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.

Luxurious But Affordable Spinning: Alpaca and Llama

Here's a sample of April weather in southern Vermont, taken just a few days ago in the forest behind my home. Pretty, perhaps. But enough of the Winter wonderland already! I've spared you the pic of the sleet that fell on top of this Jack Frost scene. Walking through the deep slush to the mailbox is like trudging through wet cement. If the sun doesn't shine soon, frustrated, cabin-fever-crazy Vermonters may end up "eating each other up"...as in one of my fave poems from childhood, "The Gingham Dog And The Calico Cat," by Eugene Field. Do you know of it? The poem was in "The Bumper Book," edited by Watty Piper, pictures by Eulalie, The Platt and Munk Co, Inc., New York, 1946. Basically, the cat and dog had an awful spat which littered the air with gingham and calico, as witnessed by a Chinese plate and an old Dutch clock on the wall. After the row was over, folks thought that burglars stole the pair. But I knew better because I got my information from a clock and a plate in-the-know and willing to tell.

What's your favorite children's poem?

Let's begin the meat and potatoes of this post with alpaca. Please do go to one of my favorite online, encyclopedic sources, Wikipedia, for basic information about alpaca. There, you will find out about the two types of alpaca, huacaya and suri.

For some excellent articles on spinning alpaca, please see:
"Spinning Alpaca for Knitting: Huacaya alpaca," by Kaye Collins, pgs. 50-69, Summer 1999, Spin-Off, Interweave Press.
"Spinning Suri Alpaca," by Kaye Collins, pgs. 40-49, Fall 2000, Spin-Off, Interweave Press.
Yes, these may be long out-of-print issues...but they're well-worth hunting down (ie. e-Bay, used bookstores, guild-wide sale extravaganzas, etc.)! See Spin-Off Back Issues, and consider purchasing as many as you can, before these issues, too, disappear off the Interweave Press shelves.

Jody, from Ontario, Canada, is a lovely, kind and patient reader of the spider. I mention she's patient because when she requested "any tips on spinning and/or preparing to spin alpaca fleece," I immediately wrote and asked if she had pics of her own spinning to share with us. She not only obliged, but when asked to write about herself and her spinning, she further rose to the cause. What cause? Why, the cause of inspiring spinners and to-be-spinners around the globe. Yes, I'm proud to say this blog has readership from many states, provinces and countries...with over 1400 hits per week and rising...and Spinning Spider Jenny has only been in existence since August of 2006!! So thank you readers! The more of you who will take the time to comment, the better this blog will be. And keep those questions and ideas coming. I'm pleased to say your comments give me "blog fodder" for topics to cover; topics that just might be of interest to YOU.

Here's Jody's story:
"I do alot of handcrafting...soapmaking, sewing roman blinds, quilting, lots of knitting and now spinning. Spinning was a natural progression from the knitting and I enjoy it very much. For me, there is a tremendous amount of satisfaction in creating yarn from a raw fleece. It's very exciting."

"In April 2006 I bought a spindle to start. I went thru all my roving quickly so found a local alpaca breeder and bought 3 fleeces in different colours. I didn't even have any tools or anything to card or comb. I wish I had more knowledge then cause I would have chosen other fleeces, but you know, it was the best learning experience!"

"I decided to join the local, Peterborough Handweavers and Spinners Guild, and bought used handcarders and an older Ashford 'Traditional'. It was an easy transition for me to spin on my wheel because I had practised alot on my spindle. I don't spindle spin anymore though..too slow. I have learned more from the bloggers and my Spin-Off mags than anywhere else. Alpaca will always be my fave fibre to spin because of all the natural colours and the softness. Mmmmmmmmmm...alpaca."

"I do like my alpaca somewhat smooth so I guess I do alot of worsted-type spinning. Since buying my handheld combs I tend to use them alot more than carders even though there is more waste."

"Carding technique? I take off my rolags and stretch them into roving taking care to keep fibres aligned like in worsted, then I wind the stretched rolags into fluffy bumps. For the suri, I first aligned the fibre onto the carders, did a few passes to open up the locks, then put the just-carded fibre onto my combs. Once combed, I then had a nice smooth preparation which I drafted into thin top and wound around my two fingers and tucked the ends in. I made whole boxes of these little curls to spin. It's hard on the fingers pulling suri off the combs..I am sure bigger combs than I have would do a better job."

"I like to spin fairly fast on my Ashford Trad single-treadle wheel and smooth all or some of the air out as I spin. I stay fairly far away from my wheel as I draft. The nearest I can figure is that I spin alpaca with a short forward draw. I use my bulky flyer and bobbins for plying and usually make a 2-ply yarn. I have spun 3-ply alpaca (for my husband's sweater which I am still knitting) that I carded with Romney fleece, just to give the yarn more bounce and memory. (Note from spider: We'd LOVE to see your husband's sweater when it's completed!)

"Also, I wanted to say that I read a ton of blogs and never comment. Your's, however, sounded so friendly and sincere that I felt comfortable responding to your request for questions. By the way I am a Cappy like your beloved mother was :)" (Note from the spider: Thank you!!)

Please know that ALL of the skeins in Jody's photos below are handspun.

Here's an oh-so-pretty skein of Jody's 2-ply yarn from her combed alpaca.

And Jody's 2-ply yarn from combed suri/alpaca roving (brown) and another 2-ply from her combed suri/angora top (cream).

A lovely skein of Jody's 2-ply carded, then hand-combed, suri alpaca.

Of this knock-out, beautiful skein, Jody wrote:
"I just wanted to send you a pic of my latest alpaca spinning. I had a dark fleece that had a very short staple, about 1.5 to 2 inches. So I carded it into fluffy rolags and then stretched it into long thick roving. It was spun allowing as much air into it as possible, keeping my treadling slow. It is a 2-ply dk to worsted size, good for sweaters. I make a 2-ply because I think a 3-ply of alpaca could be too warm (Note from spider: Depends on how heavy the singles in the the plies are...a 3-ply can be fine or medium or thick...ditto with a 2-ply...) Anyhow it turned out soft and lofty. Better than I expected."

Jody e-mailed this pic today. She wrote, " I just dyed some alpaca using Ashford dyes and it turned out beautiful. It is a laceweight 2-ply."

THANK YOU so much, Jody...for sharing photos of your beautiful alpaca spinning and great information. We look forward to seeing more of your work in the future. Readers, I encourage you to send in to me, via my e-mail or in the comment section, any tips you may have for spinning or preparing alpaca. Photos, too, would be most welcome!

Llama!! Wow, and in the same post as alpaca!! Again, please go to Wikipedia for the lowdown on llama. Anyone know of good articles on llama spinning and llama prep? If so, do please share.

Do check out Chris Switzer's excellent site. She's the author of two books dealing with alpaca, llama and more.

Another great, online website, "The Joy of Handspinning," provides information on Handspinning Llama. There, you'll find lots more spinning info particularly of help to beginners, but also for those beyond.

Gayle and Lars Garrison of West Mountain Farm in Stamford, Vermont sure have first-hand knowledge about llamas and alpacas. Gayle graciously agreed to chat about and provide photos of their gorgeous animals, their impeccably prepared fibers, their personal spinning and their wonderful finished projects.

Gayle wrote:
"Lars and I have been raising llamas for 19 years. We purchased 26 the first year. We quickly fell in love with these wonderful animals and enjoyed learning to work with them. We began introducing them to others, and our sales program began. I could do this only because there were always the special ones that I knew we would keep to begin our breeding program. It was a good feeling to sell to people who were enthusiastic about llamas, and as much in love with them as we were."

"Over the years we have had almost 600 llamas (including a few alpacas). Our breeding program produced 200 crias (baby llamas). Then somewhere along the way there was all this fiber we were shearing from the animals, mostly to keep them cool and comfortable. I had a kind lady spin some yarn for me, but the price for this service was prohibitive for the amount of fiber we were producing. I had always done a lot of knitting, and wanted to learn to spin, so this was the time. I started on a drop spindle mostly to get the feel of what was supposed to happen. Then I tried several brands of spinning wheels, and settled on the Majacraft. I really like the way it spins and the way it has stood up to all my spinning and traveling. Now I have 2 Susies and 2 Roses (models of the Majacraft)."

"To get the fiber to the spinning stage, we decided to send it to a mill to be washed and carded. For a while we sent our fiber to Quail Hill (11707 Quail Ln, Hillsboro, WI 54634; phone: 608-528-4640) and were very pleased with the service and quality. However our supply became more than they could handle and we began to use Zeilinger Wool Mill in Frankenmuth, Michigan. After several years Zeilinger's got a dehairing machine. This machine removes the guard hair from the llama fiber. The guard hair is a coarser hair which produces a prickle factor, and is not comfortable next to the skin. The dehaired llama fiber - LLAMA DOWN- is quite soft and comfortable in scarves, sweaters, hats etc. As an added advantage, we get back the BY PRODUCT also, which can be spun and used in rugs, lead ropes, wall hangings, saddle blankets where the coarser fibers are not a factor. We also had our alpaca fiber dehaired this year. Although the alpaca usually has finer guard hairs, it was still a nicer product with them removed. Alpaca and llama owners are usually breeding to produce a finer fiber. At this point Lars also learned to spin and has a Butterfly wheel from Jerry Womack. Lars likes to spin the BY PRODUCT which I knit into rugs or make leashes or lead ropes."

"As to spinning and knitting llama and alpaca fiber, I have always spun just the llama or alpaca. I have not blended it with another fiber. I know that many spinners like to add 20% wool to their llama fiber, to give it more elasticity. I find that any flat item, scarves, shawls, works well in knitting. Ribbing on sweaters, vests etc. should be knit on a smaller needle. Raglan sleeves work well, the drape is more natural. Sweaters knit from the top down in one piece have worked for me. Llama and alpaca are very warm fibers. In spinning, think of what it will be used for, and perhaps spin a finer yarn, or plan to knit with larger sized needles."

"West Mountain Farm has LLAMA DOWN and BY PRODUCT and ALPACA fiber in many natural colors for sale. We also have yarn, and items made from our yarn, from wrist warmers and socks, to felted hats and afghans. Many of our products are pictured on our website or do e-mail us at llamawmf@sover.net. We are located on top of a mountain, looking out over an apple orchard and blueberry patch, and the llama pastures. We have a pick-your-own operation in season."

Here's West Mountain Farm's, "Davey!"

And some mouth-watering llama spinning fiber in an array of beautiful, natural colors.

Here's a jaunty, felted llama hat made by Gayle.

Three lovely, knitted, llama down scarves to keep you cozy, even in Vermont's April!

And three sturdy lead ropes of llama by product.

Not to mention a knitted pig, also of llama by product.

THANK YOU ever so much for sharing your pics and fantastic information, Gayle and Lars. I'll bet you'll be hearing soon from some of the spider's spinning readers, anxious to get their hands on your superb llama and alpaca fibers.

Finally, I show you some of my own blending experiments with llama. In this case, the fiber was provided by none other than "Milagra," of Hemlock Haven Llama Farm. Elizabeth, Llamafarmgirl herself, gifted me with a bag of her solar dyed, naturally dyed, unspun Milagra. She said the dye was made up of not-quite-spent baths of a variety of different natural dyestuffs. E gave me a tag with a photo of Milagra on it (shown), saying the following:

"Milagra was a surprise Christmas present from my very romantic husband. Originating from Spirit Hill Llamas in Halifax, Vermont, she is now 4 years old. We hand sheared and sent her luscious fiber out to be dehaired and it came back as a cloud."

The result of E's natural dyeing is a pleasingly warm beige color, pictured above. The handspun skein and swatch, also shown above, was made by blending 50% Milagra with 50% Tussah silk on handcards. I weighed each fiber (ie. no By-Gosh-And-By-Golly here!) to be sure I wouldn't sneak in more of one or the other per card load (1 gram total). I spun the rolags on my Schacht Matchless spinning wheel, 9:1 ratio, Scotch tension mode, using a short backwards draw, lightly fingered. By lightly fingered, I mean I didn't pinch the air out of the yarn as I spun...simply controlled stray fibers with my fingers, making sure they were caught in the twist. For me, a knitter, I often like my yarns full of air...llama and alpaca, included. Without air, llama and alpaca yarns can become overly heavy and dense. Add inadequate twist to that scenario and you have the ubiquitous llama or alpaca sweater that grows and grows; gravity and sheer weight taking it right down to the ground! The final yarn that I spun is a plain vanilla, 2-ply.

The photos above show two swatches. The swatch on the right is the same as in the photo above it. The swatch on the left is also 50% Milagra and 50% Tussah silk, but this time each of the fibers make up their own singles in the 2-ply. Quite different, eh? One yarn/swatch was made with a more homogenous blend and the other swatch was made with an orthogenous yarn. Which, in this case, do you like better?

Oh-oh...I forgot to document what knitting needle size I used for these swatches. Drat! The spider must have been a tired arachnid, indeed. Readers, again I encourage you to send in your tips and tricks for spinning and preparing llama fiber. Photos always welcome! Next week...back to that Silk Latte and qiviut blend.

Spinning Hand Carded Qiviut; Some Bling: Naturally Dyed Icicle

Over a foot of snow is predicted to fall in Southern Vermont tomorrow, but inside my dye studio it is Spring! Seeds have been sown and quite a few seedlings have already sprouted, stretching towards grow lights. Dye seeds such as woad, weld and dyer's cosmos join other old favorites, not necessarily chosen for dyeing qualities, like lobelia, snapdragons, violas, calendula and tomatoes. Other seeds will have to wait until the ground warms for direct planting, such as pumpkins and sunflowers...oh, and of course, potatoes.

Some folks wouldn't consider starting plants from seeds...too much bother. I've heard one person equate growing seedlings with a bad, long-term babysitting job. True, seeds need care and nurturing to nudge them into becoming strong plants. Maybe I need to sow seeds because my nest is almost empty. Maybe it's because I like tending to green things that don't have an attitude, unlike a 19-year-old that I know and love. Maybe I'm a control freak. Maybe I'm tired of Winter's seemingly never-ending grip. Whatever. Growing plants from seeds is satisfying to the spider. The above photo shows seed trays bursting with potential.

How 'bout this color to stand out in a snowstorm? The fiber is 100% nylon, originally brilliant white, and sold as "Icicle" by Louet. This batch was solar and naturally dyed using Lac extract from Earthues, with an assist of citric acid, plus the liquor from soaking, Vermont-grown, black walnut hulls. In my dye notes, I find no indication of a pre-mordant used. Perhaps I was counting on the tannins present in the black walnuts? Hmm...in any case, the unspun fiber dyed in a range from bright orangish-red to a darker maroon.

I spun the icicle on my Schacht "Matchless" wheel; set in Scotch-tension mode; 9:1 ratio; short backwards draw; repackaged on two empty bobbins (Louet fat-core, in this case).

And here's the final 2-ply icicle...soft and sitting pretty in a cup I bought on a trip to England and Wales a few years ago.

What's this spun bling to be for? It'll be used to put the final touches on my handspun cashmere/merino, Elizabeth Zimmermann designed, "German" shawl. For a peek, do see the past post, Winterlude. Yes, I know that I've never shown the entire knitted shawl. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for THE BOOK to be published for that! What's THE BOOK? Please see the past post, Silk, Silk Blends & THE BOOK. (Kind and Gentle Readers: Sorry for the rather frequent unabashed advertising of THE BOOK...the spider gets new readers to the blog all the time, so we can't leave them in the dark...now can we?!!)

From Judith, a wonderful reader of this blog, comes this recent comment:

I would love some tips on spinning raw qiviut, as I've come into a small quantity from a museum colleague. Most of it is off tundra bushes, and some is a bit sun-degraded, but most of it is lovely. It's just really difficult to draft into a consistent fine single. A consistent thick single is apparently impossible. Carding with hand-cards is also a bust as it rolls into little balls (although that is just as likely my inexperience!)

Glad to oblige, Judith! Thank you for your request. The following is a pictorial and typed account of some recent encounters with qiviut, which is none other than Musk Ox down. For further info, see Wikipedia's write-up on Qiviut.

One thing I'd like to address is qiviut in relation to Judith's comment: "A consistent thick single is apparently impossible." First of all, qiviut is bloody expensive. A finer yarn will have more yardage and be cheaper because it will weigh less than a thicker yarn. Consider a lace stitch when working with qiviut. Second of all, qiviut is amazingly warm. If one wants to make a thick yarn with qiviut, one should perhaps best live in the Arctic...qiviut is that toasty. And thirdly, qiviut is quite short. Though a thicker yarn needs less twist to make it stable, a thicker yarn also needs long enough fiber to even go around and hold the yarn together. A thinner yarn needs more twist to make it stable and the length of the qiviut fiber will easily go around enough to hold together.

In my stash I have two bags of qiviut. One bag I purchased several years ago when I lived in Canada. It is 50 grams from Banks Island, NWT and declares on the tag that "most guard hairs are removed." Well, if the guard hairs have mostly been taken out, I can only imagine how hairy the Musk Ox that this fiber came off of must be! The batch has got to be half hair; no less.

The other bag of qiviut was given to me as a prize after winning a spinning contest in Tasmania. For more on that story, please see Jazzy Blue Beaded Handspun Socks and Details, Details.....

This is the Tasmania-won qiviut. I'll explain the little brass comb in a moment... Can you see the white, dit-dots within the qiviut? They are skin flakes.

This is the hairy, NWT's qiviut. The photo shows how one's fingers become important tools to pick out the hairs from the down.

This little comb was purchased at a sporting goods store in the fishing department. I'm not quite sure how it's intended to be used in fly fishing, but it does make a dandy remover of icky, Musk Ox skin flakes and tiny, short bits of fibers.

I used my Louet cotton cards to make punis out of the qiviut. Please see the past posts, Making Punis and More on Punis, for how to make a puni.

I used my "Royale Hare" supported, brass spindle to spin the punis of qiviut. I bought mine years ago and it's nice to see that these spindles are still available. The spun yarn gets stored above the whorl, as in any low whorl spindle.

In order to spin on this spindle, you must "candy cane" up to the tip.

Like a Great or Walking Wheel, the twist gets inserted into the fiber as the yarn flicks off the turning tip. Obviously, on a Great Wheel, the spindle is horizontal...on the Royale Hare supported spindle, the spindle is vertical. One hand must turn the spindle of the Royale Hare...a flicking motion done between the thumb and other fingers. The spindle rotates freely in its own brass base.

And another view...What you don't see is how I can let go of the spindle with my right hand and use this hand to perform a two-handed draw, if I want...not unlike one would do with any drop spindle. The qiviut was not exactly sticky, but it resisted spinning nicely with a one-handed draw. It's good to have a second hand to tug against under these circumstances.

When ready to wind freshly spun yarn above the whorl, turn the spindle counter-clockwise (that is, if you spun clockwise to put twist into the yarn) until the just-spun yarn comes from near the base of the whorl; then reverse direction and and wind clockwise again into a cop. Candy-cane up the spindle (clockwise) to the tip in order to continue spinning. Be sure to leave enough "lead" yarn coming from the tip before you commence spinning.

Now I could pretend and say I spun up the bagful of qiviut in the above manner. That would be a bald-faced lie. It wasn't awful to spin the 100% qiviut or anything. It's just that I wanted something with a bit more zing in the end. So, I made rolags with a blend of qiviut and Silk Latte.

And spun it on my Bosworth purpleheart high whorl spindle, gifted to me by my friend, Lorry, in England. For more on that yarn and what it will be for, you'll have to wait until next week's post.

Lastly, I've received some lovely e-mails from a variety of folks requesting beginning spinning information. Hey you wonderful spinners out there, how about some suggestions on what YOU found useful to help YOU begin to make yarn? I'm looking for your favorite books, websites, videos, tools, etc. that aided YOU as a beginning spinner.

What I suggested was:
Book: "Hands On Spinning," by Lee Raven, Interweave Press.
Magazine: Spin-Off by Interweave Press and all the back issues of Spin-Off you can find.
Video/DVD: "Spinning Wool - Basics and Beyond," by Patsy Zawistoski.
Guild: Finding and joining a local spinning guild or starting one yourself.

New spinners: What topics would YOU like to see covered on this blog? Please don't be shy! It would be fantastic to address at least one beginning spinner's question each and every post. Thanks!!

Four-Ply Cabled Yarn & Improvising

Yesterday was a day of improvising and rolling with the punches. I've learned alot over the years from Chris, my husband, the jazz musician. In jazz, improvising is expected in the execution of a tune. As for me, a born-again knitter in the late 70's/early 80's, I can remember the first time I went into a knit shop in Grosse Pointe, Michigan (the ONLY knit shop in the Detroit area at that time) determined to come away with yarn for a sweater. I looked through scores of patterns; found a short-sleeved polo top I liked which didn't look too difficult to knit; talked to the clerk about what I'd need to make this sweater; went away with straight, Boye aluminum needles long enough to be useful as swords and several balls of yarn. The clerk kindly explained how I MUST get the same gauge that was listed in the pattern or my sweater would not fit. 'course I only went away with one size of needles, so perhaps it was wishful thinking on her part that those particular needles would do the trick. And let's not even talk about how a set of smaller needles would make for a ribbed edge that actually does its job of holding in the edges so they don't flair out like bells. Yes, I had already discovered and began reading Elizabeth Zimmermann by then, through her "Knitting Without Tears," but I felt I needed to be my own devil's advocate and see what existed on the other side of the knitting tracks before I made any important, lifelong decisions. Let's just say, that after that experience (and I did make the sweater *more or less successfully* and wore it quite a lot), I was a diehard, EZ-inspired, thinking knitter.

So what's all this got to do with improvising? Well, I'm happy to say that I've met less folks who follow knitting patterns to-the-letter...they've even stopped feeling the need to knit the same color of yarn featured on the handsome model in the pattern. Knitters in general seem so much more educated in their choices these days. They change stitch patterns, alter fit and length, have learned how to change gauge, change fibers (after studying and sampling how the new fiber will act in a piece), add bling where there was none, and more!

Yesterday I hankered for a pot of potato soup. I bought "fingerling" golden potatoes from the grocery store. I didn't know if fingerling potatoes would make a good soup, but caution was thrown to the blustery April wind. I had carrots, celery with leaves (chopped celery leaves are great for flavor), leeks...Oh, I must digress and tell how the check-out gal looked at the leek, and in the most awful whine said, "What's THAT?!"...as if it was an alien vegetable. Back to the ingredients...plenty of dill, some parsley, salt and pepper and 2 container boxes of broth. Now my favorite store-bought broth is Wolfgang Puck's Organic Vegetable Broth. However, the store we were in did not sell it. Poop. Time to improvise: one was Pacific Natural Food's Organic Vegetable Broth and the other was Imagine Organic No-Chicken Broth. Seemed a safe bet to pick two different broths in case one was icky. I washed and chopped up the veggies, added them to the broth, and seasoned. All would have been well as that the pot was coming up on a simmer, except....I forgot to saute the chopped leek in butter and just threw the leek in the pot without. Damn. I stood there thinking a bit, knowing I would miss the rich butter flavor imparted if I had, indeed, sauteed. Oh hell...I went to the fridge and lopped off 1/4 stick of butter and threw it in the pot. No one who enjoyed soup that evening knew the difference. Now somewhere in this story of a recipe there's info which can be applied to spinning/knitting/dyeing/etc. I just know there is. It's your job to find it, should you wish the challenge.

Here's another thing I did yesterday. Elizabeth, Llama Farm Girl herself, featured on the recent past post, Solar Dyers Unite & Our Amazing Elizabeth~A Brighid's Dyer's Founding Member Plus, gave me a bag of combed llama fiber. Knowing I love all-things-birds, it was an offering of nesting material for my "locals". I didn't get a pic of this, but once I came inside after placing the fiber in trees, I noticed a bird going at it like forty-going-north. I thought, "Neat! It'll fly away to it's nest, bringing some fiber..." Nope. The bird picked at the tuft and let smaller bits scatter all over the yard. Hmmm. Perhaps that bird knew that we were going to get an ice storm the following day. Perhaps that bird was trying to tell me I put the fiber out too bloody soon. Perhaps that bird wanted me to know that no birds had even made a nest in the tundra folks call Vermont. Whatever. There's more fiber where that came from, my little chickadee....

Received an e-mail from Knitterguy, asking what potatoes (yes, I know I'm writing about freakin' potatoes again!) I would be planting this Spring? Have ordered a red variety this time, called "Caribe." No red-fleshed; yes red-skinned. Anyone ever plant Caribe? Any tips? Ted asked if I'd show them on the blog eventually? I assured him that the spider would show pics at least on the annual potato post, if not more. Potatoes are THAT important (well, at least to me...)

In another e-mail, I asked Ted the following:
See what you think about the dyed Ingeo in your stash. Try breaking it without too much force. Does it split apart REALLY easily? We found that to be true, in my classes, with the dyed stuff. The undyed, white Ingeo didn't do it. I'm guessing Ingeo gets damaged easily when dyed.

Ted replied:
Ingeo splits apart **really** easily. You know how you take a length of wool top and you have to tear it? This stuff just kinda falls apart. I don't know how to explain it, but the top has this funny, crisp crepe-y feel about it.

In the comment section on last week's Navajo Plying post, Ted said and asked:
Very useful information on Navajo-plying. I thought Spin-Off had renamed it several issues ago for some reason.

When you are spinning singles that will be Navajo-plied, how do you check that the amount of twist in the singles is enough to give a balanced plied yarn? It's simple for a 2-ply, because you just let the singles double back on itself. But for a 3 ply it's more complicated?

Spider replies:
Yes, there was a very good article in the Spring 2006 issue of Spin-Off Magazine on Navajo plying. The author, Dodie Rush, called the subject of the article, "Plying Chained Singles." In fine type, at the bottom of the first page of the article, this was printed: "Though plying chained singles is normally referred to as "Navajo-plying," questions have been raised about the origins of the term and whether or not it is accurate. Plying chained singles is a descriptive term for making a three-ply yarn from a singles yarn." Readers: What do you know about this possible "origins" discrepancy? I admit, I had not heard anything about it. Please inform us.

When you are spinning the singles for Navajo-plying, simply check how that yarn wants to be balanced as a Navajo 3-ply by making a ply-back that's a plain vanilla 3-ply. Three-ply is three-ply, whether it's Navajo plied or plain vanilla. To make a plain vanilla 3-ply-back, simply fold the freshly spun singles as you would make a 2-ply-back, but don't let go yet. Now fold the just-made-2-ply-back with the singles again. Let go and let the final ply twist do it's thing. Help the twist get in order with your hands. Knot both ends of the 3-ply-back before removing it from the singles. When you are Navajo-plying, LOOK at the plain vanilla 3-ply-back for a visual reference on how much plying twist to put into your yarn, IF you want it balanced, AND you stayed consistent in the amount of singles twist you put into the plain vanilla 3-ply-back AND the Navajo-plied yarn.

Now on to 4-ply cabled yarn. Thank you to all readers who commented on the blog or wrote an e-mail to me requesting that we discuss this technique.

The photo above shows the fiber I used for my 4-ply cabled yarn. Both commercially carded preps are from Shepherd's Croft. The white is 50% white Cheviot wool and 50% white mohair (didn't say what type of mohair...ie. yearling, adult?) The grey is 50% white Cheviot wool and 50% naturally grey mohair. The final yarn is destined for a project in THE BOOK. What's THE BOOK? Take a look at the past post, Silk, Silk Blends & THE BOOK, explaining all. Into a plastic baggie all the above stuff will go...index card with pertinent info important to me, ply-backs, unspun fiber, tag from the vendor, and eventually, the washed swatch(es).

So what IS a cabled yarn? In the book, "Spinning Designer Yarns," by Diane Varney, Interweave Press, 1987, cabled yarns are described as:
"A cord, braid, or cable is less round in cross-section than a crepe. It is made by plying together two yarns, each of which has two or more plies."

Diane continues, "To make a 4-strand cord, spin four medium-twist Z singles. Make two 2-ply yarns, spinning in the S direction. Then ply the two 2-ply yarns together in the Z direction."

An aside: The lovely, woven, overshot mat made out of commercial cotton, that the bobbins are sitting on above, was made for me by Nairi, head weaver at Black Creek Pioneer Village (where I, too, used to work during a few years in the 90's) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The one important point I'd like to add to Diane's description of a cabled yarn, described in her book, is that when you are at the stage of plying the singles into a 2-ply, S (counter-clockwise) direction, be sure to add a significant amount of ply twist...much more than usual. For my sample yarn, I planned to make two 2-plied yarns, with each yarn having one ply of the white Cheviot/mohair and one ply of the grey Cheviot/mohair.

Now going back to the topic of improvising on this blog...I regret to say that I did NOT weigh the amounts of white fiber and grey fiber that would go into each of the two 2-plies. If I had, I would have spun up each amount, happy as a lark, and would know that if my singles stayed consistent, I'd more or less have the same yardage in each set of singles. This, however, I did not do. Why? I don't know...it was on another one of those days...remember the whole not-sauteed leek thing? Soooo, I opted to spin all of the white onto one bobbin and all of the grey onto another bobbin, eyeing what went onto the bobbin as best as I could. A "By Gosh And By Golly" method if there ever was one.

The singles above were spun Z (clock-wise) on my Louet S10 using the fat-core bobbin and the not-so-new-anymore flyer (I have the dirt-old flyer, too, that I'd never part with). Yes, I know that the bobbins above are not the fat-core bobbins. One thing I do in my plying is repackage singles by rewinding them on another empty bobbin. See the past post, Fiber Of Gold & Leslie's Sock Solution, for more on repackaging singles. I spun the fiber using a short, backwards draw. I found this draw worked best under these circumstances because none of the long draws I tried gave me the control I needed. The wool and mohair in the blend had a tendency to stick to each other...even after stripping and pre-drafting. I'm not sure if it was the spinning oil in the fibers or if the hairier mohair was hanging up the wool. In any case, the short draw gave me the control needed to be sure clumps of tangled fibers didn't go into the yarn.

I did a 4-ply-back to check for the appropriate amount of twist to put into my singles for the final cabled yarn. In this case, to make the 4-ply-back, I did not opt for a plain vanilla 4-ply version. Cabled yarns are different creatures than Navajo-plied yarns and anyways, a cabled 4-ply back can be made easy-as-pie. Simply make a longish 2-ply-back. Into that insert, with your fingers, a rather hefty dose of S-direction plying twist. Let this extra-S-plying-twist-yarn ply back on itself. If you *see* the little bumps that resemble a two chain links intertwined, then you have put enough extra S-twist into the original 2-ply-back. BUT, and this is an important but, if the yarn is not to your taste...such as it's too hard a twist for what you envisioned and the yarn lacks the airy quality you were looking for...then perhaps you could put less twist into the original singles. Since I knew I wanted this cabled yarn to go into a garment to wear, I didn't want yarn that weighed as heavy as lead, with no air around the fibers. Soooo....a confession. When I was spinning the singles, I had made a nice cabled ply-back that would suit my purposes. I noted the twist in the singles. I regret to say I did NOT, at that time, wind some of those singles onto an index card for twist reference (pictured on the index card shown on this post are the re-worked singles...you'll see below what I mean...) I started to watch the Masterpiece Theater rendition of Robert Louis Stevenson's, "Kidnapped." Things got exciting in the show. I started putting more twist in the singles, quick as a wink, but without my conscious knowledge. I didn't have that visual reference of singles wound on the card to refer to and remind me. I spun up a bobbin of the white blend and a bobbin of the grey blend. When I went to 2-ply the yarn, the new cabled ply-back that I made showed a hard twist yarn, indeed. Poop.

I placed the repackaged too-much-twist-singles into a Lazy Kate. Back into the S10 wheel the singles went, this time quickly in the S direction, so that some of that Z twist in the singles would be removed. I knew just a tad needed to come out, so I changed to the old-as-dirt Louet flyer and a bobbin with a 5:1 ratio. I did check to make sure the twist I was taking out still left the single's a stable yarn (didn't drift apart). The singles-with-the-excess-twist-removed were then repackaged onto two bobbins, such as what's pictured above.

Above you'll find the entirety of my extra-twisted 2-ply with the too-much-singles-twist-taken out. This bobbin's contents will then have to be eyed to be split up and rewound onto two bobbins for the final Z plying. Yikes...if only I had weighed the bloody fiber to begin with.....

Here's the repackaged 2-plied yarns on two bobbins. In retrospect, I suppose I could have weighed an empty fat-core bobbin, such as what the entirety of the extra-twisted-2-ply was on. Then weigh the bobbin with the entirety of the same 2-ply. Subtract the weight of the bobbin from the weight of the bobbin with the 2-ply. As I wound off onto the first, new bobbin, weigh the original bobbin until there's half left. Wind off the rest on another bobbin. But such was my day...I By-Gosh-And-By-Gollied it. And guess what? After cabling, the 2-ply left on one of the bobbin's measured less than a foot. Not bad. Ahem.

Here's a photo of the washed, cabled 4-ply. To achieve this cabled 4-ply, put the two bobbins of 2-ply in a tensioned Lazy Kate. Operating your wheel in the Z (clock-wise) direction, begin to treadle slowly. Perhaps going onto a slower (larger) whorl would be of help not to put too much twist in...especially if you're a speed treadler. As you treadle, LOOK carefully at your yarn accepting the new Z twist. When it looks like two chain links intertwined, let it go onto the wheel's bobbin through the orifice. Readers: If someone has an alternate way to describe what a finished, cabled yarn looks like, please write your ideas as a comment on the blog. Consider keeping an eye on how many treadles for your unit length of yarn (the amount of yarn you let twist enter...plying twist in this case...before letting the yarn travel onto the bobbin for storage) are needed. Also consider pulling off some yarn from the bobbin on the wheel that's had the full amount of plying twist inserted. I say this because twist goes in during a "round trip"...from and to the orifice. If you're a spinner who treadles a lot as the yarn goes on for storage, you MAY find your yarn has too much final twist overall. Adjust as needed.

I began knitting a swatch with U.S. size 6 needles. After awhile, it seemed like the stitches were too small for the yarn's size... not letting the yarn breath and be all it can be, so to speak.

I placed a purl row on the stockinette side of the swatch to deliniate between switching needle sizes, and liked the results of the U.S. size 7 needles much better. Once done, the swatch will be washed and dried flat. It'll serve as a useful reference for my planned project (probably a vest, but I'm an improvisor...remember?) Lucky for me, my back-n-forth swatches are much the same as what I achieve circularly. Still, no watching shows like "Kidnapped" when I begin to finally knit the project, until I'm sure my gauge is what I want!!

Did I mention that cabled yarn feels wonderful as your knitting it and in the swatch/final piece? It does. Cabled yarn, with all its surfaces, looks and feels lively. I'm planning on dyeing the yarn in a natural dye, immersion bath. Those little surfaces, some grey and some white in my instance, will pick up the color in wonderfully varied ways.

Leslie, frequent beloved commenter, featured on the past post Leslie - Knitter, Spinner, Solar Dyer & Friend, asked who takes the photos on this blog? Well, sometimes it's Chris, husband of the spider, and sometimes it's Alexander, youngest son of the spider. But usually it's the spider herself. It gets really interesting when no one is around and one of my hands has to hold something for a pic....

One last thought. I LOVE featuring fiber-loving folks on my blog. Can you tell? No one has ever asked why I do this and I'm not sure other blog writers do the same, at least regularly. Do you know of any? When I became serious about spinning in the 80's, there was no internet community to turn to for my fiber needs. Thankfully there WAS the always excellent, Spin-Off magazine. Even today I peruse the quarterly issues with a fine-toothed comb, looking for info to send for, new tools, vendors selling fibers I'm looking for, etc. Back then, besides belonging to my local group or guild, IF you were lucky enough to be a part of one, I found myself searching for additional like-minded folks by sending away for guild/group newsletters. I met all sorts of great people that way. One publication from out west used to feature individual guild members in each issue. I heartily enjoyed reading about these people, what wheels they had, their fave fibers and projects, and more. I learned SO MUCH from reading what others were up to. I'm guessing folks who read about various spinners that I feature on this blog might find this to be so for them. In any case, it's my spiderly opinion, that not only do the famous spinning glitterati have lots to share, the Anything-But-Average Joe/Jane does, too. Would YOU like me to feature YOU? Write the spider and do let me know.

Passover blessings! Happy Easter! Next time we'll take a look at qiviut, as per Judith, a much appreciated commenter's, request. If you have a spinning/knitting/dyeing topic you'd like to see addressed, do let me know, please.