Turkish Spindle Distraction

I promised myself that I would take down my Christmas decorations today.  For the few of you who have visited my home during the holidays, you know that this is a pretty big job.  Feeling the desire to stall, I took a detour into my studio looking for a distraction.  You see, I can justify putting off chores if there is fiber involved.  

That's when I thought of my Turkish drop spindle.  I guess I've had spindles on my mind since spending a recent afternoon with a spindle enthusiast.  I have a Turkish drop spindle that I have taken on numerous outings.  I've been working on this ball of yarn, bit by bit for a long time.  I decided that today, at long last, I would remove the yarn and ply it. 

I originally bought this spindle because I liked the idea of being able to ply from one ball using the center pull, beginning strand and the outer ending one.  The wool that I've been spinning has sentimental value as it is a carded blend of some of my earliest wool purchases.  It mostly began as raw fleece and I did all of the washing, dyeing and carding.  This was back in those wonderful experimental days before I really knew what I was doing.  Also, I had yet to come across my favorite wools with which to work.  As a result, this yarn is a funky blend of Rambouillet, Mohair and I can't remember what else.  There's even a little leftover grease as my washing could have been better.  

Today is the first time I've plied yarn from my Turkish drop spindle.  I pulled the center end out from one of the larger side holes.  At first I was thinking I would put it on a lazy kate and just go for it.  Then I realized that it would probably need to roll free. I was worried about the two strands twisting together as they unraveled.  Then, as I started plying, I discovered that although they did twist as the ball rolled around, this really didn't interfere with the plying process.

Typically when I ply two singles, my I hold the two strands separately in my right hand and control the twist with my left.  When I plied this ball, I just held them together and fed them right in.  No muss, no fuss!

In the end, I find myself with about 95 yards of medium weight yarn.  Since the colors are sort of Christmas-like and the texture is more coarse, I think I may use it to make ornaments.  This year I was thinking that it would be fun to decorate a small tree with nothing but crocheted or tatted decorations.  Of course one needs to plan ahead for such things.  I think starting in January might give me just enough time!