WnS Ep. 208: Delving into Spinning Sheep Breeds Kit || Gotland
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 || Gotland
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
In Progress – Knitting
Enchantee by Emilie Luis – Bowmont/Alpaca blend 2-ply, held double with Mohair-Silk lace; 4.5mm & 4.00mm // US 6 & 7
Community Inspiration // Participation
For July, the month of Tour de Fleece, tell us what your goal is for this year’s tour! Ravelry Episode thread here.
Breed & Colour Studies – Dorset Horn
Hannah shares via Ravelry: I knit up a super simple hat using my Dorset after several failed patterns. This yarn evaded my attempts to get an accurate WPI measure, but the fabric is dense and will be very warm. I striped the dark and light yarns every seven rounds after the brim and I quite like the color play.
Breed & Colour Studies – Charollais
Tracey shares via Ravelry: I wanted to pop back in and show my completed mitts from the b&c study. I really struggled with this because the colors just were not for me. In Q&E recently we talked about the part of the challenge related to color and that gave me renewed interest. I pivoted from my original pattern so I could finish these sooner, making them pulse warmers instead of full mitts. My next project will be to make a second pair exploring these colors in combination with cool and warm colors to see what happens. I really appreciate the new perspective of participating in these studies, not just to learn about the breed, but to really explore color as well. Definitely opens up new freedoms.
Breed & Colour Studies – Shetland
Samantha shares via Slack: Hurrah! By the skin of my teeth I have managed to finish my Shetland B&C before the next B&C commences. I used the combo spinning technique I read by Jillian Moreno in Ply magazine by splitting the braids (small ones) into four. I didn’t weigh them so they were not precise. I then combined A&A, A&B, A&C, B&B, B&C and C&C and that is how the stripes are arranged from top down. The pattern is Purl Code Cardigan by Isabel Kramer. The purl has played havoc with my right arm, elbow and shoulder so have had to rest it. Still need to work on getting fit right. Not being average shape is an issue…small shoulders, large boobs, short waisted ….I have the same issues with sewing. Only by practicing will I get it right. However I wanted a cosy cardi to wear with shirts and polonecks in winter and that is what I have. So happy! The chicken is an exbattery called Beatrice!! The grey is also Shetland which came from my friend’s sheep which I can see from my house (using binoculars) which she had spun up at a mill!
Tour de Fleece 2021 starts on Saturday, June 26, 2021 and runs until Sunday, July 18, 2021
Dionne shares via Slack: Today felt like a day for color. I pulled out some fiber I dyed and my hackle and went for it. I filled the hackle twice and started spinning.
Crystal shares via Slack: I finally got around to plying this bad boy. It’s Hello Yarn Polwarth. I spun the singles so long ago that I don’t even remember where I put my control card. As much as I hate plying, I’m glad it’s done now. I like how it came together. One more pair of sleeping singles left.
Josee shares via Slack: Here is my TWF bfl all plyed. It will be blocked tomorrow. I got a nice sport weight at 340y for 4 oz. Tonight I started spinning my 2 oz merino braid from the sheep breeds sample pack. I think I can easily get 2 Flicker and flame hats from the bfl as the motif color. I am thinking of making one with natural white as the background color and maybe another one with grey or oatmeal as the background color.
Kat shares via Slack: More nettle fibre.
Tori shares via Slack: I took a rest day yesterday, but today I finished spinning my targhee sample braid and plied it up. I did two 2 plies, one looser than the other to see if I could get a fingering weight. I ended up also using a section for a single ply and have discovered I might need to do a single ply for my planned sweater spin.
Robin shares via Ravelry: I lost track of spinning days and, of course, didn’t update in this group. I have spun every day except for two when we had a family emergency and my time was required elsewhere. Here is what I have done so far: I finished spinning my Goldilocks fibre and got four skeins of a sport weight yarn. 629m. I finished spinning my rolags from Fairy Tale Wool on my support spindles. I plied on my wheel. I have 431m of 2-ply fingering weight yarn. I blended some Tunis with Hamish the Llama in a 90/10 ratio (60g on my drum carder) and got this 126m, 2-ply, DK weight skein.
Spindle Spun Summer (SSS)
Spindle Spun Summer – Starting on the Summer Solstice! Co-hosted by Marce of Hay Brown Berry Podcast
Wendy shares via Slack: Some Summer Spindling while camping and watching woolnspinning. We are the only people here. It’s so peaceful!
Marce shares via Slack: Done! My first ever traditional 3-ply in a 60% Polwarth/30% silk blend from LeAndra of Created by Elsie B. I am very happy with the final yarn. The specs: about 357 yards in 92g, with most strands coming in about 14-16 WPI. The silk was pretty well blended in, and it really contributes to the drape. The polwarth puffed up a lot after soaking and hanging to dry (no thwackig, no weights). I loved this as a new experience but OH MY it felt slow making 3 bobbins of fine singles. You pro 3-plyers have my sincere admiration.
Jan shares via Slack: This is one of mine, the warp yarn is a 50/50 merino silk lace weight, originally dyed by my friend Ali Hooper – I used 3/4 of it to knit a lace shawl and I had about 250-300 yards left out of a 1000 yard skein. The weft is my 2 ply handspun, one ply is attenuated and lightly twisted silk hankies in an aqua/mint green colourway and the other is merino/tencel in shades of blues and aquas. There isn’t anything fancy going on as far as the weave is concerned, the scarf is just plain weave, but the texture of the hankies gives a lovely slubby texture to the scarf. Attenuating the hankies takes time, but the weaving goes quickly!
Ianel shares via Ravelry: My next natural shades of fleece are this 1 lb of Leicester Longwool (a little mud and VM, thank goodness for combs), and 3.7 lbs of Corriedale (coated and gloriously free of mud and VM). That Leicester Longwool tempted me with its lovely shades of grey, and the Corriedale tempted me with its amazing staple length. Washing and combing everything in small batches, in preparation for Tour de Fleece. The first skein of white has been spun up for Tour de Fleece. That crazy long staple made very smooth singles.
Zero to Hero // #sweaterspin #useyourhandspun #spinallthethings #weavewithhandspun
Megan shares via Ravelry: It’s done! Ok guys, this has been a big, big project for me this year, my 100% handspun cowslip by marie wallin. I have had this idea brewing in my mind for about 2 years, and I’ve finally done it. I love colorwork knitting, and I wondered if you could use the color stripes in the hand dyed tops to make a self striping sweater. I had 3 braids from 3 waters farm: flannel shirt in mixed bfl, poison and wide in mixed bfl, and hickory and maple in organic polworth. I took out any light or grey fibers so that I would have an all dark colored background for contrast I spun these up into a light fingering 2 ply long draw, where I very purposefully matched up the colors so they would align. These were all 100g and about 400 yds. For the contrast color I spun some light great Shetland again in a light fingering low twist long draw. I then knit up the pattern from cowslip by marie wallin, although the shape is of my own creation. I knit it all in the round and steeked the arms and neckline. Things I learned: it was good to have the poison and wine that was mostly purples so I could use those in between the other colors and to match the borders. I have TONS of yarn left. I think enough to knit another sweater, so I might try a very different pattern with a different contrast color like a white. I am so happy the results turned out as I dreamed. I love how when you have the handspun colors from the top, the color transitions are very gentle and more water-colory than when you just switch colors. You can see this if you compare mine to the original I think, where my colors sort of water-color together and don’t have the harder stripes of when you switch colored yarns. I love the project and will do something like it again!
Sample Spinning // PLAY
The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct. – Carl Jung
Alicia shares via Slack: As I’ve been spinning through the first three fibers from the Longway Homestead club, I’ve allowed myself to just explore. No sampling, no expectations, just spinning and learning the new breed. This approach has been so freeing for me! I typically enter a project with a strong idea of what I want it to be or how I want it to turn out which can be exhausting. Allowing myself to learn about a new fiber and just let my spinning flow has been such a great experience. Needless to say, I have enjoyed all of the breeds I’ve received so far. The Wensleydale surprised me the most, though. I expected to have a “meh” experience from the long wool but it was so much fun to spin. It drafted easily and quickly plus the luster is just gorgeous! I also loved the Border Cheviot and will absolutely be spinning with Tunis again. Thanks to this community for encouraging such a learning environment! Wensleydale (L) and Border Cheviot ®
Vikki shares via Slack: I dyed the roving earlier this year. I was quite proud when I dyed it that the yellow and blue didn’t mix. My aim was to spin it thin for some optical mixing to make a green with occasionally stripes of blue and yellow. Well…. I do see some optical mixed green but it was apparent while I was spinning that the blue areas were longer than the yellow so there is less mixing and more blue than I would like. It also bled a lot when I washed it. After 3 washes, a vinegar bath and another couple washes to be safe, it finally washed clear. My word!! Even the white ties tinted with how much dye it bled out. I don’t remember colour running when dyeing it originally. (I’m surprised it never came out on my fingers when I was spinning it). Because of vigorous washing, it felted a tiny bit… the strands really like to hold each other’s “hands” lol Overall, I don’t know. It feels and looks kind of limp… lifeless. Doesn’t have that hand spun soul, if that makes any sense. I have about 600yds, 93g of a BFL yarn, 2ply, 20wpi but I’m using like a fingering weight. And a cute little mini of 27yds. I spun it fractal- split 12 times on one bobbin and 6 times on the other. I’ll put it away for a while and decide how I feel about it later. It’s ok, not everything I make I have to love. Every spin is different and a learning experience!
Sarah shares via Slack: I just finished a set of dishcloths for a sweet friend.
Thank you so much for joining me today!
Until then, Happy Spinning!
