Something we’ll call Impatience told me it would be . . .
faster? more convenient? easier?
. . . to spin the first length of my art yarn on a spindle. Yeah. Well, not exactly right. However, we’ll skip over the difficulties of arriving at the tiny amount of yarn on the left-hand spindle in the photo below. The yarn on the right-hand spindle was much easier. It’s a bunch of stretched out silk “hankies” spun onto a lightweight spindle. It was fun to spin. The left-hand spindle wasn’t exactly fun, but there it is.
Two spindles of colorful singles waiting to be plied.
Armed with the two spindles, and knowing from experience it’s easier to ply them on the wheel, I opted for the inconvenience of removing the bobbin of blue yarn I’m currently spinning so I could get my art yarn plied, set, and played with!
Except for the difficulty that arose from SEVERAL intensely over-spun areas, the plying went quickly. I’m excited to unwind the bobbin, but I need to wait at least overnight. I hope it will look good. From what I see on the bobbin, I think it will.
The plied art yarn
A friend (Cheryl K) from the Facebook Pin Loom Weaving Support Group sent me several small samples of art yarn she’d spun (which is what ignited my interest) a year or so ago. I spun my first art yarn then, entirely on the wheel (the very bright square, bottom center). As I recall, it was a sort of mad romp (which is probably why Impatience whispered to me to try a different method this time).
Samples of other art yarns used in pin loom weaving (along with the bobbin of new art yarn and the leftover spindle of silk waiting to be plied with more colorful yarn)
Spinning art yarn is—so far, in my opinion—time consuming, materials consuming, not high-yield, and not especially fun. So why try?
Well, I like a challenge and I LOVE the results. I have dreams of accumulating a whole bunch of little art yarn squares and . . .
Doing SOMETHING grand with them.
Something.
Or maybe I’ll just keep looking at them—because that’s fun and convenient and fast.