WnS Ep. 238: Now, For Something Completely Different!

Dear Spinning Circle,

Live Stream: Tuesday, March 15th @ 1pm Pacific // 4pm 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!

There is a lot going on in our community! Ketchup & Pickles for February 2022 here.

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

Twisting Tales Magazine Review – discount code for those wishing to subscribe: RACHEL-10 (valid until March 22, 2022)

Spindle Spun Stitches

Long-Term Goal: To Spin for a Sweater

Sarah Elizabeth Fibre Works Cormo // Processed by Kingdom Fleece & Fiberworks – supported spindle spun

On & Off the Bobbins

SweetGeorgia Yarns silk puff (40% merino, 40% SW merino, 20% silk) ‘hearth’ – Ashford eSpinner 3; continuous backwards, lots of twist @ 1430 on speed knob

SweetGeorgia Yarns BFL+Silk (85% / 15% silk) in ‘Tofino Roadtrip’ – Lendrum Saxony, 18:1, 3-ply fractal

On & Off the Needles

In Progress – Knitting

Wool and Honey by Andrea Mowry – Disdero Ranch Copaca (camel colour) – Corriedale & Alpaca blend (80/20) – 3.00mm // US 2.5

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

On & Off the Loom

Finished – Weaving

X’s and O’s Coasters by Amanda Rataj – CraftyJaks Herwick & Louet Romney handspun, 2-ply, packed down nicely for the sett. Roughly 4.5” square. Finished in warm water with washing detergent, rinsed, tumbled dry low and laid to dry. Pressed with iron.

Community Inspiration // Participation

51 Yarns – Group B

Jen shares this amazing post: Ok I am facing reality. Over the last few years I have spun everything in the 51 Yarns list. It is silly to do it just for the sake of saying I’ve done it. The only one not on the list is a pet, and so I will unearth the rabbit I got over a year ago to do that. Not that I need to prove all this to anyone but here is about half of what I have had in storage, awaiting the next Dickens fair. As I looked through it and the book, YEP, it is all there…. Some close ups… Singles ply to cable, almost all fleece I have cleaned and prepped myself, mohair and wool and alpaca, silk wrapped coils, tailspun wensleydale locks, fine soft twist to energized twist. Cotton, flax and linen, ok just a bit. Even my mascot Peugeot has done his share. With plenty of group spinning and teaching another along the way…yes, me in my bonnet and corset with a guest at the Dickens Fair learning to drop spindle. It took finally pulling the plastic bins out of storage and examining skeins against the 51 Yarns list for me to appreciate the breadth and depth of what has come from my various wheels and spindles! I appreciate the spirit of the SAL challenge and appreciate the opportunity to revisit and share my spinning journey!

Spindle Spun Stitches

Elisabeth shares: 2 oz down and 2 to go :)

Carissa shares: Spinning in public at the food court on the Turkish

Natural Shades ALONG

Brittany shares: I test knit this Squishy Cowl with my 3ply Handpsun. It features Latvian Braids and 2 colour brioche in the round. Perfect for your handspun and as well, in learning a few new techniques.

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

Martha shares: Cannot believe I have finally finished this!! 100% hand spun, in 2ply Falkland, using the Strange Brew pattern from Tincan Knits to create my own yoke. I shared this same project a long while ago, and since ripped it out and re-knit the yoke and I also re-dyed the purple, which was originally the pale turquoise you see in the chevrons. Anyway, I am over the moon that I managed to spin and then knit a whole sweater. You guys that do it all the time are superstars.

Nicole shares: New combo spin finished and it literally jumped on to my needles. This spin was from 4 different braids broken up and one piece from each drafted together. I was going for a dk weight and it turned out quite thick and thin but I am loving how it’s knitting up in the Metamorphic sweater by Andrea Mowery. I cast on yesterday and am already past the arm holes.

Sock Colour Study

Glenda shares: My socks are finished. They are squishy and very elastic, and I have enough yarn left for more socks….or something else. The yarn is a traditional 3-ply in local Border Cheviot.

Kristan shares: I finished my DRK Everyday socks… finally. Super happy with the perfect fit thanks to the 2×2 ribbing- yet it’s the reason they sat unfinished so long, knitting 2×2 ribbing is not my favorite. Super happy with the results since it was my first time spinning for a 4 ply fingering weight.I can’t remember if I shared the stats of this yarn before | fiber: came from Wound Up Fiber Arts on Super Sock base in the colorway Dream Boat. stats: Handspun is 20 WPI- 4 ply, spun continuous back, smoothing/compressing as I went. Ratio of 1:26.5 for both singles and ply (I didn’t count treadles or drafts) Twist angle of about 50° and a grist of 1,240 YPP. (The small skein is 50 M of 6ply, 14 WPI- the left over singles chain plied. 2 singles chain plied to make a 6 ply)

Sample Spinning // PLAY

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

Julie shares: Cooking with leftovers. Corriedale humbug from sweater spin plus ochre Falkland from shawl spin plus ochre Romney and mohair batt leftover from a Stitches class, plus some green and gold Bombyx silk blended four times on drum carder. Singles for a Ysolde Musselberg hat. One of four skeins.

Also shares: Little FO in laceweight Jacob. Just enough neck cover for Michigan Spring, which happens around mid-June.

Kat shares: Did a bit of pretty boring sock yarn spinning. Romney fleece, blended with adult mohair from World of Wool, and some silk from a Christmas box a few years back. 3ply, 20 WPI before wer finish. It’s drying now.

Weaving

Josee shares: X and Os on my ashford RIGID HEDDLE !! I can’t believe I succeeded after threading my heddles 4 times (and even though it works, my threading is messy as you can see on the 3rd pic. This was very difficult, not sure I would recommend it but I challenged myself to see if it can be done. I aslo needed and wanted the beautiful coasters.My sheds are not very “clean”. I have to be super careful as I pass the shuttle. That makes the enjoyment factors quite lower but I am getting used to it now that I have woven 2 coasters.The first one (second and second to last photos) is not nice as it was impossible to beat the weft hard enough with the heddle. But this morning I remembered a really good tip : to use a perm comb to beat and that works like a charm! I use is every 4 passes.I am using Bernat Handicraft cotton for the warp and Lett Lopi for the weft.

Thank you so much for joining me today!

Until then, Happy Spinning!