Some of you will instantly spot the mistakes in the yarn I made (pictured above). I created a terrible mess of the singles when I tried to ply them. I will explain.The singles were spun when I was still getting to know the workings of a wheel. Which was after watching an excellent video by Patsy Z, the Hand Spinnin' Guru, and before John's class. Lots of inconsistencies. So I decided to carefully ply them as to try to make a balanced yarn. But I made a big mistake. Huge! I had more singles on one bobbin than another. SO, trying not to waste yarn, I decided to make a center-pull ball with the bigger bobbin of singles. The idea was that after the smaller bobbin ran out, I could just pull out the other end of the ball of singles and continue to ply with it. I think it was a good idea. The thing was that I just put the ball of singles in a bowl and started plying. Without some extra weight to create more tension, that ball of singles started to get all twisted and tangled. Bad bad bad. So, when the ball got smaller the mess got bigger. Not only did I get a tangled mess, I also didn't have the tension to ply correctly. Grrrr! In the end I had to break the yarn after the smaller bobbin was done. I just ran out of patience to fuss with the problem. So, I got a little less than 4 oz in the skein that I made. I'll use the rest of the singles in some kind of leftover yarn project. I don't even want to look at it at the moment. LOL The fiber is Ashland Bay's Merino top.
Another lesson learned.
I was able to get some knitting done on "My So Called Scarf". I took it to the spinning guild meeting and realized that I wasn't very good at stitching and bitching at the same time. LOL The scarf is 30 stitches wide. At one point during the meeting I noticed something wasn't looking quite right. I didn't think much of it and continued. I thought it was just the way the yarn looked. You know, thick and thin. Then I stopped and counted the stitches. 12!!! What??? How did that happen? I took one look at the scarf and just couldn't believe myself. How did I let it get that way? LOL I think I forgot to knit one extra stitch before doing a psso. The stitch count dropped super fast like that. Fortunately it was possible to rip back and correct the mistakes.I am loving the colors in the scarf.
8 comments:
Dear Jason,
I think your yarn looks really great! And a scant 4 oz is really very good for your first real go with a wheel. Now you have to decide what to make with your beautiful new yarn. Don't forget. If you had to buy this in a store, you'd be paying plenty for it. All the texture makes it very unique:)
Because of the severe winters In your locale, I think mittens are in order for that skein! If I'm knitting in a group, I've got to have something really simple or it's bound to rip out a few rows.
I feel your pain. I haven't done the center-pull ball mess but... well... I feel your pain.
Next time, just use Andean plying. Trust me. This is a good thing. Oh... And use the book and popsickle stick method... Otherwise, you are literally chained to your wheel until you've gotten to the bracelet stage.
I'm sorry your having fiber challenges! BTW, that Ashland is one of my FAVORITE colorways! I'm happy to see it spun up finally!
I'm loving the colours in that scarf too! So sorry your having spinning woes -- bit of a learning curve, eh :-)
I think the yarn looks great! :) 4 oz sounds like a fair amount for a small project too... I'm too chicken to try plying yet.
I love the colours in your scarf and the way they catch the light. Shame about the plying, but the colour is great.
Thank you all for the good words, advice, and oh yeah, weather forecast (lol). I am going to knit a swatch and see how the yarn behaves. It's very soft. Maybe a hat or fingerless gloves. :-)
the color you picked for this scarf is beautiful!
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