Goldfinch Handspun

When I first joined Instagram, the predominate color of my photos was yellow and this yarn is the reason why. The fiber was so bright and colorful that I couldn’t resist photographing it and documenting the spinning process from beginning to end. After hanging out in my stash for more than a year, this falkland deserved some time in the spotlight. 

When I finally decided to spin, I wasn’t sure what it was going to turn into until I unchained the roving. The fiber was soft. The colors were lovely and mottled. I just wanted to spin it with doing any sort of fancy prep. Normally, this would mean spinning a simple 2-ply but a brand new bulky flyer and bobbin had just arrived at my front door. With 4 bobbins, one of them extra large, I could easily spin a warm, cushy 3-ply! So, I split the roving into 3 equal sections and got started. Spinning the singles was easy. Plying the singles was ridiculously easy with the bulky flyer. I didn’t have to constantly watch the bobbin to make sure the yarn wasn’t getting tangled up in the flyer or wrapping around the tensioning cord. I didn’t have to ramp up the tension just to get yarn to feed through the orifice and wrap around an already bursting bobbin. All I had to do was treadle, ply and, occasionally, join broken singles back together.

I’ve heard tales of singles being the same length but I’ve never been that lucky or skilled. Take your pick. One of the singles was much shorter than the other two. Time for 2-ply. Chain-plying was out because, while it would give me a similar thickness, the colors wouldn’t behave the same way. Thankfully, the leftovers fit on a regular bobbin with room to spare.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with all this cushy, cushy yarn. Pet it? Done. Squish it? Done. Sniff it? Done. Cuddle it? Done. Knit it? Haven’t started yet but I have a plan. 

The Specs

Fiber: Gwen Erin Natural Fibers - Falkland Top

Color: Goldfinch

3-ply

238 yds; 3.3 oz

Aran Weight; ~ 8 WPI

2-ply

94 yds; 0.7 oz

Worsted Weight; ~ 9 WPI