Experimental Spinning Christmas tree

For over 10 years now, the first Saturday of the Month has been Experimental Spinning. I haven't tired of playing with spinning and enjoying the company of fellow experimenters. Over that time there has developed a number of traditions. Christmas is a prime example.

We've fairly recently started celebrating our Christmas meeting with a fibre sandwich, and to keep up the interest, we've decided on a theme for each year, this year it's the Christmas tree.  Think tree, decorations and tinsel!

 First was a layer of green, followed by brown, just a little, for the tree trunk. Then we loaded on the tinsel, silver and silk. In the middle, it's kept in check and is a surprise when you spin it. Then layers of red and green fibre, all added up to an amazing fibre sandwich. And very Christmas tree like.

I still have to contemplate how I'm going to spin it. Split it up, card it together or just go with the flow.....or maybe a bit of each?

Antiques Roadshow and spinning!

Yesterday, the Banyule City Council put on a sort of Antiques Roadshow at the Banyule Arts Space, as part of their Winter in Banyule festival. This was the last event. I don't usually get a chance to go to the Winter events, but I was asked along with some other members of the Handweavers and Spinners Guild to go along and demonstrate spinning. I guess a sort of 'antique' art!

It was a lovely day with our spinning providing interest and memories before the 'show' and afterwards when there was tea and scones for afternoon tea, of course!

It was an excellent afternoon. I love the television program 'Antiques Roadshow', though not a collector, I do love the stories that pieces carry with them and the odd 'find' is always exciting. Our little local roadshow had some wonderful finds of its own. The $2000 bronze that had been used as a doorstop, the gold and topaz brooch that had been found at Northland and the most exquisite Japanese embroidery on silk of a pair of tigers and so much more.

And I did manage to get some lovely Wendy Dennis fleece spun.

Yes, it's yarn!

For nearly the last 10 years, every 1st Saturday of the month is Experimental Spinning at the Handweavers and Spinners Guild. Yep, next meeting on the 1st September we celebrate our tenth (oops) birthday. I've been convening the group for all that time and would miss any of it. We continue to have fun and explore all sorts of yarns, fibres, colour and, of course, ideas. If you want to come along and help us celebrate this momentous achievement, don't hesitate to come along, we'll be there with cake and spinning wheels and a few games, from 1 till 4pm.

For the August meeting we attempted, successfully, I may add, tail-spinning. Lexi Boeger in her book 'Intertwined' describes it. Also many years ago we did a version where you spun the locks together, Lexi describes using a core yarn, which is much easier!

I chose English Leicester, which has an amazing crimp, giving you that lovely curly lock look, with a sheen that dyes beautifully.

We all managed to create amazing yarns and the most interesting part was that the yarn wasn't very overspun, which was a surprise, as it is not a plied yarn. This yarn lends itself to being used just as a decorative yarn without having to be transformed by knitting.

Next time I want to try a variegated fleece, Jen did a fabulous grey skein which she wore to coffee. There were also wonderful colours, with dyed mohair being a standout.

Loads of fun!

Off to Harrietville

If you haven't been away on a weekend with people who share your passion then I highly recommend it. Harrietville is just such a weekend with friends, old and new, organised by the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria. From Friday night to Sunday lunch, it's wall to wall spinners, weavers, knitters and interested friends.

The weekend goes so quickly, so being prepared is a must! There are a number of workshops, all of the, 'drop in and out when you feel like it' type over the whole weekend. Last year I didn't do anything but sit, knit, spin and drink coffee! This year there are two workshops that are of interest: Historical dyeing and a Blending workshop using wool combs. I think I am prepared....

I have alum mordanted skeins for the historical dyeing. We're going to be doing indigo, madder and osage orange. I never miss an indigo dyebath if I can help it and I've never dyed with either Aliziran for the madder or osage orange. Hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to overdye some as the different dyes will be spread over three sessions.

The blending using wool combs will help me get better use out of my small combs and maybe I'll be tempted into some larger ones. I've decided to take away a bag of red and see what happens.

And finally, I have to try and finish the spinning on the wheel, so I have a bobbin ready for the colour blending.

Oh, and, of course, I have to pack clothes, camera, the rest of my spinning gear and try not to forget the toilet bag! As I'm being picked up very early in the morning, it will all be done before I go to bed......I just don't know when I'm going to bed!

Not another fractal yarn!

I blame knitspingirl, but I can't help trying yet another fractal yarn.

 

I bought this packet of Pure Merino Wool Top from Garments and Gadgets at the Sheep and Wool show this year. They're not particularly cost effective, but I can't help trying someone else's colour combinations. This one is called: Brights, and yes, there is another one in my stash.

As I have related before, a fractal yarn, is where you spin one half of your colours in sequence. Then you keep splitting the other single in half and half again till you get to the smallest amount, either possible or that you want. I stopped here.

It's interesting how the two bobbins end up. You can see only the last few colours in the first and in the second all the different colours in their different lengths. Plying is also a fascinating exercise in colour theory as the spinning combines colours and you get purples, greys, browns, all sorts. I'm sort of hoping that this will work in the final product.

This is the finished yarn, and before you say it, yes it does look a little barber shop pole. It does look bright though, and that was the idea. I am happy, mostly as this is finer than I usually spin and my last effort at spinning this fine was not my best effort. I did not put enough twist in my original singles, so when it plyed to balance it was way too soft, this time, I think it was just about right....hooray!

I'm hoping that this will become a little more subtle in the weaving. I'm going to make a fine black warp and use this as the weft in, hopefully a couple of different twill patterns. I do feel confident, but as I haven't even a warp plan, that's easy!

Now, off to have some breakfast.

PS, yes it was fun to do and I just had to share!

Spinning red!

This Saturday was Experimental Spinning day and after returning from a very short sojourn at the beach house at Phillip Island, put a load of washing on and headed off.

We were working with 'red'. So we carded all our leftover bits of red, tops, yarns, fabric bits, silk, cotton, whatever we felt like and whatever we had on hand.

I started with a mix of merino and flax and added more! The beauty of working with a colour is that it all matches, and, more importantly, you see the range of colour that we call 'red', in this case. It's always fun and we always end up with gorgeous yarns.

I kept some of the flax/merino mix (from First Editions, of course) and spun it finely, then plyed with the fun stuff. Love the yarn.

The Spin-in continues...

The spin-in continues, now I've found my camera! Not that knitspingirl hasn't been busy. She's already SPUN A SAMPLE and isn't it a gorgeous yarn. I was all ready to post my sorted samples when the NEXT POST went up. Those rolags do look good and it will be a very interesting yarn.

So, where am I? I did decide to sort my bag of stuff into colours and this is what turned up:

I'm going to card each of these colours, hoping that they'll retain the beautiful colours. I'm not quite sure, yet, what to do with the black, white and brown. Hopefully, during the carding process something will  inspire me.

Plying is still weighing on my mind as I usually ply with the 'neverending purple'. This time, however, I really don't think this will work. Again, hopefully, inspiration will strike me.

Isn't it fun?

Fibre Sandwich spin along

My fibre sandwich from this years' Harrietville has been sitting around just defying me to spin it up. Along with that has been a friends that I have finally sent off to her in far off climes.

We've decided to spin it up together and post along the way and see what comes up. It's always hard when a friend is far away, hopefully, we'll at least feel that we're in the same place as we spin this communal bunch of fibres.

This is my stash and this http://knitspingirl.blogspot.com/2010/09/long-distance-spin-in.html is hers!

Another friend, shall we call her 'Doris' does not like the very random, crazy effect, so this year she sorted her 100gms into colours and is spinning it up. I haven't seen it yet, but I thought I might just give it a go!

So off we go!

Just a few 'Works in Progress'

I seem to have started quite a few little projects, attempting to work on them all at the same time! It might be the frightening prospect of two markets on the one weekend - Ivanhoe on Saturday and Rose St. on Sunday - that has prompted this, however, I suspect deeper and darker neurosis coming into play?


Firstly, there's the scarf in the beautiful Wendy Dennis yarn and the lovelyely drop stitch pattern that's popping up, not just in my work, but in quite a few knitting magazines....we do read the same stitch pattern books. I know I've said that scarves aren't selling this year and I wasn't going to knit any more.....but the yarn is so gorgeous and it's nearly done, and I didn't have an easy project for the train.......


Then there's the "toothpaste" yarn I just had to finish spinning...I needed the bobbins! Even though I have no idea what I'm going to make with it.

And, the fingerless mittens in the crazy handspun yarn. This is for a friend, but do I have to do two? and do I have to try one as a new design?


Then, there's more thick singles for the MUST do neckwarmers in 'Melbourne' colours. (Sorry about the photo...no time!)

And, I've started a hat that the guys in my favourite Ivanhoe coffee shop 'might' be interested in.

And then there are scarves on my new loom, in hand-dyed yarn in lovely 8-shaft colour and weave patterns.

AND, the prototype for a new neckwarmer....

Now, I'm off to Stitch 'n Bitch to work on my own jumper!

Late night spinning

Friday was a funny day. I'm supposed to get alot of work done on my Thursdays and Fridays, but this Friday was full of distractions. It wasn't without its' highlights including discovering that Watsonia has two very good op-shops. The Salvation Army op-shop has particularly large button and knitting needle collections. You do have to ask for them and I did have an overwhelming desire to sort them all out.......maybe another time! I did pick up some buttons and some tortoise shell knitting needles and an amazing pair of earings.

However, by the end of the day I did need to achieve something! So, remembering that I had promised a couple of people that I would make fingerless mittens in my Harrietville fibre sandwich yarn style, I thought I would get on with that project.

To make a fibre sandwich on your own, while possible, seems a little lonely, so at Bendigo there was one of the stalls selling off their 'rubbish'. A whole bag of dyed bits and pieces. $2 for as much as you could stuff into a plastic bag. I got about 170gm, but could have got more in.

I've put this through my drum card, adding a little glitz, did the quick and rough spin it up and ply with my never-ending purple single. It was full of all sorts of bits, including short bits, some English Leicester and even though dyed, had not been scoured well. Spinning was quick and fun, adding to the 'craziness' of the yarn. As it did need scouring anything could happen to the yarn with unwashed fleece and processed top in the same yarn. It did feel nice and soft, hope was still alive. So late at night I left it to soak, ready to scour the next day.

I've now washed it and hung it out and am quite happy.

And, here is my 128gm of 'rubbish' all ready to go. Hopefully a couple of fingerless mittens in different styles.

Craft Hatch here I come!

I've figured out what time I have to be at Craft Hatch and will catch the 9.29am train to the city. I'm excited and apprehensive. I love this tiny market and hope that, despite tomorrow being cold and wintry, that people will come to the City Library and have a look and maybe even buy!

I took a quick picture of the new things that I take to the market. It's a good reference for me and reminds me that I have worked over the last two weeks. The first week was spent spinning and dyeing with a bit of basic knitting. This week has been more knitting, and finishing off each item and then pricing and putting on their tags. (Sigh!)

I'm happy with the new neckwarmers in single colours, the new lace-up fingerless mittens, dyed after they were knit. Just one more scarf sneaked in and I would have liked to make more button up mittens, but I managed one.

Sort of feel satisfied after spelling it out. Off to move the car as the builder finishes up his work tomorrow. Pictures to follow!

Border Leicester vs Bamboo - wool wins!

We explore a variety of fibres new and old at Experimental Spinning. The last two sessions have provided a real contrast to explore.

Each year the Australian Sheep and Wool show, held in Bendigo, has a feature breed. This year it is Border Leicester.

For the last few years, the hardworking Woolcraft committee have been able to obtain donations of the particular fleece for people to try and the results have been displayed at the show. The Experimental Spinning group of the HWSG have been one of the recipients. It's an excellent opportunity to try a variety of different fleeces, most of which we wouldn't normally spin.

We did really enjoy the experience and the results have shown us that this fibre is lovely to spin and is not as harsh as you might think from a reasonably strong fleece.

I decided that I would try and spin a coil yarn. This is the latest 'in' novelty yarn and there are a number of teachers focusing on this yarn. At the guild, Janet de Knoop does wonderful yarns and is a lovely teacher who I managed to catch at Harrietville.

The yarn is really a take on the traditional bullion yarn with a couple of modern updates. The single doing the coiling is a slubby yarn and it is this slub part that is coiled. This gives a more rounded look as it changes in thickness. The trick with the slub is not to make it too thick just thicker that the regular part of the yarn. This means there is some nice twist in the slub making it neat. However, with a thicker slub it is a fluffier, lest defined coil. Fun nevertheless!

The other trick is not to use a binder to anchor the coil, as is done with a bullion yarn, but using the core yarn to wrap just before and after the coil, thus anchoring the coil. A nice twist that really allows the coil to stand out.

My version is all handspun from fleece. This makes the slub slightly harder to control and I didn't quite get it right all the time, and, it means that the core yarn is handspun, which I think gives a nicer overall look, but that's without colour!

It also meant spinning in the grease, something I generally don't particularly like. The fun however, is in the washing when all the dirt, swint and lanolin are scoured out. Well most of it and the underlying colour of the fleece is revealed.

Extremely happy!

Not so happy with yesterdays effort with bamboo.

Bamboo is one of those new environmentally friendly fibres. This does depend on the process used in production. There is viscose bamboo, which is made in the same way as rayon with chemicals breaking down the fibre and being extruded to created the fibre. The second is done in the same way as for flax, the major issue being about the use of water. This is more environmentally friendly. Bamboo, itself, is very fast growing and has some excellent properties as a textile, but again, which company doing what. There is little way of knowing what you have.

We decided that as the fibre we were using was short that this had been produced in the more traditional manner, as extrusion tends to create long continuous fibres.

In its raw state it is not pleasant to touch. Very difficult to spin and then difficult to spin evenly. I even managed to have breaks when plying. NOT happy! The final yarn is soft to the touch and is likely to take dye very well.

So, further experiments combining it with other more spinnable fibres are worth exploring. I will also be looking at some of the commercial bamboo yarns to see if I can get any hints.

And, then, what's this rubbish? Well it is. It's the stuff you get when you sort out and flick fleece. There are short cuts, dirty bits, all sorts really. What am I going to do with this? That's what I'm usually asked by beginner spinners. We'll happily throw out all the packaging we do, but wonder about the leftover from cleaning fleece for spinning!

But a challenge has been sitting there for awhile. A spinning friend did collect the same sort of stuff from one of her dyed fleeces, ending up with a bag of colour fluff that she then carded to create a really fluffy fun yarn. I'm going to take it a step further and start with the raw stuff, then dye it and then combine with with something else? A fun challenge!

I'll keep you informed!

Found the camera at last!

I really did think that we could get through this house renovation without much disruption. Yes, I am a glass half full (well, three quarters full!) type person. Subsequently, I'm now in a state! Part of this resulted in my misplacing the camera. Needless to say, I've finally found it!

I've been busy today, sewing on buttons on my latest batch of fingerless mittens - 60, to be precise. I'm off to Rose St. Artists' Market tomorrow, hopefully the rain will hold off for us.

So, I thought I would just show you some of the work of the past two weeks.

These are the articles I finished for last weeks Ivanhoe Makers Market.

1. Blue fingerless mittens made from the beautiful wool roving I bought on my weekend away at Tarndwarncoort.

2. New design of fingerless mittens, very simple but laced up down the back of the hand. Just using the yo,k2tog at the beginning of each row and using the resulting 'loop' to lace up with a twisted cord.

These both sold last week!

3. A funky simple beany using three different yarns together.

4. A black and white, feather and fan scarf, knitted lengthwise. This is the first of the upmarket footy scarves. Know a Collingwood fan out there?

These are the mittens I've just finished.

1. Two more mittens using the last of the Tarndwarncoort rovings. All that handspinning is just wonderful for my sanity.

2. The purple mittens use the pattern 'Stars and Stripes'. The grey mittens use the pattern 'Twist and turn'. Both these patterns are from the No.5 Vogue Stitchonary on Lace, that I just recently received. More on my purches in another post!

3. The hat is using some hand-dyed 12 ply from Morris and Sons. I managed to make their sale and picked up a few more cream wool packets. There's a little feather and fan pattern and the rim is stocking stitch which rolls up. I've got a hat like this and it's fun using the natural curl of stocking stitch.

All I have to do now is put the price tags on and I'm off tomorrow to market!

I know why I spin!

As I was gathering all my latest spinning up to wash it and let it relax and set, I just looked at it and thought how wonderful to have these yarns that are just mine! Thought I'd share them with you.

Tarndwarncoort

'Tarndwarncoort' is now indelibly marked in the hearts of the six of us (Snb Rosanna) who ventured to the Western District to stay at the National Trust Property, Tarnwarndcoort. The property has been in the Dennis family for around 150 years and Wendy, Dave and Tom Dennis are wonderful hosts.

We stayed in the historic homestead, where we could sit on the verandah and knit, taking in the view and the sounds that surrounded us.

From our kitchen, breakfast room we sat and

knit around the fire with the most wonderful view of the shop! It was a real trial to make the trek across the yard and decide what purchases we 'needed' to make. Made worse by staying from Friday afternoon till Sunday afternoon, by being able to go back and make that 'extra' purchase.

As this was mostly self catering we managed to provide a wonderful feast each night and the 'leftover' lunch on Sunday was magnificant. We even managed to make S'mores - Graham crackers, Hershe chocolate and toasted marshmallows. Even my sweet tooth could only take two! But we did giggle.

Here are my purchases!

And, I did manage to get some spinning done. I finished the extra yarn from the puff yarn, spinning a single and navaho plying. It now goes into the stash to wait with its' partner for inspiration!

The blue is some Wendy Dennis rovings, plyed with blue cotton.

I must admit that both were plyed when I got home. I was tired and on a roll!

Here 'tis and where am I?

I did manage to finish my puff yarn and I'm quite happy about it! I did have one of those, 'gee I'm glad I bought that' moments, when I'm sitting at my lovely little poly wheel, happily plying without any hitches, and still not quite filling the very large bobbin.

English Leicester, being what it is, a fibre that has the loveliest lustre, that dyes beautifully, but is a strong wool, which means it's not going to feel nice against the skin. This yarn is not going to make a scarf or neckwarmer, so I'm going to have to think about it a bit. Therefore the yarn is going to sit around a bit more, I think it's used to it!

Now, as for me, I've just been accepted into the Rose St market for the next two months, the first market being this Sunday. Yes, I know it's Mothers' Day, well I did after saying 'Yes' to the stall on Sunday, and checking the dates......

I'm just about to update the blog page with the dates, etc. So come and say hello, come out for a trip, it's Mothers' Day!

On the edge of a disaster?

These two bobbins have been living with me for quite a while and it's time to finish things off.


The first big bobbin is full of the first half of a puff yarn. I learnt this yarn from the HWSG Country Conference and really like it. It consists of wrapping a fibre, in this case some dyed English Leicester fleece, around a core yarn. At intervals it is wrapped much more thickly to create a 'puff' ball.



The resulting single is then plyed with a fine binder yarn. In the process the 'puff ball' 'puffs' out as it is untwisted in the process. Lovely.

In my wisdom, I've decided to spin the binder yarn in the same fibre...I have plenty! However, there has been no effort to colour match, how could I? and so, I'm not sure how this is going to turn out, could be the worst barber pole ever!

To add to the difficulty, because, the bobbins have been sitting around for awhile, apart from the last bits that I've spun, they've settled, which means that I might have to second guess the plying.

Oh well, that's tonights problems, now I'm off to Snb to just sit and knit a rib band.....no thinking!

It can't be a mistake!

Remember this:

Well, I've turned it into this:
















I love it! I've spent hours on it and the colour transitions have shown up really well, the pattern is interesting and I have enjoyed the whole process.

What's wrong? you may well ask......

I've been merrily knitting along, my only thought being that it will be lovely and swirly. So having finished it....there is no more yarn....it doesn't work as a scarf. It isn't long enough to tie, or swirly enough, or, or, or

The only thing I've come up with is a cross between a wrap and a capelet. All it needs is a pin. I need reassurance. I am going to take it along this weekend to Harrietville. A weekend away with like-minded (well, some of them, I am a bit strange!) spinners and knitters. I will put it on the show and tell table and ask for opinions....

I am NOT pulling it out!