Near disaster

So there I was happily plying three Clun Forest singles into yarn when one of the leather bearings on the bobbin popped out.  It happens occasionally - I've re-glued most of them.  While fixing that, the lovely 3-ply yarn came in contact with the fairly well worn leather bearing at the font of the bobbin and, of course, it was covered in Vaseline (lubricant) and a ton of worn leather powder.  Instant black mark on the pristine white, and half way through filling the bobbin to boot.

But stepping back a little while.  I had been spinning top into consistent singles with the intention of making a 3-ply yarn to enter into the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival.  I had half filled nearly 4 bobbins (one I was not really happy with, so did another), with the eventual goal of making the required 2oz skein.

I had another small problem in that my bobbins are all the same size and typically a full 3-ply bobbin has come in at about 1.4 to 1.6 oz so I was not even sure that I could create enough  yarn to make the minimum for the entry.  Hence I had already been considering how I could join yarn to ensure I had enough.  Along came the black stain - I then had no choice.

So the procedure was to break the yarn at the stain, leaving that yarn on bobbin #1, and then ply another new bobbin with the remaining singles.  Wind that bobbin (#2) on to the niddy noddy, which meant I would be joining the original break 'ends' and keeping the flow of the locks in the correct direction.  The join itself was from advice for knitters  to 'felt' the wool.  I split the yarn at each end into singles, and measured them so that they were all close enough to the same length, then using some water and a little rubbing semi felted the singles together.  Once done I then twisted the bobbin around in the directing of plying until it all came back together as yarn - then wound the rest of the bobbin onto the niddy noddy - creating a skein of around 2.5oz

The finished skein

Not quite the smooth process I had imagined, but now ready to join the scarf as my two entries in the show. this one as a hand spun from raw fleece (Anne was responsible for the washing and the selection of the 'best' locks, so that I could comb to make top, then spin true worsted)