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Spinning with Turkish Spindles: Singles to Plying

My second Fiber Arts related course through FiberyGoodness. This self paced course can be started at any time, and has three sections: S...

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Day 14 of #wemakeyarn — Drive. My first wheel was Scotch Tension and when I got my Majacraft Aura I admit I was a wee bit intimidated. It uses a Hybrid Double Drive setup. I had never used Double Drive so the whole concept was brand new to me. The more I played with my Aura the more I understood how altering your tension and speed can affect your spinning. I also at some point realized that the drive set up on this wheel really isn’t that much different from Scotch Tension. The black band is the equivalent of your Scotch Tension band on the bobbin only the adjustments you make are a lot finer giving you more control over the tension. The way the tension controls the bobbin also prevents you from having to keep making adjustments throughout your spin so once you set it up where you want it when you first start a project you don’t need to make any further tweaks. Once I realized just how much the Aura is like an advanced version of Scotch Tension it became so much simpler to use. ❤️


Day 13 of #wemakeyarn — Weight. My default spinning weight is fine fine fine! My finished yarn is usually 2-3 plies heavy lace to heavy fingering weight. I’ve been practicing spinning thicker for those times I’d really love to knit with a fatter squishy yarn. I spun on this today at Eastside Spinners. Might make something with this for my Mom if she likes the finished yarn. ❤️ #handspunstagram #spinstagram #igspinners #spinnersofinstagram #handspun #handspunyarn #fiberfeature #wemakeyarn #fiberyfun365 #WeePeggy #huckleberryknits


Wednesday, January 10, 2018

BFL spun on my Majacraft Aura to be knit into socks. #handspunstagram


Finally wound this project off the bobbin. I finished this just before Christmas. This is BFL dyed by @huckleberryknits. I’m planning on knitting this into socks. For anyone wondering what the yarn is on it’s an early prototype of the @akerworks Niddy Noddy. I absolutely love this tool and I’m so anxious to see what Adan has in store for it’s development next!!! #handspunstagram


Day 10 of #wemakeyarn — Favorite Tool. You can’t make me choose!!!!!!! You can’t make me so I’ll tell you all about my favorite TOOL MAKERS! My top three makers in no particular order are Majacraft, Akerworks, and Jenkins. They have all had a profound affect on my experience as a spinner. When I got my Majacraft Aura I relearned how spinning work because it was so different than my Wee Peggy. It gave me such a better understanding and my spinning improved quickly and drastically. In that same period of time I also obtained my very first Jenkins a Turkish Delight that changed how I view spindle spinning. After I got my first wheel I was done spindle spinning. I thought, what’s the point? It’s a waste of time when I can wheel spin faster. I was in awe of photos of the beautiful wrapping and was impressed that I wouldn’t have to unwind/rewind to ply. Now Akerworks.... I think at this point I have more Akerworks tools than anything else. They are so bright, colorful, happy and insanely useful. The tools Adan and the team have designed are so much fun not only to work with but also to photograph. Some tools like the AkerKate are so multifaceted that I use it for multiple purposes plying both bobbins and spindles, spindle spinning, and now knitting! I recently acquired new Majacraft tools for processing my own fiber which is going to expand my creativity immensely as well. All of these tools have greatly impacted who I am as a fiber artist and so have the makers themselves which I consider them all dear friends. I chat with Adan often and help him test early prototypes which is always a ton of fun. His creativity and resourcefulness at creating tools to solve problems is incredible! I help out Jenkins with Tour de Fleece and chat with Wanda on occasion. I’m hoping so much to see Ed and Wanda this year at a festival, it’s been too long since I’ve seen them. I work for @fiberygoodness which has close ties with @majacraftnz. It gives me the opportunity to talk with Glynis and Andy Poad on occasion which is always a treat. I feel so fortunate to know these makers and to be able to use all of these tools because with them the possibilities are endless. ❤️


Saturday, January 6, 2018

I had such a fantastic time at St. Distaff’s day but as seen here I didn’t get much spinning time in. I spent most of my time catching up with friends I hadn’t seen awhile as well as with some of my favorite vendors, taking lots of photos, and also being as it was put the “@akerworks West Coast Technical Support”. All in all it was a great day. 😄 #handspunstagram


Day 6 of #wemakeyarn “where I spin”. I spin mostly at home but love to attend guild twice a month and take my spindles where ever I go. One of my favorite places to spin is events like this one where I can spin and chat with all sorts of amazing fiber artists. Today at the 34th Annual St. Distaff’s Day in Monroe Wa I got a wee bit of spinning in on my Wee Peggy Ella(bottom right corner)but mostly ran around helping people which was a lot of fun in itself. . See my Facebook account for more photos of the event. .


Day 5 of #wemakeyarn Combed Top or Roving? I love to spin both. It wasn’t until I got my drum carder and my hackle that I fully realized just how different these preps are. For the most part prior to getting my drum carder I spun from commercial top dyed by indie dyers and very rarely from batts which I tore into strips. These two projects were ones I processed myself the top is roving I dizzed off my drum carder and the bottom i processed with my hackle and dizzed off to make combed top. Both projects were spun exactly the same but you can clearly see how the roving makes the yarn just a bit more fuzzy and airy while the combed top is very smooth and dense. They both make such wonderful yarns for their own purposes and I’m so thankful that I now have the tools and options to process my fiber which every way I choose. #handspunstagram #spinstagram #igspinners #spinnersofinstagram #handspun #handspunyarn #fiberfeature #wemakeyarn #fiberyfun365 #Majacraft #MajacraftHackle #MajacraftFusionEngine #MajacraftDrumCarder #FusionEngine #Hackle #Drumcarder #roving #combedtop


Yesterday and today I’ve been working on a project for my Mom. Last year she showed me this Facebook post that had this beautiful yarn in it but didn’t mention what the yarn was. She asked me if I could find it and make something for her so I looked and looked and found the yarn and colorway. It ended up the Yarn was one made by Malabrigo in the colorway Whales Road. I picked a different yarn but same colorway in order to make this special project. She knows I’m working on it but doesn’t know what it will be. Let’s just say I have to cast on 318 stitches and it’s an i-cord cast on. It’s going to take awhile just to do the cast on but I know it’s worth it. ❤️ #knittersofinstagram #igknitters #knittersofig #knitting #knitting_inspiration #instaknit #i_loveknitting #fiberyfun365