Because All Good Things Will Come to an End, Eventually, Even When They Seem to Go On Forever.

Yes, that's right. I finally finished the plying on Opalessence! You can see a really bad picture of it here (sorry, just not motivated to get a better picture right now). It's still drying but I ended up with 2100 yards of a bouncy laceweight 2 ply. I think its fluffing up slightly larger than Zephyr and as the angora blooms it should get that wonderful soft focus look that angora is famous for. I'm planning on using it in a pattern written for Kid Silk Haze, but for now I'm going to admire it, pet it a bit, and let it dry. (The Opalessence is from The Woolen Rabbit.)

I also got the Frostrosen plied this weekend. Its hanging on the other end of the same hanger as Opalessence as it dries. I ended up with 1125 yards of Frostrosen. Its a slightly heavier weight than the Opalessence, but it doesn't have angora so it won't fluff up and bloom the way the Opalessence will. I think I'll also be able to use Frostrosen as a replacement for Kid Silk Haze. Those dots on the picture aren't dust, that's the sparkle from the Angelina Kary almost always adds to her batts. Its very subtle - you think you might have seen a sparkle, but before you can be sure, the yarn shifts, and you don't see the sparkle anymore. (The Frostrosen was a Kitchen Sink Batt from The Knotty Sheep.)

Both of these skeins are in the 6 ounce ballpark (there is slightly more than 6 ounces of the Frostrosen). The differences in length come primarily from the fiber content. If you remember, I spun both sets of singles to the same size, but Opalessence had more twist, where the Frostrosen was very softly spun. The Opalessence was plied with quite a bit of twist to balance the highly twisted singles and ended up a bouncy, twisty yarn. The Frostrosen plied much more quickly because it needed less twist to balance the singles. There is less twist visible in the yarn and it was able to fluff up a bit which is why it now looks like a larger yarn. The Opalessence, while being slightly less fiber by weight than the Frostrosen, is made of Merino, Angora, and silk - all very fine, lightweight fibers. The Frostrosen is made of corser wools (I don't have the list of breeds sitting here right now), so I didn't get quite as much yardage from it. Make sense?