A couple of months ago I started spinning Tasmanian superfine merino from Malcolm Fielding’s Etsy store. This is a supersoft, luscious, slightly shiny fibre, and somehow you don’t really have to work to create cobweb yarn with it. I spun a bit before and during the Tour de Fleece. I finished a skein of a bit over 50 grams, all the samples that I got. I plied it and it came down to 667 meters, a real cobweb yarn! I so enjoyed spinning it that I ordered another 100 grams, and I also got more samples with my later spindle purchases.
I’ve been spinning this fibre on and off during the last couple of months, and filled up many spindles in the process. Last week I finally spun the last bit I had, and it was time to ply!
I decided to do a 2-ply again, and aim for more cobweb weight yarn. I would ply the balls together, and after the smaller ball was finished, I would continue plying the larger one from both ends. Sounds good in theory, but this is quite “sticky” merino, so I had to take real care that the end from the inside would not pull out too many extra layers, creating a tangle. It happened a couple of times, but fortunately I didn’t lose too much yarn.
I skeined my yarn on a niddy noddy which is supposed to have a circumference of 2 meters. It is slightly less in the beginning, but of course when the yarn is put on, the length of the rounds becomes larger.
After winding the skein, I counted how many rounds I had made (I really need a skein winder with a counter at some point…). There were 890. That’s about 1780 meters of 2-ply yarn total! I weighed the skein and it was 152 grams. I think I created yarn that is about the same thickness as I did in the first skein. I’m proud!
I do still need to wash both of these skeins, so the metrage will be a bit less after that, but I still have plenty to create a beautiful Estonian lace shawl! And if not, I can always order some extra fibre from Malcolm!