Wrap & Roll

So if you're a spinner and subscribe to Interweave's Spin Off magazine, you probably saw Sarah Anderson's new wrapped-core technique on the most recent front cover. She came to our local guild a couple of months ago and showed us how to do it and I've been wanting to try it ever since... even though I have no idea what I would do with this sort of yarn. Maybe weaving? Who knows - it just looks cool.

I used my February shipment from Spunky Eclectic because it was a colorway I wasn't that excited about so I didn't really mind experimenting with it. (It looks like those marshmallow Peeps candy - yellow, pink, and blue.) The wool fiber was South African Fine, and fine it was... I absolutely loved spinning those singles. The idea was to get a worsted lightly spun single with occasional shlubs... it took awhile for me to get into the rhythm of this, especially since I've been trying to spin as thin as possible and avoid shlubs entirely over the past year. This is what the yarn looked like after creating one...Here's what the single looked like after it was spun onto the bobbin.After spinning two bobbins full, I went upstairs to find a ball of crochet cotton to use as my core. I then wrapped some core yarn onto my drop spindle...

Did I show you my new drop spindle? It's cute...

Then, I tied both the core yarn and one spun single onto my leader (the yarn attached to the receiving bobbin) and proceeded to wrap and roll!

It was easier than I thought it would be. Phil thought it looked tricky and offered to take pictures. I was worried it would be too much to think about - starting and stopping the wheel, wrapping the single around the core, letting the drop spindle hang between your knees while it unspun the core to create a balanced yarn, pausing to push the wraps up... seemed like a little too much coordination required. But really, if you're thinking of trying it - go for it. I'm certainly having fun with it. Here I am pausing to push up the wrapped yarn after it was spun onto the core yarn:

And here is the finished yarn being wound onto the receiving bobbin:

For something that is pretty tightly coiled, it's a rather soft yarn... mostly due to the shlubs I think. I just like saying shlubs, don't you? Or is it slubs? I've seen it written both ways, but personally I like the sound of shlubs better. I'll take a pic of the yarn when I've finished a skein or two. :)