Just Keep Spinning

I know that a lot of blogs post their works in progress on Wednesdays and the knitting I'm doing right now isn't that far along. I don't think anyone wants to see a project that only has a few rows on the needles, so I decided to share what I've been spinning and give everyone a sneak peak at what will be coming up for the next several Handspun/Fiber Fridays.

I did a lot of spinning on my vacation of the holidays. I finished three skeins from start to finish and you've already seen two of those, the Holiday Tencel and the Yarn Wench Mourning Dove that I've recently posted; the third will be posted this Friday. I started a lot of other spinning projects that I started too as you can see in the photo above. In fact, all but one of my bobbins are filled. So if I want to do any more spinning it's time to start plying so I can free up some bobbins.

There are nine bobbins pictured and all but one of them are going to be plied together with their mate for a total of four new 2-ply yarns. The bobbins are not necessarily pictured next to their mate in the arrangement in the photo. Three of the four are going to be big skeins that weigh in at 8 ounces each and one of the two plies will be a small four ounce skein.

The bobbin that doesn't have a mate is filled with four ounces of super wash merino singles and is being reserved for my first attempt at chain/Navajo plying. The idea is to ply a single back on itself and end up with something that resembles a three ply yarn that keeps the colors together. So I picked some fiber that had long color repeats that should highlight the technique well if I can master it. Learning how to chain ply is my main spinning goal for 2009. I've wanted to try it for a long time and have been putting it off, so I'm starting it early.