From here to there
I’m obsessing over my spinning. From here to there – fleece, to roving, to yarn. We do make a varied product from fine to rough, coarse to fine. Impressive! I never in my wildest dream thought I would spin yarn. Colleen does. Did. And she introduced me to the art. Am I good? Who knows? It’s all relative. I am not a machine and cannot produce fine yarn all even and uniform. It is the imperfection that make it handmade and special. No two skeins are the same. And who would buy it? Would I ever sell it? Ha ha! Currently, I have four spinning wheels in production with various fiber rovings we have washed and carded. Unless you spin the terms mean nothing to you. It is like the language of photography with f-stops and ISO. No matter. It is the photo and the yarn – the end product – which garners the attention and interest.
Since I met Colleen it has been a very interesting journey…
Stash
The term “stash’ refers to the accumulation of yarn and fiber a spinner, weaver, or knitter accrues in anticipation of a project as yet undetermined. You might get where this thought process is going. It is like a proverbial savings account… the bigger the better.
I idly spoke with Colleen… guilty! We have fiber related things in every room of the house including but not limited to – the bedroom (looms); the bathroom (spinning wheel); basement ( fiber, loom, etc); elevator (yes, an elevator, full of fiber); studio (looms, fiber); office (spinning wheels, fiber); living room (assorted everything); dining room (spinning wheels); kitchen … do I need to go on?
Oh gee! It all snuck up upon us with our realizing we are pretty much overrun by fiber related things. I did not label the rooms for you. Suffice to say we have an embarrassment of materials and equipment. It’s not my fault. I am simply the “getaway driver.” Yeah yeah, no one would believe that I do not aid and abet Colleen’s obsession. Ummm… did I mention (did you notice) the bathroom? The foyer?
There was the old saying: “He who has the most toys when he dies, wins.”
Out of the blue
Colleen is my “laundry fairy.” All my clothes disappear and return to my drawer clean about once a week…. She makes me go to her guild meetings. She has me demonstrate spinning at her fiber festivals. I get to wear the product of her weaving skills. She let me have another cat (eight). …loves to eat out.
Ginny called Colleen. Ginny, too, is reading my blog. She called – out of the blue – to thank Colleen for taking care of me. Did I mention Ginny is the “little sister” who gets kicked to the side and ignored by Don and myself? Don? Don’t ask. Big girl panties. He once got Ginny a pair – size 99 extra large – as a joke(cheap, at Walmart). We do love her dearly, but we would never ever tell her. (Shhhhh…)
So, out of the blue, Ginny called Colleen to thank her. Touching. Sweet. Touching. Have I, did I, mention that all love is appreciated. Thanks kid.
Where do you go?
Vacation. Do you go to factories? Ok, call it a fiber mill. They make cloth. How exciting. Yeah, it knocked my socks off too.
But, you do what your wife wants. I do. You might. Might not. I do. It’s better for happiness. And sometimes you are pleasantly surprised. Me? It was a photo op. For better or worse. Better? I have to admit an industrial sized bobbin is big! Ok, not factory, fiber mill.
What’s in yours?
Ha ha. My Lightroom catalog reflects what is in my life. Of course! Family! Love. Life. Food. Sunrise. Sunset. Cats. Antique stores. Flowers. Sheep. Fiber. I state the obvious. There is so much. No going back. I wish…. I miss Lulu (Saudi). I love Feather and Spice. …and Colleen. Transformational. Colleen has made all of life worth living these days. I hope the day never ends.
Insanity
… doing the same thing over and over … hoping for a different result. We got another fleece to wash … spin. Yes, nuts! It’s spring, time to plant. Eating out is good. Colleen took flight on St Pat’s day. We had a reservation. 30 minutes later we were seated. It was a local place, definitely not worth the effort. Dinner with the cousins, priceless. And, the cats keep getting images into my camera.
Inspiration
Pictures? I don’t try to overthink. Good pics seem to stand out. A story? Feather’s mouse. The cats all seem to have habits. Some of my cats have favorite toys. Other cats are oblivious. Feather has battered the stuffing out of her favorite mouse toy. She brings it to us as well. It’s all part of her game. There’s no telling what the cats are thinking. I hope they appreciate that we love and care for them. Feather and Spice are identical except for their paw markings. Behaviors and favorite spots can sometimes help distinguish one from the other. I have no complaint. I get hugs from both.
Home again
We are officially full – in this house. Carol makes fun how much “stuff” we accumulate. We are gonna need a bigger car – this thought occurred to me more than once during our trip. So, I/we shipped home three big boxes. Fleece and fiber compress. You can’t keep it compressed forever. Like a fart, it expands to fill the room it is released into. And the beer! It rode in the car. I don’t drink. Ha ha. The cats were happy to see us once again. Nutley settled into a basket of yarn. Spice got into a bin, too small, next to the beer. The living room shows a partial series of spinning wheels. How many does one spinner need? Another fleece(s)? Bags and bags covered the table. OMG. Good and rare one and all, we have a collection of fiber you don’t go and find easily, if at all. I suppose I will have to start spinning again… and drinking beer…. for the team.
Color
Define white. You would naturally describe it in terms of what we identify as white. A white wall, white paper, white box, white flower. All different? Oh, so shades – light white, bright white, gray white, yellowish white… Ha! It’s not so easy. Avocado pits/skins and cherry pits will dye fiber pink. Each skein comes out subtly different from the next. But they are all pink in total. Subtle, barely distinguishable from one another, it’s the same for flowers. Time of day, sun or shade, will all change the color I capture in my camera. The color and the details and the focus are even subtly different from one image to the next. My image is captured in a fraction of a second. The moment passes and the scene has changed. What’s white?
Killt
That would be past tense of killed. I’m a dead husband after this post. Oh well… we laugh a lot around here. What do you do during a pandemic and you’re home alone? My brother was once a stock day trader from home dealing with the big stock brokers and would laugh to trade shares over the phone wearing just his underwear. Yeah yeah, you get where I’m going. Someone got distracted early one morning and started winding a warp before breakfast. I don’t think there’s any family who follows my blog regularly. They will (all, I hope) miss this. Meanwhile, just about any and everybody else in the world will know.
Que? … that we have and eat healthy fruit – banana, grapefruit, apple …. you’re all peering at the background, right?
Me? Dead ham. I’m dead ham. If I didn’t mention you’d never notice….
Background
As long as we are talking technique, let me mention background. Most folks forget to look at the clutter in the background. You know, the stuff behind your subject. … like the light pole sticking out of some loved one’s head. Clutter. Distraction. Ha! I often find myself looking at the background to see the clutter that got “snuck” into someone else’s photo. Oh well, no one likes a messy background. It’s distracting and shows that you were not paying attention when you tried to focus on your foreground subject.
No one likes a cluttered messy home. “Minimalist” is “in” these days. Me, us, we seem to have accumulated an assortment of weaving and spinning things that would do any shopkeeper proud. Nice stuff. Displayed. We do work with most of the stuff you can see. (There’s more!!) Since, we are not entertaining in the near future, anything goes. A lot of fiber equipment is out and in use. This is not a display so much as it is a workshop of “in progress” projects. It’s home. And, it feels like it, though I laugh because not even the cats can make a straight line across the room.
… two spinning wheels, two looms, winder, lazy kate, carder, great wheel, fiber, ball winder… we’re not showing off. We – mostly Colleen – have many projects simultaneously in progress. …and, nary a cat in sight. And, I daresay any picture (in this room) unless it’s a closeup will have distracting background to be considered.
First ply
After you spin, you ply. That is, you combine two single spin fibers into a plied yarn. You can ply more, but two is good. And this looks good to the untrained eye. There are plenty of defects. I’m not sure what we can do with it. That would be for Colleen to decide. But this skein is ready to go. I hope. As in, I hope it will be put into some project and not just sit around looking pretty (not).
Second spin
After the first, I kept at it, moved on, and tried to improve. It’s mileage. The more you spin, the better you feel the fiber in your hands. Ha ha. It’s a zen thing. And I got better. Of course, the first was worst, so there was only better to go. And indeed, I am. Ha! I am my own worst critic. It’s only that honesty is a necessary trait in order to improve. I’m not prime time yet. But, there is a great promise. No, one cannot achieve what the industrial mechanical machinery can spin. But, I am happy with imperfections of handmade, custom made home spun yarn. I suspect time will tell as I get better. We have a good many spinning wheels both antique and modern. At least they are all in use.
The bullet
By default I am becoming a spinner. There are spinning wheels and there are spinning wheels. To me they are like rental cars. I’ve never driven a Porsche. But I can drive a car. Aren’t they all alike? Ha ha! But true enough, I eat to live not live to eat. Mostly. Spinning is getting to the product – yarn. When you look at a skein you don’t know what wheel it was spun on. But I suppose you can have a lot of fun getting there. it’s too early for me to be able to appreciate the differences. Now, if we were to discuss cameras… well, right about now, I have more than a few. And they all have a role in different circumstances. I might use one differently depending on the subject or lighting. Perhaps someday I will know spinning wheels too.
Washed up
I’ve been processing raw fleece, the kind just fresh off the sheep. ? These pictures are ones only a spinner or weaver would really appreciate. Well, the process begins with pasture and feeding. If your sheep lies in straw, there will be lots of shit and straw and bits in the fleece. Have you noticed that wool is very curly stuff. Imagine the tangles you have without cream rinse in your hair? Some folks raise their sheep in grass and there’s nothing (debris) in the wool. Even better, keep your sheep in a coat. Then there’s little extraneous stuff at all. As you can imagine the price rises with each step of caution. Some fleece will sell upwards of $20 per pound. A finished spun ounce ready to knit or weave can cost around $8 and up. If you lose 50% of a fleece to waste, you are still ahead of the game. It’s all complicated in the processing. I won’t bore you. If you have read to this point, keep in mind that there is a lot of washing and that there is much that can go wrong to ruin an entire batch. Just skip ahead and use the end product.
In many ways it’s like photography. You can press the button and press “print” and you are all done. Don’t bother with the process. I started “cheap” and “on a severe budget.” Load your own film, develop your own film, and print your own images. Black and white, and later, color, it’s economical. Or you can look at it that you controlled your own process. The big driver for me was the $.
The fleece you see starts as locks. You know, Goldilocks. And it needs to be separated, cleaned, and washed. This stuff was a dream. It washed up pure white and fluffy as a cloud. Amazing stuff!! I’ve been washing a lot of fleece lately. It’s got a lot of lanolin. It’s got lots of “bits.” This stuff washed up like a dream. Lucky! Funny, it wasn’t that expensive to purchase. Lucky again! Trust me, we felted, and tossed out lots of other fleece. That’s built-in waste. When you get stuff this good and easy, it’s so tempting to turn to going the easy path. Nope, I’m still cleaning. No more film, no more darkroom, I’m processing fleece by hand. There’s satisfaction in it. If you read all the way to the end – congratulations, you know how to process a fleece. Otherwise, just go to the store and get your stuff off the rack. We do both now. Options are good.
Felt
What’s felt? Well you have probably felt felt. It’s a soft material. The definition is more like: take some raw wool and put it under pressure and rub; the fibers will lock and form a sheet of material. Or you may use a needle to lock the material into shapes. How about a giraffe, or a dragon, or a heron? Yup, she did all of that and more. It was enormous 9as in more then 15 feet in size) and she demurred on how long it took to do the giraffe. I’d have lost interest long before the neck ever got done. Hey, it’s art! My (felt) hat’s off to you.
Yar(w)n
In order to get yarn you start with a sheared fleece. The fleece is washed. It’s turned into roving. Then, it’s spun. After that you knit or weave. If you skip the spinning, you can felt. Felt? The would be pressing the fibers together until they form a sheet of fiber all on their own. Like art, this is the raw material for creating a myriad of things. I’m more interested in the process than in creating art. People like came to buy the raw materials. Sometimes it’s the journey more than the destination. It’s all here. If you know fiber – ie spin and weave or knit – then you recognized the various states I mention. Otherwise, enjoy the patterns and color.
Baaa…
Maryland Sheep and Wool – Festival. Say it and it’s an instant party. There was a huge crowd. The ominous weather forecast did nothing to lessen the attendance. Folks are a bit quirky. I don’t see knitting and sheep tattoos every day. Who spins in a dinosaur costume? Look closely. Bring your kids. The poor kid in the wagon was shivering. It’s a whole lot easier to carry your kid. There was no room to maneuver a stroller. Yes, it was that crowded.
Back in the OR
I made these (heddles and the jig)! The jig was supposed to look more professional. This is the experiment – the jig made out of scrap before the final design is agreed upon. Heddles? Any weaver knows. They are made commercially. But we have an old barn loom. The request was for a handmade look. I’ve made/built the harnesses. Why not go ahead and make a jig for heddles too? Are you with me? No? Don’t fret. I have to tie the 8/2 cotton with (surgical) knots to create a hole/eye at the top, bottom, and middle. They need to be consistent. i.e. they need to be uniform. Damn! It ain’t easy. But yes! I started tying the heddles up and realized that my precision tying surgical knots gave me a distinct advantage. Don’t ask. I started. Then I was told there were four harnesses and that each harness required 200 heddles each. Maybe 400. But 200 for now. Per/each! Damn! I got myself into a load of work. Maybe I should make a nicer jig. Nah! No! That would change the eye holes. Yarggggh! Oh well! I’m back to work (OR). Remember that book? – Everything I learned in life, I learned in kinder garten. The very good news is that this operation can take days/weeks as opposed to an operation which is finished in the same calendar day. Oh yeah! I bet you have trouble even knowing what a heddle is? I’ve got about 750 to do as I write this post. Oh boy oh boy…
Motion – Focus
One shot. Grab shot. Street photography. There’s nothing pretty. It’s out of focus. I did not get another image. The woman modeling was clowning around up and down the aisle at the fair. She pirouetted as the dress maker shot video. Lighting was simply not up to getting a motion stopping image. But, the image was enough to catch my eye as I edited. Sometimes you miss by that much…or, you are just that close….
Fiber Festival
It’s “fiber.” That includes knitting and weaving. There are lots of knitters. There are fewer weavers and spinners. The two groups are pretty separate skills. So, it’s called fiber to get everyone to gather under one roof. Angora fiber can be spun straight from the rabbit. It’s fussy enough that the fiber is quite expensive. The sticks are scarf/shawl pins. If you need to ask, you don’t wear them. And, this takes me to the question of taxidermy. How do you stuff a trophy fish? It looks fake to me. That’s the trick I suppose. The plaque says it was a caught fish. It sure looks artificial. But then again, I’m no fisherman. Onward… to the next fiber fair. Hey! It’s been a while since I did a post with a fish. I guess this is not the case now. But…
Racks
Built them. Me. It was another simple (learning) project. Ha ha, you can’t even see the wood (mistakes). We have a lot of cones of yarn. Projects line up. You can never have enough “stash.” Just ask any weaver. I’ve been to a few estate sales. There were tons of cones on sale for pennies on the dollar. I would have to say that the cones move from home to home circulating from weaver to weaver. Sometimes things are made… Anyway, there is a lot of stuff and an excellent color palette. And I hope some product is forthcoming. Meanwhile it’s nice to see color in the room. Oh! The cords are all up out of the reach of the cats.
Silk
New! We took apart silk worm cocoons. Yeah! That’s an actual worm inside. Don’t ask. PETA will be all over me. I eat meat too. Steak! Ham! Chicken! I’m not against them. (Ambiguous?)
Okay, soak the cocoons and then wind the silk off. I watched the YouTube. And then we screwed it all up. What I know? Wet warm water. A single fiber has great pull apart strength. We started with a couple – three strands and got it up to six or so. It worked pretty well. It looks a mess but in a beautiful way. Now too wash and then process. It’s not over. More to come…
How’d They Do That?
It beats me? This cloth was crafted with the little mountains. Oddly mesmerizing, I was amazed at the ingenuity. How’d they think of that? Brilliant!
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