At Saturdays Guild meeting, Amy asked why do I transfer my singles before I ply. I transfer my singles onto other bobbins before I ply for several reasons.
First I have the luxury of having another wheel that is great for plying, my Majacraft Rose. It is all set up for both winding into Majacraft bobbins which are larger than most, 6oz easy and I have the larger plying head and flyer, about 8 oz plus. That way I can make longer skeins of yarn without knots.
Second, Stephanie G recommends that you put as much distance between your bobbins and the plying wheel as possible when plying. The reason for doing this is to let the twist equal it’s self in the single out over the distance. I take this one step further and do this when I transfer my singles. I put the spinning singles at one of the room and my bobbin winding at the other in so that’s there’s a distance of 6 to 8 feet in between.
Also when I transfer the singles from the spinning bobbins to the plying bobbins I am able to smooth out the take up. On a wheel that has hooks the take up can be bumpy because the single winds on in the area directly under the hook first. You will always end up with more yarn there then in the spaces between the hooks.
P.S. I had nice pictures for this post but Blogger ate them! Bad, Blogger, bad.
Dont you still have the pictures on your computer? You should if you transfered them off your camera...
ReplyDeleteThat is very interesting, to equal out the twist before plying. I do that after I ply but of course it only equals out the twist of the ply not the single. How do you keep your singles from getting all twisted up on the way to your winder? You will have to show me at fair :)
Thanks Heidi,
ReplyDeleteI will try that on my next spinning. It also makes sense because, as Spephanie G. says, you need to let your just spun singles "set" for a few days. By transfering your singles you don't have to have so many bobbins.