Sunday, August 5, 2007
some thoughts on the laceweight...
After I finished winding the Oregon Red Clover Honey laceweight, I had some thoughts about working with this very fine yarn. Unlike the Wooly Wonka yarns, that Anne Hanson describes as heavier than some laceweights, the ORCH is very fragile. Because there's so much yardage in the skein, it winds into a substantial ball! Even though I wound it very carefully from the swift onto the ballwinder, I'm concerned about the tangles that might crop up if I feed the yarn from the inside of the ball. So I think I'll be working with this beauty from the outside of the ball. Anyone else have thoughts on this?
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7 comments:
I haven't wound mine yet but I agree. I will be using the ball from the outside as well. Why? take chances?
It's always best to work from the outside in with a ball of lace yarn. So many times the ball will collapse in on itself. Then you have a horrible mess to untangle, usually ending in chucking the whole thing. I am speaking from experience here.
I second that - always work lace weight from the outside - I also only wind it by hand into a ball instead of using my winder - saves a ton of headaches!
Many of the laceweight yarns I've knit with (Zephyr, Jamieson & Smith, Josylyn's Fiber Farm, etc) have wound very nicely into center pull balls. There's just something about the 'dense feeling' of this ball and the fragility of the yarn itself that is making me listen to that little voice inside saying "DON'T DO IT". ;)
I'd been advised before to use lace weight yarn from the outside of a center-pull ball. Any heavier weight and I use the center-pull feature.
I must say using it from the outside doesn't seem to be a problem. You'll be fine!
The only thing against pulling the yarn from the outside (according to what I've heard) is that you can unintentionally put additional twist into the yarn. I figure that the way to avoid this possibility is to feed off a length of the yarn and let it "rest" on the table before it gets knit with. It also gives the yarn a chance to "relax" after being stressed a bit from being wound around the ball. :)
I have both the WW Buckwheat Honey and the STR Laci - just FYI, they are IDENTICAL in weight ;-D
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