Yay! I'm spinning! Now what?

[katiebug081504]

I recently attended SAFF and bought myself a spindle! Fun!

I've been looking at different resources online to learn more about it.

Alot of them talk about plying yarn. Once you spin it, do you have to ply it? Or is it sometimes good to leave it unplyed to enjoy the texture more?

I've also read about setting the twist in the yarn. Should I do this with just warm water, or with soap and water.

Any other advice for a newbit spinner is also appreciated!

Thanks!

[mullerslanefarm]

Depending on what you will do with the yarn, singles are fine. One of the reasons to ply is to balance over spun yarn which will make your knitted stitches 'twisted'.
There are various methods to set the twist after spinning. I do soak in a soapy warm water, drain and soak with clear water. Sometimes, I'll add a squirt of hair conditioner.
After squeezing out the water, I'll 'thwack' it against the counter. This helps full the yarn and sets the twist.
I hang to dry unweighted. Some folks will weight their yarns, but as soon as the wool gets wet, it will resume it's unweighted structure.