May
29th 2007
The Blackhole Of Plying

Posted under spinning

Between errands and some frenetic housekeeping, I was able to get some spinning done over the weekend. I mostly plied the blue Colonial into a 2-ply yarn.

At first I thought that I would never fill the bobbin up. Just when I thought I was stuck in the blackhole of plying, I managed to achieve escape velocity and fill up a bobbin. I even wound it all onto the niddy noddy!

I’m fairly happy with the way it turned out. I still think that I could have spun a more consistent single and plied more consistently as well. I’m hoping that I’ll be happier once I give the yarn a bath.

Here’s a final shot of the yarn with my finger in it. I’m happy with the weight and I think I’ll be able to get away with knitting a shawl out of it. I’m just undecided on which pattern to use. I’m thinking either the Flower Basket Shawl or the Seraphim.

I still have about half a bobbins worth of singles left on both bobbins so it’s back to plying!

21 Responses to “The Blackhole Of Plying”

  1. chris on 29 May 2007 at 1:40 pm #

    It looks wonderful!!

  2. Karen B. on 29 May 2007 at 2:14 pm #

    Ooh! My vote is for Seraphim, please. That shawl would be divine in your handspun.

  3. Veronica on 29 May 2007 at 5:22 pm #

    I’m diggin the Seraphim as well, but they are both beautiful… Win Win!

    :)

  4. Hattie on 29 May 2007 at 8:04 pm #

    I’m gonna agree with the others and say seraphim!

    I hope I get a wheel too! Compared to what I’ve got, that would be heaven…lol.

  5. debbie on 29 May 2007 at 10:34 pm #

    i love the colorway of your spun yarn - it would look beautiful knit up in either pattern!

  6. Dee on 30 May 2007 at 2:18 am #

    I love the flecks of pink in the yarn. What a beautiful color. It will make a very nice shawl.

  7. Peggy on 30 May 2007 at 3:04 am #

    How satisfying it must be to knit a project by first creating your own yarn. It is very lovely and I am sure both patterns will do just to your work.

  8. knitnana on 30 May 2007 at 3:38 am #

    Yup. I think Seraphim, too. THAT is GORGEOUS! You have to be so proud of yourself!!!
    (((hugs)))

  9. Shelly on 30 May 2007 at 3:51 am #

    Oh good! I am not the only one who gets into a black hole of plying at times! I suggest the Seraphim too!
    Huggs!

  10. Alison on 30 May 2007 at 3:53 am #

    Absolutely beautiful job!

  11. Kat on 30 May 2007 at 4:14 am #

    WOW, that is gorgeous yarn!!! That’s what I shooting for someday–although it’s not gonna happen with my current spinning. :-)

    I’m voting for Seraphim, too.

  12. limedragon :-: Harriet on 30 May 2007 at 5:55 am #

    It looks fantastic! : )

  13. Christine on 30 May 2007 at 5:58 am #

    Whichever pattern you choose, it’s going to be a beautiful shawl with your handspun!

  14. Roseann on 30 May 2007 at 7:21 am #

    Your yarn is so pretty, and looks quite even from your pictures. Like I would tell my spinning students, if you want perfect yarn, buy it! Instead you have this beautiful and unique yarn that no one else has. I think the Flower Basket Shawl would look very nice in these colors and I look forward to seeing what you pick!

  15. Peggy on 30 May 2007 at 9:51 am #

    I’m tagging you for a meme! Details on the May 30th post on my blog.http://knittingtherapy.blogspot.com/

  16. Jane on 30 May 2007 at 4:26 pm #

    Beautiful job on the spinning! Your yarn looks wonderful to me and I have to say that the Flower Basket Shawl might be more interesting to knit and would be magnificent in that lovely laceweight yarn. Also, I think Seraphim has some realtively solid areas of knitting until you get to the bottom. If you are not satisfied with how even your yarn is, it might make you nervous. However, I think that much of the charm of spinning it yourself is the fact that it’s not like manufactured yarn. Like Raku pottery, the beauty is in the imperfections that nature and you bring to the work. Lovely!

  17. joy on 30 May 2007 at 6:39 pm #

    as much as i love seraphim, i can’t imagine going through all of that stockinette. FBS, says the knitter with ADD. ^_^

  18. Asaknitter on 01 Jun 2007 at 8:31 am #

    That yarn is really beautiful - perfect for flower basket shawl!

  19. Laughingrat on 01 Jun 2007 at 12:02 pm #

    Oh wow, that turned out real nice. I vote for Flower Basket, somehow I think it would be extra pretty in that. Obviously it will be nice whichever you choose to knit!

    I love the astronomy references. A long time ago I was a stargaze instructor at my university…a lot of the numbers I had memorized are gone out of my head now, but I still love astronomy.

  20. Kirsten on 03 Jun 2007 at 4:05 pm #

    It certainly looks consistant and gorgeous to me!
    That yarn will make a spectacular shawl, whichever you choose.

  21. wendi on 03 Jun 2007 at 9:04 pm #

    Wow, Opal! The spun yarn is beautiful! And you made so much of it too. Another amazing love and skill to wrap around your heart. Very cool.

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