Greens

For the last week or so, I've been working on the first of three bobbins of singles in shades of green which will be Navajo-plied into a three-ply yarn. I've had the wool for some time, but hadn't decided precisely how I wanted to spin it. With five shades of green to work with, I could have made it a fractal. Likewise, I could have run it through the drum carder, blending it into a batt. Several other options crossed my mind before I finally settled of Navajo-plying. What is that, exactly? It's a way of making three-ply yarn from a single bobbin of singles, essentially using your hands to make long loops of "finger-crochet" chain. It's also called "chain plying" for exactly that reason. One hand is held stationary in your lap. The other hand manipulates the yarn, drawing a loop toward the stationary hand while carrying a third strand along with it. When the stationary hand is reached, you draw up a loop through the end of the chain and feed the yarn onto the bobbin with the active hand while holding the new loop in the stationary hand. Sounds complicated, but it's just making a hand-held "crochet" chain on a longer scale. I finished up this bobbin this morning (and man, is it loaded!). It needs to rest for at least 24 hours before I begin plying it.