Video Supplement 8 Doing the Horizontal (Draw) Spinning a Beaded Single Spin a substitute - Winter 2007 - Knittyspin. Once everyone in the family is sporting a fabulous chunky hat, and the bookcase is overflowing with skeins which you put on display because they are “just too pretty to make anything out of”, you may find yourself wondering what else you can do with your hand-spun yarn. There is a limit to the number of scarves we and our families need, so unless you wish to design from scratch every hand-spun article you make, you will probably be asking yourself whether you can substitute hand-spun yarn in one of your favourite knitting patterns. The answer is, of course, yes. In this article you will discover how to spin a consistent yarn and achieve the gauge required by the pattern you have in mind.
We will also look at the composition of some popular yarns and discuss how to achieve a successful match. You may even find some ideas for using up some of those “too-pretty” skeins to make room for the next exciting batch! Not every commercial yarn can be replicated exactly. Double Knit. How fine do I spin my singles to get a target WPI in my plied yarn? How do you determine singles WPI based on how many plies you want? Well, that is in part a function of twist angle or grist, so all I can give you are my ball parks. I tend to spin woolen, for an airy yarn, but will spin high-twist sock yarns. More on twist angle (and yards per pound) in a little bit. For a two-ply, I estimate my singles at 3/2 the WPI of the result; so for a result of 14 WPI 2-ply (thin end of CYCA 3, which includes DK) I'd want to spin my singles 21 WPI. For a three-ply, I estimate my singles at twice the WPI of the result; so for a result of 14 WPI 3-ply, I'd spin the singles at 28 WPI. Mabel Ross (Essentials of Yarn Design for Handspinners ) and Anne Fields (Spinning Wool: Beyond the Basics Twist angle/twists per inch has a big impact on yards per pound -- so if you are copying a commercial yarn, this can be a pretty big factor in getting similar YPP for their WPI.
As you can see, those YPP ranges are _really_wide_ (based on a reply by me on Spin-List) Sarah Anderson - Navajo Plying. Abby's Yarns.