weekend fun addendum

i spun up two of the batts i carded at the workshop. the batt formerly known as clown vomit was plied with a white alpaca. it was a definite learning experience. i spun it on my ancient flax wheel (which is quite the finicky beast when it comes to spinning anything thicker than fingering, and you can just about forget spinning fat and thin singles) and it may have taken me a few hours. i try not to think of it. the plying was done on a drop spindle (again, the ancient ones' fault, as it absolutely refuses to spin counter-clockwise). not that i don't enjoy plying on a drop spindle, but it is a little awkward to try any fancy art plying. but, in the end, i really like the color play and softness of the yarn.

after borrowing my good friend's schacht matchless spinning wheel, i spun up the purple batt, plied it, and was skeining in about an hour. wee! it's quite lovely, and i really like the flashes of purple silk and amethyst corriedale locks. another lesson learnt; it is true that you shouldn't mix differing lengths of fiber when creating a batt, as the longer fibers all but disappear while spinning (much like a corespun, with the longer fibers acting the part of the core).

weekend fun

this past weekend i was in athens enjoying some time learning more about spinning at plying the arts 2011. it was rather nice to be amongst other fiber enthusiasts. the two workshops i took part in were a taste of silk and blending for fun.

i rather thought i knew a lot about silk, but it's so much more interesting when you learn more. overspinning isn't possible, bombyx comes in a brick form which is fluffier and spins more smoothly (sounds like an oxymoron huh?), and i still enjoy silk hankies. the little samples above are what i spun using my drop spindle.

the blending exercises using the drum carder were very fun! things learned; a new to me technique for feeding the drums (placing fiber parallel to drums), creating variegated batts, and obtaining three different batts just by blending the same batt once, twice, and three times.

this yellow green batt was the demo for seeing the effects of multiple blending. i spun up a segment taken from each time the batt was blended. the blockier colored skein went through once, and the heathered lime green skein was twice through. i rather like the more distinct colors on the first one. i haven't spun up any of the three times blended batt yet, above.

i mixed brown, white, purple, and blue into my second batt, blending it twice.

getting out of my comfort zone, i created a mishmash better known as clown vomit for my third attempt. i blended it three times, and the hot pink really didn't want to blend. i may ply it with a soft grey.