I enjoy letting a fiber tell me what it wants to be. Often I have an idea of what I hope for or a project in mind, but I really hate fighting with a fiber that wants to be something totally different. So I was very excited when I set out to spin this fiber for a friend on Raverly, who, when asked how she wanted it replied “however”.

Mosaic Moon “Way of the Lost Souls” on polwarth

She did mention the hope of knitting a hat with it, so I sort of aimed for a self striping DK to worsted weight. I started by spinning a thin single without splitting the braid at all, with the intention of n-plying it. But then I realized that this fiber did not want to be thin.

Well, not thin enough to be a three ply DK anyway. It was looking kind of fingering and I knew that just wouldn’t do.

Naturally, I switched to plan B and finished up the braid with the thought that a nice, slightly fulled single would be really nice, too.

It was nice. Super nice.

But then I got to thinking about knitting a hat with it and decided it was more like a shawlette kind of yarn, which was not really the plan. Maybe it was time for Plan C?

So, I contacted my friend with her options. Did she want these 460 yards of fingering with loooong color repeats? Or would she prefer a bulky n-ply? Plan C it is!

I was actually a little relieved that she picked n-ply. But then I was stumped for a second. I have always plied off of bobbins and there I was with a skien in my hand. What to do? Can you ply from a swift?

Yes. You can. It might be hard to see from this action picture, but that is my yarn on the swift being plied onto the wheel on the right (plus a lot of evidence of my seven children in the background).

Ah. That is much better. Much more hat-like.

I sent it off in the hopes that I will get to see what it becomes.

This fiber definitely had a preference. I wonder if it will be happy as a hat?