Dear Spinning Circle,

Live Stream: Saturday, October 30th @ 8am Pacific // 11am Eastern

Direct YouTube link here. 

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!

Live Chat Assistance here.

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)

On & Off the Bobbins

Hello Yarn Organic Polwarth in colourway Spelt; Ashford eSpinner3, sampling process

Spindling progress – SweetGeorgia Yarns Spinning Socks 6 Pack; Jacob from World of Wool

On & Off the Loom

OHS Master Weaver information:

1. Wool n’ Spinning Radio OHS Master Weaver ep. 0077: OHS Master Weaver with Lisa & Lea

2. Info Session about OHS Master Weaver here

On & Off the Needles

Finished – Knitting

WPI Toque by Rachel Smith – specifically designed for handspun but used for this commercial yarn; 3.5mm // US 4

In Progress – Knitting

Catbells by Megan Nodecker – Westcoast Colour Local Wool find at Knit City 2021; 5.00mm // US 8

Ystava by Jonna Hietala – Estelle Yarns Llama Worsted, 5 skeins

Lunenburg Pullover by Amy Christoffers – Dominion Fleece & Fibre North County Cheviot, naturally dyed in Indigo, Marigold, Madder

Community Inspiration // Participation

Ask Anything

Linda asked via Ravelry: I carded shorter locks with more crimp together with longer ones with less crimp. What can be expected of this mixture? How to spin it into a robust yet lofty sweater yarn? Would you choose to spin to the crimp of one of the locks? Or can you average the count? I have heard of wool/silk blends. I guess I am doing something similar, be it with two wools? (Referring to ‘spinners book of fleece’: spin to the crimp per inch)

Breed & Colour Studies – Jacob

Donna shares via Ravelry: First of my local Jacob sheep spin.

Maria shares via Ravelry: Hi everyone…its been a while. Life seems to have got very hectic lately. Great to catch up on the board. Anyway I snatched a few moments this afternoon to start prepping my Jacob spin. Here’s what I’ve done so far , with a little bit of a plan, (although to be honest it may change as I’m rubbish at sticking to one idea ) I had 2 x 100g white braids which I dyed in various colours from pinks through to orange and yellows through to blues and greens I split 1 braid down the middle and put one half aside. The remaining half I split again and then I sectioned into separate colours. Each of these were then hand carded into rolags blended with black Jacob ( which is more like a very dark brown) I’m planning on spinning these into a gradient yarn, using longdraw method, and potentially chain plying afterwards to keep the gradient. I’ll likely treat the second half of the braid in the same way , maybe to knit some mittens or arm warmers. I may prepare the second braid in the same way but using the grey Jacob instead for blending… Really happy with the way the colours blend with the brown Jacob, creating a moody colour palette. It’s been years since spinning Jacob so should be fun.

Zero to Hero // #sweaterspin #useyourhandspun #spinallthethings #weavewithhandspun

Megan shares via Slack: This has been an excellent week for finishing projects!!  I finished my handspun Freja!  It is in 3 ply corriedale from john arbon in the indigo dust colorway.  It is a bulky weight spun on the minispinner and then plied on the flatiron.  I was so happy with the consistency of the yarn since I mostly spin 2 ply fingering!  It is lovely,and squishy, like wearing a hug:) ALSO, I finally did it!  This is my forever heirloom 100% handspun cashmere sweater!  Spun 3 ply fingering high twist on my schacht reeves.  I spun 1200 yards and still have some leftovers.  It is so soft and light and warm! A penultimate project for sure!

Elise shares via Slack: Long story on this yarn/sweater: I (maybe) finished the knitting on this sweater made of handspun mill-ends held double with a commercial alpaca silk lace weight. I finished the initial spinning around the end of 2019 creating a gradient by marling the dark grey-purple with the light grey in a 3ply yarn. I ended up with 4 colors which I blended further by alternating rows. I created my own sweater (with the puffed sleeves) but ran out of yarn on the bind-off and stashed it away for a long time. I decided to pull it out and block it to see if it was worth finding a way to finish and just wasn’t happy with the fit or the gauge (I knit it quite densely). I frogged the sweater and re-washed the yarn and stashed it again. I finally decided to pull it out and added the alpaca lace weight to fill out a looser gauge and hopefully add softness since it is not quite next to skin for me. I started The Weekender by Andrea Mowry but ended up frogging that, too. I found the Pure Fuzz by Skeindeer Knits and that is what I used for the final sweater, though I knit it longer than the pattern to use up more yarn. As soon as I put the sweater on, I felt like it swallowed me and is too baggy, though I’m not sure how well that comes through in the photos. I’m thinking about taking several inches out of the body back to a more standard length since that might be more wearable for me (and it’s pretty heavy) I’m also still deciding about brushing the sweater to make the alpaca more fuzzy, but that is something I can always do later if I decide I want it.

Sample Spinning // PLAY

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct. – Carl Jung

Lauraline shares via Slack: So funny! I’m knitting on my handspun mitts while listening last week’s podcast, and as I was talking a picture to show it to my friend, @welfordpurls_admin you were sharing my yarn in the community participation!!

Charlette shares via Slack: Not a fan of sparkle in this art batt – but I finished spindle-spinning it anyway.  Here is what the sparkly skeinettes have become, and I couldn’t be more pleased.  Still to come:  acorns.  Patterns are from elvesworld on Etsy and Susan B. Anderson at Barrett Wool Co.  One of the leaves was a freebie from ariannafrasca.com.

Laura shares via Ravelry: Took “Bonfire” from End of the Whorl on Etsy and then broke it up by color, and did some blending where needed so I could create a sequence for chain plying that would mimic the colors of fire and smoke from the bottom up.

Weaving

Charlette shares via Slack: I have never had such fun homework (online class by Janet Dawson:  “Unraveling Overshot”).  This color reminds me of pumpkin pie. (Pattern weft Brassard 8/4 cotton, “Burnt Orange”; warp and tabby Brassard 8/2 cotton, “Linen”).

Tracy shares via Slack: I am in love. These are just a few towels that came off my JST Parrot warp. I find it so meditative to sit at the loom. And it is so fun to see each towel just come to life. I agreed to sell a few at a friend’s Women in Craft open house so I am suddenly in production mode! I have some Log Cabins on the loom now and planning Christmas and Hanukkah designs.

Katrina shares via Slack: My palette and wound warp for my next set of tea towels!

Lauraline shares via Slack: The scrappy blanket is off the loom! Still needs finishing. I do have yarn left for another one, and the next one will be some kind of twill!

Sewing

Kat shares via Slack: Made myself a silly Halloween dress.

Thank you so much for joining me today! 

Until then, Happy Spinning!