It makes me happy anyway

On November 11, 2021 By CarynIn Craft

I’ve started to spin the Shetland wool batt on my walks. I gently separated narrow strips from the large batt, and loaded my arm bag with what I thought was enough to last me one or two walks. Five walks later, and I am still on the initial load of fiber. Granted, I am spinning it finer than I spin alpaca, but wow. Even though it is slow going, I really, really enjoy watching the twist move into the fiber, and the pleasant way the wool drafts out. The plan is still to make a two ply lace weight yarn. I’ll have to test the wraps per inch (wpi) after I ply to see just how fine (or not) I’m spinning. Lace weight measures at 30-40 wpi, while sock or fingering weight measures at 18-30 wpi. I suspect I will have a fingering weight when I ply, just looking at the singles on my spindle.

Spinning Shetland wool with a drop spindle

I could probably spin even finer, but I would probably have to use a supported spindle, which I have not figured out how to do while walking.

The rivet worked

On November 3, 2021November 1, 2021 By CarynIn Craft

Riveting the head of my drop spindle worked. It took a dozen drops, but I eventually dropped the spindle on its head and cracked it again. The rivet held. I was able to continue spinning for the rest of my walk, then when I was home, I put a little glue in the crack and tightened up the rivet with a few careful hammer taps. In mitigation, I was pushing the amount of yarn I could load on the spindle, so it was heavy and starting to get unwieldy, so my lesson is to keep the cop of yarn smaller so I reduce the chance of another drop to the head.

Crack barely visible on the neck of the spindle

Yarn cop that is too big for this spindle

Missy would really like for me to stop taking pictures and kick her ball already.

One done

On October 29, 2021 By CarynIn Craft

I finished one of my buffalo down fingerless gloves. This is a waiting-in-the-car project, as I only work on it when I’m parked waiting for school pickup. I love the nålbinding Dalarna stitch because it is relatively simple and results in an even fabric (rather than distinct rows). The buffalo down I spun on a tahkli spindle is a two ply; the first glove uses yarn that was spun z and plied S. The yarn for the next glove was spun s and plied Z, so it will be interesting to get started on that and see if the behavior is different. The buffalo down is so fluffy, and I have no problem wearing it next to my skin. It is pricey, as each buffalo processed for meat only yields about four ounces of down. One glove used about a half ounce.

Fingerless glove made from hand spun buffalo down using the Dalarna stitch

Frankenstein spindle

On October 10, 2021October 7, 2021 By CarynIn Craft

Well it happened. I dropped my favorite spindle (again) and the head cracked and came completely off this time. All this near the beginning of a walk. I tried spinning from the other end, but the yarn wasn’t aligned right. I tried just turning the spindle with my fingers, but the yarn produced was much, much thinner. So I tucked it all in my bag and went home.

Head came completely off the spindle this time

I glued then clamped the head back onto the spindle, but since that didn’t hold the last two times, this time I drilled a small hole and hand riveted the two pieces together as well. It took some experiment; the brass wire was too hard, but aluminum filled the hole nicely with some hammering. I sanded the rivet smooth so the edges wouldn’t catch on my yarn.

Rivet made from aluminum wire to provide mechanical strength to the broken spindle head

It looks like a Frankenstein spindle now, with its metal rivets on the neck, but it is holding. I’ve dropped it three times since repairing (not on purpose) and the head has held. I do now carry a spare spindle in the bottom of my bag, just in case.

Plying bits of color

On September 28, 2021September 26, 2021 By CarynIn Craft

I spun up some pure alpaca to ply with the balls of alpaca and sari silk, to see what that did to the color density. Rather than make three small balls and try to match the yardage, I spun up 9 rolags into a single ball, then plied the colored singles with the uncolored into one cob.

Singles with the most color plied with uncolored alpaca

Singles with the least color plied with uncolored alpaca

Singles with a little more color plied with uncolored alpaca

Diluting the color with the uncolored ply had the most impact on the single with the most color. I like the yarn with just touches of color, and reducing the percentage of color makes it even better for me.

I had a bit more of the uncolored than the colored, which was perfect. Rather than scrap the extra bit of white, I doubled it up and plied to the end. No waste at all, which is definitely a plus for making a two ply.

I wound up the plied yarn on my PVC niddy noddy and gave it a rinse to set the twist. I ended up with about 117 yards of two ply alpaca and mixed fiber sari waste yarn. It took five walks to spin and ply this yarn. (It is a good thing that it is the spinning and the process that makes me happy.)

Critters and Craft

Tag: spinning