Cranberry Merino Yarn

 

It's all spun and plied!  I ended up with 1,224 yards of sport weight three ply yarn.  I was shooting for fingering weight, but it ended up a little bigger.  I think this was a slightly coarser merino than the Nube and I know I got less twist in it (which gives it a chance to floof up more).  Also, I didn't sample, I just kind of guessed.

It's not a big deal because I still have a sweater quantity, and I didn't have a specific pattern in mind to use for this yarn.  I'll knit a swatch and pick a pattern based on where things work out.

All the details:

• Ashland Bay Merino Multis in Cranberry from years ago.  I bought it when we were in Virginia.  Ashland Bay doesn't even do these anymore, the colorways are still available through another company.
• I started with 442g of fiber (0.97 pounds)  I don't have finished weight yet because the skeins aren't 100% dry,
• Light predrafting to loosen the compacted fibers.
• Spun worsted with a short forward draw on my Schacht Flatiron using the Medium whorl and the larger groove (10.4:1) on Scotch Tension
• Plied using the same wheel and whorl, but on the smaller groove (14.4:1) and Irish Tension

I'm happy with the finished yarn and I love the colors.  I'll wait until it's all dry but I will be knitting up a swatch to check both gauge and softness.  It sounds like a funny thing to worry about with Merino, but I'm not sure if it's next to skin soft, so this might be a cardigan.

For my next sweater quantity of spinning, I will definitely be sampling.  For one thing, I think it will help me become a better spinner, but also I have a particular pattern in mind for the next big project and I'll need to hit gauge.  I'm going to spin a little project first though, just for fun!