Comments on: fat and thin

By: buttercup

buttercup — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:37:10 +0000

My default spin seems to be to a three ply thin sportweight to heavy fingering weight.
http://flickr.com/photos/mensabuttercup/2978784137/in/set-72157602136224110/
I generally get around 300 to 330 yards to 4 ounces of fiber. Considering I mostly knit socks, that’s not surprising I guess. It’s interesting trying to spin thicker. I haven’t tried with my new wheel but the last time I spun thick was some neppy merino that was not going to be a happy camper thin and I spun that on the Babe wheel.
http://flickr.com/photos/mensabuttercup/2929600793/in/set-72157602136224110/
My first skeins on the Mazurka were aran weight but I had to fight to get them that thick because the fiber wanted to be a chunkier yarn, but the wheel wanted to spin thin.
http://flickr.com/photos/mensabuttercup/2959213263/in/set-72157602136224110/
I was much happier when I got to spin thinner on this wheel.
I would love to be able to spin singles that are balanced. Haven’t been able to do that yet.

By: whitney

whitney — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:25:44 +0000

I’m still very much a beginner spinner (and I only have a drop spindle), but I found this post very interesting! At first my yarns were turning out very bulky. After I started getting the hang of drafting, I’m getting them much finer, but they turn out too “hard” (maybe overspun?) a lot of the time. I feel like I don’t know how to control the weight of the yarn I produce, so I just take whatever comes out. I have so much to learn!

By: Mouse

Mouse — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:17:22 +0000

I find that my “default yarn” is tightly plied worsted weight 2ply yarn or a cushy worsted single- because its what I like to knit with. While I admire those who can spin lace weight yarn.. its not something that I strive to spin myself- mostly because I don’t knit lace! I don’t understand the thinking among some spinners that you have to spin thin yarns in order to show your skill, or that spinning something that “looks store bought” is something to aspire to.
The ‘fatty’ handspun on the left is GORGEOUS.. I’m trying SO hard not to get into dyeing my own fiber but seeing your beautiful roving always makes it hard to resist!

By: Gwen

Gwen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:39:46 +0000

I agree and disagree with a lot of your points. I definitely agree that once you go from fat to thin, it’s hard to go back to fat. But, it takes so much more concentration for me to spin thin than thick. Also, I find that unevenness looks more obvious and sloppy in a thin yarn than a thick. For some reason when you have unevenness in a bulky yarn it’s cute, but in a fine yarn it’s just messy.

As for spinning range, I can do super bulky really well. I’m getting a lot better at worsted weight, but they often end up on the heavy side. Anything lighter than that I cannot do. I’ve really been trying to focus on my fine yarns but they always end up harsh, hard, and too tight. Always a learning process!