I finished my Rambouillet wool fiber page. I had samples of three preparations of wool given to me: raw fleece, scoured (but not combed), and roving. I love this wool. I enjoyed scouring and combing it, and I love how the finished pieces feel. When I’m ready to buy a new raw fleece this is the kind I’m going to get. It cleans well, and spins beautifully. I love the woven sample with my first plaid pattern. I understand why this sheep is so popular.
My sister sent me an assortment of spinning fibers! There are preparations that I never knew existed! Squee! (This post already has an abundance of exclamation points. There will probably be more.) Banana? Rose? How facinating to learn that fiber preparations can be made from these sources! There is enough material in each sample bag for me to get a feel for spinning it, and to make my swatches for my fiber book. I also have the name of a new (to me) fiber store, which is nearly as exciting as the bags themselves! (See, more exclamation points. I warned you.)
Harrisville Designs in New Hampshire has moved their machines back to the original factory floor in town, to strengthen the ties to the community, switch to renewable energy, and return the historic buildings to their original purpose. To celebrate, they offered customers a piece of history, an antique spinning mule bobbin, if you purchased a skein of yarn. I ordered yarn.
A spinning mule is a machine used to spin yarn on multiple bobbins as once. (Here is a place to get started on more information.) It drastically improved the amount of yarn that could be spun at one time and replaced the spinning wheel as the main production of yarn in the 1700s. This bobbin is between 50 and 100 years old. Fascinating. I can’t collect many antiques, I just don’t have the room, but this is small and will go with my hand spindles.
I needed a new fiber page for my spinning book, so I made five. Honestly, it is easier to make multiples for most things, since the tools are out and the groove is worn. I chose five because that is how many end papers I had when I cut the fancy paper to size. Random, but effective. I chose the colors to go with the end paper as well.
Getting the pages in the book has proven a bit more difficult than prepping the pages. I need longer metal posts, and something to space out the pages in the spine, to match the thickness of the page. Hm. That means I need to venture into a craft store. In December. With the other thousand people that need to do the same. Hm.
I’m continuing my quest to spin all the things, and I grabbed my purchased prepared flax roving and set out on a walk. Hm. Flax does not spin like wool.
After the initial (abysmal) trial, I pulled up a book on spinning flax (and yes, I often do my research after trying on my own). There are several different preparations of flax. I did not have the yard-long fibers, I had combed top roving, which has a staple length of about 5-8 inches. The Practical Spinner’s Guide – Cotton, Flax, Hemp recommends using a distaff to hold the fibers. My sister gave me a distaff, but I hadn’t successfully used it yet. So I separated out sections of roving, pulled out the distaff, a handkerchief (also from my sister), and some cord, and “dressed the distaff”.
I changed up spindles as well. The freshly spun flax single is stiff, and the book’s author (Stephenie Gaustad) recommends wrapping the yarn at a low angle along the shaft to minimize bend. So I pulled out one of my top whorl student spindles with a long shaft. Drafting is different too. I tend toward worsted draw (short draw, keeping fibers aligned) but do rely on a little twist to draft out the fibers. Most spinners fall somewhere on the worsted to woolen draft spectrum as a default. Spinning flax I need to pull out the fibers, hold them, then let the twist in. It is a two handed operation (or at least a four opposing digit task). Flax also doesn’t need or want as much twist. If I spin the spindle too vigorously the thread snaps. I have dropped my spindle many, many times. I’m learning to give a gentle spin. It is enough.
I am gaining a deep sympathy for the miller’s daughter in Rumpelstiltskin. If it was flax she was spinning (which honestly looks like straw and is spun into valuable linen), and her Dad had a tendency to the poetic embellishment, and the king was literal minded and greedy… well. Stuck in a room full of the wrong kind and preparation of straw with a spinning wheel (that was also probably the wrong kind), I can see her despair. It is still too bad that her cleverness didn’t extend to explaining metaphor, but not all of us are quick with the spoken word.
Critters and Craft 