A Small Spinning Swap

Last year I met Manise, one of the blog-free MA spinners, while at Rhinebeck.  She and I started our spinning education at about the same time and, as part of that process, we decided to spin a skein of yarn for each other. 

For my skein I spun up some of Spinderella's thrums (sadly unavailable right now) that I had purchased at the Idaho Falls Festival last spring.  I used a semi-woolen technique (I'm still learning that technique) and, when done, gave the skein a good whacking around.   It turned out fairly good and fluffed nicely with a bit of abuse (as is usual for me, however, it's a bit over-spun).  The fiber content is unknown, but I could detect wool, a bit of alpaca and a smattering of sari silk. Since I had two bumps, the second one went to Manise unspun so she could have some thrum fun. After she spins up her bump there should be enough yar(n)dage for a scarf.

Yarn before abuse washing    ...     ...Yarn nicely fluffed by washing

Manise sent a few goodies with the skein she sent my way. It was such a fun package to receive!

Here's what Manise had to say about her experience.

Manise~

Margene's Skein When Margene e-mailed me expressing a desire to do a skein exchange with me I was first flattered then somewhat apprehensive. What fiber was I going to use? What colors? Was she going to like my spinning? But she hates yellow and green and most of my fiber in stash contained one or both of those colors. Ahhhh!

After stirring the rubbermaid containers housing my fiber, I located something that would fit the bill, but went back to her blog to make sure and to check the colors she's used in her knitting. I really needn't have worried so much. I chose Leaf Peep in Falkland Wool Top that I special ordered for myself earlier in the year from Amy King of Spunky Eclectic- a beautiful mix of reds, wine, cobalt blue, a splash of white and pink and black.

My original plan was to fill 2 bobbins with spun fiber and then make a 2 ply yarn ensuring I'd have enough to satisfy the 200 yard agreement Margene and I had. I started by dividing the top in half and weighed each to make sure each half was of similar weight. I then put one half away for later use. I pulled off 10- 12 inch pieces (one at a time) trying to maintain color runs, then divided each one down the middle into 2 slivers , pre-drafted them and spun those end to end. Half way through the spinning Knitagator Kathy and I had a discussion about spinning handpainted fiber and how to tackle issues of not making mud out of our nice fiber. She said she divides each piece into 4 slivers and then spins those end to end or in an order that pleased her. So that's what I did and spun the slivers end to end. I noticed that it required less pre-drafting and preserved more color saturation as I spun it up. I also noticed that my spinning was rather fine and a 2 ply would be too thin, so I decided to spin it all up on one bobbin and Navajo ply it. When I plied it I didn't pay particular attention to preserving the color runs and wound up with a mixture of solid color and some barberpoling at the color transitions.

All in all I'm pleased with how it turned out. It'll go nicely with jeans and are colors that I think will look good on Margene.

Details: Spun on Alice ( a borrowed Ashford Traditional from Carole ) using the largest whorl. 214 yards. Soaked it in Eucalan in very warm water for 20 minutes, squeezed out the excess water, took it outside and spun it like a helicopter pulling the rest of the water out and whacked on the deck railing a bit. No major roughing it up as Abby and Margene do therefore no fulling resulted.

I look forward to our next skein exchange!

~~

OK,  Margene here.  I look forward to our next exchange too, Manise!

Manise had the use of Carole's wheel, Alice and the skein she sent was her last on Alice.  Carole loans Alice out as a way of aiding and abating friends into becoming spinners.  Julie's is the next victim person to enjoy the company of this well traveled wheel.  (That's such a sweet thing you do, Carole!)  Manise has her own wheel now, a new Schacht. 

I think I'll be petting this beautiful skein for awhile before I decide what it should be come.  A hat might be just the thing.  Thank you, thank you Manise!!

Comments

[Dianne]

Both very pretty..and what a great idea for exchange!! Happy Knitting and Spinning~

[Laurie]

You are such a lucky grrl. That skein is pure spun beauty.

Yes, Carole is a peach.

[Laurie]

You are such a lucky grrl. That skein is pure spun beauty.

Yes, Carole is a peach.

[Laritza]

The colors are very pretty. Alice is a great idea! That is a sure way of enabling :D

[Chris]

What a fun way to connect over the miles! I got to see the skein Manise spun for you at Fiber Revival and it is a stunner! Especially the way Manise wound it on her beautiful niddy noddy. Manise should quit being blogless!

[Carole]

The exchange went really well and the colors Manise chose are perfect for you. I'm so happy that you have a skein of Alice spun yarn.

[Ruth]

You are such a lucky duck ... I saw the yarn Manise spun for you, and it is to DIE for.

I like the yarn you sent to her, too ... I hope she'll let me pet it some day.

[marie in florida]

manise's color way is my favorite combo. lovely work.

[Kathy]

I saw your yarn on Sunday -- it came out fabulous. I was simply lusting over the unspun fiber, so much so that I popped over (sadly!) to their site yesterday only to learn that there are none at this time. :-( Manise did a terrific job -- it's spun beautifully and the colors are lovely. Love that Alice!

[Pat K]

What a neat idea. And you both spun such beautiful yarn!

[ann]

it is lovely Margene - what will you make with it?

[Danielle]

I got to see Manise's yarn in person, and I've been waiting to see it here too. It is lovely!

[Margaret]

Wow, what a difference before and after on your skein. Maybe I'll have to abuse mine some more after all. The fulling really brings out the best in your spinning. And thanks for bringing us Manise's notes on her skein. I do like the chain-ply with just a bit of mixing at the color changes, and the colors she chose seem to match your blog colors perfectly.

[Wool Winder]

You both ended up with a beautiful skein of handspun. Enjoy!

[Lee Ann]

Great job, ladies! Carole does what Mamacate does, too, and did to me: "oh, just take this extra wheel and see what you think..."

Yeah, right. Now I have two of my own and I'll be getting two more from my brother as a late birthday gift. He found two wheels in his landlord's barn in Maine. I. Can't. Stop.

At least you both are beautiful in your mutual affliction ;-) And it's great to read about how you achieved the yarns you created. Thank you!

[Dave Daniels]

The swap sounds like a fun idea...it gives me ideas...can I steal your idea and run with it?

[Birdsong]

A hat would look splendid on you this coming winter. I do think that was an inspired idea, especially since it encouraged both of you to think and make notes about what you were doing, problems and how to overcome them, etc. When spinning handpainted yarns like the one Manise sent you, I divide the entire length into fourths, roll up the ones I am not using yet and spin each thinner bit entirely, then Navajo ply. It is easier to draft and I like the effect. I love the pale color and fluffy texture you got with your thrums and hope that Spinderella will have more available soon.

[Em]

What a fun idea! I'll have to try to set up some swaps like this with my own spin-friends. Beautiful work, the both of you!

[elizabeth]

That's great! I loved reading about how you both spun the yarns, thanks for sharing!

[Anne]

Now THIS was a very fun idea. Cool. And now you have more gorgeous handspun to work with!

[Cheryl]

Manise showed me your yarn on Saturday and I thought it was fantastic! So squishy and soft, just beautiful! I'm so glad to know you gave it the plunger treatment, that's the first time I've seen the results of that in real life. Now I have the courage to try it out too.

[Beth S.]

This was a very educational entry (and how cool to see Manise blogging! Grrl needs to hang out a shingle of her own... I'm sure she's sick of hearing that.)

It's also wonderful to see how far both of you have progressed in a year. A pair of prodigies, that's what you are. :-)

[Kristi aka Fiber Fool]

What a fantastic idea to swap handspun yarn! Both skeins are lovely!

[Tonia]

What a great swap! They are both so beautiful!

[Manise]

Thanks Margene for cooking up this yarn swap. It was a ton of fun! I'm still petting your skein and showing it off to everyone! When I become better and more consistent on the Schacht I'll spin up the remainder of my lovely thrums. Glad to have you as a spinning buddy :-).

[Chris]

Oh, both skeins are so pretty!

[Kelly]

Both yarns are gorgeous and I liked reading about the spinning of both yarns.

[Cayenne]

You both spun up some lovely yarn. Exchanges are so great. I like how they help me learn new things and push myself. I haven't tried beating my freshly spun yarn up yet. Sounds fun!

[maryse]

manise needs a blog

[Leah]

What fun! I love the idea of a skein exchange. Margene, you should handle that, I think!

[Kim]

Oh. Spinderella. Thrums. Ooh. OOHHH.

[Sarah]

That is such a great idea, and I can see it was much fun for both of you. Thanks for sharing the experience with the rest of us.

[Jennifer]

What a lovely swap! Wonderful handspun, both.

[Madame Purl]

I totally love this idea. I signed up at the HGA to do a skein swap this fall/winter with 5 other folks. Much smaller group and they focus on a fiber. Plus smaller sample. I think 5 yards.

Any thought to a larger swap - maybe 10 folks or so?

[KarenJoSeattle]

What delicious colors in both skeins. Manise's spinning does a nice job of combining cool blues and reds with warmer reds -- love it.

Manise obviously has a wide set of connections to other spinners, too. So many people enjoyed your skein before you did.

[Julie]

I saw the yarn you spun for Manise on Saturday; it is gorgeous! Looks like Manise spun up some pretty yarn for you too.

What a fun thing for the 2 of you to do :-)

[Teyani]

what a cool yarn exchange. and I just love that Carole loans out Alice to encourage new spinning addicts :-)