I was relieved that day 10 of the TdF was a rest day, not least because it was the day some plumbing decided to start leaking. I spent most of the afternoon and evening worrying about the leak, if it would turn from a trickle into a gush or if indeed it wasn’t a leak at all but some other highly unlikely problem (like condensation). This morning I found the source of the leak and a kind friend came and fixed it (and is returning tomorrow for preventative plumbing maintenance!) Before the leak, and despite it being a rest day, I found myself sat at one of my wheels spinning a little, while my daughter played at “spinning” on another wheel which currently doesn’t have a project on it.
Today (day 11) I decided to make some headway on the Soybean/Shetland blend. This I’m spinning longdraw – which always feels like a little bit of magic is being performed when the thread forms as I pull back the fibre. At the beginning it feels like I’m stretching out something like chewing-gum or blue-tack. The initial thread is lumpy and bumpy, but as the twist enters the fibre and stabilises the thinner sections and I continue to pull back, the lumps disappear like magic. My longdraw spinning isn’t perfect – though I think if I used freshly carded rolags my results would be much more consistent.
I really wanted to finish spinning the singles and found myself cramming every last ounce of fibre onto the bobbins (I even swapped bobbins to get more on one that I’d previously decided was full).
And I did it! I’ve used up all the Soybean and Shetland blend:
I haven’t yet decided how to ply these, whether to make a 2 or 3 ply. I’d initially intended a 2 ply, but I think a 3 ply would give a rounder more consistent yarn.