Spinning Tuesdays

Miss Babs Hand Dyed Yarns and Fibers has donated 8 ounces of  80% mixed BFL/20% tussah blend top in her Bog colorway for a giveaway. If you’d like a chance to win this yummy goodness, leave a comment before Wednesday December 8, 2010 at 11:59 pm EST. If your comment is chosen by our random number generator, you’ll be asked to answer a skill testing question before being declared the winner. If you don’t win our giveaway, don’t fret. Miss Babs is offering a fiber special that runs through December 31, 2010. Buy 5 tops and get one free with the code SPINDEC (not to be combined with any other ...

When I went to Fiber Expo I was deeply smitten with these batts. They are Whimsy batts from Frankie Loves Fiber, wonderful blends of merino, corriedale, shetland, silk and sparkle. I couldn’t choose between them. To me, colorwise, they belong together, so I brought home all three. I know, twist my arm. Weeks later when it came time to spin them, I felt even more strongly that the three should be one mixed colorway. It had become an idea I couldn’t shake, a bee in my spinning bonnet. So I went with it. Here’s what I did to combine them. Open, the batts had even more colors: I divided each of the ...

This past weekend I took a two day wool breed study class with Deb Robson, at The Spinning Loft. We covered a variety of breeds within the categories of primitive wools, down type wools , long wools and fine wools. Covering a category included history, lock, crimp, luster characteristics,  prep methods, and spinning at least 4 breeds within each category. Not being a breed junky, for me, it was the type of class that introduced me to a whole world of things that I don’t know. My first instinct was to panic (usually, my first instinct), it all seemed huge and overwhelming and there were combs, which I’ve ...

I love to spin singles on my spindles, but I’ve never been a fan of plying on a spindle. Instead I use my Kate 45 and ply on my wheel. All with the help of the humble drinking straw. My cop goes on the straw and the straw goes on my lazy kate rod. I have a pack of regular bendy straws that fit perfectly over the rods on my Kate 45 just loose enough to spin, but not so loose that the fly off when plying. The straw has to be taller than your cop but, not taller than your lazy kate rod. I slide my straw as far as it will go up the spindle shaft and slide the cop slowly onto the straw. I found that if I tried to ...

Do you dye fiber? Create spectacular batts or fiber blends? I’m gathering fiber for  Knittyspin’s 2011 Fiber Fiestas. Knittyspin’s Fiber Fiestas are held quarterly. We invite a group of spinners with varying levels of experience, and each samples your fiber.[We do have enough Fiber Fiesta spinners.] All reviewers are asked to spin, set, and knit with the fiber, putting it through the same process an average spinner would. In order to have your fiber included in an upcoming yarn Fiber Fiesta, please send at least 8 oz of each type of fiber you’d like considered for review. Multiple submissions [more ...

This is the fourth year that there has been a Fiber Expo in my town. Now, it’s not Rhinebeck, but with 77 vendors, I was still able to make my spinning heart cheer and credit card cry. All the vendors I bought from are local to Michigan, but sell online. I’ve got a bunch of spinning to do. Here’s what I got: A BFL fleece from Cross Wind Farm. Two 8oz bumps of BFL/Cormo from Cross Wind Farm in colors to chase away the gray Michigan winter I may have gone a bit of  batt binge at this show. This one is from Hands and Notions. Her packaging is great isn’t it? Yellow and pink are two colors I ...

It’s full-on fall in the northern hemisphere and my mind is turning to the up coming gifting season and the many birthdays of my fiber friends that happen in the fall. What do you gift a spinner, or a knitter? My go-to gift used to be a spindle or other fiber tool, but now I’m rethinking fiber gifts. I think this season I’ll be giving roving that I’ve picked specially or dyed specially for the the recipient. I’m also thinking about handspun yarn. I’ve never been much for giving my handspun yarn, but why not? Who better to appreciate handspun than a another spinner? Every time ...

I just got back from a blissful weekend away with fiber friends. There were seven of us holed up in a cabin for 2 1/2 days, doing nothing but fiber, watching movies and overloading on carbs. This weekend got me thinking about how I spin with friends. Spinning with friends is all about relaxing. It’s impossible for me to learn or teach something new, because I might miss out on my share of the conversation. I did find I can practice skills that I already have a seed planted for in my head and hands, thick and thin or trimming my yarn diameter. But something new or something not in my realm of my usual woolen ...

Not too long ago my friend Erica & I both spun worsted weight-ish types of yarn. We’re both part of a group of fiber friends who meet weekly at a coffee shop to spin, knit and generally laugh off our weekly stresses. Our worsted weight yarns, hers worsted spun, mine woolen, were our groove yarns, our sitting on the couch go-to yarns. What our hands and wheels just spun when left to their own devices. Erica decided she wanted to spin thinner, she used smaller whorls and weekly I could see her yarn getting finer and finer. I decided to spin fat lofty yarns, I took some classes and practiced a lot and my yarn ...