So, finished my fourth-ever skein of yarn today. The Ashland Bay merino/silk was a really nice yarn to spin, but I have to say I kind of wish I'd plied it on the wheel; the spindle was a bit tedious.
Anyway, I did finally finish plying it last night, right at the very beginning of a dinner party. It was pretty heavy, the yarn plus spindle weighing in at a total of 6.0 oz.
This morning I wound it off onto my swift to make a nice big skein, then washed the skein in hot water, whacked it against the wall a couple of time to help distribute the twist through the yarn and bloom it up a bit, then threw it into the dryer (on the sweater rack) to dry off.
Then I went outside to turn the compost and play with the chickens, so I would not constantly be checking the dryer to see how it was going.
I came inside to a nice, even, fluffy yarn. It's about 24 wpi, which is somewhere in between laceweight and light fingering -- the yarn itself varies in thickness and it's hard to say exactly what weight it came out to. I have 555 yards (from 4 oz), which is enough to make a decent sized scarf thing; I'm thinking something lacy and large.
And because I just can't get enough, here it is with my novelty dime:
