Friday, June 11, 2010

Pennies per Hour

I'm starting to spin singles suitable for lace weight 2 -ply yarn.  It takes forever!

I'm using a beautiful batt from Butterfly Girl Designs called Margarita
that is spinning up very thin.
 
 I'm using my Little Gem on the next to smallest whorl.
 

Although I've had some of the spun fiber drift apart, most of the singles are really fine.  I may switch to a smaller whorl, because the ratio is only 10.5 to 1 according to the Majacraft web site.  The switch should give me a better twist preventing any drifting apart.
 
I bought a Lace Kit from Majacraft to help me do this spinning.  I don't have to use it to spin the laceweight, it just makes it easier.  The Lace kit has 2 fat core bobbins,


a flyer with ceramic inserts on the yarn guide and orifice to reduce friction on the yarn
  and a teeny tiny whorl.
 

On the Little Gem this whorl only produces a maximum ratio of 21.5 to 1, but on my Rose  the speed is 31.3 to 1 (that's 31.3 twists put in the yarn every time the drive wheel goes around).

So why did I call this entry pennies per hour?  By the time I get done spinning, plying and knitting with Margarita the $15 fiber will have resulted in entertainment costing pennies per hour!  Just another reason to take up spinning!

(let's just ignore the cost of the wheels and attachments for this calculation ;-))

4 comments:

katiegirl said...

Wow, I am in awe of how very thin and even you're spinning it! The color is really pretty! Are you going to keep it or sell it?

artsyfish said...

I don't know yet. To sell 9it I have to be average feeling about it. If I love it I will keep it, but if I hate it I keep it too - don't want to spread around the yucky ones!

Becky said...

Beautiful fiber!! I love the vibrant green. One of these days... or years... I'm going to take up spinning. I had such fun trying to learn the basics at your house. I love cheap hobbies ;) hehe

Nancy McCarroll said...

Just gorgeous. You must have the patience of Job.