Re: [fibernet] S or Z Ply
If a person states a premise but does not back it up with evidence, I am more inclined to think the statement is hogwash. As a scientist, I like to see data and draw my own conclusions, not blindly swallow forcefully stated proclamations. Also, a true teacher lives to educate others, not to berate or humiliate. This sounds like a self-appointed member of the spinning police. June [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [fibernet] Moths
Good to know! Thanks for the follow-up. From: Michelle Rudy mmr...@newmexico.com To: fibernet@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:34:20 AM Subject: Re: [fibernet] Moths On Apr 22, 2009, at 9:48 AM, Holly Shaltz wrote: I'm not quite sure I buy the idea of pantry moth traps working on clothes moths. Following up on April's moth thread. I purchased both clothing moth and pantry moth traps. They are in my closets and just sitting out in each room. They work like a charm. Both types have captured clothing moths in quantity (neither captured pantry moths). It has been a wet spring and we have lots of inside insects this year. Unfortunately, I told a number of weavers about my success with the traps. All the local hardware stores are sold out! I'm still looking for strips to hang and am told that both the strips and a spray are available somewhere in northern New Mexico. Regards, Michelle White Rock NM [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[fibernet] Sheep herding demo
OK, my friend sent me this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw We are wondering if it is real. I've seen some very talented dogs and well-trained sheep in the past. Some of the video I can believe (pong), some I find hard to swallow (Mona Lisa). Any experienced shepherds want to chime in? June [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [fibernet] Drumcarding
For a medium wool with a short, sproingy staple, why not? I guess it depends on the type of preparation that you want to achieve. For true woolen spinning, you want a mass of wool with no order to trap as much air as possible between the fibers. Feeding locks perpendicular to the carder is one way to disrupt the order of the lock. Another way would be to very thoroughly pick the fibers open before carding. Because multiple passes through the carder will continue to align the fibers, if you are carding multiple times, strip the batt and feed the strips in perpendicular to the drum, too. After carding, strip the batt into smaller pieces, roll perpendicular to the length of the batt to make a rolag, and spin. When spinning rolags, I always envision that it is a tube of air surrounded by a layer of wool. I am just stretching the tube - longer, narrower, but still maintaining the core of air. If I want to maintain a more worsted-style prep, I maintain lock formation, precard to open up the butts and tips, and apply directly to the drum for the first pass. I find that style useful for finer wools and silk. For multiple passes, I feed the batt strips in parallel to the drum. From: susan2...@juno.com susan2...@juno.com To: fibernet@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 7:49:55 AM Subject: [fibernet] Drumcarding Holly, thanks for the site! Just came across this, and it was a revelation to me - wondering if anyone here routinely does this, and would love to hear about it. I've had a drumcarder for years, and never thought to do this, but since we're talking woolen preparation, why not? http://www.yarnharl ot.ca/blog/ archives/ 2009/02/13/ sideways. html Susan in Maine, where it's a chilly winter morning - but sunny! :) http://www.goosepon d.com/fiber [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[fibernet] Angora fiber - felted in storage!
Yarg, I hate when this happens. I have a bunny blend - wool, silk, angora - that has felted after years of storage. It's not a total loss, I can sort of pick it apart and draft If I spritz it with... maybe one of those silicone-containing hair frizz tamers (diluted), will that help it draft? How can I prevent this from happening again? TIA, June
Re: [fibernet] Re: Thanks and WW question
Hi, Ron, I've wondered about that, too - but it has always been that way for every wheel I've used that needs oil and in every place I oil, whether I used the Teflon lubricant or motor oil. Even on my current wheel, the parts of the maiden where the flyer ends rest is made of some kind of Teflon plastic (hard white stuff), so it's not even any metal on half of the contact points. I just keep wiping it off, and the performance is unaffected, so... Yeah, I don't know what it is. -j. - Original Message From: Ronald Parker [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: fibernet@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 5:11:01 AM Subject: Re: [fibernet] Re: Thanks and WW question On Apr 29, 2008, at 8:54 PM, June Oshiro wrote: Teflon lubricant from Radio Shack (http://tinyurl. com/4bxjmo). I wipe it off after a couple hours of spin time (it still gets black and gunky) and reapply. Seems to be just fine. Who can argue with success? That said, the black must be from ground up metal or something else in the bearing, so that would bother me a bit
Re: [fibernet] Re: Thanks and WW question
- Original Message From: Ronald Parker [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Apr 29, 2008, at 6:32 PM, sierraspun wrote: years ago? Naw!), someone recommended regular ol' 30-wt motor oil, and I used that when my Lendrum began to complain. Not a good idea. -- Sorry, Ron, but could you 'splain further? The Schacht wheel folks recommend: Use medium weight oil such as 20 or 30 weight motor oil. (http://www.schachtspindle.com/instructions/spinning/swmaintenancemanual.htm) Lucky for me, my main wheels are all sealed bearings (no oiling needed, I'm so spoiled). The one wheel that does need oil, I use a Teflon lubricant from Radio Shack (http://tinyurl.com/4bxjmo). I wipe it off after a couple hours of spin time (it still gets black and gunky) and reapply. Seems to be just fine. -j.
[fibernet] Sheep on Cute overload
In case there are a couple of you who don't read Cute Overload - check out the awesome sheep picture! http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/03/these-sheeps-ar.html June
Re: llama / Wool Wash
I would wash llama (and alpaca, and other fibers that don't have lanolin) just because the stuff still is dirty. I don't want it on my hands, wheel, or bobbins. Leigh recently wrote about her experience with unwashed alpaca - http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com/2007/08/alpaca-progress.html The comments on that entry corroborate her findings, too. -j. www.twosheep.com/blog To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: remembering Deb Pulliam
What a loss for the entire fiber community. She knew so much and never hesitated to teach others. I learned a lot from her through the various email lists alone. Thank you for letting us know. My sincere condolences to her family and friends. June - Original Message From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: fibernet@imagicomm.com Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 8:27:22 AM Subject: remembering Deb Pulliam I learned yesterday of the passing of Deb Pulliam, a wonderful historian and fiber arts teacher who died this past Tuesday of cancer. She was a member of this and other lists, a regular contributor to Piecework and other publications, and will be sorely missed by many who benefited from her knowledge and generosity in sharing it. Many of you may have seen her listed on our fiber events listings also. I was fortunate to live in the same state as Deb, and to have taken several workshops with her, the last one in NH on Victorian Knitting this past November. Susan in Maine http://www.goosepond.com/fiber To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: combing question
Interweave recently published an article by him - bet they'd have his contact info. You could send your email detailing the problem and ask someone at SpinOff to forward it to him if they don't hand out his email address to random people. -j. - Original Message From: Holly [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: fibernet@imagicomm.com Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 7:29:25 AM Subject: Re: combing question I guess from the responses no one has much familiarity with his methods, so I'll just keep on trying until I figure out how to make it work or give up. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: combing question
I haven't tried the oil method because by the time I get 'round to spinning, the stuff surely will have oxidized. (I have a POUND of Cormo that I combed at least 4 years ago... Still haven't spun it.) I use leave-in conditioner/detangler or very dilute regular hair conditioner when I comb and never have a problem. If you really want to master the oil and water, you might drop a little lecithin into it, too. I think vitamin stores sell it as a supplement in little gel caps. Let us know how it goes! -j. - Original Message From: Holly [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: fibernet@imagicomm.com Sent: Friday, May 18, 2007 8:20:22 AM Subject: combing question I used a syringe to measure 6 ml of olive oil and 6 ml of water and sprinkled it over a little more fiber than he specified--45 grams instead of 40. The result was very oily, which I guess it was supposed to be, just a lot more oily than I expected. Felt good to my hands, though :) To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Superwash top
It is a mill end - not quite roving, not quite batts, may be tangled, etc. June - Original Message From: Ann McElroy [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: fibernet@imagicomm.com Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 9:21:13 AM Subject: RE: Superwash top Jagger (undyed laps) I am curios to what a Lap is? I went to the Jagger site and didn't see anything called lap. Ann To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Superwash top
First, congrats to Ron and all of you who make Fibernet a great resource. I am a relative latecomer (I think I joined in '99), but I look forward to many more years of enjoyable fiber companionship. Second, I would like your opinion on superwash Merino spinning fibers. I've tried superwash fiber from Brown Sheep (dyed top), Ashland Bay (undyed top), and Jagger (undyed laps). I'm looking for other options. What is your favorite brand? I am looking for something with uniform fiber length and little to no dark hairs. Ideally, it will withstand machine washing in cold water (air dry) for years without the superwash properties fading away (I had a pair of socks suddenly become not-so-superwash after a few washings). Thanks for your advice, June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Measuring twist in fine singles Re: Hello
Hi Ron et al, I actually wrote most of post yesterday and then killed it because I wasn't sure it was clear. Well, I'll try again. I'm spinning a single from pure bombyx silk. The diameter is too fine for me to easily see the degree of twist in the single. When wheel spinning, I usually measure twist that I can't see by doubling back a fresh length and examining the twist of the 2-ply. (I keep a reference standard handy for comparison.) However, I'm using a handspindle for this project, and I don't have enough hands to hold the spindle, hold the fiber, double back the single, and untwist the 2-ply back to the single after I've checked the twist. Typically, any of the following will happen - the unspun gets caught in the spun, the spindle drops, or the single breaks when I try to straighten out the double-plied part. I've tried holding the spindle between my legs, the silk in my mouth (pfeh! pfeh! I don't recommend), etc, but I've not found a way that works quickly and reliably. Until my hands learn this fiber, I'd like to check every other armslength of yarn to ensure that it is consistent. If you have suggestions about how to hold everything or a different way to measure twist angles, I would appreciate it. Thanks, June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Cotton Shirt and Spin-Off
- Original Message From: Ann Durham [EMAIL PROTECTED] The target audience has changed. You can get Spin-Off in bookstores now, which is both a blessing and a curse. In a subscriber-only magazine, you can aim at people who are already spinners and want in-depth articles. In a newstand magazine, you need one that anyone can pick up, thumb through, and think hey! maybe I can do that! Yes, I agree. No one magazine can be all things for all people. Someone will always complain. I've been knitting and spinning for ~10 years and have subbed to numerous textile publications. In that time, I've seen people complain about larger format, smaller format, font and font size, the degree of glare on the magazine pages, plastic wrapped vs paper cover vs no protection, subscription delivery vs bookstore delivery, etc. (Nearly all of these comments were published in the Letters to the Editor column.) Also, no matter what the format, when a magazine changes its tack, plenty of long-time subscribers will grouse and drop their subscriptions. Apparently nothing is ever as good as it used to be! ;) FWIW, I find material that satisfies my inner yarn geek in 'blogs. The signal:noise ratio is not so good, but the knowledge is definitely out there and is slowly coming to the surface. One place to begin - try Jeannine Bakriges 'blog (http://spinningspiderjenny.blogspot.com/). June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: pricing used equipment
--- Holly [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have a doublewide motorized Duncan drumcarder I'm considering selling. I got it in 98, so it's 8 years old, but very lightly used and in nearly mint condition (a little dust, a little fiber on the cloth is the only wear and tear). For like-new condition, 20%-25% off retail is not unreasonable, IMO. If it is perfectly functional but has bangs and dents and looks used, then 30% or more off retail is not unreasonable. If it's a fixer-upper, I won't even consider it unless it's at least 50% off (I have to factor in time and cost of repair supplies). I recently sold my Schacht DT + extra whorls + Woolie Winder - I bought the whole setup years ago (the wheel in 1999, the WW in 2000) and sold it in 2005 for exactly what I'd paid 5-6 years before. Everything definitely looked used - grease spots, worn finish on the treadles, etc, but it worked as well as the day I bought it. For the buyer, it was a saving of $325 (~30%) from the cost of new equipment. My like-new Bosworth charkha just went to a new home for 20% off retail. I was sort of iffy about letting it go in the first place, so I priced it high-ish to ease my mind. But I got an offer to buy anyway, and off it went. I also sold my old Incredible Sweater Machine on ebay. Even though I'd paid probably ~$250 for the equipment when I bought it, I knew this item was discontinued (hard to get spare parts) and not very popular even at its peak. Anyway, it sold for $70. However, I was really happy to get it out of the house, any price would have been fine. :) And you didn't ask about this specifically, but I try to avoid financial transactions with friends. Some people can be a little weird about money, act weird when they're dealing with money, etc., and I've learned that it's better to buy and sell with strangers. You can be professional (ie, no item until the check clears) without hurting anyone's feelings. June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
sweater machine
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The Bond company has come out with, I think, at least 3 other models of the Sweater Machine. Man! I've been long out of the loop. I had 2 machines that were hooked together for large afghans, plus I sold intarsia keyplate, row counter, pattern books, the works. Now I doodle along with my LK150 (or should I say LK300 b/c I bought two of those, too?!?) when the urge to machine knit strikes. -j. -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Drudik wheels
--- Eleanor/Monte May [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I would be interested in knowing how many people on this list own Drudik wheels and how many of its features you use. I have used all the ratios except the one that is farthest from the midline. MD told me in an email that the 2 farthest ratios are really just decoration, not intended to be functional. He also described a way to set it up for scotch tension, using (if I'm imagining correctly) free-swinging weights instead of a spring to provide tension. What information are you specifically seeking? June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Follow-up
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If it's still pretty much new, as in it hasn't been used all that much, the black gunk may be 'new wheel' gunk. It could be! I've spent a little more time this AM spinning - I wiped and re-lubed to see if the black stuff really was showing up within 30 min (ie, that I wasn't hallucinating), and yep, it comes back pretty fast. In any case - I'll keep spinning, cleaning/wiping, re-lubing, spinning... Sounds like fun! :) June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Follow-up
Hi all, Just wanted to follow-up on a few topics and report the outcome of the advice I got here: 1) I asked about making the orifice of my wheel smaller. I went to the hardware store (with 2 flyers in hand) and putzed around with a salesman until we found something that would be pressure fit into the existing orifice and therefore could be removed easily when I didn't want a small orifice. For 1 flyer, we ended up nesting 2 pieces of plastic called bushings. Each bushing is like a small hollow tube with a washer-like disk on top (has a T-shaped profile). We had to nest 1 inside another to get the orifice small enough. I glued the bushings together with superglue. The other flyer had a slightly larger diameter orifice, and we found a rubber bushing (w/metal threads inside the last few mm of the stem) that would fit snugly. I may trim off the part with the threads, but I'm not sure if that will affect the yarn or the fit. 2) I asked about lubricants. I found something called silicone grease in the plumbing section of the hardware store. It is recommended over petroleum products (such as Vaseline) because it will not harm rubber or plastics. (Petroleum causes rubber and plastics to disintegrate over time.) For all intents and purposes, it looks and feels like very thick white Vaseline. It is waterproof and sort of gummy/sticky feeling. I thought that might be good to use where the flyer fits into the plastic parts of the maiden. I could not find SuperLube brand lubricant anywhere. However, after I read that the RadioShack needle-applicator lubricant also contains Teflon, I got that instead. I applied tiny drops to the flyer-maiden joints and to both ends of the footman. (I found out today that the rod bearings on the footman ends are Teflon lined, but I think that they are still a little stiff. The wheelwright agreed that it takes some time for the bearings to break-in and get very smooth.) The wheel spins much better now! It's like a new wheel. I haven't tried the silicone grease yet b/c the Teflon stuff seems to work very efficiently. I'll be curious to see how long it lasts before the wheel stiffens up again. I can already see a tiny line of black sludge after 30 min of spinning. Thanks again for everyone's input! June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Follow-up
--- G Schamel [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I can already see a tiny line of black sludge after 30 min of spinning. I still think that it would work even better if you could clean those places well before applying the new lubricating liquid Hi Gwen, Yep, I wiped everything before applying the lube. I think I'll keep wiping and reapplying for a while and see what happens. June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Follow-up
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: spinning. If you clean those parts that have gunk in them, then oil, you won't be seeing new gunk, after 30 minutes of spinning. What do you use to clean the parts? I was wiping the old stuff away with a tissue until the tissue was no longer picking up black stains. June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Non-oil lubricants?
--- G Schamel [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Any suggestions where I can buy Super Lube? If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to find it at either/and Home Depot, or any bicycling store. I've been doing some googling, and it seems like the teflon-based lubricant at Radio Shack is the same stuff as SuperLube (or very similar). I also read online that most Ace Hardware stores sell it, and there's a grease form of SuperLube out there (not just liquid). More trips to the hardware store... I went to Home Depot last night to look for the orifice-shrinking insert (and some lumber), and I hate the sales floor staff who ignore me or are condescending b/c I'm not a man. June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Oiling points on Drudik wheel
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The only oiling points are the bobbin shaft, and maybe the treadles. I haven't had to oil anything but the bobbin shaft on mine. Same. Actually, I haven't even oiled the bobbin shaft more than once. At one point, I took the cranks out of the wheel (detached the treadle from the back), sprayed oil into the hole, wiped off the excess, and put it all back. I think that was 2 years ago. June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Non-oil lubricants?
Hi, I am trying to find a solution for my quandary. I have a nice wheel. It needs to be oiled in a few places b/c the spinning is stiff. I hate oiling wheels b/c the oil gets black and drips messy spots on the wheel, the fiber, the floor, me... Is there a less messy way to oil the wheel? Does anyone have experience with the graphite or molybdenum lubricants for spinning wheels? Thanks in advance, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Non-oil lubricants?
--- Ron Parker [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: possibly environmental?. Either the wheel is wearing away and adding the blackness or the environment is adding something. I am the third owner of this new-to-me wheel, so I'm not sure what was used for lube before, but I see black smudges where the flyer fits into the plastic bushings. I had assumed that it was gunked up oil that was wiped away, but maybe it isn't? My past experience oiling a Schacht Matchless - I'd wipe off the old stuff and drip on new motor oil (yellow brown). The wiped-away old stuff always looked near black. I guess that's particulate matter? Thanks, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Non-oil lubricants?
--- G Schamel [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: You might consider one of the silicone lubricants instead. Thanks for the suggestion! And to A, thanks also for the Vaseline reminder - Magnus said that to me, too. Guess I'll go to the hardware store again... June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Changing the orifice size
Hi, I was spinning fine singles and watching the yarn vibrate because the orifice is too large for the size of the single. Can something be fitted into the orifice that would make it smaller? I want something temporary, so it can be removed when/if I want to spin larger singles. Ideally, I'd like an orifice that is 3-4 mm in diameter. Appearance is not as important as function - it needs to be stable, but it can stick out or be a strange color plastic or whatever. Thanks for your thoughts, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Changing the orifice size
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi June, Are you spinning directly into the center of the orifice? No, I'm doing my usual long draw style off to the side. I'm headed to the hardware store sometime this weekend to look for an appropriately sized tube of some sort that will fit the orifice and not abrade the yarn - I'll be looking for unthreaded nylon spacers (thanks, Jerry!). June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
RE: Felting during storage
--- Kimberly Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: My thoughts would be that the angora my have had a touch of wool mites in it, That is an interesting idea. I noticed no frass in either of the batts. Would something like that be apparent in a wool mite infestation? leaving a bit of a sticky, felted mess. It wasn't quite that bad... more like it needed some strong handling to return to a draftable state. I said in my original post that I hadn't seen this happen before. I was wrong - I remembered this morning that I *did* have this happen once before with the down I harvested from my cat (pure undercoat). It matted down, iirc, but with some hand-picking, it was spinnable. Thanks for your thoughts, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: super-greasy wool
--- nora [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Synthrapol, dish detergent, boiling water, and ammonia in the rinse water (which did some weird things to the Procion dyes). Has anyone The trick that helped me - a really long and hard spin in the washing machine will help physically push the crud out. Are you using a hella lot of water per pound of fleece? Enough detergent that the water feels slippery? Not letting the wash water cool below 140 F? Try pouring in some rubbing alcohol to help cut the grease, too. June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Felting during storage
Hi all, Does anyone know the mechanism behind angora felting during storage? I purchased some lovely batts prepared on a PG Supercard, 60/40 Merino/Angora. They sat in storage (batts were folded and rolled) for about 6 months in a clean, dry plastic bag. When I began spinning them this week, I found they had felted somewhat. One end of each batt was more felted than the other, but I did not think to remember which end was closer to the outside (touching the bag). The batts literally were undisturbed the entire time in storage, so I'm doubtful that any felting could have occurred from mechanical movement, eg, rubbing on the plastic while being moved from bin to bin. I've heard of this happening before, but I guess I hadn't quite believed it. I have never had storage-felting with wool, silk, alpaca... What causes it? Thanks for your thoughts, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: old Spin Off
--- Ruthann McCaulley [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There is an index listing of all articles in early issues online at www.interweave.com Ah, I did not know they had them online! Thank you! Link for the curious - SpinOff index is here: http://interweave.com/spin/spinoff_magazine/spo_indexes.asp June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Please help me find a SpinOff article
--- bj [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: June Summer 2000 pages 6 7 What is the SpinCycle Took me awhile cuz Spin-Off had it listed wrong on the index book! Thank you thank you thank you! June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Please help me find a SpinOff article
Hi all, I remember an older SpinOff article, and I would like read it again. It was about a woman with an old bicycle that had been converted into a spinning wheel. She had bartered a trade for someone to do the conversion, and I think she knit a heavy sweater out of a curly longwool fleece in exchange. I think the article appeared in the late 1990s. Does anyone remember this? Does anyone know which issue the article appeared in? I've spent 2 hrs going through my archives without success. I don't know if it's because I misplaced that issue or what. If you know what I'm talking about, could you please give me a heads up? Thanks in advance, June To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
What is cashgora?
Someone asked me about goats yesterday, and I'd like to find out if what I told her was accurate! :D Is cashgora fiber from an angora crossed with cashmere goat? (This is what I thought it was.) But I also seem to remember hearing that is it coarser fiber from a cashmere goat that didn't make the 15-micron (or whatever it is?) cutoff. June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: History note / Maryland fest
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Happy Birthday FiberNet!! I consider myself lucky to have found it in late 1996. Ditto - but I joined in 1999, I think. I'll be at MDSW on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is actually a meetup with friends from grad school (none of whom are fiber folk), so Sunday is my shopping day. :D I have very little on my shopping list, though - a true black alpaca fleece with a micron count under 20... but only if such a thing can be had without breaking the bank. June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: sock blockers
--- Anita [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm thinking of investing in a set of sock blockers. You could also make a set out of plastic-coated wire hangers. http://www.needletrax.com/blockers.htm -j. -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: washing yarn
--- Deborah Pulliam [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Has anyone tried weaving or knitting with yarn spun from clean fiber but not washed after spinning? Looking for a small shortcut - Not a wise shortcut, in my opinion, especially for knitting. Washing the yarn finishes it, allows it to bloom, and may greatly change the gauge at which you should be working. After a nasty surprise last year (sweater with sleeves past my knees!), I now wash *all* yarns - handspun, millspun, you name it - before starting a project. I do it in 100 g quantities, so it doesn't take up too much time or space. June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: washing fleece
--- Holly [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dishwashing liquid is designed to cut grease quickly, so it works well on wool without the alkali damage. I used to wash Merino and other high-grease fleeces in Dawn dishwashing liquid, but after the first soak, so much foam would form inside the mass of wool that during subsequent washes, most of it would float above the surface of the bath. I was as careful as possible not to move the wool around (I'd pull the drain and let the liquid go down w/o removing the wool from the sink, then I'd put it in the extractor). I tried putting things on top of the wool (sketchy at best) and eventually gave up. I now wash in lower-sudsing clothes detergent. It seems to work just as well and does not compromise the integrity of the wool. I soak for 15 min. at a time (2 or 3 soaks in hot with detergent with extractions in between, then 2 very fast soaks of 2-3 min. and extractions to rinse out). June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Requesting help with a dry (?) fleece
If I use Stove's spinning approach, the tips will come off. If I comb, do I need to take them off? (I've heard yes and no. The golden colour would be welcome in the yarn.) I like to precard locks before lashing them onto the comb. The tips will come off at that stage. It makes the combing go by much faster, and there's less combing waste b/c you got rid of most of the bad stuff during the precard. If the locks are dry, is there anything I can do to replace some lost lanolin...or do I even need to worry about that? A spritz of water mixed with a dollop of hair conditioner ought to help alleviate dryness. Anything else I should be thinking about? Suggestions? Cautions? June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: getting dye to set
--- Anita [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm having the very devil of a time getting some dye to set - stop crocking or bleeding. The fiber was unsatisfactorily dyed with madder, spun and then dyed with an acid dye. My 3 experiences with madder dyeing (alum mordant), plus emails with the company that produced the dye (Earthues, in my case) leads me to think that you have madder coming out. This is normal. It just needs to be rinsed a gazillion times. Like at least 8 or 10 times, and more dye will still come out. If you think the acid dye is not set, then put it back into a vinegar (or whatever acid you use) bath and heat set for 30 min at low simmer. But I'm pretty sure it's the madder. June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re:Re: getting dye to set
--- Anita [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm pretty sure it's the acid - the madder was very light. Does one cup of white vinegar to 12 quarts of water sound correct? I don't want to damage the yarn. TIA Anita I don't know what dye you have or the weight of fiber, so I'm not comfortable giving you an unequivocal thumbs up... but probably your ratio is fine. If you google, you can see different recommendations of vinegar per weight of fiber. Here are some links to get you started: http://www.prochemical.com/directions/WF_ImmersionWool.htm http://www.straw.com/sig/kiton.html http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/208783-AA.shtml Good luck! -j. -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Untangling silk thread
Hi again, I have now spent *hours* untangling this *%$^! skein of 120/2 silk yarn and managed to save maybe 25 g. If I ever buy this yarn again, I'm buying it in the form where it's already wound on a cone. The biggest problem is that I can't find the right end to unwind. After some untangling, some easy winding, some cursing, I have probably 50+ g left in the hank with at least EIGHT ends dangling (there are a lot of knots in the skein, and many have come undone and left little strands here and there). None are the correct one - where I can easily begin unwinding. I spread the strands looking for loose ends, when I find one, I pull it to see if it'll unwind. Sometimes it will. Most times it won't. I've had it with this yarn. So... trying out that whole lemons and lemonade thing, can I cut it up into 2-3 inch pieces, dye it, and card it into wool like the sari silk stuff I'm seeing everywhere? Any reason that shouldn't work? Thanks, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Superwash eventually fulls?
Hi, I was emailing with someone (who may be on this list?) about her experiences with superwash sock yarn fulling after ~10 cycles of wear. She said the yarn was handpainted (thereby steamed for some unmeasured period - in my experience, dyes need 30-40 min. in steam to set), knit into socks, and worn/washed about 10 times before they fulled. The socks were machine washed in warm water, but they were not machine dried. Although I don't know where I read it, I seem to remember that there are 2 processes to make superwash yarn. One is to coat the fibers with some kind of resin to lock down the scales. Another is some chemical way to strip scales from the fibers. I don't know how either process is achieved or which companies use what techniques. It makes sense to me that, in my friend's case, a coating is eventually wearing off. As an inexperienced knitter, I once tried to full a swatch made of superwash. (Didn't read the label - d'oh!) I can tell you that after 3-4 trips through a machine wash of hot water, detergent, agitation, it remained stubbornly unfulled, but the swatch may have gotten marginally smaller. I would appreciate any info on how superwash fibers are made. I would also like to hear of anyone else's experience with superwash yarns suddenly being not-superwash anymore. (Yarn brands would also be helpful.) Thanks in advance, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Felting
--- Grace L. Judson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Meanwhile, as a confirmed sock-knitter-aholic, I can say that I have NEVER had a problem with superwash sock yarn felting/fulling. I haven't, either, and I must have socks that are 6 years old that always go through several washes a month. some are better than others. June, I wonder if the yarn your friend used was perhaps NOT superwash??? Well, she said it was Wildfoote by Brown Sheep. (I've only used WF once and gave the socks away, so I don't have any personal experience with that brand.) She followed up with a phone call to the company and was told they had no idea what happened, suggested she had altered the product somehow. That is why I wonder if the steam from setting the dyes and warm-water washes melted away the resin...? A far stretch, I know. Thanks to all for your thoughts, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Felting
--- gwens [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Is it possible that the yarn used for those socks came from some older stash - made before the yarn was 'improved'? Anything is possible! I've pretty much told all I know about what happened. I hadn't heard of superwash suddenly fulling, and it concerned me. The reason this has been turning around in my head - I started spinning yarn specifically for socks using a blend that contains superwash wool (superfine superwash Merino from Louet, if it matters). I dyed it (~60 min, at 185F) and am spinning it up now. I worry that the sustained heat of the dyeing process jump-starts the unsuperwashing effect. Thanks, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Untangling silk thread
Hi all, Was grinding my teeth and thought I'd holler here and ask for help. I have a hank of 120/2 bombyx silk thread that I'm trying to wind onto a bobbin. I have it on a small metal swift. The silk will unwind smoothly for a while and then get lost in a mass of tangles. I've rounded the skein as much as possible, on and off the swift, but I don't think I'm getting anywhere. I've been breaking and knotting, but I wish there was a better way! (Other than throwing it out and buying it on a cone, that is.) Any ideas? TIA, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Measuring handspun yardage
McMorran Balance I've owned several of them, and I find that the balance arm breaks if you look at it sideways. The fishing line counter does not work well in my hands. It got to the point where I had tweezered out every visible fiber from the inside mechanism, and it still did not turn. I could pull yards and yards through (gently, with the wheel turning), and it would register about 3 or 4 feet. Cj developed a marvelous yardage counter some years ago and generously allowed me to host the plans on my site. I summarized my experience on the 'blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog/?p=273 June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Balanced plying
Hi all, I had a strange experience with a batch of yarn and was wondering if I could get some feedback. I spun the singles and made a balanced 2-ply yarn. The yarn is multicolor heathered stuff, so I was able to readily ensure that the fibers of the individual plies were parallel to the yarn before feeding it onto the bobbin. I even used a magnifying glass. I am sure it was truly balanced. The yarn was hanked, tied, washed, dried. When I held the hank by one end, it hung in a stable loop, no twisting. I looked at the fiber in the plies - still looked balanced. I went to rehank it and measure yardage. I put it on the swift, passed it through the homemade yardage counter (thanks again Cj! You rock!), and tied it to my barrel winder. I started winding, but then I noticed if I had any slack in the yarn between the swift, counter, or barrel, the yarn twisted as if it were UNBALANCED. Gah! I noted the direction of the secondary twist (it behaved as if it were overplied) and ran all of the yarn (7 oz!) back through the wheel to remove some twist, hanked, tied, washed, dried again. Looking at the fibers after this second round of plying, I would say it is just a smidge *underplied.* However, it still does the same damn thing, it kinks up (as if overplied) when it's not under tension! I didn't know what else to do, so I used my hands to hold the yarn somewhat firmly and blocked it with a lot of steam (~30 min. to block 4 skeins), laid it flat to dry, and it seems to behave OK now. I hope. Rita B. had a SO article some time ago about steaming the *heck* out of yarn to permanently alter it, but I didn't steam each hank for 30 minutes. I don't know if it will lose its memory when it gets wet again. But what the heck? What causes this? Any ideas? Puzzled, June -- Twosheep Blog: http://www.twosheep.com/blog Twosheep Handspun Yarn: http://www.twosheep.com/yarn To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Spinning different fiber lengths in 1 yarn
--- Ron Parker [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In other words, don't reply to individuals when the topic is of general interest. So far, only Cj (thank you Cj! I bow down before you!) has replied. If any private replies show up, I'll attempt to steer them to Fibernet. Thanks, June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog has MOVED (3/05): http://www.twosheep.com/blog To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Triple picker technique
moving teeth should brush the surface of the staples oh so lightly. Ah, this is something I haven't done. I'll adjust it and give it a slower shot. I've been trying to card more slowly, tricky b/c I have an electric carder w/only 1 fast-ish speed. I've resorted to turning the drum by hand or just tapping on the power pedal to inch it forward slowly. I'm sure neither is good for the long term life of the carder. I never thought I'd wish for a manual drum carder, but now I do! June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog has MOVED (3/05): http://www.twosheep.com/blog __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Triple picker technique
So I've heard this rumor that one can actually use the PG triple picker for fine wool. This is beyond me - all I get are neps and noils. I can get beautiful Romney batts with the picker and a Fricke/Strauch Finest carder, but a MerinoXCorriedale is nothing but bumps. Does anyone have any foolproof method for dealing with this? Thanks in advance, June __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re:yardage counter - many solutions
--- Cj. Aberte [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'll send you a pdf file attachment separately with the directions and illustrations separately. Cj, this is great. Thanks so much! I see that Harbor Freight has a mongo wheel: http://tinyurl.com/brhf6 Might be worth considering if lengthy warps are measured and storagespace isn't an issue. June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog has MOVED (3/05): http://www.twosheep.com/blog __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Best yardage counter
Hi all, I bought a yardage winder from Nancy's KnitKnacks last year, and I'm disappointed in its quality. For no apparent reason that *I* can discern, the measuring wheel doesn't always turn. I mean, I am even turning the wheel with my finger, and it's no good. :( Guess it's time to play with the big boys. Googling finds the Schacht and LeClerc yardage counters right away. Does anyone have experience with them? Any recommendations? I know this is a sucky time to be asking (the US is on a long holiday weekend), but I hope some of you are still around? I'm leaning towards the Schacht counter, despite the expense ($150 vs $100 for LeClerc), because I really was impressed by the quality of the Matchless DT wheel that I owned for 5 years. Thanks in advance for your thoughts, June Yahoo! Sports Rekindle the Rivalries. Sign up for Fantasy Football http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re:yardage counter - many solutions
--- Cj. Aberte [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'd suggest you go to the top of the heap with the AVL [snip] It's 'spensive (last time I looked around $500) but nothing touches it Whoa - are you talking about this? http://www.avlusa.com/accessories/yardage_counter.htm That's $500?!? If anyone is interested in a non-commercial make-do I've got directions that I can post to the files section for download. This sounds very interesting to me! I don't know if I am handy enough to do it, though. Let me know when it's somewhere available for download. Thanks so much! June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog has MOVED (3/05): http://www.twosheep.com/blog __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: modular knitting - not squares
--- Mirjam Bruck-Cohen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Same Here i could not get it on my computer at all but thank you for the effort mirjam http://www.artyarns.com/newsite/tutorials_main.htm, I use Firefox as my browser, and it loads fine. (Looove Firefox.) As far as not-square modular knitting, one of the Horst Schulz books has semi-circular shapes. Iirc, they ended up making a pattern that reminded me of roof tiling (or fish scales). June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog has MOVED (3/05): http://www.twosheep.com/blog __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/ To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Spinning Technique and Elasticity
--- Jessica DeForest [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi everyone, I wonder if anyone has suggestions on the spinning methods that improve yarn's elasticity. You didn't describe how you were preparing or spinning the fiber, so it's a little hard to guess randomly. My first thought is that you are spinning a worsted style yarn, and these are generally going to be a bit denser and less elastic than woolen style yarns, even with the same fiber. It also may be that you are spinning too tightly, and this can squeeze air and bounce even out of a woolen style yarn. I'm not so sure the takeup tension contributes a lot to the bounce. The only thing I can think of is that the takeup is so slow that you put in more twist than you intended...? If you want a bouncy elastic yarn, I would sugget you go with a crimpy medium to fine fiber, card it into rolags, and spin a woolen yarn. You could also drum card it into a batt, split the batt into small strips, and spin from the fold. Think of it as a hollow tube of wool that you just attenuate to the grist you want. June = why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog: http://twosheep.livejournal.com __ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Lace spindles
Hello all, First, thanks to everyone who gave ideas about Norwegian wool. Enlightening! Now I am toying with the idea of purchasing a lace spindle similar to http://www.hatchtown.com/highws.html#LADY What are people's experience with this kind of whorl? I understand this style makes for faster spin (but shorter spin time) and is best suited for very fine, high twist yarn. Thanks, June = why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog: http://twosheep.livejournal.com __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Norwegian wool
Hi, I posted this to another list and didn't get any replies... Does anyone know what Norwegian wool is? Is there some specific breed that is generally attributed to that region (like Icelandic sheep to Iceland)? I bought a few skeins of Heilo (Dale of Norway), and they talk about it being worsted spun from combed wool, Pure Norwegian Wool. June = why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog: http://twosheep.livejournal.com __ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Source for acetic acid
--- Jane Woodhouse [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Does anyone have a good source for acetic acid- mail order? Check with photography suppliers - they use it in the stop bath for developing prints. Or consider using citric acid - all of the acid punch w/o the knockout smell. June = why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog: http://twosheep.livejournal.com ___ Do you Yahoo!? Express yourself with Y! Messenger! Free. Download now. http://messenger.yahoo.com To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Water extractor
Hey all, I have a real vague recollection of someone talking about some kind of in-home water extractor for washing wool. (My washing machine spin cycle is just not up to snuff.) Anyway, I tried the Fibernet archives but am coming up empty. Googling only brings me to commercial laundry sites, so I suspect I have the wrong key words. Can anyone point me in the right direction? TIA, June = why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog: http://twosheep.livejournal.com __ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Sampling
--- Jane Woodhouse [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: My goal is to have folks get their samples home without loosing the information on the formula. I've seen those long sample cards with holes along the side - if they number the holes and then match it up with a numbered formula sheet, that might go faster? I once tried slide protector pages. We put a sample in each pocket with a key as to what was what. they worked fine but the samples wanted to pop out. Are you dyeing fleece or yarn? I've used embroidery floss flat cardboard spools, write on it, wind the yarn around it, and it stays put just fine. I tend to be using fairly thin yarn, though. It's flat and doesn't fall out. Maybe if you put in less stuff per pocket, it would work? Alternatively, there are photo albums with wide flat pockets... Probably there is the beading equivalent of a fishing box - many compartments, but shallow, with a lid? June = why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Fiber Blog: http://twosheep.livejournal.com __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Plying with photos
On Mon, 19 Apr 2004, M. Shirley Chong wrote: Can you get photos with more resolution, showing what is happening at the level of the individual fibres in your samples? That would be most informative as to what is going on with the yarn. I will try to do so the next time I ply, but my digital camera is not great at macro work (Nikon Coolpix 3100). It tends to have no idea where to focus when I try to photograph yarn closeups, and it's an autofocus-only camera - hence my hand behind the yarn in the first shot. My eyesight is generally crappy and is not well suited for seeing individual fibers, even in a multi colored yarn. (Degenerative retina disease when I was in college has really done a number on me!) I can't do that check-for-parallel-fibers business with any accuracy. In the past, I tried to match up bumps per inch of plied yarn to the bpi of the freshly spun doubled back sample. That's a level of resolution my eyes can handle! In the upper photo, it looks like the yarn is plied a tad unevenly. It goes from what looks like medium twist (nearest the pinky finger) to loosely twisted going into the orifice. That actually may also be a function of the consistency in the singles (or lack thereof, really), with the thinner part of the yarn taking up slightly more twist than the fatter part. Ah, the joy of handspun... I also think it's interesting that you and Barbara think that the yarn is loosely or medium plied, whereas I thought it was overplied. I wonder if my yarns are softly spun relative to what you like to spin? I will definitely check my yarn on a McMorran balance and see how it compares to commercial 2 ply fingering weight yarns. Thanks again to everyone for their feedback, June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Plying with photos
Hi all, I asked last week if people had experienced a loss of plying twist when putting singles together. I thought that somewhere between when the yarn was in my fingers and when it wound around the bobbin, I was losing twist. I got some good suggestions (look at the yarn on the bobbin, not the yarn in the hand, and overply as needed). Some of you expressed confusion to me in email, and I have put up photos that will hopefully clarify what I am experiencing. http://twosheep.livejournal.com Best, June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Plying with photos
On Mon, 19 Apr 2004, Cathy de Seton wrote: June Looked at pictures now wonder did we ever have the info about how you wash the skeins after you have plied them? I thought I mentioned it... Maybe not in the original post? (Can't remember now.) I usually just soak in water and then drip dry w/o weight. If the fiber is dirty or has excessive carding fluid, I will put it in hot water with some shampoo, soak for ~15 min., give it a few squeezes, rinse in hot water, and then drip dry. If the yarn is prone to shedding (this one is a mix of short possum fiber with longer wool), I will give it a mild fulling to help it hold together a little bit more. June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Balanced plied yarns
On Wed, 14 Apr 2004, Holly Shaltz wrote: Now, to June's original question of why her yarn looks like it has much less plying twist when it's skeined from the side of the bobbin. I don't have an answer :) I would like to see samples before I could say anything definitive. Ah, then pictures are definitely in order! I will take a detailed photo journey the next time I ply (hopefully this weekend) and will post when they are up. Holly asked: How are you defining underspun? Just that the plied yarn went from looking overspun (before I fed to the bobbin, it looked like there was an excess of plying twist) to looking more or less balanced (when I pulled some off of the side of the bobbin - but not through the orifice) to looking slightly under plied when I wound off onto a niddy to looking grossly underplied after I had washed and dried the yarn w/o tension. Now that I think about it, I may actually have enough stuff to ply tonight... Well, I'll see what I can photograph that will explain it. I appreciate everyone's patience and ideas. Y'all make me a better spinner! June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Ciba Kiton dyes are back!
On Wed, 14 Apr 2004, Jim Martha McGrath wrote: The website says Kiton Acid Dyes are traditionally fixed with Citric Acid Crystals. Are these more cost effective than acetic acid/vinegar? I think that is what a friend of mine uses. I don't know about cost effective, but they sure as heck stink less. -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Losing twist during wind on
On Tue, 13 Apr 2004, Holly Shaltz wrote: A singles with very little twist will always look underplied when plied to a balance--stringy and unattractive. If the original twist is low enough, even overplying it may still look stringy. This is a good point. However, I try to spin the original single with enough twist that when I let freshly spun stuff double back on itself, it looks like normal yarn. An easy method for achieving a balanced plied yarn is on my website: http://www.hjsstudio.com/balance.html Holly, you don't mention it on your tutorial - but have you ever noticed the phenomenon I originally described, where the plied yarn looks correctly balanced before it's fed onto the bobbin, but after winding off onto a niddy, it looks really untwisted? June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Losing twist during wind on
On Tue, 13 Apr 2004, Robin Hankinson wrote: read somewhere that you shouldn't look at the yarn until after it has wound on the bobbin (pull some away Someone mentioned this yesterday (I think?), and I did another large batch of plying last night to test it out. It's really weird, but here's what happened: The singles are spun with enough twist that when I double it back, it looks like a fairly tightly spun yarn. After I fill the bobbin, I wind it off onto a storage bobbin (styrene Leclerc weaving spool). I put the bobbins on a kate ~15 feet away from me and ply. This time, I ignored the pre-fed yarn and stared only at the bobbin-wound yarn. I twisted the pre-fed yarn like crazy until the bobbin-wound yarn started to look overspun. When winding it off onto the niddy, it looked mostly balanced or possibly slightly overspun. I washed it in warm water and let it dry overnight w/o tension. This morning, it's underspun. (The way things are going, when I come home tonight, it'll be two parallel strands... ha ha.) My only solution so far is to just ply singles, set twist, and then ply again, set twist. The second ply usually seems to do the job. I only wish I could figure out how much ply twist to put in the *first* time! I brought some handspun into work today (to show to the knitting group at lunch), and everyone thought it looked really nice. I'll put pictures up on the blog presently. June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Essential Oil Soak for Wool yarn
On Sat, 3 Apr 2004, MLuskin wrote: more processing to make sachets, etc. Only problem is that as the branches dry they will leave VM in the fleece, but that shouldn't be hard to remove. Thanks! You can probably wrap them in cheesecloth or muslin. That will allow the scent to get through, but none of the VM! One thought that I had heard in the past was to put in bars of Irish Spring soap in each box of stored fleece. Even in their paper coverings, they release a strong amount of scent. I'm not particularly fond of IS, but I suppose any other strong smelling soap would do the trick. June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
RE: prickle test
On Fri, 5 Mar 2004, Gail White wrote: Another way is to stick some in your bra and where it around for awhile. How about knitting a small snug wrist warmer (something that will slide around the wrist when worn, emulate how a sweater might feel)? My most sensitive skin is actually right around my lips. Although I don't want to go into a yarn store and go around kissing yarns (could you imagine?!?!), when I knit a swatch, I generally put it up to my face and rub it against my lips to feel for pricklies. June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: blind spinners
On Mon, 1 Dec 2003, Ruthann McCaulley wrote: When I taught Cathy, the most difficult thing was teaching her to use the niddy noddy. Now I'm trying to figure out how to teach Phyllis by e-mail as I intend to tuck a niddy noddy in with her spindle and fibers. Phyllis is working with another blind spinner on her blind list and they are going to help each other in their new skill. To set it up - number each end of the niddy, for example - on one side, call the ends 1 and 3; on the other side, 2 and 4. Now wind from 1, 2, 3, 4. Maybe you can put little sticky velcro patches to number it? That way, the fingers can feel for the numbering. Remind them to make sure one end is turned perpendicular to the other - I guess it's easy to feel it because it will not lay flat. Just some ideas from a sighted spinner, June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
New Spinning Wheel Arrived!!!
Hi everyone, I'm so happy this week because my long-awaited Magnus Drudik wheel has finally arrived. If you would like to see pictures, please take a peek at my blog (URL below). It's perfectly lovely, I am so happy! June -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Blogging away at http://twosheep.livejournal.com Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Value of small batch processing
Hi all, I've been combing and spinning small lots of fiber this week (~40 g at a time). I'd jar dyed locks, and they really picked the color up unevenly. Instead of spinning by the lock - my original plan - I decided it had to be blended. I precarded the locks and combed them. The first batch, I maxed the capacity of my mid-sized comb (it holds ~18 g at a time, got most of the fiber done in two combing sessions). I had the usual progressions of longest fibers (4-5) to shortest (2) when I dizzed off. When I went to spin these large bundles, I found that I had to really dramatically change my spinning style as I went through the combed top. I feel like the qualities of the yarn are noticeably different when you compare the first bits to the last bits because of the difference in fiber lengths. In an effort to more evenly distribute the fiber lengths throughout the yarn, I am combing on mini combs (5 g capacity) and spinning tiny balls of top. Consider this a lesson learned! -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Carder dust
On Mon, 9 Jun 2003, Carol Myers wrote: I had the same thing happen with a new drum carder. The first 2 or 3 bats were light gray instead of white. I went ahead and spun and plied the Tunis wool and washed the skein. It came out perfectly white. Carol and Gail W. wrote with more or less the same idea - that washing it will take care of the greyness. Waah! It didn't work! :( I spun it into a very fine laceweight, maybe caught the stuff in the twist. Gail thought it might be carding oil, but the original fibers were very white. (One was combed top, which could have something applied to the fibers, but the other was June-processed wool locks.) In any case, it didn't come out. I washed the yarn with soap and warm water, no extreme temps. I'll do my white-on-white blending with my drum carder for now, and I'll use the handcards for colored fiber until I've worked the grey out of the cloth. Thanks, ladies! -j. why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Carder dust
Hey all, How do you clean the sort of metal filing bits from a set of carders? I combined some white cashmere and white wool and ended up with a light grey rolag. The carders had no colored fiber in it before, so I'm thinking it must be dust or metal particles or...? TIA, -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: a new wheel has hit town
On Sun, 23 Mar 2003, Brucie Connell wrote: I hate to be a wet blanket but I think the 3 flyer model looks clunky and strange. And why have to spin on two separate flyers then ply on a third. I really don't mind changing bobbins THAT much! You expressed my thoughts precisely. Built in kate is one thing - but triple flyer seems excessive. And, er, I personally thought the sheep head was a little scary looking. Something about the eyes. I am hoping to buy a ring spindle someday. I realized that my most fave spindle ever is the one with the malachite border - it really stabilizes and lengthens the spin b/c of the weight distribution. -j. why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Possum?
Opossum is an American critter which you find in your trash can, and whose normal, natural form of death is to be squashed on a road. I don't think they are sold for dubbing. Actually, I had a couple as pets, and they are cute in baby-hood, and Opossums in adultery. In adultery? Hm, now there's an interesting take! :) I bought a pound of Pacific Fur - a blend of possum and wool in a light heathery tan. I haven't done anything with it yet, but I'm thinking about Sally Melville's ballet sweater that appeared a few issues ago in IWK. (I think the sweater used the Cherry Hill version of the yarn, which was blended w/silk.) -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Limp yarns - fault of wool or spinner?
The yarn I was talking about is one of the Briggs and Little varieties - 100% nonsuperwash wool. I don't know if it's been tightly rolled or knit, if the swatch is washed, etc., but the woman who emailed me is a very experienced knitter and well known/respected designer, so I somehow doubt user error. I checked the BL website, and it doesn't say in particular what kind of sheep go into the yarn - aside from that they are Canadian sheep! :) On other fibery turns, I've been doing a lot of spindle spinning lately - just finished off about 4 oz of singles for socks (70% superwash wool, 30% silk - or something like that). I'll be plying up the last to cops' tonight and washing it all in the sink. I've only made sock yarn once before, and it shrank/felted so much (machine washed, what can I say) that the pair was unwearable after two washes. I have some more superwash and nylon to be drum carded together, as well as some chopped tussah silk (precut into 2 lengths). -j. why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Limp yarns - fault of wool or spinner?
Hey all, Someone emailed me earlier about a sweater she was working on, 100% wool commercial yarn, and she mentioned that a cable wasn't holding its shape and that the yarn lacked elasticity. That's probably the first time I've ever heard someone say that about wool, it got me to thinking about the properties of wool vs the way a yarn is made. Assuming you started out with a normal bouncy sort of wool, like a typical medium breed (Corriedale, Romney, Jacob, etc.), how does it go flat in processing? The only yarns I've ever made that could even remotely be described as not elastic were, well, cotton and silk! -j. why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: cat colors
On Fri, 31 Jan 2003, nslutsky wrote: tortie will have an upside down W stripe on it's forhead. Upside down W aka M? :) I'd also heard about calicos being only female, but I did once see a tri-colored kitty with, er... huevos... Definitely not a girl. Speaking of domestic pets, I'm getting some Samoyed fur soon. I'm excited! -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: request
On Fri, 3 Jan 2003, Judy Kugler wrote: Does any one know of a supplier for drop spindles. I need them for a second grade class. You can make CD spindles for next to nothing - just need cd's, cup hooks, dowels, and rubber grommets. (The vinyl tubing isn't necessary if you have the right sized grommets.) Complete assembly directions are here: http://www.interweave.com/spin/Spin_Off/spin_out/CDspindles.pdf Incidentally, I do have a stash of AOL and other assorted cd's if you (or anyone else) wants them. I'd be glad to send them along if you paid for postage. -j. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
LOTR info
I apologize if someone has already posted this link - but for more info about the cloak, see: http://www.alleycatscratch.com/lotr/Things/FCloak.htm -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Cotton and wool
Hi Kate, Are the handcards and drumcarder a super fine cloth? Cotton needs a very very fine card cloth to card well. The handcards are cotton carders from Strauchfiber.com . I believe they are 255 ppi. The drum carder is also a Strauch creation at 128 ppi. I spent more time attempting to drumcard, and I think I may have the drums set too far apart, as I was getting cotton to stay on the Slicker-licker, instead of moving onto the main drum. I did try the wool layer first, followed by cotton, and then more wool, as you suggested - but it still did not blend well. I'm going to have another go with the handcards. -j. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Fine furniture quality
Fibernetters, Wheel lust has taken over again, at, what I might add, is probably the worst financial time in my life. I'm thisclose to the end of my Ph.D., so I decided to forego the student loans which make my life so pleasant during my tenure in grad school. Someone on the housecleaning pages has linked to many pictures of her Carson Cooper wheel - true eye-candy, if you ask me. What a gorgeous, gorgeous wheel. My dear, lovely Schacht, just doesn't look anything like fine wood. It's a workhorse and has done about everything I ask of it (except *really* fine spinning), so I can't complain. But oh my, I am eyeballing these gorgeous handmade wheels. I'm on the wait list for a Drudik, now aproximately 15 months away. I've been gazing longingly at a Van Eaton Fold-n-Tote. The Alden Amos wheel, in its simplicity, is also sigh-worthy. Hum... Does anyone have a home filled with gorgeous wheels? Links to pictures of said wheels? :)... (That's ellipsis is drool.) -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks Project gallery at http://noodle.pds.k12.nj.us/juneknits DESTASHING HAS BEGUN!!! http://gemini.pds.org/june To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: computer game
You can choose to be a man or woman shephard or one of two dogs. I've been playing it at easy for 4 hours so far and all I can say is these sheep are contrary. My BF bought me this game, and OMG all I can say is it was VERY FRUSTRATING. I played for about a half hour and found it so stressful!!! (Okay, I generally never play computer games and was lousy at controlling the shepherd.) But the idea is cute... and the $5 price was right. -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: My chewing cat - thanks! (longish)
plastic one. I'd thought of trying the S'getti string, but I'd heard that the knots tend to come undone. FWIW, I have had the same s'getti band on my Schacht for over a year now, no problems. I got these instructions from Maury (I don't know his last name!) who occasionally posts to TechSpin@yahoogroups. ---Begin Quote--- You can make life very simple for yourself by making a drive band out of S'ghetti String. It stretches and shrinks to accommodate the various whorls for your wheel. I have a Schacht, and it has whorls that range from 1 to 5, and I change whorls at will without changing drive bands. Below is my canned speech about this stuff. It is offered as S'ghetti String and as Skinny S'ghetti String. Either one would work well, although the SSS would nestle down farther into the whorl's grove and afford a higher whorl-to-drive ratio. Skinny S'ghetti String is an extruded cord of low-durometer polyvinyl chloride (PVC) that has remarkable properties eminently suited to spinning wheel drive band use. If provides excellent nonslip properties, even though it only lightly loads the flyer bearings, and it readily stretches (and shrinks) to accommodate any sizes of whorls. It is often available at craft stores in the children's beading section. If you are not able to locate it, let me know. Here's how to use Skinny S'ghetti String. It should be prestretched. Take a foot of it and slowly stretch it to 2 or 3 feet. Then take the next foot and do the same thing. And the third foot, the same. Now drape the prestretched SSS around the drive wheel and flyer whorl, and stretch it again to make it as taut as it was when you prestretched it, because it will have shrunken meanwhile. Now tie a loose square knot. Pull the new drive band off the wheel to gain maneuverability, dip the knot in hot water, and pull it tight. This will make the knot very small. Clip the ends of the knot to about 1/4. For so-called double-band drives: Note that the SSS band is used in place of only one of the two loops of a doubled driveband. The second, separate, loop (around the drive wheel and the bobbin whorl) is made of ordinary soft string. This permits adjustment of take-up friction independently of the flyer drive band (which stretches easily). With this arrangement, a spinner should be able to spin even the most delicate yarn without any slippage of the drive band and with complete control over the wind-on tension on the yarn. For single-band drives: If your wheel is set up for scotch tension (flyer lead) or for bobbin lead (like the Louet), then you will need only the SSS band. Maury ---End Quote--- But - he later amended it and added: Instead of placing the square knot in hot water, just place it in your mouth for 5 or 10 seconds both to warm the knot and to lubricate it with saliva. Then abruptly pull the knot tight with all your might. You won't break the SSS. This will result in a very small knot. Trim the tails to 1/4 inch. Hope this helps! -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: degumming silk cocoons
On Tue, 25 Jun 2002, Carol Weymar wrote: will cause the silk to be yellowish in color. Put the cocoons in a large pot with enough water to cover them to at least a depth twice that of the cocoons. Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup Ivory dish liquid. The addition of sodium carbonate (washing soda) is optional but be sure to keep the pH below 10 since the excess alkali will damage the silk. Simmer (don't boil) for an hour or so until the silk looks white and does not feel slimey. Rinse under cold running water. I have some spun silk (120/2 I think) that could use some degumming b/c it stank when wet. I mean, horses would fall down and whimper if they smelled this stuff. Will this do it? Will degumming stink up the house? -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Cooper wheels
Hi, Has Cooper wheels gone out of business? Their website, ztwist.com, is no longer online. The archive of the web page on wayback indicates they are no longer producing Saxonies as of Sept. 2001. Has the spinning wheel maker gone on to something more... money making? Just curious, -j. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Shetland shawl correction
On Thu, 20 Jun 2002, Holly wrote: just looking for accurate information on the thickness of traditional Shetland ring shawl yarn There's a book recently discussed on the Knitlist called Heirloom Knitting - a tome (~300 pages?) devoted to Shetland lace knitting. It isn't available in the US until July or the end of summer, but it is already out in the UK and appears to be the end-all of Shetland lace knitting. The web page is www.heirloom-knitting.com - and has beautiful stuff displayed there. -j. -- why i knit: what else would i do with all these long pointy sticks To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: What is Spinfree?
Sandi asked, What is Spinfree? It's just another email list for handspinners. Not much traffic, but we're about the same number of members (roughly) as Fibernet. I listmom that group, the list owner is very busy and not usually around. It evolved around the time the Spin-List turned into a censorship fest, and our quietly muttered motto is Spin Free or Dye. We have more novice spinners, seems like, but a lot of familiar names, too. It seems to serve a less technical bent than other lists such as this one or TechSpin, and it tends to be a little more conversational, as well. There are approximately a couple hundred messages per month. If you would like to subscribe, please point your browser to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spinfree/ . -j. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
How many are we?
Hi everyone, Just got back from MDSW where I met a number of familiar names and put faces to them! :) I almost got away w/o spending the big bucks, but then a Bosworth attache charka found its way into my hands, *sigh*. It is a thing of beauty, but my spinning skills are the stuff of laughter. Ron, how many members are there on Fibernet? -j. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
How many are we?
Hi everyone, Just got back from MDSW where I met a number of familiar names and put faces to them! :) I almost got away w/o spending the big bucks, but then a Bosworth attache charka found its way into my hands, *sigh*. It is a thing of beauty, but my spinning skills are the stuff of laughter. Ron, how many members are there on Fibernet? -j. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: How many are we?
On Mon, 6 May 2002, Ron Parker wrote: FiberNet has been at 910 or so - plus or minus a few - for years. It seems to be some natural law that as many leave as arrive. Interesting. Spinfree is currently at 868 members - and we are holding steady for now, too. (However, SF is much younger than FN - established in Dec of '99.) -j. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Seeking fantasy roving
You may already be doing this. If not, try it. Thin down each of the rovings by splitting and/or predrafting down close to the size of the final yarn. Then take the 2 rovings and predraft them together so that they are close to the final size of the yarn. Right, I tried doing this (didn't mention I was stripping the roving down in my first post). The roving falls apart if it's too thin, unfortunately - short cotton fibers and all. I'm going to try predrafting and putting in just a skosh of twist. I sort of expected that the half wool or half silk would hold it together, but that's not the case. I'm also picking out the dreaded VM. I wish New World Textiles would process their cotton just a *little* more. I was spinning this on a handspindle last night, doing a park-and-long-draw. I'll try again on a wheel and see if I can't get the stuff to draft together a little better. Because the half silk one is a tussah blend, it has a different color than the half wool - and therefore makes it easy to see how the drafting shifts from one to the other, etc. Haneke makes a yarn that is Merino/Pima/Silk (20/65/15), I've written to ask if they carry that at all in an unspun form. It was, surprisingly, the only *yarn* I could find that had all three fibers in it. Too bad it's not the weight I was hoping for! It's also a little pricey... -j. PS Fantasy Fibers does not appear to sell anything cottony. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Seeking fantasy roving
Hey all, I asked on another list but did not get any satisfying leads - apologies to those who might see this twice. I am looking for a roving or top that contains mostly vm-free cotton, but also a little bit of silk and wool. The major prepared fiber folks (Ashland Bay, Louet, etc.) do not appear to make anything like this. I've been playing with a combination of 50/50 wool/cotton and 50/50 cotton silk, but I'm not entirely pleased with it. I'm trying to hold two strips of roving together and draft them together... Any ideas? TIA, -j. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
LeClerc Bobbins
Hi all, Can someone do me a little favor? Can anyone tell me if the core diameter of the LeClerc spools (the 8 oz capacity spools) are the same as the LeClerc weaving shuttle bobbin? (If there is a vendor on this group who sells them, please contact me - I'd like to place an order!) TIA, -j. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
Re: Storage bobbins bobbin winders
Before we get too far from this topic, could I ask, please, who carries the double-ended bobbin winders (or single-ended, for that matter) and what the price range might be? And which one(s) would you recommend? Go to google and do a search for double ended bobbin winder and you'll find a zillion vendors who carry them. The main brands appear to be AVL, Schacht, and LeClerc, altho RobinRuss seem to have their own in-house model. Prices vary from $75 to $250, depending on make/model, manual/electric. Next question: is a *storage* bobbin any different from the one you spin onto? Or is that just a usage term? It's just a thing to hold yarn. AA says Ashford bobbin are as good as anything, but it's just to get the yarn off of the bobbin. He also states that no bobbin will perform exactly the same as another, so for purist's/consistency's sake, all spinning for a project should be done on one bobbin. -j. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
