SpinnySpinny » spinning

Maker Faire setup

feorlen — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:28:51 +0000

Yesterday afternoon was setup day. I didn’t have to wrangle the giant knitting needles, but I had my own area to set up. I warped the rigid heddle loom and tried to guess at how I wanted to arrange my display. It will get re-done this morning I’m sure. Here’s a photo of the disarray, including the partly-warped loom:

Soy silk blend

feorlen — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:35:48 +0000

I got a sample of the fiber we are using for Maker Faire and started experimenting with it. The discussion is rather long and has several photos, so I’ve put it on a new page rather than a blog post. You can find it here: Spinning Karaoke Wool/Soy Silk Blend.

Remedial fiber prep, part 2

feorlen — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:27:22 +0000

More of the BFL recovery going on. I don’t need it for Maker Faire but I’ll do something with it so it’s still an ongoing project. I have one bobbin done and a box of fiber ready to spin.

One day it will be finished 3-ply yarn. Right now it’s a box of wool. I split the top and pulled it thinner, I also have a plastic bag full of the neps removed in the process.

Maker Faire update

feorlen — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:03:24 +0000

I’ve gotten farther on doing a Maker Faire demo. I am working with some folks who have a commercial booth and want spinning and weaving to show off what you can do (and, naturally, who can supply you with the materials and equipment.) They have a plan that has worked before, with CD spindles and weaving on rigid heddle looms that even fits well with the recycled them of the event. I’m fine with working on somebody else’s project if it furthers my goal of getting spinning and weaving in front of people.

This means the BFL goes to something else, which isn’t a big deal. It’s fiber that has been sitting around and the yarn I started is fine for another project. I haven’t done anything irreversible. This also means I have no deadline to finish it. More on the significance of that point in another post.

I do need possibly one more volunteer, which I will bring up at the guild meeting tomorrow. The exact details are still being sorted out but it won’t involve much setup in advance, just spinning and weaving on-site with everything provided (with the possible exception of a spinning wheel, which I’ve certainly got covered.) With commercial support we can do a better looking demo and have nice educational materials to hand out.

Remedial fiber prep, part 1

feorlen — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:01:05 +0000

I started a project for the new wheel so I can take it to the guild meeting next weekend. The Maker Faire warp is on the Lendrum and I’m not hauling that anywhere, so I wanted something non-challenging to do with the other wheel. A major purpose of the Little Gem is to take it places.

I pulled out some fiber I got from a swap a while back. I have no idea what it is aside from wool, but I can tell you that it’s ostensibly top (has some big ugly neps) and is bright green, magenta and black. I tried spinning it directly but the wide assortment of fiber lengths and the general untidiness made this less than satisfactory.

So I tried carding it. Not very much, just lay it out on the cards and give it two passes. The rolags still have a lot of randomly distributed colors but it opens up the lumps.

I carded it all so I can just bring fiber and have less to haul on Bart to the meeting. I don’t have a sample of the finished yarn because I don’t quite know what I’m going to do with it. There isn’t much, so plying it with itself won’t get me far. I’m thinking about plying it with black and making some Goth knitting yarn.