Do it for science

This month's focus over in The Sheepspotters' Society has been Fabulous Finishing. My self-assessment quiz suggested that I experiment with different finishing styles for woolen-spun yarn. This was entirely appropriate for me, since I always finish woolen yarns exactly like I finish all my yarns - the one way I finish them!

Sasha suggested we make 6 samples and finish them differently, reserving a seventh sample (unfinished) for comparison. So I grabbed a bump of Clun Forest roving from Solitude Wool and got spinning.

I made the whole 4 ounces into 2-ply yarn, and then wound it off into 7 little skeins. Here are my beautifully rewound singles before plying:

The six finishing methods are:

1. Full
2. Agitate
3. Thwack
4. Full and Thwack
5. Agitate and Thwack
6. Simple Hot Wash

"Agitate" required me to invest in a new spinning tool:

So cute and so fun to use! Here's an action shot me me abusing my yarn:

Thwacking (because I know you'll ask) involves throwing the wet skein on the counter, repeatedly. It's kind of like turning bread dough when you knead. No action shot of that. 

Here are my finished skeins, all lined up:

I know you can't see a ton of detail there. Even when I look at the skeins in person, I don't really see any difference between the 6 finished skeins (there is definitely a difference between finished and unfinished). I'm still pondering why this might be. I wonder if it is because I tend to spin my singles a bit on the tight side. I like those bouncy, high twist yarns… but they work better in worsted than woolen. If my singles were too tight, there’s not as much room for the fibers to move, right? And that might minimize differences in finishing techniques?

Next time I make a woolen yarn, I’ll try really hard to make the singles looser. I was taught years ago that you should ply woolen yarns a bit more tightly than the singles.

So, just as with science experiments, results are not always conclusive. I will have to repeat my experiment in the future.