WnS Ep. 204: Delving into Spinning Sheep Breeds Kit || Rambouillet

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

Enjoy the show!

There is a lot going on in our community! It’s a lot to cover and remind you of each week. Have a look here for more info!!

If you are curious about what happens in our community, please click the links below, reach out to me: rachel @ welfordpurls (dot) com, or reach out on Instagram/Ravelry/Slack (if you are a Patreon member, @welfordpurls_admin)

Spinning On The Wheel || Rambouillet

We will be spinning at the wheel! Looking at samples from the Spinning Sheep Breeds Kit from the School of SweetGeorgia, which is the kit from my new workshop – link here (affiliate link). This week, we will start off with the first couple of breeds in the kit and work our way through the entire set over the coming months – which will take us into the summer! Exciting!

On & Off the Needles

Finished – Knitting

Florence Tank by Sari Norland – Drops Lace Unicolor (70% Alpaca/30% Mulberry Silk); 3.75mm // US 5

In Progress – Knitting

Cruiser by Kristen Finlay – Small Bird Workshop CVM/Mohair held double with Cascade 220 Fingering 100% Wool in colourway 9680

Magnolia Bloom by Camilla Vad – Custom Woollen Mills CVM 4-ply; 6.00mm & 6.5mm // US 10 & 10.5

Community Inspiration // Participation

For June, tell us about your plans for the summer as we approach more opening & gathering! Ravelry Episode thread here.

Breed & Colour Studies – Shetland

Becca shares via Slack: Now that I have got some big certificate spins off mind and wheel (including the 3ply Castlemilk Moorit I thwacked and fulled a bit yesterday) I am finally getting stuck into the Shetland Breed and Colour Study.  I drew up my plan and split all the braids today.  Maybe I will be done before the next one arrives on my door step…

51 Yarns – Group B

Tour de Fleece 2021 // Luxury Fibres ALONG

Tour de Fleece 2021 starts on Saturday, June 26, 2021 and runs until Sunday, July 18, 2021

Mary shares via Slack: Prepping rolags for TDF and spinning some white Romney Polypay X to weave with. This bunch is pretty coarse so it may end up as rug yarn.

Kelli shares via Slack: As a special TDF treat I bought Ingelnook Fibers 100% Cashmere fiber braids that they call Lavender Fields, 9.5 oz of vibrant cashmere. Of course I couldn’t wait to start……it feels incredible and I hope I can do it justice. Tips are welcome, I’ve never spun 100% before.

Spindle Spun Summer (SSS)

Spindle Spun Summer – Starting on the Summer Solstice! Co-hosted by Marce of Hay Brown Berry Podcast

Kaylee shares via Slack: This is more like a spindle spun year long project, but hey it’s done! I started spinning on a wheel and never saw the draw of spindles until the last year or so when I realized that I really like the process of making. I started the singles last fall and picked away on them when we traveled or for a couple minutes at night. I think this is some of the most even spinning I have ever done. Ended up with 262 yards of 3 ply 16-18 wpi. I believe the fiber is polwarth, but I lost the tag.

Natural Shades ALONG

Kelly shares via Slack: I don’t think I’ve shared my latest spins! The past few weeks I’ve been playing catch up on the Long Way Homestead Breed of the Month club.  I don’t have any particular plans for these, although I may end up breaking up the skeins and making them into mini-skeins for the School of Sweet Georgia natural dye study group I’m in this summer (we’ll see!).  The only “plan” I have is that I’m practicing my long draw.  Shout out to Eve @ollycob for unintentionally lighting a fire under my butt to get working on these. First is the Icelandic, second is the Border Cheviot.  The Border Cheviot is SO SQUISHY. I could sit and squish it all day.

Zero to Hero // #sweaterspin #useyourhandspun #spinallthethings

Janel shares via Slack: Hey friends! I finished a #zero-to-hero / #natural-shades-along! This was natural Finn top that I blended into batts with 20% bamboo viscose and then decided to make rolags with hand cards for some reason. One of my spinning goals is to “remember” how to spin thick yarn, so I spin this aran weight yarn long-drawn for a true woolen with a traditional 3-ply.  The resulting yarn is a bit too coarse for your average pullover, but I’m pretty accustomed to farmy wool, so I dove in anyway!  This was my first aran since making this goal and it’s exciting to achieve even if it’s not very consistent. Spinning woolen covers a multitude of issues. I like to find my preferred fabric with a swatch and use the gauge to search for a sweater pattern most of the time. This led me to a long-owned, never-knit pattern by Andrea Mowry: the Weekender.  I knit the hem before eye surgery and thanks to the magic of muscle memory, I knit almost the whole sweater with my eyes closed during recovery.  (Fiber arts is the best hobby for so many reasons!) The knitting is not perfect and the spinning is not perfect, but I think it suits the casual nature of this garment. Also! I got a dress form (unnamed so far) and it feels like a game changer!! She photographs well in my bathtub.

Sample Spinning // PLAY

Megan is steeking!!

Vikki shares via Slack: This is My Tea Party/SwBFL fibre I was spinning up for the Sweet Georgia Yarns Spring MAL The MAL ended almost a month ago…. And to -half- quote Gandalf, “this project was never late, nor was it early, it was done precisely when it was meant to be done” lol I have a sport/ dk weight (about 16wpi), 2 ply, 100g/ 4oz and (drum roll) 600yds….whaaaaa (I counted 4 times to make sure lol) The skein is HUGE! I plied this on my new mini Hansen spinner but initially spun the singles on my Kromski Fantasia. One of the reasons I purchased my Hansen was for bigger bobbins but not because I wanted to get 12oz on each bobbin. Now that I am spinning loftier yarns, I find 4oz plied can not fit on one bobbin anymore. It never occurred to me that this would also help with not breaking the colour sequence of my spinning as well. I included pictures of my 2 Kromski bobbins with 50g (some was already plied off before I remembered to stop and take a picture) and a picture of my Hansen bobbin with the entire 100g on it. I am very happy with this yarn and glad it turned out how it did!

Pernille share via Slack: When I first started spinning I got a bunch of merino to play with from a lady I hardly know. I have met her a couple of times, but mainly the knowledge of each other must be the danish knitting community and the fact that we both follow each other on Instagram. What a wonderful world. The colors was very bright and my first thought was to dye it before spinning. Right around the same time I got my hands on some walnuts and solar dyed chunks of all of the colors with the walnuts. I divided the dyed wool into small nests and spun without looking at what color came next and made a 3ply. It was really pretty and my partner wanted a cap (wich is not yet finished). During the resent weeks I have dyed the rest of the merino using acid dyes. Mainly greens but also blues and purple. I have a lot of the greens. The original purple and orange is a lot different than the newly dyed greens and blues, and I have divided the dyed wool into two piles. The green and blue and the purple and orangeish. I have half a braid of some lambswool (no idea wich kind of lamb) wich will be perfect with the orange and purples. Some day I will dive into that. But for now I will do the same as I did with the walnut – make small nests and spind whichever color I get my hands on using the greens and blues. I am not yet sure if it will end up a 2ply or a 3ply… but I really like a 3ply…

Dionne shares via Slack: I recently had a few bad spins. One was full of nepps in my soft fleece and the other two were spinning course wool that actually hurt my drafting hand. I decided to do some fun spins. I pulled out my blending board and went to town. The first is wool, bamboo,two different sari silks and Kingdom Fleece and Fiberworks Heather Fields pin drafted roving. I chain plied this and the others are 2 ply. Second is Grey flax, pink multi color cotton, and mulberry silk. The last two are Gotland/BFL 50/50. I decided on these after knitting the 100% Gotland swatch which was a bit itchy to me.

Shauna shares via Slack: I finished a pair of handspun socks out of a three ply fractal spin of 80% bfl 20% nylon fiber. I was afraid I would end up with shorty socks because I calculated only 275 yards and usually my socks are more like 350 yards but somehow these turned out quite long. They are a thick fingering weight. I love the bright colors!

Sue shares via Slack: This is a Targhee spin I started in Sept2019.  It was right before my husband passed.  Anyway I finished the singles but never plyed until yesterday.   Took all afternoon and last night.   Very thin.  It’s still drying but couldn’t wait to post.  I soaked in hot water and lots of orange dye came out.  The skein is still colourful.   Even tho it’s still damp it’s very light.  I thwacked it to finish it.  It was balanced.  It’s very soft.  There is pic of it hanging on the door before and after soaking.  It shrunk a bit.  The pic with Rachel on the iPad was taken Sept 26/2019.  Now I have to clean off other support spindles from another spin from the winter of 2020

Thank you so much for joining me today!

Until then,

Happy Spinning!