Snail Spirals

I've been doing some more production spinning for Tanglewood Fiber Creations again, and this time she sent me a pound of pure chocolate brown cashmere...



One evening's work; eight ounces down, eight to go. Actually, it's ten ounces down, six to go, since I spun another 2-oz ball this afternoon after I took the picture. I'm spinning this long draw, medium fine, and it's going beautifully.

Except for the Falkland I spun last November, I haven't really had much experience or success with long draw spinning. I've dabbled in it, but always preferred worsted-style for smooth yarns or my semi-worsted version that I call "popping the twist in" for fuzzier yarns, where I hold the fiber stationary with my left hand, draft forward with my right hand, then let go and let the twist just reach the fiber mass before drafting again.

However, this cashmere has a short staple (about an inch and a half), is very fuzzy, and extremely soft. I tried popping the twist first, but that was only marginally successful and also slow, because of the short staple. I'm paid by weight of fiber spun and not time spent spinning, so I want to be as efficient as possible.

So I tried long draw. You know that saying about practice making perfect? Well, by the time I was halfway through the second 2-oz ball of fiber, I had it down. I struggled at first with drawing too fast, not enough twist, getting the singles too thin, twist going in too fast, and slubs. Oy, the frustration with overspun thin spots snapping and slubs not drawing out then drifting apart as they went onto the bobbin! That first 2-oz batch is reasonably even and is a stable yarn, but it took a long time.

Now, after 10 oz, I can draw out a full sweep with my left hand, watch the slubs level themselves as if by magic, and just feel when the section of singles is fully spun and ready to wind on to the bobbin. There is a definite change in the feel of the singles when it's ready. It gets somehow solid feeling; more springy and less spongy.

There are several good things that will come from this spinning job, I think. I will become a better spinner, I will get to spin more, and I will get to spin fibers I would not otherwise have. I mean, I'm working on a POUND of cashmere!