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Author Topic: What is everyone working on at the moment?  (Read 16296 times)

Mammyshaz

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Durham
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #30 on: September 15, 2012, 10:14:52 pm »
Ooo, a bit more to it than I thought. I have Stergene washing detergent for wool, thought I'd use a tiny bit of this.
Will stick to stretching and snapping for now and will save the thwacking for an evening after a bad day at work   :D or training obi  ( noise and weapon confidence ) then retrieve terrier and kitten from beneath bed and up the chimney  :roflanim:

Thanks for your advice jaykay  :hug:

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #31 on: September 16, 2012, 05:54:31 am »
Congratulations Mammyshaz  :thumbsup:  The ladies from the Wednesday group were full of how well you were doing (four of them came to my 2nd Friday Fibre group - you are of course welcome any time you can and want to come across.)

Most of the people I know (mainly on Ravelry!) use Ecover or similar washing up liquid to wash the plied yarn.  And some, myself included, give it a rinse with a glug of white wine vinegar in before the final rinse - apparently it combats the something-or-other in the detergent that could cause some errrm, I think it might be denaturing of the protein in the wool.  Also, some say the vinegar may just help to deter moths.

When washing and rinsing fleece / wool, it is very important to not combine any more than two of the three things : heat, soap, agitation.  Also, any abrupt change in temperature does not want to involve any of the other three things.

So first wash is hot and has detergent - do not agitate.  You can gently squeeze the soapy water out, but do not wring.  First rinse should be the same temperature as the wash - as there will still be some detergent in there.  And again, therefore, do not swish and when removing, and squeeze not wring.   Third rinse can be cool as the detergent should now be gone : some say it should be cold to 'shock' the yarn, especially woollen (as opposed to worstead) yarn.  You can swill it about a bit in this rinse as you do not have detergent nor heat.  After final squeeze, roll it in a towel and squeeze the towel.

jaykay, there are several on Ravelry who say to not hang a weight on worstead yarn either, saying that you don't want to stretch the yarn before knitting it because it will just go back to its natural shape and deform the garment.  But clearly you do weight your worstead yarn, and your yarn and jumper are gorgeous! - so what's your view on that?
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Mammyshaz

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Durham
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #32 on: September 16, 2012, 08:47:07 am »
I've got 3 bottles of ecover at present ( special offers  ::):thumbsup:


Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #33 on: September 16, 2012, 09:38:59 am »
I haven't yet washed any of the skeins I have spun but have been told by my spinning guild to put a weight on once washed so would also be interested to hear the pros ond cons of it.
thanks
Sally
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #34 on: September 16, 2012, 12:01:02 pm »
Maybe it depends on the actual weight of the weight  :innocent:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #35 on: September 16, 2012, 01:48:35 pm »
I'm sure it does, it's never a heavy weight.

As far as I can see, woolly jumpers or whatever contract when you wash them anyway, which is why you block them afterwards.

If you've spun worsted, then drying with a bit of tension maintains the smooth structure of the yarn and you don't usually spin worsted with very crimpy yarns anyway, though you can, it's just a bit less 'true worsted'. So when you're knitting with it, dried like this, you get the feel of what the finished article will be like, once it's been washed and blocked.

Similarly if you dry woollen yarn unweighted you preserve the thickness and fluffiness, which again gives you a better idea as you knit with it of what the finished article will be like.

That's my thinking anyway  :)

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #36 on: September 16, 2012, 05:50:36 pm »
f you've spun worsted, then drying with a bit of tension maintains the smooth structure of the yarn and you don't usually spin worsted with very crimpy yarns anyway, though you can, it's just a bit less 'true worsted'. So when you're knitting with it, dried like this, you get the feel of what the finished article will be like, once it's been washed and blocked.

Uh-ohhhh....  so since I do not weight my worstead (Shetland / Falkland 3-ply - so reasonably crimpy) does that mean the jumper will be larger once washed?  (If so, would anyone like to come and live in it with me?  I'm knitting it really big and sloppy in the first place!)
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Beewyched

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • South Wales
    • tunkeyherd.co.uk
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #37 on: September 16, 2012, 06:06:57 pm »
I am so jealous to be reading this thread - spinning sounds amazing, even though some of the "teccy" lingo is a bit bemusing  ???
Well, I've just started doing cross-stich, saw a magazine in Morrisons with a freeby kit the other month & thought I'd have a go.  It wasn't until I got the kit out of the wrapping, that I realised I couldn't see it properly  ::)
To cut a long story - I've now got glasses  :o  definately not  8)
Now to find some cross-stich patterns with pigs on them  :love: :pig: :love:
 
Tunkey Herd - registered Kune Kune & rare breed poultry - www.tunkeyherdkunekune.com

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #38 on: September 16, 2012, 06:13:15 pm »
So Beewyched, whats stopping you from spinning?  :knit:
Sorry no spinning icon so have used knitting instead
Sally
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Beewyched

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • South Wales
    • tunkeyherd.co.uk
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #39 on: September 16, 2012, 06:26:12 pm »
TBH Sally I wouldn't know where to start - ok, yes I do - will be spending lots of time mooching at the demos at the SS&GF  :excited:
Tunkey Herd - registered Kune Kune & rare breed poultry - www.tunkeyherdkunekune.com

Castle Farm

  • Joined Nov 2008
  • Hereford/Powys Border. near Hay-on-Wye
    • castlefarmeggs
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #40 on: September 16, 2012, 06:47:34 pm »
Every winter the rag rug needles come out.
A trip to a couple of charity shops supplies the meterial to cut up and make the rug with.

Quick rough dreawing on some hessian backing and away you go.

http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h117/castlefarmpoultry/Ragrugs/
Traditional Utility Breed Hatching Eggs sent next day delivery. Pure bred Llyen Sheep.
www.castlefarmeggs.co.uk  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Utility-Poultry-Keepers/231571570247281

Beewyched

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • South Wales
    • tunkeyherd.co.uk
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #41 on: September 16, 2012, 06:51:10 pm »
Every winter the rag rug needles come out.
A trip to a couple of charity shops supplies the meterial to cut up and make the rug with.

Quick rough dreawing on some hessian backing and away you go.

http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h117/castlefarmpoultry/Ragrugs/
Love them  :thumbsup:   Do you work from a pattern or a kit?  Maybe something else I could try, now I can see properly  ::) ;)
Tunkey Herd - registered Kune Kune & rare breed poultry - www.tunkeyherdkunekune.com

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #42 on: September 16, 2012, 06:59:13 pm »
Castle Farm, I love them, especially the white and gold Celtic Knot  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
 
Beewyched - specs come to us all in the fullness of time  :tired:   :roflanim:   I hate having to wear mine for spinning, knitting.....even EATING now  :rant: :hungry:    They steam up when I cook and never have the right focal length for what I want to do grr grr  :P    And as for wondering where I last put them down  :dunce:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Beewyched

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • South Wales
    • tunkeyherd.co.uk
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #43 on: September 16, 2012, 07:07:10 pm »
Thankfully I only need them for close-up stuff like sewing & reading at the moment.  I did ask the optician if I REALLY needed them & she told me that my arms are only so long  :roflanim:
I've noticed what you mean about the steaming-up - I have to remember to take mine off to drink my coffee  ::) ;D
Tunkey Herd - registered Kune Kune & rare breed poultry - www.tunkeyherdkunekune.com

Mammyshaz

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Durham
Re: What is everyone working on at the moment?
« Reply #44 on: September 16, 2012, 11:13:00 pm »
Spent this weekend sorting out the car area. A friend who has recently moved house wanted lots of gravel removed from the garden to place a lawn.
Spent Saturday afternoon loading our large van with wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of the gravel then today  :gloomy: and more  :gloomy: as we dug the area and removed wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of compacted soil before laying a membrane and shovelling a very weighted down long vans worth of gravel onto the parking area.

Had promised the boys a BBQ yesterday but too knackered so had no choice but to ave it today, under a gazebo for the  :gloomy: and the chiminea lit to dry us off.

Now I'm absolutely knackered and at 90 degree angle when I stand up until my poor old joints loosen  ::) at least I could see what I was doing, I'm blind as a bat since very young and wear contact lenses so that no bouncy dogs can knock them and cause a blackeye  :eyelashes: spectacles didn't  cope with my accident-prone life  ::)

 

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