The Velveteen Rabbit

No, no, don't worry. Crazy Esther is still happily munching hay in the barn this morning. Her worn out body, legs that don't work, tattered horns and shabby fleece with brown and white spots just make me think of the story of the Velveteen Rabbit and how a much loved stuffed animal becomes real.



Yesterday's cold was hard on her. Today, sitting in the sun, she looks pretty happy. Hospice care.



I spun up a goodly amount of her yarn Thursday.



Yesterday I plied it.

Sometimes I spin two bobbins full and then use my lazy kate to ply the two bobbins together. Since I didn't need much yarn, I just spun one bobbin, wound it off into a center pull ball and then plied it back onto the bobbin from the two ends, inside and out.



This usually works fine, but near the end the ball can collapse on itself and create a huge tangle. When it gets close, I pick the ball up off the floor, run a finger through the inside and keep everything straight as I finish.



This may fall into the category of too much information, but you typically spin the singles with the spinning wheel turning to the right to put twist into the loose fiber. When you ply, you then do so with the wheel turning to the left. As it winds back onto the bobbin, some of the twist you originally stored into the singles untwists and the plied yarn becomes a little puffy-er.

Notice how full the bobbin of two ply is compared to the same amount of yarn as a single ply in the first picture.



There are a couple steps between taking it off the bobbin and winding it off into yet another ball, but that's a post for another day. This is the finished yarn.

I cast on and started knitting the Crazy Esther cowl last night and am hoping to hit it hard this weekend and see if I can finish it - a challenge (for me ;-). I'm putting on a picot edging - another challenge (for me ;-). I try to learn something new with each project, big or small.

Enjoy your weekend!