The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Crafts => Topic started by: Womble on February 11, 2017, 10:24:10 pm
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Though our sheep have helped to keep us well fed over the past few years, they haven’t yet clothed us. However, our Christmas present from my Mum was a day's spinning lesson courtesy of Woolshed31.co.uk (http://www.woolshed31.co.uk/).
We had a really great time and much to our surprise, even managed to produce some almost useable yarn!
(https://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/p2110742.jpg)
(https://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/p2110715.jpg)
(https://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/p2110731.jpg)
(https://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/p2110766.jpg)
More details and photos here (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/www.anoutdoorlife.wordpress.com/2017/02/11/first-time-spinning/) :) .
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That looks pretty good for a first time. It took me ages to get anything remotely similar
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That's a great art yarn Womble. Spinners spend thousands on special equipment to help them achieve a good art yarn, and you've just sat down there and produced it ::) :spin: . Think of a lovely work sweater knitted from the yarn you've spun :knit: . Keep it arty :thumbsup:
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Well done, Womble and Mrs Womble. Looks like you are doing well. :spin: :spin:
Next it's the :knit: :knit:
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That's a great art yarn Womble.
Oh it certainly is that! :roflanim: I think I'm going to use the ball as a pen holder for my desk at work ;D .
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Splendid yarn, well done. I do have an Ashfird traditional wheel for sale :innocent: :spin: !
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Great first effort. Now you need to practice, practice, practice.
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That is really good for a first effort, well done.
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Impressive, you two! Shall you do more?
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Well, thanks to a very lucky Ebay listing, Mrs Womble ended up with something substantially larger than flowers for Valentine's Day this year ;) . It was listed as "bought a few years ago brand new, but never used". Closer inspection reveals it to be an Ashford Traditional that has sat unused in their attic for over THIRTY years, because they couldn't work out how to set up the brake properly! :roflanim:
Everything seems to work ok though. I have just discovered that I can spin authentic looking Bob Marley wigs out of Zwartbles fleece, so look out for my Etsy shop opening soon ;D .
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My grandson's first attempt at spinning resulted in a lovely set of dreadlocks. As it was a black fleece he was spinning and he has black afro hair, he was well pleased. I'd have preferred him to have treadled more slowly and end up with wool.
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Womble, I have just seen that Craftsy have a beginners spinning class on sale at the moment. Craftsy is an American site that does all sorts of online classes - once you have bought the class you can download it, learn at your own pace and also chat online with other students, the class teacher etc. I have bought two or three classes, they are really good. Good luck with your spinning, we all made over spun rope to start with!
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Thanks Louise, I'll check that out :thumbsup:.
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Always worth checking Youtube as well, which is free.
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OK, so I finally got fed up with spinning Bob Marley wigs and Santa Claus beards. Mrs Womble said "aren't you supposed to ply them together so you get a finished yarn that isn't all twisty?"
"OK", said I. "How hard can it be?"
Actually as it turns out...... really quite hard...... :roflanim:
(http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j216/Blutack/TAS2011/ply.jpg)
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I think most of us produced yarn like that at our first attempt plying! Well, I did! Keep at it, suddenly your hands and feet will start working together and you will have yarn to be proud of. Keep your first yarn as a reference to see how far you have progressed.
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My latest yarn looks like that. It had an accident between hank and ball winder and with 199 wraps of the niddy noddy it is not just a small bundle either.
You have produced a yarn with "life". Well done.
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Wash it and dry it, you may be surprised.
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Wash it and dry it, you may be surprised.
Especially if you weight it slightly when it's hanging up to dry.
I have heard that t helps if you thwack the skein a few times against a hard surface such as a table.
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Yes to thwacking but I'm a disagreer to the weighting idea. It'll just go back to where it wants to be when it gets wet ;)
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And thwacking is such a great way to release tensions, but less good if the skein is still quite wet! :roflanim:
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So how do I get it off the spool to wash it, without it going all Rastafarian on me? ???
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Ideally you would use a niddy noddy, which is a simple device to wind a skein on to. Or, if you haven't got one if those, wind it off onto your forearm the same way you would wind rope or a hose pipe. Once you have it in a skein on your arm, ask Mrs Womble to put ties around the skein - 4 will probably do, then slip the skein off your arm and put it to soak in fairly warm water with a little soap added. The soaking will let the fibres relax and set the twist. I usually leave a skein for at least 30 minutes soaking, then rinse, squeeze it out in a towel, thwack it on a wall or work surface, hang it to dry then admire your efforts!
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Once off the niddy noddy (a wonderful thing that a Womble can make out of bits of plastic tubing) I put mine into hot water in the sink. Ensure it is thoroughly drowned. Remove squeeze and hang up in the shower to dry. No leaving for ages, thwacking or weighting here.
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Ok....
I'll ask the question
What is a niddy noddy, and what does it look like?
:innocent:
So that Womble can make one :)
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A niddy noddy is a central stick with an arm at either end, the arms being set at 90 degrees to each other. You wind yarn around the arms using a nodding nodding motion to create your skein. You tube will show you much better than my explanation !
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https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=niddy+noddy&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjn-qe61ovTAhWnCMAKHUJiAmQQ7AkIpgE&biw=1152&bih=550 (https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=niddy+noddy&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjn-qe61ovTAhWnCMAKHUJiAmQQ7AkIpgE&biw=1152&bih=550)
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Aha! It turns out I was plying it backwards (facepalm!! :roflanim: ).
Once I found out you have to go the other way when plying, things went considerably better:
(https://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/2.jpg)
So, thanks to Youtube, and to [member=75709]Buttermilk[/member], I ended up with some ropey looking yarn wrapped around the world's noddiest niddy noddy.
(https://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/6.jpg)
and as a result, my first skein is now hanging above the Rayburn, drying.
(https://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/5.jpg)
And you know what? I think I've earned myself a wee Laphroaig! :excited:
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Brilliant!! Well done, Womble :applause:
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A steep learning curve but well worth it. Well done.
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That looks really good for your first skein! Well done you, and yes, I think a wee Laphroig was a fitting reward!
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I would say a large Laphroaig is deserved, never mind a wee one.
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Newbie question folks: Which way round does the bobbin go? The pulley thing on one end of the bobbin is bigger than the one on the other end, so when do you use the big one, and when the smaller one? ???
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With your wheel and flyer, I think you’ll find the bobbin only fits one way round, with the big end away from you. (Assuming you still have the single drive Ashford Traditional?). The reason there’s a groove in the small end is so that the bobbin can also be used on a double drive wheel. In that case, the drive band would go around the small end.
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Ashford traditional single drive I was taught 'big end away'. Yes really!
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Thanks both. It does actually fit both ways, but rubs a bit if it's the wrong way around.
I certainly won't forget it now though, Pharnorth! ;D