Sooza's Knitting Stuff

Spring is slowly making an appearance in our neck of the woods. Very slowly indeed. After a few days of sunny weather and 8°C we're back in the below zero region but thankfully no more snow on the ground. Still a bit of snow in the air and the occasional sleet shower though. Somehow winter doesn't want to let go this year.


 

 

 
Meanwhile I've discovered Russian Lace Spindles and I've been practicing support spinning for the past month or so. They are a curious thing, these support spindles. Traditionally they were used to spin very fine, short fibers like goat down for example. While in other regions spindles like these were used as hand spindles without a special support device in Russia's Orenburg region they were used with support bowls.


 
Spinning on a supported spindle requires mastery of the long draw technique. Which essentially means one hand twirls the spindle and the other hand lightly grips the fiber supply and gradually draws back from the spindle thus creating a thread. Long draw can also be used on a wheel or a suspended spindle. But this long draw and I we've never gotten along all that well in the past. Somehow it goes against the control freak in me. I've always ended up with lumpy, uneven singles that lost it's integrity halfway through the spinning process. Which was fine by me. I could always use short draw and end up with a lovely, even yarn. I've never had the patience to try long enough to maybe get better at it. But with support spindles there is no excuse. No way around learning long draw. So that's what I did. I sat back on the sofa, spinning bowl in my lap and started to practice long draw.


 
The thing with long draw is: You gotta let go. No gripping the fiber supply too tightly. No anxious concentration on making your yarn. I tend to cramp up and try too hard to force my will onto the fiber. This won't work for support spindling. Just let go and let the spindle and fiber do their thing. So far I still have to constantly remind myself to ease up and let go. But sitting reclined in your favourite lounge chair or comfy sofa helps a lot in this regard.


 
Support spinning is fun. It's kind of addictive and a lot more relaxing and slow going than any other spinning method I've tried so far. But a little tuft of fiber will probably get you the most spinning fun you've ever had. And today there are a few very talented wood workers who make such lovely tools, you will be hard pressed to choose because they are all so pretty.

 
Spindle Makers

Lisa Chan from The Gripping Yarn - Lisa's signature are spindles that are slightly more rounded and bit curvier than the classical Russian style spindle. I love her work. The Walnut spindle I got from her feels gorgeous and is an absolute delight to work with. She does mostly custom orders and will gladly try to accommodate individual wishes for a particular wood or weight. Lisa is super nice to work with.

The Spanish Peacock - Mike's spindles come closer to the look of those traditional Russian spindles. Clean, hard lines and a super polished surface as well as beautiful exotic woods are characteristic for his work. So far I've got two of his Russian spindles and they are wonderful spinners.

Ed Tabachek - Ed's spindles have been available longest from all spindle makers I know. I think his work has done the most for bringing support spinning back into the spinning community. His spindles are available in two sizes, the smaller for spinning and the larger ones for plying in the Russian/Orenburg way. As far as I know his spindles are available through certain dealers only. My Tabachek is a large plying spindle that I got from The Wheel Thing. It can be uses as any other support spindle though and is not restricted to plying.

Tom Forrester - Tom's spindles have been around for a while now. I haven't encountered his Russian spindles all that often though. Gemini Fibers lists Russian spindles as part of his spindle repertoire. They very much look like the traditional Russian spindles.

Grizzly Mountain Arts - I've come across this very talented maker of needle and fiber arts tools only recently via Ravelry and Etsy. His work is equisite and his spindles are very much sought after. If you see a spindle appear in his Etsy shop you can be sure it will gone in the blink of an eye. I placed a custom order for a Tibetan spindle with him and was not disappointed in the least. So I guess if you want to have one of Dave's spindles for your collection placing a custom order is the way to go.
 

 

My favourite videos on support spinning

• Spinning on an Orenburg Spindle by Vereteno


• Russian Spindle Techniques by Beth Smith from the Spinning Loft


• Spinning on a supported spindle by Amanda


• Lhamo spins


• Lhamo spins more


• Tibetan Handcraft

Annotation: Nannette's note in the comments reminded me of one spindle maker that I had forgotten in my little article. She is right of course. A Spinner's Lair can be found on Etsy and their speciality is using reclaimed woods and give them a second life as fiber arts tools. They make different kinds of support spindles, matching bowls and regular drop spindles, too.

This little shawl is obviously the most knitted project from the newest Knitty issue. As of today Ravelry lists 379 projects and counting. When I first browsed this issue it was this pattern that instantly caught my eyes. And I was totally set to knit it in the original yarn - Malabrigo Lace Merino. Alas, I kinda got side-tracked by one of my older hand-spun yarns though. “Bewitch” is something about a lace to light fingering yarn which I spun back in April 2009. Somehow I thought stripes or color transitions would suit this little scarf/shawl well. As it turned out, pattern and yarn fit each other remarkably well.



And here's how the yarn came to be.






 
Details
 
Pattern: Citron by Hilary Smith Callis, Knitty.com Winter 2009
Yarn: hand-spun yarn, 100 grams/400-500 meters, Slushie's Special Blend from FatCatKnits in colorway "Bewitch"
Needles: 4.00 and 4.5 mm
Size: 120 cm wide

This set of three little Bosworth spindles arrived back in October. All three are absolutely perfect spinners, which was no big surprise. They are Bosworths after all.



Whorl: Walnut, 2" in diameter
Shaft: Birch, 9" long
Weight: 18 g



Whorl: Morado, 2" in diameter, narrow
Shaft: Morado, 9" long
Weight: 20 g



Whorl: Pau Amarillo, 2" in diameter, narrow
Shaft: Birch, standard 7.5" long
Weight: 15 g



 
Maker: Jonathan and Sheila Bosworth from Journeywheel.com

It’s been a while since I’ve tried knitting two socks at the same time on circular needles. All I remember is a whole lot of fiddling. I wanted to give this thing another try because ending up with two socks at the same time sure sounds like a cool thing. And besides there's lots of people out there who swear by this method so there's got to be something to it.

So far it’s fun and I’m speeding along. There’s been a bit of fiddling and trial and error involved when I tried to find the right circular needle/s for this job. I went through 3 or 4 different needles from really long wooden circulars to two short circs but in the end the 2.5 mm/80 cm Addi Turbo lace made it. The join is fabulous and makes sliding stitches around effortless.

I'm using a hand-spun 3-ply yarn that actually ended up in the right weight range for socks. It's neither too thin nor too thick. Which was a surprise. It's the first time I did a real 3-ply yarn (as opposed to chain-/Navajo-ply) and I am totally in LOVE with this yarn. Couldn't resist its charms hand had to cast on something right away.


 

 

 

 

 
Fiber: Blue Moon Fiberarts Sheep to Shoe Kit, color "Fire on the Mountain"
Yarn: hand-spun 3-ply, about 420 meters per 120 grams (4 oz)
Spindles: Bosworth Minis in Karelian Birch and Walnut

It's been a while since I've posted a picture of a spindle from my collection. Here comes a particularly fancy exemplar of the drop spindle species.


 
Whorl: Mesquite Whorl with Russian Laquered Brooch, 7.5 cm in diameter
Shaft: Purpleheart, 27 cm
Weight: 33 g
Maker: Ken Ledbetter from KCL Woods
Fiber: hand-dyed BFL batt by Fibermonster
Comment: The key feature of Ken's spindle seems to be an inlay of some kind. So far I've seen stone inlays, antique buttons, Russian brooches and beads in his works. Each one of his spindles is unique and a true work of art. But they don't just look neat. My spindle also spins very well. I've got to admit it has a bit of a capricious personality. The whorl is fairly large for the weight and is not as rim-weighted as I'm used to. On top of that I hadn't ever before encountered a pig tail hook. But with a hearty thigh roll it just flies and you can spin very fine yarn on it. And the hook is kinda neat, too.

It's not as if I wouldn't own a sizable stash of yarn and fiber to choose from. How does one choose fiber for the next project anyway? Well, this nice and soft Merino/Nylon top in the tempting colorway 'Magnolia' was calling to be spun as soon I had opened the parcel it came in from Zauberwiese. I divided the combed top in two halves and spun up each half on one of my two latest Kevin Rhodes spindles. Since I had 130 grams of this fiber in total I didn't dare using my wheel for plying because I was afraid the bobbin might be too small for the whole finished yarn and I was really not keen on breaking this lovely yarn. Alas, what's all those lovely spindles for? I knew I could easily fit 130 grams of a fingering weight 2-ply yarn on one of the larger spindles in my collection. The Quad from Tom Forrester did its job beautifully and my appreciation for spindles as a powerful fiber tool even grew, if that's at all possible.

The finished yarn was very beautiful but I wasn't really sure about the color distribution and the barber-pole effect in lots of places. Yet somehow my mind kept coming up with possible projects for this hand-spun. One pattern came up again and again. I took it for a sign and just went with it. Ishbel is a cute little shawl pattern by Ysolda Teague that everyone and their aunt has already knitted if Ravelry is anything to go by. Currently it has 3553 projects and counting. But you know, what can I say, it's what the yarn wanted to become. The kitting was done in about a week and was a delightful and addicting process. I used my new KnitPro Spectra needles in the 4 mm size. The more I knitted with my own hand-spun yarn the more beautiful it became. What a heady feeling to know that you've made this item nearly from scratch. Can only be beaten by knowing the name of the sheep the wool came from

Here's the story of my Magnolia Ishbel in pictures:


 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been on my Spindlewood Mini spindle for a while now but today the second skein finally got finished. Sunset Fibers' combed top has been spun and plied on the fly to preserve the lovely color sequence. I intend to knit this yarn into a pair of socks to see how well hand-spun yarn holds up. Corriedale is supposed to be fairly well-suited for stuff where you'd want a bit more durability then finer Merino could provide. I'll try and see.



 



 

 
Whorl: Laminated wood, Winter Sky
Whorl diameter: 6.5 cm
Length: 23 cm
Weight: 28 g
Length: 28 cm
Maker: Tom Diak of Grafton Fibers
Fiber: Falkland wool top hand-dyed by FeltStudioUK
Comment: Wonderful colors and a very smooth, graceful shape. Can't say much about its spinning abilities since I haven't really had the chance to give it try so far.

 
Whorl: Osage Orange
Whorl diameter: In this case wing span 9 cm
Length: 14cm
Weight: 24 g
Length: 28 cm
Maker: Ed Jenkins of Jenkins Woodworking
Fiber: Merino/Mohair 50/50
Comment: This is such a pretty little thing and it spins so very well. Absolutely fabulous craftsmanship, too. I'll have to get a large one in the near future. Ed's full size Turkish spindles would probably be great as a plying spindles.

 
Fiber | Faser: Falkland combed top, hand-dyed from FatCatKnits; 4 skeins à 1 oz (150 m/50 g)
Color | Farbe: in ZigZag colorway, violet, pink, magenta, orange, rust
Tools | Werkzeuge: Spun on Bosworth Midi drop spindle, plied on wheel
Prep | Vorbereitung: some predrafting, wound into Andean bracelet and plied from both ends | etwas ausgezogen vorm Spinnen, von beiden Enden gezwirnt mittels "Andean bracelet"
Comment | Kommentar:
FatCatKnits colorways are fun and the Falkland combed top was easy and fun to spin. The resulting yarn is a crazy color mix but somehow the orange and rust seems to find a cool match in the salmon, magenta and violet tones.
Die Färbungen von FatCatKnits sind immer sehr witzig und lebenig. ZigZag als Falkland Kammzug war einfach und angenehm zu spinnen und die so unterschiedlichen Farben ergeben ein witziges Garn. Ich hätte ja nicht geglaubt, dass orange und rostbraun irgendwie gut zu pink und lila passen. Aber es ergibt ein harmonisches Ganzes, wenn auch der etwas schrägen Art.
 

 
These two beautiful spindles were both custom orders. The square spindle comes from Steve and Connie at Spindlewood Co. and is made out of Holly, which has a very pale coloration with little to no grain markings. It's also a very light-weight wood. The pale whorl is complimented nicely be the Walnut shaft. I turned to Connie with urge to add a Holly spindle to my collection. She was truly wonderful and helped me choose the right size, weight and a matching wood for the shaft.
Wood: Holly whorl/Claro walnut shaft
Weight: 26 g
Size: 5.7 cm wide whorl; 22 cm long

The larger spindle on the right is a Tracy Eichheim design. It's his "Flowers" motif in a rim-style design. Tracy is a very thorough and knowledgeable craftsman and his fancy spindles with the intricate scroll-sewn motifs are truly unique. I was lucky enough to get in an order before he closes his shop for the fiber festival season. I custom ordered my spindle with him and we e-mailed back and forth to get the specifications straight to which he then build this spindle. This spindle turns like nobody's business and you get a lot of yardage on it without breaking into sweat.
Wood: Walnut, Birch
Weight: 38 cm
Size: 8.8 cm whorl
 

 

 
Fiber | Faser: Strawberry Field , carded batts from Fiber Monster; Merino wool, a bit of sparkle; 2 skeins à 1.5 oz (120m/75g)
Color | Farbe: red, salmon, fuchsia, white | rot, magenta, lachs, weiß
Tools | Werkzeuge: Spun on Greensleeves drop spindle, plied on wheel | Gesponnen auf Greensleeves Spindel, gezwirnt am Rad
Prep | Vorbereitung: some predrafting, wound into Andean bracelet and plied from both ends | etwas ausgezogen vorm Spinnen, von beiden Enden gezwirnt mittels "Andean bracelet"
Comment | Kommentar:
Again, Fibermonster's batts were a pure delight to spin. The soft merino has just the faintest hint of sparkle in it to give the resulting yarn a bit of a twist. I chose a heavier spindle to get somewhat thicker singles to result in a worsted weight yarn. And it actually worked. There is something to say for having a lot of spindles to choose from.
Wie immer war die Wolle von Fibermonster einfach ein Traum zum Spinnen. Die weiche Merinowolle hat gerade genug Glitzer drin um dem ganzen einen interessanten Kick zu geben. Dieses mal habe ich extra eine etwas schwerere Spindel gewählt, um einen dickeren Einzelfaden zu spinnen. Hat auch tatsächlich funktioniert.

 
Fiber | Faser: Pink Lady, carded batts from Fiber Monster; Colonial Wool, Tencel, a bit of Sparkle; 2 skeins à 1.5 oz (320m/80g)
Color | Farbe: green, purple, pink | grün, lila, rosa
Tools | Werkzeuge: Spun on Forrester Linum Light drop spindle, plied on wheel | Gesponnen auf Forrester Linum Light Spindel, gezwirnt am Rad
Prep | Vorbereitung: some predrafting, wound into Andean bracelet and plied from both ends | etwas ausgezogen vorm Spinnen, von beiden Enden gezwirnt mittels "Andean bracelet"
Comment | Kommentar:
I just love Fibermonster's work. These batts have been heaven to spin and the resulting soft violet color with some added glitz and shine is incredible. Who would have thought that these vibrant and clashing colors would spin into something so subtle. This one calls out to me to become a little lace scarf/shawl or something equally dainty.
Ich bewundere Fibermonsters Arbeit und kann gar nicht genug von Ihren kardierten Wollkreationen bekommen. Dieses Batts waren einfach traumhaft zu spinnen und die resultierende Farbe ist sehr, sehr schön. Aus den knalligen Ausgangsfarben wurde ein weiches Flieder, das durch etwas Glitzer und Schein eine irre Tiefe bekommt. Dieses Garn schreit einfach danach, ein hübscher kleiner Lace Shawl zu werden.

 
Fiber | Faser: Starlight Starbright II, carded batts by Butterfly Girl Designs; Merino layered with two colors of Bamboo, lots of Firestar and Angelina; 2 skeins à 50 gr (360m/100g)
Color | Farbe: black, blue, turquoise, aqua, silver | schwarz, blau, türkis, aqua, silber
Tools | Werkzeuge: Spun on Bosworth Midi drop spindle, plied on wheel | Gesponnen auf Bosworth Midi Spindel, gezwirnt am Rad
Prep | Vorbereitung: some predrafting, wound into center-pull ball and plied from both ends | etwas ausgezogen vorm Spinnen, Einzelfäden auf Nostepinne zu einem Knäuel gewunden und von beiden Enden gezwirnt.
Comment | Kommentar:
This one was a really crazy fiber batt. It was all sparkly and interesting to look at. Spinning took some effort, though. I guess this was mostly due to the fact that the different fibers weren't carded together to create a smooth uniform blend. The intention was probably to create a batt that would let the unique textures of the different fibers show in the final yarn.
Das war eine wirklich exotische und wilde Fasermischung. Sie sah auf jeden Fall sehr interessant aus mit all dem Glitzer und Glimmer. Das Ganze zu Spinnen war allerdings eine Herausforderung und brauchte Fingerspitzengefühl, da die einzelnen Fasern nicht gründlich mit einander kardiert worden waren. Auf diese Weise sind die Eigenschaften und Texturen der unterschiedlichen Fasern im fertigen Garn deutlich zu erkennen und verleihen diesem einen ganz eigenen, unregelmäßigen Charakter.

 
Fancy Linum Light Spindle
Whorl: Canarywood
Shaft: Cherry
Whorl diameter: 7,5 cm
Weight: 24 g
Length: 28 cm
Maker: Tom Forrester
Fiber: Pink Lady by Fibermonster, Colonial wool. Tencel with some white sparkle
Comment: The spindle is a lovely design that is inspired by the little white flowers of the flax (lat. linum) plant. The fancy turned shaft is very beautiful and on top of that it's also a working very nicely.