Elaine writes: <<And, folks, a stable yarn can isn't necessarily balanced.>>
I've done quite a few singles yarns (including warp singles) that, when skeined, washed, and dried without blocking, don't twist back on themselves more than 1/4 turn (meaning the bottom of the skein at most faces the side rather than all the way to the back). That's how I personally define a balanced singles, and although I personally prefer plied yarns for most knitting, it does work in knitting without any skewing, and is particularly soft and cushy. It's most effective in medium wools (BL, Romney, crosses of those, etc) because the longer staple length (at least 5 inches) helps create a yarn that is structurally sound (won't pull apart easily in knitting) with minimal twist (angle of 10 degrees or lower). Has anyone tried a low-twist finewool? What thickness and twist angle? How did it wear? Did it have to be heavily fulled to wear well? The coat I'm working on for my daughter uses primitive-style Shetland with varying fiber lengths--4 to 8 inches or so. The singles are quite thick (20 wpi) and low twist (just below 10 degrees most of the time) so they are like Lopi yarns (but softer :) and very cushy. My little sample indicates it will be a very pretty, though subtle, cloth--she wanted the natural very light gray wool undyed and no striping or anything, straight twill, Z twist warp, S weft. The warp is done, but I still have most of a pound to precard and drumcard for the weft, so it will be a bit before it gets on the loom. I was hoping to have the coat finished before the snow flew, but that was last Sunday, so I have to hussle :) Holly To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
