Thanksgiving 2010

I'm incredibly grateful for the best friends any person could have and for being alive today!

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 ;-))

Retreat to the Fleece!

This past weekend I trekked to Pennsylvania for a Spring Fiber Retreat.  I found out I loves my fleeces!  Beth, the owner of the Spinning Loft, taught us all about different sheep and fleece prep and spinning at her mom's B&B in Linfield, PA.

We each had clean little fleece samples to try

 My faves to spin were Cormo and Lincoln. 

The coolest locks were on the Scottish Blackface - easiest to process too.  Just pull both ends!

I liked the Cormo so well that a pound(ish) of greasy fleece jumped in the car and followed me home.

But that's OK, because I learned a new way to wash locks!

We also shopped in the mini Spinning Loft.

These pictures of the shop were after the ravening hoards had plundered it for the piles that were adjusted (upward) each day.

We also spun on the patio in the sun, and tried everyone's wheels. Of course we also ate and drank exceedingly well.  Got to keep up one's strength for wrangling fleeces, and rolling on the floor laughing!