BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Spinning Too Much Twist?

I'm just learning to spin (teaching myself, basically, although I've read my "Hands on Spinning" by Lee Raven so often it's dogeared!) and have a question about how you know you have too much twist. I'm working with alpaca, making a fairly fine strand of yarn using a worsted technique. My yarn seems to be pretty uniform (no fat lumps or skinny thinny spots). However, I notice that if I release the tension at all, the twist springs back, making little twisties.:o Am I putting too much twist in the yarn? According to Raven's book, thinner yarns need more twist than bulky yarns, so I've been trying to make sure that there's enough twist to hold it together. The yarn seems fine when I tug it to test it, but I'm wondering whether the skein will end up with twisties after the twist is set, and if so, what I can do to smooth them out. Thanks!!

Try washing a small skein and hanging it to dry without any weight other than the water it has it in. If the skein dries without twisting back up, then you are fine. It's hard to say through a forum without being able to see the yarn, so I'd definately test some. Alpaca is quite different from wool and lacks the type of crimp that wool has to hold it together, so more twist is needed for your finer yarn especially. That said, you don't want too much twist or the yarn starts to feel harsh. Very over twisted yarn, of any type, becomes twine to the hands.

I just spun some alpaca week or so at a shop owned by ladies who raise alpacas. Lovely stuff, and I plan to acquire some as soon as I decrease my stash in the basement. They told me that when working with alpaca, you should steam the singles before plying. This works well if you have a boilable bobbin, like Majacraft has. I don't know how it could be done otherwise, I would think it wouldn't be good to skein the singles and then steam them and try to put them back on a bobbin.

Another way to steam before plying is to use a niddy-noddy out of PVC pipe. Wind the singles onto that and steam away. If you have an umbrella swift, it's easy to ply off of that or wind the singles into balls for plying.

I tried Pegg's suggestion of steaming a small skein, and it seemed to work out OK. Perhaps I was over-reacting, since I wasn't sure how much twist is too much. Anyway, I'm still practicing!

How did the alpaca turn out Judith. I'm just now starting to spin some wonderful baby alpaca. I've noticed that I'm putting more twist in, but had never heard of steaming it before plying. BTW, I love the idea of a niddy-noddy made from PVC. Gonna have to try that!