Ep. 158: Oooh the mystery!

Today’s photo thumbnail is Copyright Katrina Stewart 2020.

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 with me. I hope you feel most welcome because you are welcome here. 

For JUST the UNBOXING:

Enjoy the show!

Live Chat Assistance here.

ONGOING Yarn Substitution Content – May – August 2020 – view the trailer here & INTRO video here

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

For a softcover copy of How I Spin: A Sock Study, check here & e-book link for patrons (>$5/month) here

Unbraided: The Art & Science of Spinning Colour – EBOOKS available here & book orders can be made here. 

Breed & Colour Studies

Katrina and I are on-track to have links up for you to access ordering. Please mark July 15th on your calendar for when the study fibre will be going live. Listen for July’s episode of Wool n’ Spinning Radio, which will be released on July 1st for details! 

Community Participation

For June, tell us about your current spinning projects & things you are thinking about presently! 

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. 

We are currently reading How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. We are discussing dates to meet and come together for this monthly book club. 

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

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! #mwlalong 

Anker’s Cardigan by PetiteKnits

• Crafty Jaks B-Fabu-Liscious in OOAK 50
• Knitting on 3.00mm/US 2.5

Tessa (@TessaW, post no. 16) shares:

I finished my Spring Sprout Shawl in Crafty Jak’s Boutique B-fabu-licious. The yarn is so soft and squishy and the two-ply structure really opens up to show off the lace. I look forward to cooler weather to wrap up in this.

#zerotohero Make-Along – Spinning from fibre -> yarn -> item

Handspun Thread in Ravelry – Example of a Zero to Hero Make-Along Project

Diane (@kniterested, posted on Slack Channel in #sweaterspin) shares:

I am a happy camper.

Last June, a whole year ago, I attended my second Black Sheep Festival where I took a class that had us analyze mystery fibers for crimp, structure, hand, staple length, etc., make predictions on “what they wanted to be” – and then spin them up with different drafts, tpi’s, and plies. It was a great class and at that point having only spun for a year, a wonderful learning experience.

One fiber I especially loved was a treat – a blend the teacher had especially ordered from a mill that does custom blending. It was Rambouillet, Dorset Horn, 20% Zwartbles, and something white (that I can’t recall/find at the moment). It nearly spun itself.

I came home and placed an order, borrowed a drum carder, and made my own copycat blend. I used 27% Rambo, 23% Zwartbles, 20% Whitefaced Woodland, 20% Dorset Horn,  5%-ish silk, which only adds up to 95%, but I fudged some others as needed and I didn’t want to be OCD about it.

I weighed out 6 100-gram batches using the percentages, then shredded everything with my hands, then ran it through the drum carder a couple of times, re-splitting up sections to get things blended, and then adding the silk toward the end.

I spun and plied at 12:1, worsted, but without smoothing it to death. The resulting 900+ yards of 3-ply worsted was sturdy, not scratchy at all, but not merino-soft. Very pleasant. I was pleased.

Finding a sweater pattern for that yardage was not so easy. I chose something super simple so those little silk flecks would really show. I found the Concetta Cardigan by Elizabeth Smith, and it worked out perfectly. The button came from @Carlota ‘s and my great aunt’s button collection and is from a shell. The cardigan fits perfectly, and I’ve now completed my first ever sweater spin! Not ZERO to Hero, but maybe ONE to Hero, since the fibers I blended were mostly combed tops, but pretty close, anyway!

Thanks so much for sharing Everyone!

The Mystery

Thank you so much for joining me today! 

Until then, Happy Spinning!