Category: Spinning

A few days ago, I set up Ruth, my beloved Kromski Sonata.  Since that time, I’ve been spinning. I quickly learned that I needed to practice a bit before I got the consistent yarn that I’m used to seeing with my handspun, and I’m perfectly fine with that. I’m currently spinning with some of my raw wool that was turned into rolags. I have no project planned for the yarn. I’m just enjoying the process. Perhaps, as I progress, I’ll have a project in mind, however, even if I don’t, I’ll keep spinning.

One of the many things I love about my spinning wheel is that it’s portable. Ruth has traveled with me many places and will continue to do so. Towards the end of last week, I purchased some combed top from a local fiber artist. I’m looking forward to receiving it so that I can begin spinning.

I haven’t spun yarn in quite some time, however, recently I’ve been thinking about starting to preparing yarn to tide me over for the upcoming cooler months. Earlier today, my daughter sent me this video of Li Ziqi because she thought I would enjoy watching seeing another spinner create yarn. I did and I’m sharing it here.

While doing a search on Li Ziqi it states on Wikipedia that…

Li Ziqi is a Chinese food blogger, internet celebrity, and entrepreneur. She is known for creating food and handicraft preparation videos in her hometown of rural Mianyang, Sichuan, often from basic ingredients using traditional Chinese techniques

It’s been quiet for several months on my Threadlover website, however, I’m still working with fiber almost every single day, even if it’s only for a few minutes. Recently, I’ve been crocheting face scrubbies for my daughter and I’m knitting another hat for her. Do you know that blanket in progress has been sitting dormant since the last time I posted about it. Hopefully, I’ll be finishing her checkerboard blanket again. I imagine it will be completed much before the cold weather makes an appearance in our area. I’m just waiting for the yarn that I ordered to arrive. It should be here on Monday.

Tomorrow, my daughter and I are finally going to see Avengers: Endgame. I never even watched any of the movies, until I was doing cardio at the gym (with my daughter). We were in the ‘cardio theater’ and some of Infinity War and that got us both interested in the movies. I must say that we’re both looking forward to the movie tomorrow and of course, I’m looking forward to even more time to bond with my daughter.

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10
New American Standard Bible

About a week ago, I finished spinning these sample skeins. The beaded one is handspun merino and I believe the other is East Friesian cross yarn. There is a difference in softness and elasticity with these two handspun yarn. The merino is softer. The Fresian is a bit sturdier and a bit more “elastic.” They are both lovely fibers and I enjoyed spinning both.

 

This past Friday, I placed the finished bobbins on my Niddy Noddy’s and let the yarn rest for a few days. This morning, I removed them. They turned out great… no overspun yarn, just perfectly balanced singles. Today, I’ll place the yarn in hot water to set the twist and tomorrow, I’ll start knitting two headbands for my daughter. They cannot be dyed since she’ll be wearing them at her Lutheran school. They wear uniforms, the only colors she can wear for headbands are white and navy.

If/when I have down time, you will usually find me being creative. It’s so rewarding. There have been numerous studies that show that engaging in crafts is very beneficial to us, and can be extremely helpful even during difficult times. That comes as no surprise to me, since my mood stays calm regardless of what’s in my path.

Besides God, the Bible and surrounding myself with like-minded believers… my “go to” therapy is crafting. My christian faith is my anchor and crafting keeps my hands active and my mind postively occupied. During these times, I fellowship with loved ones (usually my daughter) pray, listen to recordings and occasionally watch something uplifting on television.

Sometimes (while crafting) the silence is only broken by the soft clicking of my knitting needles, the gentle whirr of my spinning wheel, the hum of my sewing machine or the thwacking of my loom. You want to know something? Often, I find that the sounds that my crafting tools make are the only ‘noise’ that’s needed.

A few days ago, I pulled my last skein of handspun mohair off of my two yard Niddy Noddy and proceeded to dye all the handspun yarn.

 

If you’ve made ‘Sun Tea’ the process is similar, of course instead of tea (unless you’re using that to color the yarn) you use a dye.

I normally use natural dyes for my handspun yarn, but this time I used Wilton’s icing colors. It’s a food coloring, mainly used to tint icing. I used vinegar to set the color.

I will say that my handspun mohair yarn took the dye well and left the variegated pattern that I wanted. Listening to my daughter’s suggestion I went with an orange/copper base and I added a goldenrod yellow also. I have yellow undertones in my skin and I thought this would compliment it nicely.

 

A few evenings ago, I went outside and removed the handspun yarn from the glass jar. The water was warm, I rinsed off the water, removed the excess water into a towel and hung the yarn outside on a rack to dry.

 

The shimmer and the halo that mohair possess was still in the yarn. That’s good, it’s the main reason I chose mohair to complete the project for the knitting designer.

Now, the only thing left is to allow this to completely dry and then begin knitting. Unless of course… I want to overdye the yarn. We’ll see!