Wow – spinning a low twist singles yarn is quick!
Well, it was quick once I’d got into the rhythym of it anyway – there was a lot of swearing until I’d got that sorted, as the singles kept pulling away from me and breaking as there wasn’t enough twist!
I searched Rav for loads of advice before starting, and collected all the tips I could find. I used the plying head on my lendrum, and used the 2nd biggest ratio – I think it’s 6:1 – set the uptake really quite high and predrafted the fibre way more than I usually would. Then I put good old Predator 2 in the DVD player and got spinning!
I used Babylonglegs Falkland because not only are the colours gorgeous, I thought the fibre would be nice and grabby for doing something like this. I was aiming for about 1.5 – 2 twists per inch, just enough to hold the yarn together.
When I’d spun the whole 100g I finished the yarn by soaking in very hot water (very hot tap water, too hot to hold my hand in for long) with a squirt of Fairy in it, and squishing the soapy water through the yarn, then dunking the skein in cold water. I repeated this about 5 times, until the yarn was starting to stick to itself and I was worried I’d buggered it up! Then I rinsed the soap out and squished out the excess water in a towel and hung it up to dry.
I’m reeeally chuffed with it – it’s come out far softer than I thought it would, and it’s very floofy. I can’t wait to knit with it but don’t know what to make just yet!
Next Tour de Fleece project – sparkly batts with sari silk I was given in a UK Spinners swap…
