New yarn - two kinds

Another quick post, Bear had an early work meeting and then a long day so my today was eaten up by transporting cubs to school, working, then being the after school parent. Being the  after school parent mostly means transporting cubs from after school music to swimming, then home... but also involes making sure things happen on time, no one is late and that the right equipment is packed, is clean, tidy and carried there(not left in the hall),  then taken away home again. Tiring stuff this parenting, but worth it when one sees ones cub easily making music in a group or with a nice freestyle stroke in the pool.

Anyway - the blog is about the knitting, and today it is about the  stuff that allows knitting, yarn. I have been knitting - but mostly spinning. I borrowed another bobbin for the Aura wheel and plied both the single yarns that were waiting. That done there should be a wheel review over Easter,  the plying was the last part of the preparation towards a review. I have been knitting, mostly on the  Deciduous shawl, but as it is just repeat after repeat the photos really don't show any recognizable progress, I will leave a display of that until another time.

Worsted (left) and Woolen (right) spun 3 ply yarns - both merino

Here are the two plied yarns, both chain plied, and I think I may have finally mastered plying. Before this my yarns tended to be under-plied, and so a little string like in appearance. By under-plied I mean that there was not enough twist in the yarns to make them look plump and squishy like this, my skeins always hung straight which is one measure of a balanced yarn, but they didn't look plump and squishy.  Because they hung straight I considered them plied enough and didn't quite know what to do to make them more yarn like and less string like. This time it all came together and my yarn is fat and plump.  The yarn on the left is a graduated superwash merino, changing from deep red, through orange, to yellow and then blue, but mostly it is blue. The initial fibre was bought at KAN last year. Superwash is slippery stuff to spin, so the singles seemed to need a bit of twist and I was worried that the yarn would be even more string like than usual so this is a pleasant surprise. The yarn on the right is merino dyed by Maude and Me, and gifted by Sourkraut, it is merino and was dyed the most amazing range of colours. I turned the fibre into Faux rolags and spun it woolen style.

Worsted (left) and Woolen (right) hand spun, 3 ply, merino

Close up the Worsted yarn(left) is smoother and has less of a halo, the Woolen(right) is much fuzzier and seems to have more squish. Technically the worsted should have more air - and be warmer but les durable, feeling them that seems right. Both are destined for baby blankets, the one on the right for a baby due in August, the one of the left destined to sit with an already finished pink one until a suitable baby is announced. Over all I recognize my Woolen spinning needs more practice ... but I like the technique and the effect of this woolen spinning and I'm keen to try more.

Thursday tomorrow, then  a long weekend, followed by school holidays - feels like there might be some knitting time amidst all of that somewhere.

take care
na Stella