Breed Specific & Rare Breed Wools,  Fiber,  Spinning Yarns

Spinning Like Mad in March

IMG_1488Louet Spinning Wheels S90 and S45

I haven’t posted in March because I’ve just been too busy spinning my custom orders. This month required another wheel so we got out the S90 and dusted it off. It didn’t even need a tune up but it got a new drive band just because…

I’m reminded why I got this wheel in the first place and I really enjoyed spinning with it this month. I’ve been spinning everything on the smaller S45 recently. I switch over to the little S45 from the larger S90 because the S45 has Scotch tension and I can spin a yarn as fine and delicate as I wish with no drag or pull from the wheel. It’s perfect for spinning lace weight yarns in any fiber but it’s pretty much mandatory to have feather light tension when spinning the fine luxury fibers from Merino wool to Cashmere.

I got out the S90 this time because I wanted to spin 3 ply and I really like the lazy kate on this wheel. The S90 comes with 4 bobbins and a 3 bobbin lazy kate which is just what I needed. It’s built in and can be swung out to the side, with or without brake, right in line with where I want to pull from. I found the pull / tension of the traditional Louet drive set up somewhat difficult to deal with after having been used to the scotch tension. I tried everything I could think of to get it to lessen the pull onto the bobbin. As you can see from the picture I don’t even use the leather tension strap. I might if I was spinning a very bulky yarn or something thick and artsy but mostly I don’t even have it on at all. I don’t like to lubricate the brass cup that holds the orifice end of the flyer because it will produce a black gunk that is too close to my lovely yarn for my taste. I ended up padding the bobbin and threading the yarn through both of the flyer hooks. First over one side and then through the eye on the opposite arm of the flyer. It was probably a bit more abrasive to the yarn but the resistance caused by the yarn crossing over the bobbin of already spun yarn was just enough to lessen the pull and I was able to spin the yarn just exactly how I intended.

Highlights: A few of the Orders

Ranger_3_medium2For Breed Specific and Rare wools I had a commission the spin some Shetland Wool for a customer who is knitting Ranger by Jared Flood. I was challenged to spin a yarn that would give my customer the correct gauge, body and drape for the design. The yarn used by the designer for this project is “Shelter”.  First, I spent a few days of experimenting with small differences in the spinning technique and swatching, until I was able to spin a yarn that would behave just how I wanted for this design. Of course the choice of fiber was of paramount importance to this end and the Shetland wool was perfect. I see this cardigan needing a yarn with some body, not too soft and limp. It also needs to be bouncy and robust without being too scratchy at the neck and wrists. I worked a few more swatches to be sure I could get the gauge right and I had a plan 🙂  They love it!

 Some Ontario Alpaca

winterberry1_web_medium2handknit alpaca mittsFor Kerstin at Alpaca Avenue – ladyolivia  on Etsy. I had the opportunity to spin some of Viola (fawn) and Lily( White), 100% pure Fine Ontario Alpaca fiber. It was heavenly. I did a 3 ply this time to make it thick enough to knit as a worsted weight. The fiber is so lovely and fine it kept wanting to be fingering weight 🙂 but with 3 plies it works beautifully. Kerstin has already knit these super mitts.

We are also working on a project in Eastport Alpaca. I’ve spun some fingering weight yarn for Kerstin to knit Winterberry Hood by Carina Spencer.  This yarn is a 2 ply and is also hand painted in shades of Garnet from the Gaywool dye collection of colours.

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