Trenchwork

Some bouts of TMJ have kept me off the computer, away from reading, and away from knitting. I have, however, been able to spin, and I have something to show you. First:

There are two things here. The navy blue with the dime is Corriedale. It’s not anything you really need (or want) to look at, but I’m including it for a reason. It’s the scrap of fiber I used immediately after I set up the Rose and was trying to figure out things like brake strings, whorls, tensions, and twists, which means that it’s not precisely pretty and definitely not consistent. That, however, is not the reason it’s in the photo. The reason it’s there is because I learned something important. I’ll tell you in a moment.

The brownish stuff with the Norwegian kroner is Blue-faced Leicester, but the photo isn’t particularly correct; the yarn is actually a nice heathery oatmeal. The darker tones here are more accurate:

Here’s the obligatory dime shot for scale:

The Stats.

Fiber: Corriedale, indigo colorway, from Kendig Cottage. (The navy blue stuff.)
Weight: 1.6 ounces.
Yardage: ca 84 yards.
WPI: ca 13.
Spun on: Rose. This is the stuff which was the test fiber to set up the wheel, and is accordingly ugly.

Fiber: Blue-faced Leicester, oatmeal, from Kendig Cottage.
Weight: 7.2 ounces.
Yardage: ca 400 yards.
WPI: 13-16.
Spun on: Rose.

The Lessons.

The BFL first. I span this after spinning the dyed merino, and the Cormo before that. The BFL surprised me. The roving was amazingly open, and I found the fibers surprisingly slippery compared to the previous two. The Cormo had a slightly grabby feel in the drafting process, and the dyed merino was very similar in feel after being dyed. The BFL, however, slips past itself as freely as—and much more gracefully than—I slip around on ice. There was absolutely no grab in the roving. I was also surprised by how hairy the stuff was! Or how it wanted to cling to nearly everything. And then I was surprised at how the yarn seemed to acquire a very slight halo when I set the twist; it’s not perfectly smooth. Nor is it as crisp as the Cormo. It has a softness which I like, and I find myself wondering what it would be like as a single plied with silk.

Remembering the earlier problem with over-plying, I deliberately made myself count treadles and focus on a rhythm. I’ve realized that, like Janice, I prefer the roundness of a more firmly plied yarn (the Rauma in the blue sweater was a real reminder), but I seem to be adding twist after I’ve plied. Counting treadles helped me control that, but it’s still not perfect. Instead of 10 beats, I need to aim for 7.

My original intent was to spin a laceweight. That changed thirty seconds after I started. I realized that I was going to have plenty of chance to work on spinning laceweight with some very cool fibers which are sitting in the wings, and I can always get more BFL. Instead, I decided just . . . spin . . . and see what came out. I wanted to know where I had begun to feel “at home” in spinning. That “at home” seems to be between 13-16 wraps per inch.

This is why that ugly blue Corriedale is important. That Corriedale is the setup fiber for the Rose. It’s what I span when I was trying to figure out how all those little knobs and grooves and twisty bits that make up a spinning wheel actually worked. It is the very first fiber to touch a wheel. And, as uneven as it is, that ugly yarn measures in at 13 wraps per inch.

13 wraps per inch. That seems to be the magic number. It is—at this point in time, anyway—the heart of “home” territory for me. So, when I don’t pay attention and just let the spin spin, I spin 13 and finer.

I think that’s interesting. I’m not altogether sure why I think that’s interesting, and I’m fairly certain that no one else will, but hey—I’m a new fiberholic who thinks nearly everything is interesting.

I’m not entirely certain what to do with the BFL. There isn’t enough to make a shawl, but it gives me a good idea of what I can get out of almost 8 ounces of fiber. A full pound should net me about 1200 yards for a shawl. But for now, I have 400 yards of slightly uneven fingering-weight two-ply. And while I would like the color for an Aran sweater, I’d like more color for a lacy scarf—which I can get from these 400 yards. That leaves me trying to figure out what color to dye. I find myself leaning toward a blue or red.

That Corriedale? It’s not liable to be used any time soon; it’s too irregular. It’s my gut-check spinning. It’ll stay marked and tagged and help me remember what 13wpi looks like, at least until “home” changes.