Still Spinning Dark and Sparkly

Posted on June 13, 2015 by silvergrrl

I’m nearly done with the sparkly black merino/bamboo/firestar blend. I’m halfway through the last bobbin. The first skein came out really lovely as a two-ply. I’m spinning to a fat-ish diameter, so even though I haven’t actually checked, I think it’s about a worsted weight. I should finish this and get it plied tomorrow, if things don’t get too crazy in the kitchen.

This post has a picture of that first skein. It’s extra sparkly in this light.

After that, I’ve got two more different batts that I want to spin in no particular order, although one is mostly silk and I will probably do that one next. And I also want to do some hand-carding and make rolags. That has not fallen off my radar, and I need to get to it before I forget what I learned in my class last month.

Until next time.

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I Got to Spin After All!

Posted on June 7, 2015 by silvergrrl

I did not think I was going to have time to spin today. That’s how crazy it was, even after getting up at 7:00 (without an alarm) because I was thinking about how much stuff I had to get done today. All my cooking for the week – kale, eggplant casserole, crusty bread with cheese and garlic, blue cheese coleslaw, fried cabbage with sausage, roasted chicken, plus packing lunches for 5 days and tomorrow’s snacks. And I had to have everything done by 2:30 so I could shower so we could get to the Little Yellow Music House by 4:00 for this month’s house concert.

Whew.

The concert was great, it was John Moreland. I had not heard his music before and I loved it. Loved him. But the secret joy? Most of the time, the main performer does two sets and we don’t get home until 9. Tonight, he did one longish set and we were out of there and home by shortly after 8:00. So happy happy, I got to sit at my wheel and spin more of this beautiful sparkly merino-bamboo-firestar fiber after all. And still get to bed early.

Which is where I’m headed next. Until tomorrow.

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Spinning Tech – Keeping a Steady Diameter

Posted on June 2, 2015 by silvergrrl

I learned many wonderful things in my class a few weeks ago at John C Campbell, but one of the most immediately useful was how to spin with a more-or-less consistent diameter. It’s very, very easy to spin thinner and thinner without realizing it, or wanting to. This is especially critical when you are spinning a quantity of yarn, and you want to make something with it where it needs to all be more or less the same.

We learned how to pull off a sample at the beginning, when you have it the way you want it, and compare back to that as you go along. We even had a practice session where she gave us a sample and we tried to match it. That was very good.

I’m using that technique now with the sparkly blend I’m spinning now. So the end of the bobbin is pretty close to the beginning, and the next bobbin will be the same.

Until tomorrow.

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Dream Fiber

Posted on June 1, 2015 by silvergrrl

I decided to look through my fiber stash for my next spinning project and see what caught my eye, now that I’ve finished the art batts. One of the fibers, a blend of merino, bamboo, and firestar, just called right out to me.

The wool and bamboo are black, and the firestar is shiny. It’s some of the “incentive” fiber I bought last year at SAFF, so I’d have something to inspire me to keep practicing. It’s a testament to my progress that I am finding it easy – EASY – to spin and way more relaxing than anything I’ve worked on in a WHILE. Dreamy, actually. It’s prepped as pencil roving, which means that basically I can just pick it up and start spinning. No need to divide it out, or worry about weird tangled fibers. Lovely.

And it’s beautiful as spun fiber. The sparkle is really subtle, I’m not sure if I can take a picture that does it justice but I’ll try. The bamboo makes it really soft.

Until tomorrow.

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The finished art batt

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Merino, bamboo, and firestar

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It’s Enough to Drive You Batt-y

Posted on May 28, 2015 by silvergrrl

There are some things that have irritated me about the current batts I’m spinning, yes, those lovely art batts. For one, the yellow fibers don’t play nice with the other fibers. They don’t draft well together, and the yellow tends to clump up. I keep having to stop and untwist and pull some other fibers up into the drafting. For another, there are largish chunks of the batt that are not that organized in terms of fiber direction. To spin, you want all your fibers going in more or less in the same direction. In these chunks, they really are not.

So tonight, I did two things. First, I pulled out the chunky mixed up areas separately and sort of straightened each one out by hand so they’d be easier to spin. Then, in those fiber bundles, I looked for the yellow fibers and pulled them apart across the fiber bundle so they wouldn’t clump up so much.

Neither of those things were completely successful, but they did make a big difference. And what’s left of the batt is more or less free of the chunky areas, so tomorrow night should be easier. I should be able to finish it off.

Until tomorrow.

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Spinning the Batt

Posted on May 27, 2015 by silvergrrl

My day went differently than planned, but I still got home late & tired. So the batt seemed like the easiest choice. It’s so pretty, and I’d like to get it done.

Here’s what the fiber looks like:

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And here’s what I spun tonight:

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Until tomorrow.

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Decisions, Decisions

Posted on May 26, 2015 by silvergrrl

Today I finished spinning the first art batt and plied the last skein of the silk hankies. So I need to decide what to tackle next.

My hand cards have arrived, so I could start practicing with those, and make rolags to use for woolen type spinning. But honestly, I’d rather save that until the weekend, when I can devote more time in a chunk to it.

I could start on the other art batt. That’s probably the path of least resistance, especially since tomorrow will be a very long day, like every Wednesday. It will be late and I’ll be tired by the time I get home.

Until tomorrow.

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Plied silk on the niddy noddy

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The art batt, all spun

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More of the Art Batt

Posted on May 21, 2015 by silvergrrl

I spun more of the art batt tonight. It’s interesting because the fibers aren’t all the same length and it doesn’t pull apart evenly when I take a chunk out. But that is NOT a problem, just interesting.

I am still loving all the colors and they way the blend together. Just like I learned in my class last week, I pulled off a sample at the beginning, plied back on itself, to check against as I go and make sure I’m keeping more of less the same diameter. Very handy tip. It will serve me well.

Tomorrow we leave for Asheville for the holiday weekend. Obviously I won’t take my wheel! But I will take either my drop spindle or my Spindolyn (which is a supported spindle designed to sit in your lap). I want to try to use the Spindolyn again now that I’m more familiar with spinning, so that’s probably what it will be.

Until next time.

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The Spindolyn

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Tired Spinning

Posted on May 20, 2015 by silvergrrl

As it turned out, I’m too tired after a very long day to tackle plying silk. I had challenges just getting it off the bobbin onto the winder, and I’m smart enough to know what that means. Rather than make a big mess, I”ll just leave it on the winder until later. It can hang out there for a while.

So instead, I started on the art batts I got at the DFW Fiber Fair in March. I have two of them the same, really quite lovely, and very different to spin than the other batt I got from the same artist. That one was very slubby, this is a little bit but overall much finer and smoother. The colors are gorgeous.

Until tomorrow.

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Ready to Ply – Then What?

Posted on May 19, 2015 by silvergrrl

I’m so happy tonight – I was able to arrange extra spinning time, and I finished up the last of the hankie silk. So tomorrow night all I have to do is wind it off into a center-pull ball, and it will be ready to ply.

So I have to think about what my next spinning project will be. Sari silk? Or a break from silk? I’ve got a couple more art batts from the fiber fair in DFW, and I have several things I want to practice from my class last week. In particular, boucle and soft core yarns. I’ve got practice wool that I can use for both of those. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions!

Until tomorrow.

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