Am I Blue
After all was said and done, I ended up with almost 550 yards of three ply yarn from the 6 or so ounces of the Cormo/silk/alpaca singles that I spun. What was particularly satisfying for me after plying this yarn was that when I took it off my niddy noddy, it was almost perfectly balanced. When I hung the skein it hung straight. Once thing that surprised me was that, in spite of all the Cormo in the yarn (80%) it still was drapey and it almost felt like the inelastic silk and alpaca fibers were in control of the yarn, even though I felt like I had gotten a goodly amount of twist into the yarn.
As per usual, I could not resist using the macro mode on my camera to get a closer look at the yarn before and after a good soaking. In the past, when I've given yarn a bath, I often see a change. The sample above is the shot I took before the yarn got its bath.
The sample in this photo is the shot I took after the yarn got it's bath. After the bath when I hung this skein straight, I still didn't see any over twist. But the proof is in the drying, eh? Well that twist business did't change after the skein dried -- and I didn't try to bias it by weighting it in any way, I just let it hang down. I'm not sure if it shows up in the photos, but after drying, the elasticity and sproingy quality of the Cormo came back after the bath. The yarn has a bit more three dimesional quality. And, consistant with the rather large amount of noils that were in this fiber I was spinning from, you can see that the yarn has little imperfections that I hope will make it interesting rather than unpolished looking when I knit it up.
Weight-wise, I think this yarn is probably in the sport weight category... perhaps another small shawl with a lace pattern? I think the heathering is gorgeous and, lover of blue that I am, I could very much see this wrapped around my neck -- it's definitely soft enough for that.
Cormo does have such a lovely way of blooming when washed. Your yarn is beautiful.
Your yarn is simply gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing what you knit it into. :-)
Well done, Theresa. "Blooming" is precisely the word for this lovely yarn.
Yes, that will make a beautiful scarf! Well done.
Yikes! That is incredible! Can't wait to finish combing my Cormo so I can start spinning.
Beautiful!!!
It looks great. You're doing fantastic with the spinning.
I love how Cormo plumps up.
Your yarn is lovely. I recently spun a bobbin full of yummy alpaca and wanted to ply it with something else. After seeing the Cormo in "action" I think that may be the perfect solution. Thank you for sharing so much with us.
I think a lacey vest would also be a good fit for that yarn. Ah, it's always exciting to me to see just what the yarn will do after it's been washed. :) I bet it feels dreamy!
The yarn is gorgeous! Love the color too. Sometimes if I want a bit loftier yarn, I will slightly felt the yarn, dipping it from hot to cold once or twice. Depending on the fiber content, this will add loft and bounce to the yarn.
I love that blue. It is very yummy.
That's my kind of blue. The spinning looks great. I like that balance straight off the niddy. Very encouraging.
That looks great! For two ply yarn I always pull some active singles off the bobbin before setting and let it twist back on itself to have a sample on how to ply it so it balances. Do you have any tricks for knowing how to do something similar with a three ply? I'm working on the singles for my first three ply right now :-)
Your blue yarn is gorgeous. I need to get some blue fiber, I have seen so many lovely shades around the blogs lately.