It can be done.
10-ply,. 700 yards per pound. 16 wpi. That right!
If you take the singles that were hand spun worsted for weaving at 16 hanks per pound from Shetland wool, and ply them up as 5 X 2-ply you get a yarn that the same thickness as the Yorkshire gansey yarn, but is 30% denser and thus much warmer. The first small skein is being blocked now,
and will go to the Guild meeting for show and tell.
I figure ~100 hours to spin the yarn for a Aran fisherman's sweater and a 100 hours to knit. A wife could do an Aran in 3 months just working on it 2 or 3 hours per day. It would be much much warmer than a gansey made of Yorkshire 5-ply @ 1000 ypp ( 50 hours to spin and 80 hours to knit) . Well worth the extra effort if your man is fishing the North Sea.
The little square wooden thing is a "plying comb". It helps to organize the singles and makes producing 5-ply yarn much easier, and the yarn more consistent. I like historians - even long dead ones : ). They tell me about the the tools I need to do the job right.
The first skein off the wheel this morning was 5-ply @ 1,800 ypp. Interesting, but not much practical value that I can see.
The process that I now like is to spin 16 or 18 hank/ lb singles and make 2-ply. (Come on, you spin for fun. Spinning fine means more fun per pound. And, it means fabrics that are lighter, more durable, and warmer.) The 2-ply is stronger more stable, and easier to handle. Then, 2 X 2-ply is light fingering, 3 X 2-ply is sport and 4 X 2-ply is worsted weight. Of these the 3X 2-ply is the winner for most knitting. The more plies make it more consistent, warmer, and more durable than the 2 or 3-ply worsted weight that is more common. More plies allow the fabric to be softer and more flexible than the 5-ply of similar grist and twist.
10-ply,. 700 yards per pound. 16 wpi. That right!
If you take the singles that were hand spun worsted for weaving at 16 hanks per pound from Shetland wool, and ply them up as 5 X 2-ply you get a yarn that the same thickness as the Yorkshire gansey yarn, but is 30% denser and thus much warmer. The first small skein is being blocked now,
and will go to the Guild meeting for show and tell.
I figure ~100 hours to spin the yarn for a Aran fisherman's sweater and a 100 hours to knit. A wife could do an Aran in 3 months just working on it 2 or 3 hours per day. It would be much much warmer than a gansey made of Yorkshire 5-ply @ 1000 ypp ( 50 hours to spin and 80 hours to knit) . Well worth the extra effort if your man is fishing the North Sea.
The little square wooden thing is a "plying comb". It helps to organize the singles and makes producing 5-ply yarn much easier, and the yarn more consistent. I like historians - even long dead ones : ). They tell me about the the tools I need to do the job right.
The first skein off the wheel this morning was 5-ply @ 1,800 ypp. Interesting, but not much practical value that I can see.
The process that I now like is to spin 16 or 18 hank/ lb singles and make 2-ply. (Come on, you spin for fun. Spinning fine means more fun per pound. And, it means fabrics that are lighter, more durable, and warmer.) The 2-ply is stronger more stable, and easier to handle. Then, 2 X 2-ply is light fingering, 3 X 2-ply is sport and 4 X 2-ply is worsted weight. Of these the 3X 2-ply is the winner for most knitting. The more plies make it more consistent, warmer, and more durable than the 2 or 3-ply worsted weight that is more common. More plies allow the fabric to be softer and more flexible than the 5-ply of similar grist and twist.
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