April 7, 2016

Today I worked on spinning up some samples of Leicester Longwool.  A friend had given me a little less than an ounce, and she wanted to see how I'd spin as a 2-ply, laceweight, for a lace shawl application.  My goal was to spin a fine, smooth yarn, taking into consideration how long each sample took me to make (I was helping her make batts yesterday for her business and took way too long to make the first one, so I figured it'd be fun to see how efficient I can be with my spinning!)

The fiber is prepared as roving, and has some texture (nepps) to it, not to mention some vegetable matter.  Not a lot, but enough.  It's hard to see in this photo, but trust me, there's some there.  (You can see it a bit better if you click on the picture to enlarge.)

In hindsight, I should have spun the fiber just as is first, before playing around with changing the preparation.  But I guess I anticipated the roving prep to not be ideal for a fine, smooth laceweight yarn, and I wanted to really see what this fiber could do at its best.  For a smooth, fine, laceweight, it really made the most sense to me to comb it to remove the nepps, vm, and shorter fibers.  I divided the sample roughly in half.  The first half I combed on my Valkyrie ExtraFine combs, making just two tranfers.  This resulted in quite a bit of waste, (about 5 grams) but I wanted to be efficient and get the best quality wool, not necessarily the most wool.  Anyways, they'll grow more!

The combed prep was divine to spin.  It easily spun into a fine, smooth singles that just shined.  Plied back on itself, I got ~33 yards (unwashed) in 7 grams.  It's definitely laceweight, at 20 wraps per inch.  This yarn took me 50 minutes from start to finish.   I wish I had broken down the total time into time spent on prep and time spent spinning & plying.  This sample had the most yardage, but I think it was one of the fastest and most enjoyable to spin, since I didn't spend any time picking out nepps or vm, and the fibers just flowed.  I personally enjoy combing and think the time spent in that extra step was well worth it.  I'd happily knit a shawl with this yarn, and I would consider it an heirloom.

First sample: 2-ply, 20 wraps per inch, combed prep

The remaining half of the sample I planned to spin as is, in the roving form, nepps and vm included.   Compared to the combed top, I really had to fight with the roving to get it fine and smooth.  It didn't draft as nicely, and I had to either stop frequently to pick out nepps/vm or just let them be part of the yarn.  I knew it wasn't turning out nearly as nice as the combed top and quickly grew frustrated with it.  I felt like the fiber was just telling me this isn't how it was supposed to be spun, and I agreed with it.  So I stopped before finishing the roving and plied it back on itself.  I ended up with 18 yards, unwashed, in 7 grams.  This yarn ended up approximately 15 wraps per inch, so more of a fingering to sport weight.  It took me 28 minutes, start to finish.  It's an okay yarn, more slubby and uneven than the combed sample.  It would make a decent lace shawl, but I know the yarn could be so much better, the fiber has so much potential, and I just think this yarn doesn't quite do it justice, so I'm not entirely happy with it.  Additionally, the spinning process was not enjoyable; it just didn't flow for me.  I wonder if I had spun this prep first, before the lovely combed top, I might have disliked it less?

Second sample: 2-ply, 15 wraps per inch, roving prep

I really didn't think the roving prep was suited to a fine smooth lace yarn, but I wanted to give the roving a second chance at being a thicker, woolier yarn, so I spun the last few grams thicker, letting the fiber and fiber prep dictate how thick to spin.  I barely fussed with vm or nepps this time around, and tried to enjoy the spin more.  It was more enjoyable for me to spin the roving at this thickness, as it just seemed more suitable for the preparation and I wasn't fighting so hard to make it thinner than it wanted to be.  Plied, it's still got some unevenness and slubs, but the thickness of the yarn seems to hide the slubs better than in the thinner second sample.  This sample was just 11.5 yards, 6 grams, and approximately 11 wraps per inch (dk to worsted weight).  It took just 15 minutes from start to finish.  I do like this yarn, better than the second sample.  I feel like the thickness embraces and works with the roving prep better.  This fiber isn't next-to-skin soft for me, but I'd definitely enjoy using this yarn in some outerwear or home goods application.  There's just enough unevenness to be charming, I think.

Third sample: 2-ply, 11 wraps per inch, roving prep

My spinning speed averaged 38-46 yards of finished yarn per hour.  The sample that took the longest in yards per minute was actually the second sample (38.5 yds/min), where I tried to spin a fine smooth yarn with the roving prep.  Surprisingly, the first sample (39.5 yds/min), where I first combed the roving and then spun a fine smooth yarn, resulted in almost the same yards per minute, even given the extra preparation time!  Definitely worth that extra step, in my opinion!  The final sample, spun as roving, thicker, was the fastest at 46 yds/min.

It was an interesting experiment, and I hope my friend finds it useful, but even if she doesn't, it was enlightening to me!

Photo of the three samples together: top is first, middle is second, bottom is third.