Friday, May 7, 2010

The Difference of a Few Microns

A bit ago, a friend was helping me to get better at spinning. I had some really good soft and wonderful merino, which I had spun a little bit previously without issue, but I was having trouble spinning "thinner" in order to spin for the project I want. She gave me some faboo superwash merino from Crown Mountain Farms to try.

And, the difference was amazing. I could really tell the difference between the different fibers. The CM Merino was so much softer than the other merino and I was able to draft much easier. Consequently, I was able to spin thinner. She told me that it was going to be easier to spin thinner on very good fiber.

It's not to say that the other merino was bad. It's good merino, but the Crown Mountain was *excellent* merino. Much like the difference between decent wine and EXCELLENT wine.

After finishing about 2 oz of the CM merino, I went back to spin some of the other merino fiber, and it didn't draft as smoothly as the Crown Mountain version, nor was it as soft. But, I was now able to draft it a lot thinner than previously.

And she was absolutely right, it DOES help to learn how to spin *thinner* on very very good fiber. It's made working with the decent merino easier than before.

And, I think I shall have to buy more of the Crown Mountain merino.

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