all I want for Christmas is handspun

The Fiber:
Superwash Merino in the colorway ‘Kaleidoscope’, dyed by Spincerely Yours.

The Yarn:

The top was split lengthwise in half; each bobbin spun from opposite ends to create a 2-ply barber pole effect. 3.9 oz / approx 401 yards.

I am very happy with how this yarn came out. It’s consistent and very soft and shows that all the work I’ve done to learn and improve my spinning is paying off, but I don’t love it.

Part of that is having too much green and another part is not being a huge fan of barber pole yarn. But with that said, I am holding out to see how this yarn will look knit up. Up until this point, I’ve been spinning for the sake of getting the yarn I want, with no regard for how it will knit up. Time to take it a step further. After I wind it into a ball (after the requisite period of just petting and squishing the skein), and determine wraps per inch, we’ll see what this yarn wants to be. (I know what I want it to be, but I’ve learned that Yarn can be a bit stubborn in that regard.) :)

I will end with a tip for you:

When wet finishing your yarn, it’s important to remember that the yarn is superwash, or else you’ll spend five minutes beating up your yarn, wondering why it’s not fulling & fluffing up. (Granted, this was my first superwash wool yarn, and I’m used to non-superwash yarn. Yeah. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it! ;) )


I wish you peace, joy and lots of squishable fiber. :D

4 thoughts on “all I want for Christmas is handspun

  1. That is absolutely breathtaking! I love how colors toned down a little once they were plied together. I think the predominance of purple is really nice. :) And your spinning is so even!

  2. I’ll bet this is going to knit up beautifully. I don’t particularly like the barberpole look to yarn, but love it knitted up.

  3. what maple said.

    once knitted up barberpole yarn looks amazing and this yarn has such potential because it’s just plain gorgeous!

  4. I love it. There is a place for barber pole yarn. I believe you just have to find the right pattern for it. At any rate, 400+ yards will give you plenty to work with. Thanks again for giving me vicarious indulgence, I still haven’t been able to spin : (

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