Navajo Plying on the wheel

This is one of those things that has one of those catch phrases:

A minute to learn : A lifetime to master.

I believe I was successful to a point in that I got just over 50 yards of multi-colored Correidale spun, plied, and skeined. I can knit with the stuff. But it does have a couple of issues. I have two knots tied into it because my single broke while I was futzing with the loop. I have some loops that are massively long (as long as my arms) and some that are very, very short (like a couple of inches) because I was experimenting as I went.

Here are some pictures:

This is the roving.










This is a picture of the 2-ply above some of the singles that I spun first.














And this is the 3 ply on the top in Navajo Ply. Below it is the 2 ply.

I found out that it is quicker to do the short loops with the Navajo Ply..

I learned that the uptake can vary a good deal the more fiber you have on your spool. I had to adjust it twice while filling a bobbin.

I like Navajo ply very much, for several reasons.

1. I get a nice round, stable yarn.
2. I can control the color changes if I pay attention.
3. It feels quick and I suspect I will get quicker with practice.
4. If you take your singles off one full spool, you get one spool full in return. There are not left overs to worry about.
5. The completed yard is very balanced. (At least this first one was and that's a pretty good sign).

There are several reasons I need to keep practicing and keep my options open to cabled yarn and two-ply:

1. If you are slow to handle the loops and let the wheel do it's take up thing too slow or too hard, you end up with lots of broken bits of yarn.
2. If you don't pay attention and you care about the color flow, it's easy to screw it up.
3. Because it is 3 ply, it's a slightly heftier yarn than you get with 2 ply so you must spin your single fairly thin if you want to end up with worsted. You must spin it VERY thin if you want sport. And I don't even want to think about lace yet.
4. You really don't want to stop in the middle because it wants to come undone
5. You must watch your uptake tension carefully or you end up with a mess.