Spinning From The Fold; Plus Stripping and Predrafting Commercially Prepared Fiber

Woke up to a ruckus this morning. Every dog within the vicinity of our home was barking...that's seven dogs, conservatively. Next thing you know, a typically loud neighbor was yelling at the top of his lungs about all the noisy canines, with much more volume than the collective woofs. Chris and I looked at each other with wide eyes when we then heard a grating chainsaw, the obnoxious revving of an off-road vehicle and finally a single gunshot. Now I don't claim any of these sounds were related to each other, but we guessed the screamer was trying to prove a point to his dog-keeping neighbors. The yelling and barking grew to a fevered pitch, ending with the guy-gone-berserk and one of his family members arguing vehemently within their own home...and we could still here them in our own bedroom. Boy, what was I thinking that life in the country would be quiet? Chaos-wise, Detroit has nothing over rural Vermont.

Before I embark on this post's spinnerly topics, please humor me as I take you on a tour of my present flower gardens. Like other gardeners I know, I enjoy surrounding myself with plants that truly mean something to me...plants which speak to my soul...be it a plant that reminds me of someone dear or of a place I've lived or have otherwise been; or a flower that sparks memories of loved ones who have passed away; or an enticing spicy-smelling variety given to me by a cherished friend; or a plant that's simply old-fashioned (for I'm really an old-timey spider, don'tcha know?)

It seems almost ridiculous to me that I insinuate I am a gardener at all. But that is what I've become; the seeds sown for such a title back when I first became interested in natural dyeing. I figured it was a good idea to at least find out the names of what plants I was using in my dyeing, not to mention whether toxic qualities (or not) were present, leading to more studying...of garden books and the eventual, educational seed catalogs that filled our mailbox. In particular, I've enjoyed plant-chatter with all sorts of friends and acquaintances: Lorry in England; Norma and Marion in Canada; Jenna, Rita, E, Leslie and more in the U.S. I feel so very blessed to have been allowed into the world of stems, leaves and blossoms...a gift bestowed as if by the flower faeries themselves.

Morning Glories used to grow on the fence between my girlfriend, Candy's, home and mine on the east side of Detroit. Of all the varieties available, I can never resist buying a packet of "Heavenly Blue."

Jofran and I met each other at the University of Detroit. Jofran always had the scoop on ever-so-cool things. When she said she grew Lady's Mantle in her yard, I followed suit and haven't been disappointed. For more on Jofran-Chemical Engineer-Knitter-Spinner, see the past posts, EZ's Bog Jacket & A Chinese Worker's Cap and Spindle Plying Using A Nostepinde & Jofran's Knitting.

My oldest brother, Jack, sadly passed away in the 90's from a brain tumor. Besides being a quite accurate amateur weatherman, never failing to give us advance warning of upcoming storms, Jack was an amazing grower and photographer of roses. I planted three Rosa Rugosa's in his honor. As I evolve into a brave gardener, I shall plant other rose varieties...but I'm a bit squeamish about all that pruning involved...

Nasturtiums were just one of Norma's favorite flowers. I didn't even know what a Nasturtium was prior to meeting Norma. Norma too, left us in the 90's after suffering from Leukemia. For more on Norma, Marion and my natural dyeing beginnings, check out the past post, My Early Natural Dyeing Adventures & Brighid's Dyers.

Rita gifted me this delightful, clove-scented Dianthus. I've always loved Carnations, so this plant's serrated blossoms are a perennial favorite.

Here's my Dyer's Chamomile that's doing particularly well this year, thank you.

And finally, are you aware of the really pretty flowers that the potato plant produces? These blossoms happen to be white, but I've seen shades of pink and lavender, too. Like others in the Nightshade family, the flower demonstrates a rather goofy protuberant "nose," which cracks me up.

Out of the garden and on to a book that was gifted to me recently by Jenna. I LOVE this book!!! It's by the same author, Margaret Bloy Graham, who wrote another of my childhood faves, "Harry The Dirty Dog." Note also the neat spider web bowl (also a Jenna-present) and the wonderful Temari ball, gifted by a visitor at my last dayjob where I was the Resident Fiber Artist.

Now for a spinning hiccup: A bit of "spinning from the fold" is in order. It's also called "spinning over the finger," tho' sometimes it's not necessary or even comfortable to fold over an actual finger (as is the case with shortish fibers). How many of you DO spin from the fold, at least occasionally? When I began spinning in the 80's, it didn't seem like too many folks practiced this technique, at least not in public at guilds or gatherings.

I do readily admit that I was once kind of afraid of spinning from the fold. How silly is that? Very silly, given that one often gains more control from the fold than when spinning from the end of a commercially prepared fiber...especially when that fiber is slippery. In fact, I especially recommend spinning from the fold when you first encounter silk top (oh, and by the way, you may want to start with Tussah silk as it has more grip than Bombyx mori), as often a spinner finds success immediately when doing so. Why? Well let's explore the possible reasons...

One can spin from the fold using a lock of fleece or fibers removed from a commercially prepared preparation. One generally (I hate to say never, but maybe it applies here) doesn't spin from the fold using a rolag, as that would defeat the rolag's purpose of spinning from the already-airy spiral of fibers.

When you spin from the fold, you are, in essence, folding the fibers in half. When you do this, right then and there you are adding air into the preparation. I encourage you to stop and try folding any fibers in half and you'll see what I mean! This is as opposed to spinning from the end of commercially prepared top, where all the short fibers have been removed and the remaining long fibers are arranged in a parallel formation, sitting just like little sardines in a can right up next to each other...no air there (unless you add it via stripping and/or predrafting...to the fiber, not the fish.) The fibers that are spun from the fold can often move away (be drafted) from their neighboring fibers more freely...they're given elbow room, so to speak, to maneuver themselves out of the pack easily. Therefore, if you're having trouble drafting fibers from the end of a lock or commercially prepared preparation, do try giving spinning from the fold a shot.

An interesting thing to me is that air is incorporated by the simple act of folding the fibers, minus even having to strip or predraft the fibers first, as I often do when I'm going to spin from the end of top. More on stripping and predrafting at the end of this post. Well, on pondering, I do occasionally strip a particularly thick piece of commercial fiber down for spinning from the fold AND I might even open it up, ever so slightly, horizontally.

Another thing I like about spinning from the fold is that I only have to worry about the fiber folded over my finger...not any excess, such as if I spun from the end of top and it was a rather long length that I was attached to. No worries that two black cats will play with the hanging fibers when spinning from the fold. No tendency to "ruffle" the excess fibers when drafting.

You can really SEE the drafting TRIANGLE (drafting zone) when spinning from the fold. This is rather delightful in and of itself.

On to some pics to demonstrate spinning from the fold...

This is the luscious Gaywool Merino/Silk Top (85% merino/15% silk) I purchased from Louet in the delicate "Camellia" colorway. I've removed some fibers from the end of the top and overlapped them a few times on themselves, in order to determine what the average staple length is. After all, when just looking at top, you can't readily SEE the average staple length, now can you? Knowing the average staple length gives you a starting point on hand placement. If you use a two-handed technique and both hands are clamping on the same staple length, you don't think you're going to be drafting any time soon, do you?

When getting ready to spin from the fold, I removed a length that was a bit beyond the average staple length.

Please note that you may be looking at some very dirty fingernails and stained fingers in the following pics, the above pic included. I apologize but have been doing some weeding of late 'cause I AM a gardener!

The above pic demonstrates the importance of making sure the "tails" are always of equal length. If one tail goes awry, you can be sure that you'll be holding a muddle of fiber before long. If that happens, you may need to disconnect from your spinning and get the tails in order before joining on once again.

If the fiber is long enough to go over my finger, I usually do so over my pointer. Anyone spin from the fold using a different finger? I've never seen it done with anything but the pointer, however one never knows...

If the fiber is shortish, you may not want to fold over your finger at all. In that case, just fold and pinch the fibers between your pointer and thumb, with the fold sitting up above the pinch and your fingers themselves, and spin directly from that fold. Would you like to see a pic and further writing on this in a future post? Would you like to see a demo of spinning from the fold with a lock of fleece, also?

Here's my hand and finger position as I get ready to join fibers on to a leader. I was taught, or read, somewhere to literally point my pointer (and thus the fold of the fiber) to the orifice. This can be done holding the hand to the side, as above, or with the palm faced downwards. I suppose it would work palm up, too, but have never tried that. Have you?

Note how my pinkie, ring and even my thumb will help to keep the tails in order. The thumb can also be used to press down when one needs it for something to draft against.

Think of the fiber you'll spin from the fold as a rather feisty baby bird. You definitely don't want to crush it to death (and fibers do need to play out to be drafted properly) but you need to keep a little firmer hold on the bird's tail(s). For more on the "baby bird analogy" to spinning, see the past post, Please Don't Kill The Baby Bird.

Here's how the fibers will draft from the fold (ie. from the point of your finger.)

My leader is doubled and thus has a loop at the end where the fibers can be brought through in order to secure them to the leader. Please keep an important point in mind: When you spin from the fold, your average staple length has been reduced to a half of a staple length of the original fiber. When you bring this through a leader, as shown above, you are halving that as well (ie. a quarter of the average staple length goes through the leader's loop.)

When you spin half the average staple length, as you do from the fold, please also consider the size of the yarn you are spinning. When twisted, the halved fibers need to make a stable singles; singles that hold together and can actually be called yarn. If you spin a thick singles, you need to be sure the fibers are long enough to go around more than once or twice, for stability's sake. If your halved fibers are short-ish, but you want a bulky-ish sized yarn, you may want to spin as many singles as needed and ply them together (ie. ply the singles up) in order to achieve your goal of a bulky yarn, rather than relying on a one or 2-plied yarn.

Fibers are folded over after going through the leader's loop, awaiting twist to make them securely attached.

Spinning from the fold... Do note that sometimes as you come to spin the very last of the fibers on your finger, you'll find them a wee bit grizzly. I'm guessing that it has something to do with a few short fibers escaping the combing process in top, being left after the long fibers draft out...or hey, maybe my pointer is just sweaty. If I encounter such fibers, I usually do not spin them and simply remove them.

Pic above shows documentation of a 2-ply, with singles spun from the fold. According to my notes, I spun the fiber using a supported, point-of-contact, sliding American long draw on my Schacht "Matchless" wheel; Scotch tension mode; 9:1 ratio. The singles were Andean plied (technique will be shown next post or one soon after). The swatch is stockinette, knit with U.S. # 7 needles.

Lastly, I thought it would be fun to show, especially to beginning spinners, how I (and many other spinners I know) deal with commercially spun fiber prior to spinning from the END. There won't be any actual spinning-from-the-end-instruction today, but would you like to see that in a future post?

In some of the classes I teach, I have recently encountered, from more than one student, that there's a negative sentiment brewing out there in spinning land that suggests it's not a good thing at all to strip or even predraft fiber. Word has it that it's been called cheating. The first time I heard this I was flabbergasted (the second time I heard it, from a completely different source, I knew I had to write about it), as I don't believe there's anything that can be equated with cheating when you're discussing spinning technique...and that includes starting the wheel with your hands, if need be. Why folks are scolded for practicing whatever spinning techniques that please them is beyond me. My humble advice is to pay such nonsense no attention, learn as many different ways as you can to achieve success in a wide-range of situations, and enjoy your spinning.

Stripping (can you imagine how many folks will find me on this blog with just this word...and they won't be spinners, mind you...): Vertically splitting a commercially prepared fiber into smaller segments. You can strip just in half or you can strip the fiber further down (ie. 3rds, 4ths, 5ths or more). I like stripping because I end up holding less fiber in my hands, and that pleases me immensely...especially during hot, sticky summer weather. I also like stripping because air begins to be incorporated around the fibers.

I once, long ago, heard a spinning instructor say that stripping mucked up the fibers...turning beautifully prepared fibers into a mess. I agree that often some fly-away fibers stick out a bit after stripping, but these fibers are usually soon tamed back into place with a bit of predrafting. In any case, it's YOUR CHOICE which techniques are used to help you to achieve spinning bliss.

Heaven knows how long a commercially prepared fiber has sat in a closed bag, condensed so much it's hard to see the fiber's potential. Stripping helps bring such fiber to the light of day.

Beginning to strip. Stripping is a very purposeful act...no petting or ruffling of the fibers, please.

Continued stripping. I usually strip just a yard or so at a time...not the whole bag of fiber.

On to predrafting...Once again, knowing the average staple length of the fiber is helpful. 'course this was the same fiber as was used earlier.

Predrafting further helps the possibly condensed, commercially prepared fibers to begin to slip past each other. This slippage makes for MUCH EASIER drafting, either at your wheel or when spinning with your hand spindle.

Hold the fiber with your two hands a bit beyond the average staple length.

1) Draw out to what would be about a 1/4 - 1/2 of the average staple length. 2) If the rest of the non-predrafted-fiber is on the left (as mine in the pic above is), move the right hand to the middle of what you just predrafted and move the left hand the same distance to the left of where it is now. To continue predrafting, repeat the 2 steps above. Aim for a product that is free of thick and thin places...being instead uniformly predrafted all throughout its length.

There's another method I know of for predrafting that I'll be happy to show next time, if you like. Do you have a favorite predrafting method? If so, please share.

I'll end with a plug to Tamara's blog, Spincerely Yours. She's written a dandy tutorial entitled, Lazy Kate has us Working, which will help YOU to make your own tensioned Lazy Kate. Also look for Tamara's solar dyeing posts...very inspiring.