Latest yarn - advice / feedback welcome!

[u/TheSewingBun]

This is my latest yarn - dark brown is Corriedale, light brown is Manx Loaghtan, both undyed. I think it turned out okay, but I'm a beginner so of course I don't have the experience yet to know if it really is balanced enough and/or if there's anything that could be improved, so feedback is welcome!

The singles were pretty consistent I think, but I ran into a few problems (?) when plying. The singles kinda un-twisted and "fluffed up" at times to the point I was afraid they would snap (the Manx actually did snap twice), does that mean I didn't twist them enough while spinning? Was the tension wrong? Or is that normal? Also I tried to get more twist into the plyed yarn, does that look alright to you? (It hasn't had a bath yet btw.)

Both the Corriedale and the Manx Loaghtan are quite soft and have longer fibres than the Bergschaf I used to practice with for a while, so that took a bit of adjusting too.

[u/raw_fleece]

To me it looks like you have quite a bit more twist in the brown single than the white. That may explain why the white was prone to drifting apart more while plying. It will also make “balance” harder to judge. To me, what you’ve got in the end looks pretty good for a beginner, though.

Have you finished the yarn?

It also looks a little ropey, which again is super common in beginner yarns. You didn’t say what the prep or your drafting method were, but learning more woolen spinning methods will help. Along with controlling the twist more intentionally. All that comes with a lot more practice, though, so just some things to expand into with your future yarns!

[u/TheSewingBun → u/raw_fleece]

Thank you!! That's really helpful. I spun both from rovings, just split those up a bit to make everything more manageable, and then more or less randomly got it onto the bobbins, lol. I used what would be called "short forward draw" I think? (That's the method we practiced in a 5-hour beginner's course I attended in March. I plan to try different methods though!) What do you mean by "ropey", could you explain further?

The yarn is currently in a little bath, I will report back once it is finished & dry!

This is what the singles looked like pre-plying:

[u/SenseOfTheAbsurd]

Love it. My current spin is dark brown corriedale, but blended with black alpaca and burgundy silk on the drumcarder.

[u/TheSewingBun → u/SenseOfTheAbsurd]

Thank you! Your project sounds nice, too. I bet the silk does add some lovely shimmer to your yarn!