Spindlitis

Project updates

Projects 07.03.2014 No Comments

East Frisian Wool:
Three ply East Frisian yarn.

Here’s the roving. This is an excellent product. It’s from Black Sheep Creamery and they do have an Etsy shop. (The cheese is excellent too!) This is not a soft yarn, in the sense that merino is soft. I’ve spun this up thicker on another turk as a two ply. I do like it and I will likely purchase more of it.

Piper’s Journey:

I like this pattern and have made several. When I saw this in the latest SpinOff, I thought “Oh, I like that shawl!” Then I found out it was Piper’s Journey and I’d already made it. It’s very satisfying to knit. This is a wool/silk blend from Autumn House Farm, probably wheel spun. The last part of it is much thinner than the earlier part. I think I’m just going to use it anyway, since it’s on the edging.

BUT! Do not think you can do this out of a 4 ounce braid! Maybe there is a grist that you can spin for enough yardage and still have it come out okay. But I’ve tried this twice and every time, I wind up here:

I am out of yarn again. I did buy some more of this fiber from the same vendor, but it’s not exactly the same. It doesn’t have the brown. And, of course, right now I can’t find it anyway. So this will be ripped back and used for something else.

Scrap Socks

This is some sock yarn that I used for a pair of Jeffrey’s socks. I just don’t have enough for a full pair so I am making the cuffs out of another ball of scrap yarn. These are a bit wild, but will wear okay, I’m sure.

And that’s the project update! It looks like I need to think about my next projects, as I will be starting them soon.
You need a Tom Bihn yarn stuff sack

Projects 05.03.2014 No Comments

I’ve been a fan of Tom Bihn bags for some time now. I am finding that even people familiar with these bags don’t understand how great they can be for spinners.

This is a small yarn stuff sack in Solar:
As you can see, this is the size you’d use for maybe a sock project. This sack fits in the top of my purse. Notice that there is a snap hook on the side of the sack. Tom Bihn bags have o-rings inside, to be used to secure organizational pouches and sacks. If I were using my Swift, a really great knitting bag, I’d attach this to one of the o-rings. I do have o-rings in my medium Cafe Bage (which is what I use everyday), but this is secure enough without them.

And this is why I always have a spinning project with me! It’s a good size for my turkish spindles. The fabric is water resistant and I find that it doesn’t seem to cause felting of my fiber. The triangular hook on the side was designed for yarn, but it actually works well to tension singles when I am plying. You can see the remaining “turtles” from my recent plying project. Just run the ends up through the hook and pull the drawstring to close the top.

And this is the sack closed up, ready to travel. These sacks have a lifetime guarantee (as long as you don’t machine wash them.) There are two larger sizes. I use the largest size to store my niddy noddy and plying spindles, in my Swift. The medium sizes are mainly used for knitting projects. The two larger sized yarn stuff sacks can be purchased with a clear bottom. This is a handy feature for your projects, making it easy to see what’s inside.

TB also makes a travel stuff sack. I am finding these useful too. This is the largest of the travel sacks in Ultraviolet. This is how I normally have it down in the bottom of my bag.

Here’s the bag opened up. These are really designed for travel, so they do not have the snap hooks on the side. I’ve purchased extra triangular hooks and have one on this bag for my yarn.

See how the bottom is oval shaped? These bags can be used to put items into the small spaces of a backpack or one of the other traveler’s bags that they make. This particular size fits perfectly into the bottom of my medium Cafe Bag.

I’ve rolled down the sides, so that you can see my sock knitting project. I use 8″ double points for socks. They fit just fine in the bottom of this bag. Since I’ve discovered these, I can carry my sock knitting project with me and my spinning project. They don’t take up much space and I can leave them home if I want. It gives me a lot of flexibility. I used to keep my sock project in a fanny pack. I’d have to remember to grab it, if I wanted to take it with me. I’m always working on socks, so this is an easier system.

There is a new TB cross body knitting bag coming out later this year. I am really pleased with my new system, using just these two bags. I’m planning to buy more of both types of these bags. I don’t mind using cheap bags to store fiber and yarns that are not in use. I am really enjoying these more professional bags for my projects. And I am getting more spinning and knitting done, because I always have something with me.
Jenkins spindles

Spindles 27.02.2014 No Comments

I admit these have become my favorite spindles. I still use my high whorls. What I have found is that these turks put less twist into the fiber than my high whorls. That is nice when you like to spin the longer wools that I enjoy. I also enjoy the craftsmanship. They are nice tools and interesting to use.

I still have not sorted out the differences in these spindles. The two Delights are slightly different weights, yet spin similar yarns. I find that some folks don’t care for the Delights, as they find them slow. I don’t have the Jay shaft yet for my Lark, and I suspect it does make for a faster spin.

We can vary the way we spin, to create different types of yarn. An experienced spinner will have a certain comfortable style that will be preferred. It is very useful to have a spindle that can give you a totally different type of yarn, without having to change the way that you spin.

But what I wanted to talk about is the difference in the Jenkins spindles. Some things still hold true. Lighter spindles will give you a faster, less sustained spin. Heavier ones are slower and spin for a longer time. My Egret feels like a lightweight spindle and I suspect it is due to the Pacific Yew that it’s made from. It’s not a dense wood. I like to use the Egret for plying and for low twist singles. It works well for chain plying too. The arms are longer and flatter than my other turks, so I have to have more room around it when I spin. It also has a longer, heavier shaft than my other turks. It is a mid-shaft spindle. My Aegean is also a mid shaft spindle. It’s quarter sawn oak and feels heavier than the Egret, even though it weighs a bit less. I continue to puzzle over the way these two spindles spin.

I like my Delights for most jobs. They are sturdy little guys. They can be used in tight spaces and make great travel spindles. They are not elegant like the Lark, but work very well for me. I find that some folks with Jenkins spindles don’t care for the Delights. More of them for me!

I think the best thing about my new turkish spindles is that it has me spinning again, almost daily. Anything that motivates more spinning is a good thing. I’ll keep playing around with the spindles and see what I can learn. I’m going to do some chain plying soon and that will be good experience.
Lots of projects

Fiber 12.02.2014 No Comments

Let me give you a brief view of the things I’ve worked on:
This week’s projects

Projects 22.11.2013 No Comments

The holidays are coming! I have a pair of socks on the needles, two more to do and a shawlette.

This will be Lon’s first handknit sock. I’m using Regia sock yarn. I will also be making him a pair of socks from handspun. I’m still spinning that yarn.

This is the shawlette in progress. This is singles yarn, spun on my Egret. I’ll probably finish it this weekend, and have better pictures.

Isn’t this interesting? (Or maybe not, depending on how well the camera captured the colors.) It’s wine with some chocolate colored areas. I really do like it. Here’s a picture of the work in progress on my Aegean:
Two of my projects

Projects 13.11.2013 No Comments

This is fiber from Wintry Flower by Design (on the Aegean) and Inglenook Fibers on the Delight. Both are Falklands, and I seem to be spinning a lot of that lately.

These are not all of my projects of course, just the ones here in the office. I don’t have plans for these two yet, but they are delightful to spin.
A quick tutorial on using a nostepinne

Tutorials 08.10.2013 No Comments

I posted this over on Ravelry, so decided to share it here.

Here’s a quick tutorial on how I use a nostepinne. A nosty is just a stick, so this would work on any stick or even a toilet paper roll.

I like to start by tying the yarn around the handle of my nosty. You can just hold it in place to start. I wrap it around towards the right.

Here I’ve wrapped it a few times around the nosty to get started. Notice that I’ve got the yarn pointed up as I’m getting ready to start my wraps.

This is my first wrap down. Most people seem to wrap up, but I feel that I am faster making that downward motion.

Now I’ve gone around the nosty and back up, in position for the next downward wrap.

Each wrap is next to the previous wrap. You slowly turn the nosty as you are wrapping, using that same motion down in the front, then back up at the back.

I’ve done several more turns here. Notice that the wraps are getting longer and the ball is growing longer on the nosty.

You can continue to go around like this, but you will wind up with a skinny long ball. I’m going to do what I call “make a shoulder” so that I make the ball fatter. Here’s my base:

When you make a shoulder, you are deliberately shortening the length of the wrap. It helps to keep a finger nearby, to guide the yarn around the first few wraps.

You can really start to see how I’ve shortened the wrap. It also is moving diagonally across the ball, instead of up and down.

As you continue to move around the ball, it gets wider.

I used up all my yarn, but you can see the shoulder that I’ve formed. When I am making a large ball of yarn, I will sometimes do this for awhile, then wrap back up to the top again for a bit. You can make a shoulder any time that you feel the ball needs to be fatter.

Balls made like this tend to be flatter. When you are ready to ply, untie the starting yarn. Tie it to the ending piece and ply.

Feel free to ask questions on anything that isn’t clear.
Oregon Flock and Fiber

Spindles 30.09.2013 No Comments

I’ve been excited about going to OF&F for several months now. I wanted to go, not just to see all the vendors and stuff, but because I wanted to get a couple more Jenkins turkish spindles. They are difficult to get right now, because they sold out so much stock at Black Sheep. So I got some not-Jenkins spindles, an Enid Ashcroft Midge in a trade and a Riley petite:

I was thinking about getting another Lark, maybe a Kuchulu or a Swan for plying. For several months, all my discretionary spending was put on hold to build up my spindle fund. (Except for buying a bit of fiber–I do have priorities!) But I was disappointed to learn that they would not be at OF&F. I planned to go anyway, and put my spindle buying on hold. And then, I found out they would be at an alpaca farm for an open house. AND, there would be spindles! So Lon and I headed out on Saturday, in a pretty bad wind/rain storm, for the alpaca place. And I did get my spindles. In fact, I got exactly the types that I’d decided that I wouldn’t get, an Aegean and Egret. I will leave the Swan and Kuchulu for another day, maybe Black Sheep next year.

Here’s the family portrait:

I did make a blitz visit to OF&F and purchased a nice braid from Dicentra. I tried doing a low twist single on the new Egret, which looks something like this:

It is interesting to spin that Egret. It’s Pacific Yew and very light for its size. I tried some finer singles, and it did not work well for that. It seems to do a nice job of plying. I really was starting to think I’d made a mistake buying it. That’s why I started the project on it. My lap spindle is very heavy and I don’t really like using it these days. But I do like low twist singles. If this knits up okay, then I’ll have a replacement for the lap spindle. The oak aegean, by contrast, feels much heavier. It’s actually 10 grams lighter. My thinking has been that the width of the arms would affect the amount of twist put into the fiber. That seems to be true.
stuff from my stash

Fiber, Projects 26.09.2013 No Comments

First, an update on the project. This is the Beithe shawlette that I made for my friend Amy out of the Greenwood Fibers Grapevine.

She said that she liked it well enough that she wanted to wear it to bed! I’d say it was a successful project.

But my post is about stuff from my stash. I have a lot of fiber and handspun in my stash. Some of it can easily be 20 years old. I have a good memory for most of it. But I can’t remember what type of wool this is. I do remember that it’s dyed with Rit dye.

As you can see, it combs up nice. It might be Rambouillet. It’s crimpy, with about a 3 inch long staple. I’m sure I’ll think of a use for it. I should at least weigh it and find out how much of it I have. I’ll have a lot of waste when I comb it though.
Has it really been this long?

Fiber, Projects, Spindles 27.08.2013 No Comments

I have been busy knitting AND spinning. So let’s do some recent stuff.

Spinning singles from Grapevine

Sock yarn from Twilight, using my new Enid Ashcroft Midge in Tulipwood

Another spinner on Ravelry has this same stuff! She says hers was labeled as merino. It sure feels like rayon to me. I guess I’ll know more when I wash it.

And I have a new yarn bowl!

It’s made from pine and processed a certain way to make it translucent!

It’s beautiful work by Lon’s wood turning teacher, Howard.

Let’s have one more picture of that EA Midge!

This is the Milk Run shawl, done up in natural colored wools. This is almost all spindle spun. Most of this yarn has been kicking around in bins for a long time now. I really like this shawl.

And that’s it for today!