Handspun Yarn!

I get to share some very exciting news today! (I was planning on making this post sooner, but after spending a few hours having my tire repaired, it's posting a little late. I know it's short notice for some, but I hope you can make it regardless!) For a few months now, I have joined two very amazing ladies at a local farmer's market here in Central Florida. They have goat and sheep and make beautiful soaps, lotion bars, lip balms, fudge, and more using milk from their goats. I've mentioned one of them before as being responsible for getting me involved in spinning, and always being available for a crafty consultant when I get stuck. (Seriously, she's amazing) Every farmer's market, I sit at their booth and do a spinning demonstration. I enjoy the opportunity to meet new people and talk to them about an art I love, and one that's often not well known. I meet tons of kids and they love asking questions about spinning and about the goat and sheep that we bring to the market as well. (And I get to eat fudge) :D Several people have requested that I offer my yarn for sale, and while I was initially reluctant, I'm pleased to announce that I will have a few skeins for sale at tomorrow's market! I hope to see anyone who lives here locally, it's a wonderful market and has a plethora of handmade goods, delicious food and more.

Here is some of the yarn I've spun recently. There are a few skeins I'm still debating keeping for myself, but the majority of it will be at the market tomorrow.

This was from round one of spinning:

The first is an orange wool, single ply yarn. It is approximately 75 yards in sock/fingering weight.
The second is a brown wool, also single ply. It is approximately 81 yards in lace weight.
Third is a single ply dark gray wool, approximately 58 yards in bulky weight.
Fourth is a two-ply light gray yarn approximately 55 yards in bulky weight.
And finally is a three-ply gray and pink yarn approximately 93 yards in super bulky weight. (The last two are the ones I'm debating keeping for myself :D )

This is round two and are still hanging to dry. I'm slightly worried the last one won't be completely dry before tomorrow, so there is a small chance it won't be there.

The first is a 'candy cane' 2 ply, gray and teal. 113 yards of Bulky weight yarn.
The second is also a 'candy cane' 2 play using the same color teal and a pale yellow. It is 26 yards of worsted weight yarn.
The third is a green that kidn of reminds me of a 'military' green. It's 157 yards of sport/fingering weight.
Finally is a coffee colored 2 ply brown. 317 yards of bulky weight yarn.

 ***Please note, my measurements are approximate. Please keep in mind that variations in yarn weight are a normal part of handspun yarn. I use a wpi method to determine yarn weight.

I can't find a website to link to but it's called The Marketplace at Hibiscus Park. This came from the Chamber of Commerce Website:

From 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Hibiscus Park, 7th Street and Bougainvillea Ave Dade City
Contact: Lucy Avila 352-521-5858
Event Email: lucyvila7070@gmail.com

First Saturday of each Month (September 2014-May 2015)
Come shop our relaxing, outdoor, vendor-friendly market place in Hibiscus Park. Locally grown produce, plants, arts & crafts, and so much more!

Wish me luck and hope to see you there! :)

~Farm Girl Teacher

The Woolery: A Review

 

So I've been meaning to post a review on The Woolery ever since purchasing my wheel. Unfortunately I purchase almost all of my spinning/fiber supplies online since there isn't a local spinning store in my area. I tend to go to Etsy first as I'm usually just purchasing fiber, however when it came to purchasing a spinning wheel, I knew it was time for me to find a shop I trusted. I'd heard of other people using The Woolery before, with excellent results. I'd like to share my experience with all of you, bearing in mind that they are not compensating me for this review, just one spinner helping another. :)

When I began shopping for my wheel I decided on the wheel I wanted prior to deciding where I would be purchasing it from. While shopping I found that The Woolery was a good resource for comparing the specs on different wheels as they have a rather extensive variety. They also have YouTube videos posted that I used just to get a better idea of what a few of the wheels looked like and their website is well organized and easy to navigate.

After deciding on my Kromski I went to the official Kromski website to find a dealer more local to me. (The Woolery is based in Kentucky) I did find a little shop in Georgia and mom and I considered taking a weekend road trip to go get the wheel, that way I'd be able to get some onsite advice and try several different wheels. (You know, just in case.) Sadly, all the dealers close enough for us to do that weren't open on the weekends and it became time for me to shop around internet dealers. Nearly all the wheels were priced the same, however The Woolery also offered free shipping, and a 50 dollar gift card, or a beginner's spinning kit valued around 50 dollars. This wound up being the deciding factor for me.

The ordering process was relatively quick and easy, however I managed to mix myself around some how and forgot to choose if I wanted to gift card or the kit. I contacted Customer Service and they were very helpful. They emailed me back promptly and had no problem fixing my mistake. I chose the kit as it came with a Niddy Noddy, and two pounds of wool roving and I would have spent the gift card on a Niddy Noddy and fiber anyway.

My order arrived relatively quickly afterwards. My one complaint is that the assembly instructions weren't my favorite. (I like lots of diagrams, slot A into slot B, etc.) I've never assembled a wheel before and felt a little overwhelmed. That said, The Woolery did have an assembly video posted on their YouTube channel. Using both, I was able to successfully assemble my wheel. Well, sort of, my dad (who is never interested in my 'crafty' endeavors) came in when I was about halfway through and was determined to 'help' me assemble the wheel. He loves all things mechanical and is now attempting to figure out a way to attach a lawn mower motor to my wheel...you know...because that's helpful! lol

Anyway, getting back to my topic, the kit arrived a few days later with a beautiful Kromski Niddy Noddy, the wool roving I thought was very pretty, and a beginner DVD on spinning. I'm not going to lie, the DVD was a bit out of date, but the information was excellent and gave me a much better technical knowledge.

Two-ply yarn that came from the wool roving

 Overall I was very pleased with The Woolery and I encourage you to visit their site. Hands off that beautiful bamboo fiber though, it's already on my wishlist! :) Happy Shopping!

~Farm Girl Teacher

It has arrived!

Mom captured this on her phone. :)

My brand-spanking new spinning wheel finally arrived! Well actually it arrived over a week ago but I've had so much fun playing with it that I haven't had much time to blog. :)

I've spun so much I think I've now discovered calf muscles I wasn't previously aware of!

I know spinning isn't exactly a common hobby, (I can't tell you how many times I've started gabbing with a fellow 'spinner' only to realize they meant the exercise bike!) but you'd be surprised by the amount of fiber spinners in my area! I feel like I'm part of some secret, underground group of spinners! :D

I actually discovered spinning after visiting a guild meeting nearby with my crochet work. I was entranced as I watched the men and women around me turn bags of animal hair into beautiful handmade yarns. I had to learn to do it myself!

If you're not interested in spinning jargon/details on the wheel, scroll down to the photos of the yarn. :)

I began spinning using an Ashford drop spindle for a couple of reasons: to make sure I really enjoyed spinning, and because I worked at Taco Bell and a spinning wheel was way out of my budget.

But...now that I have a real honest-to-goodness job, I finally decided to purchase a real, honest-to-goodness spinning wheel! :D Oh yeah!

I did tons of research prior to making my purchase and I took every opportunity possible to use other people's wheels in order to decide what my 'must haves' were. Here is the list I used when shopping. The list actually started much shorter however I kept adding things in order to help narrow down my options.
- reasonably priced, but not a beginner's wheel, I wanted it to grow with me

Photo courtesy of The Woolery

- reputable brand
- portable, or a small footprint
- castle-type wheel
- double treadle
- center orifice
- double band drive w/ optional Scotch tension
- built-in Lazy Kate 
- finished wood

It wasn't easy but I finally narrowed it down to a Kromski Minstrel. This wheel met all my 'must haves' PLUS it was gorgeous AND it wasn't over-the-moon expensive.

The wheel came in a number of color options, but I really liked the lighter option; I think it's traditional-looking yet fresh.  The Kromski brand is also known for having exceptional quality wheels. All wheels are designed and produced by a small family business in Poland.

So far I have REALLY enjoyed using it, but I'm not going to lie, the first few days were not fun! Like I said, I didn't technically purchase a 'beginner wheel' although it is advertised as being 'beginner friendly.' There was certainly a bit of a learning curve involved. Nearly all of my initial trouble was because of tension issues. In the past, every time I sat down at a wheel, the person who actually owned it had already set the tension and was sitting right there assisting me. After watching numerous YouTube videos (specifically, Expertly Dyed, she has the same wheel as me), I realized that it was important that I adjust the tension SLIGHTLY each time. I was also making it placing WAY to much tension on the drive band and actually wound up snapping it before it was all said and done. {Legit spinners should look away now, you're about to cringe!} I didn't want to put a brand new drive-band on the wheel seeing as how I was still having major issues, so I grabbed a bit of cotton yarn, measured it out, threw it on, and haven't looked back! :D

Besides tension issues, I couldn't for the life of me get the wheel to take-up properly, resulting in severely over spun yarn. I wound up having to adjust about half-a-dozen things in order to fix it.  First, I was SUPER excited to get my wheel and didn't realize that I was treadling about a hundred miles an hour. (Seriously, I was out of breath after about ten minutes!) My focus for the next few days was seeing how slow I could go and still keep the wheel moving. After slowing my treadling I also readjusted my whorls. Because it's a double-band drive, the bobbin whorl almost always has to be smaller than the flyer whorl. I made sure that the flyer whorl was as large as possible, and the bobbin whorl was as small as possible. So far this has worked fine since then, although I have stepped the flyer whorl down a size as I've improved. Besides this, I realized after a while that I was so nervous I wasn't actually releasing the spun fiber so it could move onto the bobbin. Hehe, whoops!

Well, let's get down to business! Check out the yarn I've spun so far...

This was the first yarn I spun. It began as a beautiful hand painted wool fiber purchased from a local spinner and alpaca breeder. Check out her shop, Woodland Hills Alpacas on Etsy.

The beautiful shades of reds, oranges, and a hint of brown initially attracted me to the fiber, and I loved how it turned out! With one exception...it truly is horribly overspun! Its hard to tell on the paper towel tube I transferred it onto, however after I set the twist and released the tension it curled up left and right! lol

Btw, the paper towel tube is because I was waiting on my Niddy Noddy but need to free up a bobbin. :)

The next photo is of some beautiful Alpaca fiber given to me from a fellow spinner. She is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to fiber! I typically stay out of the cleaning/prep process when it comes to fiber and purchase mine ready-to-go, but she is awesome at cleaning an carding out batts! I also go to her for all my goat/sheep related questions. (Our sheep are hair sheep so their fiber is unsuitable for spinning.)

I have already spun this into singles and am working on a small knitting project with it. Hopefully, photos will follow soon.

 This is another batt of alpaca fiber, cleaned and gifted to me from the same wonderful lady. :) This is my current project. It's a kind of deep auburn color (sorry, I don't know the actual color names when it comes to alpacas) but it's spinning out a bit darker and is really beautiful color! One of the things I like about the batts she's given me is that there's little tufts of white fiber in there here and there. It's really beautiful and makes me think of the animal that so kindly donated their hair to us. Unfortunately, the fiber isn't coming out as smooth as possible, I would welcome any tips!

And finally, this is a two-ply I spun from some wool roving. I considered dying it but I kind of like the natural cream color...

Thanks for sticking with me til the end of this post!

~Farm Girl Teacher

Bated Breath

Have you ever felt as though you're in a creative slump and then all of a sudden you get a thousand different ideas for a thousand different projects all at the same time?? That's me right now. After feeling like all my creative juices had run dry I was feeling very slumpy.

The solution? Retail Therapy! (crafter style!) Somewhere in the middle of my online window shopping I realized all of a sudden that I have a job! (Yes, I know I've had a job for years, but fast food doesn't count!) For the first time I could actually afford to finally purchase a spinning wheel!

I've always loved crocheting but didn't fall in love with spinning until visiting a fiber guild meeting near my house. I've been using a drop spindle to spin all my fiber and I have to say I think I'm doing a pretty good job at it! BUT, naturally I've been drooling over everyone else's wheels... Anyway, long story short, I finally forked over the money for one Saturday and I am SO excited for it to get here!

I'm going to wait to spill all the details on it until it gets here but I did want to share the news! :D

In the meantime, the wheel shopping kicked those slumpy creative juices into overdrive! I began by finishing up all the half spun bits of fibers lying next to/on my spindles. After setting the twist in everything and actually emptying all my spindles, I suddenly realized I'd found the perfect project for at least one of the yarns...socks! (To wear when I spin, of course!) While waiting on the yarn to dry after setting the twist, I super groomed my angora bunnies to make sure I had plenty of fiber once my wheel got here! :) Naturally, I needed to make room to store the yarn I finished so I crocheted a quick cowl out of some Super Bulky yarn I had laying around. Unfortunately this is Florida and actually wearing the cowl would be very uncomfortable, however the weather this week happens to be very rainy so....I finished up a raincoat tonight! :) I also practiced Navajo Plying on my spindle with some Angora yarn, and now I'm looking for the perfect low yardage project. I'm thinking an ear warmer would look pretty, especially after the yarn halos. I'm hoping that I can finish up the socks tomorrow, and crossing my fingers that the wheel arrives on Wednesday! I've got a whole host of yarn projects planned for it including spinning a handpainted Shetland Top roving, raw Angora fiber harvested from my bunnies (possibly dyed first?), and tackling my first art yarn!

I'll try and get pictures up as soon as possible. Particularly of the rain coat, but it really depends on the coming weather. Here's hoping the anticipation doesn't kill me!