In Which the Pirate Finishes the Yarn.

Fresh off the skein-winder, two skeins of Ashland Bay merino, spun into 570 yards of three-ply yarn. It looks like a heavy fingering weight, though the true grist will show after it’s washed. I am leaning towards making those boot socks I mentioned yesterday, and hoping that this yarn is suitable for the purpose. They should be nice and tall – the smaller of the two skeins is 272 yards, and that will give me enough to play with cables and yarn-eating patterns. I’ll start with that one and work toe-up, so that I can use as much of the yarn as possible.

A closeup shot. It’s not the most even yarn ever, but it’s the best I’ve made so far! I am quite pleased with it. This will probably be the first of my handspun that I’m going to knit with. I’m feeling like I’m making some significant progress in my spinning skill. I might not get it right all the time, but I know enough now to know when I’m getting it wrong. I’ve heard that one needs to spin about a pound of fiber before the skill starts blossoming, and I’m at about that amount now.

So, about that next yarn… I am considering how to split the top. If I just fold the length of fiber in half and pull at the middle, I’ll have two even pieces that won’t have much in the way of matching color. Great for a barberpoled sort of yarn. But if I want to aim for soft stripes, I’ll have to split the fiber lengthwise, and that means getting out the scale to be sure I’ve done it evenly. Choices, choices…