Iris Garden

It was our version of Independance Day yesterday, we call it " Merdeka Day". when we Malaysian celebrated the day we declared our Independance from British Rule.

Which means parades, and the obligatory morning shower ( I don't know why but it happens almost every year), lots of lolling around and watching TV.

I spent the whole day spinning up my Iris Garden Corriedale Roving from Kendig Cottage.
I 've spun up most of the yarn but in order to free up my bobbins , I had to start plying immediately ( OK this just means I have to get some extra bobbins). So I decided to try 3 ways of plying.

First up, for those of you who would like to find out the best way to spin up multicoloured roving check out The Keyboard Biologist's post on how she handled multi coloured roving she dyed herself - gorgeous colour!!

Another great article is in Sara Bradberry's Southern Cross Knitting article - Spinning Handpainted Roving

First method of plying I tried was to ply with a metallic thread as a binder - which resulted in this pretty skein of yarn


86 yds of Iris Garden yarn waiting for its bath in the kitchen sink
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Take a closer look at the pretty shimmery metallic binding fluffy pastel yarn


Second method of plying I tried was Andean Plying - which created a 3 ply cable of ropy type yarn which is probably sturdier but did not capture the ethereal beauty of this colourway. I tried to get a pic but my camera batteries died on me. so stay tuned for updated pics soon.

I intend to try another method of plying - ie - plying a bobbin back on itself after winding on to a center pull ball. The result may be either a muddied up yarn of all colours, or a lovely heathering of these pastels.

That's the fun about spinning - we'll just have to see what happens.