Yarn Story: Special Singles

By Amelia © October 27, 2009

Many spinners seem to migrate to being plyers, spinning mostly 2-ply yarns. There are a special group who love singles, and spin many of them. There's the instant satisfaction of a single, the fact that you maximize your yardage-per-time. That trades off with the active twist it presents, and the need to control the drafting to get the thickness you want.

Therein lies the rub. Spinners become plyers because we learn to draft, and get very good at drafting -- we draft pretty much every fiber we can get our hands on about as fine as it will let us go. How fine is that? The finer the fiber, the finer our yarn, because what is happening is the feel of the individual fibers on our hands gives us a certain comfort level; fewer fibers, less comfort -- so thicker Romney fibers draft out into a thicker yarn, with the same number of fibers as the finer Merino fibers. Given those fine singles, we ply to get back to the thickness we want. I've a friend who spins the same single every time, and then plies 2, 3, 4, or even 5 strands together to get the thickness she desires in her yarn.

Developing the ability to stay present in your spinning and take control of the drafting will remove the need to make 5-plies from your standard too-fine single. It's tricky, though, if your spinning has become an automatic ability for you -- because you have to bring spinning back into the part of your mind that pays attention to what's going on, that can let you consciously control the drafting as you watch it. For me, this is Intentional Spinning writ large.

Now, some spinners just really can't get to that place. And Judith McCuin's book, The Intentional Spinner, has some great methods for the always-automatic spinner to adopt to alter their resulting singles.

If you want thicker singles on your wheel, try this:

• Move to a larger flyer whorl -- this is a lower ratio, putting less twist in. remember, singles that will remain singles need only enough twist to hang together -- not enough to ply tightly. If you fold your singles over for a ply-back test, they should puff up and ply loosely. If they stay tight, they will be high-twist singles, which is a yarn classification worth study on its own -- see the work of Kathryn Alexander for her amazing use of high-twist singles.
• Increase the tension on your brake band or double-drive band -- this increases the pull of the yarn out of your hands, so that you will let it go onto the bobbin with less twist and less drafting.

There are other changes you can try as well -- a thicker drive band and brake band will tend to make you spin a thicker yarn; a thicker leader on your bobbin helps you start out spinning a thicker yarn.

If you want to change your drafting habits, or develop a thick-single habit, I usually recommend pre-drafting the first time, down to the thickness you need for your singles, and then spinning without drafting. This is very hard for those of us with ingrained drafting habits. But if you can bring your drafting back under your conscious control, then you can alter how much you draft. Zero-out drafting by pre-drafting so you can see just how automatic drafting is for you, and then, unlearn it for a bit. Once you have control of your drafting back, pre-draft just a little, and see if you can draft just a little bit at your wheel. Re-gain control of your drafting with practice, introducing a little bit more at a time until you are in control of the drafting at your wheel.

Remember, how much fiber you draft defines how thick your yarn is. Figure out how much you need to draft for the thickness of the single you desire, and draft that much. No finer, no thicker.

Now that we've covered some ground on spinning singles, what makes these special? I followed all my guidelines above, definitely. They are a nice, low-twist single. But there are two other things about these singles that make them unique in my own spinning history.

First, the fiber: this is Pitt Island Merino. Go ahead, google it, or follow the link. These are cool! Semi-feral Merino on a small New Zealand island.

Second, the preparation: I purchased this from the farmer, who was also the processor of the fiber. They carded raw fiber into roving -- it might have been lightly washed, but there's still some lanolin, some sheepy smell, and some dirt in it. I seldom spin raw fiber, preferring to keep my wheels clean with scoured fibers. But, this was unique. Being lanolin-y, the fiber waited for a warm day so that it would slip controllably in drafting. It was actually a fairly fine roving, and I really wanted to see how it would wash out -- the unscoured roving felt fairly tacky and rough, but it was a Merino, after all. So, I didn't draft it much, and ended up with a 10-12 wpi single. The skein scoured into a nice Merino result -- not superfine, but lovely heathered natural color, and fine enough for a hat or scarf.

This lovely skein is available on my Etsy shop, By Our Hands. Perhaps it will add a special something to your next knitting project. There are 116 yards, 10-12 wraps per inch, in this 3.6 ounce skein.

~~

See prior Yarn Stories for more tales from my wheel.

And for more tips on spinning singles, see Singles Yarn postings.

~~

© 27 October 2009 by Ask The Bellwether, posted at http://askthebellwether.blogspot.com/

Why spin on an electric wheel?

By Amelia © October 23, 2009

Electric spinning wheels -- are they the poor little sister of the spinning wheel, even more snubbed than the simple spindle? Perhaps. But they have their place.

The decision to have an electric wheel is likely a pretty personal one. Here are a few reasons I've run across...

First, my own: clumsiness. Yes, "grace" is not my middle name. So very often I get horrid bruises on my legs from clocking my ankle against a staircase or doorjamb. Painful as they swell and for a week or two afterwards. At the height of it, this can make treadling a painful proposition. So, I pull out my electric wheel and spin away my troubles.

I have found, too, that the electric wheel is a quick way to fix an underplied skein. You know the one -- you worked hard on it, gorgeous fiber, and then you run it off on your skeiner or niddy. Only to have a visible chunk of it showing underplied-ness. Sigh. Wash it and ignore it? No, can't do that. So, I put my skeiner next to my trusty electric wheel and quicker-than-spit, run it through onto the bobbin, slowing the uptake only on those low-twist sections. It looks so much better! I feel so much better! The electric wheel enjoys helping me like this, I am sure.

But those are my reasons. I know not everyone is as clumsy or as prone to irregular plying as I am!

The RV/boat spinner: they look for a small wheel, one they can travel with. Yes, there are many traditional travel wheels out there, and some adopt them. Some go to their spindles. But others don't want a spindle, and can't spare the floor space for a wheel. So, they go electric. Most electric wheels are table-top style models.

The non-traditionalist: at least one person I know didn't really like the look of a wheel, but wanted to spin. So, she took to an electric wheel, like a fish to water. It suits her desire to spin without making her feel like someone from the pre-industrial age. I am glad that spinning gives us so many options -- yes, I love my wheels and spindles. But I'm happy to see someone spinning in a way that suits them, be it wheel, spindle, charka, or e-spinner.

The production spinner: many production spinners use wheels; but of those, many also look to e-spinners to aid with plying. And some production spinners do most of their work on e-spinners. It simplifies the process, definitely. Less to coordinate, more likely to be consistent, and plying becomes much simpler and potentially faster, too.

The less able spinner: let's face it, we all get older. And parts of us don't work like they used to. Will I want to keep spinning into my golden years? I don't know. But I know I would like to keep spinning as long as my hands can manage it. And I've no idea what I'll do when they give out. The e-spinner is a way for people with foot/ankle issues to be able to spin, no matter what their age. I know mine is a boon to me when I've once again bruised an ankle.

Why the focus on electric wheels? I've definitely owned my share, usually not more than two at a time. I had an older model Spin-It (shown here), then a more modern (same maker) Fricke e-spinner. Then, I purchased a Butterfly, a very nice, quiet e-spinner made in lovely woods (mine is spalted/quilted maple). Very recently, I purchased the even smaller Hansen mini-spinner. Part of that purchase was a visit to their workshop and home, and we got to talking about why people have electric wheels. Kevin Hansen designed the mini-spinner for his wife Beth, to enable her to spin on their boat during their travels. She originally picked up spinning in Tasmania, starting with spindles. The wheel really didn't click for her, and their boat had, of course, limited space -- thus the mini-spinner was created. It's Beth's favorite spinning tool now, and she has fun spinning yarn on it.

The new e-spinner means I had to let my beautiful Butterfly go, of course. It's nice to be able to mark its impact on my life with this blog post, reviewing what I did with it while it was mine.

Here is the Butterfly in operation:


And here are several of the lovely skeins-in-progress I have spun on the Butterfly:

If you have your own reasons to share for spinning on an electric wheel, do post them in the comments -- I enjoy learning why we choose the tools we use.

~~
© 23 October 2009 by Ask The Bellwether, posted at http://askthebellwether.blogspot.com/

A Bold Twist on Socks: The Enchanted Sole

By Amelia © October 19, 2009

Welcome to the third stop on The Enchancted Sole's blog tour! Janel Laidman's second book of sock patterns takes you on an adventure through fairy tales and legends for your feet. If I were to sum up this book in one word, it is this: bold.

Color knitting, cables, lace, cables-and-lace, beads with cables or lace: it's all packed in here. Toe-up, cuff-down, sideways - yep, all accounted for. The book is well worth its price for Janel's unvented stretchy slipknot cast-on and her clear instructions on two methods for knitting with beads -- both clearly photo-illustrated in the back of the book.

Janel's patterns show off solids, semi-solids, and handpainted yarns wonderfully. Her advice on choosing alternate colors is delightful to this spinner -- it lets me know where in my stash to dive, for a given pattern. Most of the patterns are for 400 yards/3.5 ounces of sock yarns; some take a slightly finer yarn, and some combine two colors in one sock, so may work for your smaller skeins. The Tinker looks to be a great sock for a semi-solid and little bits of leftovers, actually.

I have three handspun skeins waiting for perfect patterns. The one shown with the book above is super-special, being not only handspun sock yarn, and not only an Abby batt, but also completely spindle-spun and plied. It shines from its Romney and silk, and is soft from its Merino and silk. I've been letting it come of age, waiting for the perfect sock pattern to fall into my lap.

And you know, it just may have: when you get this book, and if you are an adventurous sock knitter, you will!, check out Selkie. Why did I choose this pattern? It's perfect for my "semi-solid", its texture will gleam with the luster of my yarn, and if you look closely, you see it puts the knit stitches next to the skin -- a delightful treat for the skin! Try it -- take a handknit sock and put it on inside out. Doesn't that feel nice? Ahhhh.

I'm planning on another read-through; I think the second half of my skein called "Elk" may also have met its pattern here ... Naiad, or Lothlorien, I wonder. What do you think? Naiad is on the left, my skein in the middle, Lothlorien is on the right. Let me know in the comments.


Janel, thank you for these lovely socks. I'm sure they'll be as gorgeous in handspun as in the lovely yarns in the book -- and I'll enjoy the knitting as much as I enjoyed the spinning. And for my readers: if you are itching for your own copy, they are purchasable directly from Janel's Rustling Leaf Press, your local yarn store may have a copy or can order one for you, or add a copy to your next order from Amazon.

Now, I'm off to dig up my size 2's (2.75mm) for some swatching ...

~~
If you'd like tips on spinning yarn for socks, see the posts labeled Sock Spinning.
~~
© 19 October 2009 by Ask The Bellwether, posted at http://askthebellwether.blogspot.com/

Wrap-up for Productive Spindling: The Treasure Hunt

By Amelia © October 14, 2009

Ummm ... how'd it get to be the 14th, already? That was a blur -- Oregon Flock and Fiber brought September to a roaring end, then I hopped on a plane to Colorado to drive to the Taos Wool Festival with my mum. What a hoot! We had a great time, it's wonderful to be a grownup with your mother at your side. It's been a whirl of wrap-ups since, here at home. But the laundry's done, the email's caught up, the orders are back on track (thanks, customers! you're great!!) and finally I can get to this item on my todo list:

Oct. 1: post answers to Treasure Hunt

So with apologies for the delay and without further ado ...

• How many photographers did the book have?
  22: 19 from ravelry, my two children, and me.
  
  
• On which page does my ravatar (also seen on my facebook...) appear?
  27 (and shown above)
  
  
• What's your favorite section in the book (provide its section heading)?
  Can I say, the whole thing? It was a pleasure to write. The hardest for me was editing the photographs -- without Joanne's (artsyfish) help, that could have easily taken much longer. Spindle Weight is the one I find myself speaking the most often in my booth and classes, and Drafting Singles on Full Spindles was probably the biggest revelation during the writing of the book -- I mostly stop putting fiber on spindles when they get that full. Overall, hunt responders seemed to enjoy Productive Plying the most.
  
  
• Where does the name "Ask The Bellwether" come from? Bonus: why is "The" capitalized?
  Here, clearly -- the blog. "The" is capitalized because "Ask" was added to my nom de plume, "The Bellwether". And because, I like to fly in the face of convention from time to time, just to keep the bars on my cage rattling a bit ;-)
  
  
• Name the maker/brand of each spindle on the front cover.
  Let's start at the top and go clockwise: Tabachek top-whorl spindle, zebrawood whorl; Kundert pinwheel in four woods; Spindlewood bottom-whorl spindle all tulipwood; Mielke Emily, purpleheart on Maple; Bosworth midi in purpleheart; Jenkins Turkish in carob; and Spin-Dizzy Traveller in Goncalo Alves. Of these, the Emily is an Adam Mielke original, early model, smaller than his later ones and a slightly different shape than the Emily spindles now made by his father, I think; and the Spin-Dizzy Traveler is no longer being made. The Bellwether sells Kunderts (in stock), Jenkins (restocking now), and Tabacheks (restocking soon, I hope!); Spindlewood and Bosworth sell theirs directly.
  

  Ah, but what about the items? The blue and purple shawl on the left was spindle-spun in a month for a spindlitis challenge, on a variety of top-whorl spindles probably including that Purpleheart midi; the pink-and-white singles were spun on the Tabachek and the Kundert shown; the brown llama laceweight and knit shawl were spun on the Emily shown; the blue skein in the back and on the right were spun on the Spin-Dizzy and plied on the Jenkins shown; the Brown and white singles were spun on a Peace Fleece "Russian" spindle (it's like a Turkish, actually), and the blue silk singles on the llama knit shawl were spun on a Natalie silk spindle.
  

• Locate the flickr page for a photo that is in the book (hint: most of the ravelry contributors' photos originated on flickr, in color). Provide a link to the flickr page.
  Here is Mary's (marihana) stunning square Spindlewood:
  
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanakoandmari/2846215840/
  
  It was actually the spindle that inspired me to ask for contributions -- so amazing!
  
  
• What's your favorite illustration (photo or drawing) in the book?
  That would be telling, wouldn't it? I am drawn to Sherie's (sherie) silk, it glows even in black and white (p. 11). The one that makes me smile is Tracy's (himalaya) spindling on the beach (p. 43). I had so many fun ones to look at from the contributors, it was hard to pick, and many that I pull up on flickr from time to time just to enjoy them.
  
  
• How many different peoples' hands are in the book?
  Two ... mine, doing most of the demonstrations throughout, and Aija's (sockpr0n), showing sliding a cop from spindle to straw, p. 40.
  
  
• Name at least ten different spindles in the book (maker/model).
  You know, it would be fun to compile a complete list of tool-and-make by photograph. Perhaps a future blog post, eh. In the meantime I'll start at the beginning. You already got the list of those on the cover, so from p. 1: Bosworth, either midi or maxi (I'd guess midi); p. 2, 5, 6, and 7: the drawings are based on the Nikolai spindle, no longer being made; p. 10, Ashford student spindle; p. 11: Golding, solid whorl, brass rim; p. 12, Forrester Dervish top whorl and Jenkins Turkish (upper pair) and Kundert ring/wreath model, Bosworth maxi, Spindlewood square all three top whorls (lower trio); p. 13: upper series is of the same painted/polka-dot toy wheel spindle, middle series is: Bosworth Maxi (same one), Kundert solid wood whorl, Ledbetter, and Natalie silk spindle, lower left is the handmade clock spindle, made from parts for the New Spindle (whorl piece turned upside down), and the drawing is based on the Nikolai. Whew! that puts us at ... 13, not counting the repeating Bosworths and Nikolais.
  
  
• On page 34, what is the spindle made from in the photo by artsyfish?
  I was impressed to learn the whorl is the drain plate from under a flowerpot ... with a hole very carefully drilled in the middle of it, I'm guessing. So, it's terra cotta. Shaft is wood, and it looks like there may be duct tape involved, too ...
  
  
• What's another name for the lark's head knot?
  This is also called a snitch knot, as mentioned in the book. I've heard it called a double-reverse half-hitch as well.
  
  
• How many different peoples' faces are in the book?
  Two ... Diana's (chewiedox) modelling her amazing spindle-spun, dyed, and knit wimple (p. 45) and mine, in the author photo at the back (p. 50)
  
  
• How many niddy-noddies are in the book?
  Two ... a Full Circle one-yard niddy on p. 9 (he's not making this model at present, now Mr. F.C. makes the niddy-pinny, with the middle arm doubling as a nostepinne and WPI gauge) and Lline's on p. 40 - maker unknown, but most likely her, as she made her appealing Turkish spindle (on p. 23).
  
  
• Which spindle (same one) appears in the most photographs?
  That would be my Bosworth Bird's Eye Maple Maxi, it's even in my ravatar :-) It's the top whorl spindle in most of the teaching pictures in the book.
  
  
• How many types of joins are described? Name them.
  The index is an invaluable tool for questions like this ... under joins you find four listed: "felt (when plying) p. 38; textbook pgs. 7, 29, and 30; V p. 31; and worsted p. 31". There was also a second plying join, of simply laying the two ends over one another, described on p. 38, though I didn't give it a formal name -- so it wasn't counted.
  
  
• What time is it on the clock spindle?
  I'd say it's 1:50, since the short arm is close to/on but not past the 2, and the long arm is on the 10. Wouldn't you?
  
  
• How many different peoples' feet are in the book?
  Two ... mine, showing kick spindling on p. 22, and Tracy's (himalaya) on the beach, on p. 43.
  
  
• Which maker's spindles appear in the most photographs (can be different models)?
  Um yeah ... I did a rough count, though I've since lost my notes. But it was striking ... Bosworths won far and away the "spindle count". In part due to my oft-photographed Bird's Eye Maple top whorl. It was a popular model throughout, and Jonathan Bosworth has done amazing engineering in this spindle, making it my favorite tool for showing people Spindle Physics. Bosworth spindles are available directly from them, at http://www.journeywheel.com/.
  
  
• How many types of plying are described? Name them.
  Andean 2-strand ball plying p. 34, Andean 3-strand ball plying p. 34 (some people just mentioned winding the ball, without respect to ply, which I accepted as well), Andean plying bracelet p. 36, Beauty-wave plying bracelet p. 36, Navajo plying (p 39). There's also kick-plying (p. 35) and Peruvian hand-roll plying (p. 35), along with the other spindle twirling methods from spinning singles: finger-flick and thigh roll. But most folks concentrated on the first set listed above.
  
  
• What's your spindle "dream team"? Digital photograph submissions encouraged :-)
  Mine is shown on page 17 -- a Bosworth featherweight in lacewood, a Tabachek compact deluxe in zebrawood, and a Kundert pinwheel in exotic woods. Why those three? Several reasons. I do have a fondness for top-whorl spindles; they were the first type of spindle I learned on, and I've learned most of my spindling on them. This trio covers the weight range I like to have for getting a new spindle-full off on the right thickness. The Tabachek is an early one that I won on the Yahoo spindler's list when I was still learning to spindle -- it and a Mongold resin spindle (no longer being made) were my first turned spindles. I treasure it for two reasons: I seldom win anything, making it a unique item in my life; and it spins like a Tabachek, of course -- just delightful! The Kundert is an amazing combination of four woods on the whorl, filling my love of wood with its rich variety. I still remember opening the box of Kunderts and finding the first one of these (which this is) -- Mr. Kundert made it for me as he knew I loved woods. It was a total surprise, and is treasured to this day. There had to be a Bosworth, and I admit a weakness for Midi's, actually, but the featherweight was chosen to provide a good laceweight spindle and lacewood is a delightful wood with its rice grain, I simply adore it!

I do hope you've enjoyed the Treasure Hunt as much as I have. Thanks for playing!

If you haven't seen Productive Spindling yet, I'm pleased to announce, not only can you purchase it from The Bellwether and many other fine retailers, but your local yarn store may be able to procure it for you through their book distributor (Unicorn Books distributes in the USA and Gemini Fibres in Canada), and it is also now on Amazon! woot! Amazon only orders theirs from me when they have purchases, so far, so if you have a copy, go there and submit an "I own it" note (at the bottom of the product page) and a review, to encourage them to have a few on hand for the next person who'd like a copy. Thank you ever so much!

~~
© 14 October 2009 by Ask The Bellwether, posted at http://askthebellwether.blogspot.com/