I found myself reaching for some yak/merino fleece while at The Yarn Tree the other day – curious about this fiber after seeing it here and here.
So I added it to the bunch of small bags of fiber to test spin. Mongolian cashmere/mulberry silk, merino in gold, sand colored baby alpaca and cream-colored yak/merino. I spun up a bit of each to get the feel of various fibers before committing to one that would fill my spindle. The cashmere/silk was trouble, the most difficult fiber I’ve spun yet. (I think it was the silk.) The merino was easy. The baby alpaca fast. The yak/merino perfect – so I spun up more. Smooth spinning and so soft. While plying the yak/merino using the Andean plying bracelet method, one ply split and coiled its way into the bracelet. I took it off my wrist and it became more of a mess, so I untangled it and wound it onto a niddy noddy. After setting the twist of the singles and two-ply with steam, I hung them on each end of a hanger to dry. I love the inconsistencies of the two-ply. Overspun beads next to airy plies. And since I don’t want to knit it up right away (need to take in the finished handspun high for a few days or weeks) I needed some yak to knit. Shokay, 100% pure yak down in an earthy color. All set up on my coffee table: yak yarn, needles, a print out of A Scarf Askew and The Natural Knitter (more on this book tomorrow).