I had questions right at the beginning of #samplealong2 from folks that don't use painted fiber, and from some that only have natural and solid fiber in their stashed.

I told them I would spin some samples using naturals and solid colors.

I pulled these natural colors and weighed out enough quarter ounces for two 2-ply yarns. I further divided and paired up fiber for my drafted together samples.

Here's what the yarns look like. As usual, I like the drafted together yarn the best. I would like a sweater's quantity of that yarn. The fibers I used were Corriedale, Shetland, and a mixed BFL. I will admit, I had a couple of moments when I changed fibers that I had to make myself readjust my twist and drafting, epseically when I moved from BFL to the very short Shetland.

I pulled six solid colors I had in my upstairs spinning nest, obviously I need some bright colors right now. It's been grey days in Michigan. I narrowed the colors down to three and did two quick spins.

Because I only used three colors and spun big-ish, I knew colors would match up a bit in the plied yarn, but I still like it. It makes me want to experiment (I know you are shocked) with matching and marling with a little more intention. I might even add in bits of drafted together yarn too. I've done this with singles that stay singles, but not in plied yarns. Hmmmmm......

When I divided my three colors for drafting together, for some reason I divided each color into three pieces instead of two. I ended up with nine pieces, which doesn't pair evenly for drafting. Don't ask, I just wasn't focusing. Instead of leaving out the extra piece of fiber, I drafted all three colors together. I do love playing.

I hope this gives you more ideas to make and spin minnies!

Don't forget to post and tag your photos #samplealong2 on Instagram.