Singles

I’m so far behind on all my afghans, but I’m starting to think about the afghan I promised The Professor a couple of years ago. She asked for a Bauhaus blanket and I asked if it was okay if I used handspun yarn, because I’m loving the fuck out of spinning.

She’s fine with it. But, as I’m working on the afghan I’m making for me, I realize, I can’t send an afghan made like this to Fresno, where the average night time temperature most of the year is nine thousand degrees. I’m trying to cozy my friend, not bake her.

So, my thought is that I would just make the afghan out of singles–in other words, yarn made from one strand of twisted fiber, not two (or three, but I don’t know how to do that). Due to my lack of spinning skills, this would give me a thinner yarn than I’m capable of making with two plies. Thinner should equal cooler.

So, I read up on spinning singles and how it differs from spinning for plied yarn and it seems like the main difference is that you don’t want as much twist in your yarn, because, with plied yarn, the plying takes some of the twist out.

I spent the morning experimenting with singles. Just getting my feet to move slow enough is so tricky! But I think I’m going to be very happy with it.

The Professor has sent me a picture for inspiration, so now I’m off to the store to pick up some dye.