Contrary

I started flicking out some lovely kid mohair last weekend. I spun up half of it during the week and am loving how it's coming out. I'm not quite sure that it will be fine enough, but I think it will be ok. Yesterday evening I decided to flick out the second half before going to bed. Now that's ready to go:In the pic you can see the flicked fibre in the box. Below it on the left are a few of the mohair curls as they came--they're lovely and long, but took a bit of opening out. On the right is the "waste" fibre. These are the shorter ends, and snarls that came away when I did the flicking. I just can't wait to get my hands on them! I've got some "waste" merino from when I combed out my fine worsted sample last year--the short ends of merino plus the kid mohair, spun woollen should produce a delightful lumpy bumpy cloud of yarn. When that goes into the dypot, the mohair will soak up the colour with a zing while the merino remains more muted. I can't wait! But first I must produce the required "good" sample of lovely shiny smooth mohair for my folio. Being contrary will have to wait just a little bit longer.

Combing Away

I know I've featured a few of my wicked-looking tools lately. But here's one I'm really starting to love: My English Wool Combs: I've had them for about 18 months, but they've been in the category of things I must get comfortable with and avoid in the meantime. Of course, that was never a good strategy. In the last few weeks I've moved to Plan B: just keep using them until it becomes second nature. That approach is starting to pay off. Today I'm preparing some more Corriedale fleece for worsted spinning. I'm still having to think carefully about what I'm doing, but I'm getting into a routine and I'm loving the look and feel of the rovings.

. . . I should probably explain my terms for those readers who aren't familiar with the worsted spinning process and how it all works, sorry, I can't wait to get back to my combs. If you're interested, you can follow the labels that appear below this post to find the information. Or feel free to comment and ask questions. Like most people newly in love, the only thing I like better than being with my combs, is talking about them!

Adding Colour

My skein of Finn-cashmere spindle-spun yarn has undergone a transformation in the last week.I've been progressively adding colour--five related blue-greens to be precise. The photo doesn't quite pick up the subtleties of the variation, but it's definitely not white any more. Now that it's dyed and rinsed and dried, I can think about knitting it up. First I need to make some decisions about what I'd like to make. Then a bit of sampling will be in order. I also need to document my process, since I'm planning to include this article as part of my folio.

Meanwhile, I've been working away at different preparation methods for worsted spinning. More of that to come.

My friend D is safely home, having flown from about 15 degrees in Melbourne in the morning to something like 36 in Brisbane by the time she landed. I must say, I'd rather be home, wearing a sweatshirt and spinning away!

Happy Spinner

It's been a while since I gave you a nice piece of spun fibre to enjoy. Here's the Finn-Cashmere I've been playing with this last week: I spun it up on my drop spindle earlier in the year. Now I'm dyeing it to make a scarf for myself. I'll include it with my Spinning Folio, so that's two benefits from the one skein of yarn. And I loved every minute of spinning it. That makes me a happy spinner.

I'm also a happy spinner because I've got far enough with sorting out the box of bits that will comprise my Spinning Folio that I'm back to actually spinning. I've sorted out where some of the main gaps are in the work that I've done. Now I get to fill the gaps one skein at a time. Right now I'm working on a sample of worsted spun merino: one small bobbin spun, one to go. Then I'll ply, wash, sample and knit a swatch. It will have it's moment of glory with a page in my presentation folder. There's not that much of it, so that will probably be all it will ever be. But it's so nice to spin that I don't mind.

Cashmere

By request . . . this is my cashmere sample for my Spinning folio. I normally try to spare you too many pictures of white yarn, but I am rather proud of my efforts on this one.

I can't take a proper action shot, since I only have two hands and when one is operating the camera, that only leaves one to do the spinning. So this is my left hand holding the fibre and you can see the spun single on its way to my wheel. That's my thumb in the picture to give an idea of size. The background is my purple track pants.

Cashmere is a down fibre--it's the undercoat of the goat--so it's soft and fuzzy and very warm. I prepared the fibre on my hand carders and spun it worsted, controlling the way the fibre joins the single by pinching it between my right thumb and index finger--at least that's what I would have been doing if I hadn't been using that hand to take the shot.

I've actually finished this sample now--it's had its little wash after being plied and is hanging in the bathroom waiting to be labelled and put away. Today's task is a camel-wool blend. I've got that carded and waiting to be spun. I only need to spin it to a medium thickness, though--not fine like the cashmere, so it won't be as demanding.

Oh, So Soft; Oh, So Scientific!

My professional background is in medical science--among other things--that's a long story. Now as a textile artist, I love to experiment--and play. In the textile field, sampling is a great way of trying out ideas, techniques and materials. "Sample, sample, sample! is a textile art mantra, so I'm right at home there. I do sometimes drive my friends and collegues nuts, though, with my desire to change just one variable at a time, and label my results.

So, one of the things I'm looking forward to in this Spinning Certificate at the Guild, is the satisfaction of developing a folio full of labelled samples. Here is the first one: This is the worsted spinning sample from last week's class--knitted up, labelled and ready to go. And it was such a pleasure to work with beautiful soft wool, rather than some of the nasties I've encountered in the medical field.

Combing Wool for Worsted Spinning

The challenge and the satisfaction of the Spinning Course I'm doing at the Guild is that each session we concentrate--really concentrate--on just one technique. This weekend it was worsted spinning. That's spinning where the fibres are all lined up parallel to each other before being spun into a yarn. There are various ways of preparing the fibre, and all of them involve sharp objects. These are the worst:

English Wool Combs--they can do a bit of damage to your skin if you're not careful--so I treat them with respect. But they do marvelous things to fleece. This is how it looks when it comes off the combs:

It still has all it's crimp and character--you can see it came off a sheep recently--but it's lovely and even and airy and ready to go.

And here it is spun up into a small skein of worsted yarn:

This was a first sample, only about ten grams, to see how I went with it all. I'm happy that it's all working nicely, so now to do 20g for my folio.

Meanwhile I've begged a loan of the drop spindle for another month and it has become my constant companion. Thanks, Joy.