Spinning Tuesdays

I’ve decided how to spin Deb Robson’s Must Spin Lists. I’m tackling it in order – one fiber from the Animal Fiber list and one breed from the Rare and Endangered list. Neat and tidy, no? First up Cotswold: I tend to shy away from longwools because they’re long fibers which means the dreaded (for me) worsted spinning. I barely washed the fiber in Power Scour and was pleased at how easily it cleaned, and how happy those locks were after a bath, bouncy and shiny. I combed the fiber and yes, spun it worsted. I spun it a little thick-ish (14 WPI). It was fairly easy to spin worsted, though I ...

I gathered together most of the fibers I want to spin for my Deb Robson Top Fibers project and well that’s a lot of fiber. I was feeling a bit panicky as I lay it all on the floor to shoot a picture, but as a started really touching the fibers, and yes smelling them, I got excited all over again. That’s a big pile of learning. I got the raw fibers on both lists (just one selection where there were multiples) from The Spinning Loft and the prepped fibers from Spirit Trail Fiberworks. I feel it’s important to spin some of both, fiber that I prep myself always spins just a little smoother for me than ...

I have been inspired by Deborah Robson. First, I took a Rare Breeds class from her at The Spinning Loft. Then, I watched her DVD set Handspinning Rare Wools.   Then, I read an advance of her soon to be published book with Carol Ekarius, The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook: More than 200 Fibers, from Animal to Spun Yarn. With every encounter, in person or virtually, I was uplifted and nearly overwhelmed by her expertise and passion for her subject, particularly rare and endangered sheep. I became inspired, obsessed really, with the idea of spinning a wider variety of fiber. Exposing my spinning and brain to breeds ...

Last week I got my spin on with multi colored fibers plied with naturals, creating a variety of marled yarns. This week I knit them. Come take a peek: First up Spunky Eclectic colorway Diesel. Here are the yarns: And the swatches: I love all four of these – each natural brings out something different in the original fiber. I would be happy spinning and knitting a whole sweater out of any one of them. Yum. Now Fiberstory. The yarns: The swatches: I feel exactly the opposite about these swatches. None of them do it for me, the yarns didn’t either. I think the brown is ok, but the rest seem to take away from ...

I couldn’t keep my mind and hands off of the marling this week. I doubled the number of naturals tried, I couldn’t help myself. That means this week we have yarn to look at; swatches will come next week. I spun the other three fibers with four different naturals, instead of just the two I used for Briar Rose. Let’s see what they look like First up Abstract Fibers. Here it is nestled in the circle of fiber. That green is fantastic but will it contrast too much? As plies I used (from left) oatmeal, light/dark brown stripe, middle brown and dark brown. I really love how it looks with the dark brown and ...

I’m still thinking about marling, but now I’m marling for a purpose. More often than not I buy my fiber in 4oz increments, especially when I don’t know what I’ll make with it. Then comes the time when I pull it out to spin a 2-ply with it, and I want more yardage than 4 oz can get me. What’s a spinner to do? This spinner stretches fiber by marling on purpose. When I have fiber that has  colors I love, I marl with a natural color, it makes a variation on the colorway. When I have I fiber whose color combo no longer makes me sing, I marl with a second color or colorway to create a new ...

The winner of the Shelburne Mittens kit is comment number 1125, Lisa S! Thank you to the lovely folks at Rowan Yarn and Westminster Fibers for donating this prize.   Now for some spinning. As requested, the marled yarns knit into swatches. First the blue and white: Like the yarn, the fatter the original yarn the marl in the knitted fabric is more pronounced. In the finest sample it looks like flecks.   How about the blue and green yarn: I wish I had spun larger samples of these, but I do like how the colors blend even more when the yarn is knit. There is striping and pooling, but it’s interesting to ...

Barber pole, peppermint stick, marl are all used to describe a type of yarn that has two high-contrast singles plied together. It’s a type of yarn I really don’t care for. Though I have recently made marled yarns with less contrast that I’ve really liked. I’ve also noticed the weight of the yarn makes a difference in the marling. So I’ve been experimenting, want to see? I started with high contrast blue and white Romney, spun and plied to three different weights: bulky, worsted and DK/fingering. Here’s what I see, as the yarn gets thinner and the twists per inch number gets higher, ...

I have a weakness for spindles. Only one spinning wheel, but the spindle count is above 15. Not sure how much above 15. I love that they’re portable, and I love the sculptural quality of the spindles I choose. My latest love was spotted across a crowded Silk Retreat room — it’s a Jenkins Turkish Delight. I’ve been a staunch top-whorl girl since I learned to spindle. But this thing was so freaking cute, I couldn’t resist. Especially with yarn on it. You wind the yarn on over two arms, under one, and that gives a nice, plump square-shaped cop. At right, you see my little Turkish Delight, ...