kitty: spin spin spin

It's the most wonderful time of the year, Ghost and Goblins running around, candy corn by the ear, carved pumpkins at every door, and Socktober Fest has begun, now I just need to decided which socks to knit. Maybe I need some nice witch Socks. hmmmmmmmmm MG and I are off to another personal challenge to get socks knit this month. I can not wait.

This is 2-ply worsted-spun heavy fingering weight, from Amy Boogie's Almost Solid. It feels really wonderful. This is the first time that I have been able to spin this fine, so I am really excited. The down side is that my singles are pretty uneven. It is a real learning experience for me since this is by no way my comfort zone for spinning. Weight: 195 grams Yardage: 721 yards

MG and I got talking on IM the other morning about how we ply from a single bobbin. It was kind of hard to actually describe what I do, so I decided to include a couple of photos. After spinning up my single bobbin, I then wind it off on a ball winder so that I have a center thread and a outer thread. I then push the ball off on a roll of toilet paper until it is time to ply. When I take it off the roll, I replace it with my right thumb and wrap my other fingers around the ball so that I can hold the other thread with my fingers to create tension and hold it taunt as I pull out the center thread.

I then hold the ball of yarn parallel to the wheel and hold the yarn perpendicular to the wheel. The right hand keeps tension on the singles while the right hand stops the twist from going up to the ball. Then 13-15 pumps on the pedal and I have nicely balanced yarn.