Sunday, January 17, 2010

The Never Ending Polypay Fleece Project

I have this 3lb polypay fleece that I bought about 3 years ago. I dyed the entire fleece in shades of pink and purple, and set out to spindle the entire fleece. Well, I have completed my 5th skein! Mind you, this is something I work on from time to time, because the staple length is short and I have to comb out each lock with my pet comb. When I set my mind to it, the combing out can go very quickly. So can the spinning -when I choose to work on it. I've been very happy with the way my skeins have turned out - all in the 260-290 yard range, fingering weight, and tightly plied.
I've been trying out a new way of plying as I normally ply right off the spindle. This time, I've wound the fiber from two spindles onto a paper towel roll and plyed from that. Much easier, less tangled, and most importantly - much faster plying. I also did all the plying via thigh rolling as this increases the speed tremendously.
Please excuse the pics as they were taken with my blackberry. And without further ado...Here are the pics.


First Yarn of the New Year!


first yarn of new year
Originally uploaded by nkosit1968
I actually finished this yarn around the 3rd or 4th of January, but had computer issues. I took the photo with my blackberry, so they aren't the clearest, but it'll have to suffice.
This is a 430 yard skein of romney/corriedale fleece spun up on my columbine wheel. It will be good for a pair of long socks as the wool appears to be very strong. I think it's also destined to be overdyed as it is a very pale green color.