Balanced At Last

I didn't spin at all last night. I was too busy fondling my new yarn. This stuff is soft.

I wish that I could write the kind of posts where I'd tell you all about how I created a particular skein of yarn but I can't because usually I just spin it up according to what feels good and hope that it doesn't look like a mess when I'm finished. I've taken classes and read magazines and I think that my spinnning has improved but it's a slow process because my skull is just a bit on the thick side and things take a while to sink in and all the number stuff - that never makes a dent. Recently I've seen a lot of discussion about wet finishing and how a little bit of abuse during the finishing process can be a good thing. Much of the discussion has been technical but the bit about using both hot and cold baths and a bit of agitation caught my attention so I tried it withth is skein and the result is a soft, squishy, and very pleasing yarn.



This fiber is a color called Sour Grapes from Spunky Eclectic which I spun over the past 2 weeks using a modified long draw. Since I learned the long draw last December it's become very comfortable. While I was spinning the singles I could swear that it all looked really nice and even but looking at the finished yarn I'm not so sure. I suspect that the finishing may have affected it a bit.

Over the weekend I got out 2 big buckets, had DH fill one with hot water and the other with cold and I went to town. First I dunked the skein in the hot bath. I let it soak and I agitated it for a few minutes before pulling it out and putting it in the cold bath. I repeated this 3 or 4 times before removing it, beating it and hanging it to dry without a weight.



Hanging the skein and not needing a weight was a kick because that's never happened before. In the past, my plying has been really tight and far from balanced and they yarn has been pleasing. I really love the neat and tidy look of a tightly plied yarn but the kinkiness I could do without.

So now I have a 200 yard skein of beautiful soft yarn in search of a purpose. A hat maybe?