Paradise Fibers decided to have a Spinlympics again this year even though it is not any olympics year.  Since I had a grab bag pack of the merino wool they recommended I decided to see if I could make something with it.  I decided to use my Brother Drum Carder to blend some silk and bamboo into each of the colors I chose.  There was a sky blue, yellow/gold, and bright yellow.  When I pulled the fiber off of the drum carder I created rolags instead of a batt.  In addition to the merino/bamboo/silk I added a couple of rolags of Yak/Silk I already had on hand.

Once I had spun the singles in a long backward draw on my Ladybug I created a center pull ball to ply from.  I know that a lot of people have trouble with this method and I will concede that there is probably a twist difference from the outside strand and the inside one. However I find that as long as I take care when plying to ensure even tension as well as taking care that the inside fiber does not tangle as it comes out, I love the results.  Also the lack of waste really appeals to me.

Once plied I ended up with about 110 yards of a yarn that I believe is sport weight.  Once this yarn is washed I will have a better idea of what size the finished yarn will be.

As I was spinning the quote from S.E. Hinton’s the Outsiders kept floating through my head, “Stay Gold, Ponyboy”.  With the shades of gold, a bit of blue skies as well as a bit of shades of grey, I am calling this skein, “Stay Gold, Ponyboy”.  I had so much fun experimenting with the long draw, and I cannot wait to see this washed up.

Happy Crafting!