Spinning is Like...

A box of chocolates. You never ... well, you know. ;)

Sorry to use that Gump-ism, but seriously, spinning is like that.

I spun up one single last night and the other this morning. They seemed very even and consistent as singles. I thought they would like each other and ply together evenly and consistently.

I was slightly wrong.

My wonderful 8 year old son and I sat this morning and plied them together. (He helped because he's a great kid and I don't have the luxury of bobbins and a lazy kate.)

Well, um, the first time we tried, we went the wrong way. Oh what a mess. I had "plied" together about 1/3 of the full length and it just looked awful, not to mention the fact that it would just coil and cave in on itself if the tension was released.

And then it hit me. I bet I'm going the wrong way. Since I spun the singles clockwise, I bet it would work much better if I went counter-clockwise. Duh.

After a painful hour (a whole HOUR) for my son and I to get that little bit untwisted, we had both singles back on my makeshift bobbins. But I think the original twist on them suffered a little because they seemed a bit worse for wear.

But we pressed on and got it plied, wound on my swift, and skeined. I must say, through all of that, I'm still thrilled to pieces with this wonderful little bit of yarn that I made.













Not to mention the huge appreciation I have for my son who stuck around to help through the whole thing and barely complained. What an awesome kid!

Here's a close up to show the plied skein and the little "trial" single I spun up the other night:













I'm not quite sure how much is there, or what I'll knit with it.

For now I'm just basking in its beauty.

The fiber (and I still have tons more) is 100% Merino that has a natural sheen to it that makes it feel and look almost silky.

It's very very soft. Maybe I'll spin up the rest of it and make myself a scarf for this fall.

And, after all that help my son gave me, I'm going to knit him something special, too. Probably not out of this, since he told me it's "girl colors". Your loss, kiddo.