Fresh off the wheel

I switched things up a bit and made a chunky single ply with a 4oz bag of Polworth I purchased at London-Wul dyed by Heidi.







Now back to knitting....

My favorite handspun yet

All time favorite handspun to date is now completed. The fiber was purchased at London-Wul farm and had been hand dyed by Heidi in these amazing colors.



My friend, Line, had purchased the fiber after I pointed out to her how it was a perfect match for her color tastes. And then I said "And I would spin it for you, as long as it's less than 8ounces!". Heidi kindly bagged it for her, providing a little more than 8 ounces but I wasn't supposed to know.



She plans to make this gorgeous shawl. Can you imagine how beautiful that will be? I can't wait. I'm sure she will blog about it so we can all follow along in the progress.

My favorite is Merino

Merino is one of my favorite wines, and yarns!

I purchased this 100% Merino roving from CJ Kopec Creations
a few weeks ago and I'm dying to spin it up. It is called 'Broken Hearts' but it goes very well with the bottle of merino wine.



She custom blends the colors to create beautiful blends and this fiber 'ball' is the softest ever. And she has the cutest card attached to the roving.



Me, the Merino roving and a bottle of Merino wine are going to have a date night Friday in my spinning room!

Drop Spinning Tutorial

This post is dedicated to Heidi as she was my drop spinning teacher and held a very informative class at London-Wul Farm. I highly recommend learning to drop spin with someone familiar with the skill because it will be much more enjoyable and easier to pick up.

When I got home after my class I continued spinning and filled the spindle. I was a little unsure the first time what I was then to do with this spun yarn. Here are the steps that I discovered:

1. First start with a peaceful room



2. Then add fiber

This is combed Polworth wool. Spin until the spindle is full. In this picture I'd say the spindle is pretty full. I will not get into how to spin exactly because that is better learned by an experienced spinner and in person so they can show the techniques one on one. I will give one piece of advice: pre-draft! I was having a horrible time until I started pre-drafting the fiber so thin that I did not have to draft at all while spinning. This helped a lot, and now I can draft as I spin, but as a beginner it made all the difference.


3. Once the Spindle is full, make a center pull ball with a ball winder perferably


I made this spindle holder out of a simple tissue box.




4. Now it's time to ply. Simply take the center pull from the ball along with the outside piece of yarn from the ball and tie them to the spindle. Then just spin them together but make sure to spin the spindle in the opposite direction from the one you used when spinning the yarn originally.
   
   
   The single plies will be all twisty, but plying them should balance the twists out.
   
   
   The spindle became very full and hard to work with, but I made it fit.
   



5. Next make a skein using a Niddy Noddy. I didn't get a picture because the yarn started to fall off the Niddy Noddy because it was a little full so you will have to use your imagination. If you don't have a niddy noddy I believe you can use a hanger as well.
   
   
   Don't forget to tie the skein together in 2-4 places before removing from the niddy noddy.


6. Give your skein a bath.
   
   Really it's just a soak. I used Eculan so I didn't have to rinse the yarn but you can also use another mild soap but make sure to rinse it in that case.



7. Hang to dry with a weight to help the spin and ply settle.
   
   I just used a shower gel as the weight because of the hanger on the end of the bottle but you can find various items around the house that will work. You just want something to straighten the yarn as it dries to help settle the plies. (Please ignore my hideous wall paper, bathroom is under renovation as we speak)



8. Ta Da!
   
   
   2 ply yarn ready for knitting, or just to admire in your stash!
   
   
   
   

My new arrival

I would like to introduce you to Juliet, my new Ashford Single Drive Traveller spinning wheel.



She has a castle wheel type which makes her semi portable and can spin almost anything. I purchased her on Tuesday at London-Wul and as of last night I had spun a 1/4 lb bag of blue/green polworth and I plied a spindle full of it as well. Pics to come soon of the skein, but trust me, it's a beautiful thing.

Spinning frenzy

I spent a glorious afternoon learning the traditional art of spinning! Heidi at London-Wul offered a Learn to Spin class this afternoon and a few of us brave souls attended. I say brave because it is very addictive. Once you try it you are hooked, or at least I am!


I tried 4 spinning wheels during my 'training', all of which I must say were very nice. I tried out 3 Ashfords: Traveller, Traditional and Joy; and 1 Louet: Victoria.

There are a few main differences I took note of between them. The Joy and the Victoria and really portable. They can actually be put into carrying bags so they are great for the travelling spinner (but so are drop spindles). The Traveller and the Victoria were both double treadle (2 foot pedals) and the Traditional and the Joy were both single (but can be adapted to have 2). I preferred the double treadle as I found it easier to get the wheel going at a constant pace. I'm sure with practice I would master the single treadle, but as a beginner the double was easier for me. They all had a scotch tension and I noticed on the Ashford website that the also can come with either a single or double drive, but the ones I used were all single.
At the end of the day after trying out all 4 wheels I was really wanting to take one home and the winner by a nose was the Ashford Traveller, followed by the Traditional at a close second. I spun easily on the Traveller, I liked the double treadle and it is a bit more portable than the Traditional. The Traditional has very nice astectically pleasing lines to it (it was Troy's favorite visually) but the Traveller is also very cute.

So the question remains... when will I buy it?

Niddy Noddy magic

Bought myself a niddy noddy, pictured above, so that I could make a skein out of my newest spun yarn and let the ply settle while I went to California. That was a great plan, except I couldn't wait.



As soon as it was in a skein I balled it up and Ta DA... A mitten!

First ever Hand spun project

I did it!


I spun, plied and knit my first ever mitten! What a wonderful experience.


The yarn is definitely not perfect by no means, but as the mitten proves, it can be used to create a warm, useful and fun colored item.


I have enough yarn left to make the thumb and then it's back to spinning. I have about half the bag of fibre left so I'm hoping I will have enough for a second mitten... but even if I don't, I'll forever be happy with this one.

\
Yarn: Handspun by me Polworth Fibre from London-Wul Farm
Pattern: Bulky mitten from Weekend Knitting book
Needles: 6mm double pointed
Spinning: Jan. 27-Jan 29, 2007
Knitting: Jan. 29, 2007

Happy Spinning

Saturday was Drop Spinning Day! Finally I was able to attend the drop spinning class given by Heidi at London-Wul. I had been looking forward to this since the last class back in October that I was unable to attend. A couple of 'internet' friends, Vicki and Michele, came all the way from Fredericton for the class (It was great to finally meet you two!) We decided to go out for lunch before the class because we had actually never met in person and this would be a good opportunity to spend a bit of time together. The lunch grew... everyone who was in the class (except one, sorry Anne) came for lunch with us. Kim, Betty, Line, Michele, Vicki, CJ and myself were all in attendance and it was a great way (except for the cold) to start the afternoon off.

Here we all are at the class spinning away.

We learned to spin carted Jacob(?) wool, then combed Polworth wool and also combed mohair. We also plied and took our samples and workbooks home. We not only learned how to spin, but we learned about many different fibres and the vocabulary used in the spinning world.


Apparently we all enjoyed it because I don't think even one person went home without first purchasing a bag of fibre to continue spinning with. I know myself, I'm already addicted. I've been spinning every chance I can grab (and I'm supposed to be studying for an exam). I'm finding myself thinking about the fibre and the act of spinning while reading my Economics text and I'm pretty sure there will not be any spinning related questions on the exam.


Well back to spinning.. I mean studying!