#wool spinning

[ohgodsimcrafting]

First I made some yarn

Then I made a hat!

Like I made all of that wtf

[ezekiellsplayground]

Spinning some merino on my new Mingo&Asho glasspin.

I taught myself to spin supported earlier this year. I found fleegle style spinning to be the most comfortable on my support spindles as its a kind of unsupported style which accommodates short or long draw.

Do you like watching my spinning videos? Should I do more of my spins?

[lightsandfire]

25-11-2023, part one:

I got my first whole fleece! It's from a Walliser Schwarznase (Walliser Blacknose). I already got rid of all the dirty and matted parts (pictured is the whole fleece before cleaning), and I took the very dirty edges off to do an experiment on cleaning.

The length of the fibers is +- 10 cm and the locks are very soft. There is quite a bit of vegetable matter, but I think that's to be expected. Look at those curls though! So pretty! I'm thinking about keeping some locks to use as texture while spinning.

Currently I'm scouring some of the dirty sides in warm water and dish soap, to see if they can be used for a test spin. A lot of brown water has been discarded already, so it looks to be cleaning up nicely. I hope it won't mat :)

The rest of the fleece has been rolled up in an old blanket and stored for now, untill the test spin has been done.

Now I have to see if I can borrow a carder from someone (or hand cards), so I can try to spin some up! (Once it is clean and dry, that is). Goal will probably be to spin a sweather out of this.

Updates wil follow in the next days/weeks! I'm very excited :D

(Part two)

[notquitebilateral]

I have started spinning. This is my first every yarn.

It looks terrible. I love it.

[stormsongandsword]

Having some fun practicing long draw ! I bought these absolutely lovely braids (and pencil roving) and it's like spinning dreams. Soft, squishy dreams.

[saltpixiefibercraft]

This lovely braid is gonna make some stunning yarn!

[yarnhorde]

I feel like I haven’t posted any person fiber content in forever. Here or Instagram. It’s time for dreams of autumn so maybe it can keep me cool in this heat a little, lol.

[ketchuplaser]

16 - Angel

Myrna wasn't like the other Clarifyers. She had no affinity for water and couldn't muscle a shovel.

What she could do was spin yarn out of fluffback wool, and knit that into clothes for the children.

The hours spent carding the fibers may hurt her arthritis, but it was worth it knowing the younguns would make it well through the winter.

[crazy-sheep-lady]

Finally got to the part I’ve been looking forward to the most in my spinning project, the dying!

[janerhoadesart]

Here’s my most recent batch of handspun yarn 🧶💖

Still have to soak some of them but look at all the pretty skeins!!! The colors!!! Ahhh

[youmearepeaches]

I’m accidentally spinning lesbian yarn?

[ohgodsimcrafting]

Beginner spinning, a time line:

Take a closer look under the cut and learn about what I have learned so far!

This was my first spin. It's a single, uneven, and there isn't near enough to make anything functional, but I did my best. I learned from this one that I can in fact spin something.

This is my second spin. It's made of corriedale and it's uneven. BUT! This is the project where I learned how to ply my yarn without wasting any using the Andean technique.

More corriedale but this one is how I learned to make the fun swirly/braided looking skeins that you see at fancy yarn stores. A little more even but definitely chunky and not enough to really make anything with.

Consistency went out the window with this one so much that I couldn't attach the rest of the fiber I spun for this. It turned out too thick. But it's super soft! I learned that a niddy noddy and a protractor are the next tools I invest in. My chair legs splay out too much to effectively wrap yarn around.

Another uneven spin but it's a little bit better. Big areas of too much fiber but the rest is pretty consistent. I learned how to effectively join two plied lengths of yarn with this project. There is definitely enough to make something out of this time.

This one is my most recent and my favorite spin. It's the most consistent of the skeins I've made so far and I learned to not be afraid of spinning thin. It's soft, squishy, and a yarn weight that I think I'll actually use to make something functional.

Some other things I've learned:

Spin with something to support your back. Sitting on your bed and spinning for four hours because there's YouTube in the bedroom might be tempting but it is not worth it.

You need more space than you think to attach two lengths of fiber together. Give yourself plenty of room. It is also always ok to card out the ends of your fiber lengths again if they are having a hard time attaching to each other.

Angelina is lovely and very sparkly but a pain in the ass to distribute through a project evenly.

Once you spin your yarn you should probably use it. No, buying more fiber to spin doesn't count.

[ezekiellsplayground]

I’ve been wanting to try out a spindolyn since I first saw them. It’s a very interesting little tool but not something that I would use regularly because of my preferred spinning style. It is however wonderful to spin up neppy wools and when you want a ridiculous amount of loft in your yarn!

[lightsandfire]

Weekends of 2-12-2024 and 11-12-2023, part four:

It took me a long time to write up the next installment in the series, but here I am! Only four months later!

Anyway, the weekend of the 2nd of december was for carding. I texted a friend of mine who has a drumcarder, and luckily enough I was able to borrow it for a few weeks. The first weekend I carded the first half (partly scoured, partly soaked overnight). Part of that (the scoured stuff) I used for a dyeing experiment with food colouring:

The blue turned out very pale and kind of a blue to green gradient, which I ended up spinning as a thick 3-ply. The purple/red ended up kind of blood coloured? At least that is what it reminds me of, this is still unspun. Conclusion: blue does not like to exhaust, get better dyes.

I also did some testspins and swatches:

On the left pic is a small test I did to see if I liked the way I cleaned and carded the wool. Of the swatches, on the left is a 3-ply (chainply), right is a two ply (I think, I did not note it down). I ended up chosing the two ply, as it is a bit more supple and I like the airiness of it better.

I decided that I wanted a bit more lanolin in it while spinning, so the other half I carded straight from the fleece during the second weekend:

There were so many stubborn locks! Since I didn't open up the locks before hand, I had to do so while carding. I ended up gathering clumps of curls in my hand and running them allong the carder to open them up. I carded each bat again to get rid of most of the clumps.

Now to start spinning and knitting! Thanks for following along!

(Part one) (Previous part)

[notquitebilateral]

Figured out I can spin merino well on the wheel, and it is my first chain three ply and I am super happy with it. 201 g, 48 m, and I don't think I am dyeing this one because I like the natural striping.

My spinning has progressed to a lot better uniformity, I am getting there!

[healingheartdogs]

That rambouillet wool that took me forever to spin on my kick spindle because of how fine I ended up spinning it came out to be around 100 yards of very soft 2 ply yarn, from only .8oz of a wool top sample.