First, we had this:
Actually, to be technically 100% correct, we had the fraternal twin of that, since this is the other four ounces-plus, to be spun as a 2-ply at 15 WPI rather than the 3-ply 18 WPI I've now done (oops, cat's out of the bag ...)
Let's see, I bought that at Madrona Fiber Arts, so that would have been January 26th.
Then, by last weekend we had this:
And just after lunch today (March 1st) we had this:
Hey, who put that shell there?
Now, "Hang on Sloopy" is taking a sensuous soak in the sink and considering renaming herself "Sunshine for Buttercups". I had to censor that picture, so here's the "dime shot" for you to check out the 18-WPIness of this Navajo-plied yarn:
Why is it in danger of UFO'ing itself, when there's just a two-evening session between this skein and its sock-dom (two evenings on a sock machine)? Well, I pulled out my Journey Wheel and got back into spinning _that_ sock yarn. Then I pulled samples of every commercial sock yarn I had onto a card, the sloopy, the JW's yarn, and even some handspun sockyarn I bought off of etsy just for this purpose (ok, I've cracked ... I admit it!)
Minor observations: most commercial sock yarns are 4 ply! some are 2 ply (the cotton/lycra, and Koigu). Opal and Lorna's Laces have the same plies and twist angle, but LL seems alot softer. Most of them have a twist angle of betwen 27 and 33; the handspun I bought is thicker (14 WPI) and less twisted (21 TAngle). Opal is finer than Regia -- 18 WPI Opal, 16 WPI Regia. But hard to see with the naked eye when looking at bare strands! So, I'm going to spin the second half of Sloopy to be about 15 WPI 2-plied with a 30 degree twist angle. Now I need my calculator to figure out what the singles' WPI and twist angle will be ....
Remember, just 2 days left in our "what makes it a UFO" contest! post your comments, email the list -- redefine UFO! define UFO! whatever. If aliens take it off the planet, is it technically a UFO? or a LISO (lost in space object)?
5 comments:
Uohh, Sunshine for buttercups. Sparkling for spring. And let me get this straight...18 wpi after plying? I am not worthy, I will be forced to unsubscribe.
That is gorgeous. Making yarn is not stash enhancement because it was something else, now you have spun it. Done. Finis.
making yarn doesn't equal stash enhancement if you got the unspun fiber out of your stash...it's more like a stash transfer. From one to the other.
grins,
Jen in Mexico
Oh I like that -- stash transfer. And it's usually smaller once it's spun up, too!
Now elysbeth, I spotted this on your blog -- so you're doing just fine with the spinning. Trust me, spinning fine can be a curse -- trying to get back to spinning thick (or even just slightly thicker) is a real pain after spending time spinning as finely as possible.
That said, my best fine spinning is all post-learning-to-spin-cotton. I think all that drafting of such a fine, short-staple fiber really helped my wool drafting skills!
Cool...STASH TRANSFER is awesome...thanks Jen :)
The roving and yarn are gorgeous Amelia and yes, you've cracked but thanks for the technical info you unearthed in your cracked state (g)
I admire your command of the calculator and twists per inch and all that stuff that leaves me writhing in agony.
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