Spinning

My post on Wednesday reminded me of how much fiber I have been purchasing so I pulled up my wheel and starting spinning some of it yesterday. I had mentioned previously about my spinning progression from a homemade drop spindle to the purchase of my first wheel which is a traditional Ashford. I bought it at the Fiber in the Park event in Earlville, Illinois. It was wonderful to learn how to use this wheel. I attended a workshop at the Bishop Hill Fiber Guild Spin-In event that was held in Blackhawk College to learn more about my wheel. It isdifficult for me to work with though because of the singel treadle. I thought I had kept in properly oiled but....

Someone I know who raises alpaca told me that he just threw the fiber away or donated it because he doesn't own a farm and doesn't sell the fiber so has no need for it, told me he would bring some to me. In preparation for that fiber, I purchased a new double treadle wheel called a Babe Starter wheel. It turned out that he was just a "nutty professor" and no fiber arrived. I have a picture of my wheel to share on the next post but I found one from a website that sells them.  I don't want to violate any copyright or design property laws, etc so I won't show a close up of the mechanism but anyone who is mechanically inclined could probably make a wheel like this. It is so much easier to use and care for but it still takes some physical conditioning to be able to spin for very long. Just a couple hours yesterday really tired me out but if I were to spin daily, I would probably be in shape to spin longer at a time.

I decided to begin spinning the Cranberry Chutney BFL/Tussah Silk blend I got from Hiwassee Creek Dyeworks. I have about 1.5 ozs done so far. I have a scale that was meant for a diet but works great for fiber. I weighed the fiber before I started spinning. My scale will allow me to zero the scale with something on it so I will put an empty bobbin on it and zero the scale, then put the bobbin with fiber on it and get the weight of just the fiber. This way when I ply the singles together, I will have the same amount (or just about) on each bobbin and not waste any singles that can't be plied. But the Knit Girllls show how you can navajo ply any single left on a bobbin to use for any purpose that requires just a small amount of 3 ply.

That covers my spinning for today.

Happy Knitting!