With A Twist

Remember the Pencil Roving I spun up a while ago? Well, I’ve been looking at it, and thinking about what to make with it, and deciding that it probably wasn’t strong enough as it was. And I didn’t want to ply it at the thickness I’d originally spun it to, because then it would be too thick.

So I re-spun it.

It’s thinner now, and has more twist to it. And so it’s stronger. Add to that the fact that I’m playing it back on itself, and it’s quite strong enough to knit into a sweater. (If I determine that I have enough of it for that. I’m just hoping for a small sweater, maybe a tank or cropped sweater.)

I was also able to learn a new technique while working on getting the yarn the way I wanted it. I’ve been reading SPIN TO KNIT by Shannon Okey, and various plying methods are described and demonstrated there. So, I tried my hand at Andean plying. (Pun very much intended, though also probably lost on those of you who don’t know how to Andean ply. Don’t be ashamed; up until this weekend, that was me, too. I’ll include a picture for demonstration. It’s a bit blurry. Sorry.)

It was a fun technique. However, I later tried it on a larger section of singles (yarn spun the first time, before plying) and that was a lot of yarn to hold on my wrist like that. It didn’t always want to come off in order to ply because of the sheer amount of bulk. (It also started to cut off the circulation in my fingers while I was getting it ready, but that’s another story.)

The result?

A very cute baby-skein of yarn that I can use to swatch with. (My sister called it a slug. Humph.)

It’s actually sitting on the book, open to the Andean plying page.

Speaking of sitting on the book…

Suzy learned how to spin this weekend. Though I don’t think she cared much for the lessons.

Mom. Let me sleep. See? My eyes are closed. Don’t poke me - I don’t care that you want your book back.