Argh, what am I doing wrong?
May. 24th, 2009 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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So I've been trying my hand at spinning with a drop spindle. And first it was drafting that was kicking my butt. But I'm better at that now.
Now, it's my yarn . . . twisting up on itself if I'm not holding it straight. I thought it would work itself out in the plying, and it didn't. So my first handspun yarn is just a twisty, tangly mess. How do I get it to stop twisting up on itself, by itself?
Now, it's my yarn . . . twisting up on itself if I'm not holding it straight. I thought it would work itself out in the plying, and it didn't. So my first handspun yarn is just a twisty, tangly mess. How do I get it to stop twisting up on itself, by itself?
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Date: 2009-05-24 04:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 04:25 pm (UTC)But if I spin it less, it doesn't seem to be . . . spun? Does that make sense?
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Date: 2009-05-24 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 07:24 pm (UTC)*If your singles sat for a while before you plied them, you might need to wash the yarn to get a true sense of whether the final yarn is balanced or not, because the spinning twist will relax over time and not be balanced by the fresher plying twist. Washing the yarn will reactivate the original twist and let you get a better sense of the final result.
*You might have either under- or over-plied compared to the twist in your singles.
Here's how I think about it.
My singles are generally Z-twist; that is, I spin my spindle clockwise, ending up with yarn twisted like this:
/
/
/
/
Plying goes in the opposite direction, so my plied yarn is S-twist:
\
\
\
\
Ok. So how to get a balanced yarn (assuming I want one)?
If I let my plied yarn hand in a U-shape, and it twists back on itself with Z-twist, I've over-plied and need remove twist from that section of yarn. Likewise, if it twists on itself with S-twist, I need to add more plying twist.
In my opinion, most spinners actually underspin and underply their yarn, which results in weaker yarn. Note that this is a personal opinion!
Online articles about this that you might find of interest:
http://www.abbysyarns.com/wordpress/?p=105
http://www.hjsstudio.com/balance.html
http://www.knitting-and.com/spinning/plied-yarn.html
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Date: 2009-05-24 07:30 pm (UTC)What is too much twist? http://www.abbysyarns.com/wordpress/?p=244
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Date: 2009-05-25 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-25 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-26 07:46 pm (UTC)