Injured

Unfortunately, there will be even less progress on my projects to report than usual: I've managed to injure my shoulder, and I'm resting it from knitting and spinning for 2 weeks.

First off, I don't know how I injured my shoulder. But my spindling form couldn't have helped. I have been trying to avoid lifting my elbow above my shoulder and stick to "butterflying" the singles: winding them onto my thumb and forefinger by twisting my wrist back and forth. But oftentimes I am lazy. I think, "it's only a few inches," or "I should give the spindle another spin," and I just lift it up. There's a good chance that this is what is causing the pain and immobility in my shoulder. But if not, it could, so I really do need to work on my form.

So, despite wanting to finish my shawl, and having a lot of free time on my commute, I'm stuck longingly staring at pictures of homemade yarn. If you spin, I hope that my mistakes can help you to avoid them. And this update will be a bunch of small things that I haven't gotten around to reporting yet.

First, some purchases:

Rainbow masham wool braids from Edgewood Garden Studio

I was just too tempted not to buy these rainbow mini-braids from Edgewood Garden Studio. Each is two ounces, and they are perfect for playing around with different ways of doing color combinations. The wool is masham, which is an interesting cross-breed of teeswater and swaledale. The wool is not as soft as many, but it seems to have a lot of luster. Unfortunately, when the braids arrived, they were very compacted (probably from the dyeing process), and I am worried that they will be difficult to spin. They might just need a little predrafting, or they might need a lot of predrafting. Either way, it's not ideal.

My second purchase was a swift.

Peg swift

I have already tried it out, and it makes balling yarn soooooo much easier. No more tiring myself out moving my arms around the chair or over my head. Storing it is the only problem, since it is a bit bulky.

Yarn swift in action

Along with my purchases, I had been feeling like it had been too long since I had processed any fiber. With one spinning project and one knitting project, I wanted to card something. I can't do it on my commute (needs too much room, too messy, etc) but it is a nice project for evenings and weekends. A chance to get back into the feeling of raw wool.

Ryeland rolags

Before I hurt my shoulder I was making rolags out of the ryeland wool I bought at the Maryland Alpaca Festival. It cards wonderfully, and it has a nice, soft, grayish brown color. Some of the locks are more brown, some are more silver, but I am just mixing them all. I have heard that the wool is incredibly stretchy and springy, and so far that seems to be true. I don't know when I might have a chance to spin it, but I think I will use the wheel to make sock yarn.

One lock of the ryeland wool

This week I have been going a little bit crazy with no spinning or knitting. So I started to organize my fiber stash and realized that I have half a pound of white rambouillet roving. I also have a lot of other white wool, and I'm not particularly fond of the rambouillet, so I decided to try dyeing it.

Rambouillet roving, pre-dyeing

While I have dyed wool before, I always did locks. This time I decided to do the roving in different colors. I spread it out on a tray covered in plastic wrap, then got it very wet. Then I poured dye on top and poked it until it soaked it up - Navy blue, kelly green, and yellow. I then baked it in the oven for an hour. I'm still waiting for it to dry, so I don't know if it felted yet.

Rambouillet roving, dyed

I am really not liking the dyes that I got at the alpaca festival. They are really bright and ugly. Oh well, maybe it will look fine spun up.

Maybe.

Teaching Spindling

Whelp, I have officially taught my very first class on spindling. I think it went well, though it was cut a bit short. I misread how long the class was going to be, and should have gotten to the spinning part faster.

The first part, though, was getting spindles for all of the kids. I had heard that you could make a good, cheap spindle from a dowel, hook, and wooden toy wheel. Unfortunately, the dowel and the hook were easy to find, the wheel I had a bit more trouble.

First, I bought wheels and dowels from Michaels, but I ordered off the internet without reading the sizes super-carefully. BIG mistake - the wheel was much too small, the dowel too big. Next, I attempted to remedy the mistake by going to a Michaels store near me and finding either a dowel that would fit the wheels I got, or a wheel that would fit my dowel. I found the first, and I found something that could kind of be a wheel-like thing for the second.

But the small wheel made a spindle that was too light to spin very well, and the wheel-like thing turned out to have a tapered hole, so it was useless. I finally gave up on Michaels and went to a specialty website, where I was able to get exactly what I wanted.

The three bears of spindle whirls

I decided on the 2 and 3/4 inch wheel, with the 3/8 inch hole. I got a 12 inch dowel to go with it. Although it is a bit heavy (1.6 oz) It spins fantastic - it just goes and goes without stopping. I got hooks from the local hardware store. It doesn't have a notch, which I know might be a problem later, but for now, it is working great. The wood of the shaft is even soft enough that I didn't need a drill, just some hard pushing and screwing.

Whirl, shaft, hook.

The finished spindle, next to the less  successful one made from the small wheel. The smaller dowel was too narrow to take a hook, so I carved one with a pen knife.

I also put some directions on the whirls, to help out. I put the weight of the spindle, as is traditional (so that you know how much the wool weighs, when you weigh it) but I also wrote which direction to spin for z-twist and which for s-twist.

My helpful tutorial.

Now that I had my supplies, I put together a whole kit of wool and string and glue to let the kids make their spindles and learn to spin. I picked some of my cheap, dyed wool top of unknown breed for the lesson, since it is easier to see the twist in dyed wool.

They also decorated their spindles with markers. I hope that this inspires them to keep using them, and they also came out beautifully.

Decorated spindles from the kids

Some of them decorated the shafts too.

I gave mine a bit of decoration too.

We didn't actually get to much spinning today, but I hope that they got some of the basics of how to spin the spindle and what makes yarn. We will pick it up again in two weeks, and I hope that they can do something neat with it.

Shopping

Well, it looks like I won't be able to make it to Maryland Sheep and Wool this year, since I will be busy graduating. But that's probably for the best; I have more yarn and fiber than I know what to do with. But I have been doing some shopping lately, so I figured I would share the goodies.

First up, I bought a couple ounces of undyed karakul wool locks from La Tea Da Designs.

Undyed Karakul Locks

I am actually not planning on spinning with them. I agreed to teach a spindling class at a local synagogue next month, and I wanted to bring in some to show the kids. We will be spinning with some of my extra roving, so I wanted to bring in something that wasn't prepped yet, as well as something more representative of biblical-era wool than my ramboullet (a soft wool developed from merino in the late 18th Century). Karakul is one of the oldest breeds of sheep and they are from the Middle East - so, if not the same, pretty darn close to what the bible means when it talks about sheep or wool.

I'm also making cheap spindles for the class; more on that when the supplies arrive.

I also finally spent my birthday gift certificate this week. My boss, who knows how much I like to knit (but doesn't understand that I have pounds and pounds of yarn to knit with before I run out) gave me a gift certificate for a local yarn store.

But I was good: I didn't buy any more yarn. I bought two tools: more t-pins for blocking lace, and a repair tool. I have heard good things about the repair tool - namely, that if you notice a stitch three rows back that you did wrong, it makes it much easier to undo and fix.

T-Pins

Repair Tool

I als bought a pair of books by Judith Durant: 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders, and One-Skein Wonders: 101 Yarn-Shop Favorites. 

I do have plenty of books, but I also have a lot of random skeins of yarn that it would be nice to use up. I was especially thinking of the individual handspun skeins that I make just to play with the fiber.

Three skeins of handspun

Well, that is it for now. I continue to work on my projects, but I should really start something smaller so that I have something new to post!

Card and Spin

As I continue work on the shawl and skirt, I just thought I would tell you about a little side spindling project I have been working on, on and off (mostly off).

Last summer, I told you all about the Navajo Churro outer coat that I was combing and spinning. Well, the undercoat was not completely lost in the shuffle. I have been carding it, since the fibers are so short, and spinning it on my drop spindle. I hope that I can get something soft enough for some thick warm socks this time.

Singles on the spingle

Today though, I thought I would show you my process of carding the wool. It is not a tutorial, but some of you who knit or spin but don't do your own processing might find it interesting to see how it works - even if the commercial preparation looks completely different.

First, a quick guide to fiber prep. Previously, I showed you a combed preparation. That creates a smooth "top" that is usually used in worsted preparation. Yarns made from top are generally tight, with little air trapped in them, and show stitches well, with good definition.

Today, I am talking about carding. Hand carding creates "rolags" which are small airy bundles of wool. They are not smooth, and the usual preparation with them, woolen, creates warm, fluffy yarns with little stitch definition. It is a good prep for short fibers.

Bag of Navajo-Churro under coat

First, spreading the fibers a bit with my fingers, I lay them on my cards. They don't have to be flat, or aligned, just mostly ensnared in the tines of the cards.

Fiber placed on the card and ready for carding

The hand cards, by the way, are a great tool, and there are few substitutes. Unlike with combing, pet brushes just do not work, in my experience. You need a very large, strong "brush" with thick tines. Because there are not really any alternatives, they can be pretty pricey, and they don't work well with longer fibers (5"+). A set of cards was one of the first tools I bought, thinking they were a good multi-purpose tool, but, if you are just starting out, I would go with a flicker or pet comb first.

In the second step, brush across the card with the other one, pulling out the snags and letting more air into the fibers while you gradually make your pile of wool more uniform.

Result of several passes through the cards

As you brush, you transfer the fiber back and forth. You want to card the "back" of your fiber bundle, just like the front, so you occasionally transfer everything to one side or the other.

Transferred and ready for a second pass

After it has gone through a few times, you pull it off, roll it up, and twist it into a spiral for storage.

Rolag straight off the cards

Rolled between my hands to be more compact

Rolled up for storage

The fiber drafts easily and evenly from this prep, as long as you store it in a way that it doesn't get too compressed.

Carded prep makes some nice fuzzy yarn on my steam-punk inspired spindle from Snyder Spindles

Needle Inventory

Ok, so while I was on break, I decided to do an inventory check on all my needles.

First, straight needles:

Straight needles from the collection, in size order

One set each of sizes 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, and 13
Two sets, each, of sizes 3, 5, and 15
One unmatched needle in sizes 10.5 and 13
No straight needles in size 10 or usable ones in size 8 (all I have are decorative glass ones)

Next, on to the double-pointed needles:

Double-pointed needles not currently occupied in projects arranged
 in size-order. Plus that essential tool - a needle gauge.

4 needles, each, in sizes 5, 6, 7, and 10
5 needles, each, in sizes 000, 00, 0, 1, 8, and 9
6 needles in size 4
and 11 needles in size 3 (don't ask me how I ended up with so many, I don't know)
I also have 4 needles in size 2 according to my records, but it took me awhile to find them. Turns out they were still in a long-abandoned project.

Finally, the circulars:

Circular needles not currently involved in projects.
I was too lazy to organize them for the photo, though.

One 12" size 3
16" for sizes 4, 5, and 8
One 24" size 1
In 32" I have sizes 5, 6, and 7
and in 29" I have three, each, of sizes 2 and 3; 2 of size 4; and one, each, of sizes 7, 10, 10.5, 11, and 15.

While I have bought some needles, many were inherited from either my grandmother who taught me to knit or a cafeteria worker at my college who heard that I knitted.

I have a variety of materials. In general, I prefer aluminum needles, since plastic tends to break, but the bamboo double-pointed needles are nice, in that the stitches tend not to fall off.

It is funny how these things tend to collect over time. I am already finding similar collections of spindles and bobbins beginning - though I know fewer people to inherit spinning supplies from.

Working with Scales

As I continue spinning my laceweight and knitting my skirt, I want to introduce one of my essential tools: my kitchen scale.

Two essential tools

As you can see from the picture, I actually have two scales. The first one I got is a mechanical scale. It can measure up to 22 lbs. and is decent for weighing fleeces. Unfortunately, most spinning uses for a scale require measurement in ounces or grams. The second scale in the picture is an electric scale (it  is the one with the bobbin-full of laceweight singles on top). It measures in tenths of ounces, and is generally much more useful.

So, what can one do with a scale? The most common use for it is to split the wool (somewhat) evenly, so that when you ply, there is a minimum of waste. You can also do what I am doing in the photo and measure how much you have made, so that you make approximately the same amount for the next bobbin (or two). Of course, unless you have perfectly even spinning, the length will only approximately match the weight, so it won't be exact.

You can also measure the final product and get the grist (e.g. yards per pound) or simply the weight for sale.

But there are also knitting applications for a good scale, and they are under-utilized. 

For instance, if you are making a scarf, and you want to start a pattern in the very center, you can measure the scarf and the remaining yarn to see when they match. The yarn will weigh the same whether it is knitted or not.

Even better, you can use the weight to measure early if you are going to have enough yarn to finish a project. If you start a sweater, and you are a few rounds into it, you can weight it, compare that with the number of rows you will eventually do, and weight the remaining yarn to see if you have enough.

Tools are useful, and a scale is a great tool for planning out your work.

Bonus: a picture of my crafting desk (which I use for storage, rather than crafting):

Yes, I do keep my old straight needles in a vase.

You Get What You Pay For

One of the disadvantages of doing a craft that people don't do that much is that when your tools break, you have to find a way to fix them on your own.

Sometimes, this is easy. When my Ashford Traditional wheel breaks (the drive band snaps or something similar) I can get an Ashford basic repair kit that will have the parts that commonly need replacing. It is a popular wheel, so there are others to help with common problems.

Ashford Traditional in working order

Not so with my mystery wheel.

Mystery Wheel

I have mentioned before that I bought a mystery wheel off of Craigslist. The seller (an antique shop) said it was from the 1920s, but there is a strong possibility it is from the 1970s, based on wear and tear.

It has been a learning experience, and has necessitated many trips to the hardware store.

When I first got it, it needed some serious oiling. It also has a large crack in the foot board that needed to be glued and clamped. I had the glue, but had to go out and buy the clamp.

I got it working, but I didn't really know what I was doing. It was my first wheel. I didn't have spinning wheel oil, so I improvised with olive oil and later carbon dust (which is advertised for locks. It works, but it makes a mess). I didn't have an orifice hook, so again, I improvised. I made something-or-other out of hanging wire that is a bit like a sewing needle threader.

I started making some (funky) yarn.

But then, as it got later in the spring, and the heat turned off, it mysteriously stopped working. The treadle would turn, but the wheel would just not turn with it.

This is when I threw up my hands and bought my Ashford.

But I also stared at it, and thought, and thought, and stared, and asked people on message boards, and... I finally found a little hole in the side of the wheel. There was no screw in it, so at first I thought that the screw had come out. But no matter what I poked in there, I couldn't find the hole in the drive shaft. I looked really closely, and discovered that the hole had some metal. Ah ha! Maybe it would tighten with an allen wrench? (it helps that I had been looking at Ashford manuals to try to figure out how to fix my new wheel)

Success! Now I have two working spinning wheels.

The one problem is that my mystery wheel only has one bobbin. If I want to do any plying, I need to wind everything onto a drinking straw or other bobbin.

Bobbin from the mystery wheel

So, I did what any sensible person would do, and put out feelers on Craigslist for people willing to do a wood turning job.

I got two hits. Both seemed competent. One had a professional shop, but would charge more than I had offered and was 40 minutes away (I would have to go there to bring him the old bobbin). The other was closer and would do the job for less money. I chose the cheaper option....

and I got what I paid for. They look beautiful, but only one of the new one really works. The middle hole is crooked, so they don't spin freely. I'm not sure it is worth it to contact him and drive 20 minutes to get him to do it again.

Original bobbin on the left, copies on the right.

The maker did send me a number of cool photos of his process though.

Bobbins in progress