Episode 151 Big Spins: 5 Tips for Plying and Finishing

In this episode, Sasha offers 5 tips for plying and finishing a big spin.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Sheepspot Podcast:

  • Episode 146: Why I Never End Up with Leftover Singles When I Ply

  • Episode 105: How to be sure your yarn has even ply twist throughout the skein

You can find the script for this episode HERE.

You can comment on and discuss this episode here in The Flock, Sheepspot’s free online community for inquisitive spinners.

Here's the link to the Podcast search page and playlists. 

Episode Transcript

(00:58):
Okay, you've spun all the singles for your big spin, and you've rewound them
all onto storage bobbins. It's go time.
You are ready to start plying.
Here's what you need to know before you start.
Hello there, darling Sheepspotter. Welcome to episode 151 of the Sheepspot Podcast.

(01:20):
I'm Sasha, and my job is to help you make more yarns you love.
In today's episode, I've got five tips for you on plying and finishing your big spins.
So let's get right into it.
Tip number one, ply at random.

(01:41):
For a big spin, I might have between 20 and 30 storage bobbins.
I spin singles until my wheel bobbin is full, and then I move those singles to storage bobbins.
I'm able to get about an ounce onto a storage bobbin.
I use the six-inch shuttle bobbins

(02:02):
from Schacht, and as I fill the storage bobbins, I just put them in a bag.
And then when I'm ready to ply, I just pull from the bag at random and ply.
My goal is to come up with skeins that look as much like each other as possible.
And I got to say, this process has never failed me.

(02:26):
Plus, I can use the technique that I talked about in episode 146 to avoid winding
up with leftover singles.
Two, ensure even ply twist.
I have an entire episode, it's episode 105, if you're interested,
about ensuring even ply twist throughout a single skein.

(02:48):
Here, the task is a bit bigger. It's ensuring that every skein in my big spin has the same ply twist.
Now, there are a couple of ways to achieve this.
The first thing that you want to do when you start plying is to sample.
Consider making two samples with the same twist, and they can be quite short.

(03:14):
Wash one of your samples. So two identical samples, same ply twist,
wash one of them, and let it dry and see if you're happy with the ply twist in the washed sample.
If you are, add some of the unwashed sample to the shipping tag that you created

(03:35):
to check your singles diameter as you spun the singles.
And just keep that tag with your wheel so that you have it handy.
And that way you'll have something to check your plying as you go.
So you need the washed sample so that you know that the finished ply twist is

(03:56):
what you want, and you need the unwashed sample to compare to what you're plying as you go.
You can either count treadles, as I describe in episode 105,
and that's what I usually do, or you can just periodically stop plying,
pull some of your plied yarn off of your bobbin and compare the ply twist to your unwashed sample.

(04:23):
And this is a great technique if you are plying on an e-spinner where you can't count your treadles.
So just having that unwashed sample nearby that you can compare to can be really useful.
Number three, take out the bits that you don't like. So consider this a permission slip.

(04:46):
Just because you spun it, that doesn't mean that every single inch of your singles
needs to end up in your plied yarn.
You can take out the bits you don't like as you go.
I almost never actually do this because my singles are consistent enough for
me that I don't feel the need to.
But your mileage may vary. You may still be working on consistency or you may

(05:09):
just be more particular than I am. But just know that taking out the bits that
you don't like is an option that's available to you.
Number four, settle in, because you're going to be here for a while.
A couple of years ago, I was having a little bit of back pain when plying,
not when spinning, only when plying.

(05:32):
And that taught me that plying is its own thing. It's its own set of motions,
and it has slightly different ergonomics from spinning.
And while this was happening, I developed the practice of only plying one skein a day.
It's very tempting, or at least it was tempting to me when I'm faced with 30

(05:54):
storage bobbins, to just ply and ply for hours.
But rest is as important when you are plying as it is when you are spinning your singles.
So now I just ply until I fill a bobbin, and most of my bobbins hold about four ounces.
I make it into a skein, set it aside, and then I do another one the next day.

(06:22):
Number five, finish your big spin.
Now, note that I just said that I set my skein aside after I finish plying it,
and that's because for big spins, I like to finish all the yarn at once.
That way, I can ensure that all the skeins get finished in the exact same way.

(06:44):
This is particularly important if I'm going to fold the yarn at all.
I want to make sure that all the skeins get the same amount of agitation and
that they're moved from hot water to cool water the same number of times and
that the temperature of the hot and the warm baths is consistent across the skein.

(07:05):
So that's a very specific finishing situation where I want to keep the skeins
together so that they're all encountering the same conditions.
But in general, I think this is a good idea when you are finishing yarn from a big spin.

(07:27):
Now, an important caveat for this is you want to make sure that the yarn is
in a big enough container with enough water in it that it's got plenty of room to move around.
So much happens during this part of the yarn making process.
And I will just mention that I learned so much about this from Michelle Boyd's new book on twist.

(07:54):
The finishing process is when the fibers kind of plump up and some crimp may
come back and everything's sort of moving around inside your yarn and getting
settled into this new arrangement.
They've been in the singles with twist going in one direction for a while.

(08:16):
And now they're in a more neutral position.
And everybody, by which I mean all the fibers, need some time to adjust to that new situation.
And this is also when the twist sort of finally evens out and comes to rest inside your plied yarn.

(08:39):
And the fiber needs space to move to enable all of this.
So just remember to use a big container.
When I'm finishing, you know, five or six skeins at once, I put them into the
biggest dye pot that I have.
And hot water, just let them sit there.

(09:00):
And then I will, when the water cools, I'll go in and wring them out and hang them up.
So here's our summary about plying a big spin.
Ply at random. Make sure you keep your ply twist even, take out the bits of

(09:21):
singles that you don't like,
settle in, you're going to be here for a while, and remember to take breaks,
and finally finish the whole spin at once if you can.
If you can't, make sure that you finish the whole spin the same way.
There is a dedicated discussion thread in the flock where you can comment on

(09:43):
this episode and discuss it with me and other listeners.
The link is in the show notes for this episode, which you'll find right inside your podcast app.
So just open up the description for this episode, click the link,
and you'll be taken right to the thread.
Darling Sheep's Butter, that is it for me this week. But before we close,

(10:04):
I've got an announcement.
I'm about to start working on a project that I'm really, really excited about.
Breed School, my 12-month breed study course, is coming back.
I have completely revised the list of breeds we'll be working with.
I've added a lot more conservation breeds. and I'm going to reshoot all of the lessons,

(10:27):
which include 12 videos of me spinning that month's breed and 12 bonus lessons
on various spinning topics.
The doors to breed school will open in June.
And frankly, just between you and me, I'm going to have to, I'm going to have
my work cut out for me getting everything ready before then.

(10:47):
So I've decided to put off making new episodes for the month of May and just focus on Breed School.
So in May, as a warm-up to launching the new version of Breed School,
we will be pulling some of our episodes on wool types out of the archives and replaying them for you.

(11:09):
And I really hope you enjoy listening to them, perhaps for the first time or perhaps as a refresher.
Thank you so much for listening, friend. I will be back June 6th with a brand new episode.
Until then, spin something. I promise it will do you good.