Dudleyspinner tie dye roving, combed top, Who Says?

Alyssa is available in my Etsy store

This past week I was drawn into a discussion about Navajo plyed yarn in Ravelry. I usually don't get too involved in the Spin Tech group about which plying methods or spinning methods are the best to use in a given situation. This thread asked Chain Ply Weaker? Really? There was the usually discussion of why chain plyed yarn is weaker, the change of direction, the spot where the loop chains back being weaker. Then one of the experts, i.e. that is one of the people who teach at symposiums and conferences starts saying that she is teaching with two other well know teachers and perhaps they can discuss this late at night and come up with a definitive answer. It just hit me as name dropping BULLSHIT!

Just because someone stands in front of a class and spouts their opinion does not make it fact.

I have been told by experts that I can't knit with singles yarn, so I just had to knit socks with singles yarn. I wore them for about 3 years before they developed a hole...I have several shawls knit with singles. They are being used daily and are still looking good. So that commonly held belief didn't hold up.


I have been told that Navajo plyed yarn is weaker, that it is not as good as a 3 plyed yarn. That you can't felt with a Navajo ply yarn. So I just happened to have a felted bag that I crocheted with N-plyed yarn that felted just fine. So that belief didn't hold up.

What are people making that it would make one iota of difference? I can't think of anything that I have made that I would pick up a hand spun yarn and think, oh no this is Navajo plyed, I better find some 3 ply for knitting this.
I agree that there is a difference in the yarn, but it does not matter in the knitting or crochet for anything I have made.

If anyone can enlighten me about where I should not use a Navajo plyed yarn please leave a comment. However, I can't guarentee that I won't look at it as a challenge.
Deb