#handspinning — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #handspinning, aggregated by home.social.
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I think it's technically a rest day for #TourDeFleece but whatever. These singles have too much twist (on purpose) and they'll turn into a fun boucle.
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I think it's technically a rest day for #TourDeFleece but whatever. These singles have too much twist (on purpose) and they'll turn into a fun boucle.
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#TourDeFleece Stage 15
Tonight I spun Exmoor Horn, which according to Fleece & Fiber is "a meat breed, so their wool is an interesting, overlooked by-product. Wool data is scarce." The book's hands-on description comes from a single sample that "felt very crisp, nearly crunchy, with some spring to it."I'm not sure if I'd call the fiber I got crunchy, but it is definitely not as soft as the Lonk I spun last night. The fibers were long (6") and relatively straight, more than I'd expect from the photo in F&F.
It was quite easy to spin! (F&F notes this too.) I easily got into a smooth rhythm of semi-woolen long-draw (long, slow drafting, but with lots of little releases of twist along the way). I was able to get even results, thicker than my usual fur singles. Kemp was rare enough that I didn't mind pausing to pick it out as I came across it.
However, F&F suggests a worsted spin, so I did a bit of inchworming the last ~25%, which also was nice and smooth, and tended towards finer singles even though I tried to keep it thicker. Sadly, I didn't mark the transition between the two, because now I want to ply the woolen and worsted singles independently to see how they compare. I guess I'll just have to see if I can spot it by eye.
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#TourDeFleece Stage 15
Tonight I spun Exmoor Horn, which according to Fleece & Fiber is "a meat breed, so their wool is an interesting, overlooked by-product. Wool data is scarce." The book's hands-on description comes from a single sample that "felt very crisp, nearly crunchy, with some spring to it."I'm not sure if I'd call the fiber I got crunchy, but it is definitely not as soft as the Lonk I spun last night. The fibers were long (6") and relatively straight, more than I'd expect from the photo in F&F.
It was quite easy to spin! (F&F notes this too.) I easily got into a smooth rhythm of semi-woolen long-draw (long, slow drafting, but with lots of little releases of twist along the way). I was able to get even results, thicker than my usual fur singles. Kemp was rare enough that I didn't mind pausing to pick it out as I came across it.
However, F&F suggests a worsted spin, so I did a bit of inchworming the last ~25%, which also was nice and smooth, and tended towards finer singles even though I tried to keep it thicker. Sadly, I didn't mark the transition between the two, because now I want to ply the woolen and worsted singles independently to see how they compare. I guess I'll just have to see if I can spot it by eye.
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was jonesing for a proper bouclé spin after yesterday's whoopsie, so I pulled out a trash batt and made sixty yards of sheepy silliness.
I'll make something pretty tomorrow.
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was jonesing for a proper bouclé spin after yesterday's whoopsie, so I pulled out a trash batt and made sixty yards of sheepy silliness.
I'll make something pretty tomorrow.
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Of the eight breeds in the fiber samplers I got, the Swaledale was the worst for kemp. These are the thick, white fibers in this photo, often with sharp kinks.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This is what Fleece and Fiber has to suggest for what to do with yarn from this breed:
"Make yourself a hair shirt, or something more appropriate, like a bag or lined jacket or rug. Some people may be able to handle Swaledale in a hat, but don't plan on it for a sweater." 🤣
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Of the eight breeds in the fiber samplers I got, the Swaledale was the worst for kemp. These are the thick, white fibers in this photo, often with sharp kinks.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This is what Fleece and Fiber has to suggest for what to do with yarn from this breed:
"Make yourself a hair shirt, or something more appropriate, like a bag or lined jacket or rug. Some people may be able to handle Swaledale in a hat, but don't plan on it for a sweater." 🤣
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Stage #14 (yesterday)
A year ago I picked up the 2022 and 2023 "Conservation Breed Fiber Bundles" from The Woolery, which contain 250g of top from Devon, Exmoor Horn, Manx Loaghtan, Welsh, Wenslydale, Swaledale, and Jacob, plus 500g of Lonk. I've done nothing with them since, but now seemed a good time to do so!I measured out 50g (1.8 oz) of each with the plan to just spin each one and experience the differences in the fibers. Simply handling them demonstrated just how different each is from the others! I chose 50g as it was a perfect amount to spin on my Nano's 2 oz bobbins, leaving the EEW 6.1 free for other projects. Or so I thought!
I started with the plentiful Lonk because it felt the best pairing for husky fur in future blendings: soft and fluffy and very white. However, I REALLY fought with the Nano, trying to get the speed and tension right. I just could NOT get it to take up properly! After getting through about 1/3, I gave up on that setup, but in one final act of desperation I tried putting the Nano bobbin on the 6.1 and it fit! I was able to continue with much better control over tension.
I managed to get in some pretty decent long-draw drafting and finished the batch. I was trying for a bit thicker, loftier yarn than I'm used to with dog fur, and I'm pretty happy with the final results. There are still some thin sections I might have gone back and fixed, but I kept these in as part of the learning process.
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Stage #14 (yesterday)
A year ago I picked up the 2022 and 2023 "Conservation Breed Fiber Bundles" from The Woolery, which contain 250g of top from Devon, Exmoor Horn, Manx Loaghtan, Welsh, Wenslydale, Swaledale, and Jacob, plus 500g of Lonk. I've done nothing with them since, but now seemed a good time to do so!I measured out 50g (1.8 oz) of each with the plan to just spin each one and experience the differences in the fibers. Simply handling them demonstrated just how different each is from the others! I chose 50g as it was a perfect amount to spin on my Nano's 2 oz bobbins, leaving the EEW 6.1 free for other projects. Or so I thought!
I started with the plentiful Lonk because it felt the best pairing for husky fur in future blendings: soft and fluffy and very white. However, I REALLY fought with the Nano, trying to get the speed and tension right. I just could NOT get it to take up properly! After getting through about 1/3, I gave up on that setup, but in one final act of desperation I tried putting the Nano bobbin on the 6.1 and it fit! I was able to continue with much better control over tension.
I managed to get in some pretty decent long-draw drafting and finished the batch. I was trying for a bit thicker, loftier yarn than I'm used to with dog fur, and I'm pretty happy with the final results. There are still some thin sections I might have gone back and fixed, but I kept these in as part of the learning process.
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I forgot to take pictures during the spinning (mostly because I usually spun in the evenings when there's horrible light), and now it's already plied and off the bobbin.
Looks like a mess at this stage, because one of the singles is spun in ply direction so it's heavily overplied and thus making all those curls and pigtails. It's insanely springy yarn.
Let's see how it behaves after washing and a good thwacking
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I forgot to take pictures during the spinning (mostly because I usually spun in the evenings when there's horrible light), and now it's already plied and off the bobbin.
Looks like a mess at this stage, because one of the singles is spun in ply direction so it's heavily overplied and thus making all those curls and pigtails. It's insanely springy yarn.
Let's see how it behaves after washing and a good thwacking
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I forgot to take pictures during the spinning (mostly because I usually spun in the evenings when there's horrible light), and now it's already plied and off the bobbin.
Looks like a mess at this stage, because one of the singles is spun in ply direction so it's heavily overplied and thus making all those curls and pigtails. It's insanely springy yarn.
Let's see how it behaves after washing and a good thwacking
-
I forgot to take pictures during the spinning (mostly because I usually spun in the evenings when there's horrible light), and now it's already plied and off the bobbin.
Looks like a mess at this stage, because one of the singles is spun in ply direction so it's heavily overplied and thus making all those curls and pigtails. It's insanely springy yarn.
Let's see how it behaves after washing and a good thwacking
-
I forgot to take pictures during the spinning (mostly because I usually spun in the evenings when there's horrible light), and now it's already plied and off the bobbin.
Looks like a mess at this stage, because one of the singles is spun in ply direction so it's heavily overplied and thus making all those curls and pigtails. It's insanely springy yarn.
Let's see how it behaves after washing and a good thwacking
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Ply day. A looooong one to free up two of my little bobbins.
Malachite, to match the skein in front (or there abouts). It’s a different blend/dye lot, so to make a tee with reasonable consistency, I’ll need to combine the two lots. The least-filled bobbin is plied back on itself.
Merino/silk/bamboo/tencel (37.5/25/25/12.5) which was awful slippery both to spin and ply.
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Ply day. A looooong one to free up two of my little bobbins.
Malachite, to match the skein in front (or there abouts). It’s a different blend/dye lot, so to make a tee with reasonable consistency, I’ll need to combine the two lots. The least-filled bobbin is plied back on itself.
Merino/silk/bamboo/tencel (37.5/25/25/12.5) which was awful slippery both to spin and ply.
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Ply day. A looooong one to free up two of my little bobbins.
Malachite, to match the skein in front (or there abouts). It’s a different blend/dye lot, so to make a tee with reasonable consistency, I’ll need to combine the two lots. The least-filled bobbin is plied back on itself.
Merino/silk/bamboo/tencel (37.5/25/25/12.5) which was awful slippery both to spin and ply.
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#TourDeFleece I was going to boucle this but I forgot how to do the first plying step and I did not bother to read my notes so it's just a simple spiral ply. it's pretty like this. it'll weave up into something interesting if Rosie doesn't steal it and hide it in her stash (seems likely)
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#TourDeFleece I was going to boucle this but I forgot how to do the first plying step and I did not bother to read my notes so it's just a simple spiral ply. it's pretty like this. it'll weave up into something interesting if Rosie doesn't steal it and hide it in her stash (seems likely)
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#TourDeFleece I was going to boucle this but I forgot how to do the first plying step and I did not bother to read my notes so it's just a simple spiral ply. it's pretty like this. it'll weave up into something interesting if Rosie doesn't steal it and hide it in her stash (seems likely)
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#TourDeFleece I was going to boucle this but I forgot how to do the first plying step and I did not bother to read my notes so it's just a simple spiral ply. it's pretty like this. it'll weave up into something interesting if Rosie doesn't steal it and hide it in her stash (seems likely)
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#TourDeFleece I was going to boucle this but I forgot how to do the first plying step and I did not bother to read my notes so it's just a simple spiral ply. it's pretty like this. it'll weave up into something interesting if Rosie doesn't steal it and hide it in her stash (seems likely)
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After washing, now a bit fluffed up and fully relaxed.
Still don't know how many meters I have, I'm dreading counting the strands ... I think I bought a fishing line counter a few years back. Didn't get it to work properly and forgot about it. Maybe time to figure it out, finally.
At the moment in thinking about weaving with the yarn, a wide stole with a complex twill ...
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After washing, now a bit fluffed up and fully relaxed.
Still don't know how many meters I have, I'm dreading counting the strands ... I think I bought a fishing line counter a few years back. Didn't get it to work properly and forgot about it. Maybe time to figure it out, finally.
At the moment in thinking about weaving with the yarn, a wide stole with a complex twill ...
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After washing, now a bit fluffed up and fully relaxed.
Still don't know how many meters I have, I'm dreading counting the strands ... I think I bought a fishing line counter a few years back. Didn't get it to work properly and forgot about it. Maybe time to figure it out, finally.
At the moment in thinking about weaving with the yarn, a wide stole with a complex twill ...
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After washing, now a bit fluffed up and fully relaxed.
Still don't know how many meters I have, I'm dreading counting the strands ... I think I bought a fishing line counter a few years back. Didn't get it to work properly and forgot about it. Maybe time to figure it out, finally.
At the moment in thinking about weaving with the yarn, a wide stole with a complex twill ...
-
After washing, now a bit fluffed up and fully relaxed.
Still don't know how many meters I have, I'm dreading counting the strands ... I think I bought a fishing line counter a few years back. Didn't get it to work properly and forgot about it. Maybe time to figure it out, finally.
At the moment in thinking about weaving with the yarn, a wide stole with a complex twill ...
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Lagoon, and an unknown gifted half braid, both from Golden Fleece Studio on Etsy as usual.
Lagoon is a merino/silk 75/25 blend, and my favourite colours - dark teal and black.The unknown one definitely has silk and/or bamboo in it, but in very short clumps at times. Probably on a merino base as it spun similarly to the other blends from this studio. Calling it Summer Skies - mostly blue with wispy white clouds and the black/brown hint of storms.
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Lagoon, and an unknown gifted half braid, both from Golden Fleece Studio on Etsy as usual.
Lagoon is a merino/silk 75/25 blend, and my favourite colours - dark teal and black.The unknown one definitely has silk and/or bamboo in it, but in very short clumps at times. Probably on a merino base as it spun similarly to the other blends from this studio. Calling it Summer Skies - mostly blue with wispy white clouds and the black/brown hint of storms.
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Lagoon, and an unknown gifted half braid, both from Golden Fleece Studio on Etsy as usual.
Lagoon is a merino/silk 75/25 blend, and my favourite colours - dark teal and black.The unknown one definitely has silk and/or bamboo in it, but in very short clumps at times. Probably on a merino base as it spun similarly to the other blends from this studio. Calling it Summer Skies - mostly blue with wispy white clouds and the black/brown hint of storms.
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Lagoon, and an unknown gifted half braid, both from Golden Fleece Studio on Etsy as usual.
Lagoon is a merino/silk 75/25 blend, and my favourite colours - dark teal and black.The unknown one definitely has silk and/or bamboo in it, but in very short clumps at times. Probably on a merino base as it spun similarly to the other blends from this studio. Calling it Summer Skies - mostly blue with wispy white clouds and the black/brown hint of storms.
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#TourDeFleece its friday-plyday and I have two fresh skeins ready for a bath.
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#TourDeFleece its friday-plyday and I have two fresh skeins ready for a bath.
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#TourDeFleece its friday-plyday and I have two fresh skeins ready for a bath.
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#TourDeFleece its friday-plyday and I have two fresh skeins ready for a bath.
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#TourDeFleece its friday-plyday and I have two fresh skeins ready for a bath.
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My Tour de Fleece progress so far: 200 grams of Veluws heideschaap and 9x20 grams of the Shetland/tussah silk mix of this years TdF box from @Spinspul #TourDeFleece2026 #TourDeFleece #Handspinning #Handspun
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My Tour de Fleece progress so far: 200 grams of Veluws heideschaap and 9x20 grams of the Shetland/tussah silk mix of this years TdF box from @Spinspul #TourDeFleece2026 #TourDeFleece #Handspinning #Handspun
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My Tour de Fleece progress so far: 200 grams of Veluws heideschaap and 9x20 grams of the Shetland/tussah silk mix of this years TdF box from @Spinspul #TourDeFleece2026 #TourDeFleece #Handspinning #Handspun
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My Tour de Fleece progress so far: 200 grams of Veluws heideschaap and 9x20 grams of the Shetland/tussah silk mix of this years TdF box from @Spinspul #TourDeFleece2026 #TourDeFleece #Handspinning #Handspun
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Depth - although, I prefer Ripples for the shadow/light in the yarn. Merino/tussah silk, and a gorgeously smooth spin.
#handspinning #tourdefleece2026 #tourdefleece -
Depth - although, I prefer Ripples for the shadow/light in the yarn. Merino/tussah silk, and a gorgeously smooth spin.
#handspinning #tourdefleece2026 #tourdefleece -
Depth - although, I prefer Ripples for the shadow/light in the yarn. Merino/tussah silk, and a gorgeously smooth spin.
#handspinning #tourdefleece2026 #tourdefleece -
Depth - although, I prefer Ripples for the shadow/light in the yarn. Merino/tussah silk, and a gorgeously smooth spin.
#handspinning #tourdefleece2026 #tourdefleece -
I wish plying was not so tedious. It doesn't take nearly as long as spinning the singles but it's _boring_ and that's worse.
I like how this is turning out though. that blue-green is pretty.
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I wish plying was not so tedious. It doesn't take nearly as long as spinning the singles but it's _boring_ and that's worse.
I like how this is turning out though. that blue-green is pretty.
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I wish plying was not so tedious. It doesn't take nearly as long as spinning the singles but it's _boring_ and that's worse.
I like how this is turning out though. that blue-green is pretty.
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I wish plying was not so tedious. It doesn't take nearly as long as spinning the singles but it's _boring_ and that's worse.
I like how this is turning out though. that blue-green is pretty.
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I wish plying was not so tedious. It doesn't take nearly as long as spinning the singles but it's _boring_ and that's worse.
I like how this is turning out though. that blue-green is pretty.