Tag: spinning

Spindle shafts

On By CarynIn Craft

I had a bit of a panic when I went to spin my alpaca fleece. I wanted to spin as consistently as I could, so I thought having similar spindles would make it so my singles were more consistent. My current favorite top whorl drop spindle is one that I made from a branch from our back woods (maybe post oak? Or cedar elm), but making three or four similar weight whorls from branch wood takes high skill and time, neither of which I have currently. (Home schooling is going OK, and spinning is something I can do inside while the kids are playing, and put down at a moments notice.) I had an epiphany. I don’t need four spindles, I just need four shafts! The whorl I made can be removed from the shaft and put on a different one. Much easier and faster!

Three shafts filled with spin singles, and a fourth with the whorl, ready to ply

I am looking for the best method (for me) to hold the shafts while I ply. I saw a box with slanted slits, and decided to try it first in cardboard. I don’t like it much. The angle the yarn comes off the box has to be just right and the shafts are squirrelly as I ply. I’ll have to try a different method next time!

Izzy was very interested in the spinning shafts (this is the wrong yarn angle, by the way)

I did manage to ply the singles (Aimee’s fleece, washed, carded), but my ply wasn’t as good. I think I don’t have enough twist. I did a fair job of evenly dividing the fiber, and when one of the three ran out, I chained plied the rest (there wasn’t much) onto the end of the three ply yarn.

Three ply alpaca yarn

After plying I did put the yarn on my PVC niddy noddy and wet it down. I made about 54 yards of three ply yarn.

Yarn on niddy noddy

Plying alpaca

On By CarynIn Craft

For my next alpaca project I want to try a plied yarn. This means spinning the singles thinner and plying three singles together. I am leaning toward knitting, so I an spinning my singles in a Z twist, and plying in S twist. This seems to work best for knitting (it is the way most yarns are machine made). If I were going to nålbind, I would switch the twist order, especially for the York stitch. It really is fascinating the way the twist effects the final product.

Center pull yarn ball, alpaca three ply, showing plied S twist

Since I am planning to knit, I made up some test swatches with various yarn scraps I had, as well as the new 3-ply alpaca. All the yarn was spindle spun, some with merino wool, some with alpaca, some plied, some singles. I found the the yarn with a Z twist knit up with uneven stitches, resulting in a fabric that doesn’t look balanced. The S twist, however, knits up nicely and the “V” of each stitch is balanced. The US 8 needles were a little small for my chunky 3-ply alpaca, and although the swatch was soft, it was not nearly as sumptuously soft as the swatch knit on US 10 needles. And oh is that last swatch soft; like cuddle on the couch, swatch against the cheek, sucking on your thumb kind of soft. It literally makes people say “oooo” when they hold it.

Merino wool, 3-ply, Z plied, knit on US 8 needles
Merino wool, single ply, Z spun, knit on US 8 needles (the stripe pattern is from the Z twist)
Alpaca (Aimee), single ply, Z spun, knit on US 8 needles
Alpaca (Sugar Plum), 3-ply, S plied, knit on US 8 needles
Alpaca (Sugar Plum), 3-ply, S plied, knit on US 10 needles

Distaff experiment

On By CarynIn Craft

I found this article by Kim Caulfield which talks about distaffs for fiber management and has images of ancient distaffs. I love my rosewood distaff, but it doesn’t work well with the rolags I’ve been making when I card fibers. I noticed that the pictures of the distaffs in the article are smaller and made of bronze or glass, so I decided to try to make one out of wire. I had gold colored 14 gauge aluminum wire in my stash and used about 24” of wire.

14 gauge wire and ring mandrel

I used the ring mandrel to form the loop at the end, then twisted the two strands of wire together in a spiral about 8” long. I originally thought that the ring was worn like a wedding ring, but it is really used to stabilize the distaff, so I made the loop bigger than my finger.

Forming the ring and starting the twist

At the end of the twist I needed something to catch the fibers. Most of the ancient examples have a little bird, I think because the beak is sharp and will catch in the fibers. Rather than a bird, I made a spiral. It works well to twist it into the end of a rolag, then gently wrap the rolag around the shaft.

Spiral end

This distaff works so well with the rolags! The aluminum is extremely light, and it holds the fibers well so I am less likely to catch errant fibers in the twist of my yarn. A few fibers do get caught in the twist of wire, but it is a simple matter to free them.

Wire ring distaff in use with rolag of carded alpaca fiber

In the picture above I have an extreme wrist angle because I had trouble getting a photograph showing the fiber, the yarn, and the ring. In practice the distaff makes it easier on my wrist than working without one.

Spin, spun, almost done

On By CarynIn Craft

I spindle spun the blend of fawn and dark brown alpaca fiber. My consistency is decent when I am paying attention. If I am watching my youngest play Zelda Breath of the Wind, however, the yarn goes thin then thick pretty quickly. Oops.

Donabella and Amiee’s fiber spun up and then wrapped on the niddy noddy.

The fawn color really disappeared quickly into the brown. I’m not sure I’m going to get the gradient I was hoping for when I make something with this. We will see!

Yarn wound into a cake. The blended part is almost undetectable

Blending part 2

On By CarynIn Craft

I blended Donnabella and Aimee’s fleece! The color difference is greater between the fawn and dark brown, and it didn’t take much brown to make a significant difference in the blend color.

Fawn and brown alpaca fleece loaded on a carder

After blending, I color sorted the rolags before spinning.

Color sorted alpaca rolags

I am finding differences in fiber in the fleeces. I’m not sure if I selected raw fiber from different parts of each blanket (the fiber sheared from the back of the alpaca), or if there are differences in fiber diameter between animals (which makes sense), or both. I am pleased that I am learning and noticing the differences!