To Blog.....or not to blog? Or, Adventures in Spindling

Takli

"You never blog!" "When is your next blog update?" Just two of the comments I've heard regarding my zzzzzzzzz blog. Sigh. It's hard to keep up with so many social networking platforms. What are the best formats to share my passions with people? I've been hiding mostly on Twitter--I follow so many wonderful people--knitters, spinners, fiber dyers, tea lovers, and people with many other similar interests. It's quick. And very easy. Little snippets of what I'm doing. But it's hard to get a lot of details out in 140 characters! I know, there are functions such as Twitlonger, but you get what I mean.  Facebook is my second option. But it's more time consuming, and harder to quickly upload pics of what I'm doing. The blog. Updating the blog takes the most time, and it's kinda static. Just a snapshot of what I was doing at a moment in my life.

So, what should I do? 

Russian style support spindle

I am leaning toward using the blog for projects. How I approach a project from start to finish. My thoughts, ideas, considerations entailed in how I do "my thing". More of a quasi quarterly newsletter. For example, I'm currently knitting an afghan, the Tree of Life designed by Nicky Epstein blogged about by Tina--AKA arizonaknitter on twitter. (The afghan I'm doing is the third picture down in the linked page.) I started with alpaca fiber generously gifted by AlpacaFarmGirl on twitter. I spun the fiber, then dyed the skeins in pale chestnut and pale green, with a couple transition skeins of chestnut/green. Pics of the process can be found on my Facebook page, Chrisinvermont, picture album Tree of Life afghan. Anywho, it's in-progress, and representative of the types of things that I will blog about in detail; including pics, resources, tips, etc.

Drop Spindling

Tibetan style support spindle

This has been a summer for trying out new fiber skills. For many years I've resisted the urge to spin on a drop spindle. It's too slow, it's hard on the arms, why would anyone bother?

Then it hit me. I decided it would enhance my general fiber skills and round out my repertoire. It's portable. I can carry a small spindle with me just about anywhere. Little bits spindled here and there add up. I'm not always into knitting everywhere I go, and it's fun to have a variety of things to do. Although I'm not certain I can bring a Takli on a plane...

I've been watching dozens of videos of people spindling. In Peru, Ecuador, Chile. I find it so fascinating. (One of my favorites, the one with the Navajo spinner/weaver Clara Sherman, bring tears to my eyes! So much knowledge, passion, experience in her hands!) Watching these videos ignited my interest in finally really applying myself to learning to spindle.

Akha spindle

So, do I buy just one spindle? NO! I now have a collection.

*A Takli--a short, thin spindle with a brass whorl on the bottom (picture at top is of my cotton spinning on Takli). The Takli originated in India, and is primarily used for spinning cotton. Here's a video on Takli spinning--> Takli Spinning Video link.

*A Russian-style support spindle (second picture). I purchased mine on Etsy from SpinDizzyChick. Love it.

*A Tibetan style support spindle (third picture) purchased from NealBrand on Etsy

*An Akha spindle for drop spinning cotton (fourth picture). I realized after watching the Akha woman spinning for like a dozen times, I was doing it different from how she was doing it. I should wind the yarn on the top portion, so I will be able to use the bottom for the twist motion.

Oh, and a Turkish spindle from ThreadsThruTime, also on Etsy. Lol. So many options!

I mastered all of these in about a week. Each one is different in ease, function, and use. More about these in the future!

If you want to keep up-to-date on what I'm doing, follow me on Twitter, or friend me on Facebook! I am carding, spinning and dyeing fiber blended with bunny fiber from my zoo! I will be listing some skeins & hats for sale soon!




And we went to York, Maine...
Ciao

Alpaca Bunny Smackdown...the results!

First, I'm on Etsy! (My handspun yarn is finally available for you to purchase!) Etsy is a wonderful site where people can buy or sell items that have some aspect of handmade to the products. I'm mostly interested in spinning fiber (to buy and to sell), and I have a lot of items to list. Right now I have four items listed, with about 100+ to go! Please visit me at Vtknitboy on Etsy! -->click here.

Smackdown '09
I'm not sure how to start this post. I woke up one morning to see a bunch of tweets on my tweetdeck (a free program that makes following lots of people on Twitter easier) mentioning me, @vtknitboy! It seems that two of my tweeps (twitter friends, ala "peeps" = online friends) were kind of having a little online back and forth about which fiber was softer: alpaca or angora bunny (can be confusing--prior name for mohair goat was angora goat).

I'm like, ut oh! They wanted me to be an objective judge and help them decide which one was softer. Yikes! The pressure! The conflict! The tension mounted.

The participants and their owners:
Kathryn in Colorado (@alpacamundo on twitter) raises alpacas. Lynn in Ohio (@sheepmama on twitter) raises angora bunnies. They decided to send each other, and me, 1/4 oz of fiber from one of their animals. The task was to spin it (and perhaps knit a swatch with it) and come to a conclusion as to which was softer. I noted that Kathryn's blog had a post about the smackdown where she used the term "better". To me, this was beyond what the purpose of the smackdown was, because the term could include everything from fiber strength, usage, wearability, etc. In my mind, I am just judging these two fibers based on softness. And, before I hear rumblings from the "losing" side, the results here are just for these fiber samples--they are not blanket statements about the entire breed of angora bunnies or alpacas!

Lynn (bunny sample) sent a lovely 1/4 oz of Nougat, a gorgeous chocolate agouti. Dark brown tips fade to caramel with a steel stripe and silver roots. Nougat is a Satin angora. Lynn's blog is here -->blog.

Kathryn sent a sample of Kocoa Moon. Kocoa is a lovely medium brown alpaca. Info and pics are on this blog: click here. Kathryn's blog is here.

Another involved party is @alpacafarmgirl, also known as Katy. Katy raises alpacas in Alabama and I have been lucky to receive some of the finest fleece from her 'pacas. Very nice. She has been involved in this smackdown by organizing little yarn/fiber giveaways all week! You can read about her and enter the contest for a free skein of alpaca yarn here.

So, we have lovely fiber, lovely people. Based on this test, and softness alone, the winner is...

Before I get to that, here are some pics of the fiber, spinning, skeined and a knit swatch.

Alpaca pre-washing. Washed, air dried & lightly carded. Spinning sample.

Bunny precarding (no washing). Lightly carded on handcarder. Spinning sample.

Alpaca spun sample (top), Bunny sample (bottom). Same. One strand of each.

Knit sample 'paca on bottom, bunny top. Close-up of 'paca. Close-up of 'paca w/ bunny halo.

Close-up of bunny. Closer close-up. Sample wraps per inch, showing bunny halo.

Comments:

Technically, from a micron count perspective, angora bunny wool is softer than alpaca.The alpaca sampled was Huacaya, which runs from 14-27 microns; with Royal alpaca 14-20.9, and Strong being 27.7. Angora bunnies rate a 13. I pulled this info from the Internet, so if you, the reader, has more updated information, please pass it on to me. Now, had the sample been Suri alpaca, things might be different. They rate 10-15.

Micron Count:
Vicuna 6-10, Suri alpaca 10-15, qiviut 11-13, angora bunny 13, Huacaya royal 14-20.9, cashmere 15-19, yak down 15-19, Quanaco 16-18, merino sheep 17-23 (but i saw one reference of 12-20), Baby Huacaya 21-22.9, Strong Huacaya 27.

So, as you see, micron count varies quite a bit in alpaca breeds, but I am under the impression that bunnies are pretty consistent. I am not sure which section of Huacaya this sample was from.

As an aside, I'm not an expert on either of these breeds, so please let me know if any of this information is inaccurate or needs updating.

Notes:
Bunny wool needs LOTS of twist to it! It's so dang slippery, even a slightly over-plied sample can slide right out of the twist! I highly recommend really overplying the singles, then ply with about 20% more twist than you think you need. Really. I plied this sample maybe 10% overplied and it ended up relaxing to about 20-30% less twist in the ply. I ended up adding more twist to the sample later on.

More twist and the spinning technique will affect how much the angora yarn will halo. My sample has a good 1/2" halo already! Now, I did spin both sample supported longdraw, which means that it's lighter and airier than shortdraw spun, which would be tighter and more fiber ends would be caught up in the twist. I prefer longdraw because I feel for the most part that the yarn is bouncier, lighter and has more character--but that's just one perspective.

Angora yarn ended up at 22-24 WPI (wraps per inch=see the photo of the bunny yarn wrapped around the yarn needle.), the alpaca 22 WPI. The beauty of both of these fibers is that they can be spun even thinner than this without losing softness.

Alpaca is much stronger than angora. Possibly 3-4 times more. So from a usage perspective, blending some angora with alpaca would be lovely, and I'd add in 20% merino or other soft wool to give the resulting yarn more elasticity and stretch.

One aspect of this particular alpaca sample was it had a lot of VM (vegetation matter) in it; ie., lots of pieces of hay, etc. I don't have a drum carder, so it took a lot of effort to remove as much of the VM as I could. This affected the softness factor somewhat.

I did learn through the 'paca grapevine, that breeders are now focusing on getting more elasticity in the fiber through breeding. Sometimes garments made from 100% alpaca yarn can "grow" on you. However, this can be reduced by utilizing stitch patterns that break up the vertical lines. For example, a basketweave stitch, or a ribbed stitch would pull the garment back to the original shape better.

So, the result...

Angora "wins" by a hare! However, both fibers could be worn against the skin if needed. One plus is both fibers are incredibly warm, anywhere from 2-6 times warmer than wool. (But seriously, once you get past twice as warm, I couldn't tell the difference.) Both fibers are absolutely divine! A little angora goes a long way. One would need only 10% to feel the softness of the angora, and would easily contribute more warmth. I would love a garment made from 60% alpaca, 20% angora, and 20% merino. That would be ideal for socks. For me, a sweater would only need 20% angora, 80% soft wool to make it incredibly warmer than a wool sweater, and with either fiber, a lightweight sweater made out of sockweight yarn would be far warmer than a heavy wool sweater.

As far as the sample/smackdown, these are just my observations, feelings, and reaction.

I would like to thank Lynn (@sheepmama) and Kathryn (@alpacamundo) for thinking this up, and Katy (@alpacafarmgirl) for promoting it on her blog, and organizing the giveaway contests!

Cheers to all! And a special thanks to Kocoa Moon and Nougat! You guys (gals) rock!

Vtknitboy (Chris)

And the Wheel Keeps on Turning, Turning...Summer Stash Bustin'!

No knitting. No swatching. No tea reviews. In the last week I've just been spinning. Spinning up a storm! I wrote a couple posts ago about this being the Summer of Stash Busting--knitting with yarns that I have stock-piled, and spinning yarn out of the stash of rovings and batts (rectangular sections of carded fiber).

Over the last week I spun up 600 yards (4.75 oz) of Lincoln/silk blend roving from something I bought way back at SOAR at Smuggler's Notch, Vermont in 1996; 475 yards (3.1 oz) of Cormo almost-lace my friend Joanne at Pine Ledge Studio carded with perfection for me over 8 years ago; 380 yards (4.1 oz) of alpaca/merino/silk roving from the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat in Easton, New York in May; and 255 yards (3 oz) of dark brown alpaca from my friend Maple at North Star Alpacas in Michigan.

First four pics are of the Lincoln/silk blend...
click on for larger view...

top pic is of the attenuated fiber
next pic is of the first attempt balled up
third pic is a close up of the second attempt of lace, next to the control lace yarn
last pic of this project is of the finished skein

The Lincoln/silk blend was fun at times to spin. I have oodles of it, about 12 oz, and spun up the best of it in this skein. I had to pre-draft it (attenuate it to make it easier to spin), as it was sitting around in a bag in our fiber room for years, which compacted the fiber in places. Lincoln is a long, shiny, hairy sheep fiber, very durable and strong, but not too soft. The silk blended in with it adds more sheen and shine, and some softness. My pile of this was a mixture of part rovings, which were kind of snarly (from the Lincoln), and some larger sections that I think were "clouds" which is kind of like a batt, but thinner.

I spun up about an ounce of the stuff, trying to achieve lace-weight yarn, but it was late at night and my spinning got worse as the night went on. I plied it from a single that I balled up on my ball winder, using the end from the center of the ball and the end from the outside of the ball to yield a two-ply. I washed it up, let it dry overnight. See the pic of it at the right. It's about twice as thick as my true lace sample I had hanging from my wheel, so I spent the second night spinning up another 4.75 oz onto two bobbins.

My second attempt (the third pic) was closer to the true lace, but I'm pretty happy with it, as the fiber just got more wiry the thinner I spun it. I could have spun it a bit thinner, but I think it would have been termed "iron yarn" at that point!

****************************************************************
The second spinning project was the Cormo, a supersoft sheepwool, that I think is 3/4 Merino, which is the softest sheep fiber. Cormo is typically white, and yields a brilliantly white yarn, although I believe there are now black and possibly gray Cormo sheep. I think that it is spongier than Merino, is extremely soft and is great for against-the-skin garments, but like Merino, it also felts easily.

Pics at right: first one is of the white Cormo batt
Second one is a shot of the attenuated fiber

Third pic is a shot of the spinning
Fourth pic in this group is of the two skeins of Cormo yarn

*******************************************************************************

The third spinning project was the alpaca/merino/silk roving I got at the Knitter's Retreat, and was really fun and easy to spin. It is a luscious yarn, and I can't wait to knit it up! Maybe socks...

The dark alpaca from Maple in Michigan was fun, easy, and quick to spin up. I spun it all up last night, plied it today, and washed/soaked it and it's drying right now. The true weight of the skein may be a little lighter, as it is still slightly damp. I absolutely love the dark color of it, I believe it is from an alpaca named Polaris--I'll have to check!

More later! Have fun...

Colorways, Navajo plying, and projects

Just a quick update on the yarn from the alpaca roving I wrote about in my last post. I have around 1,000 yards, with 6 oz left to spin. Here's a picture of one of the skeins that has been wound on my ball winder. I usually don't ball my yarn up until I'm really ready to use it, but I am dying to knit a sample from it! The skeins came out really light and airy, and have a WPI of 21 (wraps per inch for you non-spinners). I think it will make fabulous socks! I have enough to also do a scarf. With the extra left on one bobbin, I plied it with some extra wool I had on another bobbin from the Dr. G's Vest I spun the yarn for (mentioned in a previous blog...)

Upcoming projects (as always, click on the pics for a larger view)
Silk Lace: At the knitting retreat we had a schwag* event where you pick numbers and the lowest numbers get to pick first, etc. I was number 12 out of 20 something because I was a "Chatty-Cathy", so I missed out on some really great stuff, although what I got was wonderful too.

I picked out a skein of Cherry Tree Hill cascade lace (1,000 yards of 100% silk) in a beautiful Martha's Vineyard colorway with purples, blues, and greens. (Funny how all three things I got at the Retreat have the same colors! Just different shades and blends.) The silk makes the colors shimmer. I have no idea exactly what I'm going to do with it.

Soysilk: This was a lovely gift for being a workshop presenter. It's 50/50 soysilk and merino. It's called Karaoke, in the Mermaid colorway, with plum, seaweed green and some light olive greens (others may say teals, purples and blues, but I'm blue/green colorblind, so what do I know!). I pulled the roving into 2 long strips, then broke just one into 4 more. I spent some time attenuating just one strip--the "silk" feels just like real silk, has the same shimmer, and has the same "tacky" feeling from being dyed, ie., it clumps some. This made attenuating a bit of fun. Not! But, the time I spent attenuating (also called predrafting) was well worth the effort. The fiber drafted well when I spun it, and I spun enough to make a sample swatch.

I really wanted to maintain the colors in the plying, so I spun up a bit on just one bobbin, then I Navajo plied the single, with my wheel set at moderate uptake, I treadled verrrryyyyyyy sllllooooowwwwly.... Navajo plying turns a single ply into a 3-ply. It's like finger crocheting. You pull out a loop from the main "line" about 10-20", or shorter (when pulled out, the loop now has two "sides"), the leader then wraps around the two "sides", thus making a 3-ply. This takes a LOT of practice! If you treadle too fast, it's just a harsh, tight and overplied yarn. I really wanted this to be soft, and to maintain the color changes at the same time. One hard part is to ensure that where the loop meets the next loop that there is not an overlap, because you can see this. Navajo plying (in my opinion) works better on thinner yarn because the "join" is less obvious. For a lesson and video clip go here: navajo plying.

I knitted up a 4" x 8" swatch, using a modified basket weave. Mine was 3 sts edging, then *(k2, p3)* repeat between * * to last 3 sts, then 3 st edging; next row: maintaining 3 st edgings, *(p3,k2)* repeat to last 3 sts, do 3 st edging. Repeat rows 1 & 2, then do row 1 again. On the next row (row 6), do a purl row (this is the back side). Then repeat the first 5 rows, but switch the k2, p3 to p2, k3, thus offsetting the sts. On the 12th row do a purl row. Anywho, you probably get it by now!

The purl row creates a pull on the front, so that the knit blocks on the right side pop out, and almost have a convex curve. It's cool!

I plan on doing at least a scarf with this. I think it's 8 oz.

Superfine Merino Top: The last stash I got at the retreat was 7 oz of superfine dyed merino top in a green/blue colorway. This one has more greens and blues in it than the other two stashes, with some purple. I haven't spun up any of this yet, but have attenuated a couple of strips. More later!

*for a history of "schwag" go here: schwag

A Lesson in Washing Handspun (or garments)

Many people have asked how I wash my fiber and yarn. I basically use the same process for washing either small amounts of fleece, or washing my skeins. Let's use the alpaca yarn I just spun from the beautiful roving I bought at Alpacas of Easton (AOE) on the alpaca farm field trip mentioned below (during the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat).

As always, click on the pics for a larger view!

Here's a shot of the roving before spinning. It feels like a silky, soft, light cloud! Kate (of AOE) had white and grey alpaca blended to yield this very beautiful white with silver/grey. The second shot is two of the skeins right after winding on my skein winder. I usually wind the plied yarn from the bobbin onto a niddy-noddy, but this time I wound it right on the skein winder. I set the winder at about 58" circumference, wound it, then multiplied the number of strands times 60 (inches), then divided by 36 for yards. The two skeins came out to be roughly 800 yards. I was going to do a 3-ply, as I was spinning it almost laceweight, but I was spinning pretty fast, using a long-draw which morphed into a quick back draw. When I started plying the 3-ply I realized it was going to be heavier than I wanted (I picture socks and a scarf out of this), so I switched to a 2-ply.

Washing
I fill up a sink with warm to hot water. I use natural, environmentally-friendly dishwashing soap. There are a variety of efficient and effective soaps out there, including Dawn, and other things that cut some of the grease. I tend to buy more natural dishsoaps, but buy whatever meets your financial and personal needs. With wool, I use a hotter water temp to cut some of the grease, but with alpaca and llama I use moderately warm to hot, right out of the tap. Alpaca has no lanolin, and is relatively cleaner than wool, and the roving I purchased had very little vegetable matter in it (grass/hay).

Add the soap to the water, I only use about 1/8th of a cup. I don't even measure it. The dirtier the fiber, more I'd use. I just squirt some in, let it foam a bit, then shut off the water. I then add the skeins to the sink, submerging it a couple times to ensure that it gets fully wet. Alpaca (and angora bunny) don't absorb it as quickly as wool, so I just gently push it down a couple of times.

Then, just let it soak for about 20 minutes.

To drain and rinse:
I push the fiber to the side of the sink, and pull the plug in the drain slowly. I usually don't lift the skeins out of the water, as the heavy weight can drag/pull on the fiber. I use this same method for washing fiber, skeins, and garments.

After the water drains out, still holding the fiber to the side, I gently squeeze the fiber trying to get as much water out as possible. You can either lift it out of the sink, supported by both hands, and put it into a bowl/container, or keep it to the side of the sink, refill the sink with warm water. Try to keep the water temp roughly the same as the last soak water. The only caveat of this is you hope the water coming right out of the tap is about the same as the soak water--not really cold or really hot. So, for a newbie, I'd recommend taking the fiber out of the sink to refill.

Refill the sink, add the skeins again, and gently submerge. Let it soak for about 10 minutes or so. This alpaca was really clean. If your fiber is dirtier or dyed, lengthen the soak and rinse cycles.

Remove, using same method above in the soak phase (gently squeeze out as much water as you can). For garments, I roll in a towel, absorbing more moisture. For skeins, I put in the washing machine (yes!) but ONLY ON SPIN!! Tres importante! If your machine has only spin-with-spray feature, do not use this. No spray/spritzing. I let it spin for only about 10-15 seconds.

Remove the skeins from the washing machine, then gently "snap" the skein between my hands (no pic, as I couldn't do this and take the pic). Rotate the skein 1/4 around in your hand, therefore snapping (gently) at another section of the skein.

Drying: Weighting the skein. One note, a lot of people were taught to do this in the '70s and '80s by "hanging a can of soup" (or another weight) on the skein. I do not recommend this! There are specific uses for this, mainly for setting the twist for singles, and for weaving.

The purpose for weighting the skein was to set the twist and to achieve a more balanced ply. Many of us, in early spinning, were not the best plyers. The main problem with this is that the weight can stretch and break the fibers. Another problem is that I think it leads us to not learn how to achieve a balanced ply. If you are must do this, I would recommend that you take the weight off from the skein after a couple of hours, and check the skein's twist. Okay, enough of this soapbox!

I believe that roughly 10% of the twist comes out in the wash, so to speak. The twist relaxes and is distributed over a longer length of the plied yarn. When I teach someone how to spin, I try to emphasize that a skein (before washing) can have about a 1 1/2 extra twist (in the skein), and that will most likely end up pretty balanced. You can use this as a guide to figure out if you are overplying or not. Of course, different fiber reacts differently.

After gently snapping the skein, I hang over a clothes rack, or doorknob. Because of the trip to the washing machine, there is very little moisture in the skein. I will readjust the skein a couple times over the next 8 hours, so that the weight is redistributed during the drying process. Most of my skeins dry overnight.

Tip: I do not ball up the yarn until I am ready to use it. I find that the twist stays in better. One off-topic note, but kind of related, I do not use a steam iron over a towel to block my garments. This works well for showing/displaying, however I find that a thorough wash of the garment, then flat blocking works better.

These are just my thoughts, no right or wrong (except for stretching the fiber with the soup can!).

I hope this helps some of you out there!

Spring's Eternal Bliss...or something like that!

It's a lovely day in NW Vermont. Almost 70 degrees f. Here's a little snapshot off of one of our need-to-be-replaced decks... In the background are some birch trees I let grow about 4 years ago. They create a nice light backdrop for the flowering crab tree. The leaves are burgundy red on one side and a coppery tone on the other. They pale to a greenish color in the summer. The blossoms are a light pink. We have another one that stays red/bronze all year, and the blossoms are a darker red. Picture in a couple days when it flowers.

Two or three years ago we had a heavy March snowstorm that broke off the center right leading branch. You can see about 40% up from the bottom the tree now kind of goes to the left. some branches are filling out in the middle and there is one leader that may strengthen....

Spinning: here is a pic of the last three things I spun. Left: is the shetland I got from Carolina Homespun. Really nice. Long fibers, spun up really stretchy, and fluffed up after the wash. In this case, I found that I could spin it thinner than the desired end result. In the middle is the merino/alpaca blend. I got that at Paradise Fibers. It is 70/30 merino/alpaca. I have enough for socks....yum! The skein on the right is the romney wool/angora bunny blend. Maybe only 20% bunny, but it's REALLY soft! I have about 8 oz of each of the fibers.

Blogging: Oh! What to do?! I emailed Zhenya about all the wonderful things in life I want to blog about: knitting, spinning, cooking, Zen, being gay and alcoholic in Vermont, etc. Each one in itself is time consuming. Oh wait! I also have to spend the time DOING the things! Lol. I'll try to do a short blurb about each one, if there's anything going on about it.

Have a great day!