A Lesson in Patience

I I had hoped to have this post for you earlier in the week, but I under estimated how long it would take to finish this yarn.  This is the first time I have used this kind of fiber and it is also the thinnest yarn I have ever spun.  I loved spinning this and I am going to be using it for a Pi shawl called Bugs in Your Garden.  Here are the specs

It is 8 oz of 60/40 Merino-Bamboo blend from Spunky Eclectic in the Mermaid colorway
I am unsure of the yardage at this time, but I am hoping it will be near 1700 yards
Averaged 8 hours per oz to spin, 64 hours total over a 2 week period
2 days to ply
Spun at 13:1 ratio
A few extra callouses and some blisters

Here is a closeup of the fiber.  You can really see the luster!

And here you can see just how thin the yarn is

I chose this fiber as my challenge fiber for The Tour, and challenge is an understatement!  I learned so many things while I was spinning this.  First was, if you decide to spin laceweight, you should like the colorway you choose a whole lot because you will be looking at it for a LONG time!  I have been so used to being able to fly through a worsted or bulky yarn in a day or so.  I was completely unprepared for spending 2 weeks spinning the same fiber.  Every time I thought I was getting near the end, I would see more of it in the bag.  I think at one point it started breeding!

I had read many descriptions of spinning with Bamboo described as slippery.  This doesn’t even begin to describe this fiber.  It has the luster of silk, but the slickness of cotton.  If your wheel gives even the slightest jump, the fiber was gone!  And since 40% of it was missing the gripping qualities of wool, splicing it back together was very challenging.  I found that splicing back a broken single or adding on the next bit of fiber would require a lead about twice what I was used to using for wool.

I also came up with a new tool!  I love Andean Plying off the last few yards from a bobbin, but today I needed to be able to jump up to see what teeny was up to and to answer the door when the Sparklettes man came, so I didn’t want to be tied to the bobbin by that bracelet.  I wandered around the house for a few minutes trying to think of what I could use to make a plying paddle.  I decided to stick a bodkin into a plastic cup, and viola, an Andean Plying Cup!

It was big enough that I could either put the cup over the top of one of the bobbins on my Kate or slip the bracelet off and put it on my arm.  Either way, if I needed to get up in a hurry, I didn’t have to worry about messing up the singles.  Very handy!