BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Spinning How many plies

As I work with fibers I am totally unsure how many plies I should make a yarn. I assume that eventually experience will tell me my favorite fibers and plies, but till then can you give me any general ideas on number of plies. Thanks.

I generally use 2 plies but I have done 3. More than 3 seems a waste of time. (Now that I wrote that... someone will write and say that they LOVE doing 4 plies... I just know it!) I rarely, almost never, work with singles because I like the balanced feel of a plied yarn and I prefer the look of it in the finished garment. That said, maybe I just spin [censored] singles that need plying <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I don't see any advantage to more then 2 plies though, for what I like.

Naw I wont say I LOVE 4. I dont spin after all.
But I have seen some amazing work in singles. Beautiful stuff that relys more on the natural color of the fiber and the wonderful textures of the fibers.
conversely I have been just as awed by 3 or 4 plies. But the emphasis has been different in each.
In one the artist was really showing off what nature put in front of her, highlighting nature as it were. In the others the artist has been showing off how she/he can manipulate nature out of its natural element by color and achieveing They say there is strength in numbers and that can be true for yarn too - but you dont always need strength!a really finished and smooth look through plies.

So what are you doing with your yarn?
What do you want your yarn to do FOR you or say ABOUT you?
And heck - what do you actually like to spin?

How about when making a crepe yarn. I thought was a type of 3 ply but I cannot recall how it is done. I know I have read about it in Spin Off and have a friend who does it beautifully. Does anybody know how to do this. I thought one yarn was plied on itself and then plied with another single. Not sure.