BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Spinning Spinning a soft, chunky single

Can anybody give me advice as to how to spin a soft chunky single wool fibre? I then want to felt it to (hopefully) replicate the felted wool used in Erika Knight's 'simple knits for easy living'.
Has anybody successfully attempted this?

Well I don't spin chunky I tend to be a thin spinner but I have seen others do this. They spin the single (although you have to be careful or it pulls apart) then skein it, wash it in the skein aggatating it so it felts (again you don't want to over do it). Dry it, then you have to pull the skein apart so it doesn't stay stuck together and ball it up ready to use.If anyone else can explain this better please feel free.

Thank you. I had envisaged I would have to lay out the hank or a much bigger hank and felt by hand. But I will give it a try as you suggest.
My problem with the spinning is getting the tension right (Ithink) so that it pulls in with just enough twist to stay viable and remain chunky. I think a better understanding of tensions and ratios would probably help me.

There are 2 articles on the Bella spinning site that should give you some help with understanding ratios: Spinning Wheel Ratios: The Single Drive Systems and Spinning Wheel Ratios: Double Drive and Accelerating.

Basically, for a thick soft singles, you want to spin at about 2 1/2 to 3 twists per inch. Use your largest whorl. Tensions should be set just so that the yarn will take up onto the bobbin easily but so you can pull it back off the bobbin through the orifice easily. How thick your yarn will be (the grist) depends on how many fibers are fed into each draft - the more fibers, the thicker the yarn, the fewer fibers, the thinner the yarn.

Now, if you want to felt the yarn after it's spun, the first thing you need to do is make sure that the fibers you are spinning will felt. Wool from different breeds of sheep felts differently, some is excellent for felting, some will hardly felt at all. For example, Merino felts extremely well as does Icelandic. Romney felts just so-so, and I've never met a Suffolk fleece that felted at all yet.

Felting yarn is fairly easy providing the fibers will felt in the first place. Put the skeins in hot soapy water and go at them with a toilet plunger (See the article on "Committing Yarn Abuse", then plunge them into cold water. Repeat as necessary. The combination of friction, soap and temperature change is what allows the fibers to felt. Once the skeins look just about right, whack them (while wet) against a flat surface to finish up - whack all the way around the skein. I would not recommend felting yarn in your washing machine as, with good felting wool, it can happen too fast and really mess up the skeins.

Thank you Llyn - that is just wonderful. I do appreciate the advice of any spinner, but must congratulate you on your superb technical articles.
I shall give it all a go and let you know how it goes. Many thanks.

Thanks, Sara. And, if you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask

Just to let you know, it worked!! We had a fabulous day, twelve spinners trying to spin a soft, chunky, single, felted yarn. The most successful was the long draw, pulling it in quickly and keeping the amount of yarn pulled in to a reasonably thick grist. We 'shocked' our yarn, and bashed it on the table, and were amazed at the result. Interestingly, the finer yarns did not work as well - they tended to felt together, wheras the chunky yarns were easily pulled apart in the hank, and were a great success. Now to knit.....

Sounds like a fun day
Glad you were able to get the yarn you wanted.