Spindle Spun & Plied Silk Latte and Qiviut For Knitted Lace

What a difference a week makes
Eighty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be snow

OK, I admit I changed the words from, "What A Difference A Day Makes," a 1959 tune made popular by Dinah Washington. Last week it was Winter. This week it is Spring. Yee-ha! At the beginning of the week, I saw the first flowers of the season in my neck of rural, southern Vermont...Coltsfoot! Did you know Coltsfoot used to be used on storefront signs of businesses selling tonics and other medicines? Check the link to see why. I found Coltsfoot blooming, with its distinctive leaves still not present, in a ditch leading to our driveway. It seems to thrive in poor, stoney soil. I once solar dyed with Coltsfoot, using alum pre-mordanted wool. The color procured was nothing to write home about...a dingy yellow. But what was even worse was the rank odor of the dyebath...really, really bad. And since my fiber friends know I put up with a lot of horrendous smells when it comes to dyebaths, they know that when I say it's fetid, it's beyond fetid. That's one of the good things about solar dyeing, however...at least the foul smells stay outside where they belong. I'll bet anyone who has naturally dyed has encountered some disgustingly gross dyebaths...some of which may have given the best color you've ever seen...and some where the plant/bark/etc. was better left where it originated. Tell us about your natural dye experiences, please.

On another note, I saw, Leslie - Knitter, Spinner, Solar Dyer & Friend, while I was in between running errands in the "big city," Brattleboro, VT. She mentioned that she had visited the local sporting goods store, looking for the "little brass comb" in the fly-fishing department, as featured in the recent post Spinning Hand Carded Qiviut; Some Bling: Naturally Dyed Icicle. Alas, no comb available. However, the kind clerk mentioned, after Leslie proclaimed what she wanted the comb for, to go to a drug store and find a mustache comb...should do the trick! Then Leslie realized she just might have something at home. She had been given a few make-up brushes and the like, finding a little comb for eyebrows (or eyelashes, perhaps? Who uses these things? Obviously, not the spider!) Worked like a charm.

Wanted to include a photo of our family's favorite place to walk/bike on Faulkner Road. It was recently ever-so-pleasant to see the ice receding. In the past post, Write What You Know, there's a view of the same area in the Autumn. Eventually, there will be thousands of Ox-Eye Daisies lining the banks of the pond...some of which will make it into my dyepot. We'll have to watch our heads as the Red-winged Blackbirds swoop at us, aiming to protect their nests and surroundings. And I personally look forward to seeing the playful beavers, with heads poking out of the rippling surface of the water.

What you can't see clearly is a Great Blue Heron standing on the far end of the pond, near the trees in the middle of the pic. As I shot this photo, another G. B. Heron flew majestically overhead. Chris and I always eagerly anticipate the return of the G.B. Herons each Spring. It's a joyous time.

Thought this would be a good post to show you how the qiviut and Silk Latte blended yarn progressed. In the recent qiviut post, I didn't really elaborate much about the Silk Latte, so here goes:

A few years ago I was doing research for my "New Wave Fiber" workshop. After finding a fair amount, more or less, of information on all the other fibers I was looking into, such as Soy Silk, Bamboo, Ingeo, Tencel, etc....what was most noticeable was the absolute lack of information available on Silk Latte. 'course I figured the "Latte" = milk, in this case...in other words, a fiber made from milk protein, or so I guessed. I knew Silk Latte was a name coined by the Southwest Trading Company, the main distributor of the fiber for us handspinners. And that was about it. If you go to the Silk Latte link still today, that's ALL you'll find mentioned on SWTC's site about this mysterious (and why?) fiber. I went to the accompanying blog mentioned on their website and found myself no better illuminated as to what Silk Latte was comprised of. Hmm...what's a spiderly spinning instructor/writer/practioner to do? More Google searches, of course.

What I found today was really interesting. Do check out Euroflax Milk Fiber and be amazed that the idea of using milk in textile production goes back at least to the 1930's. Take a look at Swicofil - Milk Protein Fiber, for the most in-depth write-up I've ever seen. Now we ALL can be better informed as to what we're spinning!

As for me, a handspinner, I enjoy spinning Silk Latte. It's rather fine and shortish in staple length; maybe 2" to 2 1/2" or so. It's got a definite, but subdued luster (in comparison to moth-made silk.) Silk Latte blends wonderfully with the shorter exotics, such as angora rabbit, camel down, qiviut, etc. It fibrillates, not unlike Soy Silk, and so gives a short halo right along with those exotics when blended or when spun by itself, no matter how much you smooth it down when spinning. It naturally dyes quite nicely...you'll have to wait 'til next week to see swatches of that. But do take a trip to the recent past post, Spinning Hand Carded Qiviut; Some Bling: Naturally Dyed Icicle, to see me spinning a singles, blended of Silk Latte and qiviut on a Bosworth spindle.

Would you like me to feature my methods for handcarding next week, both with single fiber and for blending? If so, please comment and say YES!

Suffice to say at this point, the blend featured today is 1/4 qiviut to 3/4 Silk Latte. Not a bad way to include a preciously expensive fiber such as qiviut in a project, eh? Tho' I guess Silk Latte's not exactly cheap either. Just goes to show you I have champagne taste on a beer budget to this day. I can justify just about anything fiber.

The pic above shows me winding the singles spun on the spindle onto a ball winder. No, I will not be plying from a center-pull ball because, for me, that's nightmare making.

Instead, I'll wind the two ends of the center-pull ball, with the singles still ON THE BALL WINDER, together onto a felted cat ball. Note my lovely model, Chloe, who is demonstrating how fun the process can be.

The felted cat ball, with the two ends of the singles wound together, is then placed under the ubiquitous flower pot, ends coming out of the drainage hole, ball secured underneath the pot, my feet in place should I need to keep felines away from the action, and Chloe nearby, giving her seal of approval (and waiting for my attention to waver so she can get her paws on the yarn!) Thank you, Rita, for giving us the technique of rewinding the two ends of a center-pull ball of singles together, onto another ball or bobbin, ready for compliant plying that makes us complacent spinners. No collapsed center-pull balls; no gobs of singles being released as you're plying; no tangles; no fuss...just the reward of using up ALL of your singles with none left over!

Note that my spindle choice has changed for plying. I am now using a high whorl made by Hatchtown Spindles. It's a tad heavier than the Bosworth I used for spinning the singles, making for comfort in plying and no spinning in the opposite direction of what I intended (which sometimes happens when you use a spindle that's too light for the job at hand.) Geez, I can't remember the wood used in this spindle. I think the shaft and some of the whorl is Black Walnut. But as for the orangish wood, I've not a clue. Anyone have a guess?

In order to show the 2-plying better in a photograph, I got up out of my favorite spinning chair,
an ancient metal office model, and stood up so Chris could take a few shots. The flower pot with ball is on the floor to the side of me. I often set it a bit behind me as well, but I guess I didn't this time 'round. The singles coming up from the pot (2 singles together) is kept behind my elbow, in order to help regulate the tension. Sometimes, when the pot's behind me more, the singles travels over my shoulder, to again regulate the tension.

I'm a vertical spinner and plyer when using drop spindles; be they high or low whorl. I make sure my shoulders and neck are relaxed whilst spinning or plying. If you're more of a horizontal spindler, do please tell us how you keep tension and any tricks you may have to share about your spindle plying.

Here's some more plying. Note that I'm twiddling the high whorl with my fingers, in this case, NOT by rolling on my thigh. Part of the reason for this is the short shaft of this particular spindle...it wouldn't be convenient to roll on my thigh. AND, if I twiddle with my fingers, I can better control the amount of plying twist going into my yarn, rather than frantically watching the plying twist building up at a quick, nearly uncontrollable speed.

One thing that I do that is not pictured is, I have the index card with my singles and ply-back wound on right next to me. That way, I can compare the plying twist I'm putting in to the yarn with the ply-back, which shows me how THAT particular singles (should I remain consistent) wants to be plied in order to remain balanced (ie. no excess twist going one way or another...no excess twist going S or Z...no excess twist going clockwise or counter-clockwise...you get the picture?)

Here the yarn is being wound onto the shaft of the spindle, under the whorl, as is the case when using a high whorl spindle. The cop's shape shown above is a bee-hive style.

This photo shows the yarn being wound on my old Howell Niddy Noddy, available still at the Village Spinners and Weavers website.

And a closer-up view...

And finally, the washed 2-ply qiviut/Silk Latte skein, flowing from a very cool find, indeed. This copper, mini-cauldron in its unique base was purchased last year for $3.00 U.S. at a used goods store in Brattleboro. THAT was a happy day for the spider.

Lookee at the spinning wheel ornament!

Pictured above is the first swatch I knitted out of the qiviut/Silk Latte blend. It is "Crochet-Knit Mesh," from "A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns," by Barbara Walker, Schoolhouse Press. The pattern held promise in that it was just one row, repeated over and over. In actuality, it drove me nuts. There's this whole thumb-action thing required that cramped that poor digit to death and forget it if you find you've made a mistake in the row below... Still, I rather liked the haphazard look of it. Plus it was made without a crochet hook, despite its name. Didn't like it enough to consider using it. On to another swatch...

BTW, once completely spun, the final project I'm envisioning for this yarn is a moebius scarf for THE BOOK.

This pattern, "Roman Stripe," is also out of the same Barbara Walker book mentioned above.
It was simple-to-knit, fun-to-knit and yet interesting. It just may be a keeper! Both swatches were knit on size 5, U.S. needles.

'tis a time of marvelous fertility. Just listen to the birds twitterpating. The wild turkeys have all but disappeared from under our feeders...doing their thing somewhere in the forest. Green is bursting out all over. Happy Beltane! May your May pole be beautifully wound.