Today’s WIP Wednesday WIP are all spinning projects. I have been spinning up some of the undyed BFL I bought as practice fiber back in July. I’ve already spun up a good bit of this fiber on various spindles, so now I’m seeing what it’s like on the wheel.
Blue Faced Leicester top from The Woolery spun on my Ladybug
It’s nice fiber to work with, and I love the color variation in the spun wool. That came as a surprise to me when I first started spinning the fiber because the top looks uniformly snow white. But when it is spun up, there are hints of pink, gray, beige, and green.
I also finished spinning the lovely BFL/silk blend top in the Peacock colorway that I bought from Greenwood Fiberworks. I originally intended to do a 2-ply yarn with this fiber, so I divided the top in half and spun each half onto a different bobbin. But once I had the singles spun,
A bobbin full of colorful singles
I knew I just had to keep the gorgeous colors separated, so I’m chain-plying it.
A bobbin full of colorful chain-plied BFL/silk
Don’t look to closely at my chain plying. It still leaves a lot to be desired, but it is definitely improving. I’m much more comfortable now chain-plying on my wheel, and it didn’t hurt that the singles from the first bobbin I plied didn’t break at any point during the plying. I am hopeful that the second bobbin will turn out even better.
Don’t fret. I haven’t forsaken knitting. I do have a knitting WIP, a pair of sock knitted from some of my handspun, but I don’t have any pictures of it yet, so you will have to wait for another day to see them. Think of it this way. You now have something to really look forward to. 😀
One of these days I’ll try chain plying. I’ve got something I’be been spinning that, theoretically, would love to be chain plied. If only I wasn’t scared to try.
My first attempts at chain-plying were on a spindle using a plying ball, which is just the single wound into a tight ball. I used a little hard bouncy ball as a base. (Back in the day they were called Super Balls.) I found it incredibly simple to do except for fiddling a bit with getting the right amount of twist. But chain-plying on the wheel is a whole other animal. It’s taken me several tries just to feel comfortable doing it, but I’m getting the hand of it. Don’t be scared to try; jump right in. For me the key is having the bobbin on a properly-tensioned lazy kate. I found this video to be the most helpful for me.
For some reason, the link to the video doesn’t appear in my reply. I guess that’s because I don’t have the version of WordPress that embeds videos, but I thought the link would show up. I’ll add the link to the blog post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmlwtojLXI8
Or not, because this time is show up in the reply. LOL
Those are beautiful colors. I’m glad to hear that chain plying works on a spindle. It’s on my list of things to learn, but not just yet.
If you know how to crochet, chain-plying will make a lot of sense. I thought it was really easy to do on a spindle. It took me about 10 seconds to get the hang of it. Chain-plying on the wheel is a whole other story. LOL