Spinning with Nancy

I got to spend the whole afternoon spinning with my friend Nancy. We had a lot of fun, but we always do when we get together. We also had a lot of fiber - just take a look at the dining room table (oh and that’s Nancy spinning).

Nancy is an awesome spinner. Look what she helped me with.

That is the silk I swore off the other day. Just out of curiosity I asked Nancy to show me how she would spin a silk hankie and then she made me try it her way. At which time I became like the Energizer Bunny - I couldn’t be stopped. I am definitely hooked on this. And the kicker - my hands didn’t even hurt!

To top off the day I got my FiberShip drop spindle in the mail from Amy at Spunky Eclectic. It is shaped like a UFO - I love it!

The FiberShip

A good day to dye

Success! I’ve got the wool/silk blend from my stash spun into a laceweight singles yarn. From the 2 ounces of fiber I ended up with 356 yards.

I’m trying to decide what to start next. We’ve got 13 days left in the tour so plenty of time to get more done. I am so fickle. Remember I said that something other than what I posted a picture of the other day might start calling me? I’ve been wanting to make the Spinner’s Lace Shawl for quite awhile with some handspun. So I’ve dyed up some merino that was in my stash. I used Country Classics dye in Cornflower. Actually, I used a little too much. My dyebath didn’t all exhaust and so right now my wool is soaking in a vinegar bath. I’m still trying to find that fine line between not enough and too much dye powder. Not enough and the colors aren’t vibrant. Too much and the dye doesn’t exhaust all the way. I really don’t think anyone needs to be a scientist to figure this out, but sometimes I wonder!

It was hard choosing a color. I really wanted to go with a bright yellow or orange, but I opted for something more practical - blue. My favorite color is pink, but blue is really close to taking over the number one spot.

Never again, again

I had high hopes but once again I am saying that I will never spin silk hankies or caps. I think it would be much easier to pull apart a silk hankie, draft it and then knit with it as opposed to spinning it. I have spun about 4 or 5 layers so far and my hands really hurt. I can only do it for so long and then I have to take a break. I don’t even want to think about how long it would take to actually spin up just one ounce. For those of you who haven’t spun silk in this form, it can really be hard to draft because the fibers are so long and they want to stick together much of the time.

Our spinning teacher was at the shop today teaching a new group of spinners. I told her about my dilemma with the silk hankies and she told me that it hurt her hands too and that she likes to just draft out the hankies and knit with them. So that is that. I proved I could do it but found out that I don’t like it.

I feel much better now and have liberated myself by pulling the little bit of silk off my bobbin, 1/8 of an ounce to be exact. Now it is on to spin a wool/silk blend into a nice laceweight yarn. I’m sure that will be a pleasure.

Day 7

I’m all finished spinning the batt for the Tour and I need to come up with more stash to spin from. Not a problem. Here is what I am going to give myself to do for the next two weeks. First I am going to spin up these silk hankies. They only weigh an ounce, but I haven’t tried spinning silk since I first learned how to spin which was about six years ago. After some consulting with my friend Nancy and watching a couple videos, I think this experience should be much better than the former. If I remember correctly, after my first try I said I was never going to do it again. Never say never.

I bought this silk with the intention of making silk paper journals, something I learned through a workshop I took from Traci Bunkers at the Estes Park Wool Market two years ago. It doesn’t appear that I’m actually going to use them for that so they will be spun.

After I get the silk all spun up, I plan to tackle this little bit of stash. Clockwise -here I have a bag of orange mohair locks, 3 ounces of merino I dyed some time ago, 2 ounces of a handpainted wool/silk roving I bought at the STL Weaver’s Guild sale and another ounce of silk hankies.

I’m not going to say that I’m going to finish spinning all of it, after all that is a really big bag of mohair locks and who knows something else in my stash might be getting jealous and start calling out to me!

I did have a small set back yesterday. I was doing a little sampling on my Ladybug and I had this part fall off of it. I was changing my bobbin and it just fell out. I finally emailed Schacht after spending quite awhile trying to figure out where it came from. Hopefully they won’t take long to respond. Thankfully I have two other wheels to spin with. Come to think of it, this is a good reason to justify having more than one wheel.

ETA:  Just after I posted,  Stephanie at Schacht emailed me back with my answer:

This is a barrel nut and glide stop assembly that fits up underneath the front maiden on your Ladybug (you’ll notice two holes on the underside, one for the barrel nut/glide stop and a second for the front maiden knob).  It’s purpose is to limit how close you can slide the front maiden towards the flyer (helpful for new spinners), so it’s a nice but not necessary part.  That said, you can reinstall this using a bit of epoxy to keep it in place, or if you’d prefer, you’re welcome to return the part and your front maiden, and we’ll send you a new set.  Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Progress

I’m becoming a victim of bulky spinning boredom. Now I remember why I don’t do it that often. I am halfway through this spinning stage. This is the first half of the batt spun up and plied with the sequins. It is about 54 yards and 1.75 ounces. I decided to omit the little black discs. I thought it might take away from the yarn itself. I can always add them in later when I knit up something with this yarn .

I practiced spinning coils this morning with some commercial yarn, Colinette Point 5, which has been aging in my stash for a long time. I can actually do it and it’s really not that hard. I think the reason I was having so much difficulty before was because I wasn’t doing it right. No surprise to me really! I was probably spinning in the wrong direction when wrapping the yarn around the core. I found this video from YouTube showing a way to spin coils. Being the sometimes lazy spinner, I didn’t use the drop spindle to hold my core yarn.  I left it on the spool that it was already wrapped onto and it worked fine for me. I just need to loosen my grip on it. The deathgrip really isn’t necessary!

Day 3

I’m almost halfway done spinning for the Tour not counting the plying. I think I will probably end up finishing way too early and that I should choose something else to spin from the stash. I would like to do something that is a challenge, like spinning coils. However, I’ve tried that before and wanted to pull every last hair in my head out. What’s on the wheel now is bulky spinning, which is hard to get used to doing but is doable for me. I just have to keep telling myself to slow down and not treadle so fast. I’m loving how it is turning out. I have no idea what I’ll knit with it, but it will probably be something like this.

I took some pictures yesterday of different plants blooming around here. Everything is so pretty right now. I really have to get out and do some weeding though. I started to yesterday afternoon, but after the first mosquito bite I retreated back inside the house. Stupid little bugs. Do they really have a purpose other than to make us miserable?

This my Crocisma aka Lucifer. Of all my perennials, this one is my favorite. This is the same one I had when I lived in Ohio. Just in case I couldn’t find another when I moved here to Missouri, I brought a start of it with me.

Here is my Mimosa tree. I had never seen one of these until I moved to Missouri. This has to be one of the most beautiful trees on earth. This one is only a few years old. When these trees get big they are breathtaking.

And it begins…

I got a late start spinning for the Tour. I didn’t start until this afternoon. It was killing me not to start last night and I thought I would start first thing this morning. First thing this morning didn’t happen. I didn’t go to bed until late because where I live it is legal to set off fireworks from July 2nd through the 5th and everyone in my area has a stockpile. It was like living in a war zone last night. One guy even had some dynamite. He had periodically been setting that off all day long. Right now this same guy is doing his annual fireworks extravaganza at the subdivision pond. I’m home being a party pooper this year.

Anyway, back to the spinning. Like I said in my previous post, I really wasn’t sure how to spin the batt I chose. It was so pretty in batt form that I really almost hated to disturb it. I played around a little and spun a skinny yarn from the fold and then I tried a slub yarn. Neither one seemed to suit me.

Eventually I set up the jumbo flyer unit on my Lendrum and started spinning it bulky. Now I like it. I’m saving the sequins and the discs for plying.

My Le Tour de Fleece goal

I have decided to participate in this year’s Le Tour de Fleece. The main rule this year is to spin from the stash. Not a problem for me since I have a big stash of fiber. I have chosen this batt I bought some time ago from Abby. I want to use the sequined yarn and the little black discs in with it as well (I do have more of them than what is in the picture) which are also from my stash. I bought them a couple of years ago on the trip home from TNNA when Nancy and I stopped at Mass Ave Knit Shop in Indianapolis.

I have been wanting to spin with this ever since I got it. I really can’t say why I haven’t already except that I have probably been thinking a little too hard as to how I want to spin it up. The first stage of the race starts tomorrow so I have to decide soon. I’m open for suggestions!

Pastries for me, a pattern for you!

July 1st was mine and Nancy Q’s birthdays. We celebrated yesterday at the shop with a fresh Strawberry and Cream Stollen that she bought from Helfer’s Pastries in Florissant. She told me she was going to bring in a strawberry cake for us. I thought okay, not chocolate but it should be alright. Was I ever surprised when she took this out of the box. The center was overflowing with whip cream and I just wanted to inhale the whole thing!

The woven dishcloths are off the loom and I have the pattern posted. You’ll find it by clicking on the Patterns tab at the top of the page. Enjoy.

Weaving necessities

I have been meaning to knit myself some more dishcloths and just haven’t got around to it. There are so many more interesting things to knit. I’ve never wove dishcloths but I thought I’d give it a try. I figure that they will be less bulky woven, which is a good thing to me. Hopefully, they will be just as durable. I’ve put enough warp on my loom to make four. Here is a picture of one in the process of being woven.

I’m using Peaches ‘n Cream cotton in color number 3 (Cream) and Lily Sugar ‘n Cream cotton in color number 2234 (Country Brown Ombre), which appears to be a discontinued color.

After I finish these I’ll post the instructions for anybody that is interested. There are just a few free Rigid Heddle patterns that I have found online which was frustrating to me when I was first learning to weave and wanted to follow instructions. I know that someone out there will probably appreciate me posting the recipe. I’m going to try to weave all four today, but right now I feel like a nap is in order!