A spinning experiement

Recently I purchased some dyed roving in what we will call turquoise and chartreuse. I had seen these colors together elsewhere and wanted to spin them together. My idea was to spin singles in each color, then a single with both colors combined, ending with a three-ply yarn.

I was somewhat disappointed in the quality of the yarn. It felt overly processed and stiff, and it was not much fun to spin. Looking back, I should have teased the fibers apart before spinning, to see if I could get them to draft better into the twist.

To blend the two colors, I used my blending board, layering one color, then the other, then rolling them together to create a rolag.

If I were to do this again (and I just might!), I would take the rolag and reblend it, as the colors were not actually mixed. The resulting single was mostly one color or the other or the two "barber poled" around each other. Not exactly what I was aiming for.

My spinning wheel has two spindles on it, but for a three-ply, I needed a lazy kate. I don't currently have one, so I rigged one up with US8 knitting needles and a shoe box. This worked fine, although a little drag on the bobbins would have been helpful.

I like the colors, but the result was not quite what I was aiming for. I like the bulky three-ply yarn, but there isn't enough to do anything with it. These are both good excuses to get more roving and give it another whirl. Right?