Tag Archives: spinning

Spinning All The Minis

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I have wrapped up my last SSK fiber mini spinning project and I am itching to start another one. I still need to wind and measure those handspun skeins but I can’t find all my tools at the moment.

In the meantime I am prepping my next set of fiber plans. I have 12 ounces of miscellaneous fiber types and colors and I wanted to do a sort of combo spin.

I split the fiber up by colors in three equal parts to the best of my ability. Then for each color I broke the bigger bits up into smaller bits and bobs. I will pull randomly from the pile and complete for each of the three plies.

The blue pile was my favorite! Each section is just a hair shy of 4 ounces. This blue pile does have a ton of silk in it and that’s not my favorite but I will survive, lol.

This last pile was kind of the “et all” section and got most of the neutrals and whatever fiber made the weights equal out. It will be the wildest of the three plies but should make for an interesting yarn.

Now just to find extra time in my day for all this spinning!! Happy Spinning!

All The Skeins Swimming

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The skeins are all dunked, swished and hung to dry. This handspun is really turning out to be something!

I did have to scrub some questionable things from the sink to be able to wash this yarn. And I was so surprised with how much water this yarn sucked during its inaugural wash. I let it rest and then squeezed out the water and towel dried them.

After a good whack on the floor, I have hung them to dry near the window where they can be warmed by the sun. I am hoping to have these measured, weighed and finalized when they are dry. I can’t wait to see how many yards of yarn I managed to make with the 2-ply skeins!

Happy Spinning!!

All Plied Up

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It took me a few bobbins and about 1,000 adjustments but I managed to get all of the singles into plied yarn. And it only took four bobbins for this SSK fiber mini spinning project.

Bonus points, the view has been pretty nice here at the Grandparents. I need to wait until I get home and get this yarn wound off into skeins to wash and measure. I finally felt more comfortable with the tension and moving the parts around by bobbin #3.

The three bobbins on the right are all 2-ply skeins where I just let the colors combine as they came off the singles. I had a little bit of singles left on one of the bobbins so I chain plied all those to use them up. It will make a wee little skein.

All in all, I am pretty pleased so far! Happy Spinning!!

Plying With The Tools At Hand

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I have the weekend booked at Casa Grandparents and I am without all my tools. But I wanted to finish spinning this handspun I brought on my Sparrow.

I found a cardboard box in the recyling and stole two wall hangers for thread from my mom’s sewing room and made do. It was not the smoothest plying but it is putting yarn on the bobbin.

I am still learning this e-wheel and it’s setting. I am struggling with the tension and take-up compared to the Kiwi 3 I have been spinning on. And at the end of the day, I am still making yarn. So as long as I am having fun, I am doing it right!

Happy Spinning!!

The Second Bobbin

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The second bobbin of my SSK spinning project is filling up nicely. I managed to give the grands to the grandparents for the evening and snag some spinning time and a cold beer.

I am still spinning with no plan and just grabbing whatever color feels good. All vibes, no plan. And I am still getting used to my Sparrow e-wheel. It takes a few tweaks now and again, especially after transporting to and fro. But I am learning as I go and I think it is going okay.

A few more minutes of alone time and I will have these singles done! Happy Spinning!!

Okay, But More Singles

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Happy Labor Day to those that observe.

I did some noodling and decided that I am going to combine my SSK 2024 fiber minis with my SSK2025 fiber minis. This would give me 12 ounces of fiber in total to work with. I am thinking considering a three ply or possibly a 2 ply that alternates which bobbing I am pulling from.

This second bag of eight ounces, I did a wee bit more planning. I laid the minis out and sorted them into basically warm and cool color families. It was not a perfect system as I did have to do some mixing to get the ounces to be two equal four ounce portions.

Now to get these started on my wheel! Happy Spinning!!

Four Ounces Of Singles

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I was stuck in a four hour public meeting on Zoom and I decided to focus on the SSK2024 singles that are on my Sparrow e-wheel.

I filled the bobbin without really managing the color thinking too hard. I didn’t put any of the same colors back to back was my only rule.

And I love these 3D printed bobbins bc I can see all the layers of the singles like a little cake all laid out. Safe to say that four ounces fits easily on one of these bobbins but not much more. I need to do some noodling what do next with these singles, I just kinda started spinning with no plan and now all of the singles are on one bobbin….

Happy Spinning!!

Inaugural E-Spin

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I made a pretty big leap/purchase at SSK that wasn’t fiber or yarn related. I have been saving my mad money for the past year and I decided to take a leap into an electric wheel. SSK had a “try it” room for tools and wheels as well. I was able to try several brands and versions of e-wheels and I landed on a very nice starter wheel.

This is a Daedalus Sparrow electric spinning wheel. It’s 3D printed and very compact and light. I am excited to see what this does to my spinning output. In my current phase of life I have so many kid events and our house does not have a dedicated craft space for me that I find I don’t get my Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel out very much. I have to take it out and put it away almost every time I use it. Which is a barrier to use for me.

I am hoping that this e-wheel is more portable and accessible for more day to day to use. I have it set up in my office right now so I can drop in and spin as I feel the whim. I am starting with the Fiber Pool fiber mix from SSK 2024. It’s a lot of mix of different types of fiber so I will get to “test” a lot on this new wheel.

Let’s see what I can spin now! Happy Spinning!!

SSK Fiber Pool Fun!

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One of the kick off events at SSK is the Fiber Mini Pool. Everyone brings fibers and breaks into small pieces and fills a swim pool. Then you shake and stir vigorously to make fiber stew.

Then you line up and get an equal amount of ounces out as you put in. Just with a little bit of everyone combined. There are all fiber types and colors so it’s definitely patchwork. But it makes great memories.

Very happy with the mix I got this year! I don’t have any immediate plans to spin this. To be fair, I still have last year’s bag as well. Perhaps I could combine them!?

Happy Spinning!!

Spinning Clouds

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I have been lacking craft motivation lately. I haven’t felt like doing much now that we can be outside again. To break up my doldrums, I pulled some cashmere cloud from my spinning stash to put on the wheel.

This is the Cumulus fiber from Oink Pigments that I picked up at SSK 2024. It’s 80% merino and 20% cashmere so its BUTTER soft. I split the fiber in 1/2 and I will make a 2-ply. I want something drapey and soft to make a cowl of sorts?

The fiber is spinning quite lovely. Some parts are coming out solid colors and others are marled depending on how I draft the fiber. My muscles are out of shape so I am only spinning 20 minutes at a time to get back in shape and reduce the strain on my hands. I did my default short forward draw so my hands are getting a workout.

Happy Spinning!!