Plying the buffalo

No, I am definitely not wrangling buffalo. American bison are not to be messed with by amateurs!! But plying the fiber, yes please. This is my first time plying singles that are most definitely of woolen preparation (the fibers are every which way, as opposed to worsted preparation where the fibers are aligned), and plying two singles is a whole new experience. I can barely tell the twist, it is just a lovely fuzzy line. I used a top whorl spindle to ply because it is easier and the singles can take a little heavier spindle than the fluff. I did have one single break, but it was easy to felt the ends back together and keep plying. I rather like the two ply as well because I can ply every last inch of my precious fiber — the tail end left of one ball I just doubled up, felted the ends, and kept twisting.

Two ply hand spun buffalo yarn

After plying, I wrapped the yarn around my niddy noddy and rinsed it to set the twist. Once it was dry, I wound the skein into a cake. It is so soft! Now to decide what I am going to do with my precious little bundle of yarn.

Handspun buffalo yarn cake (with cat photobomb)