WnS Ep. 223: Lotsa Finished Yarn

Dear Spinning Circle,

Live Stream: Saturday, November 13th @ 8am Pacific // 11am Eastern

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, plied on Majacraft Suzie Pro

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

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

In Progress – Knitting

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

Breed & Colour Studies – Jacob

Kellie shares via Slack: I finally photographed my finished shawls for the year so far. 1. Crafty Jaks B&C Study Jacob knit into a Pine Lake Shawl (ravelry.com/patterns/library/pine-lake-shawl) 2. Crafty Jaks SW Merino/Nylon in Splashes of Joy knit into an Easypeasy Bandana (ravelry.com/patterns/library/easypeasy-bandana) 3. West Coast Colour Falkland in Active Pass, knit into The Age of Brass and Steam Shawl (ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-age-of-brass-and-steam-kerchief)

Spindle Spun Stitches

Ange shares via Slack: I just finished my Astra Cowl,  knit with the Manx loaghton and Manx blend yarns that I spindle spun this summer. I really love how this project turned out, the pattern was a really addictive little knit. Some of the dyed yarns were very close in tone to the natural brown so don’t show up quite as much in the finished cowl as the brighter colours but I don’t mind that at all. And am really happy to have found a project where I was able to use all the yarns. I made my cowl a bit deeper than suggested in the pattern to accommodate all of the colours. And side note, as you can probably see by these photos, it turns out that it’s not that easy to selfie and show off your cowl.

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

Laura shares via Ravelry: My Shifty cardigan is finally finished! I started with white and grey Finn wool top last winter. Dyed and spun them, and here’s the result. I have to say I’m really pleased and quite proud of myself, as I started spinning on a wheel only one year ago. The sunny photos are taken in Berlin! My first trip abroad after the pandemic started.

Rebecca shares via Ravelry: I was browsing this thread this morning while waiting for something else, and realized I never even uploaded pictures of my finished Zero-to-Hero! I finished it a few days before our long trip this summer, so I didn’t even photograph it until the fall. It’s inspired by the Comfort Fade cardi, but the pattern I used was the Greyling Cardigan from an old Interweave Knits. This was the final use of fiber that I bought ten years ago, when I first started spinning and was a little over-ambitious about how much I would be spinning! I wrote about the personal significance of the sweater here.

Maria shares via Ravelry: My zero to hero project this year was this blanket. The brown yarn is from a Finn fleece. The oatmeal, yellow and orange are spun from a big batt from an organic farm. It is Finn also. I spun it with longdraw. The little stripes with variegated green yarn is dyed by indie dyer Tuulia Salmela. Its Falkland merino, but worked well, I think. My weaving experience is not very big, but I like how this turned out. Do not look too closely.

Jenny shares via Slack: It’s nearing my 1 year Patreon-versary, and so I took stock of the yarn I’ve spun over this time, and my experience. It’s amazing to see the growth from the first tightly spun skein, to the fluffy, relaxed grey yarn in the middle. So much community, creativity and joy in this making. I’m ever so grateful for the friendships I’ve made (love you all), and for reaching some of my big goals (thank you, Rachel!). A visual reminder to just keep going. It’s all yarn. It’s all beautiful, and play is the secret-sauce of life. Cheers to another exciting year, friends! Yarn! I made yarn!! Wohooo!

Suzanne shares via Slack: I have been wanting make The Shift Cowl for awhile. I finally dug up a couple of braids from my stash and added a third (two Malabrigo Nube and one HipStrings Polwarth/Silk/Flax) to spin the yarn. I enjoyed every aspect of making this cowl from choosing the colors, spinning the yarn, to knitting it. I will wear it often.

Sample Spinning // PLAY

Kelley shares via Slack: So my first fiber to yarn transformation is complete! 100% hand-painted Targhee top, bought on Etsy, on a homemade kick spindle. My next step is getting more and doing it again. Only this time, I’ll try and pay attention to getting my singles more consistent.

Sarah shares via Slack: I finished my Halloween handspun socks. I did not get them done in time for Halloween, but better late than never. I love how they turned out. Plus I have enough yarn leftover to make another pair of socks.

Lauraline shares via Ravelry: I shared the yarn earlier – I finished my Halloween fingerless mitts, just in time! So happy with them! The garter bands unfold to cover the fingers. Pattern is Lambing Mitts by Veronica Jobe. I added a picture of the original batt too – from Urso Yarn Co.

Jose shares via Slack: I am working my way on my pie blend sampler kit from Inglenook Fibers and today,  perfect timing, I got to spin the pumpkin pie sample.

Weaving

Kathy shares via Ravelry: This is sort of a zero to hero. It was a battle over a year and a half, so sorry about the long winded saga. I started with one of my first 2 fleeces – Wensleydale. Before I learned from your good advice, I tried an internet tip of doing the initial wash by spraying it down with cold water from the hose. LESSON 1: Don’t trust everything you get from the internet (you can stop gasping now). LESSON 2: Washing wool with Dawn requires HOT water to get rid of the lanolin. LESSON 3: Combing with lanolin is hard. LESSON 4: Try not to weave the full width of the loom. I had tension issues with extra heddles getting in the way, from the spacer sticks on the warp beam not quite going all the way across, using multiple warp chains, and from varying elasticity from the yarn itself. Because the fabric was fairly open, I wanted to full the blanket a bit. Back to lesson 1, I put it in my washer with wool wash. I stopped it 4 minutes in, but that was enough to completely mat the fringe, so I was back to pulling the fibers apart one last time. LESSON 5: I will never again use my washer to finish hand made wool items. All was not lost though. Fixing the fringe left it curly, which I find oddly pleasing. This fiber just really wanted to return to its ‘lock’ form (see photo – I didn’t spin it like that), and besides the curly fringe, the main fabric got a boucle-like look (although I also very much liked the pre-fulled look…sigh).

Thank you so much for joining me today!

Until then, Happy Spinning!