Clun Forest

On November 14, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

My Clun Forest yarn is done! Here is more information on Clun Forest sheep.

This is the coarsest wool I have spun so far, although the Livestock Conservancy rates the wool as medium. I probably over spun the singles as well, which makes the finished yarn rougher. I purchased 4.4 ounces of wool batt, and ended up with 4.13 ounces of yarn. There were nepps in the preparation; some evened mostly out in the spinning, some stuck out. The bits that didn’t incorporate I pulled out, which explains the weight loss. I’m going to make samples for my fiber page, then the rest of the yarn will be used for a basket or bag. It is definitely not next to skin soft, but seems sturdy enough for housewares.

Now the conundrum is where I put the passport sticker. Hm. It isn’t where I thought it was, and I didn’t put in on the page in the passport (I don’t know why). I suppose I will have to break down and actually clean up my craft room. Hm.

Even out the twist

On November 12, 2022November 9, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

I have finished spinning the singles from my Clun Forest wool roving for the Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em campaign by the Livestock Conservancy. I’ve been spinning this wool on a drop spindle during my walks through the neighborhood over the past two months.

Single spun wool transferred to a spinning wheel bobbin

I decided to chain ply the singles to get the finished yarn mostly because I only had one bobbin available and I wanted a three ply yarn. The plying only took a couple hours, and made the yarn much fluffier.

I’m still getting used to the spinning wheel, and the twist in the ply was inconsistent. To even it out some, I put out two chairs and wrapped the yarn around the backs of the chairs so the twist could travel. It worked well.

Yarn wrapped around two chairs to even out the twist

It was also easy to wind the yarn onto my niddy noddy from the chairs.

The next step is to wet the yarn to set the twist, then let it dry!

That didn’t take long

On October 26, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

My second waiting shawl is more like a brief pause shawl. It took less than a week to finish, and probably only three or four hours of active work. Crochet lace goes fast, especially with thicker yarn.

Finished shawl/scarf, hand spun roving from Supernova dye works, crocheted with a pattern from Desert Blossom Crafts

It is more the size of a scarf than a shawl, and to help it stay on, I put a button on one corner, and use the natural holes in the lace as button holes.

Shawl after blocking with sewn on button

I like how the color variation came out. When I spun it on my vintage wheel, I separated out the colors in the roving, sorted them, then spun. I used a chain ply to preserve the gradient. The gradient came out beautifully when it was crocheted!

So pretty!

On October 25, 2022October 22, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

Step three in my 3D print design process has yielded a beautiful result! I was fascinated with a spindle printed in flexible filament I found at the fiber festival and asked my printer if he had flexible filament. He had a better idea: PETG. This is a plastic used for water bottles and is very sturdy and impact resistant. Done in clear it also has a sheen almost like calcite. So pretty! It is easy to sand and shape as well. I sent a new design to be printed.

I took some Shetland wool roving with me to pick up the spindle, then sat at my favorite coffee shop and spun while sipping a gingerbread latte. Yum.

The cop of yarn I spun slid off the spindle easily. I did use some 400 grit sand paper to take down some of the printing artifacts inside the channel and holes. The spindle is very light, so my printer suggested putting weights in the cavity I designed. Brilliant. I found some long square tube beads that fit down inside. The little bit of extra weight helped it spin better, and is adjustable! Nice. I prefer square weighs, so if they escape they don’t go rolling everywhere.

Spindle with beads inside the cavity for weight

I like this version, but I have some tweaks to the design for the next round. Eventually I will have to do a destructive test, and drop my pretty spindle on the ground. But I’ll wait a bit.

A shout out to my printer, X of all Trades, and the best coffee shop out there, The Full Cup, without whom I wouldn’t have found someone to make 3D prints!

New waiting project

On October 17, 2022October 14, 2022 By CarynIn Craft

I’ve started a crochet project using the first yarn I spun on my spinning wheel. The consistency varies wildly, so I took my wraps per inch (wpi) measurements from one of the thicker sections.

Measuring wraps per inch on hand-spun yarn

I consulted a wraps per inch chart to select a crochet hook size based on my measurement of 9 wpi. By selecting a hook for the thicker parts of the yarn, the thinner areas will be more lacey, but that is OK because my pattern is for a lace shawl. If I sized the hook for the thinner sections of yarn, the shawl would become stiff for the thicker sections.

I’ve put the whole project in a bag in the car so it is ready for the waiting times.

Critters and Craft

Tag: spinning