Dear Spinning Circle,

Thank you for being here today, especially those who were able to make it to the Live Stream. I appreciate your time spent here in this place and me. I hope you feel most welcome because you are welcome here. 

Enjoy the show!

UPCOMING Yarn Substitution Content – May – August 2020

Our mini-series trailer was released back in January and I have been working on this content in the background for a long time! I hope you will watch the TRAILER and find out more. An Intro video will be released at the end of April/early May to get you started.

Posted by community member, Megan:

Inspirational quote from this book I just finished.

Every human heartbeat is a universe of possibility.  Every human will has the power to transform it’s fate.  No matter what kind of game you find yourself in, no matter how good or bad the luck, you can change your life completely with a single thought or a single act of love.  For this is what we do, put one foot forward, and then the other, lift our eyes to the snarl and the smile of the world once more. Think, act, feel, add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood the world, drag our shadowed crosses into the hope of another night, push our brave hearts into the promise of a new day.  With love, a passionate search for a truth other than our own, and with longing, the pure ineffable yearning to be saved. For so long as fate keeps waiting, we live on.

~ from “Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts ~

Community Participation

For April, James and I have been carding up a storm and we would like to send out a batt made from the Friesian wool to someone in our community! It is a spongy, downy wool in dark brown and spins like a dream – more on it in the show today! What do you love about the Down breeds?

PLEASE NOTE THAT SHIPPING WILL BE DELAYED FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE DUE TO ACCESS ISSUES.

For March, I’ll be sending out another 4oz of Shetland in pin-drafted form from Disdero Ranch in Tappen, BC. Please enter in the March Episode Thread and answer: What is your favourite YARN you’ve even spun & why? Post no. 6 in the thread – MPTANG – Mary! Congrats! 

JackieRevilla (post no. 4) says about her favourite yarn:

It was hard to pick, but I think this is my favorite yarn. I had never spun this much yarn and was very excited at how consistent it was. I had split them hoping the colors would line up, but it didn’t go quite as planned. I love how it turned out. This was a 3 ply light fingering/fingering that I turned into shortie socks. I had a lot left over, so I have been able to give mini skeins to my knitting friends.

For February, we’re still looking at the answers to Amy’s question: what is the item that you made that you love to wear the most and why?

prairiefirebird (post no. 8) says:

My favorite item to wear is my Comfort Fade cardigan that I started as a raw Targhee fleece and processed, spun, dyed over a campfire, and knit into the most comfortable cardigan. The why I love to wear it – the cardi fits well, it is next to skin soft, it is lightweight and easy to throw on and off, and it travels well as it does not take up much space in the luggage.

Book Club

#booksbooksbooks channel on Slack

As a community, we are delving into a Jane Austen Book Club. We will be reading Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen. Reading can begin anytime and @bethy40 (Becca) in our community will be coordinating Zoom Book Clubs for us to meet within to discuss chunks of the book at a time. 

Made with Love – ALONG

Community-wide call to everyone in the community to participate in our Crafty Jaks Along to honour some of the people in our community! Cast on date: April 1st, 2020 with cast off deadline July 31st, 2020

Prizes! There will be fun prizes! Read the post linked above for details!

This is a time to do what we do best and get creative. This is the time to make and lift up others – please read Rebecca’s blog post to learn more about this Makealong and event if you would like to learn more about the creation of this amazing event.

Excited to be casting on with Katrina’s B-fabu-licious yarn in an OOAK that she had in stock (that I love) and making Anker’s Cardigan by PetiteKnits, a PURELY selfish knit at this time!

51 Yarns SAL – Community-Wide Participation (2019 – 2022)

51 Yarns – Group A – Corespun

Becca (@bethy40, post no. 907) says:

Finally got the big spinning projects off the wheel so I can get back to my samples. Started and finished spinning the corespun today. Boy does that go fast!

I started by using one of my spindles to remove most of the ply twist from my chosen core (J&S laceweight 2ply). Others in the group had talked about the buildup of twist in the core so I thought if I unplied it first it would end up a bit more balanced when I added all the twist back via the wrapping.

For the wrapping fibre I used a wool/silk batt from my local spinning shop. I tore the batt into strips along the grain, drafted it lightly and made little nests. I did the core spinning at a ratio of 4.6:1 The yarn is certainly a bit thick and thin but it’s lighter than I thought it would be and it relaxed nicely one I steamed it to finish.

One thing I will pay more attention to the next time (I think I’ll include this type of yarn in my certificate portfolio) is keeping the angle of the wrapping fibre more consistent. Sometimes I wasn’t wrapping it around the core but more along the core. Does that make sense? I need to keep my hand position more consistent. I will also spin my own core fibre next time.

But that was a blast and I’ll definitely be doing it again.

51 Yarns – Group B – Fine & Medium Wools

Lauren – @geturdunne (post no. 117) says:

I’m still trying to figure out how I want to approach and organize this spinalong, but I have completed my fine and medium wool samples (and swatched one). 

I’ve only been spinning for about a year and it occurred to me when I was selecting my fiber that I’ve never actually spun merino. So I spun a natural brown merino top from Maple Valley Fibers in Michigan. I had about 20g and spun a 2-ply with a short forward draft. I could tell the staple length was shorter than what I’m used to and it took my hands a few yards to get used to it. It came out 12-14 WPI with a grist of 1,300. 

For my medium wool I spun a (again natural brown) CVM pencil roving from Swing Vines Farm in Michigan. My main takeaway from this sample was that I didn’t love the preparation of the fiber. It was patchy and also have fuzzy white bits mixed in, which are visible in the finished yarn. I would love to try a different CVM sample. Anyway this time I made a 3-ply. I accidentally added too much ply twist and the finished yarn is smooth and round but dense. WPI ~14 and grist of 733.

Thanks so much for sharing Everyone!

Make NINE Progress

Making some changes to my projects that I would like to make this year, based on some purchases from ‘Fibres West’ last weekend & thinking about what I would like to make, wear & add to my wardrobe.

Many recent changes have resulted in some major purging of my closet so I have been thinking about what I’d like to add & make!

Thoughts have lead me to some simple, cropped sweaters & some really lovely lace, open-front cardigans that can double as ‘jackets’ in the Spring and Fall

Make Nine Ravelry page – changing & fluid project page as things progress, my thoughts solidify & I think about what to commit to going forward

Works in Progress – Spinning

Gotland/Romeny Fleece – Sampling for Gentle-Morning by Trine-Annalie

• Processing by hand – was combing but finding it just wasn’t getting finished; wasn’t super keen on the finished prep
• Decided to sample a carded prep by making a smooth batt, slow carding to prevent tangling & neps
• Love results – knit sample lovely

Friesian Fleece – Sampling for the Shore Cardigan by Carrie Bostick Hoge

• James is helping me to card it all — very downy and spongy
• Lovely dark brown with heathering from the lighter tips
• Spun to a DK (11 WPI) and very light to the hand – sample is just a few grams
• Knit sample on 5.00mm, 4.5mm, 4,00mm needles

Westcoast Colour 100% Falkland 

• Started on a whim for relaxation and meditation
• No plan – just spinning up the fibre and enjoying the motion
• Using Majacraft Suzie Pro – ratio 27:1, fine spinning – will bounce & sproing to life with finishing
• Have 2 braids so spinning each to a bobbin & plying
• Finished yardage (pre-washing): 1124 yards & 200 grams (Grist 2551YPP)

Crafty Jaks Boutique African/Sari Silk/Firestar

• Crafty Jaks Boutique Turkish Spindle
• Divided batt into multiple strips, pre-drafted
• Worsted draft, short forward, smoothing

Work in Progress – Knitting

Felix Cardigan by Amy Christoffers

• Back to this cardigan again! Ripping to re-knit in slightly different shape that I will wear more!
• Decided to do some stash diving for some forthcoming content that I am developing & felt inspired by this yarn
• Swatched on Monday morning – dried quickly due to the loose gauge & stitch count
• Loving knitting with it – enjoying the simplicity of this design & quickness

Housekeeping

Be sure to sign up for the Wool n’ Spinning Newsletter at welfordpurls.com. 

For softcover copy of How I Spin: A Sock Study, follow here. 

Unbraided – EBOOKS available here & book orders can be made here. 

Thank you so much for joining me today! 

Until then, Happy Spinning!