Confetti Yarn

I began spinning this "confetti" yarn from an 8-ounce bag on May 26. I was so taken with the end result that I eventually ordered a total of 28 ounces, more than enough to make myself a sweater. The photo really doesn't do it justice. The base wool is a pale warm grey, sprinkled with thousands of variously coloured viscose nepps. The last two skeins finished drying yesterday, and I've already knitted a test swatch (between 9 and 10 o'clock in the photo) to determine gauge. On size 6 needles, the yarn is perfect to use with my favourite raglan pattern, fitting the stated gauge exactly. This isn't the only spinning I've done since that date. I've also turned out a skein of magenta wool for the Fair, a skein of "lilac haze" wool and several other smaller projects. I've really just been spinning my wheels for the last month and a half.

Confetti Handspun

 

This stuff is absolutely addictive to spin! I'm still waiting for the weft thread to arrive for my weaving project, so I have been spinning like crazy. I've been making roughly an ounce of singles every day, while also plying whenever I have two full bobbins. This was the first one-ounce trial run while I was sorting out how to handle the fiber to best advantage. A short forward draw and a lot of pre-drafting seems to be the key to keeping the coloured nepps from clumping up too much (a few large slubs give the yarn character). I decided to use the trial ball as a gauge test, and my swatch is working up at 11 sts/2 in, 15 rows/2 in. when using #5 needles, or what would classify as a light DK weight. I will probably have to create my own sweater pattern to accommodate the yarn. I love the "confetti" effect!

Spinning Confetti

I finished up the singles of BFL (Blue-Faced Leicester) this morning, and as my reward for getting that project out of the way, I started spinning a neppy wool/viscose blend for a "confetti" yarn. It's slow going because the base fiber is a relatively short staple (individual fiber length) and the little coloured nepps are very "grabby." It took spinning about ten yards for me to get the hang of handling it: how to ensure that it wouldn't have weak spots or pull apart at the weight I wanted it to be, at the same time distributing the nepps so they didn't clump up or make thick areas in the strand. Once I figured out the nuances, I began thinking of it as "mindfulness spinning," because I have to treadle quite a bit slower than usual while my hands are working faster to stay ahead of the short-staple fiber. I'm sure by the time I get through a pound of it, it won't take the same degree of focus it's demanding now.

Nepps

Day 204: I'm going to blame it on stress. My guiding rule about having no more than one project of any particular type in progress at the same time seems to have flown right out the window. Not only is my spinning wheel busy, I have yarn on one supported spindle and five...count them, five!...active drop spindles. Admittedly, two of the latter hold "leftovers," the bits I clean out of the carders when changing colours which therefore can't be spun in the worsted method I prefer, but still usable spun as woolen.

I have been wanting to spin some "confetti" yarn for the longest time, but was having trouble finding multicoloured nepps. Now, "nepps" is a word most of you won't recognize unless you've heard me talk about them before. Also spelled with one p, nepps are defined as "hopelessly entangled knots of fiber" which isn't as bad a thing as it sounds, at least in the right circumstances. Nepps can give a wonderful texture to a finished yarn, as well as visual interest. Since I couldn't find mixed-colour wool nepps through any of my suppliers, I went with a second option: a prepared wool/bamboo top with the nepps already built in, albeit only in two colours. I decided to spin the fiber on a drop spindle because it's slower, giving me broader opportunities to spread out any recalcitrant neppy concentrations as I go along.