Whew! The new website has been held up by a personal logjam -- updating the server software to the new version so it won't go belly up with a planned ISP update in September of operating system software. It was a long time coming, and it was a loooong day -- powered by a lunch-time dessert of Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pudding (from Joy of Cooking 75th anniversary edition) a planned tea break at 4 and a lovely eggplant parmesan with Sockeye Pinot for dinner (so I really shouldn't be writing this now, ifyouknowwhatImean).
So anyway, to elongate a long story, it's done! Yay! Not that anyone can tell anything (if I've done my job correctly, that is!) but thebellwether.biz is now 100% September compliant, and just in time! (Does this count for the UFO of the month club? haha)
I hope I've also cleared up the outside-USA ordering issues (thank you to my patient Canadian customers!), and improved the wording on the shopping cart page. If you find some incorrect text or have problems with the website, please contact me.
And to celebrate, though there are not photos (I'm sorry!!) there are three lovely new rovings listed -- California Red in natural oatmeal, Cormo X Rambouillet in lovely natural soft brown, and Shetland/Alpaca in silky natural caramel. Enjoy!
I'm off to make evening Rooibos and enjoy the evening's sunset with my husband, my spinning, and a good movie!
How fine do I spin my singles to get a target WPI in my plied yarn?
How do you determine singles WPI based on how many plies you want? well, that is in part a function of twist angle or grist, so all I can give you are my ball parks. I tend to spin woolen, for an airy yarn, but will spin high-twist sock yarns. More on twist angle (and yards per pound) in a little bit.For a two-ply, I estimate my singles at 3/2 the WPI of the result; so for a result of 14 WPI 2-ply (thin end of CYCA 3, which includes DK) I'd want to spin my singles 21 WPI.
For a three-ply, I estimate my singles at twice the WPI of the result; so for a result of 14 WPI 3-ply, I'd spin the singles at 28 WPI.
Mabel Ross (Essentials of Yarn Design for Handspinners
) and Anne Fields (Spinning Wool: Beyond the Basics
) both give tables in their books that are empirical numbers; if you work out ratios, they are in the neighborhood of my estimates above, though there is variation from WPI to WPI and TPI (twist angle/twists per inch) to TPI -- soo, to continue with all these silly letters, YMMV (grin)Twist angle/twists per inch has a big impact on yards per pound -- so if you are copying a commercial yarn, this can be a pretty big factor in getting similar YPP for their WPI.
Yards per pound is a function of wraps per inch, twist angle and spinning style: if you spin a lofty, airy yarn that holds alot of air (woolen style), it will be lighter than the same thickness of yarn spun by compressing all the air out of it as you spin (worsted style). So there are huge variations in what the YPP will be for a given WPI; Aldon Amos described it well in his tome, The Big Book of Handspinning. I'm not sure what other references there are for it though I'm sure Mabel Ross (my fave!) touches on it.
I put together a table on CYCA/WPI/YPP a while back in discussing how much fiber you need to get 200 yards of yarn. Here's the data:
Weight WPI YPP
0-lace 24+ 2600++
1-fingering 19-22 2600+
2-sport 15-18 1900-2600
3-DK 12-14 900-1800
4-worsted 9-11 500-1100
5-bulky 7-8 300-500
6-super bulky 6 or less 400 or less
As you can see, those YPP ranges are _really_wide_
Also for those who check details -- there is no CYCA 0, but then again, I guess they don't believe in laceweight yarn? So I made it up since we all love spinning the stuff!
Also also, the plied yarn as spun still isn't "done" -- many yarns will bloom when you wash them so their final post-wash WPI is lower (i.e., the yarn thickens) than their as-spun WPI.
(based on a reply by me on Spin-List)
The picture at the top is a 3-ply superwash merino spun to fingering weight for socks. I plan on churning it in the 72 needle cylinder of my sock machine next-but-one (there's another skein of handspun in line in front of it, for socks for a dear friend). The spinning of that yarn was discussed in Do you really measure twists per inch? ... and you can find several interesting posts by doing a blog search on twist angle. Enjoy!
If you have a rule of thumb for singles' WPI versus 2, 3 or more plies, please add it in the comments here.
How can I control the bobbins on my non-tensioned lazy kate?
A lazy kate is a stand for holding your bobbins of wool while you ply. The portable Katie A-Go-Go shown here has a tensioning device, but not all do -- the one that came with my Majacraft Suzie Alpaca wheel did not have a tensioner built-in, for example.Two ways to add tension to an upright non-tensioned lazy kate:
1. Put a felt disc with a hole in the middle under the bobbin (between the bottom of the kate and the bobbin, didn't record players do something like this?) ... I seem to recall running across this idea on an email list. It is terrific and my "solution of choice".
Journey Wheel owners note -- this is a great way to handle your non-grooved bobbins on the Katie A-Go-Go!
2. Put a rubber band around the arms of your lazy kate under the bobbins. This idea and the bands to do it came with my Fricke e-spinner. If there's only one arm, you could use a small band and keep winding until it's semi-tight on the metal/wood post of the kate. I do this on the uprights built-in to my Suzie wheel, one post at a time, and it's a great solution since there isn't a solid wooden board underneath, just a bar of wood wide enough for the metal rod.
I'm not sure how I'd translate these ideas for sideways kates like the kate on the Journey Wheel or the Ashford one. Anyone have any suggestions for those Kate styles? with bobbins with grooves, maybe you could run a rubber band around two of the bobbins in the grooves -- but Journey Wheel bobbins don't have grooves, so it wouldn't work for them. Email me, contact me, or add a comment with your suggestions for sideways/horizontal kates below.
Bellefeathers! 20 August 2007
Wow! has it really been that long? Summer shows, gardens, and county fair sure have run away with my summer plans!
One of the shifts of The Bellwether with the move last year to Port Angeles is taking more opportunities to teach, and this issue of Bellefeathers is to let you know that the Belle (that's me!) will be teaching at the North Olympic Fiber Arts Festival October 7th. Why tell you now? Because class sign-ups end this Saturday (August 25)!
There are a dozen classes to choose among -- I'm teaching sock yarn dyeing, a short form of the full-day workshop I taught in April. You'll walk away from my workshop having learned how to dye wool yarns, with yarn you've dyed yourself that you can then knit into socks (or anything that uses about 400 yards of fingering weight yarn)!
I'm toying with which methods to show and which to "do" -- the skeins show the four methods from the Lacey retreat -- I still have a few weeks to knit them into socks, thank goodness!
And I'm taking the sewn lace scarf class -- way cool! I may just upgrade my 20 year old Kenmore machine for a sweet Janome Little Gem along the way.
I got to model (yes, that's me!) one of the scarves in the picture shoot for the website -- I am so looking forward to making one of these myself!
There are so many cool classes -- sock yarn dyeing, needlefelting, creative card making, Kumihimo, wet felt scarves, locker hooking, creative booklet binding, knitting reversible cables, silk fusion, sewn lace scarf, creative plying in spinning, and digital printing on fabric! Whew! Makes me wish I had 4 of me, so I could take them all!
So, hop on over to the festival website (www.fiberartsfestival.org) click on "Instruction" and print out the enrollment form to send in with your class fee -- and be sure to email me (or contact me) to reserve a spot as soon as you've got your check in the mail! And I'll see you -- I'm sure I'll be working the sign-in table during the day, too!
The classes will all be October 7th, 2007, in Sequim, Washington -- a fun ferry trip for those from Seattle or further east, and a delightful drive up from Tacoma or Olympia.
One of the shifts of The Bellwether with the move last year to Port Angeles is taking more opportunities to teach, and this issue of Bellefeathers is to let you know that the Belle (that's me!) will be teaching at the North Olympic Fiber Arts Festival October 7th. Why tell you now? Because class sign-ups end this Saturday (August 25)!
There are a dozen classes to choose among -- I'm teaching sock yarn dyeing, a short form of the full-day workshop I taught in April. You'll walk away from my workshop having learned how to dye wool yarns, with yarn you've dyed yourself that you can then knit into socks (or anything that uses about 400 yards of fingering weight yarn)!I'm toying with which methods to show and which to "do" -- the skeins show the four methods from the Lacey retreat -- I still have a few weeks to knit them into socks, thank goodness!
And I'm taking the sewn lace scarf class -- way cool! I may just upgrade my 20 year old Kenmore machine for a sweet Janome Little Gem along the way.I got to model (yes, that's me!) one of the scarves in the picture shoot for the website -- I am so looking forward to making one of these myself!
There are so many cool classes -- sock yarn dyeing, needlefelting, creative card making, Kumihimo, wet felt scarves, locker hooking, creative booklet binding, knitting reversible cables, silk fusion, sewn lace scarf, creative plying in spinning, and digital printing on fabric! Whew! Makes me wish I had 4 of me, so I could take them all!
So, hop on over to the festival website (www.fiberartsfestival.org) click on "Instruction" and print out the enrollment form to send in with your class fee -- and be sure to email me (or contact me) to reserve a spot as soon as you've got your check in the mail! And I'll see you -- I'm sure I'll be working the sign-in table during the day, too!
The classes will all be October 7th, 2007, in Sequim, Washington -- a fun ferry trip for those from Seattle or further east, and a delightful drive up from Tacoma or Olympia.
How do you spin on the Russian spindle?
The Russian spindle is a support spindle, singles are spun similarly to the techniques used with a tahkli spindle. The traditional fiber is Orenburg goat down, though in the US, they are typically used for Cashmere, Yak, Bison, and similar short stapled, fine fibers. The cop of handspun is built up on the lower end of the long part of the bulb.The picture above shows traditional plain Russian spindles, the one with fiber is very full!
I find it easiest to spin this wooden support spindle in a ceramic dish for minimum friction.
Plying is where the fun of Russian spindles come in, as to ply, you first take a full spindle of singles and silk thread (traditionally, though you can use what you want!) and wind it onto another Russian spindle. Yes, wind two strands together, maintaining even tension, without plying, onto the spindle!(this photos shows artsy-yet-functional Russian spindles, by Tom Forrester)
Then, you spin counter-clockwise and lift the end off the spindle as twist enters the yarn that is being released from the spindle. Cool, no? You take that new length of plied yarn and wrap it around a "Russian plying disc", which is simply a 2-inch diameter circle of lightweight cardboard (think cereal box or the cardboard that is inside flat-packed panty hose). Then, holding the disc, you repeat this process for a new length, wind it on, and continue.
The yarn is set by steaming it on the disk, or simply mist it and leave it to dry if your environment supports that.
The spindlitis list on YahooGroups has been having a Russian Spindle challenge, uploading to YouTube some lovely videos, especially Faina's, on Russian spindling.
And then I found this variant, of Tibetan spindling:
How cool is that!
As far as instruction goes, Connie Delaney has a pamphlet on Russian Spindling, Ghalena Kaleva's book Gossamer Webs has a segment on Russian Spindling, and the Spin-Off Handspindle Treasury has a piece on these spindles as well. The video Spindles Around the World by Barbara Clorite-Ventura shows these spindles in action.
Tom Forrester's Russian Spindles are available at The Bellwether, as are ceramic bowls.
How do you spin beads into yarn?
I've spun beads into yarn four ways ...
1. thread the beads onto thread and then hold the thread as a core while spinning singles (so the thread and fiber becomes a single. The beads (or, sequins in this case!) will "pop" to the surface of the single if you are spinning fairly fine.
2. thread the beads onto thread and make a 3-ply: two of your fibery singles, third ply is the beads-on-thread.
3. thread your beads onto thread and then ply that with your singles; it's your choice to make a "gimp" yarn (the thicker handspun wig-wagging around the thread) or to push the fiber into coils on the thread between the beads. Both are coil. Coil yarn is quite thick and dense, BTW.
4. as you spin the singles, break the end and thread a few beads onto the singles as you go, then rejoin with your fiber, spin some more yarn, etc. repeat as desired. Can do on both or just one of the singles. Using a beading needle, a "floss threader", or some fishing nylon is the easiest way to transfer beads onto the fiber.
When using thread (1-3) you can simply thread the beads onto the thread and move them up and down as you want, or you can tie them on for more "bead stability".
Of all of these, I tend to play around, though I do find stringing the beads onto threads faster than the fourth method. 2 and 4 have Spin-off articles, I think from Winter '03 and Spring '04.
I'll work on getting more bead yarns onto my flickr account "real soon" ... like, after the county fair! (they're all being entered!)
1. thread the beads onto thread and then hold the thread as a core while spinning singles (so the thread and fiber becomes a single. The beads (or, sequins in this case!) will "pop" to the surface of the single if you are spinning fairly fine.2. thread the beads onto thread and make a 3-ply: two of your fibery singles, third ply is the beads-on-thread.
3. thread your beads onto thread and then ply that with your singles; it's your choice to make a "gimp" yarn (the thicker handspun wig-wagging around the thread) or to push the fiber into coils on the thread between the beads. Both are coil. Coil yarn is quite thick and dense, BTW.
4. as you spin the singles, break the end and thread a few beads onto the singles as you go, then rejoin with your fiber, spin some more yarn, etc. repeat as desired. Can do on both or just one of the singles. Using a beading needle, a "floss threader", or some fishing nylon is the easiest way to transfer beads onto the fiber.
When using thread (1-3) you can simply thread the beads onto the thread and move them up and down as you want, or you can tie them on for more "bead stability".
Of all of these, I tend to play around, though I do find stringing the beads onto threads faster than the fourth method. 2 and 4 have Spin-off articles, I think from Winter '03 and Spring '04.
I'll work on getting more bead yarns onto my flickr account "real soon" ... like, after the county fair! (they're all being entered!)
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