Tag: spinning

Distracted bonus

On By CarynIn Craft

I spun two spindles of Black Welsh Mountain fiber then moved on to other fibers, because with a 40 gram bag, that is about all I get. I actually had 4 ounces, and had tucked the bag up on a shelf and forgot. Finding it again (a black shadow at the top of a shelf) was better than finding money in the wash! So I wound the singles off of one spindle and into a center pull ball.

Photo description: nostepinne style ball of yarn on a card stock tube, empty spindle to the right, small intent black dog in the background with her red ball

I had actually spun about 2 ounces (about 50 grams, so my estimate wasn’t far off), and since I had 2 ounces remaining I decided to spin some singles the opposite way. This challenges my brain and hands, but doesn’t result in the smoothest yarn, yet. The idea is that I can do some experiments with the opposite twists.

Small twined bag

On By CarynIn Craft

For my North Carolina grown cotton fiber page I had enough hand spun crepe yarn to twine a small pouch. I used a square of sanded eighth inch plywood as my form and twined until I was about square. To finish the bottom, I ran the warp threads up the opposite side of the bag.

Photo description: half the warp threads woven back through about seven rows of twined weaving with the bag wrong side out
Photo description: all the warp threads woven in and the needle used shown
Photo description: pouch right side out after trimming the warp threads

After I wove in all the warp threads, I realized a probably should have knotted them, then wove them in. Since this bag will only be on display in a book, it won’t see heavy use, but it is something I need to remember for next time I twine a bag. The picture of the pouch looks skewed because there is a bias twist in the fabric. I noticed when I started twining that I was actually untwisting the ply, so I switched my twine direction, which reinforced the ply, but gave it extra twist energy. It should even out after blocking.

A series of weights

On By CarynIn Craft

I’m spinning Southdown wool on a 3D printed Turkish style spindle. I decided to weigh my yarn turtles so I can match them (as much as possible) to make plying easier. I started with the weight of the spindle and the single spun yarn.

Photo description: Ozeri digital scale reading 51 grams with a spindle full of yarn on the plate

Then I removed the yarn and weighed the spindle for reference.

Photo description: Ozeri digital scale reading 23 grams with a broken down Turkish style spindle

Then I weighed the yarn turtle.

Photo description: Ozeri digital scale reading 28 grams with a ball of yarn on the plate

I forgot that if you stop winding part way through a layer on a yarn turtle, the layer peels up. It really needs a full wrap to stay neatly in place while in storage, so I removed the unruly layer, used it to start a new turtle, and weighed again.

Photo description: Ozeri digital scale reading 27 grams with a turtle of yarn on the plate

I have about 113 grams of Southdown roving, so I should get four turtles, if I track it carefully. It will take me awhile, I’m spinning during my walks, so only spin a bit at a time.

Southdown spin

On By CarynIn Craft

I have 4 ounces of Southdown top from Camaj fibers and it came with a Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em sticker. Southdown is a heritage sheep that just came off the Conservation Priority list in 2024, which makes my sticker not count toward my threatened breeds list, but does show the power of the Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em initiative and others like it. It is a British breed from the Chalk Hills near Sussex, England. You can read more about them here. I am spinning my portion of fiber with a 3D printed Turkish style drop spindle. The fiber drafts easily and spins fine. It takes me longer to do the geometric wrap around the spindle “turtle” than it does to spin the length of yarn, but the aesthetics of the winding has its own therapeutic reward.

Photo description: off white Southdown fiber spun fine and wrapped “under one, over two” on a Turkish style spindle. Calico cat sitting on the side walk in the background.

This spin is going to last me awhile between the amount of fiber, and the way I’ve chosen to spin it. 4 ounces doesn’t sound like much, but I’ll probably be walking with this fiber for months.

More Marled

On By CarynIn Craft

I liked the two-tone Jacob’s sheep roving spun up so much that I decided to make more marled yarn with the other two colors of Jacob’s roving I bought from Sweetgrass Jacobs farm.

Photo description: a dark brown ball of roving and a light brown/gray ball of roving in the bottom of a popup hamper with a jumbo bobbin

I pulled the ends from both balls of roving and am spinning them together on my Ashford Traveller spinning wheel.

Photo description: single spun marled yarn on a regular sized bobbin with a sliding loop flyer

It will take longer to spin this two color yarn, just because there is more. My plan is to chain ply it like I did for my other marled yarn, and then make plans for a warm vest.