Making Handspun Yarn – the Tools Involved

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I have been having a fabulous time learning all about spinning since purchasing my first spinning wheel in February. I’ve been spinning wool roving mostly from my collection of roving by Bartlettyarns obtained from the New Hampshire Wool Show last year (they had a buy 4 get one free sale…or something like that. At the time I had no idea I would learn to spin; I simply stocked up because it was a darn good deal and you can never have enough wool roving for felting :)). It’s very light and fluffy and I enjoy the texture it creates once spun. I am still waiting for the plying head/jumbo flyer I ordered for my Lendrum, so for now I have been spinning and storing my singles…for the most part anyway. I also have been experimenting with plying just to get a feel for it (you can most certainly ply with the regular head you just get less yardage).

I own two lazy kates and I use them for storing my bobbins when I am not plying. I tend to get bored spinning one color so will switch it out for another fairly often. I watched a wonderful video called “The Gentle Art of Plying” by Judith Mackenzie. Judith calls these marvelous contraptions just “kates” and I chuckled because I agree with her – how can you call something so useful lazy? When she made this remark in her video I was nodding my head in agreement! If you are looking to understand more about plying and a good method to do it, I highly recommend her video. It certainly took the intimidation out for me. I even tried plying cables. It is a whole lot of fun and really addictive. I think once you understand twist and counter-twist (S and Z as it is called in the spinning world) plying is not so intimidating. I always thought I would only make fun bulky singles, but I am really loving plying and the balance created in the finished yarns.

A niddy noddy is another useful tool with an entertaining name. One you have finished plying your yarn (or spinning your bulky single yarn as it may be) you wind it onto a niddy noddy. This helps straighten the fibers as well as a tool to count how many yards was made. For my particular niddy noddy, I count the wraps and multiply by 1.5 to get the yardage of yarn made. Winding yarn on a niddy noddy takes a bit of skill and this is where my jewelry making experience really help me out. I have heard of people who, even after years of spinning, never could master wrapping on a niddy noddy. For me, I find it quiet fluid! 🙂

After winding the yarn onto the niddy noddy, you tie off the yarn and then set the twist and/or full. I will talk about this in another post. 🙂

Lendrum DT Spinning Wheel

1 Lendrum

 

 

This is my new baby. Surprising, no? It’s definitely not for jewelry making, although you can spin beads into the fiber. 😉

We are a Waldorf Inspired household. Before I had my children I could have cared less about knitting and crochet. I had been slowly making time to teach myself to knit last year,but  finally decided to make a concerted effort at it during the holidays. I had a 3 month old, and spent a lot of time nursing & rocking…and I thought it would finally be a good time to dedicate a good amount of time for learning (read: a nice, quiet creative project so not to disturb baby). It went okay at first, but I found myself wanting to know more about the textile I was working with. How is yarn made? What is the difference between natural and synthetic fibers? Between machine or hand spun? Drop spindle or spinning wheel?

After watching a few videos on YouTube, I was totally intrigued about spinning and really wanted to get a wheel (I was pathetically clumsy with a drop spindle).

So after considering my options, I ended up purchasing a Lendrum Double Treadle. This is a scotch tensioning wheel, which meant nothing to me at the time, but I so enjoy spinning on this type of wheel now. Another post is needed for technical whatnots…

I chose this wheel because it is compact, folds for storage (not that I have never had a chance to store it!) and is locally made in Ontario. I am waiting for a plying head/jumbo flyer that I ordered back in the spring. Lendrums are in demand and worth the wait.

You can find  a local Lendrum dealer by visiting his website.

Spinning, understanding fiber and how yarn is formed has been like a kick start to my brain as far as knitting and crochet goes. Although I am still very much a beginner, since spinning patterns/stitched/formation make so much more sense to me. I bought this wheel in February and spin pretty much everyday we are home. A joy!

More info to follow…

 

Change of Plans…

Just as I get my website up and running, we decide to do some upgrades to our downstairs. It is time. We also bought a camper trailer, so our family will be on the open road for most of the summer…which has been a dream of ours for our family.

What this means is a much needed upgrade to give me a bonafide studio. The washer & dryer will be removed and moved into the downstairs washroom, giving me free reign of the entire space. We have been frantically packing up our lives in preparation; the jewelry supplies are boxed up for now, and should see the light of day again this fall. This summer I will post about my adventures in spinning fiber this winter/spring to keep the creativity flowing. I feel a total overhaul of the jewelry as well…I’m looking forward to the summer to mull it all over.

Per usual if you can still contact me for custom requests, I may or may not be able to fulfill them, but do feel free to write!

I look forward to showing off my new studio space. It is my dream to have a place that I can share with the community as well…jewelry making, beading, knit, crochet, card fiber, spin…excited to finally be moving in this direction…