Wool and Cotton

Handspun 2ply wool; light fingering weight;
one single is handpainted "Strelitzia" from Kathy's Fibres
one single is Dreamee Wool in Grey from Bilby's Yarns. 

As a spinner, knitter and weaver, I love feeling that initial surge of creativity... then get oh so cranky when I find myself frustrated because all my spinning wheel bobbins are partway full of various unfinished spinning projects, all the knitting needles of a particular size that I need are holding unfinished knitting projects, or that all the weaving bobbins are partially filled with perfectly good (for something) yarn remnants from my last weaving project.

So it was that I got excited about the arrival of new coloured cotton to spin (a Christmas prezzie). I searched high and low, upstairs, downstairs and in the Shed for empty bobbins for my spinning wheel. I tracked them all down, only to acknowledge, that yes, all bobbins were in use – holding hibernating spinning projects. And I wasn't willing to wind off the yarn. After much fretting, I zeroed in on two bobbins, each containing a single of Strelitzia, a handpainted wool from Kathy's Fibres that I spun during Ravelry's Tour de Fleece 2012. I wanted to ply this yarn, but decided I'd make the handpainted singles go further by plying with a completely different yarn, which I would now have to spin.

I picked Grey Dreamee Wool (from BilbyYarns), a Melanian wool (natural colours) from West Australia. The beautifully prepared wool top is a pleasure to spin. The time slipped by effortlessly as the fibres flowed through my fingers. I let the finished singles rest on the bobbin for a couple of nights, then plyed with ease. As soon as I wash the skeins, I can count this spinning project complete... and a success!

Two kinds of naturally coloured cotton

The empty bobbins began calling for the cotton. Above, on the right, you can see "Café," a certified organic cotton from South America (available at Virginia Farm Woolworks) that I'm spinning on a support spindle. To the left, on a spinning wheel bobbin, you can see Easy To Spin Pima Brown cotton from Cotton Clouds. I so enjoy spinning these coloured cottons. 

The excitement of each beginning evolves into a soothing practice that includes transforming frustration into perseverance. I continue to learn about the satisfaction of finishing.

Post by M in JaM

Photos by J in JaM 

Busy Hands

Handspinning cotton on Ashford Traditional wheel and on JaM support spindle
as participant in Tour de Fleece.
~Easy to Spin Pima cotton top from Cotton Clouds~

Craftwork continues as my primary focus these days. I'm meeting my goal of handspinning a bit every day during Ravelry's Tour de Fleece and we keep abreast of SBS's streamed highlights of the Tour de France. Go, Cadel Evans!

The loom is dressed!

I've also finished dressing the loom with some helping hands from DH.

Weather has changed again. We got 11mm rain last night (almost 1/2”). A female bower bird danced and trilled along the edge of the railing of the balcony as I was working on the loom a few feet away. Skinks skitter across the kitchen floor. Definitely, a change in weather and such.

Working industriously on more projects than I can shake a stick at, I wonder why I feel so compelled to be busy.... and determine to reflect on my claim to a “slow and simple” life.

Post by M in JaM

Pix by J in JaM

Spin me around

The plans multipled again, like a plague of rabbits, but more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Though I have plenty to do, I found myself casting on yet another pair of toddler socks and this time I'm doing colourwork! I just couldn't resist even though I kept telling myself to focus on this:

Gilmore 4-harnass loom being dressed with cottolin warp

Progress does continue weaving-wise, that is, I'm making progress in dressing the loom. I finished threading the heddles while sitting on the tiger stool, such a handy height. That's how things will stay until we get back from indulging in a day of twin-sitting... and then recover....

In between times over the next two weeks, I'll handspin daily as a member of Team I Spin Cotton in Ravelry's Tour de Fleece (did I mention that I also joined Team Australia and Team Kathy's Fibres?)

Plying cotton from two support spindles (in background)
 using 12:1 ratio on 70s Ashford Traditional spinning wheel
with standard sliding hook flyer

I plied previously spun cotton singles from two support spindles in order to have empty spindles to start afresh spinning cotton for the Tour-de-Fleece. 

I decided I might want an occasional change from spinning white cotton. I'm also spinning handpainted wool from Kathy's Fibres, an Australian independent dyer and supplier.

Ashford Traditional standard sliding hook flyer, with ratio 12:1.
Handpainted fibre from Kathy's Fibres in "Strelitzia" colourway.

We don't get regular reception for SBS, the tv channel that carries the Tour de France. We can get the program streamed live via satellite, starting at 10pm and lasting about four hours, but much too late for us. Lucky for us, SBS archives a streamed Highlights version (24 min), available the following day.

Before today is over, I better get to spinning my wheel, look forward to having fun with grandsons tomorrow and wish everyone: Happy Independence Day!

post by M in JaM

pix by JaM

Winter Goals

I love the way one can see the sky through the Australian trees.

Life continues to give me lessons aimed at keeping me flexible in my plans and expectations. Even the weather brings surprises. Overcast days alternate with warmer nights. We throw off a layer or two of covers. We leave wool socks in a pile and dig through clothes, looking for something cool. We have no need for a morning fire. Winter isn't really over, it's just taking a break.

My Bendigo Woolen Mills yarn order arrived and I've completed a pair of knitted socks for the other twin who may not really like socks, but sometimes socks are required and perhaps that's when Gran's handknitted socks will find acceptance. (We grans know about patience.)

Second pair of handknitted Toddler Socks:
ChippySocks for Kids - pattern by ColorJoy
Bendigo's Harmony yarn

I began thinking I might want to knit a more colorful pair or two, like the one's illustrated in ColorJoy's Chippy Socks for Kids pattern. Then, reality struck and I faced the fact that I've never done colorwork knitting which requires knitting with two (or more) strands of yarn, held two in one hand or one in each hand. But, how hard can it be? My first go at a sample plainly demonstrated: yes, this is going to require patience....

Lucky for me, ColorJoy posted a series of five videos on YouTube. She made them to accompany a KnitAlong featuring another of her patterns, Crystal Socklet, published in Knitty. One of the ColorJoy videos addresses the how-to of colorwork. I feel encouraged after viewing it. Maybe I'll feel brave enough to start a pair of Crystal socklets for myself!

On the weekend I'll start spinning cotton as a member of the Tour de Fleece group in Ravelry. I joined the Team I Spin Cotton 2012. My goal is to use my Ashford wheel as well as a support spindle to spin cotton daily throughout the Tour de France. (Australia's Cadel Evans won the Tour de France last year.)

I plan to use the resultant handspun cotton yarn in my weaving project. I've finished sleying the reed for that project – though not until after discovering I had miscounted ends and had to wind two more. Next, I thread the heddles. I have plenty of plans. Life gives me opportunities to practice patience... while adapting and pursuing my goals.

Post by M in JaM

Photos by J in JaM

Downpours

Unusual downpours took us by surprise this month as we normally get very little rain in October. Rainfall records got broken. Lightning blew holes in concrete walls in some offices in nearby town. No one injured but damage occurred to wiring and equipment. Some close strikes near our home made my heart skip a beat or two. We unplug the telephone, computer and such, sometimes all day long, but we had no real problems unless you count a very nervous dog shedding at high rate.

The rain drenched all the bushfires and cleaned the air of smoke. Now, there's a blessing. Within hours of the downpour, we started seeing a tinge of green sprouting across the formerly dry bushland. Our waterhole likely won't go dry this year.

The mine blasting has not disturbed us as much as we feared. Keeping fingers crossed that this remains the case. The mine's 24-hour work schedule does result in illuminated southern sky at night, looking much like the aliens have landed.

Kookaburra

Kookaburras like to perch on top of this unused pipe which is leaned against a tree near the house. From there he can patiently scan the surrounding cleared ground for unwary skinks and bugs. He sometimes catches an unwary snake.

Kookaburra with snake

Spinning, like knitting and weaving, soothes my soul. My husband designed and presented me with a set of support spindles. I'm giving each spindle a trail run with cotton. The one below has an acrylic whorl with a laser cut out design and weighs around 22gm (about 3/4 oz). I'm lovin' it!

JaMspindle

photos by J and post by M in JaM

Ready for a Spin?

Rainbow lorikeets in the grevilleas outside our bedroom (in September) make a lively contrast to the white cotton I've been spinning.

I've learned to spin cotton, thanks to the generousity of strangers. Last year a fellow found one of our old websites and emailed to ask if I'd be interested in having his mother's long stored spinning equipment and fibres. She was going into a nursing home. Amongst the supplies he passed along to me, I found cotton top (processed fibres aligned for spinning), a homemade support spindle and a series of printed lessons on handspinning from a Flying Arts correspondence course available in the '80s. This year I had the opportunity to give cotton spinning a go.

I already knew how to spin wool, silk and alpaca. But I had never used a support spindle nor spun cotton. My first efforts left me feeling very frustrated, I just couldn't get the hang of it. The booklet's instructions regarding support spindles and cotton were... brief.

I turned to YouTube and Ravelry to see how others managed. Total strangers provided useful videos and the best advice: practice 15 minutes a day for a month.

Though I improved over the month, I continued to have trouble drafting the fibres. One problem: long term storage had compacted the cotton top. But there was something else. Whenever I ran into drafting difficulties, I began examining the fibres with a magnifier. I discovered a prickly vegetal bit at the centre of each clumpy section. Fragments of seed hull? Since this cotton top came from the '80s, it was almost surely not intended for a handspinner, but instead meant for use in a spinning mill where inclusion of small vegetal bits would not be a big problem. For this handspinner, those vegetal bits made spinning laborious and slow.

I searched for any website relevant to cotton handspinning and finally discovered Cotton Spinning with Joan Ruane. What a treasure! Joan has developed Easy To Spin Pima Cotton, a vegetal-free form of pima cotton top, specifically for handspinners. I ordered a pound from Cotton Clouds, one of the retailers that carry Joan's product. My cotton spinning went from being a chore to being a pleasure! I'm now spinning this cotton on a support spindle and on my Ashford Traditional wheel with no problems.

What shall I do with my skeins of handspun cotton yarn? Wash and weave.

M in JaM