Hi Everyone! Let me introduce myself as this is my first guest post on Felicia’s blog. I’m Rachel, the knitter, spinner and voice behind welfordpurls. I’ve known Felicia for a long time, and have watched SweetGeorgia Yarns grow and become what it is today!
From now on, the monthly Fibre Clubs will be sampled and spun up by me for you to see since sometimes it is hard to envision what the club will look like once spun. I will always be spinning based on Felicia’s recommendations to give you a chance to either do that as well or try something else! A 100 gram braid is a lovely amount of fibre to sample and try new things, without committing to a bigger project and more spinning. You will be able to see the spoilers here on the blog at the end of each month, as well as in the Ravelry group.
© Rachel Smith /
SweetGeorgia Yarns 2015.
September’s Fibre Club is Superwash Targhee. This is a first for SweetGeorgia, which is really exciting! Targhee are an American sheep breed that were developed in the mid-1900s as dual-purpose herds that would be good meat and wool producers. They were also breeding for sheep who would be able to live mostly out on the range and require very minimal human intervention. From Rambouillet rams and Corriedale/Lincoln ewes, they succeeded in creating a new hearty sheep breed with lovely fleece!
While Targhee is a fine wool, it has a slightly longer staple length (when compared to Merino) at 3-5 inches. It also has a bit of luster or sheen. Slightly more durable than Merino, it is great for socks. For September, a traditional 3-ply sock yarn with lots of air and loft was recommended. This is how I spun it:
I spun from the fold, staple length by staple length.
I separated the braid into 3 separate and equal-weight piles (each were roughly 40 grams), and pulled staple lengths off the fibre supply as I spun. I still used a short forward draft, smoothing the fibre as I moved my drafting hand back to the fibre supply for slightly denser singles. This created a semi-worsted yarn that still has lots of air for added warmth. I used a high whorl ratio to allow a lot of twist into the singles, as well as the plied yarn. This adds to the durability of the yarn for socks. The finished traditional 3-ply yarn is roughly 428 yards, which is a generous amount for some cozy socks. I hope to cast them on soon!
What will you spin with your September Fibre Club? We would love to see photos of your spinning-in-progress and/or finished yarns in the Ravelry group! See you in October.
