This is it! This is why many of us spin. I know it’s why I started spinning: I wanted to make yarn to knit, something I couldn’t find in a store — a different fiber, a different color, something a little livelier feeling, a yarn as unique as my knitting. As I learned more about spinning and how to construct a yarn, I learned that draft and twist have so much to do with the yarns I like to knit, and that I could customize those aspects and many more when I spun my own yarn. I learned that it’s all a process: every bit I learn about spinning allows me to make the yarn I want to knit.
With any yarn I look at now, I can see every step that went into it: the fiber, prep, draft, twist, ply, finish. I now can read yarn. I can put that knowledge to use while I’m spinning a yarn or when I’m evaluating a finished yarn to knit with.
It took me a long time of spinning and knitting (and respinning and reknitting) to figure out just how interrelated the processes are and how to make a yarn to use, instead of a mill-spun yarn, in a commercial pattern, or how to find a great pattern for my already-spun yarn.
The keys to all things related to spinning and knitting are these: sample, swatch, measure, and keep track. I can hear the moaning out there. But I will say I am not inclined to be overly technical or detail oriented. If I learned to sample, swatch, and keep track, it is in the bare minimum way. I do not make busy, fiddly, detaily work for fun.
The main difference between mill-spun and handspun yarns lies in the two words mill and hand: one is made by machine and one by a person. One is made in large quantities (usually) to broad specifications; the other is made a skein at a time with a specific intention in mind.
Machines that make yarn put a lot of pressure on it. It’s constantly under tension to get it to flow through the process, and that can leave the yarn looking and feeling a little exhausted. Mill-spun yarns tend to be less elastic, a little limp and lifeless. (Note that I’m speaking generally; there are some small-batch mill-spun yarns that make spinners sing.) Handspun yarns can be whatever you want them to be, for whatever you’re making. They are usually bouncier and livelier than their mill-spun sisters.
When I knit, the difference between a handspun and a mill-spun yarn is huge for me. Even if the handspun yarn was not purpose-spun for a project, I find that I can knit handspun yarn at multiple gauges and it still works better than millspun yarn. I find that my gauge varies between a mill-spun and a handspun yarn, even if two yarns have the same wraps per inch (wpi; see Wraps Per Inch). Handspun yarns are rarely consistent throughout, so they vary in gauge within the same yarn.
Color and handspun yarn is another big win for me and my knitting. With some mill-spun yarns, especially variegated ones, the dye is applied after the yarn is spun. Some handspinners do this also, but most either dye their own fiber before spinning or buy their fiber already dyed. For solids and semisolids, the color has more depth and interesting characteristics if the unspun fiber has been dyed, rather than dyeing the yarn after it’s spun. With variegated yarns, the depth of color is there, and you can also manipulate and blend colors when spinning (see chapter 6). Variegated mill-spun yarns are gorgeous, but a knitter is locked into a color flow, unless you alternate skeins.
This is a great way to highlight your handspun! Make sure the yarns are in the same ballpark for wpi and gauge, and always swatch both yarns separately until you get gauges that work together. You may not use the same size needle for both yarns. If knitting colorwork with a mill-spun and a handspun together, swatch them together in pattern. If using the two yarns in the same part of a project (a sweater front, for example), swatch big — at least 8 inches — and make sure to block it. (Of course, the same goes for any project where accurate gauge is paramount. You don’t want any surprises when fit is an issue.)
Handspun takes plain mill-spun to another dimension, even when using it for edges and bits. Imagine a plain scarf edged with a highly textured handspun yarn or a super-big and lofty handspun. Or how about a sweater with a body knit with mill-spun yarn, but with handspun pockets or collar? One technique that I’ve not had much luck with is combining a variegated mill-spun yarn with a variegated handspun yarn. I always want my handspun to stand out as the focal point in a mill-spun pairing.
If you’re using a mill-spun and handspun pairing for colorwork, the yarns should be as close as you can get them in gauge, grist, and hand, unless you’re going for a particular effect. This is even more true when you’re knitting a Fair Isle project than when you’re working intarsia. The more the yarns snuggle next to each other, the closer in look and behavior you want them to be.
You don’t have to match every characteristic of the mill-spun yarn. For instance, if I’m using a mill-spun wool yarn that is worsted spun and worsted in size, with six thin, loose plies, I might combine it with a handspun 2-ply, worsted- or woolen-drafted yarn made from top, with the same knitted gauge. A secret: In order to get the same gauge and hand, I frequently don’t use the same-size needles for the mill-spun that I use for the handspun yarn.
In the sweater “Party Mix,” designed by Julia Farwell-Clay for Knittyspin, the front and back of the sweater are knit with handspun; the sleeves and side panels are knit with Cascade 220.
This is the number one question for all spinners: How much fiber do I need to make something? My flippant answer is “More”; the more useful answers are “What are you spinning for?” and “How important is it to get the exact yarn or fiber for the project?” For instance, if you are making a summer top with a drapey neckline, you need a yarn that will drape, not one that is stiff and made to show off cabling. Or if you’re spinning and knitting for someone with a wool allergy, you wouldn’t use even a small percentage of wool. The less wiggle room that you have in your yarn, the more fiber you need for sampling and for compensating if something goes not exactly to plan.
If something needs to be exact and I know I will do a lot of sampling to get it right, I buy an extra 2 ounces when I’m planning to use a middle weight like DK or worsted (not a chunky yarn, for instance). I then add another ounce or two for each element that might require extra testing, such as a variegated yarn, which requires color manipulation, or a heavily patterned project, as well as for a yarn that’s not my default. It’s always better to have too much rather than too little, as often you won’t be able to find the same fiber again. If you end with the yarn you want and extra fiber, do a dance, and trade your fiber with a friend or hoard it for a rainy day.
If you know a project’s yardage, the size of the yarn it calls for, and that yarn’s wpi, it’s easy to estimate. For example, say I want to make a woman’s size-large sweater in a worsted-weight wool yarn. I consult a general pattern and see that a woman’s large sweater uses 800 yards of worsted-weight yarn. I know that worsted-weight yarn has a ypp (yards per pound) of 900 to 1,200, so I know I would be safe buying a pound of fiber, plus more for sampling.
The table below lists the general commercial yarn size names and knitted gauges provided by the Craft Yarn Council, along with the wraps per inch and yards per pound of each yarn. The wpi and ypp numbers are compiled from various sources, as well as my own personal spinning. It is important to note that these numbers are most likely based on a middle-of-the-road fiber like Corriedale, so if you use a heavier wool fiber like Wensleydale or a lighter one like Merino or a wool blend, you must tinker with your numbers.
From the Craft Yarn Council Standard Yarn Weight System; wpi and ypp are compiled from various sources and personal spinning.
Feeling comfortable and confident about measuring your handspun is key to being happy while knitting with it. At first it feels like a lot of work and a lot of steps, but the more you do it, the easier and faster it gets. Plus, you’ll learn where to cut corners and where your handspun is most variable. My handspun is most consistent in ply twist, but I have issues with consistent density and wpi in my singles, especially when I am spinning for a big project or if I’m rushing. In this section, I explain the basic measurements for handspun yarn, why the measurement matters to your knitted results, and how to do it. If you’re already a knitter when you begin to learn to spin, you have a lot of knowledge about yarn already, but handspun yarn may surprise you in a few different ways.
Wraps per inch, or wpi, is so ubiquitous in spinning that I consider it the while-you-are-spinning equivalent of knitted gauge, not because they measure exactly the same thing, but because they are the most basic measurement. Wpi measures the width of the yarn, and it can be just as susceptible to lying as gauge (see wpi: A Cautionary Tale).
Wpi and knitting. Wpi is important when you’re spinning for a knitting project because it’s the one measurement that will help you make a consistent yarn.
How to measure wpi. 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.
If you need to adjust your wpi, do the following:
Both of these little tools measure wraps per inch (wpi).
A spinner’s control card provides printed gauge bands to compare your yarn against.
My wpi, like my knitting gauge, lies constantly. I use wpi as a guide to keep my yarn consistent when I’m spinning and to match a yarn I used in specific knitting projects. The problem is I can get my yarn to read at almost any wpi I want it to. It’s the same as when I knit a gauge swatch: my hands can knit the perfect gauge with a particular yarn, but once the project starts and I relax into it, my true gauge appears, and it’s often different.
It’s easy to influence wpi, since it’s based on tension. I think of measuring my wpi using a wpi gauge more like placing the yarn on the wpi gauge rather than wrapping it around it. Pulling tightly gives a finer wpi; winding with no tension yields a bigger wpi. To find a happy medium, try rolling (turning the wpi gauge to feed on the yarn) instead of wrapping, and make sure the threads touch but aren’t crowded.
The lesson I learn from these examples is that I need to measure several times and evaluate the results as a range of wpi. Also, I need to try not to make the yarn fit the measurement I’m looking for. I have to remind myself to let the yarn speak, or it won’t work. As in all things spinning, I find that I can encourage the yarn, but if I try to bully it, it always gets the last laugh.
These photos demonstrate how easy it is to change a wpi. Note that exactly the same yarn was used for all three samples.
My biggest surprise was, and continues to be, knitting gauge when I’m working with handspun yarn. The gorgeous inconsistencies in handspun make the gauge a touch fluid. Be sure to check it and recheck it several times while you’re knitting.
Gauge and knitting. Because it’s spun by hand and not machine, it might like a bigger needle than you think. I’ve had the experience of holding a commercial yarn against a handspun yarn and thinking that they look and mostly feel the same. When I start to knit the yarns using the same size needle for both, however, I often find it squeezes the life out of the handspun yarn. Swatch often, and swatch big. Getting and maintaining gauge is all about the fit. If your gauge isn’t right, whatever you knit won’t come out the size you are expecting. I often recheck my gauge after I’ve been knitting on a project for a bit, because as I relax, my gauge changes.
How to measure gauge. If you can stand it, try for a 6- to 8-inch swatch rather than the standard 4 inches. If you are planning to knit a garment where fit is important, knit the bigger swatch even if you can’t stand it. Using a ruler or a knitting gauge, measure at least four different places on the swatch and take an average of the results. Don’t press down while you are measuring, especially if you are using lofty yarn, as this stretches the stitches and changes the gauge.
Measure gauge on a knitted swatch that's large enough to give you a generous section in the center to count your stitches.
Without twist there would be no yarn. Yarn is just fiber and twist. I measure twist to keep the hand of my yarn (or the feel — for example, is it firm or supple?) consistent. The longer I spin on a project, the greater my tendency to put in more twist. The result is that a potentially lovely, soft, drapey yarn ends up hard and wiry. The higher the angle of twist in your yarn, the tighter the twist. Of course, all of the other aspects of the yarn you are spinning affect the twist angle, too. A thin yarn with less fiber needs more twist to hold together; a fat yarn with more fiber needs less twist to hold together. Lower-twist yarns are loftier yarns because there’s room in the fiber for air. Higher-twist yarns are denser because the air is pushed out by the twist. If you find a twist angle you love for a particular yarn, it is unlikely to be the perfect twist angle for a different fiber or a different project.
Twist and knitting. Twist informs how your yarn will behave and how it will last. Twist contributes to the durability of a yarn and to the hand of a yarn. If you want to make sock yarn, you need a tighter twist than if you are making a lace shawl.
How to measure twist. You can purchase a twist-angle gauge or make one. Sometimes it’s nice to create a twist-angle gauge especially for a project, marked with only the twist angles you’re using for that particular project. To make one, you need a 3 × 5-inch index card and a protractor. Line up the long edge (the base) of the protractor with the long edge of the index card. Mark the card in 10-degree increments out from the center top in both directions (a). (Going in both directions allows you to measure both S and Z twists.) Then draw lines to connect these marks to the point at the center bottom (b). Number the lines starting with 0° at the center top, increasing by 10s to 90° at the base on both left and right as shown in the drawing below (c).
To measure twist angle, lay your yarn across the card and match the twist to the closest twist-angle line. The things that I need to help me see my twist angles are strong light and a magnifying glass; a double-pointed needle or a tapestry needle help me follow the twist in the yarn.
Creating a homemade twist-angle gauge
This yarn has a twist angle of 30˚–40˚.
I frequently measure my twists per inch (tpi) while I’m plying. It’s a quick check to make sure I’m keeping my ply twist consistent.
Knitting and tpi. Perfect ply for a project is a wonderful thing; perfect consistent ply for a project is like winning the lottery.
How to measure tpi. All I use to check tpi is a ruler and a magnifying glass. (I need the magnifying glass only if I’m measuring singles or very fine yarn.) I lay the plied yarn next to a ruler and count ply bumps in an inch. I divide the number of bumps by the number of plies and get twists per inch. If I am measuring quickly on the fly while I’m plying, I measure just the ply bumps. Make sure to note whether you’re measuring bumps per inch or twists per inch; they aren’t interchangeable.
Measuring tpi, or bumps per inch, in your ply-back sample.
Left: 7 bumps per inch, or 3.5 tpi. Right: 11 bumps per inch, or 5.5 tpi.
This is quickest way to check twist for consistency. This is the twist measure (or test) that no spinner can complain about doing. It takes less than a minute, and it barely disrupts your spinning.
Knitting and ply-back. This is the easiest way to check twist to ensure that you’re spinning a consistent yarn, and a consistent yarn is a happy knitting yarn, with a gauge that doesn’t change dramatically within a skein or a project.
The yarn has to be fresh, full of live energy for this technique to work. After you’ve been spinning for a bit, getting into a rhythm and making a yarn that visually pleases you, stop spinning and pull a length of singles from the bobbin. Fold it in half and let it twist (ply) onto itself. How does it look? It will approximate what it will look like as a balanced 2-ply yarn. You can untwist it a bit manually to see what it would look like if slightly underplied, or give it more twist with your fingers to see what it would look like overplied. If this is the yarn you want, use it as your ply-back sample to periodically measure the rest of your yarn against as you spin. You can measure the bumps in an inch on your ply-back sample and record the number, or you can do a ply-back sample, knot it, and break it off. I usually keep the ply-back sample on my wheel somewhere, hanging from one of the knobs where it’s easy to reach but where it won’t be caught in the workings of the wheel or sucked into the orifice. If you choose the latter, make sure to write the bump count down somewhere; those little ply-back samples go missing easily.
How much yarn do you have? Is it enough? This is the fundamental measurement you need when you’re going to be knitting with your yarn.
How to measure length. Use a niddy noddy or a swift to wind your yarn into a skein. For example, one wrapping path on my biggest niddy noddy is 2 yards. After I finish wrapping my yarn onto my niddy noddy, I count the individual threads and multiply by the 2-yard length, and I have the length of my skein. This way, you can pretty closely estimate the yardage when you’re done. Be sure not to pull tightly or spin your swift too quickly; if there’s any tugging at all, your yarn is being stretched. Keep in mind, also, that the way you choose to finish your yarn can change your yardage. If you aggressively finish (as you would with felting or menacing and fulling; see here), your yarn shrinks in the process, so remeasure the length after the yarn has been finished.
A niddy noddy makes a convenient tool for measuring the length of your skein.
Weigh it! To estimate how many yards your mystery skein contains, you can weigh it. First, weigh just a few yards, and then divide the yardage by its weight in ounces to find out how many yards there are in 1 ounce. I like to use 10 yards because it makes the math easy. For example, if 10 yards weighs 0.15 ounce, divide 10 by 0.15 to get 66.6. Rounded up to 67, this is the length of my yarn per ounce. Next, I weigh the whole skein, which in this example weighs 3.5 ounces. I multiply the length per ounce (67) by the weight of the whole skein (3.5). My mystery skein is no mystery anymore: It has 234.5 yards.
Here’s the formula:
(sample yardage) ÷ (sample yardage weight in ounces) = (length per ounce)
(length per ounce) × (total weight of skein) = (total length of skein)
I like to weigh my yarn as well as measure its length. I have an electronic scale that I use just for fiber, and it’s one of the tools I use the most. If I have the length and weight of a skein of yarn, I can calculate the grist (the yarn density; for more information, see at right). I also use weight to make sure I’m splitting my fiber evenly, to evenly divide bobbins I’m rewinding, and to estimate how much yarn is left on a bobbin. As explained above, I can use weight to calculate the length of a skein, too.
Weight and knitting. When substituting a handspun yarn for a commercial yarn in a knitting project, weight is every bit as important as length. You don’t want to make a 50-pound shawl!
How to weigh yarn. Buy a small kitchen scale, and hide it from everyone in your house. Make sure it can be set to both ounces and grams. Skein your yarn and weigh it, in either ounces or grams, whichever way you think best. Write the weight down on a tag or band fastened to the skein.
When I need to be really exact in my spinning, especially when I’m trying to duplicate an already-spun yarn, I check its grist, or density, or, in other words, how much fiber is in a certain length of yarn. The grist of a yarn is expressed as a measurement of length to weight, usually how many yards are in a pound of yarn (ypp). The higher the yardage per pound, the thinner the yarn. Grist will surprise you. Sometimes I think two yarns are the same, the wpi and gauge are the same, but then my yarn runs out. What? If I had checked my grist, that wouldn’t have happened. It’s a little like how many miles per gallon your car gets. In this case, how far can you spin on a pound of yarn?
I’ve heard grist (and ypp) used interchangeably with wpi, but that just isn’t right. I think that misconception comes from describing grist as the thickness of a yarn, whereas grist includes density or weight, not just the side-to-side yarn-width measurement.
These woolen-spun (top) and worsted-spun (bottom), DK-weight yarns may look similar, but the worsted-spun yarn is actually denser and heavier, with less yardage.
Grist is an important measurement because it takes into account both width and weight. Notice the difference between two DK-weight yarns, one spun woolen and the other worsted. If I am trying to match a DK woolen-spun yarn with a yarn I drafted worsted with the same amount of fiber, my wpi could be exact, but even so, I would end up with shorter yardage and a denser, heavier yarn. Checking grist and making an adjustment, like spinning with a different, airier drafting style, would quickly fix that problem.
I find that knowing grist is good for specific things. Do I use it all the time? Nope. Plenty of times I just spin, but I use it more than I thought I would when I first figured out grist. Grist can be a powerful tool in the hands of a spinner. Making friends with grist helped me to become a more consistent spinner overall. It gives me deeper information about the yarn I’ve spun and more control over yarn that I will spin. It helped to answer questions I had about why the yarn in my hand didn’t match the yarn I intended to spin.
Grist is key to matching yarns, using handspun for a pattern that was written for commercial yarns, replicating another handspun yarn, or making it easier for someone else to match a yarn that you’ve spun. Grist can also be used to solve one of the greatest yarn mysteries of all: the yardage of a mystery skein of yarn. (See How to Figure the Length of a Myster Skein or a Partial Skein for more advice on this dilemma.) How many times have you found the perfect skein of yarn with no tags or labels? Of course, this is the yarn that must be used instantly, if only you could quickly figure out the length. If I am measuring grist to make sure my yarn is consistent while I spin, I check my singles at least once per bobbin.
Grist and knitting. Measuring grist can help you make yarn that is consistent from the start of a project to the end. It’s easy to make a yarn that looks similar and even has the right wpi and knitted gauge, but if the grist isn’t right, the project can go disastrously wrong. This area of spinning is where I’ve made my biggest mistakes when I’m spinning for a project and trying to match a commercial yarn. For example, when I’m spinning yarn for a sweater, I frequently start out drafting my usual worsted but end up with a weird, heavy worsted weight. It more or less looks the same, and the wpi is the same, but the yarn I’m spinning as I finish doesn’t behave or drape like the yarn I spun when I was just starting out. What I found out by studying grist is that when I’m in a hurry, I add more twist because I’m treadling faster. When I check my wpi as I’m working, it measures the same as when I started, but because of the tighter twist I’m giving the yarn, I’m adding more fiber into the same length of yarn. So the hurry-up yarn weighs more per yard and behaves differently in the end.
How to measure grist. There are two ways to measure grist: with a yarn balance and with a digital kitchen scale.
If you’d like to use this information to find how much yardage you have in a particular skein of yarn, divide the ypp by 16 to find out the yardage in 1 ounce, weigh the skein in ounces, then multiply the yardage per ounce by the weight of your skein.
Once you have this measurement, you can calculate grist.
A lot of spinners don’t measure grist and don’t want to think about grist. Some don’t even know what it is. Grist is the density of a yarn, how heavy a particular length of yarn is. It’s measured in yards per pound (ypp). I find knowing the grist really useful for making consistent yarn.
Yes, there is math involved, and that’s why some spinners won’t tackle grist. But the math is really basic, no complex equations. I don’t do any math I can’t do on a calculator, so all I need is a calculator and the knowledge that there are 16 ounces in a pound. Divide the yardage of your sample by its weight in ounces to find out how many yards there are in 1 ounce. For example, if you’ve got 20 yards that weighs half an ounce, divide 20 by 0.5; the answer is 40, which means there are 40 yards in 1 ounce. Multiply by 16 for the per-pound yardage: 640 ypp. Another example: If you’ve got 20 yards that weigh 0.32 ounce, divide 20 by 0.32 to get 62.5 (see, I told you you’d need a calculator). There are 62.5 yards in an ounce of this example, so multiply by 16 to find that this yarn has exactly 1,000 yards in a pound.Here’s the formula:
(sample yardage) ÷ (sample yardage weight in ounces) = (length per ounce)
(length per ounce) × (16 ounces) = (yards per pound)
The higher the ypp, the finer the yarn. For instance, the grist of a bulky yarn is 400 ypp; the grist of a laceweight yarn is 4,000 to 6,000 ypp. Below are three examples that demonstrate the wpi and ypp in commercial yarns.
Socks That Rock Lightweight: 18–20 wpi and 1,350 ypp
Helen’s Lace from Lorna’s Laces: 36–38 wpi and 5,000 ypp
Cascade 220: 10 wpi and 1,000 ypp
Because I was really curious about what influences grist, I started sampling. I can’t learn anything without sampling; it never sticks unless I make it happen with my hands. I found out that, like all things in spinning, grist comes down to fiber type, drafting style, and twist. Two yarns can look similar and even have the same wpi but have different grist. Or they may have the same grist and a very different wpi. The photos below show some examples of my experiments.
Draft. I spun some Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) top as a 2-ply. One sample is drafted woolen (b) and the other, worsted (a). Both samples hit a wpi between 9 and 10. But the woolen-spun yarn has 825 ypp while the worsted-spun yarn has 675 ypp. Spinning worsted-style put more fiber into the same amount of yarn through compression and twist. If I were subbing the same amount of worsted-spun yarn for the woolen-spun yarn in a knitting pattern, I would run out.
Fiber. I spun some Corriedale (c) and some 50% Merino/50% Tencel (d) 2-ply to a wpi of 9. I was curious about this one: The Corriedale is a not-too-heavy medium wool, an all-around average fiber. The Merino is crimpy and light, but the Tencel is heavy. Would they balance out? Nope. The Corriedale has 1,000 ypp, and the Merino/Tencel has 800 ypp.
Same ypp, different wpi. This one may be my favorite. It showed me how wpi and grist need to work together for consistency; it’s not about just one or the other. I spun two versions of BFL top, one spun worsted into a 3-ply (e), the other spun woolen into a 2-ply (f). Both are 750 ypp. The worsted has a wpi of 11; the woolen has a wpi of 6 — not very compatible.
Twist. Lately, I’ve been plying my yarns with a little more twist than balanced. I like the look and the extra “sproing” it gives my yarn. To see what difference ply twist makes in ypp, I spun two singles, plied half to balanced or slightly under (h) and the other half overplied (g), even for me. The wpi for both ranged from 11 to 12; the balanced yarn has 1,325 ypp and the tighter ply has 1,050 ypp. I’m losing a few yards with my style of plying.
If you are measuring grist to be consistent while you are spinning and finding your sample yarns don’t match, you might ask yourself a few questions:
If you are using grist to match an already-spun yarn but the ypp of the yarn you are spinning isn’t the same as the ypp of the yarn you’re trying to match, ask yourself these questions:
You can choose a number of approaches in order to get the ypp you want. To make the right choice, however, each of these needs to be measured against the type of yarn you want to end up with.
Here’s how to raise the ypp and make a finer or lighter yarn:
To lower ypp to make a wider or denser yarn, follow these tips:
Know yourself. You may think that entering all of your yarn information into a spreadsheet is a good idea, and you’ve seen it work for one of your most organized friends. If you are not inclined to be that detailed or use a computer to record things, however, you won’t stick with it. Remember, spinning is supposed to relax you, to bring you joy. I always want to keep track on a spreadsheet; it would be so tidy and accessible, but it never works for me. I use tags, zip-top bags, and boxes if I need more storage room. I handwrite everything, too, including my yarn vision and all of my notes (see chapter 1). But because my writing isn’t the neatest, I use the biggest labels, tags, and bands I can find.
Yarn vision and goal yarn. Write it all down, and draw or include a picture if it helps to inspire you. Include a sketch or picture of the project if you are working toward one. Describe your yarn in words and figures. Spin your sample and take it all the way to knitting, including stockinette stitch as well as any pattern stitches that are prominent in your pattern. Keep an unfinished singles, unfinished ply, finished ply, and finished knitted swatch of all of your samples well labeled. I find myself going back to old samples as starting points for new projects. If you are working with color and doing any color manipulation, mixing, or blending, sample all the ways you think will work.
Yarn as you are spinning. Keep a length of the yarn you are spinning attached to the wheel if you can. You can make either a ply-back sample or a control-card sample, whichever you prefer. Note all of the measurements you might want to check while spinning, and don’t forget to make a note of your wheel setup (and which wheel you’re using!). Use the control card or a tag attached to your ply-back sample to write all this information down as ratios, or simply write something like “Lendrum, regular flyer head, second from largest groove in the whorl.”
When you first start spinning, you’ll check constantly, and then you’ll think you know better and stop checking. Find a happy medium. I check two or three times per bobbin.
Listen to that little voice in the back of your head, listen to your hands, listen to your gut. I don’t know how many times I’ve known something was wrong with my yarn, and yet I’ve just kept going, only to be disappointed in the end. I usually know something is not quite right when I start fiddling more with the yarn, trying to manipulate it a different way so that my hands get twitchy.
There are two ways to approach planning a knitting project using handspun yarn: find a pattern for yarn you already have, or spin for a pattern that calls for a specific yarn (commercial or handspun).
You may be surprised to discover that the way you knit will add or subtract twist from your yarn. If you throw your yarn (the right-handed method, known as English or American style), wrapping your yarn clockwise around the needle, you will lose twist in a yarn that has been plied S. If you pick your yarn (the left-handed method, known as continental or German style), wrapping your yarn counterclockwise around the needle, you will add twist to your yarn and make the stitches look and act differently.
You can use these characteristics for specific visual effects or added durability. On the other hand, you can avoid the issue by adding more or less ply twist in your yarn to counteract what’s happening with the twist as you knit. You can also avoid it by spinning your yarn in the opposite direction.
What you decide really depends on what you’re knitting, the stitch pattern you’re using, and how much you mind the look. If you’ve been frustrated previously knitting with handspun, because you think the stitches always somehow look wrong, addressing this issue could be the answer to your problem. The swatches below are examples of how the method used for knitting affects three different stitch patterns.
When your stitches tighten as you knit, it can add firmness and durability to stockinette and help cable and texture stitches pop. For lace, tighter stitches mean holes will roll in and shrink, and decreases will be a visual focus.
When your stitches loosen as you knit, it can add drape to stockinette and make lace relax and open. For texture and cables looser stitches mean a softening of the stitches and an overall flatter look.
Z-spun/S-plied yarn knit picked in stockinette stitch, cables, and lace
S-spun/Z-plied yarn knit picked in stockinette stitch, cables, and lace
