The Call of the Wheel

I’ve finally succumbed to the call of the wheel. It’s been quite a while since I’ve spent a solid amount of time spinning and I’ve found it so relaxing. A few years ago I started spinning for a gansey. I bought some roving from Halcyon Yarns in Bath, Maine, but didn’t really have the ambition to spin something for a big project so didn’t get enough of the color. Once I’d made the decision to work towards the gansey yarn, I ordered a new allotment of the “medium” mix of their domestic wool blend. I knew it would be different from what I originally had but reasoned that I could perhaps ply the 2 together and be okay but when I got the second lot, it was actually a dark brown (the first was a brownish-grey). I’ve actually ended up with 3 different shades now so I’m wondering what to do with it.

I’ve got about 750g of the single ply yarn spun and about 650g of raw fiber left to spin. I’m trying to decide whether I’ll ply it with 2 or 3 strands. The impatient part of me wants to do 2 ply but I know that 3 ply will provide better stitch definition as well as cover up my less than perfect plies!

I think I’m going to order a pound or two of the medium mix again and see if it will help the blending process. If I use the medium and darker versions, plied together, it will make a very pretty tweedy yarn.

In case you’re wondering what the single plies are on, those are spools of my own making. I took those swimming pool noodles, cut them down and hollowed out the part where the yarn is to make a spool. They already have holes in the middle which can be loaded on a dowel, making plying a breeze and storage easy peasy.

P.S. If you ever get a chance to visit Halcyon Yarn, jump at it. When I lived in DC, I went up for a weekend for a spinning with Shetland wool class and fell in love with the shop, the area and Shetland wool! If they would give me a job, I would move there in a heartbeat!!!