It's a question that seems to pop up fairly regularly in various forums, workshops and in general spinning conversations.
How do you know how much to ply?
When I first learned to spin I was taught that if I let my singles ply back on themselves it would show me the correct amount of plying twist. This is true, providing your singles are completely fresh. That's the part that nobody told me, or I failed to pick up on. It seems to be something pretty common with many beginner spinners, the most obvious "fault" with many of their skeins is that they are under-plyed. Twist goes dormant (i.e. it hides), so you end up putting in less plying twist than you actually need. When you hold up a length of your plyed yarn it looks like it's hanging well, and not twisting, but as soon as it hits water the spinning twist dominates, and your yarn ends up being under-plyed.
Even if you only spun your singles a couple of hours ago the twist in them is still dormant enough to not allow you to accurately judge plying twist.
One trick is to break off a section of singles as soon as you have spun them, let them ply back on themselves and keep them as a reference for your plying.
Of course, most of us aren't that organised, or end up loosing the reference piece. So a good rule of thumb is to feel like you're over-plying. The chances are you're not, you're probably judging it just right. If you struggle maybe try going up a ratio on your wheel.
When you take your skein off the bobbin it will be twisty and you'll think you've over done it. However, panic not!
How do you know how much to ply?
When I first learned to spin I was taught that if I let my singles ply back on themselves it would show me the correct amount of plying twist. This is true, providing your singles are completely fresh. That's the part that nobody told me, or I failed to pick up on. It seems to be something pretty common with many beginner spinners, the most obvious "fault" with many of their skeins is that they are under-plyed. Twist goes dormant (i.e. it hides), so you end up putting in less plying twist than you actually need. When you hold up a length of your plyed yarn it looks like it's hanging well, and not twisting, but as soon as it hits water the spinning twist dominates, and your yarn ends up being under-plyed.
Even if you only spun your singles a couple of hours ago the twist in them is still dormant enough to not allow you to accurately judge plying twist.
One trick is to break off a section of singles as soon as you have spun them, let them ply back on themselves and keep them as a reference for your plying.
Of course, most of us aren't that organised, or end up loosing the reference piece. So a good rule of thumb is to feel like you're over-plying. The chances are you're not, you're probably judging it just right. If you struggle maybe try going up a ratio on your wheel.
When you take your skein off the bobbin it will be twisty and you'll think you've over done it. However, panic not!
These are the same skein of yarn. The first photo is fresh off the bobbin. I'd spun the singles up over a period of several days, so the twist, particularly on the first 50g was pretty stale. The skein appears to be horribly over-plyed. It twists back on itself at least 3 times, and has lots of kinks. Once it had a bath in warm water however, everything is fine, it hangs perfectly straight with no kinks.
It's worth mentioning that by washing I don't mean fulling. The skein went in a basin of warm water, the temperature I do dishes in, so hand hot, with a squirt of washing up liquid.
I don't recommend the rinse free wool washes. They cause more problems than they solve, particularly with colour bleeding. They seem to cause dye to leach out when the same skein rinses clear using regular detergents. I recently washed a pair of wool tights in some Soak, as I wasn't doing a hand wash machine cycle anytime soon. These tights have been washed countless times, but the water in the sink was full of dye particles...
I then rinse in water of the same temperature. Squeeze out excess water, and leave to dry. Nothing complicated, no thwacking, no stamping, the water will do quite enough to even out twist, and I don't want fulled yarn most of the time. If I'm in a hurry I might roll the skein up in a towel and gently stand on it to squeeze out excess moisture.
So next time you're plying, just try adding a bit more twist, it will transform your handspun.
It's worth mentioning that by washing I don't mean fulling. The skein went in a basin of warm water, the temperature I do dishes in, so hand hot, with a squirt of washing up liquid.
I don't recommend the rinse free wool washes. They cause more problems than they solve, particularly with colour bleeding. They seem to cause dye to leach out when the same skein rinses clear using regular detergents. I recently washed a pair of wool tights in some Soak, as I wasn't doing a hand wash machine cycle anytime soon. These tights have been washed countless times, but the water in the sink was full of dye particles...
I then rinse in water of the same temperature. Squeeze out excess water, and leave to dry. Nothing complicated, no thwacking, no stamping, the water will do quite enough to even out twist, and I don't want fulled yarn most of the time. If I'm in a hurry I might roll the skein up in a towel and gently stand on it to squeeze out excess moisture.
So next time you're plying, just try adding a bit more twist, it will transform your handspun.
Hilltop CloudHilltop Cloud- Spin Different
Beautiful fibre you'll love to work with. Established 2011 VAT Reg- 209 4066 19 Dugoed Bach, Mallwyd, Machynlleth,
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