Accidental Corkscrew Nub Yarn

With the gift of the lovely white Shetland roving I received last May, I was motivated to get out one of my spinning wheels and spin some yarn. This was my first time in quite awhile, so I had to get used to the wheel and do a bit of experimentation. The wheel has several "speeds" with which to spin, and I settled on one that quickly added a fair amount of twist. 

As singles, highly twisted yarn stores a lot of energy, which will cause a skein of singles to twist. To balance the yarn, it must be plyed with an equal amount of counter twist. So to ply, two singles are spun together in the opposite direction. If correctly done, the newly spun, washed and dried skein won't twist. It will hang straight, like in the photo on the left. If the yarn isn't balanced, the skein will twist to one side or the other. 

With a faster speed, the trick is to draft out the fibers to match the speed of the wheel. This is what I need to practice on because I ended up with small over-twisted bits that look like little corkscrews in the finished yarn. 

I'm guessing somewhere, in somebody's book, this is a deliberate design feature, but I don't recall running across it. I do like the look of them, but I wonder how it will work up. Unbalanced yarn tends to skew knitting, for example. 

Because one thing leads to another, I'm going to finish the rest of the roving the same way. That will give me enough to play with and see what happens.

Actually, I'm thinking it would be pretty neat if all the corkscrew nubs were different colors. Hmm. Another experiment is brewing in my brain incubator. 

Accidental Corkscrew Nub Yarn 

© July 2024  by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related posts

Like Christmas in May

Taking My Ashford for a Spin 

Fiber Doings & Spinning

Summer is a busy month for the garden and outdoor projects. But I still take time every day for some fiber and textile play. At the moment, that's been fleece prep and spinning. 

For spinning, I'm still working on the beautiful Shetland roving gifted to me. Spinning isn't exactly something one forgets, but I did have to practice a bit to re-learn the right treadle pressure, rhythm, wheel tension, and best amount of twist (still working on that one).

I got my first bobbin filled, and wanted to ply it from a center pull ball. But my ball winder is missing the thumb screw that attaches it to a table. I'm sure it's around somewhere, but in the meantime, I decided to try my hand with a nostepinne. 

A nostepinne is a Norwegian tool for winding yarn into center pull balls. It's basically a tapered dowel, often with a notch or two. It looks something like this. 

This isn't a true nostepinne, but rather a pirn for an end feed shuttle. It's not as thick as the nostepinnes I've seen demonstrated on YouTube, even though I've seen pirns like this being sold on Etsy as nostepinnes. It's what I have, so I decided to give it a try. For a first ball, I'm calling it "not bad," with room for much improvement. 

I'll let you know how the plying goes.

My other fiber project has been completing the requirements for a textiles merit badge at permies.com. I've blogged about these virtual badges before, and what makes them fun, is the challenge of accomplishing a skill. This badge requirement is for preparing 8-ounces of sheep wool for spinning. So it's been a great way to get back into the swing of things. 

Here are my documentation photos. 

unwashed fleece

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what breed this is from. It was stuffed into a large trash bag and once upon a time was labeled with a piece of masking tape. Alas, that fell off, so I'm clueless, which is too bad because it's a lovely fleece. 

skirting, sort of

Since it was a jumble, it's hard to tell what's what. But I picked out all the dirty bits and second cuts, and sorted it according to crimp and length.

scouring

This fleece had been in storage for probably 20 years, so the lanolin was pretty hard! One good point about storing it in the grease was that fiber moths never touched it. 

washed and dried

The requirements call for preparing half-a-pound, so here's 8 ounces of it, washed and weighed out.  

To prepare for spinning, I decided to use my hand cards. This is primarily because my drum carder needs its belt replaced. But since the badge requires that I state why I chose my processing method, I'll add that the crimp and staple length recommend it for woolen spinning. Hand carding is a traditional prep for this, so hand carding is a good choice.

I will say that the tips were still a little stiff, so I used my bunny dog comb to open them up before loading the hand cards.

It was nice that it only took a little practice to feel like I know what I'm doing again. It's slow going, however, (relaxing) so I'm listening to Anna Karinina from the Internet Archive while I work. I like the reader so it's all very pleasant. 

I'm not quite done yet, but my basket of rolags is growing!

After I finish this, I'll get back to finishing my evolving pumpkin heads sampler and start measuring warp for the next project for my floor loom. 

Fiber Doings & Spinning © July 2024 

 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Taking My Ashford for a Spin

My Ashford Tradtional is my first spinning wheel. No wait. Actually, my first spinning wheel was a Babe Production Wheel. This is an inexpensive PVC spinning wheel, which was all I could afford at the time. That link will take you to its maker's website. I got a lot of friendly teasing about it at spinning group, but I didn't care. I had a wheel and I was spinning! Later, I took it to spinning demonstrations. I put a length of commercial acrylic yarn on the bobbin and invited interested folk to give it a try. It was a great teaching tool.

Anyway, the Ashford was my first "real" spinning wheel, although later on I mostly used my Kromski Minstrel because its slightly more portable. When Goatldi sent me that lovely Shetland roving . . .

. . . I looked first to my Kromski, but all it's bobbins are full (of ancient singles, which I wasn't ready to deal with). So, I dug around in my spinning equipment drawer and found some empty bobbins for the Ashford. I got it out, dusted it off, and did a quick review on its maintenance. I had to replace the drive band and give it a good oiling, but other than that, it was ready to go!

After a little practice treadling, I secured some of the roving to the leader and cautiously began to spin. I was pleased that my hands remembered what to do. I had forgotten how much I love this. 

Practice is still in order, but with a nudge from Goatldi, I'm spinning again!

Taking My Ashford for a Spin © May 2024

 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related post

Like Christmas in May

Accidental Corkscrew Nub Yarn  

Like Christmas in May

My dear friend and weaving enabler Goatldi (from New Life on the Farm New Beginnings blog), told me she was doing some clean up of her yarn stash - would I be interested in anything? I said, surprise me! Yesterday, all this arrived . . .

Colors and sizes that will enhance my stash!

ALSO, in the box I found this . . .

Some of her gorgeous homegrown Shetland roving. It is sooo soft. Just luscious. 

Now, I'm anxious to dust off one of my two spinning wheels. The bobbins for the Kromski are all full, but I rummaged around and found two empties for my Ashford Traditional. So I'm going to need to tune it up and give it a spin. I wonder if spinning is like riding a bicycle? Something one never forgets?

Like Christmas in May © May 2024

 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related post

Taking My Ashford for a Spin

Accidental Corkscrew Nub Yarn  

Busy Hands, Listening Mind

I'm not very good at multitasking. Not in general, anyway, and especially not when concentration is required. My family has learned not to talk at me when I'm cooking, because I inevitably do things like forget ingredients, forget to stir the pot, or because it otherwise delays the meal while I attempt to pay attention and respond.

Even so, fiber arts activities tend to be rhythmic in nature. Knitting, spinning, crocheting, and weaving occupy one's hands, and unless it's a complicated pattern that requires counting or concentration, they allow for things like conversation, watching a movie, or listening. It was due to my return to weaving that I discovered that my local library does not have a terribly impressive selection of CD audiobooks. It appears that downloadable books are what's popular now. 

One evening, I searched for free online audiobooks, and I discovered LibriVox. LibriVox is a website of human recorded books (as opposed to computer read books, which I find difficult to listen to.) These books are in the public domain, i.e. mostly written before 1923 for which copyrights have expired. It's a huge collection of well over 18,500 recordings of all genres. Everything is recorded by volunteers. Books can be listened to online or downloaded from either the LibriVox website, or from the Internet Archive. It's a fantastic resource!

Right now, I'm listening on my computer, but it would be nice to have something portable. The last such device I had, was back when walkmans were popular, which I don't think are even around any more. If someone can pass on some suggestions for a listening device, I'd appreciate it.

Busy Hands, Listening Mind © Nov 2023

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Mystery Fiber Revealed

There were a lot of really good guesses to my "guess the mystery fiber" question. Nobody got it, but I have to confess that I wouldn't have either. The source of the fiber is ....

This is Baby, one of my goats. She is a Boer/Nubian cross. Boers are raised as meat goats, while Nubians are dairy. Spinners know that goat fiber comes from angoras, pygoras (angora/pygmy cross), or cashmere goats. But a goat like Baby???

Here's what I discovered about Baby.

Earlier this month she started growing a down coat. Neither of my pure blooded Nubians are growing one, so I'm guessing this is the Boer genes in her. This was the mystery fiber, which I hand plucked, just a little bit because I was so curious about it. She didn't have it when I first got her last May, so I'm guessing she'll shed it sometime in the spring. I will have to try to comb it out then and spin it. I'm very curious about what kind of yarn it will make!

Thanks for guessing!

Mystery Fiber Revealed © 31 October 2010 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Mystery Fiber

Can you identify this mystery fiber?

HINT: It's not from any breed of sheep.

Give up? The answer is here.

Mystery Fiber  © 28 October 2010 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Sheep To Shawl

By Leigh

For the past several years my guild has been doing a Sheep To Shawl at SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair) at the WNC Ag Center in Asheville, NC. This year I was able to participate.

We had a great location and gorgeous autumn weather. Since this is a local event, most of our active guild members were volunteering in other aspects of the Fiber Fair, but we had four spinners and a weaver to demonstrate the process.

We started with a donated, washed Border Leicester Fleece. Charlene, who coordinated the event, did the drum carding.

A lot of folks were interested in the entire process. This is Barbara, demonstrating spinning and answering questions.

Old fashioned wheel spinning.

Teena demonstrated on her electric spinner.

Ellen did the weaving.

The warp was a combination of 2-ply handspun and commercial wool yarn. There was a little alpaca thrown in as well. The singles we spun that day were used for the weft. The plan for the shawl is to raffle it with proceeds going toward the Blue Ridge Fiber Show.

In the afternoon, we had a shearing demonstration. This is Elspeth, a rescue sheep. She is a registered Shetland, who other than not having been sheared for at least two years, was healthy.

Paula, who owns Shetlands, did the shearing. She used a shearing stand and started at the tail.

As she sheared her way to the front, Elspeth's fleece was rolled up toward her head.

The fleece was in amazingly good condition, with very little cotting or felting. It weighted 11 pounds! Other than a break indicating the next year's growth, it was lovely. 

Elspeth got a massage after her ordeal. She wasn't too happy about being there, but calmed down considerably as the shearing progressed.

And the rest of the Fiber Fair?

It was bigger, better, and busier than ever, with more vendors, more classes, and more folks coming to look, buy, learn, and see.

My haul?

Just this, a 20.5 inch Schacht rag shuttle for the rag rug I plan to weave for our bedroom.

I didn't stay till the end because I had a pretty good drive home. It just felt good to get my wheel out and spin again. Hopefully this winter I can resume spinning as a daily activity. By the fire. Sounds good, doesn't it?

© 25 October 2009 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Coming Soon, To A Spinning Wheel Near You

By Leigh

Did anybody else know that this Saturday is World Wide Spin In Public Day? If so then consider this a confession about how infrequently I get to go blog visiting anymore. Anyway, I found the button and link over at Janet's blog and thought I'd at least help spread the word.

Lately I can barely find my spinning wheels and fiber let alone use them. Why? Well, putting in a new hearth for our wood heatstove has meant putting all the living room furniture in the dining room and my studio. Not to mention the dust! September 26th though, is our annual Guild retreat and I'm really looking forward to that.

© 16 September 2009 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

My New Studio

By Leigh

This is actually a duplicate post. However, it is very on topic for this blog and besides, several of you have asked about it! This room was one of the things I loved when I first saw the house. It is a sun room, but I immediately envisioned it as my weaving and fiber studio.

There is a set of French doors off of the living room.

These lead to a sun room, which will become my studio.

After thoroughly cleaning the kitchen, I decided to tackle this room next. I figured that this way, I could move a little of my stash and equipment with each trip to the house.

Here is a 360 degree look at this room. The windows on the immediate left look toward the back of the house.

One thing you can see in the above photo is the beadboard ceiling. The walls however, are smooth.

The circle on the wall in the corner is a stove pipe flue cover, leading to a chimney outside the corner of this room. Obviously a wood or coal burning stove once stood in this corner. I say coal, because one of the outbuildings has a room with coal all over the floor.

As you can see, there are lots of windows and lots of natural light, making this the perfect choice for my weaving studio!

The front windows look out at the front yard and across the street.

There is a closet in the corner. The other door leads out onto the screened in front porch. This is the only solid wall I have in this room.

The wood floors are in fair shape, and will be much improved with sanding and refinishing.

This closet was added as an afterthought to this room. Possibly to make it a third bedroom. For my purposes, I think I would prefer shelving here. The interior of the closet offers a peek into what the room was like before it was painted.

The baseboards were originally unpainted. The closet floor is darker than the rest of the room. Possibly it was stained or painted at one time and had been sanded after the closet was added(???)

When I removed the switch plate to wash the walls, I discovered the original wood of the wall, which had been painted twice; once a darker green, and later a lighter green. These same colors were used in several other rooms as well.

The double-hung windows are likely original to the house.....

These operate with weights and pulleys; you can see the pulley rope on this one seems to be in fairly good condition. The ropes on some of the other windows are broken, and some of the windows are painted shut.

This room presents several challenges for me. The first is that there isn't much wall space, and I have a lot of stash, books, and equipment! DH says I could put shelving in front of the windows, but I am loathe to block any of that light.

Because of those windows however, and the orientation of the house (of which the front faces west), this room gets a lot of late afternoon sun. This in turn heats the room up considerably. While this will be welcome during winter months, it has the potential to be unbearable during the summer. I have this problem at our apartment, but I couldn't do anything about it! Now I can and I plan to plant a deciduous shade tree in the front yard this fall!

The last challenge is the size of the room. It measures 9' 3.5" by 19'11". It is the width I am concerned about, because of the size of my loom. My Glimakra Standard measures about six feet in width, so obviously the "getting around" room will be somewhat restricted. Depth-wise, my loom is about five and a half feet, not counting the bench. Even so, this is the perfect room for my studio!

© 13 May 2009 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Related Posts:
A Life Detour......
Unveiling My Studio Set-Up

Measuring Handspun

By Leigh

Once I have an idea of how much handspun I need for a particular project, I can measure whether I have enough on hand, or if I need to spin more. There are a several ways to do this.

One way is to use a McMorrin Yarn Balance, a handy gadget which calculates the length of a yarn based on its weight. Laritza at Yorksett Arts & Crafts wrote an excellent tutorial on that, which you can read here.

Niddy noddies (or swifts, for that matter) can be used to measure yarn as it's wound off the bobbin. The trick here it to know the how many inches it takes for the yarn to make a complete path around the device. This measurement is multiplied by the number of times the yarn is wound around it. This gives a rough estimate, because the yarn piles up on the arms of the niddy noddy. I don't use this method because I prefer to wash my freshly skeined yarn before measuring it. Why? Because there can be some "shrinkage," especially with wool, when the fibers resume their natural crimp pattern after being stretched out on the bobbin and niddy noddy

I calculate the yardage of my handspun with a yardstick and some simple math.

Click for a tad bigger

The skein in this photo measures 20 inches. Of course, the skein is actually a loop, or circle of yarn, so what I really want here is the measurement of the yarn all the way around. To find that, I double the measurement, and get 40 inches.

Next I count the strands of yarn in the skein.

For this skein there are 96.

I multiply these two numbers to get the approximate inches in the skein,

40 inches x 96 = 3840 inches

I divide that number by 36 to get the yards. In this case, 106.66 yards. If I need to round any numbers, I always round down, to give myself a safe minimum amount of yarn.

I do this with each skein and total up the yardage. If my spinning were more consistant, I could probably just use an average for each skein, but it isn't, so I don't.

So far, I have spun a little over 728 yards of 2-ply pol-paca yarn, so I'm close to a fifth of the way to the yards of handspun I need for the Turkish coat. Even so, I could use some of this to start sampling on the loom, as I need to finalize the weave structure and pattern, as well as sett and shrinkage from wet finishing. Since I have plenty of both Polwarth and Alpaca, I can sample to my heart's content.

Obviously this method can be used for knitting and crochet projects as well. You may recall the complex calculations that went into trying to figure out if I had enough various colors of yarn for my Shetland Sampler Cardigan. This post describes how I calculated that, and this post describes how I calculated for the cuffs and bands.

This is not a project I'm in a hurry on, so progress may be slow. At the moment, I'm just happy to be spinning for it. So for now, I'll spin on.

Posted 27 April 2009 at http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com

Related Posts:
Spinning For Weaving, Knitting, Crochet, Etc. An Introduction
Calculating Handspun For Weaving
What I Learned From My Swatch - calculating for stranded knitting
Dissecting My Shetland Swatch - calculating for bands & cuffs