My local spinning study group is making steady progress -- we're working through "Pluckyfluff", trying to think outside the box or at least stretch our own horizons with Lexi Boeger's great little book.
The "nub" yarn went fairly well -- we all got something, we all scratched our heads a bit, and we all learned about how big to make little bits of roving to get suitably sized nubs. Our most intrepid spinner is already knitting and her comment on the nub yarn was that it sure felt different to knit, since it was so fine on the background yarn and a large lump on the nub. Mine is still sitting looking pretty in a basket ...
The "nub" yarn went fairly well -- we all got something, we all scratched our heads a bit, and we all learned about how big to make little bits of roving to get suitably sized nubs. Our most intrepid spinner is already knitting and her comment on the nub yarn was that it sure felt different to knit, since it was so fine on the background yarn and a large lump on the nub. Mine is still sitting looking pretty in a basket ...
(Hey, I did it -- that photo shows everyone's first skein, and Lexi's book -- on my funky sofa!)
Candy stripe was a challenge due to weather and it was our first high-twist single. I dried mine with weights (2 soup cans) but put it back under tension on a niddy noddy since it's still curly-whirly. This one taught us "the grass is greener" -- we all like our neighbor's candy stripe better than our own! I must say, adding metallic thread to your spinning sure spices things up! That's one trick I plan to keep in my toolbox!
And now we've started Loop yarn -- just the singles, though. I'm going for unifying-ness and using fiber from my first two yarns. If I can keep that thread going, then maybe I can knit a funky throw or something from all these yarns. This one has its cleverness in the ply -- you make loops in the single and wrap thread around the base of each loop to ply. So we plan on converting our Ashfords to Quill wheels (maybe) since 3/8" dowel fits in the orifice. If not, well, my charkha collection can stand a dust-off and use ... and one lady did point out my great wheel would work for this too (now _how_ could I overlook that!)
Well, someday I will figure out how to put pictures on my blog to go along with all this "news of spinning" but until then, let your imaginations run wild!
(posted by me this day on spinning_on_the_edge)
Candy stripe was a challenge due to weather and it was our first high-twist single. I dried mine with weights (2 soup cans) but put it back under tension on a niddy noddy since it's still curly-whirly. This one taught us "the grass is greener" -- we all like our neighbor's candy stripe better than our own! I must say, adding metallic thread to your spinning sure spices things up! That's one trick I plan to keep in my toolbox!
And now we've started Loop yarn -- just the singles, though. I'm going for unifying-ness and using fiber from my first two yarns. If I can keep that thread going, then maybe I can knit a funky throw or something from all these yarns. This one has its cleverness in the ply -- you make loops in the single and wrap thread around the base of each loop to ply. So we plan on converting our Ashfords to Quill wheels (maybe) since 3/8" dowel fits in the orifice. If not, well, my charkha collection can stand a dust-off and use ... and one lady did point out my great wheel would work for this too (now _how_ could I overlook that!)
Well, someday I will figure out how to put pictures on my blog to go along with all this "news of spinning" but until then, let your imaginations run wild!
(posted by me this day on spinning_on_the_edge)
