OK, so far, so good. Yesterday I did indeed do spinning from the fold. I decided my baby alpaca would be a good candidate, since it was a fiber I was nervous about spinning. (Although I am STILL nervous that I am going to ruin/waste such a lovely fiber by playing around with it....but what good does it do me, sitting there staring at me? I have to try something with it, right?)
I read quite a few different online tutorials, and I don't want to recommend one here at this point, because I'm not sure any of them was a standout on its own. In fact, a few of them recommended quite different methods, and I haven't played around enough to know if one is better than the other....I may try more of this method today.
So, here is my short segment of alpaca fiber:
Same segment of fibre, folded over with a bit drafted out to join my leader:
I have no while spinning pics, as I had no one to hold the camera. It's hard enough as it is to take pictures of your right hand when you're right-handed. My left hand is not very good at holding the camera AND pressing the button!
I realized after I started spinning that I wanted to try a few methods out to see what worked with this fiber, so I did start creating some samples. I have a large length of single spun up last night, but also these two plied samples (plied using Andean, of course!):
Not much difference between them. On the left is one I spun "regularly", with no predrafting (just split this incredibly airy and beautiful top in half). On the right is one from the fold. The one on the right is maybe a bit softer--the one on the left feels just a tad tight, although it seems balanced. Both were spun after I switched the wheel back to double drive, which revealed a big dilemma to me. I found it much easier to get the take-up I wanted on double-drive....I had started the alpaca in Scotch tension, and kept having to tighten it a bit more to get it to take up before it got WAY overtwisted. This was not an issue in double drive. However, the bobbin rattles like CRAZY in double, and not at all in Scotch. I already have some yarn on the spindle to keep it quiet, but it was a ridiculous racket. So I'm not sure what to do now....
I'm also not sure what technique I'm going to try today, although I'm thinking I need to try out worsted v. woolen to see that difference. Wish me luck!
I read quite a few different online tutorials, and I don't want to recommend one here at this point, because I'm not sure any of them was a standout on its own. In fact, a few of them recommended quite different methods, and I haven't played around enough to know if one is better than the other....I may try more of this method today.
So, here is my short segment of alpaca fiber:
Same segment of fibre, folded over with a bit drafted out to join my leader:
I have no while spinning pics, as I had no one to hold the camera. It's hard enough as it is to take pictures of your right hand when you're right-handed. My left hand is not very good at holding the camera AND pressing the button!
I realized after I started spinning that I wanted to try a few methods out to see what worked with this fiber, so I did start creating some samples. I have a large length of single spun up last night, but also these two plied samples (plied using Andean, of course!):
Not much difference between them. On the left is one I spun "regularly", with no predrafting (just split this incredibly airy and beautiful top in half). On the right is one from the fold. The one on the right is maybe a bit softer--the one on the left feels just a tad tight, although it seems balanced. Both were spun after I switched the wheel back to double drive, which revealed a big dilemma to me. I found it much easier to get the take-up I wanted on double-drive....I had started the alpaca in Scotch tension, and kept having to tighten it a bit more to get it to take up before it got WAY overtwisted. This was not an issue in double drive. However, the bobbin rattles like CRAZY in double, and not at all in Scotch. I already have some yarn on the spindle to keep it quiet, but it was a ridiculous racket. So I'm not sure what to do now....
I'm also not sure what technique I'm going to try today, although I'm thinking I need to try out worsted v. woolen to see that difference. Wish me luck!
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