#HandSpinner

[devogue]

[a-bit-knitty-gritty]

New yarn, fresh off the spinning wheel!

I took two OOAK braids of superfine merino dyed by Elsie B., which had a beautiful blend of pearly blues, pinks, and purples against the natural white wool. I got over 450 yds of a heavy sport weight yarn that is as soft as a cloud and wonderfully drapey.

I'd been wanting something more neutral without going entirely au natural, and I think this is the perfect compromise.

[saltpixiefibercraft]

Am I going to be so normal about FINALLY, finally getting the hang of support swindling?

ABSOLUTELY NOT! I'm so thrilled I finally figured out the technique!! It's been driving me NUTS.

Thankfully I have very pretty spindles to play on, I'll get a group shot of them all together when I'm back at my house in a few days.

[stevviefox]

Reblogging for links.

I feel like something that doesnt get talked about enough is how fast fashion is coming to hobbies as well. Sure, you can sew, knit, and crochet something better than youd buy in store, but good luck finding quality materials

Want a fabric that doesnt fray from being gently caressed? Want yarn thats not 100% plastic and splits if you touch it wrong? Good luck finding that if you dont have a genuinely good crafts store near you.

Go on any thread where people are trying to figure out where to buy fabric. 50% of it is people saying big stores are servicable, online stores work, or the like, and the other 50% are talking about how bad the quality is or how the quality of a website dropped because it was bought out

Were running into a problem where fast fashiob is so integrated into society that even the ability to make your own, comfortable and long lasting, clothes is being threatened by capitalism

[motsimages]

Ever since I learnt to use a drop spindle and I was shown a spinning wheel, I had the question that probably all handspinners have:

how the fuck did the Sleeping Beauty managed to get punctured by this?

Now, there are theories, very interesting about all that, but what people rarely think is how the consequence of Sleeping Beauty's curse was her parents burning all spinning related things so that she would never meet her fate.

This effectively means that in this kingdom they have to import most types of fabric and clothing. Or maybe they only import the thread, if they had a flourishing loom industry, but still. They probably can only work with leather and felted wool. Also a problem for ropes of all kinds, now that I think of it.

So the kingdom of Sleeping Beauty was known for about 18 years as (first of all) the kingdom with the terrible policy about spinning, and secondly as the best artisans of leather and felt.

But then, there is also the whole "I am too poor to care, I can just spin with a stick but I do not have any means to acquire thread or clothes in any other way". A whole black market of home-made spinned thread, a whole way of spinning in creative ways so that you can easily hide what you are doing. A sinking spinning wheel industry but a blooming "just a stick" industry.

And then, she met her fate and so people were like "so I guess I can use a spinning wheel again, or is it too soon?" Regions closer to the castle took longer but nobody really enforced the law after like 6 months anymore.

[milkweedman]

So ive knit up both cotton samples. I noticed, like @potatoeshoe that it was harder to spin the cotton woolwise* (uhhh more on that later) and now that I've knit it I've also found that even tho they both had the same amount of twist, the woolwise one kinked up constantly. Otherwise it was fine knitting both of them. I am going to redo this experiment as well because it was inconclusive. But the kinking was pretty noticeable and severe in the woolwise one specifically so that does make me wonder. I think with the evidence so far I'm leaning towards "yeah cotton does actually want to be spun the opposite way to wool". But I wouldn't be super surprised if in the end the result was different. I was so tired yesterday so I'm sure I made a lot of errors.

*because it takes me a good 30 seconds to figure out how to say which twist direction I mean using s/z or clockwise/counterclockwise, I have devised a new system that I can remember instantly and much more easily. The two twist directions are

Woolwise: spin clockwise, ply counterclockwise. The way wool is typically spun by handspinners (or at least by me)

Samwise: spin counterclockwise, ply clockwise. So named because i still don't know if cotton needs to be spun a particular direction or if it's just flax or what. Originally I said plantwise but i don't think anyone can deny that samwise is much better in every way

[panicdeleter]

Here's a link that works internationally if you're getting a 'play purchases not supported in your country' error

also I ended up looking at stuff about soviet agricultural experiments and apparently dogbane (Apocyonum cannabinum) was introduced to the USSR as a fiber crop plant? ???

[padawansuggest]

4chan style cause idk how to explain how much this defeated me

> making a pair of mittens for a neighbor

>that’s an easy project to crochet (important note) because it’s so small

> I am an experienced crocheter/knitter and handspinner

> this means I’m using my own damn handspun yarn this is nice yarn and I picked it out just for neighbor

> making a crocheted button and loop because I have been obsessed with how cute they are lately

> snip the ends of some stuff off cause I’ve woven it in enough

> but accidentally snip a thread I didn’t realize was in the way

> that was like 8 stitches attached to that mistake

> close eyes

> immediately picture myself closing the Stardew Valley game so I can reset it and not save the day after a major mistake like dropping a bomb or losing all my shit in skull cavern

> open eyes

> ‘shit. I can’t do that irl.’

This situation fully defeated me

[a-bit-knitty-gritty]

I'm recovering from what I'm pretty sure is a sinus infection but was determined to get back in the woodshop, so I wore my handpsun kerchief to keep my sore throat warm. Naturally, working has now made me too warm, so I hung it up to keep shavings off it and honestly, maybe I should get photos of all my small knit goods this way...

[crazy-sheep-lady]

Hello!

Could you tell me more about your sheep? Either as individuals, a flock, or a breed?

They are Romneys, right? Any crossbreeds? Do you primarily keep them for wool?

How did Hawkeye get his scar?

Do you sell the sheared fleeces? When do you typically shear them?

How many lambs did you get this year? Are you planning on keeping them, or do you plan to stick to a smaller flock?

I would love to know anything and everything you are willing to share!

Thank you!

Wow thank you for the questions 🤩 I’ll do my best to answer them but I might get off topic cause I freaking love talking about my sheep.

They are Romneys! A dual purpose breed that originated from the Romney Marshes of Kent England. They are raised primarily for wool and meat, with a bit more emphasis on wool. While all of mine are white romneys, they can come in black, brown, gray, and moorit (these are referred to as Natural Colored Romneys). Suited for wetter environments they're said to be resistant to diseases such as liver flukes and hoof rot.

A bit on the larger end of sheep breeds. Ewes typically weigh on average 150 lbs and rams 200 lbs. Some of their breed characteristics include having a open face free of fleece except for the very top of the head and cheeks and having solid black noses and hooves.

They are a part of a group of breeds called Longwool, this also includes Leicester longwool, Cotswold, Wensleydale and Coopworth. As the name suggests, their wool can grow up with lengths of 5+ inches in a year. They tend to hang in locks with very little cross fiber between individual locks. This is supposed to help romneys shed water from their fleece. Their wool tends to be on the courser side when compared to the finer fleeces of Merinos and Rambouillet. Better suited for spinning into outerwear such as sweaters and rugs. An ideal fleece for handspinners, which tends to be the main market that romney breeders sell too. Here in America there isn't a large commercial market for the romney wool as the mills prefer finer fleeces.

^ Jenny’s fleece from this last year

Found all overt the world. Romneys first arrived in America in 1904 in Oregon. We have had romneys for about 40 years (they're really my grandparents sheep). Our flock is registered with the American Romney Breeders Association. At the moment we have 15 sheep right now with our ewes being: 1807, 1852, Vicky, Ms. Marvel, Unregistered, Doreen, Domino, Fiona, Ginger, Jenny, Jackie, 61, and Katie-Kate. Our rams are Hawkeye and Atticus.

Domino is our only crossbred ewe. Her mother was April was a Suffolk/Southdown cross that was a FFA project ewe.

I have no clue how Hawkeye got his scar. We think he stuck his head under the fence and when he pulled it back through he got caught on a wire. No one was around to see it happen

Our sheep get sheared once a year in October. The reason is because we have milder winters and it suits our management. With shorter fleeces, the sheep will bring in less water into the barns. Keeping it clean just a bit longer before we have to put down another layer of clean straw. It also makes more room for more sheep at the feedbunk. You'd be surprised how much bulk wool adds onto a sheep. Also by the time they lamb, the wool on their bellies is still really short and makes it easier for lambs to find the ewe's udder.

Once they are sheared then the fleece will get skirted (removing stuff that is wanted) and put into plastic bags for storage. We're trying our hand at selling to handspinners, but we're not super good at it.

We’re still lambing so we don’t have exact numbers yet. Currently we’re up to six lambs. We’ll keep one or two ewe lambs for replacements and we’ll sell the rest of the lambs. For right now we’re sticking to a smaller flock but I personally would like to grow it a bit bigger in the future if it works in that favor.

I hope that this answers your questions. Feel free to ask more!

[disgruntled-lifeform]

@avenin

That's so kind of you to say!

We all start somewhere and this is the first thing I ever spun as a comparison for you

Keep at it and you'll find that one day, like magic, you're spinning consistently!!!

My first consistently spun single!

Finished spinning the single from my dye workshop and now onto plying!

[trashpandacraft]

incredibly pleased with how this fibre came out. it's on castledale wool, which is a local not-yet-a-breed that's being developed with handspinners in mind! it's absolutely gorgeous fibre, a little toothier and more textured than the standard merino-polwarth end of things, and it has an incredible hand, soft and lustrous and drapey. i'm still dyeing things to spin over summer when it's too hot to dye, but i'm feeling very 👀 about getting to this one!

[bimbo-wizard]

Handspinner's Handbook - Bette Hochberg (1978)

[zooophagous]

I know you said u would just get a couple and aren't raising them for wool but like. Would you sell the sheeps wool since they need to be shaved anyways?- a handspinner

I'd probably pay someone to shear them and let them keep the wool. I may try hand spinning a little of it but I'm not good at it.

[motshila]

I was given this ancient drop spindle a couple of years ago (and another one but I can't find it right now) and I am not sure how to use it as I was taught to spin with a different model.

Do you, handspinners of Tumblr, have any tips or comments on it?

[motsimages]

I recently started handspinning wool and boy is there a difference between the English speaking world and the Spanish speaking one.

I am working with wool because my parents have like 15 sheep and I don't want that wool go to waste (it still goes to waste, I am way too busy). I took a spinning workshop 3 years ago and that is it.

Handspinners of Tumblr seem to all buy superfancy dyed yarn all well ready to be spun. Meanwhile I washed my own wool, I clean it and comb it myself. It is superdirty because they sheared the sheep late, and since I didn't use soap, it is very greasy. 100% merino wool though, poorly selected.

This could be a me thing, but I look on YouTube for tips on how to spin with a drop spindle and if I look in English, it's all professionally recorded videos of 30 something year old women with the best equipment and materials explaining it didactically. They do not work the wool from the sheep, they buy it. Sometimes they are medieval reenactors. Occasionally there are some men recorded less professionally.

If I look for it in Spanish, the only professionally recorded videos are Eugenio Monesma documentaries of old women showing how it's done from the shearing, but most of the time is old Latin American women recorded by a family member showing how they do it. If you are lucky, they also explain the process (from the shearing as well). There are so many women from the Andes that the video titles are in Spanish and I think Quechua? I might have more luck learning Quechua to find more videos about this.

In a way, handspinning seems to be becoming a usual hobby in the English speaking world, whereas in the Spanish speaking world it's merely a folkloric curiosity, some rare historical knowledge. I guess I should look for this in other languages and see how it's going in other countries.

Anyways, you can check @motshila to see my very slow progress and hear my complaints in Spanish. I only have one post in English because I needed some help/info but I intend to just post in Spanish.