Spindlitis

The Reluctant Sheep

Fiber, Projects 16.07.2019 1 Comment

I’ve been calling this project “The Reluctant Sheep”. I went to a shearing and this sheep did not want to be sheared. She managed to hide out until the last. Once they sat her down, she gave in. I just had to have the fleece! It’s been sitting in my stash for almost 20 years. I decided to start working up these older fleeces. I have plans to make a cabled cardigan from this, possibly one from A Fine Fleece. There’s 700 grams of this and I worked through 214 grams this weekend. I have other fleeces I bought at the same time, that will need to be worked up too. I am doing these on the wheel. I want to do everything on the spindles, but I need to crank through this. I do have a spindle sweater project going. And I am trying to work up some of the older, stalled projects like this one:

This is some Inglenook Southdown/tussah silk. I have been spinning this on an Enid Ashcroft Midge, 3 ply yarn. I haven’t worked on it in months. I wanted to spin some Downs breed and remember this, so I’m working it up on a Bosworth. I hadn’t thought about using it for socks, but that’s likely what I’ll do. And it is nice fiber.

The socks are coming along nicely! Really enjoy knitting these. The grey corriedale is ready to use. I’ll use it or possibly work on socks for Lon. The double marled yarn I did is also ready to use. And I have two other handspun sock yarns ready to use. I do need socks.
Fun stuff

Fiber 15.06.2019 No Comments

I’ve been doing some spindle spinning this morning and some wheel spinning. I’ve gone back to the truck and brought in the fleeces I love the most, as I want to start working on them. Grabbed a big chunk of this. It’s a Corriedale/Romney cross I bought at Black Sheep a couple of years ago. It was a third place winner in its class, which makes it the fanciest fleece I’ve ever bought at BSG. I’ve spun this on Turks, and it’s the puffiest stuff you’ve ever seen. I’ll be doing this on the Bossies and I’m considering making a cabled sweater for Lon from it. But I love combing this stuff on my Viking combs, almost as much as I love combing the Romney lamb fleeces that I also brought in.

Lovely long staple.

First pass

Second pass

Third pass and ready for the diz.

You can see how the diz compresses the fiber. It makes a big difference in the finished product.

Working my way through.

There’s not a lot of waste with this fiber.

All done! There’s a little static in the air, but it’s going okay. I pulled out about 117 grams to play with. I’m still spinning the odds and ends on the Bossie so this may be tomorrow’s spin.
New Wheel!

Fiber 24.04.2019 No Comments

I’m happy with the three wheels I have. The Pipy will always have sentimental value. The Louet S-10 is versatile and great for plying. The great wheel is amazing and I plan to use it more after the move. But I’d been thinking about getting a better wheel. I’d planned to wait until after the move, but started seeing some good prices locally on used wheels.

My first thought was an Ashford. They are reliable and no drama. I’ve never owned a saxony style wheel. I checked on a couple, but they sold or I didn’t get a response. I also checked on a Nagy which sold before I could look at it. There was a nice Country Craftsman, well written ad, and I asked if it was still available. The owner was knowledgeable and even sent a short video showing how true the wheel was. I was impressed. Lon took me over to look at it this weekend. I bought it, of course! And the owner showed us her great collection of antique wheels, which was a nice bonus. I am still learning about how to spin on this wheel. It’s a fast wheel, and feels like a production wheel. I did some plying over the weekend and I think I still need to work on that. It has the long flyer, so the bobbins hold 4 ounces. And it’s a very attractive wheel:

I have the Lazy Kate and a total of four bobbins. I am really happy with this wheel. And, this one is designed to break down for shipping. The legs are even numbered, so you can put them in the right place when you put it back together. It was a wonderful birthday present.
Spinning projects!

Fiber, Projects 11.04.2019 No Comments

Lots of projects going on this week. I am still spinning the Shetland/Mohair blend:

I am close to finishing the second bobbin and will be able to ply it, at that point. Then I can decide if I want to use it. I am also working on that knitting project, Quaker Yarn Stretcher, and am just about done with it.

I bought some fiber from Three Waters Farm. I’m very happy with it. I originally bought two colorways, with the idea of doing a double marl yarn. I bought Spring By Way in Finn:

And I bought some Iris Patch in Rambouillet:

Then I saw that there were too many colors in common on the two sets of roving. I am using the Spring By Way for a fractal on spindle project. For the double marl yarn, I bought a new roving. I’ll still use Iris Patch but with Graham Cracker Brown in BFL and Tussah:

It’s prettier than it looks in this picture. I have two other spinning project sorted out, both using Inglenook fiber. I’ll document those on a second post.
Grand Project

Fiber, Projects, Spindles 05.04.2019 No Comments

Know how you get an idea for a grand project? It’s one of those things that made sense at the time. I picked up a braid of Greenwood Fibers colorway Emily. I started with four ounces of Blue Faced Leicester. Then I got this idea that I could make a three ply yarn, using the same colorway in three different wools. They had Merino, so I picked up the Merino. I planned to get some Polworth, but they sold out and I never got around to it.

The BFL went fine. I was using one of my turks. Then I hit the merino. Merino is a project killer for me. I don’t like spinning it. It feels tedious. I don’t like the limpness of the yarn. I knew it was a mistake to buy it, but it fit in the scheme of the grand project! I lost interest. I finally did the last of the merino on my Pipy and plied it today. I kept the fibers separate and I must be missing a skein as I have about 7.15 ounces here. I’m pretty sure that I did spin all of it.

Now I have to figure out what to do with this. I do like the BFL, not crazy about the merino.

See this?

That’s from my polydactyl cat Pete. He customized some of my spinning equipment, like the big Turkish spindle and my niddy noddy. Pete passed away about two years ago, on Christmas day. He had a stroke several months before. I was able to share my prednisone with him.

Miss you, Petey (the black cat). Slobberpuss (the fold), not so much.
Lots of new stuff!

Fiber, Projects 26.01.2019 No Comments

I’ve been doing a lot of knitting and even some spinning on the Pipy! First up is my finished Hansel, full version.

I used charcoal Bartlett sport weight, with some Shetland yarn in “Cunningham Red”. I think the white might be Jamieson from Schoolhouse Press. The grey is Cascade 2020 worsted. I needed that color to finish and the fingering weight was just too light. I’m going to block it this weekend. I really enjoyed making this Hap. The pattern is well written and there is a Craftsy class.

Right after I finished this, I found out about the SpinOff Hapalong. It’s just started and I wanted to get in on it. But my fiber just got packed out in the truck. I ordered more. I ordered fiber for the Theme and Variation shawl in The Book of Haps. Then I ordered some natural colored grey wool for a second hap to be done at a later time. The grey came in before one of the wools for the first shawl. I started spinning it and haven’t stopped.

The Pipy had been out of commission for so long, that I had almost forgotten it had been fixed. This seems to be the perfect project. I’m trying for fingering weight. It has really been fun to use this wheel. I’ve owned it since I first saw it back at Arachne Webworks in Portland, in 1973. Once I got going on this, I knew that shawl one would now be shawl two. I ordered three more natural colors from the same Etsy shop, Lost Acres Farm. This is the grey with a white, black and charcoal. I should have leftovers which will likely lead to hap number three. I’ll post the yarn for the first shawl when I finally get the main color. It is taking forever to get here. I’m doing a pattern called Old Shale Shetland Hap. This is another one done from the center square out. I also picked up Shetland Old Shell Triangle and Square Shawl, which does the border, then edging and finally the center. I do want to try that style, but not just yet. Things are picking up around here as far as packing, so I don’t want to be working on something complicated just yet.

I have also been spinning up some odds and ends, mostly plying some on spindles.

I’m trying to gather up some of the yarn that needs to be plied and work on it as I have time. It helps me clear out a few things in the office, which needs to be packed up this weekend. We are going to refinish the floors in the bedrooms, so it all needs to be packed up. Also, I have a sewing machine for Abby. She needs to be able to patch Quinn’s work pants. I found a nice Wards Signature that I will go through tomorrow. It has built in cams, so probably fancier than she needs. But it looks to be a solid machine and is pretty quiet. I’ll have to go down and give her a sewing lesson too.

I have a new to me, lightly used Swift coming in next week. I wanted to buy one at Christmas, but had already spent too much. I seem to use one Swift for knitting stuff, one Swift for spinning stuff and the Yeoman duffle for projects that I’m working on. I don’t have an actual knitting bag and these haps are good sized. And I had to give in and buy some new henleys. I like the ones from Duluth Trading. I have worn the sleeves in two of them ragged and two other tees are worn out at the neck. And when I say they are ragged, they really are. I just had to give up and get something that was in better shape. And I’ve got to finish hemming the two walking skirts I made. I tend to get stuck at the hemming stage, but I need those skirts. I can’t find anything that is as comfortable. I may try using Abby’s machine on them this weekend.

So, more projects to come! Hope to be knitting the hap by Monday. And maybe I’ll have the Hansel blocked by then too.
Plying

Fiber, Projects 17.08.2017 No Comments

Sometimes, I really love to ply. I will find balls of spun yarn that haven’t been plied. I like my Tracy Einheim spindle for plying. It’s convenient when I’m at my desk. The grey Border Leceister is from a project that likely won’t happen. I wanted to knit socks out of several different breeds. I’ll wait and see. Maybe I’ll be interested in it again, when I finish spinning the yarn.

Antler is done! I am thinking about redoing the bottom part of the sleeve. It’s just too floppy and a little long. It’s one of those things that will annoy me if I don’t redo it. I’m working on a few other projects first.

Little Knit had some great deals on sock yarn. It’s motivated me to get busy on knitting some socks. This is for me and I’ll tackle a couple of pairs for Lon next.
More “In Footsteps of Sheep”

Fiber, Projects 16.12.2016 No Comments

I’ve been suckered in by the book. I thought it would be interesting to see if I could find fleece from any of the breeds mentioned in the book. It turns out that you can! TheFibreMine in Canada has small amounts of different fleece available. I ordered North Rondaldsay and Black Welsh Mountain, plus a few other interesting samples. MagpieLaneCrafts has full fleeces available, including the Castlemilk. This is where I started to run into trouble. The fact is that I’m not big on white fleece and a lot of the fleece in the book is white. So I ordered an interesting fleece instead of something from a breed in the book. I am going to be substituting other fleece when I make my own socks from her patterns. And Wol4All in the Netherlands also has fleece from the breeds mentioned. I entered the patterns into Ravelry (although I still have about 4 to go). I still it will be a fun project. I’ll post some pictures here as I start to make some progress.

I’m working on the collar of Lon’s sweater. Will still need to put the buttons on and make buttonholes. It’s very close and I found great buttons for it. I should have an update on it this weekend.

We have a bit of snow but already melting away. So nice to have an excuse to wear wool!
Viking Combs

Fiber, Projects, Tutorials 02.12.2014 No Comments

I have a set of Viking combs and they are a perfect fit for the type of wool I like to spin. I believe these are from Indigo Hound. The single row works fine for me. It would be nice to have a double row set for finer fiber. I chatted with some comb owners via email before I got my first set of combs. English style combs have less waste, but require a different technique to use. Paddle combs were highly recommended too. I like to spin longer fibered wools like Romney, Icelandic and Corriedale. These can be easily processed with these simple combs. The only other tool I use with this is a horn diz. You can easily make one out of plastic, if you don’t have access to horn.

This project uses three Romney lamb fleeces, soon to be turned into the Darrowby cardigan.

This is the comb loaded. It’s important not to put too much onto the comb. It will fluff up and it’s easier to comb with less fiber. Just take some off if you have too much. The fiber is easier to comb if it’s warm. If you have a problem with static, just spritz it with a bit of water. Use the tip of the comb to go through the ends of the fiber. You can comb with it at a 90 degree angle, but I will sometimes comb a bit from underneath.

This is after the second pass. You’ll see the fiber really start to straighten and align on this pass.

Third pass and this is all I usually need. At this point, it will look nicely combed.It’s time to put on the diz and change it into roving. I smooth the fiber into a “beard” shape, then roll the end up to poke it through the hole of the diz. Once it’s in, I pull the fiber a bit and push the diz down towards the fiber mass. You want it against the fiber, but not tight. Start pulling on the end of the fiber. I generally pull about a hand’s width and stop. Slide the diz down into the fiber mass and pull again. It should slide along pretty easily. I don’t want the roving to get too thin, as I can thin it out after I’m done with this process.

You’ll start to get down to the fiber left at the end. Look to see how much junky stuff is getting into those last fibers. That’s when I just pull the last good fibers through the diz and call it good. If you seem to be pulling to one side, smooth the fibers into that beard shape before you slide the diz back. You should catch some of the fibers from the other side and will start to draw more of them in.

You will have some fiber left over. Sometimes, it’s good fiber that just tangled. I don’t try to reprocess this. With longwools, it should be clean looking roving at this point. And this is a good place to talk about dual coated wool, like Icelandic. The long fibers will pull first, followed by the shorter stuff. If you are careful, you can blend the two fibers to a certain extent. Viking combs were designed for you to be able to separate the long and short fibers and spin them separately.

This is what the roving looks like after combing. I like to roll this up into little “nests” for storage. As I wind it around, I pull to even it out a bit and I twist it a little as I wind it. I tuck the end into the circle of roving and it looks like this:

Finished product! I’m spinning this fiber on my Enid Ashcroft Olive Mindi. I’m going for a three ply, worsted weight yarn. The turk will make this low twist, so it won’t be the hard, firm worsted yarn you would see from a wheel or high whorl. I’ll post pictures of the fiber after I’ve plied it. Feel free to drop me a line if any part of this isn’t clear. I do sometimes card fiber, but I really love the process of combing.
This is how I get into trouble!

Fiber 15.11.2014 No Comments

I love working with raw fleece. And I love natural colored fleece. I realize that the world just sees brown or grey. I see all those variations and sometimes I just fall in love with a fleece.

I still remember when I saw this fleece. I was at Black Sheep and didn’t have a lot of money to spend. I was over looking at the unjudged fleeces, when this one caught my eye. It’s an Icelandic fleece, moorit, with very sunburned tips.

There’s just something about that contrast of the almost blond tips and the dark finer fleece of the undercoat. I bought it, washed it and played with it a bit. I think I did a beret out of a two ply I did on my high whorl. It was just a bit too coarse.

Then I found out about how turkish spindles produce a more low twist yarn. Here’s one of my first tries.

Just for fun, I am going to try a little as three ply yarn. I’m spinning this on my new EA Olivewood Mindi. I am going to ply it on my no name turk. I use my Viking combs to prepare it and try to draft so that the undercoat is mixed in with the outer. (Thel is name for the undercoat, tog is the name for the long outercoat. You can separate the fibers using Viking combs.) I still wind up with mostly long fibers at the beginning and shorter ones at the end.

There is something about the feel of a fleece you prepared yourself. I do like to buy the commercial stuff, but after awhile, I get bored. I find myself spinning something brown or grey again and I marvel over those colors only I seem to see.