2 Ply Process

Some people love singles and some love 2-ply, I guess that's true in life as well as in yarn. The advantage of 2-ply over singles is that singles tend to pill when knitted into something that gets a lot of abrasion and 2-ply does less of that. If you are knitting something like a hat or a scarf then I think it really doesn't matter much but if you are making something like a vest that would get rubbed by a coat or a shirt then the single would eventually get little pills of wool on the surface. Remember those sweater shavers and stones from years ago? I'm dating myself here - they worked better than endlessly pulling little balls of wool off your favorite sweater. When I think about making a 2-ply yarn I think about colors that look good together or are complimentary on the color wheel. This roving was dyed with Turquoise, Fire Red and Burnt Orange Acid Dyes. The wool is Punta from Argentina and feels like our Merino, not itchy at all. I dye the roving and then divide it into two equal lengths (there may be other ways to do this but I'm sharing how I generally work) I spin each length onto a separate bobbin using my Ashford Joy wheel. This is what the singles look like before they are married up on the larger box spinner. It looks like the colors are different but they are really from the same bit of roving.  

I then put these bobbins on a lazy kate and spin them together on the Ashford Country Spinner - an integral piece of equipment. The bobbin on that spinner is huge - I've never even come close to filling it. If I had to ply on the Joy the yarn would have several places where it is tied together as the smaller bobbins are filled, but by using the Country Spinner the yarn is one long continuous piece.

Here the finished yarn has been wound into a skein.

One more picture from the Ramble last week - Bob Brown and I playing our hammered dulcimers in the patio. Thanks to everyone who came and supported us. Bob leaves for Ireland at the end of June - this is his big dream and we want to help him get there. He will be playing at the Farmer's Markets on Saturdays until he leaves.