The Black Welsh Mountain Sheep is also on the Livestock Conservancy’s Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em list as a threatened heritage species. I have finished single spinning my 4 ounce sample. It is very nice to spin, and I was able to achieve a nice thin single. My challenge for myself in this spin was switching direction half-way through, so I now have half the wool spun in the S direction, and half in the Z direction.
Photo description: spun Black Welsh Mountain wool on two spindles and one center pull ball, sitting on the original bag from Camaj Fiber Arts, and another bag with a lock of unspun wool
My plan is to do some parallel experiments with the two different spins in weaving, knitting, and crochet, until I run out of wool.
So yes, I can spin yarn while using a stationary recumbent bicycle.
Photo description: simple drop spindle with Black Welsh wool spun into a single, recumbent stationary bicycle pedals in the background
As expected, it looks different than walking and spinning, I have the spindle off to one side so it can hang down, and the floor is closer, so I have to wind up more often, but it works and gives me something to distract myself from what my legs are doing.
I love knitting two socks at the same time on two circular needles, but I forget how to do the initial setup every time. Every. Time. So to help my future self, here is what worked this time (after many trials and errors.)
Photo description: loosely cast on 66 stitches using the long tail cast-on method with fingering weight wool yarn on Prym 2.5mm circular needlePhoto description: 33 stitches slipped knit-wise onto a second circular needle
With the first sock cast on and divided onto two separate circular needles, I cast on 66 stitches for the second sock and transferred all the stitches to a stitch holder.
Photo description: transferring 33 stitches from the stitch holder to a circular needle Photo description: all stitches for both socks transferred to two circular needles so that the “U” shape of each sock has the open side to the left and the closed side to the right
For me, the trickiest part is getting the two socks in the same direction on the needles, then keeping the stitches untwisted as I join the first row. After that, for me, it is smooth sailing. I never cross the two circular needles, always using the ends of one needle set to knit half of one sock, then half of the other sock (remember to switch yarn sources for each sock, so they stay separate.)
On this particular sock set, I will be knitting a 3×3 rib to start.
I’ve been twining with plant bast fibers (the long ones from the stems of plants), and wondered if I could twine long wool. I selected some Teeswater from my stash that has a staple length around 5-8 inches, grabbed a sponge and a spray bottle of water, and started twining. There was a bumpy learning curve, especially since I decided to learn to twine left handed to get an opposite twist. I wanted an S twist direction because my current favorite nålbinding stitch has a bias Z twist, and I thought the opposite twist yarn would help. It didn’t really.
Photo description: twined Teeswater wool and the beginnings of a nålbound pouch sitting on my jeans in the car while waiting in the pickup line
As I write this post, I’m wondering if the twist in my work is the stitch, or the method of construction I’m attempting. I’m working in the round, which is typical for nålbinding, but I’m working around a long base chain, which is a little different. I’ll keep on and see if things even out, either as I go, or after I block the finished work.
The exciting part of this project is there are no joins in the yarn, rather, the yarn is created as I go.
When I forgot to bring my spindle on my trip, I also left behind my fiber, which gave me an excuse to visit a local weaving shop and get more fiber. I was pleasantly surprised that the Woven Art Yarn Shop in East Lansing had some natural colored roving options, and picked a bag of Romney combed top from Dorie the sheep, who is apparently “an independent soul”, according to the label.
Photo description: Bag of Romney combed top fiber from Cross Wind Farms with a single spun on a stick with the bark still on and a cup hook screwed to the top
I love Romney wool, it spins up easily and is soft. Since I spun with a finger twirled stick, I made a thicker single because it needs less twist to hold together.
Critters and Craft 