• Updates

    Projects, Spindles 03.06.2019 No Comments

    Lots of spinning this weekend!

    I am on the third section of the spindle fractal. I’ll post a tutorial, as soon as I finish it and ply it. It’s working out pretty well.

    These are just bits of fiber. The white are some Falkland samples I got from Rosemary Wilkinson. The green is from Bam Huey and I need to find the rest of that fiber as I was trying to do a gradient. The brown is leftover Stone and Amethyst. I pulled out the Rose support spindle to play around with. It went pretty well, once I remember to do a long draw. I’m going to start spinning with that spindle at least once a week, until I’m good at it.

    This is some Targhee in the Durango colorway from Greenwood Fibers. It’s on an Aegean I picked up at Black Sheep last year. I’ve been taking my spindles outside, when I take the dogs out. (I have springers that are unhappy if I don’t go outside with them.)

    This is the latest wheel project. It’s 8 ounces of Falkland in the Sandpiper and Tribe colorways from Greenwood Fiber. This will be another double marled yarn, three ply this time. I’m going to make Lon some handspun socks. I really love double marl yarns. If you are going to try it, I’d recommend using the same fiber for both colorways. I had problems drafting on my other project.

    This will be a baby sweater for Abe’s first birthday. I need to start this soon. I also have a kit to knit a teddy bear. I’m thinking about using the leftovers of this yarn to do a bear sweater or scarf.

     

    This is a three-ply crepe yarn from Dorset Horn. It’s part of my sock yarn testing. I had some issues drafting from the first section. The twist kept running into the fiber. I finally figured out a way to draft it. I’m not sure if I did a good job on this or not. I have more sock yarn fiber to try, so will see if it looks better on my next project.

    This is Targhee in the Twilight colorway from Greenwood Fibers. I just ordered another eight ounces. I’d like to do a sweater out of this. I am thinking about a double marled yarn, but haven’t decided if I want two or three ply yarn. I really want to break up the colors. Still thinking about what I want to do.

    And..I had my spindles packed away, as I was clearing off my desk. (I found there is a secret drawer lock and I had to take the top off to get the drawers open again!) I rearranged the office yesterday and decided to put the spindles back out where I can see them. I really need to make a nicer storage area. It’s nice to see them all again.

  • updates

    Projects, Spindles 29.05.2019 No Comments

    Working on all sorts of spinning projects right now. On the wheel, I’m doing Dorset Horn in a crepe yarn. I’ve spun the two S singles and plied them as Z. I’m now working on the Z single to finish this off. I had some issues drafting the first third of the roving. The twist would run right into the fiber and lock it up. Had to spin sort of an inchworm motion to prevent that. I didn’t feel any springiness to the yarn until I did that Z ply. I’m curious to see how this turns out. I’ll dye the yarn after I finish it, for a sock project.

    I’ve been missing my high whorl spindles, specifically my Hatchtowns. I do love my Turks and I like the way I can use coarser wools and get a nice fluffy yarn with the Turk. These two Kaaris are probably my favorite spindles, especially the one with the mouse chews on the shaft. I’m just spinning some fiber I’ve stumbled across, with no purpose in mind.

    I finished the last of the big strip of the fractal spin. I’ve just started the B strip, which was divided into four thin strips lengthwise.

    And I am trying to finish the socks as I really want to start knitting handspun socks. I’ll start another sock yarn spinning project on the wheel, as soon as I finish the Dorset. I think I’m going to try another double marled yarn, this time with two braids of Falklands.

  • Updates

    Projects 20.05.2019 No Comments

    Grapevine is done. I’m happy with how it turned out and think I have a project for it.

     

    This is my fractal on the spindle. Still have a ways to go on this one.

     

    The Banana Bread spin is done! I may use this in the same project as Grapevine.

     

    This is Falkland Bountiful. This is going to be sock yarn.I have lots of other projects in the works. Will try and post progress on my knitting projects soon.

  • Updates

    Projects 01.05.2019 No Comments

    My nice Lazy Kate. I do need to set up a tensioning system for this.

    This is the double marled yarn being turned into a Perfect Process shawlette. I like the technique, but still haven’t decided if I like this particular yarn. I do like the way that the colors turned out.

    This is the shetland/mohair roving. I spun it up on the Pipy but plied it on the new wheel. I do like plying with the new wheel on the smallest whorl. I’ve started work on one of the Greenwood Fibers braids, Grapevine, that I bought to use with the shetland/mohair. I may still use them together. I do need to wash up this yarn and see how I like it.

  • 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.

  • Oopsy!

    Projects, Spindles 01.04.2019 No Comments

    It just dawned on me that I’ve never posted my very nice Jenkins Aegean spindles here. (Might have put them on my other site.) Since I’ve actually been spinning with them today, here they are:

    This is my crabapple, 17.9grams, with some Blue Faced Border Leicester:

     

    And this is an Ambrosia Maple, 17.23 grams, with Greenwood Fibers Durango colorway, Targhee:


    Guess which one I’m having more fun with! I didn’t like my first Aegean. There was something about the weight that just didn’t work for me and I sold it. But I like both of these, a lot. They feel like real workhorses. I would still like to get a Swan someday. Every time I go to a fiber festival and go to the Jenkins booth, I plan to buy a Swan. And I come home with something else.

  • Thoughts on spinning

    Thoughts 01.04.2019 No Comments

    This was triggered by discovering the wonderful Knitting Sarah blog (just added to my blog list). Let me say again how much I like her blog. I think she is doing beautiful work. And I am saying this up front, because I don’t want my thoughts here to be taken as a slam against her. But in one of her tutorials, she says:

    “Most spinners you talk to will say their #1 goal is to spin a yarn that it could be mistaken for mill spun, or at least something that looks like the control involved could not possibly have been executed by human hands.”

    I’m sure this is true of modern spinners. Back in the 70s,when I learned how to spin, we despised this. We did not want to replicate commercial yarns. We wanted yarns that looked like they were created by human hands. And we made all those crazy, irregular yarns that machines couldn’t make (until they started making thick and thin yarns!) What we see today are spinners using the same type roving the mills would use. It’s great stuff, don’t get me wrong. But it disconnects us from the craft. Let me explain.

    Knitters used to create simple yarns and use their skills as knitters to create beautiful things. You can look at ads for yarns back in the 1900s and see that most were basic colors and usually four ply. There were novelty yarns of course. The knitter created the colorwork, from the pattern they chose and the colors they used. Think of Fair Isle. Now, we get the colorwork in the yarn and the patterns we choose need to be simple. You’ll see a few projects at Knitting Sarah where the yarn overwhelmed the pattern and she had to choose a different pattern. Makes life easier for busy knitters. No reason to do something complicated. We are handspinning yarns like the mills turn out.

    Who makes the money under this system? The mills, that process the fiber and spin the yarn. It’s a system that rewards the ranchers that turn out white fleeces, preferably merino these days. Ranchers make their money off the meat, not the fleece. Small farms, raising endangered breeds or colored fleece, rely on spinners to help them keep going. Why bother, if modern spinners are not interested in purchasing a fleece and preparing their own fiber? What happens to the market for fiber prep tools? If you are buying nothing but commercial roving, why would you need a drum carder or cards? (You might want to blend even commercial fibers, but still.)

    There is something to be said for watching a sheep get sheared, buying the fleece and processing it yourself. There is something to be said for having the ability to hand card or comb your on fiber. There is something to be said for being able to create your own beauty, out of simple yarns, using your skill as a knitter. And being able to do these things, makes you a better spinner.

    I don’t want to take anything away from spinners that only use these prepared fibers. I understand that folks have busy lives and may not have the space or time to work from raw fleece. I started thinking about these issues when I was demo’ing at the local fair with a group of spinners. They had us back by the sheep pens. I looked and everyone was spinning commercially prepared fiber. So the next day, I brought my cards and combs and clean fleece. Some of the young folks with sheep came over to demonstrate their carding expertise! It was fun, if a bit hard on my cards. It made the connection between their animals and the yarn we were spinning. That’s important for the continuation of our craft. Be versatile! Go to a fiber festival (it’s important to support those), buy some raw fleece and learn how to wash and process it. Make something beautiful out of natural colored wool. Support local shepherds by buying their wool. Show young people that connection between the wool from the sheep and the yarn. Keep spinning alive by broadening it, not narrowing it down to replicating what the mills make.

     

     

     

     

     

  • New projects

    Uncategorized 28.03.2019 No Comments

    I am secretly doing a second shawl for my friend. I was going to replicate it, but if it does turn up, she’d have identical shawls. So I am using a different yarn, same colorway (as much as possible). I ran out of two of the colors, so have a few more days of down time, waiting for more yarn.

    picture of shawl border

    So I started another project. This will be for a co-worker. I am close to retiring and she has done so many nice things for me. I’m doing the Hap for Harriet pattern by Kate Davies.

    It doesn’t look like much yet,but will be a lot more interesting when it’s done and blocked. And I bought more of that dual coated Shetland fleece. I had one ball of dark moorit and one that was lighter. The second pound of it is the same way. I’m not sure if I want to ply the two different shades together or keep them separate. For now, I’m just spinning it and setting it aside.

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