SpinnySpinny

Something else that came up in class is combing fiber. I’ve been doing this a long time so I get the general idea, but only with hand-held combs. Now that I have somewhere to mount my combs, I got the pad that goes with them and started experimenting. I cut up a plastic jug to make a diz, too. I’m not happy with my combing attempt because one of the clamps gets in the way, but it was enough to get the idea. Pulling off top with the diz was more successful, so probably I’ll do that while I work out the issues with using the combs. I need to experiment with different size holes in the diz, I made some blanks and punched a hole in one with a small knitting needle. (If you make some, be sure to punch the hole from the inside of the curve to the outside. That’s the way the fiber is pulled, so it won’t snag on the rough edge.)

This brings up the never-ending discussion on which end to spin from. When I comb or flick fleece, I spin from the cut end. It just works better for me. Some people spin from the tip end. I did an experiment and tried spinning from both ends of the same hand-combed top. I also used short backward draft, my usual, and short forward draft. Either way, spinning from the cut end makes smooth yarn and spinning from the tip end doesn’t. I can’t smooth it out and the fiber just feels nasty in my hands. I thought that maybe the no-deathgrip-pinch short forward draft was the difference, but no.

Many people also say it matters which end of a commercial top you spin from, too. I can’t tell the difference with short backward draft and only a little with short forward draft. I do notice it more with cotton, but not only is that an entirely different kind of fiber structure and size, but a different spinning technique. You can’t do any sort of worsted short draft with cotton, there just isn’t enough length to be able to pull out half a staple length with your fingers.

I keep trying all these things to see what people see in them. Once in a while I find something that really works for me, but mostly I just wonder what all the fuss is about. I’m all for understanding traditional methods, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to just assume that is the best and only way without checking things out myself.

I’m almost done with the single for my first learning exchange yarn. The topic is Merino, so I wanted to explore carded fiber spun woolen. I have never been happy with how Merino spins drafting against the twist, nor any similarly textured crimpy fine wool. It doesn’t draft smoothly, it clumps no matter what I do to it. Most fleeces I see are too long to spin well this way anyway, but I happen to have a small amount of shorter Merino fleece.

It’s horribly filthy, I’ve been flicking it to get all the gunk out thinking I might try carding it. I hand carded a bin of rolags. As much as I hate hand carding, for this small amount of fiber finding someone with a fine cloth drum carder would have taken longer than just doing it. I’m spinning a moderately fine single, with just a little more twist than the minimum required to hold the yarn together. I’m trying to keep it even but it’s just insane. I’m not going to stop every length to fix every last slub like I had to do for the COE. Long draw is supposed to be fast and the yarn soft and lofty, such low-twist yarn would have to be absolutely perfectly even to not have thick and thin bits. What little twist there is tends to go to the fine spots, leaving the thicker sections to puff up.

Less crimpy fibers draft into an even yarn reasonably well, but more crimp does nothing but clump. It doesn’t appear to have anything to do with fiber length, the same thing happend with the nasty mystery fleece and that was not even remotely near the theoretical 3 inch limit for woolen spinning. But it was a fine fiber with a tight crimp. As was the Columbia cross I tried. And no matter how much I spin of this kind of fiber, my yarn does not improve. I’ve gotten better at stretching the rolag out into yarn, but it always ends up drafting unevenly into either slubs or thin sections. Supposedly you pinch the rolag so you are drafting a consistent amount of fiber with each length, but where the streched-out rolag breaks into a thin yarn-sized spot happens basically at random. Almost never where I am holding it.

So I’m doing a 4-ply and then I’ll give it a good thrashing to full it. I might pick off the larger lumps, as I’m sure there will be some left. It’s basically what I did for the 16-ply cable I did of the mystery fleece, but I don’t feel like going through all that again.

I finally finished a baby blanket I started a few months back. It’s a big dishcloth in classic cotton dishcloth-type yarn. I put it in the Gallery, too. I started it thinking it would be a good travel project, but even with the absurdly simple pattern the two colors were a nuisance to drag around without tangling. I finally ended up putting it in a basket and threading the yarns through the two handles. It was too heavy and too easy to tangle for travel, so I rarely worked on it.

I’m still sorting and washing the Merino lamb, it does drum card nicely but I think I’m going to comb anyway. Combing doesn’t require an extra step to get the VM out. I tried carding with the bleached tips cut off and it is darker, but only barely. It’s good and dark for wool, but not black. I might dye it once it’s spun. I can’t decide what to make, so for now I’m just working through the scouring a batch at a time.

I did the Dorset/Romney blend on the drum carder and it came out nicely. There are a few noils because I didn’t flick the Romney, but not too many to pull out along the way. I can’t figure out what to do with that either. There’s almost 300g, enough for several hats or a scarf or maybe a lace shawl. Spun worsted it will still have decent loft, perfect for socks but I like finer fiber for socks. And I hate hand washing socks, anyway. I want to finish the spinning I’ve got going, so I packed it away for now.

Also in the interest of cleaning up half-baked ideas, I started flicking yet another dark brown Merino. I long ago packed up the nicer parts of this fleece, a rush scour job after a brush with the M-word. I wasn’t so careful with the sorting and more than usual ended up in the carding pile. Which then felted a little in the wash. After that, I wasn’t happy with how it came off the drum carder. So it’s been sitting around in an old produce bag ever since. I should be able to pull out enough well-formed staples to flick out the felted bits and then card and still have enough to do something. I could always blend it with more from the other portion, or any of the other three nearly identical fleeces. Somebody kick me if I suggest buying yet another dark brown Merino fleece before I make it through the ones I have. That should give me a good five years, minimum.

Lately I’ve been less than enamored of my current spinning project and also in need of more stare-into-space time, so long sessions with the dog brush are actually a good thing. I have fairly easy access to the drum carder now, so I’m trying out different things. But I always go back to combing anything that can be combed and then only maybe getting around to carding the rest.

Now that the blanket is done, maybe I can get motivated to continue with the purple Ashland Bay stuff. I’m trying to like commercial prep but failing to be enthused. Maybe I’m just out of enthusiasm this month, it being used up on other things. I’ve had some real work and expect more and we are trying to buy a house. I’ve been organizing my fiber stuff with the thought of having an actual room to myself for a studio. Maybe that’s why I just don’t have the energy for this pretty but too short and very not perfect commercial top. It’s like those things on the shopping list I never quite get to, despite being out of AAA batteries for weeks now.

Every time I intend to sit down and do something textile, real life intrudes. But finally, with The Boyfriend off for the weekend, I can do something. I’m not particularly inspired to spin, so fiber prep it is. And with nobody to complain, out comes the music…

L’amour est enfant de Bohême,
il n’a jamais, jamais connu de loi,
si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime,
si je t’aime, prends garde à toi!

No, la Carmencita makes cigarettes, not textiles. But it’s nice to listen to, anyway. And then I’ll visit with Mimì and Susanna and maybe even Turandot.

I previously sorted the short and excessively crimpy part of the Romney fleece and started picking it to later card. I’m contemplating blending it with what’s left of the Dorset. But that is filthy and has to be combed out with the dog brush to get out all the trash. They are similar in length but the Dorset is more bouncy, together it should make a light gray. I don’t know what I’m going to do with any of it, so why not.

I did the same dog brush number to some of the Merino lamb, to see what I think about it drum carded. I tried some combed and that was nice, but I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve got enough of it. But I might have to find somebody with a fine fiber carder because I have my doubts about the standard one I normally have available. If the fiber is too fine, it doesn’t stay in the teeth of the carder but floats on top in clumps. I know a lot of people with drum carders, but some are more convenient to visit than others.

The last of the gray Romney fleece is finally scoured. I sorted out the shorter and more curly bits for carding and the rest is bagged and waiting for me to start on more Peruvian warp yarn. I even washed the rest of that questionable Dorset, although I still don’t know what to do with it. But the more wool I get scoured, the more I can seal in plastic bags and put in the storage unit. After the “M” incident, I’m not keeping raw fleece over there. Now I can start on the black Merino lambs.

I got this idea a few weeks ago that I should finally knit myself a sweater. I’ve avoided it because I’m actually not all that fond of knitting but I like to have handspun hats and scarves to wear. It’s great for small travel projects, something I am always in need of. I determined a while back that I am also in need of a “casual outergarment.” Something to throw on to run outside. I like the idea of a poncho, but I’m so over the whole “Celebrity Poncho” thing that I don’t want to touch it for fear someone will assume that I’m one of those kinds of people. I am decidedly anti-fashion when it comes to anything that involves People or Entertainment Weekly. Maybe in a few years when everyone has forgotten about it.

So, I think, I’ll knit myself a sweater. A nice classic cardigan I can nonchalantly drape over my shoulders. When somebody asks, I can respond “Yes, isn’t the yarn nice? I made it.” But since it will be of my usual 3-ply worsted, it will wear forever, never pill and be immune to the damp San Francisco evening breezes. And then I contemplate my sweater-making skills. Or, more correctly, the complete lack thereof. How will I get it actually fit my narrow shoulders and wide butt? Will I look like a stuffed sausage? None of those patterns have ever heard of bust shaping. I wonder if undertaking a first attempt in handspun is such a hot idea. What if I completely blow it? This leads me to the unthinkable: do I Buy Yarn?

I’m not sure I’m quite ready for this.