Monday, September 7, 2009

Fiber Friday on a Monday

I think this is the shortest period of time that any fiber has sat in my stash waiting to be spun up.

BFL jupiter

Blue Faced Leicester Galaxy in the Jupiter colorway, from Spunky Eclectic's brick and mortar store.

Spun up woolen-style at 9:1. I went down a few ratios because I wanted to experiment with "real" long draw. What I ended up doing was more like double drafting - using long draw to get a single, then going back and drafting out the lumps. I predrafted the top along the whole length, pulled off chunks and fluffed them out a bit more, then folded them in half and drafted out of the middle of the chunk. It was very much like spinning from the fold, but the fibers got a bit more disorganized as the chunk got smaller.

Spunky E BFL in progress

I ended up with some light and fuzzy, but pretty uneven singles! After a few days, the singles were plied at 9:1. One bobbin had a lot more on it then the other, so I waited a bit to let the twist calm down before I plied. This was my first time trying to ply from a center pull ball, and it worked out ok. The final yarn ended up overplied by about 2.5 twists/skein. After a soak in warm water with a bit of wool wash, the skeins were balanced.

BFL jupiter
This is probably the best representation of the colors

Final stats: 9-14 wpi (mostly 12-14), 258 yds, 3.8 oz/107 gr. A good fingering-sport weight. I think this, knit at a tight gauge, will make some good gloves for someone.

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