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.