The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Crafts => Topic started by: CarolineJ on August 12, 2016, 07:23:23 am
-
Thanks to eBay getting a bit over-generous with free £10 vouchers recently, I now have a free drop spindle and a couple of dog brushes to use as carders on their way :thumbsup:
Since rainwater is not something I'm short of at the moment ::) and we're due a warm week, I thought I'd try the fermented suint method. Once my fleece has gone through that, do I need to card it, or does it just get spun once it's dried?
-
Depends on the fleece. Some will spin straight from the lock. Some benefits from carding, some is too long to card. What fleece do you have?
-
3 x North Country Cheviot, none of which had been shorn for about three years, so it's long and I think quite matted in places. I need to sort through the bags and separate out the stuff that looks potentially usable.
-
If the staple is very long you can cut it in half. I'm not sure if the NCC fleece is the same as primitives, but if it is then you might find that only the inner one third, ie this past year's growth, is useable. If that is the case, then just cut off the outer lengths or pull them apart.
When you are learning to spin, it's best to have well prepared fleece, especially using a spindle. Using poor quality or poorly prepped fleece means you are battling the fibre at the same time as learning to spin. When I first started to spin aeons ago, I bought in some Blue Faced Leicester top, which needed no further prep, and I learnt the technique quickly. That might be worth a try, just to get you started, then advance onto your own fleece once you have some idea of what you are doing.
A tip for spindling is to draw out the fibre to almost the thickness you want for spinning it, before you actually start spinning. The length can be wrapped into a loose 'nest' and either wrapped around your wrist or set in a bowl at your feet.
Have fun :spin: :thumbsup:
-
I finally had 20 minutes to get the bags out of the shed this morning and it's not nearly as matted as I remembered, so I've been sorting through it and four net laundry bags'-worth is now soaking in a plastic tub with the lid on - that's just under half of one sack, another two and a half to go!
-
Fleecewife gives some excellent advice and its certainly worth using prepared tops to get started. Having said that, although I used tops to get the hang of the spinning technique I found it a lot easier and more enjoyable when I started on my own fleece. Possibly because it tends to have a bit more texture to is as some of the lanolin stays in.
-
As with almost everything in spinning, different people have different experiences and preferences.
Personally I found it easier to start with tops, split lengthways to about a pencil's width. Once I'd mastered drafting then I was able to get on with other preparations.
There are certain types of tops which are better and some which are much more difficult, however. Most people who like tops at all agree that Shetland, Blue-faced Leicester and English 56s are all pretty manageable, and Merino is generally not. Camelids also are not as easy for beginners. A personal favourite - then and now - is Corriedale, but not everyone agrees with me on that. And, of course, some people learned with merino and don't see what all the fuss is about.
I've seen me fail to get a newbie started with Shetland tops, and a more experienced teacher get that person going with 'spinning from the fold' using those same tops. At that time I still hasn't mastered spinning from the fold, and I still don't really like it now!
Nicely made rolags are great, of course, provided they are very light ones - but being able to create light, fluffy rolags with no neps is a skill it takes most of us some time to develop, so rolags isn't always them best option for a beginner. Some people, of course, started that way and have never looked back.
Fauxlags made from tops are a good prep for a beginner, and don't need you to have developed carding skills, nor to take on managing raw - or washed - fleece.
The rovings I've had from Griffiths Mill would be ideal for a beginner, I'd say. And I've had equally beautiful ones made by the Natural Fibre Company. But I didn't try rovings when I was starting, so it may be that the drafting I now find so easy and pleasurable would not have been so easy to master at the outset.
I do agree about a little bit of lanolin helping to 'keep it all together' when drafting. Tops made from fibre which has a little bit more 'grab' can help in this regard - I found Shetland and Manx to both be good in this respect. (But Jamieson & Smith's Shetland Superfine might not be quite so grabby ;)). Cheviot would be a good one, too. And, as I said above, merino and camelid tops are both very slippery, and can therefore be a challenge.
Longer fibres are a real challenge to a beginner, so avoid longwools like Wensleydale and Teeswater, Lincoln Longwool and so on until you've got the hang of drafting. Blue-faced Leicester (BFL) is a Longwool too, of course, but in general the BFL tops are quite manageable.
-
Since it's my birthday today, I decided that my birthday treat was going to be to get covered in stinky sheep water :yuck: ;D
Raw fleece a week ago:
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece/Fleece%201_zpsc5vjjngw.jpg)
Ready to go in (bags stuffed to the max to get as much suint/lanolin into the water as possible):
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece/Fleece%202_zpskyjrbkpd.jpg)
6 days later the water looks like this and is pretty ripe:
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece/Fleece%203_zpsbnapvqzy.jpg)
Fleece looks like this:
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece/Fleece%204_zpslcjfj8am.jpg)
One of the small bags drying in a makeshift dustsheet hammock on the washing line - too windy to spread it out on a mesh!:
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece/Fleece%205_zpsu4d0snxc.jpg)
I think some of this batch may have to go through again, as there was just too much in the bags, but hopefully I've got it started off now. I've refilled the bag I emptied with less fleece and put it back in, and will have a look at it on Wednesday or Thursday.
-
Happy birthday. The fleece is looking good so enjoy the spinning.
-
Happy birthday - and great choice of birthday activity :)
What sort of fleeces are they?
-
North Country Cheviots that hadn't been sheared for about 3 years.
-
Cheviot - good :thumbsup:
3 years' fleece - not so good :( Are there two breaks, one for each year?
I'm sure you'll manage to get usable fibre from them - at worst, breaking the locks at the breaks and then carding. I've had fleece with a break half way along the staple before now, and that worked fine. In fact, I did some of it drumcarded without manually breaking it into two at the break, and that was fine too.
-
It's been holding together when I've been pulling the fleeces apart to bag up and remove muck and gorse. We've had a few pretty cool summers in a row, so not sure how much of a break there'd be. I'll investigate more closely in the morning :)
-
Hand included for scale!
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece/Fleece%206_zpsz8akxqbj.jpg)
What do you think? Ditch that top bit that's discoloured and a bit matted and try spinning with the rest?
-
What happens with the ping test?
-
It looks as if there's an old 'rise' partway up the staple. For the ping test, or twang test or whatever you name it, take out a small bundle of fibres, hold each end in opposite hands then pull apart sharply close to your ear. If you just get a soggy sound then there is a break, if it makes a firmer sound then it might well be strong enough to spin the whole lot.
I would though cut out the matted, felty bit and only use that scrummy looking clean bit :thumbsup:
-
Thanks, Juliet - I was going to come back and explain the ping test, but you beat me to it.
The cleaner part of the staple looks good from the pic. Very Chevioty :). I like Cheviot, it's a very well-behaved fibre, and takes dye well.
-
Now I am released from only spinning fibre from my own sheep, I just might buy a sneaky Cheviot fleece :eyelashes: It is after all a breed fairly local to me..........should be easy enough to find a breeder with good quality fleece :thumbsup:
-
Now I am released from only spinning fibre from my own sheep, I just might buy a sneaky Cheviot fleece :eyelashes: It is after all a breed fairly local to me..........should be easy enough to find a breeder with good quality fleece :thumbsup:
[member=28984]mowhaugh[/member] has some black NCCs, some of whom have delicious fleece. We span some last year for the Tour of British Fleece; one of our very experienced spinners described it as being 'like spinning kittens'. You might have to be quick, though, I think either Edinburgh or Dumfries Guild go and buy her whole clip now ;)
-
Oh, and we've had some superb Cheviot from the BWMB depot at Galashiels. I'm not sure if they let you just rock up and rummage, though; we've always done it as part of an organised tour, when they are very happy to let spinners rummage and shop at the end.
-
Well, not that I've got anything to compare it with, but it doesn't sound soggy. I shall give it a go later :thumbsup:
-
If healthy it should sound almost like a twang. Sometimes a sad lock makes a sound a bit like rustling a crisp packet :'(
-
Okay, so you all knew I wouldn't be able to wait until this evening before trying it, didn't you?? First ever go at drop spinning (aren't YouTube tutorials a wonderful invention??).
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece/Fleece%207_zpsk5qljd3z.jpg)
How do you stop it untwisting when you eventually take it off the spindle though?
-
That's brilliant for a first attmept!
Are you planning to make a two-ply, balanced yarn with it? Or are you wanting to use it as a single? If the former, once you've got it plied, it won't unravel because it will be balanced. If you want to keep it as a single, either leave it as a a cop until the energy leaves it (about a week should do it), or skein it straight away and wash it to set the twist. In either case, I put a half-hitch in the end of the yarn, which keeps the end tidy. Or some people use a bit of sellotape.
-
It's got serious lumps in it further up, I picked the most even bit ;) No other intention than teaching myself the basic technique, so I guess I'll keep it as a single. I've got the free end jammed under the stapler on my desk at the moment! Daft question alert, can I take it off the spindle for the 'leave it for a week' option?
-
If you get a Turkish spindle, it magically makes a centre pull ball as you spin and wind it on. To unload it you can pull out the spindle stick bit, then pull one arm out from the other and hey wow - you've got a ball of yarn. I mostly only use a Turkish spindle now as they are so convenient. Also there are some beautiful examples out there, all weights and a whole variety of woods. (I wouldn't buy an Ashford one though as they are too heavy and clumsy.
From an ordinary drop or top whorl spindle, you can unload your spun yarn by winding it into a ball by hand. If you're good with your toes you can hold the spindle steady with your feet as you unwind.
I'm most impressed with your sample - you're clearly gifted :trophy:
-
Thanks, I'll give it a try later :thumbsup:
At the risk of sounding a *total* dippy hippy, there's a small possibility it may be some kind of past life memory/access of the Akashic records (pick your theory of choice!). I remember reading a description of someone using a drop spindle in a history lesson at school when I was about 8 or 9 and wondering how I knew what it was going to say. When I tried spinning for the first time ever with a wheel a few years ago it was a total disaster, but when I was following the YouTube tutorials earlier with the spindle, I was sitting with it thinking, 'Hang on, no, I don't do it like that, I do it like this,' and it felt like something I hadn't done for a long time rather than something I'd never done before, if that makes sense. Weird ;D
-
I was surprised that I took to spinning and weaving so strongly. And then my father told me we had weavers in our ancestry,
-
Before the invention of the spinning wheel, just about everyone used to spindle spin, going back for centuries, millennia even, so it's likely we all have some kind of racial memory of that. It's like growing plants and food - second nature. I don't think you need any other-worldly influences, just racial memory and nimble fingers. Also, spinning is pretty obvious once you've spent 3 minutes thinking about it. What I find puzzling is how anyone invented how to process nettles, flax and other vegetable fibres for clothing and mats - there's nothing intuitive about that that I can see ???
-
Need to find somewhere other than the office floor to keep the steadily-growing pile of washed fleece!!
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece%208_zps5aeyc6cq.jpg)
-
Ah, you seem to have encountered some additional neeps in your fleece :-)
-
Finding it easier with some stuff I carded rather than just grabbing a chunk and going for it. There's still a bit of swearing when I have to join a new bit on though!
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece/Fleece%209_zpsyjmltgym.jpg)
-
looks pretty good to me
-
All plied up - I'll take this for a first effort ;D What next? Hot water and a bit of washing-up liquid to get the grease out and set it?
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece/Fleece%2010_zpskw4stssu.jpg)
(http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll302/cazmanian_minx/Fleece/Fleece%2011_zpsn7svdnow.jpg)
-
That looks really good for your first spinning. Yes, wash in very hot water plus soap of some sort, I usually wash fleece using washing up liquid. Rinse in similar temperature water, squeeze water out then roll in a towel and stamp on it a bit to get rid of more water, let it dry then admire the results of your efforts!