Skip to main content

Spinning Thinner - Its All About the Prep

I've been trying to spin thinner.  I'd like a 2-ply yarn that is smaller than DK but I've been unsuccessful .  I haven't really been prepping my fiber at all, just pulling off a strip and spinning, thinking I could draft out just what I needed.  Which has been resulting in a DK/Worsted/10wpi 2-ply.  



                               

It's just a bit too bulky for knitting garments suitable for wearing in South Carolina.

So for my second fiber of the Tour de Fleece 2020 spin I dove into my stash and came up with a very nice Suri Alpaca from Fawkes Farms Studio 'pencil roving'.


From Wikipedia: "Pencil roving is a type of roving that has been drawn until it is the size of a fat pencil. It can be used by spinners with minimal drafting (withdrawing fibers from a clump). Knitters also use pencil roving, similar to Lopi style yarns, or when making a thrummed item."

It didn't occur to me to split my regular sized roving down into a pencil roving...it felt like cheating somehow.  But look at this!



So much thinner!



This I can really work with!  I am very happy with this.


I had a little single ply left over after making 2-ply so I tried a Navajo chain 3-ply for the first time.



Needs a little work but not too shabby if I do say so myself 😁

I think I'll spend some time splitting down my fibers and prepping in advance for future spinning.

Comments