Again, more Yarn...

Right to business, April 15, more spindling. For those who don't know, this is an Ashford Turkish spindle, and it weighs somewhere around 2 ounces. It is by no means a work of art, but it gets the job done. And the nifty part is that when you are done spinning, the yarn can be removed in a center pull ball.

April 16, 17, and 18, I spun only the minimum 20 minutes each day, on the spindle

April 19, I used some Brown Sheep Mill Ends to practice spinning thicker singles. this is the thickest I have ever spun, about DK singles, I think.

I also did some more bamboo (the second bobbin)

April 20, I started spinning some mixed breed Fiber from the Whorling Tides Naked Fiber Club. It is really very clean, and the locks were in good shape, so I am spinning straight from the lock and just fluffing it out. I highly recommend this shop. Beth is great.

April 21, I forgot to take pictures before continuing to spin yesterday. Bad me.

April 22, more mixed breed wool

So, I think that brings us up to date. Tomorrow, the Monkeys.

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More Yarn Every Day... Again

Alright, we're back to business!

Here is the latest of the Yarn Everyday series:

April 10th, More Bamboo:

April 11th, Finished the first bobbin of bamboo and plyed my perendale:

April 12th, Finished spinning and Plied the Pink Chocolate Batts from The Good Sheep. These were to die for, by the way. This yarn is currently up for sale at The Indie Dyers Coop.

April 13, Dyed some pretty Yarns and Fibers. Also My friend finished her first skein of wheelspun yarn. The yarns shown (mine, not my friend's) are also available for sale at the IDC.

April 14, Taught my mom to spin, while she was doing that, my secondary wheel had a piece break, so she learned on the ladybug. So I spindled.

Mom's First Yarn:

Ok, wow, we are a little pic heavy today. I'll continue with April 15th tomorrow, and perhaps the monkey socks the next day... they are almost done now, you know... just missing the toes, now.

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More Yarn Everyday Challenge; and My Monkey Socks Progress.

I've been busy. Really. And not just with yarn. Beeba 1 has his birthday party tommorrow. He turned 3 on Monday. But I have managed to keep up with the yarn everyday challenge, and here are a few more days worth of it:

April 7th, More of the pink Chocolate BFL:

April 8th, More Pink Chocolate and some Perendale (the perendale I carded up for the Blog here-- expect a video of this sometime in the near future, but probably not till after next week)

April 9th, I started on some Bamboo.

I haven't spun for today yet, but thats ok... its only just past 10:30 am.

Then, as for the monkey socks, they have been feeling neglected. So the last couple days, I got to work on them. I have officially finished the legs of them, and am about halfway done making the heel flaps. The pattern was not writing for 2 at a time, so I had to play with the needles a bit, and of course, I have no stitch holders, so lucky me, I used some little safety pins to hold the stitches... I think I used 10 of them, lol. But they are now looking really cool.

With that, I bid farewell for probably the weekend. With the Party tommorrow, as well as the family Seder dinner at my FIL's house (yes, I know it is not the first day, they do it when it is convenient to get the most people to come) and My mom is driving in today, so we will be very busy the next few days.

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Easter, and Happy Passover!

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A really Good Reader Question

I have been battling the question... how to respond to my reader's questions and comments. Blogger does not allow for threaded comments, so it would be confusing to just post a new comment.

So, finally, a reader has asked a question that really requires a good answer.

I have decided that when this happens, I will make a new post to answer the question. So, here it is.

Lucero Asked:

How did you get into spinning yarn? I'd never really thought about doing it myself until I saw an article about spinning yarn out of newspaper to make rugs out of it. Not to mention reading Sleeping Beauty to my little girl every other day keeps spinning in my head :).


First off, Lucero, thank you for the question. I love getting comments and questions from readers, it makes me feel special.

As for spinning, I am a member of a diaper sewing forum, and they are the culprits that got me spinning. Yup. Diapers into spinning.

More specifically, on the diaper board, there is a yarn crafts sub-forum. on there, yet another subforum popped up one day. I didn't notice it for a while, but one day, went venturing into the "spinning Happy" sub-forum, where I was immediately bombarded with pictures of handspun yarns and spinning wheels, spindles, the like.

I ran away. I couldn't afford a new hobby. I already had too much taking up my time.

But I couldn't stay away. a couple days later, I had my very first spindles, which I talked about in This post .

You can see form that post that my first yarn wasn't very great. Nobody's is. It took days before I was so completely and totally hooked that I knew I would have a wheel. I talked about that Here.

Soon after, I was convinced (granted, it didn't take much) to join a group of friends in a venture that has become the Indie Dyers Coop.

Most recent in my spinning history is obtaining my new Ladybug Wheel, which I posted about here.

I hope this answered your question, Lucero. I enjoyed answering it. :)

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The Bug made it home!

That's right, ladies and gentlefolk, My new wheel is here.

The UPS man came to my door yesterday afternoon and brought with him a great big box of loveliness. And I can surely tell you, this will now and always be the only bug ever allowed in my home.

The Box itself is stated as being the best and safest way to ship or pack the wheel, and it is highly recommended that you do not lose or dispose of it. Schacht sells replacement boxes for $25 each. Definitely not the cheapest Box I've ever seen.

When I opened it, I was not surprised at the small amount of padding in the box... but only because of reviews I have read prior to buying. The wheel is in pristine condition, though.

And The cute little mascot is in a very cool spot. It is visible when I am spinning, right between the treadles on the back leg of the wheel.



I started spinning on it right away. well, as soon as Beeba 2 let me. I decided to start off in Scotch tension, since the wheel came set up that way, and its easiest to just leave it that way for now.

I have some lovely batts from The Good Sheep to spin, but I was afraid that the first time spinning with a new wheel I might mess it up, and I really want to do these justice, so I ent stash diving for something small to play with.

Despite knowing that Alpaca can be tricky (especially when it is the first time spinning alpaca) I found some small alpaca batts (lovely soft stuff, but less than an ounce) in my stash and chose that for my practice fiber.



I have to say, the singles aren't perfect, but they are really pretty... and the wheel spins like butter. I haven't measured WPI, but they are pretty fine.


Interestingly enough, with the same effort of treadling, I am spinning as swiftly and finely on the 9:1 ration of the medium whorl as I did on the 13:1 ration on my old wheel. That gives me a lot more space to grow, with 2 whorls faster (4 higher ratios) and 1 whorl lower (3 lower ratios).


I think eventually, I will want additional accessories. I can see myself wanting the new Bulky Flyer and bobbins when they are released, if only for plying. I think I might only buy 1 or 2 of those bobbins, though. I do see myself wanting more regular high speed bobbins down the line, especially if, as I anticipate, I wind up preferring Double drive. I also think that despite mixed reviews, I will be wanting the built in lazy kate eventually. it would be great for storing bobbins and traveling with them, whether it is great for plying from or not.


For those with young kids, I also find this is a breeze to spin on even with some "help" treadling. I have much more control, even if I relinquish control of one treadle to my almost 3 year old big boy.


And I found out today that on this wheel, I can spin with a sleeping baby in lap. I could ot do that with the old wheel. It was too loud and distracting, and the treadle is not at a great angle for me to have her on my lap... she would slide off. The Ladybug treadles are a little higher, making for a more comfortable spinning position overall. I even spun reclined in a chair!

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There is a bug comimg to my house...

... a Schacht LadyBug, that is. It was ordered a little while ago, and as I type, it is on its way here. The last update was a departure scan from UPS in New Stanton, PA.

At risk of sounding Unprofessional here, WOOT!

Ok. So why should that be so exciting, you ask? I mean, after all, I do have a spinning wheel i love already... it does make yarn...

But The Ladybug has several features that appeal to my ever questing self. First and formost, Speed! My current beloved wheel has a high Ratio of 13:1. That is, for every 1 time the big wheel turns, the bobbin turns 13 times. (for my irish tensioned, bobbin led wheel) The Ladybug, with the High Speed whorl that is packed inside the box (an add on, not a standard item) has a high ratio of 22:1. What does that mean? It means that I can spin almost twice as fast at the high ratio in long draw, or create much much finer yarns in general.

Another reason I am excited, well, its the Learning, of course. My current wheel is an Irish Tensioned wheel, or Bobbin led. I love it. but there are 2 other types of tensioning (that I know of). The Ladybug has both, Scotch tension, and Double Drive. After reading on various forums and ravelry groups all about both types of tensioning, I have been dying to try them for myself. From what I read, I have a feeling I may enjoy double drive best... but I will hold off on judging till after I try it.

I am also looking forward to the larger treadles, and the fact that this is a double treadle (the foot peddles, yo). My current wheel is a single treadle wheel, and sometimes I feel like I need to hold down the wheel as I treadle like mad to reach speed. with a double treadle wheel, I should have a better balance, less effort required to keep the wheel turning, and more speed. and treadle size? well... I have size 10 feet. I didn't think so at first, but if I spin for a few hours on my wheel, my heel starts to feel bruised. the Ladybug, I am told by another Large-footed friend, resolves that issue completely.

And then there is the noise. My current wheel, though I love it dearly, makes a fair amount of noise. I don't usually mind it (though my poor husband does), but when I want to spin, and my poor Beeba 2 wants to sleep, we have a sore conflict of interests. As the responsible mom, I have relegated my spinning time to when she is not sleeping... which leaves only when her daddy will hold her for me to spin... not much time.

The Ladybug, as I understand it, is nearly silent. I can spin with a sleeping baby on my lap if I choose. Ah, the novelty!

So, it will be here sometime Monday, and you can be sure there will be assembly pics, and spinning pics, promptly on Tuesday. Becasue as we all know, I am just a little bit addicted to blogging. And I can't bear to miss a phot opportunity... maybe, if the wheel comes during naptime, I'll assemble out on the porch... then I'd get some really nice pictures.

For now, a Stock photo will have to do:

Th-Th-That's all Folks!

Too many Crafties!

So really, I should be finishing things up here, right? I should definitely NOT be starting new projects.

But What do I do... I go ahead and start new projects.

Today, I cast on for the Blue Jeans Lace Leaf Shawl. I have not finished my basket, and I have lots of yarn to spin. I need to dye more fiber in the next few weeks, I'd like to have a whole bunch of nice variety done up to stock in my next stocking on the Indie Dyers Coop.

And, I just got my Batts that I bought from Berritt of The Good Sheep, who is another member of the Coop. (I really have to say, they look just Yum! She called them Pink Chocolate and they look good enough to eat!)

Oh, and did I mention, that my new LADYBUG spinning wheel is en route? well, it is en route to my dealer, and from there it will come to me, but really... yay!!!

Plus then there is a little matter of a spinning swap I am participating in. My partner (the sender) will send fiber to me (the spinner) to spin up. half the fiber goes back to her as yarn, the rest is for me to keep. My impression is that most people will be doing 4-8 ounce batches. My partner and I agreed to do 12-16 ounces for each of us (because really, what spinner can turn down more Fiber??) its more craftiness for me to do, but fun fun...

Oh, and My monkey socks... they have progress, but they are still not done. that will take time. And sadly for them, they are not the highest priority right now. Then again, neither is my lace shawl, and I was silly enough to cast that on...

Oh well... the nice part about the shawl (aside from how pretty it is) is that the cast on is 3 stitches. I only have about 7 rows in, with 11 or so stitches at this point. yeah, I know, not much of a cast on. but, I only got a few minutes to spend on it. And, it took almost an hour just to wind the yarn into a ball!

Ok, I have my crafty projects lined up... now lets see how I do.

The Art of the Rolag

As a newcomer to the fiber world, I have done my share of research. I read about worsted spinning and woolen, semi-worsted and semi-woolen. I taught myself longdraw/from the fold with top (not by any means the best way to learn long draw, by the way).

I saw the term rolag more than once. I even saw pictures of them in books and websites. But nowhere did I see them for sale. I knew I had to try them, to satisfy my need for knowledge.

My first rolags were a mess. they looked nothing like the pretty handfuls of fiber I'd seen in pictures. But they spun. and they spun well. So I tried again. They were better.

Rolags are the number 1 BEST way to spin a true woolen yarn. I hear some people say that they can only spin thread in woolen way. I'm not sure why that is, but for me, I don't find it true at all. On the contrary, I find myself able to spin much thicker singles when I spin woolen from rolags, and much faster, too.

so, for those who are now saying, "I wanna spin from a rolag, but how?" First you need your rolags to do it with. You can either buy them, if you can find them to buy (hint, I will have some stocked at the Grand Opening of the Indie Dyers Coop) or you can make them.

To make a rolag, step one:

Charge your hand carder. I used some washed but unprocessed perendale wool. you could also use that commercial top you can get everywhere. just draw the top across the carder gently, leaving fibers caught in the teeth. My Perendale was in lock formation, and I just laid the locks out on the carders side by side. they were so nice and clean I didn't even have to pick them. (Thank you Beth of WhorlingTides for this beautiful fiber.)

Step two:

Draw your second carder across the first, straightening the fibers, and blending them together. Be sure you don't mash the teeth together, you'll damage your carders. You just want to move the fiber from one card to the other. I do this till all my fiber is on my second card, (it helps to have a bit of an upward draw as you pull the card across) and then I switch cards. My Perendale is now all nice and fluffy on one side, but still somewhat in lock formation on the other.

So, to get the other side, you'll switch hands now. start brushing your now empty card across the full one. When you have emptied that, then you need to make a decision. Are your fibers neatly aligned? do they look nice and fluffy, top and bottom? Mine did, and I chose to say they were carded plenty, and move on to rolling them. If you think you need to go over them again, go ahead. I don't usually card more than 3 passes, though... more than that can start to cause broken fibers and tangles.


Step three, Rolling your rolag:

The final step in making your rolag is to roll it. there are lots of ways to do it. For me, I take my empty card, and using the flat back of it, I fold over all the fibers hanging off the edge of the full card onto themselves. then I start gently rolling them back, keeping them as even as possible. When they are all rolled, roll them right off the card. I even like to roll them across again, if I think they aren't staying neat enough.

Then, you will have these:

Yummy, aren't they?

Now, spinning rolags, another fun and rewarding activity, will have to come another day. I hope you enjoyed this journey of rolags, I know I did.

I had High Aspirations...

to write some really great blog posts. And they'll come. But, Alas, Life keeps me busy, as do my 2 Beebas. But here are a few more previews for the New Congo.

"Joshua" on Cascade:


And "On the Sweet Side", a handspun wool/mohair blend:

Coming soon!

Yarns! and Fibers! Wee!

I can now make the announcement that On March 3, a new Congo on Hyenacart will be having its Grand Opening.

And I am a member of this Congo. You can find my Hand Spun and dyed yarns, and hand carded rolags, as well as the occasional accessory, at Crystal City Fibers. Yay for new Business ventures.

Here are some preveiws of my items:

The Hunt is on; I've been spinning!

Well, The great Cloth Diaper Hunt is going on, all this month, and as a sponsor, Beeba Bottoms has been busy. We've had lots of traffic, and are hoping to get some great sales. In preparation for the hunt, we lined up some new items. (You gotta love having a crafty family)

From the Beebas' Grandma herself, Designs by GinaL, a line of hand-crafted and one of a kind jewelry, made from high quality glass and crystal beads, a few beads she designed and made herself, and a lot of creativity. These pieces are highly original, and very beautiful. They make great gifts, and she will do special orders on request, as well.

From the Beebas' Aunty, Inspirationals by Chrissy. Chrissy is a highly spiritual person who makes these plaques with faith and love. Bringing one of these plaques into your home is sure to be nothing less than a blessing.

Of course, we'll always have the Diapers end of Beeba Bottoms. However, due to a very large custom order, Instock items are a bit slow right now. Expect more coming soon. Of course, custom orders are always available through the site, and soon, I hope to have more of my embroidery designs online for you to choose from. (I have thousands, and the small library I have been able to publish does not do them justice)

********

On another end of things, the personal front, in my rare spare time, I have been spinning away. I just got a spinning wheel, and loving it!

I got my wheel from Heavenly Handspinning , and it will be a purchase I will never regret. The Owner of the shop, Jan, is great to work with, and the wheel is a great little wheel. It cost under $200, plus the shipping, and it is a very simple looking, but pretty as well, wheel.

I started spinning as soon as I could... (I had to work on that big order of diapers first) and boy, was there a learning curve. But... I was able that first night to produce a nice little bit of yarn.

Oops! Dr. Who is on! Our late night Saturday obsession. Gotta sign off!