Love
hearts and Pancakes
It'll be February, then! It's been a cold winter and the evenings are
still long, which makes for lots of spinning and knitting time, but there is still
colour to provide inspiration if you can get out there. Here are some batts I
made from two colours of merino and a little silk based on a picture I took of
some frost and snowflakes on some moss. These batts and a link to the original
photo are here:
http://handspinner.co.uk/catalogue_fibre_bundles_blends.html
Read on for this month's round-up of spinning news from
handspinner.co.uk, the blogosphere and the world wide web...
News from HandSpinner.co.uk
We have a winner!
Thank you to everyone who entered January's prize draw.
There were plenty of good suggestions and as a result... look out for wool
dyes, more fibre, and the offer of free postage for orders over £30 will now be
applied to carts which contain a mixture of items from both handknitter.co.uk and handspinner.co.uk
I found it very exciting when it came time to find out who'd won, as
I've come to know many of the names on the list. I entered the information onto
a spreadsheet and then used a random number generator to pick a row. The name
that came out of the 'virtual hat' was SecretSheep and her prize is on its way
to her.
February's giveaway
Up for grabs this month are new copies of two of my favourite books.
In Sheep's
Clothing by Nola Fournier and Jane Fournier is an A-Z of sheep breeds and the
characteristics of their wool. It is definitive reference you'll want to keep
close to hand. As soon as I'd flicked through it for the first time, I was in
no doubt I had to have a copy on my shelf. It also contains expert advice on
preparation, blending, carding, combing and plying.
http://handspinner.co.uk/in_sheeps_clothing_spinning_book.html
If you know
Amy King from her Spunky Eclectic blog, you'll know that her work is colourful
and original. Her book Spin Control is suitable for new or experienced spinners
looking to create useful as well as unique yarns.
Know your worsted from your woollen and be able to decide which is the
right one to use. Know your top from your roving and whether to pre-draft. Be
comfortable and knowledgeable about your wheel. Make soft, bulky singles,
durable cabled yarns, tweedy yarns with rich texture and color and serviceable
3-ply that holds up to heavy use. This thorough resource will broaden your
horizons.
Amy's blog is at http://www.spunkyeclectic.com/wp/ and more about the book is here: http://handspinner.co.uk/spin_control_book.html
This draw is open to anyone, just order anything from
handspinner.co.uk during February. At the end of the month I'll have an order
number picked at random.
I will still welcome comments and opinions via this page, but obviously
the prize draw is now closed.
http://handspinner.co.uk/jan10survey.html
New items
The Wild Carder is a smaller,
lighter more portable drum carder with longer teeth and a built-in adjustable
packer brush to deal with chunkier funkier materials and "added
extras" to produce a thicker batt.
You can now add a packer brush to your big Ashford drum
carder. This brush helps pack the carded fibres into the teeth of the large
drum and allows more fibres to be carded and results in a thicker batt. It also
helps control fine low crimp fibres. No holes to drill, it bolts on to Ashford
fine and coarse drum carders.
Merino is very fine and beautifully soft - perfect for
felting and spinning. Easy to spin into yarn of any weight. I have added four
new 'pastel' colours; honey, ice, lavender and spearmint.
From around the web
Drafting techniques
We touched on worsted vs woolen earlier in connection with Amy King's book. An article in the most recent Spin-Off magazine decides that there are seven different ways to draft your fibre, and the method you use will affect the characteristics of the finished yarn. I came across these Youtube videos from ruthmacgregor - the first shows long-draw from a rolag which will give a nice fluffy woolen yarn. I like the way that she starts her single-treadle wheel hands-free with a little kick from her foot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HNrflq9sd0
The second shows a short-draw technique which makes a denser, smoother
yarn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euv5qNUGKmw
Found on Etsy - Bicycle spinning wheel
This spinning
wheel has ball-bearings, sliding hook flyer and ready-to-go out of the box. And
it's made from a bicycle wheel!
Alternative, handcrafted, affordable. But US only. If anyone makes
'alternative' wheels in the UK, please let me know!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38869511
Pick of the blogs
New bobbins for an antique wheel
Even if an old wheel is in working order, it's often missing its spare
bobbins, and in the absence of a standard bobbin size, it's not possible to buy
additional ones 'off the shelf'.
Dorothy of Dot's Fibre to Fabric has written a post about her new
bobbins for her antique wheel. It's a great post with lots of information and
pictures, including a link to woodturner Mike Williams' website.
http://fibre2fabric.blogspot.com/2010/01/antique-spinning-wheel-part-3.html
Winter Wonderland Shawl
Monika has spun some beautiful yarn using hand-dyed BFL-Viscose-Bamboo.
She "just sat down and knit" this amazing shawl without a pattern.
The result is quite stunning.
http://yarnloopie.blogspot.com/2010/01/handspun-friday-winter-woodland.html
Shearing the Bowmonts
I've really been enjoying this blog, which gives a fascinating insight into
life on a Devon farm and in this post devonfinefibres talks about shearing
time. It's a reminder of how much work goes into producing our raw material.
The Bowmont breed is gaining a reputation among knitters. With a very cute picture too.
http://devonfinefibres.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/time-to-shear-the-bowmonts-a-tough-breed/
She's so britchy
Another blog about raising sheep - I love this post in which
patchworkfibres writes about the differences in her Jacobs' fleece and talks
about the distribution of the nicest locks, britch wool and kemp
http://patchworkfibers.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/shes-so-britchy/
Coming soon...
You can now buy acid wool dyes along with the Ashford Book of Dyeing -
look out for my review of that book soon. I hope to shortly have silk, cashmere and other fibres available
on the site.
As usual, if you know anything spinning-related, please let me know.
Happy spinning!
Shiela
If you're reading this newsletter on the web and would like it delivered to your email inbox every month, just fill in your email address at handspinner.co.uk .