#spinningchallenge15

[talviknits]

Spinning Challenge 2015: February

February task in Merinelle's spinning challenge was to spin self-striping or gradient yarn. Sounds easy enough? The challenge part was that you had to mix two or more colors, not spin straight from a top dyed to be striping or gradient.

I decided to go for a gradient three-ply in two colors, arranging the colors so that they flow from one to the other ply by ply.

The LYS stocks John Arbon's deliciously soft alpaca/BFL blend and I got two bumps, in natural white and natural black humbug.

I divided both bumps -- just by sight, didn't weigh them -- into 1/2, 1/3 and 1/6 parts, then sorted them in separate bags according to the above chart. Well, this is the colors reversed but the same idea.

Started spinning from the white end, ending with black, then plied in the reverse order. The second and third bobbins look pretty identical because you can't see how much white is underneath. The third bobbin was considerably lighter than the other two, so I apparently hadn't divided the bumps evenly.

In the plied yarn, there's considerably more solid white than solid black, and also much less two-plies-white, one-ply-black than vice versa. So not as evenly split as I'd planned.

On Ravelry: Gradient Experiment

Fiber: John Arbon Textiles 70% alpaca/30% BFL in natural white and black humbug

Yardage: 466 m/510 yd 

Skein weight: 190 g/6.7 oz 

Grist: 2454 m/kg or 1218 ypp 

Plies: 3 

Yarn weight: DK 

This was my first time spinning alpaca and only the second time doing three-ply, so still firmly outside my comfort zone. Which of course was a big part why I joined the challenge. Can't wait for what's in store for March!

[talviknits]

Spinning Challenge 2015: January

On a whim, I decided to join Merinelle's spinning challenge. The idea is to spin at least 100 g of fiber each month according to the monthly challenge, and to step out of your spinning comfort zone.

The January challenge was to duplicate a commercial yarn in terms of yarn weight and yardage.

For the commercial yarn, I chose Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals, an aran-weight wool/mohair blend, 80 m/50 g (88 yd/1.76 oz), partly because it was a thicker yarn but mainly because it was the only singles (as in not plied) yarn in my stash.

I'd never spun singles before. Of course, you always spin singles first before plying but I'd never spun singles deliberately and balanced singles, no less.

For the fiber, I chose a very-deep-stash merino from handpaintedyarn.com.

The commercial yarn was about 10-12 WPI, depending on whether you count the halo or not. Using that as a yardstick, I spun the fiber on the largest (slowest) whorl on my Sonata jumbo flyer, 5:1 ratio.

The finished single was shocked (fulled) by sinking it alternating in super hot and ice cold water. I wasn't quite sure of what it should look like coming out so I repeated the shock treatment three times. After the third time, the yarn looked like it would be a completely felted blob if I shocked it any further, so I stopped there and let it rest in a lukewarm bath with a splash of vinegar before hanging out to dry.

In places, the yarn weight is pretty close to the original...

and in others, clearly not.

Drafting evenly was a challenge, but on average, the yarn comes to the 10-12 wraps per inch of the original.

Texture is quite different because the commercial yarn is a shiny and slick wool/mohair blend and my fiber was fluffy merino. And I was able to get much more yardage per pound out of the merino. Very airy and fluffy indeed, even though it was spun worsted.

On the whole, I'm very pleased with how my first ever singles yarn turned out. It might not resemble the commercial yarn in every respect but at least it's thicker and fluffier than what I usually spin. Come to think of it, it looks more like Malabrigo Merino Worsted.

On Ravelry: Blueberries

Fiber: Handpaintedyarn.com merino roving in "Arandanos" (blueberries in Spanish)

Yardage: 394 m (436 yd)

Skein weight: 107 g (3.8 oz)

Grist: 368 m/100 g or 1828 ypp

Plies: 1

Yarn weight: Worsted/Aran