Spinning
The spinning bug re-bit hard, and I have been spending a lot of time trying to improve my spinning skills. If you put too much twist in the yarn, it looks like, well, technically it's called yarn barf.
But too little twist in the yarn and the fiber drifts apart. When I sat down with this fiber that I had started spinning years ago, I ended up with a considerable amount that I can't ply -- it is underspun in spots and so it comes apart in my hands. So I began paying more attention, and sure enough, I now have a sizable hank of two-ply yarn:
Still a little thick and thin, but usable.
I plied another bobbin's worth and have a lot more of the fiber to spin too.
I also started spinning the silk and tencel fiber on the new Turkish spindle, both purchased, as I mentioned in my last post, at the Kid n Ewe fiber festival last weekend. This fiber, instead of being combed "top," that looks like this,
is a "carded batt" and looks like this:
They are produced differently. Top is produced by combing the fibers so that they lay parallel to each other. A bat is produced on a carding machine and is lighter and full of air. The fibers are not all lined up either. This batt, made of silk and tencel, is so airy. I grab a handful to spin and it is truly like grabbing air. The only difficulty I am having is with the joins. When you join one handfull of fluff to the end of the yarn on your spindle or wheel, the unspun fibers at both ends grab each other as you draft them together. This stuff is so slippery that the joins are a bit trickier. I am really enjoying this and am sorry I didn't buy a lot more of it. I bought 2 1-oz packages -- and I will learn soon how much yarn I managed to make from it. That is always hard to estimate, especially if you do not do a lot of spinning. It depends of course on how thick you make the yarn. You can see that I am going for a thin single, and will double it (ply it).
This spindle, a Turkish style spindle, is neat because if you wind the new yarn around it properly as you spin it (under one arm and over two) when you are done you can pull the arms out and have a ready-made center-pull ball of yarn. Sorry about the dark pictures of the silk and tencel -- we are having one of San Antonio's few gray days.
I discovered that my right hand got tired using the Turkish spindle. You have to spin it like a top from the top of the shaft. So yesterday I pulled out another spinning project which uses a top whorl spindle. I get that spinning but using a thigh spin -- rolling the spindle up my right thigh. Much less tiring, and I got a lot done last night. The fiber is merino wool, in a color called Morning Glory from Spinnerette.
The spindle is one I bought at last year's Kid n Ewe. Unfortunately the maker is no longer making spindles, because I would have bought another this year.
Knitting
I am still hung up on the button bands on Laura's baby cardigan, but I did buy buttons yesterday. I am going to try to finish the button bands today.
So the next knitting project for me has to be chosen. It might be the Quercus cardigan, because that is also top down, though more complicated than the baby sweater. The baby sweater is top down with raglan sleeves, which is very easy to do top down. Quercus is top down with set in sleeves, which doesn't appear to be difficult but I think will take a bit of attention. Plus, I will have to follow charts for the cables. So it will be a mindful, not a mindless, knitting project. But I sure do want to wear it. Of course, I might also turn to finish the knit kimono I put aside last winter and finish that up fast. That'd feel good. That and the alpaca shawl, assuming the moths haven't gotten to them. I am afraid to look.
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