The Spinning Loft

Short Forward Draw and Short Backward Draw

Beth — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:02:22 +0000

I’ve been teaching a drafting class for a little while now. Every time we talk about short backward draw I say how it makes less of a worsted yarn that short forward draw and isn’t as consistent.

Today I was spinning some Spunky Eclectic dyed Wensleydale and decided to show the results so here they are in this somewhat fuzzy photo (I waited until dark to take pictures)

All three yarns were spun at the same ratio, same treadling speed, same drafting length. The only thing that changes is my hand movement.

The top yarn is a short backward draw where I draft back short lengths at least 3 times before I feed any yarn onto the bobbin. This is the yarn with the most inconsistent twist and more thick and thin areas. Part of the problem with this method is If I draft back three equal lengths then I need to allow this yarn to draw onto the bobbin which takes time and additional twist builds behind my pinchy fingers of my front hand. When I go to draft again this additional twist make a bit of a thick spot there even though I am pinching.

The center yarn is a short forward draw where the yarn is allowed to draw onto the bobbin between each draft. This one is much more consistent. There is a bit of inconsistent twist but not too bad. This yarn has a lot more loft than I would expect in a worsted yarn.

The bottom yarn is the true worsted spun yarn with a short forward draw. This is the yarn I expect from a worsted drafting method. It is compact and smooth with a lot less halo than the other two.

Any of these drafting methods are fine to use but they each make a slightly different yarn. This again shows the importance of sampling to make sure that in the end you will have the yarn that fits your project.

This Drafting class will be taught at several Fiber Festivals and retreats this year along with a few other fun classes.

It will be at Stringtopia in Ohio

The Carolina Fiber Festival in Raleigh, NC

Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan MI

and the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck NY.

Or watch the classes page of the Spinning Loft Website for offerings in Howell!

New Hat, New Wheel, Big Show

Beth — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:01:00 +0000

We’re back on track now. My darling feels better. I just had a 2 night writing quarantine where plenty of writing was accomplished. Things at the shop are becoming more organized and the fleeces we need for classes for both me and Deb Robson are in the process of being chosen and scoured.

This coming weekend the Spinning Loft will be open on both Saturday and Sunday from 10AM to 4PM. Keep reading for all of the details!

But first. Ryan has a new hat. I knit this the last day Lou was in the hospital because I had finally realized I couldn’t think about working.

It’s a singles yarn that was about a worsted weight. I think that’s right because I knit the hat on size 5 needles and I am a very loose knitter. Patterns that call for size 7 needles usually mean size 5 for me.

The fiber is Falkland I think. It was dyed by Amy King and may even have been a club fiber. I love her dyeing and Ryan does too!

The pattern was just a plain old pattern. Cast on some stitches and knit a while then decrease till there are only a few stitches left. Pull those stitches together and like magic! it’s a hat.

Also, today, patience was rewarded. Well, the thing was delivered yesterday but I was in seclusion so I did’t get to look until today.

It’s a Watson Martha which is an accelerated wheel. Andrew Watson builds a custom box to ship his wheels in.

Isn’t it fabulous? I think I’m going to pain the box and use it for a shop fiber container.

I took off the front panel and here’s what was inside. Beautifully packaged and also tied down with twine so nothing moved in the trip from Canada.

Little by little she was revealed and the assembly happened with only a tiny bit of confusion and question marks floating over my head.

And here she’s ready for her first spin. I was a little nervous. She’s fast. Faster than anything I’ve ever spun on. I need to get the ratios from Andrew but I did just sit and treadle for a bit.

That brass plaque makes me smile:-)

Each bobbin has a little slot so that when taking a bobbin off the wheel the end of the yarn can have a little place to stay and not get lost.

This is the large whorl end of the bobbin with the small flyer whorl. See? Fast!

This shows the small whorl end of the bobbin! I’m gonna try that one out tomorrow night…after the Pinewood Derby.

Just a photo of the other whorl on he little storage spot as well as three bobbins on a built in yarn admiration device.

And here she is with a few of her friends. The lady behind her is the Vermont wheel that came to stay a short time ago. She’s gorgeous too. And on the left is the Jensen 24″ Tall Castle Wheel. My favorite of the Jensens I have.

Now onto this weekend! Yarn Hollow is coming for a Trunk Show! Rita is dyeing up some interesting fibers and some color ways just for the occasion. Lots of the fibers will be fromMichigan Farms. Also, there will be free patterns with some fiber purchases of Yarn Hollow Fibers.

Bricolage will also be here all weekend with the fabulous batts and fibers.

There will also be some things on sale including select fibers and books.

I am also offering free wheel tune ups throughout the day. Just bring your wheel and I will give it the once over, tighten her up and get her spinning as smoothly as possible to make your spinning more enjoyable and relaxing.

And finally, 10% of all fiber sales will go to Forgotten Harvest.

Hunger Statistics Facts About Hunger In Metro Detroit & Michigan

When people in the U.S. speak of hunger, they define hunger as an inability to obtain sufficient food for their households. People skip meals, cut back on the quality or quantity of meals, and may potentially suffer malnutrition over time.
In Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties, one in five children live in poverty. In the tri-county area 500,000 people including nearly 200,000 children, live in poverty.
Four million households in Michigan live at risk of hunger.
Michigan lost one million jobs over the past decade. A large share of the jobs lost once resided here in Southeast Michigan. Those lost jobs were high- and middle-wage lower-education jobs in lower-education industries. It is unlikely these jobs will ever return.
According to Feeding America’s National Hunger study, the number of individual emergency food recipients who receive food each week in Southeast Michigan grew by over 78%. [2006: 56,700. 2010: 101,200]
In Forgotten Harvest’s 2010 annual survey of the metro Detroit emergency food providers it serves, agencies informed us:
- 19% turned away people–Not enough food was available for distribution.
- 84% said the numbers of people seeking help has increased dramatically.
- 79% said they could distribute more food if it was available.

Facts About Hunger In America

In 2009, in response to the question, “Have there been times in the past twelve months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?”
- 18.5 % of people in the U.S. said “Yes.”
- Nearly 1 in 4 households with children said, “Yes.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture study on food insecurity:(2008)
- 49 million people experienced food insecurity.
- 1 in 6 across the nation face hunger including 17 million children.
- 1 in 4 children in the U.S. faced hunger or food insecurity in 2008.
Today, many of the people receiving emergency food are new to dire financial circumstances. They are the “The New Face of Hunger”. According to the
Feeding America ”Hunger in America 2010″ study:
- Nearly 8% of the clients had been unemployed for less than three months. Over 17% of the clients previously held or currently held professional or managerial positions.

I think Forgotten Harvest is a great charity and I love keeping the money right here in Michigan.

What’s been going on around here.

Beth — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:33:56 +0000

So the last 9 days have been pretty exciting around here. I’m not sure if exciting is the right word but we’ll go with it for now.

Some of you follow me on Twitter or Facebook and so have gotten little snippets of things but I haven’t gone into detail. I’ve also not been answering email in the way that I like to. Which means I like to get back to people within a day and give good detail with my answers. Also I’m sure you are curious about the last bits of time because things haven’t been “right” around here.

I’m going to tell you now that things seem to be better and so you, my friends, don’t have to be worried anymore. I am thankful for all of your good thoughts and prayers.

I may get in trouble with my darling for this but I’m doing it anyway.

So Lou’s birthday was on Monday the 9th. We had a lovely dinner with the family, came home and had birthday cake and just relaxed for the evening. Around 1:30 AM Lou was having terrible pains in his stomach. So bad he was laying all curled up. Next thing I know he passed out and fell in the bathroom which is when I decided I should probably get him to the hospital.

Many people came into our house that night including Police officers, Fire Fighters and Paramedics.

Lou was taken to the local hospital where they got him stable, did some tests and decided to send him to a larger hospital in Ann Arbor where they did more tests and he spent a comfortable and wonderful 5 days. (I’m kidding about the comfortable and wonderful) Turns out he had had a heart attack.

He came home on Friday afternoon, and Saturday was uneventful.

Sunday he wasn’t feeling well. Monday morning around 4AM we decided he should go back to the hospital where they were very worried about him again. This time he got a helicopter ride to Ann Arbor. (I wonder how much that will cost.)

He got stabilized and they watched over him for two days. This time looks like a combination of an infection and some unwanted side affects of a couple of his new medications. Things seem better. He looks much better. He’s home now.

He will be taking some time off of work and not shoveling snow for a while. I am trying to stop worrying and get back to work.

I just wanted to take a moment and let you know that things are better and I will work on getting caught up with all of the work I let slide in the last 9 days.

In other news, I did get some spinning and knitting done in the hospital so that’s good!

Also, those little chair/beds they have there are not comfortable. And, hospital pillows suck.

As Promised Oh So Long Ago

Beth — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:34:44 +0000

December was a blur. There was so much to do. The new website is still being tweaked, I am always surprised by the amount of paperwork to be done at the end of the year, there was last minute shopping to do and the wrapping!

So my good intentions of getting the rest of the Henry Ford trip posted went by the wayside. But I am back and here it is along with some other happenings. Click the image to make it bigger.

Now I am mostly caught up though there are some spinny things to talk about next!

The Kids Built a Car

Beth — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:58:44 +0000

I had a ton more photos than I thought so I’m breaking this up.

We took a family trip to The Henry Ford. We all like it there. There are things that are interesting to adults and kids both.

This trip was because they have a special exhibit right now that is based on The Wizard of Oz and Maggie wanted to see it. We spent a total of 10 minutes in that exhibit. It was really for very young children, was a simple sciencey kind of thing directed at the 5 and under crowd in my opinion. It was also very loud and there were kids running wild everywhere. I don’t love that. So we went and did the things we love to d as well as something we’ve never been able to take part in before. The building of the Model T Ford.

Every night they take the car apart and the next day beginning when the museum opens they allow children to help reassemble the whole thing.

Thisis what the car looks like when the museum opens.

All the parts are around the edge of the room and they keep track of the assembly on the black board.

Each kid gets to put on one part and then you have to go away for a bit’ They don’t let just one family do it all. So we would go by and add a piece and go back every half hour or so and add another pat. There weren’t many people in the museum that day so the kids got to do a big part of the build.

It was really fun to watch and really fun for the kids and we got to learn a lot about the Model T. Though I forgot everything already. I can tell you that after the assembly line was put in place and the man hours were reduced per car that a car cost only about 3 months salary for an average US worker. I wish cars were still that cheap!

More about our visit next time.

Polypay

admin — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:58:14 +0000

Polypay sheep were developed in Idaho by a shepherd named Reed Hulet who needed to make a profit on his ranch. With some thought and education he began along with his brother, Doctor Clarence Hulet, to cross breeds of sheep which they thought would give them sheep with good body size, more lambs, and great wool.

They began in 1968 and by 1970 the Polypay breed was born.

Finn Sheep which are known for having multiple births with a short gestation period were crossed with Rambouillet sheep which have a nice heavy fleece.

Dorset sheep with good body size which had been born as twins or triplets were crossed with Targhee sheep which were a newer breed that had been developed for good body size and lovely fleece.

The sheep from these crosses were then crossed with each other. The resulting sheep mature quickly, have short gestational periods, and tend to have multiple births. This breed will produce two lamb crops and one wool crop per year. The name Polypay comes from the fact that there are multiple incomes from this breed.The American Polypay Sheep Association was formed in 1980.The fleece from Polypay sheep has a nice fine crimp and I would place it in the fine wools category due to its crimp and lock structure. Lock length in one year is usually about 3 inches.

The front lock has been washed and the rear locks are unwashed. About 9 crimps per inch in this beautiful fleece. The tips are a bit dirty but much of it came out in the washing and the rest will come out during processing and spinning.

Yarn spun from Polypay wool is bouncy and springy.

I made these yarns from Polypay fleece. All were spun in double drive on my Schacht Matchless and plyed using Scotch Tension on the same wheel.

On the far left is a 2 ply lace yarn which was spun worsted (twist was kept out of the fiber supply) from flicked locks. It is about 20 wraps per inch. The yarn feels crisp with a lot of body. It has a lovely luster which isn’t usually found in finer wools.

The next yarn is a 3 ply spun exactly the same way. It is about 18 wraps per inch with the singles matching the singles spun for the 2 ply. This yarn is a bit softer. Again, due to the worsted spinning technique its very shiny.

Next up still moving right is a 3 ply yarn which was flicked and spun woolen from the fold. When I say woolen from the fold I mean that the twist was allowed to enter the fiber supply. This yarn looks and feels warm to me. It is about 10 wraps per inch.

Finally on the far right is another 3 ply yarn at 7 wraps per inch. This yarn was also flicked but it was spun woolen from the cut end. It’s a lot fluffier and airier than even the yarn spun from the fold.

Polypay is a great fiber and many of the attributes of its ancestors are obvious in the way it looks and how it acts when it is being spun. I think the best attributes are the ones to come through.

Sheep photo courtesy of http://www.countrylovin.com/polypay/poly.html

Come visit!

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:13:19 +0000

And tell us how much you love the new website!

Halloween

admin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:44:00 +0000

Yep. It’s here. The day of the year that I hate the most. Too scary. I don;t like it. But I sprayed the kid’s hair black cause Harry Potter has black hair you know. I took the photos and went up to hide in my room while Lousmith takes the kids out to beg for candy and Chelsea hands out the treats.

Ryan is Harry Potter and Maggie is Luna Lovegood.

This is Maggie’s pumpkin. Two faces and a bit of yarn hair.

It looks like Ryan had a bit of help carving his face.

Aren’t they cute?

Now bring on November 1.

Weaving with Sara Lamb

admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:41:00 +0000

I’ve been taking weaving classes off and on for the last 5 years. I began because when I bought the Spinning Loft I became a seller of looms so I thought it would be a good idea to know how to use them.

My first project was warped in a twill with black Louet Gems Merino which is a lovely yarn. The weft was some recycled sari yarn that I beat too hard. So the two scarves I warped for were like boards.

Next was an overshot shawl which was beautiful but the yarn was 5/2 mercerized cotton so I thought it was too heavy and didn’t have the drape I wanted it to have.

Next I did a little sampler of Huck Lace from 20/2 white cotton. I loved it but didn’t pursue it any further. I really wanted to work with silk…

There were some towels and things through all of this that were gifts and were fine but I wasn’t dancing with joy.

In May of 2010 Denny came and helped me wind a warp on the back beam of my Baby Wolf. it took 8 hours. The yarn was Alpaca and it was very sticky and difficult. You can look at it here. It took many months for me to get it threaded after that and then when I began to weave, the threads began to break. I didn’t have enough experience or confidence to figure out what was going on. I asked a few people and seveeral of them said the yarn wasn’t good for weaving. I tried lots of things to fix it but was never completely successful. The loom spent many months folded with stuff piled on top.

Then Sara Lamb came to town.

That’s the sample I took off the loom. It’s about a yard long. I had woven about a half yard before she came and it made me cry. It took me months to weave that 1/2 yard. On Saturday I wove another half yard in just a couple of hours. I hem stitched one end of it and cut it off to look at it and finish it. That fabric above is exactly what I wanted! Drapey and soft and warm and a bit fuzzy.

I retied the rest of the warp and fixed some mistakes, figured out that the reason threads were breaking was because of twisted threads and threading mistakes. I’m cruising along very nicely now.

My edges are pretty nice, my weaving is pretty even, the twill is lovely. I’m a happy weaver.

In the midst of all this I learned a lot about yarn and what kind of yarns I want to spin for weaving. I am most interested in fine fabrics which drape beautifully that I can use to make clothing. I have plans now.

So while all of this was going on there was actually a class that I wasn’t participating in very well. It was about painted warps and weaving for clothing.

This is the table with the class materials. The colors!

And check out these looms!

That belongs to Wayne

Denny!

Lynmarie

Valerie

And Sara brought lots of samples for us to touch and look at and think about.

There are a ton of different materials and textures there.

Everybody made a ton of progress in the class.

Valerie ran into a lot of obstacles. You can read about her adventures here.

In the midst of all this I spun eight ounces of Lincoln singles for an upcoming project.

Denny and Sara entertained Maggie and Ryan at the hotel pool

Ryan slept late the next day.

Denny was cute as always….and bossy

And Sara…was Sara. Delightful and fun and full of information and knowledge that she shares freely with everyone who asks questions. If Sara Lamb comes to town, hurry and sign up for here class. No matter what the topic. You won’t regret it.

SOAR 2011

admin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:43:00 +0000

On October 1 I left for New Hampshire to go see friends I don’t get to see very often and learn some new things and also meet new friends. This year was different because this year I was a mentor at SOAR.

I began to prepare for SOAR all the way back in January. That’s when I got the email saying my proposal had been selected. After I took a moment trying to believe it was true then I began doing calculations about how much wool would be needed for the classes I had proposed. Then i talked to Carol about possibly working one day a week to help me wash the wool because it seemed an overwhelming thing…especially since I had been asked to also supply wool for Deb Robson‘s classes.

There is a three day class and we were going to cover 17 breeds. There are 16 students in the 3 day. that is more than 16 pounds clean right there (that would be about 24 pounds of unwashed fleece). There were also the retreat sessions. Each class had 18 students and there were 4 of those so 74 students and 4 breeds. That’s another almost 20 pounds of clean fleece.

There was the washing and the packaging and the labeling oh my! And then it was time to leave and I was a bit nervous.

The great thing was that as soon as I got there and saw that the 4 boxes I had shipped had arrived safely and I could set up my classroom I felt a lot better.

I have no photos of my classes. I’m not good at that. When I begin to teach, that is my focus and I forget about the fact that I have a blog. I did get some pictures from the Workshop Review which is always fun. It’s when we get the opportunity to see what all of the other classes were working on. So here are some photos of friends that were the least blurry since I was laughing and couldn’t manage to keep the camera still.

Deb Menz, Jacey Boggs and Sarah Wroot who brought me some British Wensleydale!

Stephenie Gaustad who is coming to teach in June and Sara Lamb who is coming to teach this week!

Michelle Boyd who is one of the great instructors at the Olds College Master Spinners Program and Jacey again.

Amy King and Evil Michelle!

Evil again and my favorite Bug Girl and some nutty person.

Gord Lendrum, who I spent a lot of time sucking up to, and Barry Schacht who already loves me and that Jacey again. (She was my room mate by the way)

Richard Ashford with Michelle Boyd spinning on the 30″ Elizabeth.

Dave Van Stralen from Louet

Jonathan Bosworth talking about his Chinese style reproduction wheel.

Kelly Rota spinning two threads at the same time on that wheel.

Barry Schacht checking out a Sidekick in the Spunky Eclectic booth.

Barry and Dave Paul from the Merlin Tree who is a fantastic wheel builder and the man I send all the people to when they need repairs or a new flyer or a reproduction Canadian Production wheel.

After all of these photos I was back to work singing lovely things about hand combing and longwools and so the picture taking stopped.

It was a fantastic time and though a little bit of nervous is a good thing I think, I was happy with how everything went and I hope that all of the people in my classes were happy and learned something new and maybe will begin to branch out in the types of wools they choose for projects.

Saturday night I missed the spin in because I accidentally fell asleep and didn’t wake up until it was over. Also, Saturday afternoon a reptile show was moving into the hotel. There were plenty of aquariums with snakes and lizards and turtles. I couldn’t check out fast enough on Sunday. I had a lot of terrible visions of snakes loose and lost in the hotel.

On Sunday I got in a car with Linda Ligon and Anita Osterhaug to take a drive to Connecticut for a meeting with the Andean Textile Arts Board. which happened all day Monday. We ate a lot of delicious food in Connecticut including some really really good pizza. Tuesday back to New Hampshire and flying home.

This church is in New Haven Connecticut on the edge of the Yale Campus. I dream of someday living in a beautiful church like this. Someday I’ll tell you about it.

Anyway, on Wednesday I did nothing. On Thursday I went to the shop and did almost nothing. I feel like I’m still trying to recover! But it was a wonderful time and I would definitely do it again and again.