@@RachelSmith Oh I thought you lived here! Poop. I was so excited for a moment! It’s hard to find help!!! lol I need someone to watch me soon and give me some guidance. Where are you from? 😊
Thank you so much for the wonderful info about drafting and connecting spun ends. I am foggy about the ratio between treadling and drafting, cannot spin a balanced yarn. Can you help with that?
Glad it was helpful! When you are plying, watch the twist angle and remember that a lot of twist will be lost in the washing process. We aren't aiming for a balanced yarn off the wheel but post washing and even then, it's not exact. Just start making lots of skeins and you'll see the differences as you add more or less twist!
I bought the audio book of Fibershed and was put off by the author's continuous mentions of how she coined the term "fibershed." I was so irritated by this (possibly irrationally) that I couldn't finish listening to it.
It's so funny you would say that because I thought the exact same thing and I didn't think she ever actually gave a true definition of what she means by 'fibershed' ... I totally agree. It took me a while to read! Even though I highly recommend it ... once you get past that.
Thank you very much, Miss Rachel, I had contacted Ashford asking for a crayon-level video, Miss Kate advised me of yours. I noticed that its been 2 years since you assembled this. Do you have any recommendations on what you see in retrospect for different/modified assembling?
Not really. I assembled it and have used it a bit but I don't know what I would have done differently with assembly as I just followed the instructions. I hope you enjoy yours!!
I’ve had to think about this… I think both practicing martial arts for years and drawing a lot both help me with my drafting. Martial arts taught me to control my body movements. You’d think it teaches you to control the larger movements but it also taught me to control very fine movements and to ’settle’ my body in a position. Drawing and painting taught me hand and wrist control and helped me train my eyes. Somehow, I tend to settle in a ‘range’ of drafting that remains very, very consistent. When I start up a spin, I determine the staple length and rarely ever draft out more than half the staple length of the fibre. I do spin very, very fine and need the extra overlap to keep the singles from falling apart. Another neat little trick is to make good use of the light and contrast you have. At night I’ll often watch something on my tablet and will place it in such a way that I’m kind of drafting through the screen’s light. This way I always see how many fibres I’m picking up. Alternatively, I make sure I’ve got good light on my drafting triangle. And I always try to memorise how the fibre feels between my fingers as it’s drafting out and twisting into yarn. After a while, if you’re picking up too much of not enough, it feels wrong.
I love that Nora is wearing her crocheted sweater. Looks adorable. Knit city looks like a blast. And I believe Nora had a super excellent experience. A wonderful experience for both of you.
Hi Rachel, loved your podcast as always😊. Regarding a table for your new electric drum carder, I'm not sure of your dimensions, being a larger carder, however thought I'd mention in case it helps...I have an electric carder, (different brand) and am unable to carry it around. Hubby bought a second hand, solid timber bedside table (the 2 drawer kind) and added four castor wheels to the base (with brakes). This means I can wheel it out when I need it and wheel it away when finished. Because the cabinet was already made, it was a quick fix that works fabulously. Happy crafting
Thank you for your comment in the beginning about there being many ways and none is 'right' or 'wrong'. For example, I have an electric spinner - no treadling. I soon found that the most comfortable way to spin for me is from a side ways to the spinner position. I also discovered that more grippy fibers like Targhee were hard to short forward draft because the amount of tug I had to give was inconsistent. I found myself anchoring and pinching my twist control hand on my knee and pulling my fiber control handback. Then I could just let go the pinch and allow the twist to flow back while the fiber was automatically pulled forward. The the process starts again so the fiber hand is just moving back a few inches (depending on staple length) and moving forward a few inches to. Much less stress on my shoulders and having my forward hand resting on my thigh seems to combat the complaint that short backward draw produces a less consistent yarn. Not sure if I'm explaining it well but it's not something I've seen anyone else demonstrate. So my advice is to look at what other people are doing and then adapt it to your own needs.
So glad this lands in my inbox - the show streams while I'm at knit group, so I miss it almost every time! Glad to see all the makes & shares; it makes my day! Happy TDF!
We were talking about that in Spin Group this week and I think if you were washing 100# of fleece each week, you would have a problem. I wash maybe 3-5# per year so I don't think it's a big deal; HOWEVER, I was going to do some research about the Unicorn Power Scour and putting it on my garden b/c it's choke full of lovely stuff (including lanolin) for the garden!
Oh my gosh! You used my sweater spin quandary post! So thrilling! And I had come to the same conclusion...sample! Sample! Sample! I just wrote up tags for 11 samples, but you had interesting thought of 3 ply split 2 to 1 in both drafts. Will have to add that to the sample collection. And I never thought that woolen might be longer than worsted drafted singles. Hmmmm...since this is my first successful, consistent woolen spun singles I would have never thought of that...but it makes sense. Thank you for spotlighting my quandary! I will post all my samples in mini skeins and knitted swatches. Stay tuned.
Great question - it does pull the very brittle tips off that were growing to the outside/elements during the growing of the fleece but it's just cleaning up the fleece to leave the best fibres.
Hello Rachel, This message has nothing to do with the current podcast but I have followed you from the beginning. I recently had the opportunity to buy a secondhand Lendrum DT.wheel from a lady who said it was too difficult to treadle. I am reaching out to you to see if you have any suggestions as I find it does have a very hard treadle action. Is this normal? I’ve cleaned where I can and adjusted the tension and drive band. As they are no longer being made and are a Canadian wheel I was excited to be able to obtain one here in England. I hope you don’t mind my asking. 🤗
There's rumors that they will be back in production at some point (fingers crossed) but have you oiled it? Also, make sure the drive band isn't too tight - that the mother of all isn't lifted too high. That'll cause it to be difficult to treadle. Just lift it enough that it turns the flyer. Let me know how it goes and we can go from there with tips to get it running smoothly!! Also, make sure your chair isn't too high - I find I need a lower stool/chair to spin at the best experience.
Thank you. I just processed some raw Gotland, and I wasn't sure how to spin it. (I typically shy away from long wools.) This video was very insightful and useful.
Wonderful! I'm so glad it was helpful! I loooove Gotland -- keep the twist low and you'll end up with a beautiful, next-to-skin yarn for a wonderful cardigan or sweater.
I have always wanted to make my own rope, I know how to make fobers out of some stingy plant, but I needed know the technology and the technique to make yarn for the rope! Big thanks!
The crochet cardigan looks amazing, Nora did a great job. I wouldn't worry about the cardigan being a bit small, as once it is washed crochet stretches . The length and the width will give in shape not like knitting
That is such a good point!! I think the most important thing will be ensuring I have the length (maybe slightly shorter than I want to allow that stretch) as I don't want it short. Thanks!!
Thanks so much for sharing about crackle - I really appreciated how you presented it in such a down to earth fashion and how you showed the ease of creating variations using Fireworks.
This was super interesting. I try to stay away from dyeing...exactly as you say, another body of knowledge. And sewing, quilting, knitting, fiber prep, spinning, weaving are overwhelming my brain. But lately I have been contemplating dying my handspun for a fair isle sweater. I am in process of combing a luscious Romney, dark gray to silver fleece. Maybe???? And the conclusions on the Corridale are similar to my own. While not a loss, it isn't a win. But when I process the fleece, comb it myself, it is a different animal!
There’s a horrible squealing noise in the background. I don’t know if you can do anything about that. It’s like a really high-pitched noise. I had to turn the video off. I can’t take it anymore.
I love the wall hanging you made . Such a lovely memory to hang your own art piece from start to finish. Was the circle design your own as well or is there a pattern you used?
Hi Rachel Embarrassed for having to ask this but I haven’t used my Lendrum in a long time to ply and I’m trying to recall if I use the Jumbo flyer and the longer drive band for plying. I have the two bands attached and the longer of the two hangs out in the back when not in use.
You can! I don't and I just make smaller skeins when I ply on my Lendrum b/c I find the Jumbo flyer just too slow (have to treadle more) but you can totally use it to ply if you'd like!! And yes, you need the longer drive band.
Nice video. Personally, my consistency improved not only when I controlled my drafting length and thickness, but also when I paid attention to my treadling cadence. I typically draft forward as one foot treadles and draw my fingers back for more fiber when the opposite foot treadles. So, I don't necessarily count treadles as long as I pull fiber forward on one treadle and slide my fingers back on the next treadle. I change the amount of twist by increasing or decreasing the size of my whorl. This way, it doesn't matter how fast or slowly I spin, it always takes two treadles to draft and slide my fingers back. For me, it makes it more meditative and my results are more consistent when my hands and feet work in tandem. I've never spun on a Lendrum; It looks like is spins so smoothly.
Twist locked is when the fibres will no longer draft past each other because there is enough twist that the singles is structurally sound. Does that help?
Hi Rachel. There are some sheep here. Dawson City has a few Shepherds raising for meat and Black Mask Greetings usually hand processes as much as she can. Mostly Icelandic and cross mutts can be found here. Some in Whitehorse. The main hurdle is the regulations. There's several that make it hard to have livestock here. This is to avoid the movi virus entering the Dahl sheep flocks in the mountains.
Thanks Natalie! There are areas in the country, just like in Canada, that don't, though, right? I'd heard Queensland doesn't, I think? Did I mishear maybe?
