As an experimental spinner, I often end up with little bits of spun singles here, there and everywhere. They may be left over after making a plied yarn from two or more singles. They may be from a yarn experiment that didn’t work out as planned, or one that was abandoned. Or they may just have been bits and pieces that I was trying out, such as this bobbin that was created during a Wingham Wool Work sample day:

This is an eclectic bobbin containing the following fibres:

Soya bean

Cashmere

50/50 Cashmere & silk

Pure mulberry silk

Recycled plastic bottles

Milk protein fibre

Alpaca

Camel Down

Camel Hair

Herdwick wool

Carded sari silk

Yak

Acrylic

Cotton

Vicuna

… and possibly more that I’ve forgotten.

This week has been “Clear the Bobbins” week, which is a perfect opportunity for experimental yarn-making. I also had a couple of drop spindles full of Bluefaced Leicester:

So, the obvious solution was to ply off the sampler bobbin with the bluefaced leicester.

Here, in the middle, is the resulting skein called “Pick ‘n’ Mix”. It is joined by “Lapis”, made from remnants of a merino & silk mix 2-plied with itself from a centre-pull ball, and “Jovian Joy”, named by my daughter, which is 50% alpaca and 50% merino.

I think this trio demonstrates that you can make beautiful, useful yarn from virtually any combination of colour and fibre mixes. Freedom to experiment is vital to creativity and growth. The things I have learnt from this experiment, some of them very unexpected, take me further forward in my learning journey and will certainly be seen again in future yarn.