In any case, I do have another yarn to show you, though this one might be called boring relative to some of the handspun you've seen here in recent weeks.
A month or two ago, while perusing the spinning corner of my LYS, I came across an 8 oz. bag of beautiful moorit-colored Shetland top from Louet. At $12.50 for 8 oz., it was too good a deal to pass up, especially because I'd been wanting to try Shetland again (my previous experience with it wasn't all that wonderful, and as so many people seem to rave about this breed, I figured it was worth another go). The first batch I'd spun was a little on the scratchy side, but I suspect that had something to do with the dye. This fiber was a natural color, and while it certainly wasn't the softest fiber ever, it was a much more pleasurable spin.
I opted to spin a traditional three ply and aimed for my usual fingering weight. This was my first time plying such a large amount on my miniSpinner, and I was pleased as punch that by the time one bobbin ran out of singles, I still had a little bit of space left of the bobbin. This monster skein is almost 550 yards. I was hoping for a little more than that, but I guess I didn't spin my singles as thin as I thought I was.
The leftovers on the other two bobbins were paltry enough that it wasn't worth trying to divide them up and do all sorts of crazy splicing, so I chain plied one bobbin's worth until it ran out and then spliced in the rest. The resulting skein-lette is about 22.5 yards.
The finished yarn isn't super soft, but it's not really scratchy either. I'm thinking that it will be good for a cozy shawl or a set of accessories, or maybe I'll keep it and spin up some other fiber to combine it with for a garment. Regardless, it was a fun spin, and I definitely see why so many people love Shetland now.
I really like that. I think the idea of a shawl is very appealing... You can wear it and feel a little Scottish. (That may be my childhood love of Lorna Doone coming through!) As usual, your spinning has that fabulous neat look from the plying.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely spin it turned out lovely and it would make a lovely shawl that would make use of the stickiness of the yarn and actually allow the shawl to stay on the shoulder.
ReplyDeleteFunny how you have heard great things about Shetland, personally I Iove it however, here in Oz there is often a negativity towards it, I pay no attention to this ;D
love your spins they are always pretty :)
As much as I love fun colors, I think there's a huge appeal to natural colors too. As always, nicely done!
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