Well, that's all I've got to say about that.
All that angst was by way of trying to figure out a title for yet-another-fiber-spinning post. After all, how many times can one use "What I'm Working On Today" as a post title?
I'm working on two projects here (which is so not fun when one has only one wheel). Now there's a post title for you: "I Need Anudder Wheel!" ANYWAY, I've been trying to make a companion single for that single 2 posts down. You know, the alpaca/tussah silk noil-y/merino bumpy stuff. The same fiber-pusher, Leah, of Yarn Or A Tale, ALSO has these fab superwash Merino laps (did I tell you this already?). You can see them here; just scroll down to the bottom and look for the superwash merino lambswool laps. I'm going to see if she'll let me "borrow" her photos to put in here. Warning: I've got dibs on 2 pounds from her, so I hope there're some left for youse guys :-). Nota bene: She said "Yes"!
Now, as a spinner, I'm very prejudiced against superwash fibers. Yes, I know - ugly of me. In all fairness (to me) though, many superwash fibers are horrid-beyond-words to spin. They're plastic-y feeling. They...squeek (yuck)...when you handle them. There's almost nothing ickier to a spinner than trying to spin plastic. But this superwash is incredible! Not surprisingly - it being merino (lambswool!) - it's as soft as a cloud and amazingly easy to spin. It flies through the fingers effortlessly and is very controllable. Providing one uses the right-sized whorl, that is. Unfortunately, I spun nearly half of the sample she sent with my 'bumpy' alpaca order (that's how she 'hooks' new converts to her superwash laps, don't you know) on a too-large whorl. When I went to 'sample' it with The Bumpy Stuff , it literally fell apart every few inches. This is a lesson I thought I'd already learned: one must - simply must - spin short, fine fibers with appropriate twist! Yes, indeedy! For the third time, I've learned that lesson. ::sigh::
The color contrast it provides with the bumpy alpaca/silk/merino mix is really, really nice. It isn't so high a contrast that it's going to look terribly marled. I'm hoping the contrast will be fairly subtle. If it isn't, all is not lost. I'll just spin a very smooth single of more fawn alpaca/tussah (from my own stash, probably) to provide a textural contrast, rather than a color one. Then, I'll just spin up the superwash into some glorious sock yarn. I do wish the color variations would show up in a photo, because it is truly lovely. Unfortunately, my photo-taking abilities are laughable. I can hardly turn the stupid camera on, let alone figure out how to use it :-(
My second project is using more Cormo, but this time I want to try to make a 2-ply worsted weight. Wish me luck, won't you? I'm going to need it. Not that I deserve it. I concentrated so hard (when first learning to spin) on learning how to spin very thin singles, that I can now only spin that way. I am NOT HAPPY with myself. I was warned. I can't say I wasn't. Books warned me. People warned me. I told myself that it didn't matter because that's the only way I wanted to spin: thinly! (do we see the operation of the devil's 'virtue' called PRIDE, here?) :::sigh:::
Just call me short-sighted (if you wish to be kind). I'm just going to call me 'stupid' and be done with it. Now, I know perfectly well that some of you at this point are saying, "Yes, but...! You can make a worsted weight yarn out of thin singles. Just use 3 or 4 plies." Riiiiight. That means filling up the requisite number of bobbins, and 3 or 4 times the amount of work. That's discouraging, to say the least! This isn't a special project (though it certainly could be, I suppose). I just need to make more yarn to pay for my rather expensive passion of spinning!
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