#combospin

so a while back (nearly 2 years ago oops) i did a big combospin project. the goal was to spin enough for a sweater. i chose a big mess of colors with an overall pink/purple theme.

it was super fun to do! i was aiming for a 3ply worsted/aran weight, but unfortunately this was my first ever sweater quantity spin so despite being good and doing a test spin and everything, i ended up with something closer to a bulky to super bulky weight. oops!

i loved the look of it though so i really tried to make it work! unfortunately i rather quickly figured out i wouldn't have enough yarn if it's this thick.

so, somewhat heartbroken i put my very pretty but somewhat useless yarn in a box. didn't want to look at it, didn't want to think of the solution just yet. needed to get over it before i could figure out a way to fix it, you know?

anyway, i have now actually fixed it! (i think) will talk about that whole thing later. just wanted to show you how it started first.

Ich hab noch pre-TdF Zeuchs, das zu fotografieren war:

Combo-Spin #4, gegenwärtig namenlos, Lauflängen sind 315m/105g, 420m/100g und 321m/107g. Drin sind Polwarth, Merino, Tencel, Seacell, Bambus, und Sojafaser.

K-K-K-KOMBO SPIN!

I got kind of addicted with welfordpurls’ spinning podcast on YouTube. She talked about combo spinning in one of the early episodes, and when I picked up these two braids at a knitting retreat in April, I immediately knew I wanted to do a combo spin. One of the braids was a Southern Cross Fibre club color, the other an unlabeled mystery fiber I picked up for free.

Initially, I wanted to do a 2-ply -- spin each braid onto separate bobbins and ply them together -- but the mystery braid had already been dipped into so I would’ve ended up with more singles on one bobbin. But I got it for free so can’t complain. :)

Second plan, split the braids lengthwise in thin strips, spin alternating from each pile and then navajo-ply. The drawback was that the colors may not have blended as much as I wanted. I started spinning this way, spinning quite fine and with a lot of twist to account for the chain plying in the end. And then I had a brainwave…

Plan #3: Spin one bobbin in A, B, A, B… order and the other B, A, B, A… and then 2-ply. This way there’s more color blending which is what I initially wanted.

The “bad” (not really) thing is now I ended up with a thinner and higher-twist yarn than I’d aimed for.

I was planning to knit a shawl with this but now that I know the final yardage, I’m faced with a dilemma. It’s definitely plenty for a large shawl but it might also be enough for a small-ish cardigan. Would I wear a cardigan in these colors? There may be some swatching ahead.

On Ravelry: Dark Heart of Winter

Fiber: 110 g of Southern Cross Fiber Kent Romney Lambswool in “Heart of Winter” + 74 g of mystery wool

Yardage: 1078 m or 1179 yd

Skein weight: 180 g or 6.3 oz

Grist: 599 m/100 g or 2971 ypp 

Plies: 2

Yarn weight: Light fingering

And now I’m eyeing some more potential combo spin pairings in my stash!