Lincoln, not Abraham

When you live in Gettysburg, you have to specify.

I’m back to my Spinning Sampler, which contained about 1 ounce each of 4 different breeds.  Remember way back in January when I spun up the Shetland?  Then I got sidetracked by 8 oz of BFL… Now I’m back to the sampler.  This is an ounce (28 g) of Lincoln. I got 69 yards of 2-ply: Lincoln Longwool is, well, a longwool – so the staples are long.  That means it’s best to spin it worsted, which I did.  I spun this a bit faster than I usually do.  I watched part of Rita Buchanan’s How I Spin DVD and was really inspired to just get up and SPIN.  I love her quirky voice (when she drafted with the pig puppet, I thought “are you related to Cat Bordhi?!?”) and I love the plethora of tips that make spinning easier rather than more difficult.  She just makes sense to me.

For instance, she made the plying process less intimidating.  I was taught to pull a length of plied yarn off the bobbin and let it hang down to see if it twists – balanced yarn shouldn’t twist.  But I also know that singles set on the bobbin if you don’t ply them right after spinning them, and that makes freshly plied yarn from unfresh singles look different than plied yarn that has been set with a hot water bath.  So if it seems perfectly balanced before you set the twist, it actually isn’t balanced.  ARGH!  Rita showed me how to trust my plied sample and how to create a reliable sample even if you don’t make one from fresh singles.  The proof is in the pudding.  Here is my skein, just plied and off the bobbin.  See how it twists?  Normally I would think this was BAD.  Here is the same skein after it has been washed/set (in hot water with Soak), rinsed (in cool water), and dried – perfectly balanced:

I referenced my sample card a lot – and don’t you think my ply twist matches my sample quite well?

I spun those singles on Saturday and plied on Sunday.  I was so bolstered by my success that I spun some Coopworth singles on Sunday evening (just another ounce, again from the sampler).  Maybe I’ll ply those yet tonight.  These little amounts are fun!I don’t think I’ll be seeking out more Lincoln, though – this is a scratchy, wiry yarn that I would not want anywhere near my skin.  Good to know.