Plying on a spindle is something I never really liked to do until I saw someone plying from both ends of a center pull ball on You Tube. It took a while to get the hang of keeping the tension on both ends even but it sure beats dealing with all those bobbins (aka toilet paper tubes) rolling around. I do have a tensioned lazy kate that I use for plying on the wheel but I never liked using it with a spindle. It just seemed to big and clunky for my delicate singles. This trick also avoids the dreaded waste of precious handspun when you can't manage to get equal amounts on two bobbins. I love it when you come to the end and you have a pretty little loop that just slides right over the end of your niddy-noddy. It makes me feel efficient and clever.
Note to Kids: Don't worry about those blue fingers. My circulation is fine. I've just been in the dye pot again.
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I used to do an andean bracelet method, which ends in that neat little loop (I, too, hate wasting) and although I usually still do it when I'm doing demos (because it looks cool), I generally do the center pull ball method now. I learned about it at one of those demos by a fellow spinner and felt really, really stupid that I didn't think of it sooner!
ReplyDeleteI have tried the Andean method and I must have a part of my brain that just can't seem to figure it out. It seems so simple but I ruin it every time and end up with a big old mess. The same with Navajo plying. I want to learn it so badly but it always goes wrong. I since I hate wasting handspun it is hard to practice.
ReplyDeletethat's how I ply, too! I could never do it correctly any other way.
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