Have you peeked at all of the gorgeous fiber and yarn that’s on Instagram #samplealong?
Everyone seems to be having fun!
This week I’m going to talk a little about how I keep track of sampling. Sample Along spinners can spin their second yarn at a leisurely pace, or new spinners can join in if they haven’t started.
I don’t plan to take these blog posts down, so you can always reference them, and it ‘s never too late to join the #samplealong.
I have some favorite tools I use to keep track when I sample, but they may not work for you. The best advice I can give about keeping track is - find something that works for you.
I aspire to keeping track in a clean minimalist way, with spread sheets, and elegant binders. It will never happen. I’m a sharpie, tag, ziploc bag kind of woman. Once I figured that out, I actually started keeping better track of my yarns and spins.
I will never be without, sharpies, hangtags, and Tyvek.
My favorite hangtags are these giant ones from Avery. They list them as : Avery® Shipping Tags, Reinforced Hole, Manila, 4-3/4" x 2-3/8", 100 Tags (11005).
I like them because I can keep a whole lot of information in one place, including a sample of my single and a ply-back sample.
I hang my tag on my wheel and periodically check my singles, instead of using a wpi gauge or spinner’s control card, and my twist with the ply-back sample.
These are not water resistant and can’t go through the finishing process with your yarn.
I write all kinds of things on my tags, front and back. The project or what I’m sampling for, wheel, whorl, draft, fiber, dyer, colorway, any color manipulation, and a wpi range.
I’ve started listing what I’m watching when I spin becasue when friends ask, ‘What are you watching?’ I can’t remember the name, but I remember my spin. FYI Discovery of Witches is as slow as the book, and the actors have little chemistry. Avatar: The Last Airbender (animated) is as great on the 15th watch as it was on the first.
When I finish plying a yarn, I tag it before i take it off of the niddy noddy, or I’ll forget. I use Tyvek wrist bands. I get mine from Wrsitco.
It varies how much information I put on the these tags. Definitely the project, and the particular spin. I sometimes go back and add other information like wpi and yards per pound.
These will not come off even through a hard finish or dyeing. I even leave these on when I knit my swatches.
Eventually my samples and swatches end up in a ziploc bag(s), and then all of the samples for a project get put together in a cardboard box, that gets marked and stored in my basement.
For me, everything is easy to find for referencing.
How do you keep track of your sampling?
Next week I’ll be walking through our last two yarns, a Fractal, and a Drafted Together.