Monday, January 4, 2010

Dopey's Mist yarn

Over December, I've been processing and spinning Dopey's (wether) fleece.
I've a yen for light gray with a red accent so I dyed some with Landscape "Mist" - which is now spun and with Kool Aid "Black Cherry" - below, not yet processed.
dopeyYarn090001
The woolen spinning was done with the softer fibers carded and ended up as 3-ply:
A hank drying:
dopeyYarn090010
A Hank twisted:
dopeyYarn090016
A knitted swatch - from 7 - 5 mm needles :
dopeyYarn090019
The vital statistics: 321 gms, 371 meters, 8 - 10 , modal ave 9 wpi, 3-ply.
Singles spun at 5.5:1, with 10 treadles out to 22 inches and 2 in then pyled at 5.5:1.
Very bouncy!
The coarser, longer fibers were combed (but not in tip to bottom order therefore it is semi-worsted). The wheel spun at 12:1 over 1" for this and plied at 9:1 over 1".
dopeyYarn090023
It's vital statistics are: 2-ply, 289 meters, 129 gms, approx 12 wpi. Very strong but light.
Suitable for my 30/10 heddle.
The left=overs from the combing are being spun on a spindle to make lumpy-bumpy textured yarn. Real nice to do after the discipline of the woolen and worsted.
dopeyYarn090022
An assortment form the same fleece:
dopeyYarn090018

The amount of shrinkage after washing the hanks was remarkably consistent - the niddy-noddy winds 1.8 meters and in each of 10 hanks, woolen, worsted or lumpy-bumpy, it was down to 1.68 meters after finishing and drying. The good thing is that if it is knit or woven without undue tension, it will not shrink further when made up.
The misty grey is a little nicer in real life and it should be good when the red is combined in a weave of knit - all I have to do is process the red stuff now. Here we go again!

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2 comments:

Bionic Laura said...

I'm loving that grey yarn looks great!

Catherine said...

Thanks Laura. Have tried a little weaving with the thinner stuff and the lumpy-bumpy. Surprised to find I like the lumpy bumpy best!