BLING; Spinning From The End and Knitterguy's Fibers

My current penchant for adding bling to many of my spinning/dyeing/knitting projects did not appear magickally overnight. Evidence of my bling addiction goes back to the very roots of my childhood. Early on I decided that shiny stuff was way cool.

But first, what IS bling? Well, technically we should probably be calling it bling bling. Or you could go by Maureen's descriptive title, "doo-dad shit," which she endearingly says as she views my embellished handspun pieces...knowing I've been hit by the bling bug yet again. In any case, do make a beeline over to what's becoming a rather favorite online dictionary of mine, Urban Dictionary, for some proper bling definitions. I'm just wondering why the Urban Dictionary has not added to their bling definitions by describing how fiber folks add beads and all sorts of dripping stuff (including yarn types) to their pieces? Hmmm...maybe one of us should educate them, eh?

When I was little, I loved all things sparkly. In some ways, the gaudier the better. My Ma once purchased, through a mail order business, a huge (at least to me) packet of lace and ric-rac odds 'n ends, many pieces with silver and gold threads adorning them...all for me to "play with." I'm not sure any of my friends would have thought that gobs of trim were a treasure, but I surely did. At the very least, the wide pieces made stunning Barbie stoles.

In the above pic, approximately circa 1964 (though maybe earlier), I'm shown putzing around with glue and glitter (using a Winnie-The-Pooh game as a surface to work on). I think the glitter kit I was using was called "Dazzle Neet," however it's kind of hard to read the box. I think my Ma was rather lenient to be letting me sprinkle glitter around in the living room.

And then there was the wonderful tin of buttons that Ma let me play with, often for hours on end. Did any of you have as much fun as I did with the family's cast-off buttons? Some buttons would be hard to categorize as bling, but others were prime examples of bling-at-its-best, such as some particularly beautiful diamond-y buttons that came off one of Ma's dresses.

Above you'll see my own, little button basket. Neither of my boys (now 26 and 20) ever saw ANY worth in such a goldmine. Can you find my pea coat button? If you can, maybe you sported a pea coat at some time in your life, too.

Note the 100% wool, hand knitted, pincushion that my great Aunt Ann made for me long ago. It's nothing other than an inch or so wide strip of knitting...knit long enough to go 'round and 'round. Am not totally sure how Aunt Ann sewed it together as I can't see the stitching anywhere and don't want to tug at it too much. Have any of you ever made such a pincushion or do you perhaps have a vintage one, as I do?

My cravings for bling continued into grade school. Around 4th or 5th grade I joined an after-school group that made rosaries, just so I could handle the gorgeous crystal beads. Above you'll see a necklace I made in that class.

Beads, in general, were of a supreme interest to me around that same rosary-making time. Just ask my girlfriend Moira, who I used to call up just to chat endlessly about beads. I seem to remember her not being quite as enthusiastic as me... Above you'll see a ring I made as a kid. And I know I liked working on an Indian bead loom, too, but I have no finished pieces to substantiate that claim. Ma had the ring in her own jewelry box, which I received when she passed away. I guess she thought it was worth keeping, though I had forgotten about the ring until I rediscovered it with her other jewels.

Around 7th grade, my history teacher, Mr. Damman, noted that I had a glitzy (obnoxiously large) ring on nearly every finger. I can remember him saying, as if it were yesterday, "Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes." I also recall my teacher said that I began trends which other kids obviously thought were cool because they followed my lead. Hmmm. Did I mention I had a wicked crush on Mr. Damman? I did.

I'll end this homage to all-things-bling with some very recent blinging. The above handspun merino/cashmere shawl, mentioned in the early stages on the past post, Winterlude, was blinged with naturally and solar dyed 100% nylon icicle, featured in the past post, Spinning Hand Carded Qiviut; Some Bling: Naturally Dyed Icicle.

On to a few spinnerly techniques. Last post I mentioned that I knew another way, other than the technique I originally showed you, to predraft fibers. Below you'll see the pics of this. The only thing is, the pics of this approach look an awful like the pics on the last post. However, there are subtle differences. Read on...

Firstly, Jenny...the Vanna White of the spinning world...shows you the fiber is none other than that pretty Gaywool 85% merino/15% silk top, colorway "Camellia," available from Louet, used for the predrafting demonstration on the last post. I have not done any stripping to piece of commercially prepared fiber above. For more on stripping, please go to Spinning From The Fold; Plus Stripping and Predrafting Commercially Prepared Fiber.

Holding the fiber a little beyond the average staple length, I shall grab the end (with my right hand, in my case) and draw out about 1/4 - 1/2 of an average staple length.

Case in point. Next, my right hand will go towards my left hand, to the middle of what I predrafted, BUT my left hand (which opens and closes as needed) will remain stationary...note that this is different from the directions on the last post.

Continued predrafting until the length I want predrafted is completed.

Chris was away on a gig in Ohio, playing at the Ingenuity Festival, so Alexander, youngest of the spider, took the above action shots. Alexander got decidedly bored as I set up for the next round of pics and kept randomly shooting photos of whatever black cat happened his way. Therefore, I include the best of these shots below.

Al, featured in the past post Aloysius: A Non-Spinnable, Short-haired, Black Cat, can only be safely petted (by anyone other than me) with one's toes. Therefore, in the above pic you are a witness to Al's head scratch, courtesy of Alexander's toe. Note that occasionally Al will grab one's ankle with both front claws when he's had enough, so socks are generally mandatory for protection. No, he's not a vicious cat, as Maureen has emphatically stated on more than one occasion. He just has issues.

Al, satisfied by Alexander's expert toe treatment, settles in for a few hours.

A few readers asked if I would, indeed, show spinning from the end of a commercially prepared fiber. Here goes...

Please note that I did strip the Gaywool merino/silk top prior to spinning from the end. I did so because, quite honestly, I dislike too much fiber in my hand at once. AND, I find if I'm going to spin my singles thin-ish anyways, if I strip it's not necessary to have to do so much work at the wheel to get to the size I want. I also predrafted this fiber, to get those fibers to start to slip past each other nicely.

Joining on with the end of the top. Again, I show joining on to a looped leader, where I predrafted the end fibers a tad more, put them through the loop, and folded them back on themselves. Once I begin to spin, the join will be quite securely attached to the leader.

I've begun treadling and am doing a short backwards draw to begin with. I did end up going to a short forwards draw soon afterwards ('cause I felt in better control with that draw and this fiber)...but really I could segue into any of the drafting techniques in my arsenal of drafts (see the past posts Drafting Techniques For Handspinners, and Opinions On Drafting Techniques For Handspinners) and see which one(s) I like to spin the yarn I had envisioned. No matter what...it's up to YOU to try various draws to see what works for you in your particular situation. I cannot give you the one, magick draw that will work like a charm with ALL fibers when spinning from the end...it doesn't exist...at least in my spiderly opinion.

A taddy bit more spinning.

The above pic shows me resting my fiber hand in front of my stomach, where it's happily perched for the rest of my short forward drafting. The front hand, the left hand in my case, does all the travelling to and from the orifice, pinching on and following the point of contact. The back hand, the right hand in my case, remains stationary, but the fingers do open and close as needed, in order to allow fibers to be spun into yarn. It's really my pinkie and ring finger that is gently, but definitely, holding the fibers, especially given the staple length of this top...the thumb and pointer opens and closes to have something to tug against, if needed.

The pic above shows me trying a bit of a supported, sliding, point of contact, America longdraw. I didn't mind that drafting technique with this fiber either.

This pic above shows after I've let a length of yarn get stored on the bobbin and am ready to begin drafting again.

And finally, I tried a supported, point of contact, American longdraw. This worked well, too, but I'd have to spin awhile to feel I had the control needed for a consistently smooth yarn. That is, if I'm looking to make a consistently smooth yarn.

On to my last spinnerly topic. Ted, Mr. Knitterguy, kindly sent me a box of three different commercially prepared fibers. Ted wondered how I'd deal with them, as I think they weren't a heck of a lot of fun for him to spin. I believe all of the fibers were purchased from Little Barn.

The top three skeins were from Ted's fibers. They are: (from top down) 80% merino/20% kid mohair; 50% merino/50% kid mohair; and 60% fine wool/40% Ecospun. The two, blue-ish, bottom skeins are Camellia, the Gaywool 85% merino/15% silk top. The skein on the bottom was spun from the fold and the skein above it was spun from the end. You can't see it well here, but the blue skein that was stripped, predrafted and spun from the end had it's color much more uniformly distributed (less stripey or blotchy) than the skein that was spun from the fold.

Above, here's the documentation of the merino/silk that was spun from the end. Compare this swatch with the swatch pictured on the previous post to see what I mean about color distribution. Size 7 US needles were used to knit the swatch.

This pic above shows the documentation for the 60% fine wool/40% Ecospun (recycled pop/soda bottles). The average staple length was about 1" at best. I stripped the fiber once down the middle and slightly opened up the fibers horizontally.

I spun the singles using a supported, point of contact, American longdraw on a Schacht Matchless; set in Scotch tension mode; 11:1 whorl. I made a note that it was bloody hard to spin this fiber into a consistently-sized singles. Also, it's important to make sure the somewhat slippery fibers in the spun yarn are stable (ie. not drifting apart), by tugging gently on each end of a length of the spun yarn. I Andean 2-plied this yarn, but will wait 'til next time to show the tool and technique I used. Size 4 US needles were used to knit the swatch.

Not sure what I'd use this fiber for...socks would be interesting. Wonder if they'd wick moisture away nicely or make for sweaty feet? Readers, what do you think such yarn could be used for? Have you spun this blend or something similar? I've gotta admit, this blend isn't something I'd travel to the ends of the earth for... I'm not sure if I'd even go around the block for it!

Above you'll see what is labeled as a 80% merino/20% kid mohair blend, with about a 1 1/2" staple length. I did strip this fiber in half and did a little predrafting. I began with a short forward draw but quickly went to a supported, sliding, point of contact American longdraw. Again, the Schacht Matchless was used, Scotch tension mode, at a 9:1 ratio. And once again, I Andean 2-plied the yarn. Size 7 US needles were used to knit the swatch.

This fiber and yarn did not do well in the prickle test...putting yarn and/or fiber under my chin and against my neck. I'll be frank, I'm skeptical about the labeling of this fiber. I'd expect merino and kid mohair to be nearly butter-soft and this is NOT. At the very least, it's not a particularly high quality blend. Let's just say I wouldn't choose to use the yarn in a scarf anytime soon.

This final documentation pic shows the 50% merino/50% kid mohair. Everything done in the swatch directly above this one is pretty much the same, however the final yarn is even scratchier. Kid mohair shouldn't be this scratchy, in my opinionated opinion. Wonder what's up? It's not horrible or anything, but NOT what I'd expect with such a blend. If I made a sweater out of this yarn, I'd definitely have to wear a turtleneck underneath.

That's all for now folks. The spider heads for NYC on the "Vermonter" train this coming Wednesday. You can bet on some interesting pics from that excursion. Will try to get to Andean plying next time, as well as some "ratio" chat...as asked for by a reader. Cheers to you all!