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Sunday, September 18, 2016

Lame Duck

No, this is not a political post. It's a post about the most recent skein of handspun off my wheel -- a skein I just finished last night.

More than seven years ago, during the Tour de Fleece, I attended a spin-in at my (now closed) LYS. Door prizes were given out throughout the evening, and I came home with this superwash BFL fiber from Spunky Eclectic in the colorway Lame Duck Mallard:


It has been waiting patiently in my stash until about two weeks ago, when I decided the time had finally come to spin it. The fiber seemed perfect for sock yarn, so that's what I spun.


I've been spinning the same yarn, more or less, for several months, so I was a bit disappointed in my final yardage (362 yards). I knew it was going to be on the low side when it didn't take very long to ply it all. For some reason, I struggle to get higher yardages with BFL. I know Rachel of Welford Purls has commented on this as well, so I know it's not just me. (By the way, if you've never checked out Rachel's blog or video podcast and you're a spinner, you should!) I know that my drafting was not as consistent with this fiber as it usually is, likely because the fiber had been sitting in my stash so long and probably got a little compacted; I had to pull out some clumps that would not draft every now and then. Still, I'm pleased with the finished skein, and despite some issues with the singles twisting up on themselves while I was plying, it's nicely balanced.


The skein is a bit lighter in real life than it appears to be in the photos. It's unfortunately a very gloomy, overcast day here, so everything is looking a bit darker.

Up next, I think I will spin the other half of my Crown Mountain Farms Corriedale, as it's already sitting next to the wheel and ready to go. We'll see if I can match the yardage from the first skein!

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