Spinning Yarn

Janis finally sat and did a Navajo three-ply in front of my face and proved it works, so I went and three-plied a small ball of some of my famous loaves-and-fishes single. It was called that because the ball of roving never seemed to get smaller. I've spun this stuff into some serious bulkyweight yarn needing size 13-17 needles, and singles that you could weave with, or, say, three-ply into a nice sportweight/dk yarn that would use size 3-5 needles to knit up. That what's so cool about spinning. The same two spinners, sitting at the same two spinning wheels/drop spindles/whatever, can produce drastically different yarns from the exact same stuff.

So, to date I've spun with a drop spindle, a spinning wheel, and have done some passable plying with an Andean plying bracelet (into a two-ply yarn), and much nicer looking stuff with my wheel and a crochet hook and the Navajo technique.

A drop spindle is a fancy term for a stick with a weight at one end. You hold the ball of fluff you want to spin, 'draw out' some from the edge to kind of loosen and thin it, and twist it in your hands. Pouf, you just made a bit of yarn, a 'single'. Use that to tie a loop around the stick just under the weight. Spin the stick to generate more twist, and thus more yarn. Then take up the new yarn onto the stick. The direction you spin the stick in is important -- be consistent until you're done with this patch of yarn. Basically, be consistent in general, so you don't have to think later. You can then 'ply' the 'singles' into yarn, or work with them as-is. When you ply, you'll hold two or more singles parallel to one another and twist them together in the opposite direction. Doesn't matter which direction you choose for spinning versus plying, just so long as you go one way for producing singles and one way for plying them into yarn. If you use a spinning wheel, the direction is pretty much chosen for you.

A spinning wheel looks far more complicated but does exactly the same thing as your hands, or a drop spindle: applies twist to some fluff (roving) that you're holding in your hands. A drop spindle uses gravity to apply tension and you to apply twist, as you spin the spindle with your hand, say, against your leg. A spinning wheel takes a more mechanistic approach, using the big wheel bit -- the part everyone notices -- to spin a bobbin (like a bobbin for thread, only you're putting on thread instead of using it up) and a 'flyer' that rotates around the bobbin at a slightly different speed (and actually wraps your single onto the bobbin). I like the wheel because my feet keep everything 'spinning', applying twist, instead of me having to grab my drop spindle and start it going again. A drop spindle is great for travelling, for introducing kids to the art, and I use it a lot for plying. Though, know that Janis has demo'd Navajo three-ply, that may change.

So, plying? Wha?

Modern yarn is all 'plied', you rarely see singles unless you shop for custom yarns or spin yourself. If you pick apart yarn, it'll split up into 2 or 3 or 4 strands. Those are the singles, and they were spun up first, then twisted all together to form the plied yarn. It's a completely separate step.

I've mentioned two methods, but I'm going to gloss over the first (and link to a great description, with photos):

An Andean plying bracelet is a method of holding a long single on one hand in such a way that you can

1. get at both ends at the same time;
2. keep the stuff in some kind of order as you ply up the ends.

Otherwise you end up with a right holy mess. Note that there are two ends getting twisted together, thus you create two-ply yarn. All you're really doing is folding a single in half around your hand and twisting the two ends together -- in the opposite direction of the spin used to create the singles in the first place! Attach the new piece of two-ply yarn to the base of your spindle, twist up the next section, and eventually you'll work through the whole folded single.

Navajo three-ply is a clever way of twisting very long chain stitchs made out of one single -- again in the opposite direction of the spin used to create the singles. The more singles that go into a plied yarn, the smoother and more even it appears. The chain stitch bit lets you lay three sections of the same single next to one another, and apply twist to them.

Take the end of your single in your hand. Draw out a length (doesn't matter how long). Double and then triple the single up so that you have three strands side by side. Keep your finger, or a crochet hook in the loop that is closest to your bobbin or ball. Apply "contrary" twist to the other end (the start of your new yarn) and attach the end of this new yarn to your bobbin or the base of your drop spindle. Now, go look at the other end. There's a loop with your crochet hook dangling from it, and a strand leading back to the ball/bobbin. Use the crochet hook to draw that strand through the loop, thus creating a new chain stitch. Stretch it as long as the spirit, variation in color, whatever, moves you. You now have three parallel sections waiting for twist. So twist! You've just created the next section of three-plied yarn. Repeat until you've used up the bobbin/ball/whatever.

You don't really need a hook, just a stick or your finger or whatever will do, anything to pull up the next chain stitch.


Andean Plying Bracelet
Navajo Three Ply
Spinning and Navajo 3-ply Instructions Using a drop spindle.