Odds and Ends

Working with the iPhone app again to try to get something posted. No way to know how this will turn out.

Here are some old and new photos I thought I'd share. I tried resizing so that the photos would fit into the blog margins, but some didn't work, so click when necessary for full photo.

Top to bottom: Number 2 Son clowning in gift shop at Ruby Falls. Daughter painting in friend's workshop. Spindle and yarns. Curly locks from an angora goat. Pants in daughter's chair being mesmerized by something. Great blue heron fishing/wishing at Ditto Landing.  Sunset photo taken by Number 2 Son.  A bag of Pants. Rabbits a la Pink Floyd sent to me by Number 2 Son, don't know the source.

Silky Stuff

Now that I've finished up other spinning and wool processing projects for some folks, I have this lovely silk stuff to spin up.




This silky red and yellow fuzz balls are blends of merino wool, tussah silk, and camel down that I bought at the Roc Day celebration held at Little Barn, a fiber shop here in Madison County. The custom batts are dyed and blended by Patty White, one of the owners of the shop. The quantities are very limited. I had quite a time making up my mind which colors to get. I almost waited too late! Many of the other fiber fanatics in attendance had just about depleted the supply by the time I broke down and decided to buy fiber that day.

After experimenting with them a bit, I've decided to spin each in thin singles and ply the two colors together. I spindle spun a small sample at the gathering the day I got the fiber, plying the two colors after a spinning friend suggested it. I think I like it.






The other lovely mass of fiber fun is carded tussah silk that Patty also dyes for the shop. I got this several months ago. The bags were full of such beautiful, multi-colored stuff that choosing was difficult that day, too. I ended up buying six bags. That's six ounces. It doesn't sound like much, but it will go a long way. I will probably spin a lace weight, two-ply yarn with it as well. It doesn't look great in the photo because I just opened a few bags and flopped them out on the chair seat to photograph before I lost the light (this iPhone is not the one with the fancy camera, so I have to take my chances). They've been compressed in those bags for quite some time now. Once liberated and shaken out a bit, they are truly lovely to look at, delightful to...spin.

I hope I remember to photograph the end results when I get them done. . . if I'm not too old and feeble to use a computer by then.

Bunnies and Spinning Wheel

I often sit and spin in the backyard when I put the buns out in the playpens. We have several hawks and owls in the area, so I have to be on guard for bunny snatchers.




My little Kromski "Mazurka" spinning wheel. You can see Matilda in the background and Lillie's head just peeping out from her hidey.




Lillie checking things out to see what's going on.





Mazurka detail





Matilda thinks she'll...um...hide, too.





Another Mazurka detail





Mopsy disapproves of the whole thing as she perches on her favorite hidey, a recycled cat litter bin painted to blend in a bit more with the surroundings.





A wad of fiber--wool and silk blend. I'm calling it Cinnamon Swirl. I got this at Little Barn fiber shop in Harvest, Alabama back in January.





Lillie stays in her hidey.






Flyer and bobbin--the parts that twist the fiber into yarn and wind it into a controlled mess.





Another flyer and bobbin shot. Both parts turn, but at different rates, so the fiber gets twisted, then wound onto the bobbin. The flyer is the twister and the bobbin is the spool for winding. The "strings" on the back side of the unit (left side of photo) are the drive band. The drive mechanism works sort of like the chain and gears on a bicycle. One goes into a groove on the bobbin and the other in a groove on the flyer. The smaller one on the bobbin turns faster than the larger one on the flyer. This flyer has two grooves (some have more), graduated in size, and the smaller one spins the flyer at a faster rate.





Closeup of spun yarn




Mopsy says, "Are we done yet?"

Have Fiber Will Travel

I almost always have some fiber and something to twist it with in my van. The van has become my traveling fiber studio. Having ready access to spinning gear is a great way to both pass the time while waiting for appointments or people and to get more spinning done. Sometimes I have my spinning wheel with me, but most of the time I use a drop spindle because of its portability. On this particular day late last summer, I was at one of the Marshall County Parks on Lake Guntersville for a couple of hours and decided to blend some pink, blue, and gold wool to see what the outcome would be.



The traveling studio. Left to right: large Ziploc bag of assorted fibers; basket with some of my spun yarns from a recent craft show, a few drop spindles, a mini niddy noddy for skeining yarn; another Ziploc bag with more fiber and yarn; a birch bark basket for holding whatever needs to be contained, also good for display purposes; shoebox with sundry spinning tools, wool combs, and other supplies; clear plastic bin with carders, pens, paper, bags for storing fiber or yarn, and miscellaneous stuff; a rug that serves as a ground cover for my spinning wheel when I spin with it outside, to keep it from sliding on slick surfaces, or to mark my space when spinning at gatherings, shows, or demos; two things that aren't really part of the spinning studio--a plastic bag of books to go to the Friends of the Library bookstore and a critter carrier left over from taking one of the cats to the vet, but good for transporting wooler-type bunnies if I happen to be enticed to buy one at a fiber festival (generally, I'm pretty good at resisting temptation, but it is becoming increasingly difficult; I almost came home from the Tennessee Fiber Festival last May with a beautiful grey Angora bunny). Not shown: folding lawn chair and folding TV tray/table, essential for a variety of uses besides spinning.



Another shot of the studio.




What a great place to sit and spin.



Closer view of some of the sailboats



Partial contents of my spinning emergency kit: twine--especially handy when a drive band breaks; drop spindle parts including small bag of paper clips and cup hooks for spindle hook repairs; hand lotion; snacks; and a bottle of musical instrument oil for spinning wheel lubrication. In the upper part of the photo is the bag containing the fibers I blended during my visit to the park and the birch bark basket with a little bit of wool I blended before making the photo. Not shown: assortment of small jewelry pliers and wire cutter, emery boards, small pieces of cloth, pocket knife, rubber bands.



The drop spindle I used for that day's spinning session. I make these spindles using wooden toy truck wheels, wooden dowels, and small cup hooks or large paper clips worked into a hook shape. I like to have spindle parts with me in case someone wants to learn to spin. Rather than starting prospective spinners on one of my many other purchased spindles that I often have with me, I make them their own spindles that they can take with them. I sometimes make up starter kits that contain a spindle and a small amount of fiber for purchase when I attend craft shows or demonstrations because of the frequency of requests for on-the-spot lessons.



A carder loaded with the pink, blue, and gold wool. I had these various colors of wool with me and decided to have some fun blending them rather than spinning the colors separately.




After a few passes to blend the colors.




A roll of blended, carded wool, commonly known as a rolag, ready to spin.



Some of the spun fiber. Single-strand, unplied yarn, known as "singles". The lighting made it difficult to capture the colors properly.




Finished two-ply (two-strand) yarn on the niddy noddy (skein winder).



Skein of completed sample of blended two-ply yarn ready to be wound into a ball for knitting.




Finished swatch of blended yarn, stockinette stitch with garter stitch border. I only blended enough fiber to spin a few yards of yarn, so the color distribution would be somewhat different in a larger swatch. I think I like it. I'll need to dye more yarn if I want to make more of this particular blend.

One of the things that I enjoy about having spinning as a hobby is that it is so portable. I can stuff a few essential items in a backpack or a large purse and be ready to spin just about anywhere. Here around Lake Guntersville is of my favorite spinning spots.