Spinning the singles

My fiber is prepared and ready to spin:

Next I need to decide what weight yarn I want, and whether to spin a single to knit, or singles to ply. If I'm plying, I will be N-plying (or chain plying) to keep the colors solid. I practiced on some undyed wool, and made this little card to remember what I was doing. The card is nothing special, ant piece of cardboard will do. I think this one is a label off of a piece of clothing. I wound the single around a few times, then let the singles ply themselves by holding three lengths together so they wound around each other. This will be my reference while I am spinning.

Just a quick clean and oiling for my wheel and I'll be ready. I have two wheels. I have a Louet S15, a gift from my mother. I believe she bought it in the early 1990s, and it has since been discontinued. I don't know why, it spins beautifully. I also have a RoadBug, a Christmas gift from my husband. It took me a little while to get used to this little wheel (going from a ST to a DT, and it is about a foot shorter than my Louet) but once I did, WOW. She spins like a dream, and I love that she has a spot for all her tools (oil and orifice hook) and the double treadle is wonderful.

Here's her picture, with my first day's spinning on it (I started with the hank of Arctic Ice. Love it!)

More spinning to do, but now I need to figure out what to make for dinner... ;)

Splitting the top

Today I'll be splitting the top to prepare for spinning. My plan is to split each piece into two, so I will be spinning six pieces of each color. Then, I'll be chain plying to keep the colors together.

First I laid out the three pieces of the Arctic Ice:

Then I split each one into two:

To split them, I push my fingers through the piece and feel each side, checking that they are equal.
Then, pull the sides apart all the way down the piece like this:

Then I wound up each piece with the light on the inside and dark on the outside.

I repeated this process on the Green Blue Violet hank. I took a look at the pieces and they still seemed too thick, so I split them again. Here is a comparison of each piece, the one on the right is the first splitting (1/6th of the hank), the one on the left is the second (1/12th of the hank).

I decided I liked the smaller piece, so split the rest of the Green Blue Violet and also the Arctic Ice.
Here are all the pieces.

After a mental head slap, I realized I would need to reverse half the cupcakes to make spinning easier. Now I can get to spinning!!

Scarf Spin A Long!

It is March and time to start the Striped Scarf Spin-A-Long! (See Ravelry for more info on prizes and how to get your kit!)

Cheryl dyed me a lovely Spin To Knit Scarf Kit - in the colorway "Kelp Forest".

which is a combination of the colors "Arctic Ice":

 and "Green Blue Violet":

 

 It's a Merino Tencel blend. Shiny and soft!!

Someone wanted to say hello...Hello!

Each hank of fiber is 4 ounces, in three pieces. My plan is to split each piece, and spin each of the six pieces, reversing every other one so there is no sudden color changes. Then I'll be chain plying the singles to keep the colors together.

Tomorrow, I'll split the pieces of top and get ready to spin! Woot!