Fit to Be Plied

After the Tour de Fleece you would think I would be sick of spinning but in fact, it is hard to make myself do anything but spin. Sitting at the wheel is my idea of a good time.Today I finished the Corrie singles I spun for the sole purpose of practicing my chain plying before I tackled my precious Loop bump.

Chain plying, also called Navajo plying, is not unlike an Olympic event. It takes dexterity, speed and most of all courage. Everything happens so fast that if you stop to think about what you are doing the race is over before you even get started. I break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.

Having nothing to lose, I got to work trying to improve upon my sloppy delivery. What I learned is that garbage in is garbage out. My plying technique is pretty decent, my singles however were not. The problem with chain plying is that you are plying the same section to the same section which makes too thin areas really look thin and too thick areas really look thick.  Not good.

Halfway through the bobbin, I learned to break off the offending parts and reattach the single in order to avoid big differences in consistency. As a result, I ended up with some pretty decent looking yarn.

It's not perfect but it is a big improvement over the mess I usually turn out.

The real test comes when you take it off the niddy noddy. If it tangles up like it has a life of its own, you have a problem. I am happy to report that this skein was fairly tame.

I couldn't resist playing with it before I gave it a bath and a good thwacking. I think I may finally be ready for the Loop bump. I seem to have the dexterity and the speed-now all I need is the courage.