Lmst

TIL I can work the treadle on my Ashford Traveller Mk 2 while I have a little orange kitty on my lap. :spinningwheel: #Spinning #HandSpinning #FiberArts

A ginger cat rests on someone's lap while, mostly off-camera, the person's left hand holds some green wool that's connected to a spinning wheel with a strand of spun thread. Stargate:SG1 plays on a large screen TV in the background.

Opened one of my Xmas gifts (to myself) a little early...

#HandSpinning

A Bam Fiber Works drum carder, hand crafted out of wood, hand cranked sits on a table in front of a large cardboard box full of packing paper.

Trying out the new #Lojan Travel Buddy at Stiel Wolwerkplaats.

If I didn't have enough (=3) spinning wheels in my house, I would really consider getting this one. Maybe not the travel version - my Louët Victoria is only about half the weight and quite a bit smaller when folded down - but the budget or double treadle versions are a dream to spin with and the price is really great.

So if you're in the market for a wheel - give this one a try.

@handspinning @fiberarts #handspinning #fiberarts

A woman work blurred face sitting at a spinning wheel. The flyer is turning which can be seen in the picture through the blur it leaves

The wheel is a very modern, sleek spinning wheel, functional and beautiful in a very no nonsense way.

Behind her is an old desk with carvings. The floor is old wood planks. The whole room has a very calm atmosphere.

The visit was, in part, to deliver Berner fur for my spinning experiments! This isn't actually Freya's fur, but her packmate Y'shtola's, who had stayed home for the evening.

Y'shtola has gifted us with ~10 oz / 280 g of soft, fluffy and very black undercoat. It's slightly longer than our huskies' fur, but still much shorter than the Tibetan mastiff fur. I'll give it a try with the combs just for the sake of completeness, but I suspect that carding is going to be the better prep method here.

Freya made herself quite at home on our sofa while her humans got an introduction to all the collected fiber prep tools that I've collected in a short amount of time!

#Handspinning #Chiengora

Three fur samples on a white background. Long (6-8") Tibetan Mastiff fur is on the left, the bottom half black and outer tips flaming orange. On the right is short white husky fur, about 2" long. In the middle is Bernese Mountain Dog fur, all black, and perhaps 2.5 to 3" long.

Two Ziploc bags of black Berner fur. One is packed quite stiff with fur, while the other is about. half full.

A large Bernese Mountain Dog lounges comfortably on a dark brown leather couch, largely ignoring the throw pillows in disarray under her. Husky Tonttu looks on warily at this invasion to what is normally HIS territory. Plastic bins of knitting and spinning paraphernalia sit on the coffee table to the left and behind, with an electronic spinning wheel on top of the bin on the table. A couple of humans stand behind the arm of the couch, their identities kept secure by clever cropping.

Finally finished the Oni (Tibetan Mastiff) x merino (50:50) blend!

I did each of the 4 rolags in an evening: 1-1.5 hours per. As I went along, I got more confident and consistent at the long draw, though the results were still much more uneven than my worsted style. (Re-watching some long-draw videos online, I seem to be well within the margin of variability for the technique.)

The singles remained quite thin. I'm not sure if this kind of fiber can be spun long-draw any thicker, with practice, or if every fiber has a thickness that it "wants" to be given the physics involved. I split them into 3 "equal" cones, and then triple-plied them, washed and let it set.

The color is clearly darker than the original slightly-variable mastiff fur: it seems that the dark espresso brown of the merino dominates...

🧵 ...

#HandSpinning #Yarn #Chiengora

Transferring thin dark brown yarn singles from an e-spinner to a cone winder, via a yarn counter in the middle. You are looking at the setup from the e-spinner end, and it's blurry with spinning. The yarn counter is Jerry-rigged to a mounted wool comb, and the cone winder is out of focus in the distance.

Three cones of singles yarn, the result of winding in the first photo.

The dark brown woolen yarn, now triple-plied from each of the three cones and wrapped around a PVC rectangle for washing and setting. It's resting against a large map on the wall, and in front is a small nest of Tibetan Mastif top next to a large ball of dark brown merino top.

Fertig gesponnen war sie schon ein paar Wochen, meine RPL. Auch wenn sie rauwolliges pommersches Landschaf heißt, sagt das nichts über die Kuschligkeit aus. Es ist aus Kardvlies entstanden, mit langem Auszug gesponnen und zweifach gezwirnt, alles schön fluffig. So würde es für mich sogar halstauglich, aber ich bin auch nicht sooo empfindlich.

Frisch gewaschenes und getrocknetes Garn auf einem Haufen nimmt enorm Platz ein, zu Strängen gedreht und sauber aufgereiht schon deutlich weniger. Es ist eben seehr fluffig. Und riecht sooo schön nach Schaf 🥰

#handspinnen #handspinning @handarbeiten

Eine Collage aus zwei Bildern.
Links liegt ein großer Haufen hellgraue Wolle lose auf einem Holzuntergrund. Als Maßstab dient ein Kugelschreiber, der recht klein wirkt.
Rechts liegt die gleiche Wolle in Strängen. Der Platzverbrauch ist nur noch ein Drittel so viel, der Referenz- Kugelschreiber wirkt nicht mehr so verloren.

I got my fiber advent a few days ago (late, since I didn’t order until Dec 1) and I’ve been desperately spinning to try to catch up with the real date. This is from Blue Savannah in Idaho and is a blend of Haunui wool and Mulberry Silk. It’s fun to spin and the sheen is fantastic. 20 g each day. Plan is to spin it up as singles one right after another and chain ply.

This is days 1 and 2.

#fiberArts #handspinning #adventCalendar #spinning

Espinner bobbin full of a purplish brown single

Right, day 1 - purplish brown fluff attached to a spun single. Left, day 2, a sort of pinkish combed top of Haunui wool and mulberry silk. Waiting to be spun.

A starling espinner with a partially full bobbin. Left side, pink (day 2) and right, brownish purple, from day 1

A bobbin on an espinner, partially full with a single of light pink

#weaving #question
I plan sizing some handspun wool for a warp.

I don't have much gelatin left at home. Has anyone tried flaxseed aka linseed gel? It feels a bit adventurous to just give it a try and experiment with sizing recipes for my first attempt of sizing and second attempt of weaving. But here we are.
Actually, I didn't even find very exact sizing recipes at all, so I might as well give it a shot.

#handspinning #FiberArts

@handspinning @fiberarts

I started with the bottom right cake and separated the layers - spinning the silk at first. The original plan was to spin all 6 layers on individual bobbins and then ply the 3 silk bobbins and the 3 merino bobbins together.

But now after looking at the very colorful second cake (see post above) I'm no longer sure, that's a good idea. Maybe I should chain ply each of the layers seperately?

#handspinning #fiberarts

Look from above at a spinning wheel. The bobbin is filled to about half it's capacity with a very fine single in shades of turquoise.

Starting a new #handspinning project

It's fiber a got earlier this year at a needlecraft fair from a dyer I've used before - three batches of fiber that should work together

It's a merino silk "blend" - not really a blend. She's layering a length of silk on a length of merino and then dyes them together. The layers can be separated easily and spun seperately. It's originally meant for felting, but works for spinning well

Dyer: https://adrianart.eu/

@handspinning @fiberarts #fiberarts

Three cakes of spinning fiber arranged in a pyramid. It's long stretches of combed top rolled up like a cinnamon bun. They are of different, but matching colors. The one at center top is in shades of turquois and purple, the one left bottom has the same colors but added some yellow and the one at bottom right is mostly shades of turqois and blue with only little purple in it.

The cake from the precious picture unrolled - it shows that the yarn is very randomly applied

the two layers seperated - on top the silk, on bottom the merino

A request for dog owners and the canine-adjacent: do you have medium/long dog fur I can test fiber prep on?

I've been talking with Baruch of Bam Fiber Works, where I got my double-row extra-fine combs for working with Oni's long Tibetan Mastiff fur, and we're both interested in testing out single-row combs instead. I got the double-row combs to work, but there was more effort and waste than desired. Baruch made me an offer I couldn't refuse: if I purchased a set of single-row extra-fine combs, he'd toss in a set of single-row fine combs for free -- as long as I provided feedback on how they compared.

The problem: I don't have any more of Oni's fur left to test on until next spring!

Sure, I could go back and re-comb the finished top, but I would like to truly start fresh with un-prepared fur.

ALSO, while I'm at it, I'd like to try OTHER dog breeds and fur lengths. Baruch is interested in getting more information he can share with other customers curious about working with their own dogs' fur. This is just the kind of research project I love to do!

So, please share this post and/or contact me if you are interested in providing test samples.

More in 🧵 ...

#HandSpinning #FiberArts #Chiengora @fiberarts

Pulling a long sliver of dark brown combed Tibetan Mastiff fur top off of a double-row comb mounted to a coffee table. The fur is being pulled through a diz, a round piece of plastic with a small hole in it, to control the amount of fiber being removed at one time. The sliver pools in a fuzzy snake-like heap on the floor.

Combing of Tibetan Mastiff fur in progress. The long brown, slightly crimped fur stands out from the comb like Don King's famous hair. A fuzzy pile of discarded seconds sits next to the comb.

Three pairs of wool combs with wooden tine protectors on the tips, arranged left to right along a coffee table in the order of single-row fine, single-row extra fine, and double-row extra fine. The last pair shows evidence of wear and one is mounted on a piece of wood used for securing the comb to the table.

I decided Dec 1 to get a fiber advent calendar and it arrived today! This is the Blue Savannah Advent - Haunui Mulberry Combed Top with a Wild & Sweet Theme. It came with a lovely mug, a hot chocolate stirrer, and a nice bag. Day 1 is brownish-purple fiber and a caramel cup. Spun up on my Starling. Hoping to catch up to the right date on the weekend. #fiberArts #handspinning #AdventCalendar

Left to right, fluffy dog, sniffing a Trader Joe’s hot chocolate stirrer. Middle, closed advent calendar box “wild & Sweet.” Right, card for the advent and a closed box

Underneath, a drawstring bag with a pocket. Words say “wild & sweet” and wild and sweet the words repeat is peace on earth good will to men. Henry Wordsworth Longfellow.

On top of the bag, a porcelain mug and plate with cards with info about the pottery. And right, a hot chocolate stirrer

Behind, advent calendar box in gold with numbers in each perforated door. On top, a caramel chocolate cup. To the right, a braid of brownish-purple fiber

Espinner (cranberry colored) bobbin partially filled with singles in a brownish purple

So, hey, if anyone gives you a handspun/handknit thing, please recognise it is a truly princely gift. #Spinning #Handspinning #Knitting #FiberArts

Working on a spinning project, goal of a single pair of socks. I decided to do Best Case math, dedicated to anyone who says I should "just" sell my handspun &/or knitting to make money while I'm out of work…

2 hr wool prep
20 hr spinning singles
6 hr chain ply prep
2 hr plying
20 hr knitting
------
50 hr work
x $16.30/hr (minimum wage in my state)
------
$815
+ $18 for wool (on Big! Sale!) = $833

$833. For socks. Before profit. 🤔

#Spinning #Handspinning #Knitting #FiberArts

I'm trying to spin DK or smaller. This is my first try on the high speed whorl.

#HandSpinning #Wool #Yarn

Blocking The Article shawl by Kate Davies. All hand spun. Made the edge stitches a bit too tight. And I'm not sure if this shape is very practical. Like the texture and the weird breaking in of the happy turquoise into the moody browns.
#knitting #HandSpinning

Drop or leaf shaped knitted fabric pinned out on a pink carpet with an old light green towel on it. The shawl is wider than the towel. It has stripes of green with three other colours. There are 12 segments. Green paired with turquoise, green paired with red brown and green paired with dark brown. So each combination appears four times.

Beautiful, @FanCityKnits ! Tagging for #SolarPunkSunday !

#FiberArts #HandSpinning #Wool

Spinning project finished (nearly).

It's fresh off the wheel and wound into skeins, but still needs finishing, which will happen after I return home.

It is spun from 3 similar batts I got at a fiberfestival earlier this year, the yarn is 100% wool, probably some local variety, because it's not that soft. Plied with a strand of very fine merino, so make most of what I had. Before finishing it's about 1.100 m.

@handspinning @fiberarts #handspinning #spinning #fiberarts

A large skein of handspun yarn. It is barberpoled - one strand is thick and fluffy and in shades of mostly turquois with pink and a bit of white sprinkled in. The other strand is thinner and dusky rose.

The same yarn, but now singled out into 5 individual skeins, piled into a big heap.

close up of the yarn - the thicker strand is much fluffier and a bit unevenly spun. Some of the fibers are poking out

Another close up - the fibers look almost scratchy at the zoom level.

The Bacon Burner batt is plied, soaked/snapped, and hung to dry. The plying was a learning experience, my first time doing a chain ply of an entire spin. It isn’t perfect - there are a bunch of places where it got screwed up - but overall I’m super happy with how it turned out. The resulting yarn looks just how you’d expect from the original batt. #handspinning #FiberArts

Bobbin with the singles from the first of 3 spindles chain plied orange at top, red at bottom. On an EEW 6.1 e spinner.

Bobbin with the singles from first 2 of 3 spindles chain plied light red on right, darker red on left. On an EEW 6.1 e spinner.

Bobbin with the singles from all 3 spindles chain plied shades of dark maroon and purple with hints of orange . On an EEW 6.1 e spinner.

A skein of yarn - yellow orange though dark maroon / purple. Yarn is looped and tied and laying on a blue grey background

I’ve been noodling around with #MachineKnitting lately, and quietly thinking to myself that April would have been a better time to reinvigorate that enthusiasm, instead of coming into summer. Having said that, I spent winter doing some #handspinning and even made some things! Looking forward to playing with #ayab for #knittingMachines. I discovered that open source hardware through the @oshwassociation conference months back and finally have my hands on a machine to play with!

#HandSpinning

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