Tackling the Impossible

So… maybe going from 0-120 mph isn’t a good idea… but I thought it might be fun. My job has produced a lot of worry recently (potential layoffs), so I’ve been doubling down on spinning and experimenting with fiber. It’s my stress relief!

I procured a few inexpensive fleeces to add to my ‘practice’ collection. I bought a few Churro fleeces and one Shetland-Cheviot-Finn mix Sheep. It appears I started with the latter, and that’s probably a good thing *hahaha*

I opened the smallest of the bags, not knowing which was which, and spent last Saturday washing the fleece with Power Scour. THAT was a fun process, which I guess I should have documented. Even though I think the fleece was relatively small, I did it in four batches, and they seemed to come out pretty nicely – no smell remains, and the water was pretty clear after the final rinse. Didn’t do much for the VM I hadn’t removed yet, but what would you expect…

So, here is the washed fleece:

LOTS of vegetable matter that I’m hoping to remove with the Viking Combs… We’ll see if *that* works.

And here it is, flicked open and combed with Viking Combs. I decided it would be fun to spin as is, without turning into roving…

And here is my attempt at reasonably even spinning. It’s not, but I think once it’s plied it will actually be interesting to use. There has been a decent amount of VM to pick out while spinning (as you can see above), but that actually has added enjoyably to the challenge. I’m SURE I’m violating every rule of good spinning out there, but I don’t care – I’m having fun. I will probably wash each single to remove the small amount of VM that’s on top (even when I pull it off, it seems static or something often pulls it back on, but I’m sure it’ll come right off with a good shake or wash).

Dyed My First Corriedale Homespun

Very happy with the way this came out – a far cry from perfect, but still… IMPROVEMENT! 🙂

Two ply, dyed with my son’s color of choice (Greener Shades, 25% Amazon Green, 75% Sunshine Yellow) to an approximate depth of shade of 1%. He *LOVES* it! I can’t wait to update this post with the hat he has requested from it…

Finished the hat he requested today:

Finished Object from First Spinning Wheel Attempt!

Here it is – the overspun, tie-dyed chosen finished object by my son – using the lovely Man Hat pattern found on Ravelry (Haven Ashley’s Man Hat Pattern  ). Despite all of my yarn’s shortcomings, it is warm and comfy to wear (I thought it would be stiff and itchy, but surprisingly, it works!)

Arctic Blast Slippers

Just a quick post (and quick knit) – my hubby “designed” these (really, changed specifications) to meet his frozen foot demands…

And an interesting statement on daily non-work life – PS4 controller, coffee mug, wine glass, and reading glasses… Hmm.

Weekend Efforts

As we prepared for the supposed Snowmageddon, I prepared to stay in and dye!

Sadly, Snowmageddon was a failure – only 6-8″ of snow, and a bunch of crappy freezing rain. Ugh.

My littlest wanted the first skeins dyed purple (his uber-favorite color), in a “kinda tie-dye style” (his words). So another first for me – dying the newly spun skeins!

Things learned so far – I’m getting worse with overspinning, not better. If I spin slower, I can’t seem to keep the wheel going, and the start/stop is frustrating and causes more inconsistencies in my single.

I ordered a slow whorl – maybe it will help me – I do better when I can treadle at a consistent pace. I started playing with some Corriedale roving I picked up – I seem to have a harder time with it than the superwash, much to my surprise. I need to work on my patience! *haha*

Socks Between Spinning Attempts

One can never have too many *handmade* socks. To help keep me from spinning beyond my abilities (and patience), in between efforts, I knit. And my mid-winter projects have mostly been these socks. The first pair are made with some yarn I purchased at a local fiber festival – it has an interesting twist and bounciness to it that I couldn’t resist.

The second pair I started just a little while ago, but I was at the tail end of my holiday vacation so I had extra knit time. This was my first Malabrigo yarn experience, and I loved it! THE COLOR! (which are nicer than the picture – I’m struggling to get the color balance right no matter where I take a picture). The yarn is very soft and springy – just lovely to work with… which makes me wonder if it’ll actually be as durable as my old trusty Trekker sock yarn… I like my socks to last FOREVER, and endure grueling hikes as well as Hygge days… What’s your favorite sock yarn?

Learning to Spin On A Wheel – Week 1

Good morning!

So I’ve been working on the premise that it’s all about learning the process and getting comfortable, not about the final product (yet). I have been doing an awful lot of research, and haven’t come across any sites that show how *bad* the yarn looks when you don’t know what you’re doing and you’re trying to learn, so I’m throwing this out there to rectify that and hopefully help someone else.

The wool I happen to have is a superwash roving, which I understand is a bit ‘slippery’ and harder to control. Figures that’s what I have on hand to learn with, but I shall overcome! *hahaha* I’m spinning on my brand new Schacht Ladybug, which is very kind and patient with me…

So, here’s the first bobbin worth of attempts – I think it took 2-3 ‘sessions’ to fill. I had been following directions to split up my roving into several sections and then pre-draft the fiber:

THEN I read an article on Abby’s Yarns (https://abbysyarns.com/2007/10/drafting-predrafting-prep-and-control/) that said pish-posh on that unless you really want or need to! So I tried going straight from the roving, and it was actually much better for me! Last night I tried splitting the roving once lengthwise, and that was even a bit more manageable. It’s fun to experiment!

The learning continues… I’m getting better at peddling more slowly and consistently, and working hard to reduce over spinning. I do get more inconsistent at the end of the roving – not sure why yet, but I’ll just keep soldiering along!

Got a new toy…

It has been AGES since I’ve posted, so I’ve decided to resurrect the site and actually post regularly. I have a TON of backlog, so that shouldn’t be too hard *haha*

My Christmas present to myself is… a Schacht Ladybug spinning wheel! But wait – who’s checking it out before me? My youngest son thinks it’s the COOLEST thing – he helped me unpack and assemble it (it comes mostly assembled, though). (He enjoys coming into my room and treadling whenever he gets a chance – I haven’t been able to get him to try actual spinning yet, though.)

WOW! Crazy! Amazing! Seriously – you’re going to teach yourself how to spin? You didn’t have the easiest time with the drop spindle, are you sure about this? Yup, after weeks and weeks of deliberation, I decided to go for it. I *will* persevere. I will ALSO share all of my experiments and how it goes from the very beginning! More to come…

Noro Cardigan…

After a long respite from posting, here is my latest finished object…My apologies for the poor pictures.

I’ve had this yarn for some time, but struggled to pick a project for it. I’d wanted Noro yarn for so long because of the gorgeous colorways… This is Noro Furisode, and as seems to be a common complaint, it had more knots than I would have liked and the joins were drastic color changes. However, the pattern I picked was pretty tolerant of that, so I didn’t worry too much about it… The pattern is Iced by Carol Feller:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/iced. I think it would be a bit nicer with the yarn specified by Carol, but I’m still pleased with the end result. The pattern is lovely – I will make this one again!

A very quick knit…

Last week I made a CRAZY thick and warm sweater (0-456 Knitted Sweater on Ravelry – creative name! http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/0-456-knitted-sweatet)… We ran out of firewood for the year (and the road is really too muddy to get more right now) so we’re just using oil heat, which doesn’t quite keep the home warm… so when I’m really cold, I can don this!