In the meantime, here's the latest. I'm posting the Flickr photo which has a couple of notes in it, so feel free to click over and get those as well. I've marked a section of loose ply in this photo, but there's a better example in the photo right before it. I've added a note to show you what I mean there. I think the loose ply happened when I got tired, and wasn't clever enough to quit. With an odd interruption here and there, it took me the better part of 9 hours to ply the 1100 yards, including stopping here and there to untwist a ply and straighten out a kink. Even so, I didn't get them all.
Folks, I love this blend. If it weren't for the stretches where I seem to have lost focus and forgotten to check the twist in the ply, and the occasional spot where a thinner single slipped through in a kink during the ply (creating a spiral), I'd be in love with this yarn. I haven't given up on fixing the underplied sections (either by running the skein back through the wheel and resetting the twist, or by cutting out that long stretch and handling it separately), but it's not something I have time to look at right now.
Here are the stats:
Fiber: Merino-Tencel (70-30) roving from Kendig Cottage.
Finished Weight: 432 grams/15.23 ounces
Yardage: ca 1100, 2-ply
WPI: 18.
Spun on: Rose and the .7 ounce Bossie.
I think that generally speaking, it's the most consistent I've done yet, but it is also the softest. It feels great. The three-ply merino-silk in Spin 7 has a cool, crisp feel which must come from the Tussah. But the Tencel creates an incredibly soft yarn while giving it the shine of silk, and I'd LOVE a sweater made of this blend.
4 comments:
It looks fabulous Rhonna, I don't think we're really seeking perfection as spinners, a couple of spots where its not quite gone the way you wanted it to are just part of its personality, if we could spin like a machine we might aswell buy it in but spinning like this is a labour of love and every inch of that yarn has been through your hands and can tell a story!
(grin) You're absolutely right, Jo, but I want it to tell the story *I* want it to tell rather than the one it tells because I told it badly. :-)
Seriously, my biggest concern is that the yarn is sound. Since I lose twist when I knit, those loosely plied sections (doggone it, how do you form the past tense of "ply"?) bother me much more than do the little spiral bits. And since *I* lose twist, I'm assuming other folks do, too--which makes the yarn ok for me to use, but not something I'd feel good about giving or selling to someone else.
Having said that, I've noticed that now that the yarn has fully dried, a lot of those loose spots which really stood out when it was wet are MUCH less noticeable now. It's amazing how much of a difference finishing the yarn actually makes!
Beautiful work Rhonna, and I rather like those "spots" for the same reasons Jo gave.
A sweater would be lovely!
And it is interesting to hear your comments about the Tencel..
It is lucious. Beautiful spinning. The differences will only enhance the final project. It will have personality.
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