Tail Spun Yarn

 So I have finally tried my hand at tail spinning yarn!  I've read about these yarns in various places--Jacey Boggs has some in her book "Spin Art", and my new book by Lexi Boeger (it's an older publication--just new to my shelf!)"Intertwined" has some--but the reference that really got me started was Sarah Anderson's new book, "The Spinner's book of Yarn Designs".  I love Sarah's book!  It's a wonderful reference!

The white yarn is a core-spun cloud of mohair.  It has a commercial yarn core (a mohair/acrylic blend), loose mohair fibers (pulled out from an old sliver and carded), and a fine strand plying it all together (I think this one has a handspun cotton for the plying strand--it was in my stash and was the right color to blend in well!).  It was fun to spin!  I used my Louet S75, a bobbin driven wheel, so that I could start and stop easily.

Tail spinning is different from cloud spinning.  Instead of a cloud of fibers, it uses orderly locks of fiber.   The butt or cut end of the locks are flicked open and then spun onto the core, stopping an inch or two before the curly end of the lock.  So in my lovely green turban below I have about two inches of wrapped core for every lock end.  It's slow spinning, but so fun in the end that it's fun to do!  The green locks are hand dyed Lincoln that I purchased from Lisa Crawford of "A Rare Breed" at the annual SWIFT meeting last weekend.

What shall I make from these amazing, green locks?  I think I have a whopping 6 yds of yarn.  Gulp.  Not a lot to play with there!  I used one ounce of locks.