I was in the mood for a little color experiment and there are a few ways to approach a delectable bit of top. First off, I like to play with the fiber a little bit. I run it through my hands, give it a few gentle tugs to get a feel for how it will draft, gently pull it open and loosen it up a bit. I think this is especially important for hand dyed tops or rovings, because I like to make sure I'm not going to have any sticky parts when I start spinning. At the same time, I think about how I want the colors to appear. I decided to do this:
I wanted lots of repeating color changes, so I split it apart in long thin strips and rolled it into loose balls, doing a little more predrafting as I went.
I spun half of it on one bobbin and the other half on another, in 2 different thicknesses.
I let them rest for the day then wound them into balls on my ball winder so I could ply each bobbin of singles back on itself. What I ended up with was different looking yarns of equal weight.
This one is around 81 yds, 10 wpi, which puts it in the DK neighborhood:
And here's the 42 yd, 7 wpi bulky version:
Of course, I like them both. The finer you spin it, the more the colors gather together and lose their individual definition. The yellows stand out more in the bulky one.
