A Spinner's Compass: Measuring and Documenting Your Yarn
I used to be one of those spinners who said measuring and keeping track of my yarns just wasn't for me. It takes too much time; it's too hard and confusing. I was also the spinner whose yarns started out worsted and ended up laceweight on the same bobbin. I could never match my yarns to patterns or even to other yarns I had spun for myself. It was grim. Here are the basics on measuring your yarn and some simple ways to keep track.
I have a Mama Bear SwiftNCount with a built in yardage counter that I wind yarn onto fresh from the bobbin. and a Schacht yardage counter when I wind from a swift into a cake after the yarn is finished and set.
To measure by weight I weigh 10 yards (if the yarn is inconsistent or very bulky, I use more) on a digital kitchen scale, figure the one yard weight and multiply by the weight of the entire skein.
Here are the lengths I got:
The three ways I measure the width of a yarn are with a WPI tool, with a Spinner's Control Card and with a sample yarn. The first two of these measurements can vary a lot depending on how firmly I pull on the yarn while I'm measuring.
I use my Spinner's Control Card more, especially while I'm spinning for consistency in my singles. I lay my yarn behind the card and visually gauge its width in the space between the black lines. It's quicker for me and I can find a reasonable, repeatable tension. I usually measure the yarn just pulled straight from when it starts to ply back. Still, I can get excited or in a hurry and get varied results:
I always keep an index card with yarn samples of my project. On it I have an unfinished single, an unfinished plied yarn and a finished plied yarn. The quickest way to make sure that I am on track when I'm spinning to measure my singles on the bobbin next to my singles on my index card. I hold them side-by-side and just check visually. Density Grist is an important measurement because it takes into account width and weight. Just think of the difference between a DK woolen spun and a DK worsted spun yarn. If I was trying to match a DK woolen spun yarn but I drafted worsted, my WPI could be exact, but I would end up with shorter yardage and a denser, heavier yarn. Checking grist and making adjustments would fix that problem quickly. A Yarn Balance is a little fiddly, but accurate too. Using a Yarn Balance involves getting a length of finished yarn to balance over the arm of the Yarn Balance, then measuring it and multiplying by 100. The Yarn Balance gave my yarn a measurement of 800 YPP.
Twist
To measure twist angle, lay your yarn across the card and match the twist to the closest twist angle line. Things that I use to help see my twist angles are strong light, a magnifying glass and a double-pointed needle or a tapestry needles to help follow the twist in the yarn.
Before I spin: I write down the whys and hows of this project. What am I spinning for? A specific project? To learn or practice a skill? To sample colorplay? As much as I can think of. While I spin:
I wrap yarn samples on an index card. I wrap my unfinished samples around the card; I find they untwist otherwise. I use a hole punch and hang finished yarn samples off of the card. After I spin:
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
Jillian Moreno is the editor of Knittyspin. She's on the Editorial Advisory board for PLY Magazine. She lives in a house packed with fiber and books. |
Text & images © 2014 Jillian Moreno. Contact Jillian |