Sacrificial Sheep

Actually, no real sheep were sacrificed, but I did a good number of some of their wool. I dug through the stash to find something to use while playing with the new wheel. Sorry for all the pictures, but I did want to document the learning curve.

First up was some plain wool of some sort or other that was just sitting in a bag, origin lost in ancient history.

Scary, eh? Just getting used to treadling and drafting at the same time, trying out all the different whorls, etc. I think the part that got the hardest workout was the orifice hook. :-) And no, I did not bother to try to ply it.

So, time to get serious and try to make, you know, yarn or something. I dug even deeper and found something that I wouldn't mind wasting. I'm not even sure why I bought this in the first place, but it was there, so I figured I'd use it. I apologize in advance for any retinal damage this causes.

Yes, the colours really are as bad as they appear. But it served the purpose. That's four ounces of merino, in baby blue and searing orange. The bobbin on the left was first and, as you can see, I could barely fit two ounces on it. After a quick query on the Schacht list on Ravelry, and I received some wonderful advice about how to fit more on a bobbin. A few adjustments, it was winding on much tighter. It was worth trying to ply.

I couldn't figure out why my singles kept breaking, but it turns out there's a learning curve to using a lazy kate too. Don't put the tension too high or SNAP! After much cursing, I got some some crappy two ply and an attempt at chain plying. Thank you very much, virulent orange wool -- you've served your purpose and I'm glad you're out of the stash and never to be seen again.

Attempt number 3 turned out much better. Again, something that I wouldn't mind if it didn't turn out well.


The bobbins wound much better with the proper tension. However, if I had paid attention before I ripped the wool apart for a three-ply, I would have noticed that even though it is '70s wallpaper colours, the top was nicely dyed in a wonderful striping pattern and would have been perfect for a chain ply. I didn't see that until it was too late, so I stayed with the three-ply.

All four ounces plied, with room on the bobbin to spare. It's BFL in the Connor colourway from Squoosh. I didn't take a pic of the top because I didn't really think it would turn out, but the listing is here for those who like to compare the raw wool with the finished product.

It ended up at 242 yards, 11 wpi, so not too bad for a beginner yarn. It would have been better chained to keep the colours separate rather than mixed in the ply, but c'est la vie.

I still need to work on the plying part, as some of it is a bit loose. If I were going to use it for socks, I'd try running it through the wheel again, but since I don't, I won't.


Now I just have to work on getting it thin enough for sock yarn.

But I really should be knitting on my August socks instead of playing around. Time for another dose of self-discipline, methinks.