{"id":7741,"date":"2022-03-19T07:53:32","date_gmt":"2022-03-19T06:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=7741"},"modified":"2022-03-19T07:53:35","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T06:53:35","slug":"using-singles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/using-singles\/","title":{"rendered":"Using singles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The other week I asked you on my Facebook page and Instagram for inspiration for upcoming blog posts. I got lots of brilliant ideas. One of you asked me to write about spinning and using singles that will remain singles, what to be watching for and whether I spin singles differently depending on the end use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singles yarns have a beautiful simplicity to them. What you see is what you get \u2013 nothing is hidden between plies, all you see is meter upon meter of wool softly spun like cake icing straight out of a tube. A stitch knit with singles yarn is usually clear and well defined. With singles it is possible to work with colours in a way that isn’t possible with plied yarns. If I want my yarn to change colours I just attach a new colour to my yarn<\/a>. I don’t need to do anything extra to achieve this, like chain-plying or trying to match colours from two singles as I ply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spinning singles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have spun lots of singles yarns on my floor supported Navajo style spindles. The techniques is slow, something I enjoy. At the same time it is fast \u2013 I don’t put very much twist in my singles and when I am done there is no plying step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I love spinning singles on my floor supported Navajo style spindles. I get a good overview of the yarn and my hands cooperate to spin as consistently as possible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, Navajo weavers spin singles for weaving Navajo rugs. Whenever I want to spin a singles yarn, and especially if I want to spin a bulkier yarn than my default fingering weight, I turn to my Navajo style floor supported spindles. From my position behind the spindle I have a good overview over an arm’s length of yarn at a time and my hands cooperate through the tension in the yarn to achieve a yarn that is as consistent as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using singles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So far I have used these singles as weft yarns in weaving projects \u2013 a curtain<\/a>, pillowcases<\/a> and a shawl<\/a>, all spun on floor spindles. Weaving with singles works out very well. They help creating a light and warm fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Using singles as weft in a woven curtain, pillowcase and shawl.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lately, though, I have used singles in knitting projects too. I have written quite a lot of posts about my project with Icelandic wool where I have spun a low-twist singles Lopi-style and lightly fulled yarn and knit an Icelandic-style sweater<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Using singles in knitting. In my Lopi-style yarn I used a very low twist and fulled the finished yarns slightly to reduce their energy. I also added a column of purl stitches in the sides as faux side seams to balance the fabric.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, singles yarns have energy in them and there is always a risk of a biased fabric when you use singles for knitting. There are ways to reduce this risk, though:<\/p>\n\n\n\n