TdF Day 20: Yak/Merino blend

Day 20: 

Getting down to the wire here with only three more days left.  

Today I started spinning the 50/50 yak/merino blend in the New Moon colorway from Abstract Fiber. I have two four ounce fiber bumps or strands of top.




I split the first bump in half lengthwise for a standard 2ply yarn.  The staple length is about 2 1/2 inches.  The fiber is soft and slightly spongey feeling. 

This would be very easy to spin worsted, however, the fiber itself doesn't feel (to me at least) as if it would like being compacted into a worsted yarn.  It might take away from the softness of the fiber.  So, instead I'm aiming for a semi-woollen yarn, spinning an attenuated backward draw from the end (kind of the bastard child of longdraw and point of twist).  I tried, at first, spinning point of twist from the fold, but the staple length made it uncomfortable for me.  

The spinning is going fairly smoothly so far.  And I'm pretty sure I can finish spinning and plying this first four ounces by the end of the Tour on Sunday.  


Brought To Me By:
Audiobooks: 
DVDs etc: Veronica Mars, S1; 
Pod/VideoCasts:  Yarnspinners Tales; Round The Twist;