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Old January 6th 04, 10:32 PM
Els van Dam
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In article , "Denise"
wrote:

Hi everyone!

I'm still working on this lapghan and had some questions about using
Homespun.

If the unused thread bunches down, does that mean I'm knitting too tight?
Do you usually keep pulling the bunched up yarn toward the ball as you work?
Do I need to try to keep it from happening altogether, since I don't know
how this is going to affect the stitches as I knit them? If I keep doing
it, the yarn starts to wind on itself... and sometimes I just knit the
bunched yarn once in awhile, hoping that it doesn't leave a large hole
later.

Thanks,
Denise



Hello Denise

I am not sure about what you mean by "bunched up yarn", but my guess is
that you "over spun" or "over plied" you yarn or both. The knitted
stitches tend to slant to one side when you did that.

Work towards a balanced spun yarn. In order to do that you have to know
first how many times your bobbin will turn around to one turn of your fly
wheel (the big wheel that drives your bobbin and flyer ensemble). Now
when you draft....lets say two inches at the time, you will know that when
you turn your fly wheel onetime around, you get X numbers of twist in
those two inches.

Now when you ply you keep that in mind and give it a bit more twist, now
you check if your two ply yarn will hang relaxed or balanced. When it
hangs nice and loose in a bow, and it does not twist back on itself, you
have a balanced yarn. That is one part of getting a good knitting yarn.
The other part is working towards the project you are working on. Thick
yarn, thin yarn, knitting yarn or weaving yarn, a soft lofty yarn for a
baby jacket or a firm twist for a woven rug. What fibers to use for what
project. How to tread those fibers. alpaca for instance demands a bit
more twist than wool from a sheep, and again there are so many different
breeds each will ask for their own spinning method. All this takes
practise and sampling, and spinning and knitting swatches to get where you
are going.

Happy spinning

Els

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