30 Days of Yarn

So the month went quiet, as November is wont to be, but I achieved my goal of spinning for almost every day of the month. And this is what I came out with:

The yarns, from left to right are:
1 - 183 metres of sports weight Merino Silk (80/20), 2 ply. On this one, I didn't spin the two halves of the fibre bundle evenly, and ended up with an odd piece of single that I chain plyed and later knit up into a little pouch, which needs to be blocked before it can be shown off.
2 - 142 metres of worsted weight merino, 2 ply. My first blending experiment this. The skein doesn't show off the transition too well, but I'm hoping the gradation will be there when I knit it up.
3 - 178 fingering weight merino, 2 ply. The second blending experiment. Again, I'm hoping this one will show off it's shine when it's knit up.
4 - And finally, 178 metres of merino, chain plyed. This one gives me hope that I might yet be able to spin up yarn fine enough and well enough to make my own handspun socks![1]

The only problem I have with all of the yarns I've made above is that they all seem to want to be cowls. I'm really not sure I need that many scarf-type-object, but who am I to disagree with the fibre? 


[1] Having reconsidered how much effort is involved in a sheep to garment project, I'm starting to think socks would be an acceptable finished garment.

30 days of spinning - week one

 So after the first week of the challenge, how's it been going? Quite well actually.

I finished the spinning on my Ashford Sliver, and learned a valuable lesson in splitting and spinning one's fibre evenly.  I imagine what happened here was that I was still getting used to the wheel, and ended up with uneven tension on each bobbin.

The finished 2-ply skein is approximately 180m of soft yumminess - I'm planning on making a cowl for myself with this so I can show it off.

The remained didn't go to waste though. Following a suggestion from Constanza, I tried chain plying the leftover single. There was much cursing and stomping of feet, but I finally yielded up about 35m of chain plyed yarn.. which I of course forgot to take a picture of.





The next project I had ready to go. I had a couple of colours of Bronte Glen Merino, and I wanted to try my hand at blending the colours to make a graduated yarn. My increments were 100% steel blue, 75% blue 25% white, 50% blue and white, 25% blue 75% white and 100% white, which I weighted out and combed to blend. I span each colour segment completely before moving on to the next, hoping this would keep the colour distribution even, and I think I got a little closer to being spot on in my plying.

This came out as a lovely springy worsted weight yarn, approx. 142 meters, though I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet.












And there may also have been a bun cake interlude. Because all this spinning is hungry work...

November's 30 day challenge

November is always a busy month for me because of the day job, and this year it started early, so I haven't managed to get back to finishing off my Hedeby dress yet. I can anticipate late nights and increased stress levels as the month goes on, so I'm going to need something to keep my going in the craft department.

So that's where this month's 30 day challenge comes in. Inspired by the crafting of some of my friends over the past month, I'm going to try to do a little spinning, either spindle or wheel based, every day in November.

I have a fairly modest stash (though I've just realised I'm missing my Drachenwald A&S exchange fibre from the above picture), which Suzie has duly inspected for me to ensure quality.

In this picture, the front row has 7 silk tops from Oliver Twists, picked up from over the years at the Knitting and Stitching show. The second row has four 100g portions of Bronte Glen Merino, picked up at last years K&S show. On the far left of the middle row is an Ashford merino-silk sliver, which has already been half spun into the bobbin above, and one of my main goals with the spinning, is to complete the other half and to ply it up. The back row has on the left, another Oliver Twists silk top, which I've started spindle spinning, a Malabrigo Yarn fibre in Nube, and some scoured Gotland fibre gifted to me by Constanza last Raglan, which Suzie is very fond of. I've technically already completed today's quota, having spun up some fresh Gotland yarn, but a little more spinning won't hurt.

First Yarns

What better way to spend a sunny bank holiday Monday, directly after an event which while not going to plan, was no less wonderful a weekend, in getting to know the new spinning wheel.

Two and a half years since my last attempt meant I had to turn to YouTube to find directions on how to get started, and even then there were many, many false starts before I managed to get everything working together. Funnily enough, it was when I kicked off my shoes so I could feel the treadle through nothing but my stockinged feet, just like last time, that it all worked smoothly. I'm hoping the same will hold true for my slippers when I'm in garb using the wheel. Oh well, if not it'll be an excuse to have some exceptionally pretty socks made up to show off.

I've started spinning using Ashford Merino Silk, which is 80% New Zealand Merino and 20% silk. I stopped here so I could divide the fibre, and make sure I only used half on this bobbin so I could ply it properly later. The yarn is coming out quite fine at the moment, though with the odd slub here and there, that it's enough to keep me hoping that it'll come out, when plied, as a nice fingering weight yarn, so I can knit up something pretty to show off.

Silver Linings

Let me tell you a tale of woe... of sorts.

At the start of this year, what seemed like a minor laptop repair turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg; my laptop died and had to be replaced. While I had the rainy-day funds to cover the replacement, this same fund was my travelling fund, so various events, such as going to the Crown Tournament in April in Depedene under Wychwood had to be cancelled.

I was rather miffed about this.

Time passed. I started thinking a lot about the money I was putting aside for a spinning wheel since I got bitten by the bug almost two and half years ago, and thinking dammit, maybe it's about time I got it. Only to have the exchange rates change significantly and with the goalposts moved, resign myself to saving a bit more birthday money.

Cue more dramatic sighing.

Now this was where a very dear friend of mine stepped in. This lady is lovely, clever, and utterly ebil. Once she knows what you like, she takes great pleasure in tormenting you with links to things you can't possibly afford (I've lost count of the number of castles for sale I've viewed now thanks to her). But for all that, her unparalleled skills on escudo-bay, or e-bay to the layperson, more than make up for the ebil.

I mentioned this exchange rate frustration to her, and she took to escudo-bay on a mission. A few styles were considered and rejected until she came across one perfect example. With accessories. 

 Barely used and all for half the price of a new wheel. Collection only, but on the way to Crown tournament, which she and her husband were still going to. Now, if I'd still been going to the event, the wheel would not have fit in the car with them on the way back. Not that I'm really one to believe in destiny, but it's hard not to think that this spinning wheel wasn't meant for me. And Suzie, having personally inspected the wheel, is inclined to agree.

Drachenwald A&S Exchange - Received

I've now obtained permission, and have updated my previous post with the name of the recipient of my A&S gift. And having made my gift for the exchange, you may wonder what it is that I received.

My gift was made by Lady Ameline de Leeuwe; two beautiful hand dyed skeins of merino fibre for spinning. Yes, I've taken two pictures here, the one on the left with flash, but it's necessary to show off the wealth of colours in the fleece. The linen bag to hold the fleece and my spindle, is embroidered with yarn that was itself spun and hand dyed! The stitches are so soft and even it's almost impossible to stop stroking them.

Thanks to an outbreak of Real Life, it actually took me a week after I'd received my gift to take pictures to share on the Drachenwald A&S exchange group, but I actually started spinning with it right away. It's coming together so lovely and fine, I don't think I've been able to spin this evenly before. Just goes to show the quality of the product ;)

Another busy week so again, not much done.

Went to a household day yesterday where I was mostly teaching, so didn't get much done myself. I did however get started on a pattern for my partlet which was so successful I've decided I need to drape it instead, and I started sewing a saccoccia, an Italian pocket, for an SCA friend. The picture to the right is of the lining, the outer fabric is the same as that used for my court gown, a burgundy taffeta. I'm hoping the lady in question appreciates the lining I picked out for her.



 

But in good news, my niddy noddy finally tuned up!

For the uninitiated, a niddy noddy is tool used to wind skeins of yarn from bobbins after spinning. I've been looking for it for a while, not being an organised person, as it was the reason I originally bought the wood stain I used to dye my wooden buttons a few posts back.

 

The stain mixture has a shelf life of 4-6 months, so I broke it out again and the above pictures show the noddy before staining and with one coat of stain. Like the buttons, it's likely going to need 2 or 3 coats to bring up the colour nicely, but it'll be very worth it to have a personalised spinning tool.

Ooh, it's been a rather busy week. Funny how those can sneak up on you.

Thursday saw the shire's A&S meeting. It was a quiet turn out and I got a little more progress done on my needlelace and on my sleeve embroidery, though both are such slow going I'm feeling driven to start a new project, just to keep the interest up.

But today was HandmAid, a craft day in aid of the DSPCA. I signed up to a wheel spinning class with a friend, as while I have my hand in for spindle spinning, wheel spinning is something I very much wanted to try. And spin I did!

 

The class was taught by two wonderful ladies, and with everyone in the class more than willing to help others, we were all soon in our socks and tredling away. 

I got to try a silk merino blend (the pink/brown yarn on the left) and a pure wool top (it's green, really, on the right).

It was terrific fun. The only downside now if I can see it being some time before I can afford to buy my own wheel, and the the desire to do more wheel spinning, it burns!!!




But it wasn't all temptation unfulfilled. I came away with a very nice haul from the trade and cake stands, so I should be kept entertained and distracted for a little while yet.