Bobbins Up!

As a spinner having more bobbins to hold yarn is important.  To make a multiple ply yarn you usually need to have multiple bobbins.  Even with a simple 2-ply yarn you need 2 bobbins of singles plus a third bobbin to ply onto.  Bobbins for spinning are fairly expensive, so having a less expensive alternative for storage and to ply from is a nice option.  This rewinding not only frees up your spinning bobbins for reuse, it also helps to equalize the twist through your singles which makes plying more even and thus more successful.

So I have been considering options for some sort of bobbin winder.  These tools aren't cheap, but with the price of spinning wheel bobbins it doesn't take to many to make the bobbin winder a relatively inexpensive option.  And storage bobbins are much less expensive than spinning wheel bobbins, making the long term cost much less.

When one is working on a large spinning project, say spinning a fleece, being able to store the singles until all the singles are spun can be a useful option.  My personal preference is to keep track of the order bobbins of singles are spun then mixing the order when plying.  So say you spun 6 bobbins of singles.  I would then either spin the first and last, or first of the first half and first of the second half together.  So numbering the bobbins in order by date of spinning, bobbin #1 would be plied with either 4 or 6.  Bobbin 2 with 5, and bobbin 3 with either 6 or 4.  This isn't a hard and fast rule, but since quite a lot of time can pass between my spinning sessions I prefer to average out differences in the way I spun the singles by mixing up the plying.

Some time ago I happened to learn of a product called Bobbins Up.  It looked like a very nice idea, nice large storage bobbins that could be filled with the use of an electric drill or screwdriver.  But I didn't order any at that point, figuring to do some more research before making a purchase.

Several months went by, then Spinzilla came along and I got to thinking more about bobbins.  So I did some more research and thought that I would just get a winder through a local shop.  Only due to Acts of Nature none were available for over a month.  I decided to try to find the other bobbins, only I couldn't remember what they were called!  Did some internet searches, but didn't see them.  Finally found the right reference and ordered some.

I've been really pleased with these bobbins.  I have weighed most of the ones I got and they were all between 30.15 and 30.19 grams, most were 30.18 grams.  Since they are made of a recyclable plastic I just marked on the end with a Sharpie the weight of that particular bobbin so in future when I weigh them with yarn I'll be able to tell just how much the yarn itself weighs.

Each bobbin comes with its own bit that fits into your electric drill or screwdriver.  You really only need one, but it is nice to be able to store each bobbin with its own bit so you always know you have everything you need.

Another really nice feature of these bobbins is that one end has a whorl.  Having a whorl means that you can use your tensioned lazy kate when plying to keep it from back spinning.  Ingenious.

My order arrived in 2 days.  In fact, before the mail came that day I had sent an e-mail to the supplier asking for an estimated arrival time.  I was sent a tracking number but the package had since arrived.  I thanked them for the fast service and was told that if an order is placed before 3 PM ET it will usually be shipped out the same day.

Just in case you are wondering, no, I am not affiliated with this supplier in any way other than as a satisfied customer.  So, if you are looking for a nice, affordable, option for storage bobbins, consider trying Bobbins Up!  I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Final Spinzilla Results

Finished measuring the last of the Spinzilla singles yesterday.  Here's my final submission photo.  I tried to insert that as an image, but it wouldn't accept it.  Weird.  In all I spun 3217 yards in a week.

I've got a bobbin winder on order, which I'm waiting to come in so I can put some of these yarns back onto bobbins ready for plying.

Spinzilla!

The first full week of October is Spinning and Weaving Week.  So this year there was a contest called Spinzilla.  I joined Team Stringtopia (#teamstringtopia) spinning up a number of different fibers during the 7 days the contest ran.  Each team can have up to 25 people, and the Spinzilla pages explain about all the details.

As someone for whom spinning is a relaxation, a way to relax and enjoy fiber going through my hands to become yarn, enjoy the process as much or sometimes more than the end result, the production spinning for yardage was a bit of a jolt.  However, I put aside all my knitting projects and spun as much as I was able.  Now mind, I work full time outside the home, we have a multi-pet household and I take some classes of an evening, so the amount of time I had to spin was limited.

Knowing myself it was important to have multiple projects to work on during the week so I selected a number of different fibers.  Some were single batts, some larger amounts.  Prior to the beginning of the week I cleared my spinning equipment of yarn so I could start from empty bobbins/spindles, making it easy to keep track of just what I did during the week.

I have 2 spinning wheels, a double treadle Lendrum, and a Mazurka, and a Butterfly Electric Spinner.  The Butterfly I have been spinning up some bouncy carded dark grey wool, so using an empty bobbin I spun more of this.  As of noon on Sunday I had spun 732 yards of this wool.  The Mazurka I spun some light grey CVM cross batts.  I had recarded the wool the week before so it would be soft, fluffy and easy to spin.  And it was.  I ended up spinning 901 yards of this.

The Lendrum I used for all the other bits of fiber that took my fancy.  In September I took a class at Stringtopia called Color Blending on Drum Carder.  We made a number of interesting blends as well as batt structures like layered batts and taking a roving off through a diz.  Several of these were spun up as part of my Spinzilla spinning.  I found it very helpful to be able to switch around to different projects either as my eyes got tired or I just needed to do something different for a while.  All in all I spun over 1168 yards of singles on the Lendrum.

In addition to all this wheel/electric spinner spinning I also took a carbon fiber micro trindle spindle and bison down fiber with me when I carpooled to work.  Over 4 days of commuting I spun 3.15 grams onto one spindle then 6.63 on another.  The 3.15 grams yielded just over 61 yards of yarn.

I still have to measure how many yards are in the 6.63 grams of bison fiber and how many yards I spun on the electric spinner last evening.  However, as of this writing I measured over 2800 yards of singles spun over last week.  In addition to the measuring of yardage I also need to get a photo taken of what I have spun.

Tour de Fleece 2013 and other fibery things

I've been a member of Ravelry since February, 2008 but haven't used it extensively until this year.  Oh I'd added some of my books to the library area, put a few yarns into the stash and made some projects.  I even took some photos of my work and yarns and attached them in the appropriate places.  But I didn't use it extensively.  Then for various reasons I put my fiber stuff on the back burner for a few years.  I missed it, but was so busy with other things that there just wasn't time to do much about it.

Then in December 2012 my older son graduated from Marine boot camp at Parris Island, SC.  There were several days of family activities before Graduation Day, as well as a very long trip there and back.  Lots of time to knit and not lots of other things that had to be done!   So I dug into my languishing WIP's (Works in Progress) and found a pair of socks that were a few inches long with lots yet to do and some pretty purple yarn that I decided would become a hat.  I had a book with an interesting construction for a hat, so that's what I took.  I made a small version of the hat to better understand the construction, then made a full sized one.  I finished the hat on that trip except for the I-cord strings, which I finished shortly thereafter.

In the process I reaffirmed how much I love knitting and the fiber arts.  I kept knitting, on the way to and from work, in meetings, on conference calls, while walking the dogs, whenever I had a few minutes with nothing else that had to be done, and whenever I could multitask and do it.  Finished the knee socks.  Knit garters for knee socks.  Made another pair of knee socks.  Started another pair.  Got sidetracked by shawlettes, a shorter, crescent shaped shoulder shawl.  Made 2 of these in very different yarns using the pattern English Ivy.  I now keep them at the office as a bit of extra warmth in the A/C.

Right after Easter my new local fiber studio, Stringtopia, had a 'seasonal activity' where we dyed some tussah silk using Easter egg dyes.  I started to spin up one of the 2 lengths on a trindle, thinking to make a reasonably softly spun 2-ply.   Then a little at a time I started to get back out more of my spinning equipment, first my Mazurka wheel then the Lendrum.  The Lendrum needed new drive bands and treadle connectors, so those got replaced.

Then along comes the end of June and there is talk on Ravelry about Tour de Fleece.  The basic premise is to spin every day that the racers in the Tour de France race.  I decided this was a good way to help me focus on spinning some every day.  I'm posting photos here on Flickr.

Spinning of Spudnick's fleece is done

I finally finished spinning Spudnick's fleece Sunday. I took 2 days to ply the 3 nearly full bobbins, winding one into a center pull ball and leaving it on the winder so the yarn would 'set' in the ball. I then plied the other 2 bobbins until one ran out of yarn. I did all the spinning, of the entire fleece, on my Mazurka, and all the plying on my double-treadle Lendrum with the plying head.

That was Tuesday evening I started the plying. Wednesday I finished plying the rest of the remaining bobbin with the center pull ball, and when that was gone the other end of the ball, finishing what has been, for me, a very long journey. I skeined, washed it and hung it (unweighted) to dry. It is now wound up and in the box with the rest of the yarn. Next step: get pictures then figure out how I want to do the yoke. Who knows, maybe I'll finally be able to wear a sweater made from this yarn next winter!

After I finish the Spiral Dance Shawl. Back to the border!

Spring Day has us all busy

We have had a busy day today, enjoying the lovely sunny spring weather. It is cool, but the sun is warm and the sky clear. Perfect day to walk the dogs, sit out and crack hickory nuts and do some handspinning.

I've put a new bobbin on the Mazurka wheel as I spin up the final few batts of Spudnick's wool. I've gotten several batts spun up this weekend, as well as making progress on the Pink Spiral Dance Shawl and the Knit One Below Reversible Vest. I even got a little work done on the quiviut scarf when I walked the dogs this afternoon. Now it's time to work on the spinning for a bit before the last of the late afternoon sun goes.

Quiet weekend at home

We had a really nice, quiet, weekend at home. Since my older son is away at university it's just my husband, younger son and me, along with the 2 dogs, BJ and Cadee, and Hawkeye Cat. My younger son is learning to drive, and since we have cars with standard transmission it has taken quite a while for him to get enough experience with the clutch to get out on the road. Last weekend was his first time actually driving on the roads, and not just in parking lots, or the little access roads over by the lake. This weekend we got him out for about an hour each day, getting him all sorts of different experiences. In town, country, and he even got on a major highway yesterday. They sure grow up fast!

I have been working along on a few projects, and planning out others. Never ends. Things have been pretty crazy for some time, and it's nice to start feeling like I'm getting forward progress made on my own goals. The lovely pink shawl I'm making for my niece is coming along very well. I expect to be able to finish it in good time to get it shipped out for her birthday. She wants a knitting spool, too, so I need to take a trip to find her one to include in the box.

The shawl is too big to easily take with me now, so I am working on a pair of hand spun mitts. I've started to post about them on Ravelry, and will eventually get pictures of them, too. The first one is finished, I just need to finish it's mate. Usually I knit both of a pair at the same time, but this time I didn't. These are being knit on US size 8 Brittany wooden needles, which are so much bigger than the US size 1-3 that I usually use for socks!

The other 2 knitting projects that I have in the background waiting their turn are a quiviut seaman's scarf knit in Feather and Fan, and a pair of cotton socks. I really don't much like knitting cotton socks, but for some reason I started these to take on my trip. I don't think this pair is meant for me. I think they will end up a bit too big for me. I've got someone in mind, but will have to see if they fit! Whomever they fit is who they are for. How's that for rationalization?

In addition to the off-and-on knitting I also got some time at my spinning wheel. I am slowly finishing the spinning on the last shade of Spudnick's fleece. I've got a bobbin and a half spun from 12 batts of this last shade. I have 12 more batts to go. At this rate another month or so to go! As with the rest of the fleece, this is being spun on the Kromski Mazurka wheel. What a lovely little wheel. I love sitting by the big front window where there is lots of natural light, enjoying the heat from the woodstove. It's close enough to the stove to be cozy, but not so close that it will heat or damage the wood of my wheels.

Spudnick Update Pictures

I've been getting some spinning in, and this fleece sure is wonderful. I've had hundreds of hours of fun with it and I've got a lot yet to go. Here is a picture showing some of what I've gotten spun up. The big gray skein is from what I spun last summer, as is the small silver-white ball. The rest are what I've spun this winter.

The 2 shades on the lazy kate are singles, not yet plied. I'll wind them into a center pull ball to ply them. I'll be starting on the next shade, a much lighter gray, like a mix of the silver-white and lightest gray shown here.

I posted 2 pictures as they came out slightly different due to the flash, to give an idea of the shades in different light.

Spinning again

Over the weekend I finished spinning and plying the last of a dark gray/taupe CVM fleece on my Mazurka. This is the fleece I wanted to finish spinning before I started back on Spudnick's fleece, as both have been spun on the same wheel. The carded weight was 3.2 lbs. I've got 6 huge skeins of fluffy yarn. It was spun fairly softly, with lots of loft and will probably be knit on a size 8-10 US needle, maybe larger, when I get around to swatching. I've got in mind a mid-thigh length jacket/coat, probably garter stitch similar to some that Elizabeth Zimmermann or Meg Swanson have written up in their books. At least those were the books I ended up pulling off my shelf and finding what I was looking for!

Haven't decided if I should do some big cables on it, which would preclude the garter stitch, or if I should spin up some of the other, lighter gray CVM I've got around to make a contrast color to make it more interesting. Decisions, decisions!

Once I finished that on Sunday I got out all of Spudnick's carded fleece, putting part of it into the now-empty box that the dark gray/taupe was in. If I stack all 4 boxes/tubs that these carded batts are in they'll be about as tall as I am! Woohoo!! I got out some of the darkest set of batts, 3 or 4 of them in that bag, and started spinning to match my sample. The texture is a little different, not quite as smooth and soft, but otherwise similar. I need to get some pictures of the 2 shades crossing each other to show the color variation. I've really got my work cut out for me with this fleece, but it is so wonderful to work with. I definitely won't have my sweater done for this winter, but maybe I'll finish the spinning and knitting in time for next winter. Or the one after!

Spudnick's Fleece is finally carded

I finally finished carding Spudnick's fleece today. It is going to be a long time before I get it all spun! Here are some pictures. This is about 4 times as much as I had the first time around. Good thing I found the rest of the fleece before I gave up on my sweater and made it into something else!


As you can see, there are several shades. I'll be spinning each shade by itself, to keep the colors from blending any further.



To give an idea of the size of the batts here's one with my hand.



I love all the shades of gray!

Silver Spudnick Pictures

I finally took some pictures of the Silver Spudnick. I wish the texture of this lovely, springy yarn could come through!


Here's the light silver singles next to the dark silver 2-ply I was spinning to match. The wheel is a Kromski Mazurka stained mahogany.

Silver CVM - Spudnick

The hand spinning has been going wonderfully. I so much enjoy the process of making yarn, the feel of the fibers sliding into the twist, flowing through my hands. The dark silver CVM (California Variegated Mutant) type wool I've been spinning is now in 2 huge skeins ready to be balled and knit. They are 6 7/2 and 6 3/8 ounce, respectively. I ended up with 5 bobbins spun on my Mazurka which I plied into a 2-ply using the jumbo head on my Lendrum.

I'm now working on 4 drum carded batts of a silver-white from the same fleece. I'm about a quarter of the way through spinning that to match the dark silver. I expect about a single bobbin of this silver-white, which I expect to use as contrast on whatever garment I decide to knit of the dark silver.

Spinning this fleece was a bit of a challenge for me, as I've not had much experience spinning from carded batts, and because I wanted to spin it worsted weight. My usual spinning is very fine, so allowing so many more fibers into the twist, making a much thicker yarn, meant I had to slow way down. It worked, though, and I'm totally thrilled that I was able to stay pretty much in range of my target sample through 5 whole bobbins of yarn!

When I get a chance I'll get some pictures.

Spinning again

It's been a while since I've posted and a lot has been going on. Now that things have settled down just a bit I've gotten back to handspinning. I spun some Targhee, then decided it was time to spin some CVM I've had waiting for just the "right time". This fiber was from a fleece I'd purchased, washed and then carded up on a drum carder. It's been waiting for quite a while.

I spun up some samples, which was a bit interesting, as I've not spun from carded bats much. I settled on a 2-ply worsted weight yarn. The singles are spun on the 6:1 ration of my Mazurka spinning wheel, with about 21 degrees of twist, about 17 wpi. The finished 2-ply is 8 wpi. I've been using techniques I learned from Rita Buchanan in a spinning for knitting class to match my sample.

I've spun 4 bobbins, and have enough more fiber to do another bobbin, possibly 2. I'll ply it up mixing up the bobbins so the first is plied with the 3rd or whatever is the middle one, and so on.

I'm still deciding how to knit it up. I'm thinking a from-the-top, seamless sweater ala Barbara Walker. This CVM is a medium silver-gray, too dark to show cables all that well. The yarn is a bit randomly heathered, so should be quite interesting enough without much fussiness.