New Spun Yarn

[silversandbea]

Okay, for the new people, I should start with saying that I don't know what I'm doing yet. There's a good chance that I'll never quite figure that out, but I'm certainly not an expert at this point.

Also, because I learned how to spin yarn while watching Critical Role, I started trying to vary my yarn palette and experiment a bit by creating yarn based off of Critical Role characters. This one is Caduceus. That's this dude. The yarn contains no spoilers.

Basic Info: 4 ply, 600 yards of heavy fingering/sport weight; 45% Alpaca, 55% Wool

Half of this was this white/magenta combination that I had definitely purchased (as opposed to inherited), and then couldn’t figure out what strange impulse drove me to do so until I put my hand in it again and rediscovered the softest thing in the universe. It was kind of horrible to work with because there were tons of slubs and is so slippery that it’s hard to get a twist in (and yet sort of felted together occasionally), but on the other hand I spun it up mostly as an excuse to fondle it for hours and hours and it being so fiddly meant that I just had to feel it slipping through my hands for even longer, so I guess that’s okay.

The other half of this was some Malabrigo in Arco Iris - this seemingly kelly green and magenta and purple combination that seemed like it would make a good fungal bloom equivalent. Malabrigo's fiber is a) ridiculous amazing colorways that are more like vague guidelines and any pictures you find online are going to be well meaning lies, since nobody can take a picture of your own personalized braid (and also if you want more of that braid you are out of luck, there are no dye lots), b) Super compacted, which really should have been obvious looking at the braid and the weight, but somehow was not, and c) The dyes don't really penetrate to the center of the fiber. Which actually makes sense if you think about what Malabrigo's yarn looks like - that sort of glowing color that's created by having a darker shade encasing a lighter shade inside - but also meant that the fiber was a little lighter and more yellow with pastels than expected. In short - I was expecting something closer to the leftmost one from the outside, but - there are the three other sections.



So anyway, I ended up with a lot of white, canary yellow, magenta lime green yarn with a little bit of forest green, so I ended up overdyeing it with some grey. And hey, I actually like the result! Part of me would have liked to see how it would have looked with only the alpaca dyed, but I've dyed singles by themselves before, there's a reason why I refer to that as my 'horrible acts of experimental hubris' yarn*, and those singles where a hell of a lot sturdier than these.

Here's the before and after photos - my phone's color balance isn't amazing, so the contrast is a little more striking in real life.
Before:




AFTER:



It’s a four ply, so it’s a little larger for thematic purposes. Also, because the last malabrigo I spun ended up being 800 yards of laceweight and absolutely soft and gorgeous and something I would never ever knit with, are you kidding (I gave it away to a friend who would actually knit something ridiculous with it, and then could submit it to the state fair and win). Even at a four ply, it's only straddling the line between fingering and sport. It's still ridiculously soft and a little bit fuzzy, but seems like it would make something strong and sensible.

Also, this was half a pound of yarn when dry. I've got to say it was incredibly satisfying to thwack.

*in terms of Critical Role Characters, the random acts of experimental hubris yarn is Percy. Of course it's Percy.

Comments

[horusporus]

Ohhh that looks like a very handsome colour indeed!

[silversandbea]

Thanks!