That's so impressive, it looks incredibly professional for a first skein!
Thank you I was really pleased with it. I haven't decided what to knit with it yet as I just want to keep admiring it at the moment.
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