Thursday, June 18, 2009

Little Skeins

Gaslight Dyeworks Puffballs 2

Back when I bought some Gaslights Dyeworks fibers for spinning and gifting, Jacki was nice enough to throw in a couple of pretty little puffballs for some play fun. Like the bigger shipment, these puffballs have shiny bits and are a mix of different fibers.

Gaslight Dyeworks Puffballs Singles

I thought I would try them out on my spindle and quickly made up my singles. Yes, you are looking at singles wrapped on my very glamorous storage system: toilet paper rolls! Hey, the mantra is Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, isn't it?

To maximize the yardage I wanted to ply these with some silk threads. Last week I ventured over to Habu to see what I could scrounge up. Later that evening I plied both little bits into yarn and was surprised by my results.

Gaslight Puffball Blue

First, the little blue puffball got plied with a blueish gray stainless steel yarn. This is my first time working with stainless and I was very pleasantly surprised by the smoothness and the sparkle of the thread. Once plied into the single, it added a whole new layer of shine to the yarn. This little skein is only 48 yards, 18 wpi. I like this one very much and will play with this kind of combination in the future.

Gaslight Puffball Blue

The second little puffball got plied with a deep red merino thread/yarn. It's very loosely plied (further evidence I need to practice the plying part of spinning). I'm not sure I love the result, but it is soft, and very nice in the hand. If I were to do this again, I might not go for such a strong color but honestly there weren't that many choices in the sale bin.

Gaslight Puffball Pink and Red

I yielded 166 yds, 28 wpi with this batch. Sometimes I look at it and I really like it. Sometimes not. This one deserves a little knitted swatch to see how it looks worked up.

Gaslight Puffball Pink and Red

In both instances, these little skeins leave me thinking (yearning) I need to learn weaving. In fact the weaving bug is starting to get up under my skin alot with the yarns I am making. I think I can fit a rigid heddle loom in my work area. Hmmmm......

3 comments:

barefoot rooster said...

are these beauties plied with other yarns you've spun? how does one spin stainless steel? i think these are lovely, and i fully support weaving. (in the realm of looms, what does your husband think? he seems very good at birthday gifts!!)

Katie M. said...

I love, love, love the colors! And I, too, am in favor of weaving: that way I can live vicariously through your crafty prowess.

Oiyi said...

Um, we both think alike! The Weaving bug has been biting me, too. Especially since I have been spinning so much lately. I was at the Brooklyn Flea last Saturday and stopped by the booth, Textile Arts Center of NY. She had 3 Looms set up and they were beautiful! The full size ones even fold up. I was thinking of taking one of their classes.

Your yarns are so neat plied with thread. I really like the red one.