How to Spin 20 Multi-Ply Yarn Textures

New or interested in learning more about plying yarn? Watch a preview of the 20 plying yarn methods and educational format I offer in my online PLIED masterclass video series to preview what you will be learning in this classroom and if it's of interest to you.

The following artisans, farms, and online shops generously donated fibers for me to use in my How to Spin Yarn PLIED masterclass series. This resource would not be available without their generosity! Please consider supporting their small business by visiting their website. 

Different spinners have different aesthetic and method preferences and intentions for their yarns, and I've found that these resources take a more technical approach to plying yarns as well as spinning traditional yarns for artisanal knitwear.

Welcome to the PLIED Masterclass series! In this lesson we will begin with a very simple plying method: 2-Ply. This is a great place to start if you're learning to use a spinning wheel. Although this is a very simple technique, I will incorporate my creative point of view to create texture to inspire a bit of playfulness when spinning 2-ply yarns!

Another traditional method that I played with to incorporate fresh texture - this is my chain plying video (otherwise known as "Navajo Plying") which is historically the oldest method of spinning yarn according to archaeological records. I have used this method as an illustration of the Trinity (turning one yarn into a three ply =  three in one) which makes me wonder if there's more to the history about this method than we might be aware of.

In this traditional plying method, we will be taking two 2-Ply yarns and plying them together to create what is often called a "cable" ply. In my video I focused on creating new textures and experimented with using different textures of singles to cable together into different layered textures of yarn. A real stash buster, try incorporating commercial yarns with your handspun yarns when plying to get even more creative results!

It's time to get BULKY! Roped is what I call my method for spinning a rope-like bulky yarn from multiple textures of single ply handspun yarns. The possibilities are endless and this method is perfect for taking multiple strands of fine commercial yarn and twisting them together to create bulky yarn for knitting, crochet, weaving, and macramé. How many yarns will you be able to fit thru your orifice when spinning this method?

It's time to go even BULKIER! In this method I play with plying a yarn that is almost too bulky to go from my open orifice into the bobbin! It reminds me of the yarn that Lexi Boeger spun on her cement mixer spindle spinning wheel. If you want yarn to create garlands for your mantel or Christmas tree, this is a fun method to use to make yarns that are so thick they might not even be considered yarn anymore!

Let's play with threads and locks and singles to create different textures in yarn while we ply! In this method I will be plying with yarn and wrapping with thread and embellishing with texture all at the same time. This method creates an endless array of possibilities for celebrating texture in your next plied handspun yarn.

This delicious plied yarn is a celebration of all possibilities of thick-and-thin in creative spinning. In this video tutorial I will be plying thick stacks of texture into yarns and smaller stacked details and lots of different fibery embellishments to create a skein where every yard is completely different! That, I think, is the true spirit of art yarn: Every yard is completely different than the last, yet necessary to enhance the whole.

It's not boucle' it's fauxcle'! The easiest way to fake a boucle' texture using yarns that were not intended to be spun as a boucle! Scandal awaits in this video where we will be playing with angles and drapes of plying to create those loops that boucle is famous for.

Grab your thick and thin yarn and a cone or spool of thread for this coiling technique that creates beautiful "seashell" inspired textures in your yarn. Also known as "beehives" in the creative spinning community, this texture is found in multiple technical resources and of course I put my own *spin* on it!