Long Break, and Mystery Yarn

 It's been awhile since my last post... Lots going on including a trip to Canada, a bout of Covid, and a trip to Chicago, then SOAR. Meanwhile I've been finishing off the 11 yard scarf warp and the baby blankets for the grand-neffs...  Plus thinking a lot about what I want out of the next 10 years. (Still thinking).

Mystery yarn on top, 
8/2 cotton on bottom

I started to think about what to work on next, and I'd like to put a Beiderwand project on one loom and the paper fabric on the other. I had thought about using a 8/2 cotton warp but it's not exciting me... I went looking through my stash of other-folks-destashes and decided on this huge cone of an adorable little boucle of mystery fiber. How do you figure out what a yarn is?

I used a McMorran balance to get yards per pound... It looked to be in the 3000 YPP range, but I couldn't find a yarn on line or in one of the yarn charts that was a boucle with that YPP. 

Then I started analyzing the yarn by unplying a bit of it. The single that's the bulk of the yarn was non-reflective, super soft and very short stapled; probably about 1/2".  The binder was long fibers that were super strong, and shiny. At this point I guessed cotton with a silk or synthetic binder but the cone had come in a bag marked silk so I wasn't sure. 

I think this is silk?

So I tried a burn test, but I've never had good luck with that. The only thing that was conclusive was that it wasn't synthetic and it didn't smell like hair so probably not wool. Some search online found a site that suggested you burn samples of things that you know the content of to learn the differences! What a great idea... I'll play with that someday.

Finally, DH and I looked under a microscope. What fun! I compared to photos online. I think the binder is silk; it is slightly translucent, wasn't as regular as man made fibers and didn't correspond to any of the animal or plant fibers. 

Cotton! Love the twist

The main fiber looks just like cotton; if 

you zoom in you can even see the cute little "Z" twist to the fibers. Cotton is traditionally spun in the Z direction, make it hold together easier...  

So I think I know the fiber content. Based on the size of it compared to other yarns (slightly bigger than 8/2 cotton) I'm going to sett it initially at 16 EPI and sample.

I've also been getting stuff done...

• Finished the two baby blankets except for trimming and hemming; planning a finishing day in the next two weeks.
• Finished the scarf and cowl on the 11 yard warp. I sewed the cowl together with a modifed flat fell seam and I've very pleased with it.
• Still spinning goat for a rug.
• Finished and published the Zoom doc I'd mentioned; it was well received and B. asked if she could give it to another organization. Sure!
• The green summer sweater (Sommerloch) is coming along... It's in the idiot knitting phase. So... Do I power through it? or save it to be idiot knitting and switch my evening knitting to something that takes more concentration? 
• No progress on the mosaics. 
• And I'm pausing everything to clean up the studios.