It’s Shrove Tuesday today. We’re making pancakes for dinner, and thinking about what we should give up for Lent.
There’s a sense of completion, in finishing a few things right before starting a new season. Punis are done, and I took a few glamour shots of them the other day.
The color of pancake batter and pancakes, maybe? With syrup on top. These aren’t syrupy, though, but fine and fluffy.
It’s interesting that even after finishing – a long warm soak with Eucalan and several snaps – the yarn looks quite wobbly. Maybe it’ll just take a while to relax completely. You can see that the white, at least, is not very energized:
The brown, however, remains quite energized, despite being spun and finished the same as the white. When I asked for insights on Instagram, Rachel of Wool N’ Spinning guessed that the brown is some kind of slightly thicker wool, that just couldn’t handle the twist as well. That seems logical to me. I was just very tied to the label, which said “Superfine merino, yak, cashmere, bamboo, silk, Angelina.” The yak or cashmere could handle the twist, and I could tell there wasn’t much bamboo, silk, or Angelina. The brown was either slightly-less-superfine, or the label was mistaken. After all, these are mystery punis, and I think they were made from leftovers! My intended use for these skeins will make use of the extra energy and firmness in the brown, not to worry.
The Nerd Numbers:
- Both spun at 15:1
- Short forward draft, about 1″ draft
- Therefore about 15 TPI in the singles.
- Navajo plied at 11.5:1, 13 treadles per 18″ (measured), so should have been about 8 TPI plied.
- White: after finishing, ~20 WPI, 8-9 TPI. 63 yards in .4 oz, so 2520 YPP.
- Brown: after finishing, 17 WPI, 9-10 TPI. 40 yards in .4 oz, so 1600 YPP.
- Total yardage inc. sample: 115 yards in 1 oz, so 1840 YPP.
I know my measurements can only be so specific with my scale, but we do what we can.
It’s hard to believe, but I only have two projects on the go at all right now. A sealskin sewing project, and one knitting project. Nothing on the wheel.
I think I’ll just bask in that feeling for a little bit.
Osborn Fiber Studio 