August Challenge Spin with Spindlers

The August challenge theme in Spindlers group on Ravelry is “fantasy,” and I took the plunge!

Not going with Outlander, read ahead!

This 5 oz braid of combed top from Corgi Hill Farm is in my favourite blend, alpaca/merino/silk.  The spindle choice is my 22 g Spanish Peacock spindle, Flame Box Elder.

The group challenge is to spin at least 1 or more oz (or ½ oz lace) during the month on spindles (of course!), posting a skein in the thread by EST end of August.

Inspiration hits!

The Lord of the Eagles, Tolkien

The fibre brought to mind a single thought – Gandalf’s Eagle!  I went for our illustrated (Alan Lee) copy of “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien, found page 108, and headed for the passage that took my breath away so many years ago.

Eagles are not kindly birds. Some are cowardly and cruel. But the ancient race of the northern mountains were the greatest of all birds; they were proud and strong and noble-hearted…

Letting the curious Lord of the Eagles of the Misty Mountains take me out of my tree perch sounds like a good way to crack through that oh-so-pragmatic decision to miss the Tour de Fleece this year.

So far, I am the only fantasy Eagle Lord entrant but the past 2 days have brought some wonderful interpretations into this month’s theme.  Join us or just lurk for the fun, will you?

Rocking late blooming Lily!

This past camp week for T was also a treat for my fibre projects.  Wrinkles aside (I answered their survey this morning…), I used the daytime hours to have the coveted dye day, spin for the fun of it, share online, and best of all open the floor loom!

Yesterday brought a new tool into the kit – first pair of eye-glasses.  Slight correction later, and I am far more comfortable on-screen.  The 5/2 cotton threads on the loom are much easier to work with now, phew!

Another week of camp will start after our civic holiday weekend.  I am looking forward to sharing the pictures/project stories with you!

Spindle spinning along – in progress jar

This week, I answered a question about spindles – what if any pause is there between spinning singles (first elements) & plying.  It’s a great question!

Mostly function; part decor

The original Q&A is in the Ravelry group, Spindlers in the decade-old Stupid Questions thread (post no. 8,515 starts) if you want to check it out.

You can imagine my jar in its usual home of our fireplace mantle.  There are 5 singles balls of Targhee, the bright blue in this jar that are an example of a 2018 work-flow with a single spindle.

Blue Mahoe blue Targhee project arc

My last TKK post had this project’s 6th cop shown on a park bench.  Let’s go back to the beginning, a very happy mail day in January.

Two happy deliveries

A wonderful ending to a long & at times frustrating search was being quietly offered this good-as-new Bosworth skinny Midi 22 g spindle in Blue Mahoe.  Thank you, kind Raveler!

When I decided to add a second wood-whorl Bosworth it had to be one of their Blue Mahoes.  This tree, Hibiscus elatus is indigenous to Jamaica, is our national tree, and we planted one at our childhood home.

Impulsive thy name is new-to-me spindle

One short skip later, I was spinning from the 8 oz of Targhee dyed in “The Water” by Mandie at Sheepy Time Knits for the Hobbit Club.  The notes have my timeline, starting January 9, 2018 wind-off dates & weights are:

1. February 9 – 24 g;
2. February 19 – 26 g (prize for most spinning!);
3. March 28 – 26 g (aquas showing);
4. April 30 – 25 g
5. June 13 – 27 g

No top is being weighed and parceled out.  I am just spinning by feel – when my hands feel a difference in the spin, I wind-off.  The how is by balancing the spindle in a shoe-box, pushing it away, and winding myself a ball.

Spinning the 5th cop this May; bag by Knit Spin Quilt

Using a single spindle for a longer-term project takes an important bundle of skills.  It means managing those singles tangle-free over time.  Developing different paths from a full spindle to re-filling the spindle to completion is a personal journey.  It boils down to achieving consistency.

Here, I kept my options fairly open with separate singles balls.  After lunging to start, I pretty much had to.  Besides, winter is not my best planning time.

The current idea is to move towards a 3-ply yarn when I am finished with singles.  The yarn is under tension, all in one spot, dust/pest-free, and encourages me to keep going.   The outside of each ball is the first-spun of that batch.  You can even change that if you please.

Also in progress

One point in my answer this week was that it’s worth noting our whole process.  All of the singles in my jar have been “resting” – some all year.  When I get to the last of this fibre it will get some “rest” too, typically overnight.  When I get to the plying steps – there will be more than 1 skein for sure – is anybody’s guess.  I can pace that too as the boss of my own yarn!

 

Summer dye baths – avocado now; Queen Anne’s Lace then

Early Sunday morning, I took a knife to some of the stored avocado pits.  It was a way to think of my spinning friend Mary before her memorial service that day.

Avocado dye, Day 1

The bowl includes 4 pits from Jamaican avocado pears brought by my Mother-in-law – they gave colour instantly!  It’s no rush, and is just a moveable feast around the backyard as I seek the sun.

Avocado dye, Day 3 (boiled)

This is after 1 boil, and cooling on Tuesday morning.  While it sits, I am debating using ammonia again to boost extraction.

Meet the target – handspun BFLxShetland wool

Slated for the dye-pot is this approximately 285 yards from 100 g of roving from Hopeful Shetlands.

I carded the roving before spinning.  The rolags hit the CPW at a good clip in the month after our houseguests left.  It is spun supported long-draw, and plied on my Watson Martha also in double-drive.

Throwback to last August

We took a walk last Emancipation Day to gather Queen Anne’s Lace.  T was game, and now understands about dye-plants.

Thrilling 2017 Queen Anne’s Lace

We gathered 204 g in a local ravine.  I might have been more into this than young T-ster.

First we soak the wool top

The target was 98 g of Saskatchewan Targhee wool top from Sheepspot.  Mordanting with alum & cream of tartar is where T lost a good deal of interest.  Luckily, Mom was on hand to keep him occupied.

Dry, beautiful top, dry!

After a first boil, I got 145 g of carrot tops from the supermarket, and added them for a 30 min boil.  The wool cooled in the pot overnight.

We quickly had yarn

By the notes taken, I had approximately 173 yards of 3-ply by the end of that week!  It was spun and plied in double-drive on my Watson Martha.  It is a 690 yards per pound yarn.  That would be in an aran-weight range but the wraps per inch is 12 or worsted-weight range.

A small facelift

There are subtle changes for the TKK blog appearance, and I also re-worked the About page.  The break that I have taken this year from the Tour de Fleece is as much for focusing at home as it is for this re-tooling.

Another Targhee spin in the park, yesterday

The memorial for our friend, Mary, was small but very touching.  I went with our “not a teaching group” friend, Nancy, and other spinners were able to join as well.

On Sunday night, I started a new 3-ply project on the Martha spinning wheel.  It was Mary’s custom wheel before she surprised me with her offer to sell.  I hope that her family knows how much her spinning life’s work mattered in the community.

Change is good, and then we craft

Guests have been hosted, and summer is finally well under way.  The time crunch was hellish but we were able to tackle all the tasks.  This gathering was all in T’s honour.  Two years in having this outpouring was simply wonderful.

Blooming in time for you, dear readers (not the guests as intended!).

As it happened, I also lucked into a birthday with favorite people all either in our space or about to arrive for the weekend.

It was as small as we needed it to be but included T’s teachers for the main (religious) event.  The integration of these threads was so tremendous for him.  We missed his grandfather on N’s side very keenly.  I also could not help but miss those who started the journey with us but are fallen away.

On the Olde English Babydoll Southdown fleece

Very recently, in the past week or so, I have started to prepare some of Olivia’s 2015 fleece from Laurie’s Little Lambs farm.  The link is to my post with the fleece pictures, background.

Handcarding Babydoll Southdown locks

Making floor-space for guests meant moving wheels, which in turn meant that I very much missed spinning on those wheels.  This is my 2nd project started after our folks left.

Back in 2015, I had a very good plan to use the Meck paddle combs for the longer locks in this fleece.  Three years later here’s the hitch in that very good plan in 1 hyphenated word: set-up.  The kitchen table used to be such a good place for pointy steel wool combs!

Here we are.  Schacht cotton cards, the Louet flicker brush, an old bed sheet & mornings before the house wakes up are glorious.

Pretty sweet tool for the job – antique (presumed Canadian) flax wheel

These rolags are a joy to spin fine.  There is something amazing about the twist meeting the spiral character of this wool’s crimp.  Plus, when spun clockwise this antique wheel has a very smooth draw-in/motion.

The surprise – for me at least – is how the strong colour-banded locks have lost that definition in blending.  I noticed this morning that it starts when I flick the blocky staples before loading on the still card.  Darker fibres are stretching out into what looked like strong white upper bands (butt-end) as soon as I flick.

Sneaky VM, waste, and primo rolags from Babydoll Southdown locks

All reports of Southdown locks holding an insane amount of VM are true.  I am currently trying to get over just how much VM lies within.

The clear container holds the waste as I sort for the cards & flick locks.  Out of the picture are short-but-useful locks.  It’s slow but very enjoyable carding work.

A sweater for young T

This “Little Pixels Pullover” is now close to the hem, and is a stranded design.  Another pullover that T was looking forward to had fit issues, and is going to a school friend’s little brother.

Since my thrilling April “Talland Tee” knit, kiddo was feeling a bit left out of the knits.

Much needed knitting bliss – a handspun, dyed, Talland Tee

It’s not an indoorsy summer (or life, really)

As we got along with making summer plans later than is comfortable, I was looking for a spindle-type computing solution.  Spindle-type in that it can leave the relatively secluded desktop, and still be a working tool.

Jenkins Lark spindle at the library this week (Sheepytime Knits Masham wool fibre)

We know, I still don’t have much in the way of coffeeshop (or business) time – not if I also want to keep crafting.  The 2 hours while T did a library program this week was such a rare type of quiet daytime moment.  Still, there are days when I could do some more keyboarding if it would be both with us + not hurting my wrists.

Queen Anne’s Lace on a walk this week

Enjoying more full days together is splendid thing.  The compare & contrast with 2017 this time really shows how splendid when I find the quiet moments to reflect.

This post, written after T’s bedtime, is new.  The file transfer, software install work is still not complete but I like my new keyboard.  We hope it will pan out as more frequent TKK shares; perhaps less Twitter ephemera.

Melly cat in healthier days

Our Mel is now a week into treatment for diabetes.  Many thanks to all those who have liked, and replied to my tweets as we were finding out what had him so ravenous & thirsty.  We have tests ahead, of course, but he is feeling better.

 

March handweaving – Two scarves from a Zephyr warp

This is the great use of our March break that I hinted at in past posts – all finished, and one scarf is in happy use.  It is based on a pre-wound pair of warp chains of Fantastic Knitting Zephyr (merino/silk, 5,040 YPP) 6 yards long.

Therein lies a story.

Warp sees light of day!

In the last weeks of T’s first school term, mid-June 2017, I was so stressed that I thought weaving scarves would be just the thing.  There I had the most beautiful 2 balls of knitting lace yarn in a colour that a (former) friend thought would be great on me.  She was correct but I just had not wanted to knit that much Suede in lace at all.

Well, I both did and ignored the math.  This led to the correct length, and here is the true quote from my weaving book when winding:

OH CRAP.

This is how I learned that stress weaving is not yet my thing.  I was short by half of the bouts I wanted for comfortable twill scarves.  It needed re-working but my mind was not to be trusted with anything but knitting needles at that point.  Clearly.

There is a literal inked-in note of the yardage requirement for my first idea:  1,728 yards of Zephyr.  The rub?  I had 1,260 yards, and ignored the shortfall at my peril.  But wait.  It ends well!  No to twill!

So many breakthroughs in one picture – handspun camel/silk on zephyr

What captured my imagination was Erica de Ruiter’s 1 block M’s & O’s in her new “Weaving on 3 Shafts” book, p. 30.  The chapter starts,

This weave, found more or less by accident, was the direct cause for my three-shaft passion.

Passion is understating Erica de Ruiter’s work in this area but I digress.

This effect proved wonderful for showing-off my handspun camel/silk that is 3,560 YPP and only 2 ounces from Schafenfreude Fibres.  It was spun as long ago as July, 2013.

Shopped the stash – camel/silk handspun

Another breakthrough was weaving with my new Bluster Bay end-feed shuttle (Honex tension) in black cherry.  Now that was a splurge worth making!  I wound the pirn using my Leclerc electric winder.

New Bluster Bay EFS in action!

The weft now showing is Aura Lace (35% alpaca; 55% tencel; 10% nylon; 4 oz = 568 yards).  It is sold by Sheepytime Knits, and the colourway is “Elven Cloak” from their now discontinued & glorious Hobbit Club.  The second scarf is a gift for a friend.

Details are that I sleyed the zephyr 20 ends per inch for 9.3″ width in the 12-dent reed (1-2-2 sley).  The handspun scarf’s finished width is 7.75″ x 73″ long; 4″ fringes.  The Aura Lace scarf measures a cool 8.75″ x 6.25″ with the same fringe length.  It has an extra plain weave repeat, and I think this held it more open.

Wet finishing my zephyr blend scarves

Weaving time for me was 7 days (nights, really!) from March 10 – 17, 2018.  The for-me scarf is lovely, and with our late spring I have been able to wear it several times.

New scarf happy!

The differences between the 2 scarves after finishing are striking.  Not only by measurements but also by looks.  The “Elven Cloak” was more grey-green in the skein, and lightens the gift scarf considerably.

Side-by-side – weft made such a difference!

There are more detail pictures that I will move to my (irieknit) Weaving album on Flickr, and the Ravelry weaving project is already up.

Full scarf – first woven with handspun weft

Although my floor loom is empty again, I am weaving a Tattersall check in 5/2 cotton on my table loom now.  We have guests visiting next month, and a lot going-on in the school time before then.

It’s not just a time crunch but things like windstorms and new after-school activities that we have on the go.

Elven Cloak weft on Zephyr for a gift scarf!

Better than hoped for – handspun yarn meets Saxon blue

The handspun yarn in question is Romeldale/ CVM wool from Spirit Trail Fiberworks.  It flowed so beautifully that I will give a quick re-cap.

• Singles start:  end of December, 2017 on Rappard Wee Peggy spinning wheel, scotch tension
• Four 3-ply S-twist skeins later: April 9, 2017 all plied on Watson Martha spinning wheel, scotch tension
• Total plied dry weight of 1.1 ounces (315 g) = approx 726 yards

It was a finished and measured pile of DK-weight yarn all of last week, and was the right weight to get a medium shade using my Christmas gift natural dye kit from Botanical Colors.

Soaked and into the pot for mordanting

If you followed my tweets last Friday you may know that I was remembering my first spinning friend, Mary, through the entire day.  In a casual read of the local paper that morning, I was saddened to discover a notice that she passed away peacefully on April 1, 2018.

Now in with the Saxon blue dye liquor

This is all of the liquid indigo Saxon blue from Botanical Colors’ “Natural Dye Extract Kit,” around 1.5 tablespoons.

Dyeing takes time

Simmering ended at around my school run to get T that Friday afternoon.  The slow overnight cool in the dye pot let the yarn exhaust.  Gotta love waking up to dyed yarn in clear water!

Not your typical April in Ontario

By Saturday afternoon, I had beautiful yarn hanging to dry.  The excited tweets were without pictures since we also were tucked-in for an ice storm that did not quit.

Not a typical April

We enjoyed the fire together on Sunday after I had finally done a bit of sewing to piece together a small cotton blanket for T.  Sewing was my bit; building a fire was N’s.  We were both working to help absorb a difficult new twist that the week had thrown our family on Thursday. 

School was cancelled on Monday as well but we got out for a long slushy walk to the library that day.  

The best teal ever

This is the happy outcome of Friday afternoon’s dye-work.

Isn’t this the softest teal?!

It has not stayed in skein form very long at all.

Housework has been delayed

A natural blue dye experience has been pending in my mental queue for far too long.  This was easy & relatively quick with just beautiful results.

Right after taking this picture, I swatched.  This yarn is still helping with the big feelings as I knit a Talland Tee designed by Sonja Bargielowska on 4.5 mm needles.

After storm surge, lakeshore

This spot by Lake Ontario was just a shady area of grass before the storm hit.  Since we had less accretion at home than we did during the December 2013 ice storm, it was surprising to see the lakeshore (south) damage.

The walk was chilly but a good change of scenery for me on Thursday before getting groceries & visiting with a spinning friend.  We met through Mary.

Farther west along the lakeshore

It was an overdue visit, and I am glad that we got together again so quickly after calling her with the sad news last Friday.

Of all the gifts, laughter that my friendship with Mary brought it was being introduced to a spinning group with 30+ years of weekly gatherings that meant the most for me.  The first time that our friend greeted me for spinning group at her home she asked, “And where is your wheel?”  I left that day with her (now my) Wee Peggy in the back of my car.

After the storm, spring

I met Mary on my first visit to the Oakville guild as a novice spinner.  While I will always carry & repeat her insights for spinners, I hope that you can also find an experienced spinner to take you under their wing.  Maybe that person can look you in the eye as Mary did for me and say:

You are a good spinner.  Don’t ever let anyone make you feel that you are not.

We all need a friend like Mary.  May she rest in peace.

April already!

The weaving that I mentioned in the last post is all pressed with pictures pending.  I can’t wait to go through the shots and share them with you!

We are in a 4-day family break for Easter, and this is a short (yes, really –  I know I can make it so) post.

Potted at least until we thaw.

Best wishes if you celebrate the season!  The hydrangea has brightened the hall since Thursday afternoon as we managed through several pressures of the week.

Little did I know when rushing about preparing on Thursday that we had a beautiful surprise from my dear Mother-in-Law waiting at home.

Special delivery 

The front bloom is faded now but the scent is still strong.

Many of our family’s additional needs surface in the holiday times.  School was not exactly helping with T’s big project & other pressures.  Luckily neither N nor I is a Blast the Cheery-weeries type.  The learning curve is more about how to attune & build-in quiet successes by being fully present. 

This Easter unfolded as quiet and meaningful even as we do still miss family, and others.

When in doubt we go out

By Saturday morning, a day trip was in order.  We enjoyed a working sugar bush in all of its glory!

Maple syrup festival, yes!

It was the last weekend of their open season, and the Conservation Area was busy with families and many dogs on leads.

During the long, chilly wait for our guided wagon ride, I got some spinning done on my Jenkins Lark spindle.

 

Masham wool on my Jenkins Lark!

The fibre is Masham wool dyed as “Minerva” by Sheepy Time Knits for her 2018 Female Heroes club.  The plying ball in the shell weighs 35 g, and is 2-stranded.

As soon as I opened the package it went on this spindle, February 12th.  This is my post from 6+ years ago on my first & until now only spinning of dyed Masham top.  This spin is just as lovely as I remember, and it has been a good project while watching T at his after-school activity.  The Jenkins’ spindles always get loads of questions too.

Speaking of the red Masham yarn…. (yes, I can’t actually write a short post, bear with me):

Hot water bottle cozy in handspun Masham yarn

… in January 2016, I used the yarn to knit Sue Blacker’s design for a Hot-Water Bottle Cover.  The 4-ounce braid gave 134.5 yards of this 3-ply Masham, and I used a co-ordinating handspun yarn for the flap.

I have the seed of a thought that the Minerva Masham may be nice for small weaving but I am not bothered about end-use right now.

Back to our outing [focus!]

At wagon level through the sugar bush at Mountsberg’s Maple Town

The wagon was drawn by 2 horses, and it was a very nice guided ride.  The park has single-tapped 400 sugar maple trees this year.  In a less stressed year they will tap up to 600 trees.

We also enjoyed the Raptor Show but my favourites of the animals were between this Nubian cross goat, and the Bison.

Sometimes you just need to silly run down a road to see about some Bison in a field?  It was chilly, and that reminds me to share about an awesome spindle-spun hat that I made awhile back, and wear all the time.

The day trip really turned things around, and today included a new round of treats (those simple but effective Blizzard ads get us each spring).