Zeneedle...needleart as life

She Came to Stay

Please allow me to introduce Corina. She came to stay awhile ago and, sadly, she has been ignored. She's been a part of my spinning dream for a couple of years and now she's here, living with me.  I feel so fortunate to have this gorgeous wheel in my life. 

She's a 40th Anniversary edition Cherry Matchless from Schacht and she can spin.  Susan was here 6 weeks ago to make sure she worked smoothly and was properly adjusted. However, it was until yesterday morning I sat and gave her her due.  We worked hard to get to know each other and at times the road was bumpy.  It was love and perseverance that pulled us through and after spinning an easy white merino, for what seemed like a minute (and was actually over an hour), everything clicked.

It became clear to both of us that color would be better and I grab something nearby...a bump of Spinderella's Thrums in a wonderful purple.

 

Our first bobbin (in living color) is looking pretty good and we plan on living a long and happy life together.

Don't worry about Emmylou (my Lendrum). She's here, doing well, and she had a little attention this weekend, too.  This first bobbin was spun over the last couple of weeks and we're well on our way with a second.  It's quite wonderful to have to beautiful grrls in my life.

Spinning Away the Weekend

As away of avoiding any knitting that had to do with a sweater, I spent quite a bit of time with Emmylou (my spinning wheel).  In fact, I spent more time spinning this weekend than I did at any time during the Tour de Fleece.  It was fabulously enjoyable until the room became too hot.  Thus, and in fact, this is why I was a huge FAIL at the Tour.  I took the wheel to another room, a cooler room, and that room, since it is rarely used, took Emmylou out of sight and out of mind.  When she is in the junque/fiber room she is ready to go, but it becomes too hot in that room early in the day and SO...July is not for spinning in this house. 

August apparently is the return of spinning season and spin, Emmylou and I did.  Look what we made...

This was two ounces of beautiful alpaca/silk roving from Tactile and it was so much fun to spin.  In the end we only spun up 310 yards, but I'm so pleased with its beauty.  This above picture is before fulling/finishing.

This picture is after finishing school. The yarn is fuzzier, soft, rounder, and quite lovely. The top picture is darker than the actually color. This is a truer color representation.  There is enough yarnage to make a lovey scarf, a lacy beautiful scarf. 

Was your weekend as enjoyable as mine? 

(P.S.  Knitnana is having a contest. She's celebrating five years of her Nana Sadie Rose company (she makes some of the nicest bags I've ever used) and, not only that but she's celebrating the creation of her 750th BAG! Can you believe she's made that many?  You have several chances to win and she's putting together a wonderful gift package. Don't forget to tell her who sent you, okay!? Now, doesn't that alone make a Happy Monday?)

Cranking it Out

A plan is in place for Emmylou (my Lendrum wheel) and I to spin our way through the Tour de Fleece with team CrankyPants.  While it's not in my nature to be as cranky as this group (they have the art of crank down pat!), I certainly lived up to their standards with the great knitting disaster and the weekend meltdown.

 

Spinning was a nice way to assuage the tortured knitting soul and treadling melted away the angst. First on the wheel for the Tour is an alpaca/silk fiber from Maia's company, Tactile Fiber Arts. She has faith in my ability to spin this fiber into a fine lace yarn of about 450 yds.  I may have treadle fast enough to make dental floss of the fiber, but we'll see in the end. One bobbin is finished and it's so, so pretty.

My goal for the Tour is to spin with Project Spectrum South in mind.  There's a bit of red fiber hanging around the stash and spinning from stash is der rigueur. This luxurious 80% merino/20% cashmere is from last years Spirit Trail Fiber Club and the intent is to spin a yarn suitable for the lace mitts in the Summer issue of Piecework.  The fiber was heavenly to spin and a test skein turned out nicely.

Since Project Spectrum continues for a month after the tour, I should have time for another braid of fiber from Spirit Trail, a gorgeous, vibrant red. This one is a 50/50 cashmere/silk and the color is electric, hot and exquisite. Isn't this an "oh la la color?"

I'm not sure I have the ability to make this into a good yarn but, I am willing to give it a try.  It's just so-o scrumptious and luxurious.  I've been devouring Amy's new Spin Control book and find it very accessible, easy to read and full of great tips and information.  I'm building up confidence to spin my mountains of fiber stash. 

A Mystery Unfolds

The story begins when an attractive braid of hand-painted top arrives. The blend of colors captures the imagination and the desire to see its beauty unfold takes over. The spinner heads for her wheel as she fondles and pets the soft fluff.

Over time the bobbins fill one by one with colorful singles, the colors sequences mixed but similar. The spinner thinks a three ply sock yarn is the right way to go and spins to a fine and even grist. The colors twist and slip through her fingers leaving her to wonder how the colors will blend with the plying. Each step unfolds another layer of the mystery.

At last three bobbins are filled with singles of equal length and weight…the time has come to entwine the strands together in their final incarnation…a durable and, hopefully, beautiful yarn.

Slowly, carefully the spinner watches as the strands wrap around an invisible core, creating a round and strong yarn, a vibrant blend of the many colors. After hours of work, hours of watching the blur of singles slide through her hands, she has one bobbin full of yarn. Winding onto the niddy noddy confirms her guesstimate of 400 yds...a perfect amount for a pair of socks. The yarn is soft, yet strong, a beautiful blend of warm colors, the colors of early spring and Project Spectrum East. The mystery is revealed, the spinner is pleased.

This yarn was spun as a prize for Claudia's MS Ride. You know you want it...go give and then give a little more. Every dollar counts.

It All Adds Up

Long, long ago, (about 3 years ago) in a land far, far away (CT), a spinner fair talked an unsuspecting friend (that would be me) into picking up a spindle.  After a month of constant practice (oft in complete frustration) the friend became addicted to the process of spinning.  It was then the spinner fair (that would be Marcia) made an offer to the friend (that would be me) she could not pass up.  Emmylou, a spinning wheel so fine, came to the land of Zeneedle, brought frustration (at first), joy (after a time), and a new sense of accomplishment (finally).

Nearly every morning I take a few minutes (while my hair dries) to sit with Emmylou and spin for a bit.  After work I'll find a few minutes to unwind with her again, and then, just before bed, I slip into the chair once again and relax enough to bring on a good nights sleep.  In three weeks time (it felt like forever!), three bobbins are (finally) ready to ply. Spinning isn't a quick hobby as I don't sit for long periods of time, but hopefully this week the bobbins will come together into a vibrant 3 ply sock yarn. How nice the shades of yellow make it perfect for Project Spectrum East.

When Marcia showed off her new lazy kate I immediately had covetous feelings (as I do over her new spindle). Smith said he could attach wedges to the underside of the kate and it would sit at the same angle.  When I told Marcia about our plan she suggested he use doorstops.  The kate not only sits at the right angle it doesn't move (slip, slide away) when in use and plying skills have improved much to my delight. After 2 1/2 years I'm finally getting that hang of this spinning thing.

Me and My Emmylou

After a large project is finished I go through a "let down" period. It doesn't matter if the project was a success or not, although the "let down" period is longer after a good outcome.  After Liesl I just couldn't find footing to move on even though the next sweater (and the next) was ready to go. The feeling made me question if it was right "next sweater" (however, that's another story).  In any case, during project "let down", I turned to spinning and sock knitting. The hands can't be idle.

Whether knitting or not, spinning has been a nice compliment to sweater addiction and I've spent much of my spare time with Emmylou, my Lendrum DT spinning wheel.

Neither picture is quite right, but they should give you an idea of how pretty the blue, green coloway is.

The fiber was Spirit Trail's superwash BFL from Jennifer's Fiber Club.  It was such a wonderful fiber to spin and didn't feel in the least like superwash.  It wasn't slippery or squeaky and it was a joy to spin.  I could have used a little more as I ended up with only 222 yds of 3-ply sock weight. Perhaps the shortage is due to the yarn being more tightly spun, both in singles and plying, than I normally do. It is nicely balanced and will wear very well, however.  I'll be looking for another color to spin as a compliment. 

Not to be daunted by low yarndage, I jumped right into spinning another fiber club offering from Funky Carolina. (Must meet the challenge for more yarndage.)  This is also a superwash in the Twisted Hummingbird colorway. Dont' you love that name?!  The colors  are wonderful to watch as they run between my fingers and the fiber spins nicely (and quite finely, too). I enjoy clubs because they challenge my color sense.

The club fibers are also fun to spin as a break from longer term projects.  Anne had a beautiful batch of alpaca/charred bamboo a few months back that was too beautiful to pass up.  I'm slowly filling a bobbin with fine singles in the hopes I can make a big beautiful shawl or stole.  Pattern to be determined when yarndage is known.  In the mean time, spinning this is pure heaven.  I love the color (shades of gray), the fiber and the beautiful single. Six oz. will be divided between two bobbins to make a fingering weight 2 ply yarn...a gray tweed with a bit of sparkle, fingering weight.

Cayenne, a local spinner, recently blogged about spindle spinning and I realized I had been carrying around the same style of spindle, a Maureen's Mjolinar , but had rarely put it into action. Her post reminded me how much I enjoyed the process of spindling and how much I'd like to get back to it. The day before, in another post, she shared the beautiful professional pictures she'd had taken while spinning in her yard. The pictures have a vintage feel and I thought you'd enjoy seeing them.

What's Going On?

The spinning is easy...

Spirit Trail superwash BFL, two bobbins finished, one to go. (SOCKS!)

Heavy petting and copious drooling....

Spirit Trail 50% baby camel/50% tussah silk, dyed in peacock colors (TO LIVE FOR!)...

Planing, playing, hooking?

Sewing?

Perhaps.

Spinning Desire

YAY! How happy am I that the feed issues are fixed!  I missed you all yesterday. 

Saturday was spent organizing, sorting and assessing the fiber stash. As a new spinner one tends to buy a little of everything in the hopes of trying different wools, understanding fiber, and becoming a better spinner. After a time, one finds favorite fibers, and thus, many of the less enjoyable bunches and braids make their way to the back of the closet or bottom of the bin. A few bumps, colors and wools that will never be spun, made up a small discard pile, and that made room for more favorites to come into view again. The rest of the weekend I spent as much time as I could with Emmylou and we created beautiful yarn together.

Jennifer's Spirit Trail Fibers are some of my most favorite. Her colors and exotic blends are always a joy to spin. The latest offering, the first of this years club, was a Superwash BFL in a luscious colorway. This beauty didn't come with a name so I've dubbed it Sea Blue. The shades of blue and green vary, change and meld together in subtle ways. I'm not a big fan of superwash fiber, but this BFL spins more like "real" wool. One bobbin was finished before I knew it and I had a great desire to spin another. The plan is for a 3-ply sock yarn and we're one third of the way there, with more fun spinning to come.

To keep things interesting, Emmylou and I started another long term spinning project.  We'll fill a bobbin of the BFL and then one of this luscious alpaca/bamboo from Anne. This is so beautifully prepared it just flows so smoothly through the fingers and creates a gorgeous single.  This will be come a shawl and we, Emmylou and I, have two in mind.  The choice will depend on yarndage.  We expect there will be oodles as we have a full 6 oz and will spin it in a light fingering weight.

 

The fiber is slightly darker than the photo, but you can see bits of sparkle and the shades of gray pretty well.  It's pure heaven to spin. By spinning as much as I can I hope to make a dent in the fiber collection. Spinning has become such an enjoyable part of my day.

Weekend Mixed Bag

Saturday spring returned with blue skies and warmer temperatures.  Sunday winter took over again with a vengeance.  Wind, heavy snow, and cold erased any trace of Saturday's warmth.  My favorite pansy had recovered from the last snowstorm only to be left wearing a hat of new snow.

Much of my weekend entertainment happened while spinning with Emmylou.  We had a blast with Funky Carolina Falklands Wool and made a simple 2-ply out of "A Simple Song". Two other long term spinning projects were started...more on that later.

Late in the the sun played across the mountains and above was a patch of blue sky.  The week ahead will take March out, and bring April in, like a lion.

That's what springtime is like in Utah.

Springy Spinning

As predicted, it did end up snowing for much of the day yesterday and it may do the same tomorrow. However, I say let it snow, it won't last long (and we need the water!)...while it may be cold and snowy outside, inside I've been spinning gorgeous spring colors.  Friday afternoon I finished plying the Wooly Wonka Kelp merino/bamboo.  This Ravelry link will show you all the incarnations from roving to finished yarn.  I did a happy dance when it proved to be just over 500 yards, as that is enough to make a nice sized shawl....a shawl that may or may not be for me.  Not sure that lovely spring color would be good close to my face, but it matters not, as the yarn is so pretty, shiny and screams spring.  The true color is closer to the first picture.

Whether I wear this color or not, you can color me pleased.

So pleased, in fact, that I started spinning another roving immediately.   This is Funky Carolina's February club fiber, Falklands wool in the color "A Simple Song".

I may have too much roving on hand, may have joined too many fiber clubs, but I'm enjoying spinning for the pure enjoyment of it and hope to make good progress by spinning daily. Emmylou (my wheel) and I are enjoying spring together.

Before I forget (again)...Lisa is having a very cool contest. Run over to her blog and make a stab at the date the HUGE pile of snow completely melts away. You could be the winner of a very cool bagg.