I transferred all my three-ply hand spun Jacob’s sheep yarn to my PVC niddy noddy.
I like the PVC niddy noddy because I can rinse the hanks while still on the niddy noddy. I usually let them dry there too, but I put too much yarn on and the noddy niddy came apart when I twisted it to dry, so I had to hang the hanks instead.
I am pleased that the yarn is well balanced. There are no kinks or twists, it is all laying nice and straight.
All the singles I spun with my Jacob’s wool from Sweetgrass farms had sat on their bobbins for a few days, so it was time to ply! I put a makeshift brake on the bobbins on their stands on the wheel. I used a cotton string and applied enough tension so that the bobbins will turn, but not spin freely. This saves me from future tangles.
I used the silver single spun with the remaining two bobbins of dark colored singles, then when the dark ran out, chain plied the silver. I ended up with two jumbo bobbins full of three-ply yarn, and two regular bobbins half-full of yarn.
I need my bobbins free, so this yarn doesn’t get to let time set the twist. Next up is the niddy noddy.
I finished spinning singles from my two colors of Jacob’s wool roving.
I had extra of the silver colored roving, so I spun that up by itself.
Now to ply.
I liked the two-tone Jacob’s sheep roving spun up so much that I decided to make more marled yarn with the other two colors of Jacob’s roving I bought from Sweetgrass Jacobs farm.
I pulled the ends from both balls of roving and am spinning them together on my Ashford Traveller spinning wheel.
It will take longer to spin this two color yarn, just because there is more. My plan is to chain ply it like I did for my other marled yarn, and then make plans for a warm vest.
When I was in Michigan I visited the Sweetgrass Jacob’s Sheep farm and picked up a bump of two-tone roving. The shepherdess told me it a pain to separate out the colors for the mill, but I’m very glad they do because this was fun to spin. I chose to spin it with my Ashford Traveller spinning wheel fitted with the standard whorl and the sliding jumbo flyer, but with a standard size bobbin.
The standard bobbin held all the singles I spun from the bump, barely. I should have started with the jumbo bobbin, but now I know.
I love how this yarn is coming out! The random variations in the color ratios make me happy. Now, I’m not usually a fan of knitted variegated yarn, so I’ll have to ponder the use of this yarn for a while.
Critters and Craft 