I have a new post up at Mason-Dixon Knitting about how ply in commercial yarn affects knitting.
I’ve been having a great time over the past few posts talking to knitters about how yarns are constructed and what it means to our knitting. Everyone seems happy to learn new things and to find out that some knitting snafus are caused by yarn fiber, draft and ply, not by our ability to knit.
I demonstrated fun with ply in some great yarns :
Single-ply (singles): Mrs. Crosby, Satchel (100% Superwash Merino), Color: Spun Gold.
2-ply: Sincere Sheep, Cormo Fingering (100% Cormo), Color: Vit C.
3-ply: Sincere Sheep, Cormo Sport (100% Cormo), Color: Vit C
I did my most favorite thing, I knit them into swatches to show what happens when a ply is added or subtracted in various stitch patterns.
As spinners we figure this out pretty early on in our knitting our handspun careers. It’s easy for us to change our ply when we sample to get the right ply for any particular project.
Waaay back in 2013 (!) I wrote my Knittyspin column about ply and knitting. I had a great time experimenting and sampling with ply.
I carry my ply samples with me every time I teach. They’ve caused quite a few ah-ha moments when spinners handle them in class.
Have you done any experimenting or sampling with ply?
Fantastic descriptions!! You make it all make sense!