Disappointment and Delight

There was a time when I was spinning the same type of yarn over and over again and I could reliably get the yardage I wanted. Apparently that time is no more, if my latest skein is to be believed.

I spun up this Southern Cross Fibre Shetland as my typical three-ply fingering weight. While I'm happy with how this yarn turned out, I'm somewhat baffled by the finished yardage -- only about 287 yards. Typically, my yarn of this type ends up being between 350 and 400 yards -- sometimes even upwards of that. On the one hand, the amount of fiber I had was a bit less than usual (110 grams, or about 3.9 ounces). Still, I don't think an extra tenth of an ounce would have made much of a difference, so the reason is still a mystery.

After I finished plying the Shetland, I immediately started spinning something new -- and what difference! This is SCF South African Superfine/mulberry silk, a 50/50 blend. And it is amazingly soft. I'd originally intended to spin a two-ply fingering weight, but as soon as I started spinning I realized this fiber wants to be spun extra fine, no doubt due to the high silk content.

This is not going to be a quick spin, that's for sure; what you see on the bobbin is probably three or four hours of spinning. But I just know that it's going to be absolutely stunning when it's done.

I received some more sparkle in the mail this week in the form of a Tour de Fleece prize from the Fat Cat Knits team. Ginny, knowing how much Rainbow loved the sparkly yarn I spun during the Tour, send me 4 oz. of blended merino/sparkle top in addition to an FCK t-shirt and some awesome handspun tags.

This fiber will be a fun spin -- and take a wild guess who's already claimed it!