It's fascinating reading others' opinions of what makes the best
wheel. It really is a personal thing, depending on the kind of yarn you
are making, your spinning style and your individual body! You really
have to try them out yourself. I don't think that either scotch tension
or dd is
I know people who are very very picky about how the fiber goes into the
carder. Those folks all say tips first or butt first. It always
seemed to me that if you put the fiber in straight, it wraps around the
drum without changing very much. It doesn't open out like it should.
If you put it
Jennifer,
I'm so glad your warp has wound back on evenly tensioned! I'm sure it
will be a pleasure to weave your towels now. I'm wondering why you are
planning on using a stick shuttle. It's really hard to get into a good
rhythm unless you have a boat shuttle. With 10 yards of warp on, it
Whatever you are using for packing MUST go the entire width of the warp,
but it won't work if it's wider than the beam. If you are using
heavy-duty paper, an overlap is fine as long as it goes lengthwise
across the beam all the way from side to side. You don't need one long
continuous
Ha! Those traditional wheels look like they are made from a bicycle
wheel!
Lynn C
Seattle
Mary said:
I thought that the first picture in this article of a traditional
spinning wheel was interesting.
Holly, thanks for posting this! I had alot of fun playing around with
it, and it will be a great tool, I am sure.
Lynn C
Seattle
Holly wrote:
Trying to update the colors on a friend's website, I stumbled across
this handy little tool: http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html
In our area (western WA), the anecdote to nettle stings is juice from
the stem of a bracken fern, which usually grows nearby. No need to
chew. :-) It's nice to know that nettles are good for something,
I've always considered them noxious weeds!
Lynn C
Seattle
Katy Blanchard wrote:
If
In the 30-some years I have been spinning, I have always processed my
own (purchased) fleeces, either by drum carding or flicking. It seems
when I've bought prepared roving or top, it has been overprocessed or so
torn up by the picker that the staple length is ruined. I like to
weave with
I love my old Clemes and Clemes cards. I've been using them since
1973. I do most of my carding on a drum carder these days, but those
hand cards have been good enough that I've never felt the need to aquire
any others. I noticed that there are a couple of pairs of them for sale
on eBay
Holly,
I recently did a bunch of research on cleaning historic textiles before
attempting to clean a similar kind of thing. I have a table centerpiece
made in the Philippines about 1900 that my mother (and probably her
mother) had stored for many years in a stained condition. Nobody living
had
I live in Seattle, I don't usually like to wait 3 days for fleece to
drythat's how long it takes if I don't spin the water out in the
washer. In the winter, it can take longer, I don't have room to dry
fleece in the heated part of the house. If you have good hot water, and
your fleece is
I had the same thing happen with a box of carded corriedale wool batts.
All nicely carded and loosely stacked in one of those plastic boxes with
the double folding lids. Not sealed, those boxes get air. I think they
were stored for about 3 months. When I got them out to use in making
It's best to make your yarn into skeins so that you can wash it before
weaving. That will help set the twist, and settle the yarn into its
final shape and stabilize it. If you use singles in a plain weave,
washing the yarn first can help control tracking in your finished
piece. I use a 2 yd
I learned to spin in 1973. I was 22. I lived in Ames, Iowa, and the
only local source of fleeces was the Wool Exchange in Des Moines. You
would go down to this huge warehouse, then try to talk the guys who
worked there into selling you a fleece. This was a hassle for them,
since they were
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Baled wool is skirted first. That would give the wool time to dry
out. I don't know about it being able to grab enough water from the
air, to get wet enough to spontaneously combust.
Spontaneous combustion is caused when there is moistire present in an
environment
I tried this with an Australian Border Leicester x fleece (probably
crossed with Merino or other fine wool breed). The fleece started out
with average grease, more than most BL, with very muddy tips. It was a
year old, but not waxy, and the lanolin was nice and slick. I soaked
overnight in
OOOH! FUN! I'd love a new loom, but will have to put up with the old
one for awhile yet. I sure wouldn't pass up the Louet just because of
the texsolv! My newest loom has been converted to texsolv and I like
it. It does make the loom very quiet. The metal heddles on my old loom
were
You don't mention heat, Ron. Do you cook the stuff? How long, what
temp? Soak the skins beforehand? I wish I was like some on this list
with a pomegranate tree with fruit falling on the ground, but durn it,
not in this climate! :)
I only have the skins from 5 pomegranates, and probably
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
the seeds aren't used for dye, its the skin that is used.
SoI just bought some huge beautiful pommegranates at Fred Meyer (2
for $4). Somebody, give me a recipe for using the skins for dye...do I
need to dry them?
Lynn C'
Seattle
To stop mail
I often get the same type of exzema on my hands as described by Lauren.
I tried steroid creams but it did absolutely nothing for the horrible
itching or the inflammation. I tried lots of remedies and lotions, and
the only thing that does any good is lanolin! It's like a
miracle...stops the
I sure hope the advice to June will be kept on the public list! This is
all stuff I want to know, too!
Lynn C
Seattle
June Oshiro wrote:
Hi everyone,
I've read many times that angora should be spun fine
and with a fairly hard twist to lock in the fibers,
that the guard hairs will spring
I find that I'm often a little chilly just before the furnace kicks in,
then feel overdressed after! I have a little shawl that I wear on cool
mornings or in the evening when the furnace hasn't quite caught up with
the temp drop outside. It's a triangle job...you know the ones that
start
I've been spinning on Lendrum wheels since the early '80s, when the
wheels had a piece of steel cable instead of a footman. Now I have a
walnut dt, I love it! I oil the bobbin shaft, the flyer shaft where it
passes thru the maidens, and don't forget to put some oil on both sides
of your
I love Polwarth, tooit's just so hard to find. I wonder why, since
I consider it the perfect handspinning fleece. Fine and soft, but a
long enough staple for a really stable singles weaving yarn. I've had
to buy it from Australia...anybody knows an American source, please let
me know!
Julie C Gerow wrote:
A friend of mine just found an old, in excellent condition, Gilmore
32 loom at a garage sale. Came with books, etc.
WOW! Lucky friend! The Gilmore is still being made in Stockton,
California. It's a really well-built, well designed heavy-duty loom.
Mr Gilmore started
Robin,
I don't have an Ashford, I spin on a Lendrum, but I think the action is
similar. With Scotch Tension, the tension on the bobbin is what
controls draw-in, not the drive band. For better draw-in, tighten up
your scotch tension. As far as the loose belt goes, my Lendrum has a
way to
Really! I'm amazed, AA seems so opinionated against them in his
writing. I have spun on a single treadle wheel of one kind or another
for nearly 30 years, but I find the dt is better for me...makes me sit
straight for my back, and I'm no longer having the problem of the calf
muscle on my
Hi Gail,
Nope, I have never seen a Drudik. I have seen some good pix on the web
of one, though, and love the unique design. His woodwork looks
luscious. Looks like you could easily move the flyer to place it
anywhere you want, right or left, and the flyer height is adjustable
somewhat. I
Hi Folks,
Anybody out there own a Carson Cooper wheel? I love the look of them on
his website, but have never seen one up close and personal. I'd love to
hear from anyone who has, or even try one out if it is in the Puget
Sound area. Please reply privately if you don't want to post to the
Thanks Susan,
The Normandy was the one I liked the looks of especially. Carson says
that he is thinking of modifying the design to accomodate a double
treadle, so I'm really interested. Later this summer, I plan on driving
down to see him and his workshop, but for now, I keep going to the
Woops! I meant that to go privately. Since it went out in public, let
me say more about the Betty wheel...the owner loved it, and the flyer
was beautifully balanced. Betty doesn't use sealed bearings on her
wheels, and the owner felt that the stiff treadling action would work
in. It was
Hi All,
This question is somewhat OT, but not completely. I have an amazing
antique hand embroidered table-topper (don't know what else to call the
thing, it's not big enough to be a table cloth) that was brought back
from the Philippines by my Great Aunt about 1900-1910. The embroidery
Hi Folks,
I have recently aquired a couple of Shetland fleeces . This is a new
experience for me, I've never had a Shetland fleece before. One of
them has two very distinct coats, with the longest fibers also being the
coarsest and the darkest in color. I have read passing references to
combs
33 matches
Mail list logo
