more spinning fun

Much more spinning practice this weekend and much more sub par yarn.  I finally got sick of the practice wool I have been using and decided it would be ok to use a little of the Henry’s Attic roving  I have for the store.  What a difference!  I’m not sure if it’s that the HA roving is so much better prepared or if it’s just that much better quality but it was infinitely easier to work with.  I just wish the “yarn” I made with it reflected that!  (By the way, look for a bigger selection of roving at the store arriving soon!)

I have tried several different things with the wheel to try to fix my self perceived ”twist issue”.  After some searching and reading I have learned that too much twist is a common beginner problem.  Too bad I couldn’t find anything that actually explained how to deal with that problem better.   All of my practice and research since that has focused on trying to spin yarn with much less twist (balanced?).  I also ran across something that mentioned using the wider end of the bobbin.  Um…duh?  I don’t know about you but to me it looks like the smaller diameter of the bobbin is automatically where the drive belt should go.  Apparently not.  The specs for my wheel…apparently different ratios do different stuff to your yarn…which I now know in theory how it affects the yarn but can’t possibly control it or find anything on the Ashford Traveller (double treadle, double drive) that explains which setting corresponds to which ratio (6.5, 8.5 and 11.5).  I also figured out how to set the wheel for single drive with scotch tension (yes, I used the larger end of the bobbin although after spinning both ways I can’t tell a difference).  Unfortunately it is very difficult for me to control the twist any way I have it set up.  I have slowed my treadling down and that definitely helps, but he wheel is really difficult to treadle at slow speeds.  I oiled everything and that doesn’t seem to make a difference.  I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I am going to need a class rather than just teaching myself.  There are classes at the Cincinnati Weaver’s Guild but unfortunately I won’t be able to go until May!  Wahhhh!  Make sucky yarn until then?  Quit until I go?  Decisions, decisions.

So…the actual product.  On the right picture we have the Henrys’ Attic Superwash wool and on the left the inexpensive wool top on the right.  Both of these were just soaked in water for a few minutes and then snapped.  I read somewhere that weighting the yarn is equivalent to blocking which makes sense.   After that the idea of producing less twisty yarn became even more important to me.  I’m obsessed.  Have you knit with yarn you have blocked/set the twist with weighting?  It seems like the shape could be very iffy with that kind of yarn.  I did find a nice article on low twist yarn by Holly.  I think the yarn she is describing is actually a little different than spinning something you intend to ply but good information anyway.  The picture above and to the right is the Henry’s Attic right off the bobbin.  Too much twist right?  It’s hard to know for sure what yarn is supposed to look like right after spinning which is why I ended up soaking the yarn to get a better idea.

  The sock escapee was found!  It wasn’t the dogs or cats but the mouse that ate it.  An explanation is probably in order lest you think I have mice running around the house.  My computer keyboard is on a tray under the desk with a separate side tray for the mouse.  Somehow my little sock fell off the desk and onto the mouse tray where it was then covered with the wrist rest.  In a usual fit of klutziness I knocked the rest off freeing the sock.  It must have been meant to be that I forgot my Sock Swap envelope when I went to the post office…so my pal got all three wee socks.  The pal that sent me a sock might have snuck hers out early because it arrive yesterday from  Alabama.  Not only did Tonni send me the cutest little sock, but she also send the Keychain Sock Blocker and pattern!  Thanks so much Tonni!  It’s my first sock blocker keychain and I now understand the appeal!