Spinning and Felting Coreless Corespun Single Yarn

"Look, Elinor, I would never have blended the lime green with blue green in this batt, but don't you love the yarn it spins up to be?"
"I could fancy some of this to complement my new Spring season wardrobe.  Not your usual dull and overcast plant dye colours at all, Beaut.  Easy to tell you didn't put these lovely fibres together, never mind your lack of flair and colour expertise."
"The whole batt is one of Wrigglefingers' amazing creations.  She's off to the Maryland Show in America soon, to demonstrate using Classic Carders.  I did spin it though."
"Yes, I can tell, there's too much twist.  Fair play though, it is chic - compared to your other lumpy 'art yarn' efforts. "

"Wriggly's a good teacher, as well as a very kind woman.  I was watching her spinning coreless corespun late on our last night at camp and she just gave me the batt and showed me how.  Good job I didn't realise that was what it was, because the name sounds terribly technical."
"How ever did you manage?"
"Wriggly got me started and it seemed quite easy."
Set the spinning wheel on the  

lowest ratio, 5 to 1, pedal slowly and pull up some fibres from the flat of the batt.  Make a big, wide drafting triangle, let the twist run down its left side while holding the fibres on the right out to the side, so they can wrap round as you go.  No need to fret if you spin an ordinary plain twist intermittently, doesn't matter if the single gets thin, Wriggly said keep throwing the batt into the orifice with the tension high enough to keep the single drawing in.  Once the bobbin is full, skein the single off onto a niddy noddy, tie with cotton in four places and felt the lot by plunging from hot to cold water.  Standing there by the sink in the Youth Hostel, I was amazed how all the mad unbalanced twist relaxed while the single soaked in hot

water, then I could really feel the wool firm up immediately it hit the cold.  Wriggly's generosity did not end there.  She gave me a huge bag of leftover fibres from her carding demonstrations.  As luck would have it, soon after, I was visiting a friend whose home is an absolute spinners' paradise and joined the queue taking liberties with her marvellous electric drum carder.

No pretense at any considered colour blending choices, with help from yet another friend fluffing up the bits, I carded the whole bagful into two huge mad batts and spun it straight up in the same way.  With less skilled preparation and unsupervised spinning, it has come out not so much coreless corespun as careless mayhem.  Look away if you prefer a sensitive colour palette and a beautifully even, well balanced yarn.  This was fast and furious fun.