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Category Archives: Spinning

FO : Skein A Plenty

08 Mar

When the weather starts to warm up, the spinning bug bites me.  I can spend hours spinning on the porch on a nice day, listening to Pandora Radio on my Blackberry.  I’m also motivated by the fact that I have a new spinning wheel to play with, one that actually works properly!

This is the first finished yarn from my new Ashford Traditional.  Nina works like a dream and she spins like butter!

  • Project : ‘Dendrobium’
  • Fiber : Crabapple Yarns, BFL – 4oz
  • Ply : Standard, 2-ply
  • Yardage/Weight : 260 yd/fingering-sport

I know that in this photo you can’t see them very well, but there are the flecks of white in that yarn that make it look ‘tweedy’.  I’m so happy with how this turned out, and I can’t wait to knit with this.  I’m not sure what it is going to become … maybe a pair of socks, or a cowl?  Also, notice that there are two skeins instead of one.  My Ashford only has 2 oz bobbins, so it takes some getting used to. where before I was spinning and plying with 4oz bobbins.  That’s okay; maybe I’ll ask Santa for a Jumbo Flyer and bobbins for Christmas?

The second spinning project I have to share is from New York.  Or rather, it was what I managed to spin on my Baynes Double Treadle, before it crapped out on me.

  • Project : ‘Va-Voom’
  • Fiber : Hudson Valley Sheep & Wool Co. – Shetland – 2oz
  • Ply – Standard 2-ply
  • Yardage/Weight : 90 yd/Worsted

This is fantastic, and I’ll have to remember to get some more the next time I am in New York, or have Tina send me some in this color.  I really like it; rustic yet bold, and super soft!  I purchased some un-dyed Shetland while I was there and I can’t wait to work with it.

And speaking of my Baynes Wheel, Becki; I pick her up from Barb this Friday.  Hopefully, Running Deer was able to work some magic in repairs.  If so, Tory will be giving my Baynes a temporary home so that she can learn to spin!

 
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Posted by on March 8, 2011 in FO, Spinning

 

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Say Hello!

01 Mar

A few days ago, I blogged about my trip to New York.  I also mentioned that my spinning wheel finally gave up on me.  I was spinning and plying on the same whorl, my wheel was off kilter, and I felt like I was riding a bike just to get any twist in the yarn that I was spinning.  So, a meltdown and some tears later, I decided that it was time for a new wheel.

Now, the good news is that my Banes Double Treadle, Becki (named after my friend who taught me to spin,) is going to be fixed.  Still, I am just tired of fighting with my wheel and having a new one is like night and day.  I drove down to Charlottesville last week to visit Barb at Stoney Mountain Fibers.  I left Becki with Running Deer, the nice man who is going to fix her, and left with a new wheel.

 

In pieces

 

The wheel that I decided on was an Ashford Traditional.  Now, there was a very pretty used one in the shop, but I decided that I was done with used equipment for a while.  That means having to buy a new wheel that needed assembly.  It also meant that I had to paint or stain it.  The sheer amount of information was mind-boggling.  So, after a trip to the neighborhood True Value, I decided on a stain.  One coat was giving me the color that I wanted, and all that was left to do was let it dry for 48 hours.

Last night, my Mom helped me put the final touches on the wheel.  Alas, I give you Nina, my new wheel!

 

Nina, meaning 'strength'

 

I couldn’t be happier.  I love that her color looks ‘old’, because it will look fantastic at re-enactments.  I love how the grain of the wood still shows through.  I had been patient enough, and had some pull out some roving while my Mom made dinner.  It truly is amazing to spin on a wheel that I don’t have to fight with.  I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am.  While I’m getting used to a single treadle, I still love this wheel!

 

Breaking her in with BFL

 

 

I am so happy !!!  I had some knitting to do today, but I am hoping to get some spinning in tonight.  And the best part is that when Becki is fixed, she’ll be on loan to my friend, Tory, who wants to learn to spin!

 
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Posted by on March 1, 2011 in Spinning

 

FO (Spinning) : Wonderland

27 Feb

Later this week, I’ll be sharing photos of my new spinning wheel.  But before I do that, I have some handspun that I’ve been meaning to blog about.

  • Project : ‘Cheshire Cat’
  • Fiber : Crabapple Yarns, Corriedale, 4 oz
  • Ply : 2 ply, standard
  • Yardage/Weight : 207 yd/DK

I was having some fun with this fiber a few weeks back.  Not sure what it was going to become, I pulled the fiber apart and spun one bobbin of pink and the other, purple.  I had no idea what a pretty and bold result I would get when I plied them together.  Tory saw the yarn and said that it reminded her of the Cheshire Cat from ‘Alice In Wonderland’, so that name stuck!

I’m very pleased with this yarn.  And I keep thinking, if I can do this on an old, beat-up wheel, what will I hope to accomplish on a new one?

 
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Posted by on February 27, 2011 in FO, Spinning

 

FO: Spinning – Skein Of Destiny

09 Feb

I’m a sucker for roving that has cool names.  When I saw this roving at Maryland Sheep and Wool last year, I wasn’t particularly interested in it.  I thought, not enough color for me, as far as my choice in roving goes.  So I was looking around the Miss Bab’s booth and I kept coming back to it.  I picked it up again, fondled it a little (hey, it is BFL,), and looked at the tag.  That’s when I saw it; the roving’s name was ‘Tenacious’.  I knew that I wasn’t wild about the color but I had to have it.  I mean, when you can spin something and call it “Tenacious D”, how can you pass that up?

Here’s a video from YouTube, in case you don’t know who Tenacious D are!

Onto the yarn!

 

  • Project : “Tenacious D”
  • Fiber : “Tenacious” – BFL, 4 oz, from Miss Bab’s
  • Ply – Standard 2-ply
  • Yardage/Weight : 270 yds / Sport

Now that I hold a finished skein, I like the colors much more.  This is very masculine and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet, but I know I’ll find a great project for it!

I’m also hoping to get some more spinning done this week.  I have to do a bit of work on my wheel; just some sandpaper and finish.  On my wheel, where the yarn feeds in through the orifice to the bobbin, is unfinished wood and very rough.  I also think that this is why my yarns is so fuzzy when I spin it.  We’ll see if that fixes the problem!

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2011 in FO, Spinning

 

Spinning FO: Cedar Creek

18 Oct

I learned two things this weekend.  I can, indeed, spin a two-ply that is worsted weight and … I really need to get a chair that has a back on it for spinning at re-enactments.

But I digress … here is my spinning from the weekend!

  • Project : “Cedar Creek”
  • Fiber : Border Leicester
  • Ply : 2 ply – standard
  • Yardage/Weight : 335 yds/ worsted

I had received this roving at the Stoney Mountain Spin In months ago.  It was just sitting on the swap table … a full pound of Border Leicester.  It was perfect for spinning at a re-enactment, for its natural color.  It wasn’t nearly as rough once I started spinning it as it was in the roving form, so this could very well be part of my sweater project for the new year.  I still want to finish the rest of the roving, so I hope I can get at least 700 yards total from this!

 
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Posted by on October 18, 2010 in FO, Spinning

 

FO: Spinning – “Apple Harvest”

08 Oct

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but it just kept getting away from me.  Either something would come up and I would forget, or it would rain … etc, etc, etc.  Today, the sun was out and the weather was perfect, so I thought – okay.  That was, just so you know, after I made a trip to the new yarn store for fiber (more on that tomorrow.)

As I have mentioned before, I am spinning yarn for Tory, who is editing my first novel.  I think it is a good trade-off; it doesn’t involve me having to drop cash and I get to make something for a friend. 

 

  • Project : “Apple Harvest”
  • Fiber : 100% BFL – “Field of Flowers” from Greenwood Fiberworks
  • Ply : Two ply – standard
  • Yardage/Weight : 256 yds/DK

There are two skeins here because I ran out of room when plying on one bobbin.  I swear, one day I’ll have a wheel that comes with a jumbo feature for plying, so I don’t have this problem.  But, all in all, that is the only problem that I had with this fiber.  I really love the colors and am pleased as punch on how they melted together when I plied.  The roving was a dream to work with and I highly recommend picking up a braid, be it at Doghouse Yarns and More (if you are n the Charlottesville/Culpeper area) or from their Etsy site!

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2010 in Spinning

 

WWSIPD

18 Sep

Today is World Wide Spin In Public Day!!!  A few of us braved the crowds on the Old Towne walking mall in Winchester to sit outside and spin our hearts out!  There was a great crowd today, mainly for the Civil War rifles demo that was being held at the Old Courthouse.  We had plenty of sunshine, minimal breeze, and most importantly, lots of fun! 

Erin and Amanda

Erin and Amanda, from Knit Night, came to spin for a little while before heading over to Belle Grove Plantation for the National Sheep Dog Finals.  It is a week-long event, with some talented animals, spinning and other fiber demos, and events for the kiddies.  I’ll be there tomorrow, along with a few other folks from our group.  Erin is spinning on a HitchHiker, and Amanda on a Louet.

Robin, spinning Romney

Robin, a friend of our family (really, my Mom’s best friend and I’ve known her since I was born,) came along to spin with us.  She’s spinning on a Lendrum (I’m totally jealous,) and I’m in love with the chunky art yarn she was spinning up!  See that giant bag next to her?  Full of Romney roving!

Rachel !!!

This was a truly special treat for me; I hadn’t seen Rachel in almost TEN YEARS!  We went to school together, elementary through high school, and were close friends.  As happens with most people after high school, we take separate paths in life that lead in various directions.  It was so wonderful to see her today, and it truly felt like no time had passed at all.  Rachel and her hubby, Doug (who also knits!) made the trek from Maryland to hang out today.  I love Rachel’s wheel; old and well-loved, with great character. 

I didn’t get any shots of me in action, but I did manage to spin a bobbin of DK-ish weight single ply today.  Hopefully tomorrow, while spinning at Belle Grove, I can finish the other bobbin and ply!

Merino "Field Of Flowers"

Tonight, John and I are going out for a nice dinner at The Continental and then we’re going to see the British farce, “Out Of Order” at the Winchester Little Theater.  This is my anniversary gift to John, and while I held out for almost a week, he finally did guess last night as to what the surprise would be.  I even got my hair done for tonight!  I do love a good up-do!

Classic bun with a twist

Have a great weekend, everyone!  What are ya’ll up to ?

 
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Posted by on September 18, 2010 in Friends and Family, Spinning

 

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Labor-less Day Weekend

06 Sep

Well, now I’d be lying if I said it was labor-less, but all the work we did was in enjoyment, so it doesn’t really count as working.  My husband and I have been chompin’ at the bit to get our garden under way, ever since he and his Dad installed raised beds in our backyard.  I know it is late in the season (with the first frost at the start of October,) but we plan on building a cold frame so that we can garden all through the winter.  We’re thinking about THIS design to pull us through.

We decided to start small and only plant seeds in one of the two raised bed sections.  We have lettuce, spinach, brocoli, and beets.  We’re very excited to see how this all works out, since we are so new to all of this.  We’ve purchased a few garden books, which are packed full of so much information, that it can seem overwhelming at times.  But, we are hopeful, and we’ll see what comes of it.

We also decided to purchase a compost bin instead of building one.  The price was right ($50), so we couldn’t argue.  Much, much cheaper than building our own.

We topped off Saturday with a BBQ at John’s parents’ house, that also included my folks.  There’s nothing like pork to make everything a little better.  I made a peach cobbler (it was fantastic!  HERE is the link.)  It was nice to relax and enjoy the nice day, and the cool breeze of the evening.

Sunday was another day for good food, good friends, and amazing weather.  Amanda hosted a Harvest Party, so we could all get together and sample the goods we produced from our gardens.  I, however, didn’t have any cucumbers left over so I used the rest of the peaches that I bought at the farmers’ market to make another cobbler.  Katrin made pizza (everything but the mozzarella was local,) Gillian brought salsa, Amanda made pepper jelly (and I do believe zucchini bread,) Katie brought cookies (and more bread!), and Erin topped it off with cheese, candied ginger, and ginger syrup.  It was an amazing feast!

 

We also tried Jim’s (Amanda’s hubby) new beer … which was fantastic!  John and Jim have got the home-brew bug and I don’t see any sign of them getting better.   But that’s fine; the more beer, the better!!!  One can never have too many resources for home-brew.

We also had a great time sitting in the yard, spinning and knitting, watching the kids and the dogs play.  I also figured out why my yarn gets so fuzzy; I just need to use some wax to smooth the orifice on my wheel.  After I finish my current yarn, I”ll give it a shot and see if it helps. 

I’ve been getting a lot done on the knitting front, and hopefully this week I’ll have some FO photos to share of my latest shawl!   The Christmas knitting is getting along nicely, and I hope to be finished by the end of October (hope being the operative word.)  After that it’ll be time for NaNoWriMo, and in December the Knit Night gals are planning a KAL for sweaters!

So, how was your holiday weekend?

 
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Posted by on September 6, 2010 in Friends and Family, Knitting, Spinning

 

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FO: Spinning – “Meet Me In Mauntack”

28 Aug

I’m always trying to come up with clever names for my hand-spun.  As I plied this one together yesterday, I kept thinking of Clementine from ‘Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind’.  I always loved her orange hair.  One of my favorite scenes is of Clementine and Joel on the beach, laying together under down quilts on a large queen size bed.  As I plied this yarn together, I kept hearing Clementine whisper, ”Meet me in Mauntack.” 

  • Project : “Meet Me In Mauntack”
  • Fiber : UK Wensleydale (orange/purple) and Woolgathering’s Polwarth Top (blue/white)
  • Ply : Two Ply (standard method)
  • Yardage/Weight : 415 yards/fingering weight

This is the first time I’ve spun enough of something that would really make a decent project (like socks or a small shawl.)  I’m really excited to see what Tory will knit with this yarn. 

The fibers were also interesting to work with.  The UK Wensleydale was something I picked up at MDSW this year.  When I started to spin it up, I thought, ‘Holy Cow!‘; the staple on this fiber was so long!  I felt like I was spinning human hair, not sheep’s’ wool.  The Polwarth was an almost complete contrast; short staple fibers, and almost spongy in the feel.  It was a dream to spin and I know I’ll put in on my list to get again in the future.  Will I spin more Wensleydale?  You know, probably not.  I just didn’t like the staple that long.

 
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Posted by on August 28, 2010 in FO, Spinning

 

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FO: Spinning – Civil War Style

12 Aug

While I was at Montpelier last weekend, I spun like a mo-fo!  I mean, I think I spun for four or six hours, pumping away and making my legs into something that felt like Jell-O.  But I’ll never complain; I love spinning too much to do that.

I didn’t expect that I would get a lot done when I was packing, so I surprised myself by actually plying at the event.  Now, yes, I was spinning a heavier weight yarn, but still.  It does feel good to feel so accomplished.

  • Project : “Rustic”
  • Fiber : Jacob (100%) Blue Flower Flock Farm
  • Ply : Two ply (standard method)
  • Yardage/Weight : 201 yards/worsted weight

For some reason, I kept thinking that the Jacob breed as a goat.  I stand fiercely corrected.  I have no idea why I was thinking that.  It’s a breed of sheep, and probably my favorite breed to spin.  I like to take it to re-enactments because of the rich natural color.  That, and I think its very easy to spin, so I can focus on questions from spectators without having to focus more on my spinning.  This roving I purchased at MDSW last fall, from a Jacob breeder co-op group, in Pennsylvania.  The yarn turned out very tweedy, but I really like it.  It’s so soft, and now I’m just wondering what to knit with it?

 
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Posted by on August 12, 2010 in FO, Spinning

 

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