Finished! Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore yarn

Let's follow the saga of this yarn.

A long time ago, back in August 2010, I started spinning BFL-silk handpainted fiber on one of my favorite spindles.  I originally purchased the handpainted fiber because it reminded me of my hometown area in northwest Indiana, where I spent a lot of time playing on the dunes at Lake Michigan:

The spinning went well - it was the finest and most consistent spinning I had produced at that date.  I was proud.

Giddy with my spinning success, I decided to buy a bobbin winder and storage bobbins, with the intention of having the proper tools for better, easier plying.  I wound off the first cop from my spindle to a small, innocent 4" plastic storage bobbin.  And I was still proud.

And then I realized I was an idiot. 

Because overloading a bobbin like that is just begging for a yarn avalanche. 

I began slowly, painstakingly untangling the mess and rewinding the yarn on to a larger bobbin.  In the meantime, I finished spinning the rest of the fiber on my spindle and immediately wound the second single on to a large bobbin.  As for the tangled first single, I got through about 10% of the mess and then I put it the lid on the shoebox and set it aside until I could stand to look at it again.  I unearthed that shoebox during my recent studio cleaning project and got back to work on rewinding the large bobbin by hand. 

I hated this work.  Hated.  Loathed.  Despised.  It was good penance for something.  Not quite sure what I did, but whatever it was, I have atoned for it.

But eventually, by gritting my teeth and just getting it done, I had two lovely bobbins ready for plying:

I plied the singles together for a final 2-ply yarn, and had fun earlier this week playing with my slinky toy of yarn with active plying twist:

I washed the yarn to set the twist, then hung it up to dry for a few days.  And now, only 18 months since I first started spinning this fiber, I have a finished yarn:

Blue-faced Leicester wool & tussah silk blend
2-ply, worsted drafting
3.9 ounces, 28 WPI (laceweight), 598 yards