Wool n' Spinning: Spinning Singles

Wool n' Spinning
/ welfordpurls
welfordpurls.com
This month's teaching content features my techniques to spin soft, low twist singles yarns that are balanced following finishing. There are photos at the end showing how I finish my yarns to full them, thus increasing their strength and durability. This was 4.3oz of grey Masham that I am spinning short backward draw, smoothing lightly as I go.

[@nghtguy13]

That's the smoothest drafting I've ever seen

[@RachelSmith]

Thank you!

[@marilynsullivan4361]

Very helpful for this beginner! Thanks for posting

[@RachelSmith]

Thank you Marilyn!

[@sunnyruth8575]

Thank you for sharing lovely job very helpful love the explanation and the cord idea

[@knittingthestash]

beautiful job on these singles. Love to watch you spinning--such consistent magic :)

[@ampm3098]

I love the idea of a string to control the quality so it’s consistent. I’m gonna give it a try s I was only counting peddling.

[@Woelliesnl]

Thank you for this video! This is exactly what i was looking for.

[@shymoment]

Thank you for this. I am going to try this yarn idea. This will help me with consistency with my long draw.

[@RachelSmith]

You're so welcome!

[@ThePhantazmya]

I like the yarn idea. I imagine it would also be helpful for a consistent long draw as well.

[@RachelSmith]

Yes! Very much!

[@jeangreenfield5993]

I would love to learn this craft. - a knitter 😍

[@RachelSmith]

Give it a try! It's amazing :)

[@ColorsofHopeCraftsASMR]

This is very helpful. I have trouble figuring out how to treadle the right amount.

[@RachelSmith]

I'm so glad this was helpful! Thank you for watching!

[@user-xn9rf2lv5p]

Hi Rachel, I am subscribed to you channel! I really enjoy your videos. I would like to learn to do art yarn, thick in part and unusual yarn combos, etc... And I would like to use the tools you are using. Could you do a tutorial on how to pick a carding drum, brushes, mat and spinning tools. What works for you? What do you like? Thank you so much. I really appreciate it! Keep making beauty! Thank you again.

[@RachelSmith]

That's a great idea! I'll see what I can come up with this year and just do a run-down on tools for people!

[@melaniehellum1281]

Good job looks really nice

[@RachelSmith]

Thanks Melanie!

[@DanaBarbieri]

So beautiful!

[@mariemin946]

So Pretty !

[@mardig4382]

I found it interesting how you had your yarn going thru the circle and then over the second bar before it wraps on the bobbin. Is that how you do it for all yarns? Just singles? I have a Ashford kiwi with the same setup, I've always just gone thru the circle and onto the bobbin. Good singles lesson. Thanks.

[@RachelSmith]

Hi Mardi - I wrote a blog post about cross-lacing. I hope you find it helpful in understanding why I do it! welfordpurls.com/2016/04/06/cross-lacing/

[@SenkoFarms]

Beautiful

[@ms.beatle248]

What wheel if you don't mind me asking? The concept of the string is interesting. Will try.

[@RachelSmith]

That was my Lendrum DT. Give it a try!

[@luciennetompkins7059]

Great video, thanks for sharing! Can you say about how long you do the cold water soak for, and how long you are fulling it in the hot water? How hot is the hot bath? Thanks again!

[@RachelSmith]

Great question! I tend to leave them in each sink for about 3-5 minutes. I find that allows the wool to open up enough in the hot, hot and close back down in the cold, cold. Does that help??

[@helenedumoulin9092]

Hi Rachel! My singles are spun lace weight and plyed into fingering but my main problem is when Washed it and let sit in warm water it then becomes ARAN … what a pain … what am I doing wrong ? So frustrating!

[@RachelSmith]

There may be lots of air in your yarn (not a bad thing!) so that when you wash, it's 'poofing' a lot. Depends on your fibre that you choose -- the fine wools will 'poof' more than the medium and even less than the long wools. In some ways, a lot of air is nice!! And it might look aran but knit it may be more fine. I would encourage you to swatch!!

[@manicspinner1959]

Rachel, thank you for this; I very much needed this information just now. I haven't yet spun singles for staying singles, but have a Zwartbles fleece that might be a candidate for this. I did a test run last night and the results were a mess. So I went searching this morning and -- no surprise -- found you! (FYI: you were top-of-the-list result when searching KZbin for "how spin singles." ) I also have a Majacraft (mine is a Rose) but I now have to find out what 6.4:1 looks like on it. I've yet to grasp the ratios usage. (I bet you have a video about this, too! ;-) Rachel, I can't afford to contribute ongoingly through Patreon, but I would like to make contributions as I can. Does Patreon allow one-time donations? Or do you have PayPal?

[@sobat7402]

Hello Rachel, what a great tip with that piece of yarn. Should that piece of yarn be of a certain length? The result in the end, lovely!

[@ThePhantazmya]

It's probably a calculation of (spinning ratio x # of treadles)/twists per inch? Like if you wanted 5 twists per in and you are spinning 9/1 ratio with 4 treadles per wind on then it would be (9x4)/5 =7.2 inches from orifice to the knot. Every treadle would be 1.8 inches so here if you treadled 5 times you could spin 9 inches per wind on. This won't be exact though because the wind on eats a portion of your treadle, but it's close enough. Sorry if that sounded a bit nerdy.

[@sobat7402]

Fern Moore thank you Fern, and no it does not sound nerdy. You put a smile on my face because of the math! Thanks for putting time in my question, step for step I must think about your answer, but It will certainly be helpfull! 👍😁

[@RachelSmith]

For even more on the topic, Fern, I made a whole workshop for Patreon subscribers that may or may not interest you but for future, it's there if needed/wanted! www.patreon.com/posts/how-i-spin-of-13358847

[@blckisusan]

Great video, love the idea of the extra yarn as a guide. I've been spinning singles for weaving with but I'm having a little trouble. I'm having to put in more twist than I want because when I wind it off to full it, there is too much tension and it pulls.it apart. The singles seem pretty balanced but it's super frustrating to have to make joins in my beautiful hank. Do you do anything special taking yours off the bobbin?

[@RachelSmith]

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Have you taken off the brake band or tension when you wind off so that you aren't pulling again a bobbin under tension?

[@blckisusan]

@@RachelSmith Yes, I put it on a tensioned lazy kate but remove the band so there's no tension. I'm trying something different this time - I filled my bobbin about 1/3 with a cheap yarn. Thinking I'd rather do a couple joins from smaller amounts on the bobbin at registration intervals than a bunch at the end :) Hope it works!

[@LizCanKnit]

Is there a video which very visually explains the ratios on the wheel and what yarns they are good for? I have a ton of Icelandic and i want to spin it right, like lopi yarn. So far I’m just getting very ropey, hairy yarn. I have the book mentioned, but I don’t learn unless I see it done.

[@RachelSmith]

I don't have any specific videos on ratios as it's so individual but what I would highly recommend is starting with your largest physical whorl you have (ie. the lowest number -- so like 4:1 or 6:1 on most wheels) and spin very slowly as you draft either short forward or backward, only allowing enough twist to enter that will twist-lock the fibre (when you pull on the singles, you can't break it and it doesn't draft apart). Remember some twist will be lost in the washing process. Sample sample sample! And you can always head to the Rav group for some help - it's linked above.

[@deejcarter2003]

Was the purpose of you doing ply back test just to see how much twist was in the yarn? Also l still don’t understand the purpose of the extra yarn in your hand.

[@RachelSmith]

Great questions. So the plyback is just to test twist and amounts. The extra string is part of a larger conversation with some of the other content that came out at the time of this that was to do with inserting the same amount of twist per length of singles each time for consistency. So as I draft back and reach the end of the string, there is the same number of treadles each time (I can't remember exactly how many it was here -- 4-5 maybe). Does that help? Please ask for more clarification if needed!

[@ampm3098]

Can these singles be used for mittens?

[@deejcarter2003]

I’m a little confused, was this left as a single ply?

[@RachelSmith]

Yes! :)

[@lynnann96]

Is that called pencil roving? Could your yarn be plied with another single after being washed? I’m looking for fine gauge single yarn to ply with some singles I spun.

[@RachelSmith]

LynnAnn Thomas I had striped down the original fibre, which was combed top. Pencil roving is prepped that way - as pencil roving but this is close because I've striped it. You could ply this after finishing, yes. You won't have as much elasticity as you would of you'd plied before finishing since singles are generally fulled slightly for strength but you could do it. Good luck!

[@rowenaoverton4568]

Rachel Smith mh

[@vanessajansen9921]

Hi just curious as to where you have the white yarn attached on your wheel an how to determine the length of yarn that is needed.

[@RachelSmith]

I attach it to the front Maiden, right below the orifice. Does that help?

[@vanessajansen9921]

@@RachelSmith how do you determine the length of the thread

[@RachelSmith]

@@vanessajansen9921 it depends on your spinning style. If 12" is a good length for you to hang on to, then that's a good length. It works well for math too but if it's too short or long, then adjust. Consistency is key here. Does that help?

[@vanessajansen9921]

@@RachelSmith Thank you so much. I enjoy your videos tremendously. Sorry for all the questions.

[@RachelSmith]

@@vanessajansen9921 ask away! That's what I'm here for!

[@banxious4nothing]

how do I keep from over twisting?

[@RachelSmith]

Great question. Either slow down your feet to treadle slower, speed up your hands or change your ratio/whorl to a larger (ie. slower) one.