Fiber Friday: Spin all the Things

As noted on Wednesday's post, I've been having some issues with my left arm and have had to take a break from knitting (this week's posts have mostly been stumble typed with just my right hand). Thankfully, I am still able to spin without pain, and I've completed both of these projects since last Thursday.

First, I spun the braid of Merino/Bamboo I bought from October House at Ply Away last month. I did a fractal single which I then chain plied, and I don't know that I would chain ply another Merino/Bamboo single again. The resulting yarn is a little funky in places, and some of the fuzz would collect in a pill as I plied, which was a little annoying. This would have been much better suited to a two-ply - but live and learn, I guess!

Next, I tackled the three beautiful striped batts I bought from Essential Fiber at YarnCon, which was also last month. Opening the first batt was pretty exciting, it was like it went on for days!

Each batt is a mix of fibers - according to the label, "Batts definitely contain mostly wool. They may also contain alpaca, mohair, silk, and/or nylon." I think mine had a little bit of everything, and they sure were fun (and easy!) to spin - with gorgeous results! I ended up with 188 yards of a 3-ply bulky weight yarn. The stripe sequence is best seen here in the cake:

I spun three singles, one from each batt, each in the same color sequence. The way it worked out is that each batt had a little more of one color than the other two, which meant that there was a nice transition between each stripe to make things less abrupt. Now I just need to find the perfect pattern for this yarn! Any ideas?

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