"Learn To Spin '07" At Harrisville Designs & Lynn's "The Purple Sock"

Memorial Day...for that is when I began the tappings for today's post. And what gloriously beautiful days we've been experiencing here in VT (with a thunderstorm or two thrown in for good measure.) Chris and I spent Memorial Day quietly at home. Chris basked in the finally reasonable, higher temps on the deck whilst doing a bit of reading and work. I was out trying to put some order to the garden patches. The weeds vigorously responded to the sun's welcoming rays and occasional rain, acting as if they were having their own kind of celebratory holiday. I knew I had my work cut out for me as I waded through a ridiculous jungle of growth that needed to be addressed and pronto.

But let's back up a bit...On returning last Friday evening after teaching spinning to a delightful group of folks in Harrisville, New Hampshire, I came home to find two boxes of previously ordered plants delivered from Jung Seed Company in Wisconsin (I rather like that company...lots of varieties I've not found easily elsewhere and all at reasonable prices.) Some of my very much alive treasures included a deep purple Clematis, a Wisteria, three rose-violet Astilbes, a Goat's Beard (How can one resist something named that?!), five Raspberries and a Bleeding Heart. Panic set in with so much to do at once (or so it felt like.) I knew I had to find an earthy home for all of the above, but then there were all those little seedling babies that I had been carefully tending over the past weeks who needed a place of their own, too. What happens when the spider panics? A migraine sets in. Not just a quickie, mind you. No...a bloody, three-day sucker. So 'a-gardening-I-did, despite the incessant pounding of my brain. At least I wasn't bed-bound. There's something about the sun's caressing warmth, a gentle breeze, the smell of dirt and the handling of green plants so full of potential, that is healing to the body and mind, making even a migraine tolerable.

For the pic above, let's go back even further, just prior to the workshop at Harrisville Designs. Yes Ted, my Caribe potato seeds finally arrived from Pinetree Garden Seeds! First there was some general turning over of existing soil and a bit of raking. I promised Jenna that I wouldn't add more manure in my raised potato beds. Jenna said I had enough manure in those beds to grow the most finicky of plants...and potatoes did NOT fit into that category. Didn't I realize that I'd get a better yield if I just ignored the potato plants? Well, I'll try. I AM known to be an over-waterer in the first degree.

Here's the Caribe potato seeds, all cut for planting and set out to dry a bit the night before. Note this year's stylish, pink, gardening gloves. Llama Farm Girl, otherwise known as Elizabeth or "E," gave me some Green Mountain potato seeds, and Jenna gave me some real, live, downhome Maine seeds (probably Kennebec) to add to the bed. Plus, I realized that I had some little Kathadin taters, left over from last year's crop. I threw those into a separate bed (a rather hastily dug hole) on the edge of the forest just to see what real neglect would truly bring. Woo-hoo!! I'm a tried and true potato freak, eh?
Here's some of the home-grown seedlings ready to head outside for a dose of hardening off. I've got a clear umbrella that is a cheap version of a cold frame that'll do the job nicely. Also, a four-tiered rack with a clear covering that'll also serve well to get those seedlings ready for planting with no undue shock to their little cells.
Here's Chris on our deck doing a bit of reading as I was playing in the dirt.
Here's me cutting some tender, new dandelion leaves for my annual tribute to my maternal Grandfather, Leopold Mayer. Grandpa Mayer, who passed away long before I was born, used to gather the leaves of various wild plants and mushrooms for tasty meals, or so I've been told. A few years ago I started to do the same with the dandy's leaves. I've used them in salads.
But this time they went into a stirfry with fiddleheads, mushroom, broccoli, onions and tofu. Add a little tamari and fry quickly in olive oil...pretty darn good!
Now for a report on my 9th consecutive "Learn To Spin," or "Three-Day-Spinning-Blitz"...as I fondly call it. Above you'll see the lovely village of Harrisville, NH...New England at its finest. Harrisville Designs is a fabulous, historic place to teach as well as to take a workshop. Thank you to Rae, Pat and Chick for welcoming me back. It's always a pleasure to spend time at Harrisville.
Here's the entrance to the lovely shop, filled with gorgeous Harrisville-spun yarns for knitting, weaving, etc. You'll find Harrisville-made looms, lots of books, fiber for spinning, interesting gifts, buttons, and so much more. Say hello to friendly Cindy, Jill and Holly when you stop in the shop. Just inside, are the stairs to the 2nd floor...a bright, spacious room used for workshops, sure to get your creative juices flowing.
On the very first day of the spinning blitz class, participants jointly scour a Romney fleece. This time, we actually had a full fleece of "Monica" and a partial fleece of "Satchamo" to tackle. Monica is a naturally grey Romney from the flock of Alice Field in Lee, MA (one of her few wonderful Romneys still under her care...she switched to gorgeous, fine-crimped, Cormos several years ago that are supremely beautiful, as well.) Monica would be divided evenly amongst the 9 students in the class to spin as they wish. Satchamo, would be rainbow dyed on the third day of class, divided amongst participants, and brought home for rinsing, drying and spinning.
The above pic shows the left side of the class, as I saw it. From foreground (left to right): Meri, Cindy, Marci, Judy, Jen and Polly.
And here's the right side of the class. From foreground (right to left): Helaine, Pat, Mary and Polly.
This pic was taken on the third day, showing us all gathered in a round-robin, with the participants describing what they did to complete a blending "challenge" which I posed the day prior. The challenge was to combine one of the wool fibers they were given with a "blender." Of course, how much (ie. degree of homogeneity) blending is up to each person to decide...not to mention %'s of each fiber used. Participants received a packet containing smaller packs of various fibers such as: Tussah silk, mohair, hemp, "Angelina" mylar, glitzy nylon icicle, alpaca, cotton and more. Oftentimes, folks will go beyond the challenge and work into the night, enjoying themselves immensely. One meaningful aspect of the lesson includes participants discussing the possible end-uses for their blended yarn. Also, a dose of understanding the importance of documentation is inherent in the process. Pic from left to right: Polly, Judy, Jen, Marci, the spider, Mary, Helaine, Cindy, Meri, and Pat.
Polly and I discussing plying. Polly's using an Ashford "Traveller".
That's Jen in the middle, working on her "park and draft" spindle method using a low whorl spindle. Judy's taking notes and Polly and I continue with plying.
Cindy had never used her Kromski wheel (a fantastic e-Bay purchase!) before this class. In fact, Cindy had never spun ANY yarn prior to this workshop. Take a look at that bobbin of her's...lovely singles! That's Marci next to Cindy.
And here's Marci again, plying some beautiful yarn (that more than likely includes some of her own Angora rabbit's fiber) on her Ashford "Traditional".
Here's Judy also busy plying on her Ashford "Traditional".
And that's Pat spinning with her Ashford "Joy". Mary's in the background writing.
Meri's plying on her Canadian-made "Rognvaldson" castle wheel. This stunning wheel has a distinctive cast iron flyer. Meri purchased the wheel over thirty years ago.
A few days ago Meri e-mailed me a pic of her brand new Merlin Tree "Hitchhiker" wheel. She's pleased with her new purchase, especially since she now has larger whorl choices than her original Rognvaldson wheel. Note her already full bobbin of spun greenish singles...courtesy of the class-rainbow-dyed "Satchamo" Romney. Meri anticipated that the pretty golds and various greens, buried in the earlier layers on the bobbin, will show up nicely when she Navajo three-plies her singles.

Thank you to ALL who made this year's Harrisville "Learn To Spin" so enjoyable!!

Now, on to Lynn's, new fibre shop venture. I first met Lynn at a week-long spinning workshop taught by Wendy Bateman in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada. For more about Lynn, do check out the past posts, Dyeing Blitz, and Lynn - Canadian Hand Spinner, Dyer, Knitter and Friend.
Here it is..."The Purple Sock!" Lynn e-mailed me with the particulars:
The Purple Sock
13 Coldwater Rd.
Coldwater, Ontario, Canada
705-686-3455
thepurplesock@vianet.ca
Hours: Wed. 10-5
Thurs 10-5
Fri 10-6
Sat. 10-5
Sunday 11-3

Lynn wrote: "What I am carrying are natural fibred yarns for knitting and crocheting. Also, we have a line of loose leaf teas...28 different ones right now; tea pots, etc. I have some hand crafted items from local artisans. I am planning to hold some knitting classes and a beginner rug hooking class in the fall. Maybe also some beginner spinning workshops if there is interest. (note from spider: If you're within driving distance of Lynn's shop, be sure to let her know you'd like a spinning course.) I offer a 'Sip and Stitch" on Wed. morning from 10-12, where you bring your project, sit, chat and try some tea as you work on whatever project you've brought."

Congratulations, Lynn! I'm sure your new shop will be a fantastic success!! What follows are some pics of the interior of Lynn's shop. Lynn's husband, Ernie, built the beautiful, rustic-looking, display furniture. Even from the pictures, I can tell it's a friendly, cozy place to spend time...not to mention a wonderful shopping experience.

Look at all those colorful yarns!

Hats, sweaters, shawls, socks!

Lots of tea varieties to choose from.

I could easily see myself enjoying a morning pot of Earl Grey tea and knitting the hours away in such a lovely setting. Hope to see YOU all there! Best of luck to you, Lynn!

Finally, I come to the mini-techie-spinning portion of this post. Yes, I know I said there would be no instruction at all this week. And, by the way, I also said I'd have this post up last Saturday...alas, that was wishful thinking. Anyways, Monika, a reader of the spider, asked for some info on how to solve overtwist in her singles. On the second day of "Learn To Spin," I always write such "self-helps" on the board for participants to copy. It's the teacher in me that knows if a student copies such info themselves, there's a good chance they'll retain it better...therefore I don't just print out the "self-helps" in their class packets, given at the beginning of the workshops.

To help with overtwisting (ie. pigtails; corkscrews):
Try~
a) Slowing down treadling.
and/or
b) Yarn possibly has been held on too long before winding on. No death grips. Please Don't Kill The Baby Bird. Do feed on immediately.
and/or
c) Check brake band tension. For Scotch or Irish tension: Increase if needed. For Double Drive: Increase tension on drive band.
and/or
d) Check that yarn has not caught on flyer hook.
and/or
e) On a new bobbin, check if leader is slipping due to not being secured on shaft of bobbin. Secure. Thanks to Meri for this excellent addition!

More "self-helps" in the future. Some of the info above is in "The Spinner's Encyclopedia," by Enid Anderson, David and Charles Publishers, Great Britain, 1987.

Next week I'll be heading for a workshop in upstate NY at the Cornell Co-op Extension. Hope to meet some of you there. My guess is that I won't be able to post next week...but you never know... Keep those e-mails and comments coming. Look for the beginning post of plain vanilla plying, balanced yarns and more in a few weeks.

Lovely Lucy e-mailed me that Bob Dylan turned 66 a few days ago. Happy Belated Birthday Bob!! I'm feeling the need to quote Bob soon...just a warning...

Hand Carding: Keeping Colors Clear and Fiber Blends

Spent Mother's Day with a group of really nice and talented people who chose to take my "Wheel Plying" workshop (1/2 day mini-version) at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival. What a difference a year makes! Last year the very same festival's grounds were a virtual river. This year the weather was as glorious as could be. Lovely!

Dave, who hired me to teach at the fest, mentioned I'd be welcomed back to do the same next year. A question: For you folks who are thinking of attending the NH festival next year, what would you like to see me teach? Remember, it's only a mini-class they want. I'm open to suggestions.

After packing up from the workshop, Chris cheerily said, "Let's go out to dinner." Next came the discussion on just where we wanted to go. Ended up in Keene, NH at a Mexican restaurant we had never been to. I'm no drinker, but I do admit to an occasional hankering for a frozen Margarita, with lots of salt on the rim, please...especially when coupled with a Nachos Supreme.

The drink arrived and I clearly remember telling Chris, "Gee, this is good but it's really strong on the alcohol." After that, I have no idea what I said. All I know is that I've not been that snockered since our days at university. One drink. That's all I had to make the room spin out of control. I nearly couldn't make it to the car and I'll spare you what came after. I'm guessing, though it's a moot point and we'll never know for sure...that the waiter got sidetracked talking to a pretty co-worker as he was pouring the Tequila. I'm guessing I had the equivalent of three drinks at once. No Margaritas for me anytime soon....You should have seen Alexander's face when he saw me drunk-as-a-skunk! He asked if I wanted one of the shortbread cookies that he baked for me for Mother's Day and I nearly turned green at the thought of it.

Here's how I spent a goodly portion of yesterday. What you're looking at are Alexander's old socks, turned inside out, filled with something and tied with yarn. Into the washer these odd-looking packages went, sharing the water with some clothing that needed cleaning, as well. Then, they're popped into the dryer for a regular cycle.

Untie the socks and you get felted cat balls! Anyone who's been avidly reading this blog knows how I use these. If you've forgotten how to make them, go to the past post, Storing Takli-Spun Singles For Plying.

Summer is around the corner and that means my schedule for teaching spinning classes is heating up. Next week will be my 9th consecutive "Learn to Spin" at Harrisville Designs. Instead of a detailed technique post next week, I'll ask the participants of that class if I can take a few pics of them, so you can see what goes on in a three-day, intensive beginning spinning class. So please look for a post sometime during the following weekend, rather than mid-week as is my usual practice.

Have you had enough of hand carding? I hope not because what follows are a lot of tips that can make your hand carding loads of fun. What could be better than carding together more than one color, keeping those colors clear and separated? How 'bout blends of different fibers that allow you to spin a unique yarn of your own creation?! Onward for a ripping good time...

But first, I suggest you go back to the last two weeks' posts, Hand Carding Wool Locks For Spinning, and My Dad & more on hand carding, to review the steps of my carding methods. Look for the bare-bones-basic technique as well as info on parallel carding, swooping and seesawing.

The pic above shows the long Coopworth lamb's wool, one-year's growth. Do please go to the past post Scouring Fleece To Keep Lock Formation, for more on the fleece and where it was purchased. If you're interested in how the wool was rainbow dyed, head for Clear & Brilliant Rainbow Dyeing.

Before showing you how to keep color clear in a hand carded prep, I wanted to demonstrate how awkward it is to card anything more than 3-4 inches. You're looking at locks that are 7 inches or more.

For one thing, your arms have to extend really far in the opposite direction from each other in order to clear each pass on the carder. If you don't completely clear the pass in parallel carding, you'll be apt to fold fibers back on themselves and cause a tangled mess.

Look at how these long fibers flip back over the wooden back of the carders! Ick! Static electricity contributes to the dilemma.

So what's a spinner to do if he/she chooses to hand card these locks? Cut them. In the above case, I cut the locks right in half. If the tips were brittle and breaking anyways, I would have cut them off. The bottom line is: You can cut fibers wherever you damn well please and don't worry if folks tell you that you can't.

If cutting into the locks makes you queasy, consider that the locks had to be shorn off the sheep in order to be in your hands in the first place.

Just-cut locks lined up on my knee.

Now for some neat-o color stuff. In the above pic, I tried to keep the greenish-blue locks on one side and the orangish-red locks on the other side. 'course this fleece was rainbow dyed, so there are bits of other colors on all the locks...as long as the other colors are in small amounts, you can treat this as two, separate colors that are going on your hand cards.

Just because I used only two colors doesn't mean you can't use more. Try it as you follow the directs.

You're looking at parallel carding above. The fiber will get distributed on both hand cards after parallel carding. What you don't see, but what I did do is SWOOP both up and down after parallel carding. It is this swooping that keeps each color with its own, rather than homogenizing the colors into a third color.

After a few sets of parallel carding, swooping up and swooping down, I have a batt of wool with green on one side and red on the other.

Rolling the rolag towards my stomach, making use of the bend of the teeth to release the fiber for rolling.

A pretty, little green and red rolag!

OR, if you roll across the card you get a cigar.

More cigar-making rolling.

The cigar in all its glory. Note that you do not get that clear, separation of color with the cigar, as you did with the rolag.

The cigar predrafted, if you like. This step isn't necessary unless YOU want to do it.

Okee-doe-kee. On to hand carding for blending various types of fibers. Let me refer you to the past posts, Spinning Hand Carded Qiviut; Some Bling: Naturally Dyed Icicle, and Spindle Spun & Plied Silk Latte and Qiviut For Knitted Lace, for what I'm using in the following pics.

I used to be a By-Gosh-And-By-Golly blender of fibers on hand cards. In other words, I didn't weigh any of the fibers prior to carding...I just gave it my best shot. I actually carded several years in that fashion. Generally I eyed the fibers pretty well. Sometimes I was dead wrong.

Consider this scenario: You card two (or more) fibers to blend them for spinning a yarn that'll be used for knitting a sweater. Let's say the fibers are wool and silk. You're pretty good at getting the correct proportions of the fibers that you've decided upon in the first place, but sometimes you're way off target. Areas of the sweater turn out much shinier from the excess of silk you loaded during some of the carding. You're disappointed because you intended the sweater to be homogenously blended with both fibers throughout.

Enter the digital scale...a spinner's best friend. My scale is sold as a jewelry scale, but there are all types available these days.

Those who know me well know that my math skills are lousy. The interesting thing is, I use math all the time in my dyeing and spinning. One thing that helps immensely is to deal in grams rather than ounces. There's something about multiples of ten that make life ever so much easier.

I knew I wanted a 3/4 Silk Latte to 1/4 qiviut blend. I also wanted to be sure that I didn't end up with an overload of the total amount of fibers on my carders. With my scale set to grams, I weighed the Silk Latte to be .3 grams, as shown in the pic above.

Next, I added qiviut to the Silk Latte, until the scale read .4 grams. This made for .1 gram of qiviut for the blend.

In order to card the two fibers together, I opted to use the "sandwich" method. I have no idea who came up with this brilliant method to make carding various fibers easier (especially when one or more of the fibers are silky or slippery), but I am indebted to that spinner(s).

First you lay down the bread...the non-silky fiber or the easiest fiber to card alone. Often this is wool, but in my case presently, it's the qiviut.

Some parallel carding to distribute the fiber on both carders.

After parallel carding, we're left with bread on both carders.

Time to lay on the peanut butter filling...oh wait, it's the Silk Latte.

Parallel carding.

Both the qiviut and the Silk Latte in an early stage of blending.

Swooping up.

Swooping down. Repeat parallel carding, swooping up and swooping down as many times as you want, depending on how homogenous of a blend you're looking for.

The pic above shows the fiber after seesawing.

The rolling of the blended qiviut and Silk Latte into a rolag.

A few further thoughts: One can card fibers of various lengths together into a hand carded blend. However, one should beware of killing the baby bird at the wheel. For more on that, see the past post, Please Don't Kill The Baby Bird. If you do hold the fiber with a death grip AND the various lengths of fibers are quite diverse from each other, you will risk spinning out the longest fibers and be left holding the shortest in your hand. All your careful carding will have been for naught. If you'd prefer that the long fibers described in this example given were shorter, consider cutting them to suit you...of course!

I've not taken the above blending exercise to another set of steps I often do, especially if I'm carding for a big-ish project and if I want the blend to be on the more homogenous side. But that will have to wait for a future post.

A big, special THANK YOU to our guest photographer once again, Leslie! She took the carding pics that featured the rainbow dyed Coopworth. Chris, my husband of many talents, took the blending-of-more-than-one-fiber photos. Hip hip hurrah to them both!

Just a second reminder: Next post won't be until after my class at Harrisville Designs...perhaps Saturday, May 26th or so. Hope I'll see some of you there!!

My Dad & more on hand carding

May 5th was my Dad's birthday. Although Alvin Belde passed away in 1983, I can still hear his distinctive voice, full of mirth, and see the twinkle in his blue eyes. Born in 1914, Dad was a crazy nut, in the best possible sense. I wish you all could meet him, but since that's not possible, I'll do my best to introduce you to him via my tappings. If you would enjoy seeing a tribute to my Ma, head for the past post, My Ma and more on spinning sock yarns.

Born with the sun in Taurus, my Dad was said to be (according to various online astrological sites): calm and gentle when everything's going well; can easily become angry when provoked (Oosh, those eyes turned into slits at that point!); peace loving; patient (Not when helping me with math homework!); self-reliant bordering on stubborness; affectionate and sensual; outdoorsy (baseball remained a fave for him); and good with money. Good with money? Geez, something else must have been going on in my Dad's astrological chart that negated that last attribute. Generous with money would have been more on target...that is when he had it!! Ma used to say that money burned a hole in Dad's pocket. This is definitely something passed on to me...to Chris' chagrin. If I have $20 today, I can almost guarantee I won't have it tomorrow.

Another thing that I got from my Dad was my pride in handwriting. He was only able to go to school until the third grade. His own father died around then and his mom needed for him to go to work. Somehow, despite his lack of formal education, Dad had developed undoubtedly the most beautiful handwriting I've ever seen. Around 7th grade, looking at my own horrible handwriting, I set out to make him (and me) proud and never looked back. My own writing never got close to his in beauty, but I've often received compliments, if only to say that my writing has a rather unusual-looking flourish. And one more thing regarding education: Dad may not have gone very far formally, but he was street-smart in every sense of the word.

In the above pic, my good-looking Dad is shown in his WWII army uniform. Luckily, Dad wasn't shipped overseas. Ma used to say that Dad fought the battle of Florida by selling cigarettes in the canteen. He is said to have turned as brown as a nut due to some intensive, regular, tanning sessions on the roofs of buildings. Ma attributed all his later wrinkles to those earlier war days. I think she was dead-on correct. But I bet he must have looked damn handsome with that tan....

Now only a man with the charm of my Dad could ever...and I mean ever...get my Ma on the slopes. I'm guessing she only did so in order to buy her cute skiing outfit. But charm he did have. And I think the word charisma was named in his honor.

I was always proud that my parents loved each other. My Dad virtually adored my Ma. If she was doing dishes, he'd sneak up behind her to hug and kiss her and I can still hear Ma say, "Oh Al..."

My Dad should have gone into show business. He was the ultimate performer and loved an audience. Early in his life he did take part in theater and was a talented tap dancer. Alas, my Capricorn Ma worried about him pursuing such a life, perhaps to the point of losing him, and put the kibosh on it all. But Dad would not be completely stopped from entertaining...as all his immediate family, relatives, friends and business associates can attest.

Above you can see my Dad with some of his props. I've seen him dressed in drag, portraying a mad professor (after he washed his fine hair and it all fell into his face); acting as a lush (sans his upper and lower false teeth); being Truman Capote...wearing a fur jacket, beret and eye glasses with windshield washers; imitating Bill Kennedy (anyone from Detroit remember this guy on TV?); wearing a too-small Tyrolean hat and using balloons as props...don't ask...

Here Dad is with his favorite instrument...the kazoo! And perhaps his favorite animated companion of all-time, the cymbal-clapping monkey. He used to take this stuff to parties and wow the pants off everyone. My Dad had a wicked sense of humor and could tell (and remember) a joke like no one I've ever met. Believe me, these were NOT saintly jokes by a long run.

Here's Dad with Buns. Buns was given to me by an old boyfriend, but when I went downtown to the University of Detroit during my college years, Buns stayed with the folks. In fact, Buns never left them. My parents used to bring down Buns to the dorms to visit me and my friends...along with a basket of cleaned clothes that Ma "took care of" for me. Now I was NOT spoiled...just loved, mind you...

I treasure this picture. It was taken when Chris, David (sleeping next to "Bapa") and I lived down in Hamtramck, Michigan. See the past post, The Road To Becoming a Fiber Artist, Part Two, for more on that time period.

My Dad thought the sun rose and set on our David, oldest of the spider (now 26.) Nearly every day that Dad went to work, he would stop at our home with a box of animal crackers in his inside coat pocket for David. I can still see Dad dancing a soft-shoe tap for David, to one of the old Broadway show tune albums we used to play. And kazoos...there were no better musicians than David and Dad on kazoo...everything from "Tiny Bubbles" to "The French Song." David, now a jazz and classical violinist, had firm musical roots set during those childhood years.

How I love my Dad and how we all miss him. I remember when I was dancing in plays in high school and Dad would secretly buy tickets to ALL of the performances for ALL of the various productions. 'course he would only show himself after the performance he saw with my Ma and perhaps, my brothers. But he was always there. Proud. Encouraging. Loving. Sentimental. My crazy nut of a Father.

Now for a big hiccup and onwards towards more hand carding:

Swooping is a term I think I coined. I have seen other spinners do the same or similar moves, but I'm not sure they call what they do swooping. Please take a look at last week's carding post, Hand Carding Wool Locks For Spinning, to see bare-bones-basic techniques. Parallel carding stays the same here. Pretend I have parallel carded and fibers are caught in both the right and left carder. But rather than doffing all the time to remove fibers from one carder to the other, I swoop...up or down.

If you have hand, wrist, joint or ligament problems this technique may NOT be for you. If you have flat-backed carders, this technique may be difficult to do. If you have stiff teeth on your carding cloth...and I'll be even more opinionated by saying, if you do not have Louet carders (especially the cotton carders) you may find this technique difficult to do. Why? Because you definitely need carders that allow you to transfer fibers easily and effortlessly if you want to swoop. You'll KNOW by carding a few times if your own hand carders do not transfer fibers well.

Above is a pic showing swooping "up." The right carder is swooping up to transfer the fibers from the left carder onto the right. Swooping up is basically an exaggerated tipping up of the right carder. The teeth of the right carder and the left carder do engage, in this case. The right carder's teeth sink into the fibers of the left carder to transfer those fibers to the right carder. This motion can be done once, if all fibers transfer at once, or more times, if needed.

Swooping negates having to change hand placement on the cards for regular doffing. Basically, I can parallel card, swoop up, swoop down, repeat ....until I'm done with that little batt.
Then, a final seesawing (see last week's post) and it's time to take off the batt...either by keeping it as a batt, rolling a rolag or rolling a cigar. More on the cigar in a moment.

Swooping up again to catch the fibers nearer to the handle.

Fibers have transferred from the left carder to the right.

Swooping down is an exaggerated, downward motion with the right carder. As in swooping up, the teeth engage. However with swooping down, catch the fringe of fibers off the straight edge of the right carder onto the teeth near to the straight edge of the left carder. When you swoop down, you remove the fibers on the right card and transfer them back to the left. You can swoop down in one or more motions, until all fibers are caught on the left carder.

Parallel carding again. Repeat swooping up and down...followed by parallel carding for as many times as needed. I usually need to repeat all steps 1-3 times, depending on the fibers and what I'm aiming for from a homogenous standpoint.

Here I have seesawed (again, see last week's post) the fiber to sit on top of the right carder. Note that I found some little nub I didn't want in my batt. Unwanted trash? Remove it!

Please note: If your fiber has a lot of seeds, burrs and other garbage, hand carding will do a very nice job of blending it well with the fibers. In the pics down below, I'll show you a way of dealing with this problem.

If you roll the fiber across the carder, rather than from the straight edge to the handle edge, you get what's often called a "cigar." A cigar, as you can imagine, is a more parallel preparation to spin from than a rolag. It can be spun as is, but keep in mind that all the fibers are more-or-less of a similar length and if you're killing the baby bird (see the past post, Please Don't Kill The Baby Bird) with a death-grip on one end of the prep, no drafting will be occurring anytime soon.

Continuing to roll the cigar...

One way to deal with a cigar is to predraft it.

Once predrafted, you can wind it around a few fingers...

Grab a portion of the end of the predrafted fiber and bring it through the middle of the wound fiber, to the other side.

And what you'll be rewarded with is a "nest" of fiber. Push the "egg" (the end you brought through) down and you're ready to spin. Have fun filling a lovely basket with nests for later spinning pleasure.

Here's a favorite tool of mine...the dog rake. This little gem can be found right in a pet store.
The teeth on the dog rake are blunt-ish and tho' I'm using it as a combing implement, I need not worry about the tender noses of my 2, black, curious cats, as I would be if I used other sharp-tined, wool combs. I enjoy how the handle of this particular dog rake fits into my hands. Interestingly, it's not unlike the handles of my hand carders of choice: Louet cotton carders.

Often I like to dog rake locks prior to hand carding them. The dog rake is a dandy remover of trash and short, tangled fibers that I wouldn't want in my carded preparation. To use the dog rake, hold the lock firmly on one end and comb with the rake as shown.

After such treatment, the lock tends to fan out, with air separating the fibers. Note a bit of short stuff that was removed. Next, hold the lock from the fanned out edge. Make sure you can comb right to the middle of the lock, otherwise both ends will be combed and not the middle. There may be more fibers left in the dog rake once the butt end of the lock is combed, because that's where you'll find shorter, sometimes tangled fibers in abundance (depending on the fleece used).

Finally, dog-raked-locks lashed onto the left carder for hand carding. Nice.

Next week, hand carding with more than one color and/or fiber. Someday, maybe drum carding will be addressed by the ol' spider. I've been asked if I do drum card? Yes, I do. But truthfully, hand carding fits into my lifestyle better. I can hand card wherever I choose: in the living room, outside, at meetings/conferences, with or without friends/family, whilst watching tv, listening to a book-on-tape, etc. When I drum card, I tend to go out into my dye studio and stay there until my carding session for the day is over. I don't mind that, but I appreciate how hand carding can be done under many circumstances and in many places. Hand carding is extremely portable, just like hand spindle spinning.

Received an e-mail from Julie, an excited knitter who has just bought her first spinning wheel this past weekend. I like Julie...she wrote that I "rocked." I've never been told that before. I like being someone who rocks.

Julie wrote:
A question: The book I have (Teach Yourself Visually: Handspinning, by Judith MacKenzie McCuin) mentions the need for oil, but from what I've found on the internet, Lendrums don't really need to be oiled. There wasn't a manual with the wheel, so I don't know for sure. Should I get some oil just to be
on the safe side?

The spider answers:
Generally, when a wheel manufacturer says that there is no need to oil their wheel, it means that the wheel was made using sealed ball bearings. Indeed, oil will not be needed on such bearings as it does no good there. However, I still find that there's a few spots I like to oil to make my wheel perform at its best. As the bobbin sits on the metal shaft of the flyer, I find that a drop or so of oil on the metal shaft at either end of the bobbin helps the bobbin to rotate very freely. On my Lendrum, Schacht "Matchless" and Louet S10...I like oil on the outside of the cylindrical orifice...the part that sits and rotates in a metal cylinder on the Schacht...the part that sits in a plastic-ish cylinder on the Lendrum...and the part that sits in a half-moon metal cuff on the Louet. Oil on the outside of the orifice, not the inside, please.

Otherwise, check with your manual that hopefully came with your wheel for their oiling instructions. No manual? Contact the wheel maker OR just do a search online to see what parts that others who own the same wheel are oiling. Quite a lot of extra oiling goes on besides the above described on my Schacht...wherever metal hits metal or metal hits wood/leather.

I use 30-weight motor oil for all of my wheel oiling needs. Now I know this is a topic that's rich with opinions in spinning circles. My choice is not the only oil choice nor the best for everyone, but it works well for me. What's your fave oil for using on spinning wheels? I would find it difficult to be without the little oil bottle originally sold by Schacht, tho' now available generically through many spinning vendors. It doesn't leak and the fine, metal tip dispenses only the drops I ask it to.

A long time ago I once sat next to a nice lady in a guild meeting. Her wheel was clunking and squeaking something awful. She exclaimed, "Wasn't it romantic how her wheel talked to her?," or something similar to that. All I kept thinking was how that wheel was crying for oil to ease it's thirsty and weary parts. Spinning wheels are machines. Machines generally need to be oiled...at least on the parts that aren't sealed. Would we think it was romantic if our car talked to us in the same way as that spinner's wheel? Hmmm.

Thank you, Julie, for your question. Readers, keep those questions coming, please!!
Thank you, Leslie, featured in the past post, Leslie - Knitter, Spinner, Solar Dyer & Friend, for your photographic creativity in all of the above hand carding pics.

Hand Carding Wool Locks For Spinning

Last evening there was a delightfully beautiful full moon. For those who don't realize it, there will be yet another full moon this month of May...May 31st, to be exact. When a second full moon occurs within the same month, it's often called a "Blue Moon." On Wikipedia I found out that, "According to certain folklore, it is said that when there is a blue moon, the moon has a face and talks to the items in its moonlight."

Over the years it's become clear that a full moon has a definite influence upon me. Usually on or near its appearance, you can find me walking into walls, poles, file cabinets, and other hard, inanimate objects. And then there's that moodiness that creeps into my body about then. Well, I have not physically escaped unscathed from the "Hare Moon," as this last full moon is called.

Last night I planted Nasturtium seeds in horizontal, window-style pots, knowing that the moon's effect on sown seeds is a favorable one. So far, so good. This morning, wearing my rubber gardening clogs and my nightgown, I brought the three planters outside, after they rested in the dye studio overnight, deciding I'd place them on the largest rock in my dye garden to catch the sun's rays. I had successfully positioned the first two pots, and when climbing up the side of the rocks holding the third, I decidedly slipped down to the ground, ALL the dirt of the planter flying into my face. My left arm is disgusting-looking...all scraped up, bleeding and generally gross. Well, I guess that could have happened to my face, too...so thank goodness for small favors. Note to self: The moon is sneaky. It can play tricks even after it has done it's thing in our hemisphere's night sky.

Hope you fared better under the influence of this moon. Does havoc wreak on you during full moons?

Have recently found out a new friend has launched her own blog and website. You've already had a glimpse of Lisa and her lovely spinning on the past post, Lisa - An Incredible New Spinner & Some Fiberish Questions Tackled. Now you can check out her great blog, String Theories. Don't forget to leave Lisa a friendly comment!! Her website, White Birch Fiber Arts, is currently under construction, but soon you'll be able to see it at White Birch Fiber Arts. Do keep checking back. Bravo, Lisa! Best of luck on your new ventures.

On last week's post I asked whether readers would enjoy a post devoted to hand carding. Several of you either e-mailed me personally or commented directly on the blog. Thank you so much for letting me know that hand carding is something you desired to see photos of and chat about. Believe me, you may get more than you bargained for below....! LOTS of photos AND chat!!!

ALL of the hand carding photos below were taken by a "guest" photographer...none other than our Leslie. Thank you, Leslie, for taking some really nice photos... and especially for your patience in putting up with my photographic demands. Yes Jenna, I AM A SERGEANT, after all. When I was going through all of the photos she took, I realized there were over 100! This brings me to the fact that we'll be only featuring simple, bare-bones-basic, hand carding today and perhaps the next few posts will continue with more hand carding intricacies...not difficult intricacies, mind you...just little tips that you can consider when holding cards and fiber in your own hands.

As always, what follows is one way of approaching hand carding...NOT the only way. And also, as always, your comments/questions/ideas are most welcome. Do you even like hand carding?
Do you hand card at all?

Hand carding is not an essential tool you MUST have as a spinner. When I first began spinning in the 1980's, if you spun it followed that then you must hand card. This oft-proclaimed sentiment is not actually true. There are plenty of spinners out and about in the world today who do not and perhaps have never hand carded and never will. These spinners may simply buy mostly commercially prepared fiber. They may be combers and not carders. They may have a drum carder and don't even own (or never use their own) hand carders. If you fit in the category of keeping hand carding out of your life, you are not wrong and do not need to feel guilty. You will not get scolded...at least not by me! You've simply made choices in your spinning life as we all do.

When I first began to learn hand carding, all I kept hearing from other spinners was how much they hated to do so. When exposed to this negativity, my general nature is to question, "Why?" At that point I didn't fully understand what hand carding could do for me...I just began my Don Quixote quest to figure out what hand carding was all about, how I could make it fun for me, and if something good happened on this journey...all the better.

For years and years the hand cards I used were an old pair of Clemes and Clemes, now out-of-business. It took nearly 10 years or so for those teeth to be broken in and they're still on the stiff side. Next week, when you see my personal swooping method, you'll see why I prefer flexible teeth. But do not lament if your hand carder's teeth are stiff...the bare-bones-basic method below will accomodate them.

In all the pics below, you'll see the carders I eventually graduated to...thanks to Rita. They are the Louet cotton carders, curved back. Yes, they are sold as cotton carders, but I use them for all of my wool carding, except for really, really coarse fibers, which I might not want to card anyways. Louet's cotton carders have long, thin, flexible teeth...completely broken in before you even put fiber on them. It is this flexibility that allows for ease of transfer. Ease of transfer from one carder to another AND ease of transfer to get the fiber released when you're done carding. I belong to the camp that feels that there are Louet cotton carders and then there are ALL THE REST. Thank you, Rita.

As for choosing curved back carders or flat back carders...I've been told that what you start with you end up liking and actually preferring. I'm personally not completely sold on this theory, but in the end, it's your choice. Next week, when you see my swooping technique, you'll see why curved back carders aid and abet effortless transfer. Now please don't go screaming that the spider said my flat carders are no good and I need to buy curved back carders. The bare-bones-basic carding technique will work just fine with curved or flat back carders.

Handles are an issue you'll need to consider for hand carding. Louet's handles fit wonderfully in my rather smallish hands. Clemes and Clemes were OK, too. As for others, I can't really say.
If you're purchasing the carders, see if they are comfortable to hold. If you're comfortable, chances are you'll be more inclined to use the tool.

Which brings me to weight of the hand carders. I do own a pair of hand carders (name of which will remain unmentioned) that were an early model of that particular company's hand carders.
I don't know their actual weight, but they're like holding bricks. Heavy bricks. And they have handles that do not sit flush up against the side of the wooden paddles. Instead, the handles sit partially on top of the back of the wooden paddles. There's just a whole lotta wood on those hand carders. They are miserable to use...by me, anyways. I keep them to remain humble and wouldn't want to inflict their pain on any other unsuspecting spinner.

I do come from the camp which marks and keeps my hand cards right and left. That which is marked right is always used in my right hand. That which is marked left is always used in my left hand. Some folks do not do this...I think because they feel that by not doing it the cards wear evenly. That actually may be so, depending on their carding technique. For me, the whole right and left thing works well with my usual techniques. In fact, I believe by keeping my right and left carder separate, my transferring of fibers is again, effortless. But remember, this is MY opinion...you go forward and form your own opinion. The correct method is that which works for YOU.

I pride myself in sharing quite a lot with folks. One thing I do not share are my hand cards.
They are meant for my hands and my techniques. If someone else uses them, I think my carders would cry. In any case, my carders would certainly have the chance to behave differently in my hands...and I love them just the way they are.

Time. One of the reasons I've found folks hate hand carding has to do with time. They moan that hand carding takes away precious time from spinning. They moan that it's slow. They moan that they don't get a good product. They moan and moan. Everyone can contemplate what time means to them personally. Some of us have more time than others to devote to spinning. It's perfectly acceptable, as mentioned before, to bypass hand carding altogether. But if you choose to hand card, why not have fun doing so? Here's my list of suggestions to make hand carding more enjoyable:

• Change your attitude and don't let hand carding compete with your spinning. Treat hand carding as an art in and of itself. A rolag can be a thing of beauty.

• Consider not hand carding when you're rushing. The art of the rolag/cigar takes time. A beautifully made rolag spins wonderfully well.

• Choose your hand carders wisely. Your comfort is essential. Personalize your carders if aesthetics are important to you: a nice wood finish, painting/woodburning/inking something special on the wooden paddles, etc. That way, you'll never have to worry that someone will mistake your hand cards for their's. I simply used permanent marker to inscribe my last name on my hand carders.
  

• Relax when carding. Watch for tenseness in your neck, shoulders, arms, wrists and fingers and overall body. If you're not comfortable, chances are you won't enjoy or choose hand carding. Keep your hand carding sessions on the short side (ie. no many-hours sessions, please.) STOP if anything in your body hurts. Try to assess why you are hurting. If you already have carpal tunnel syndrome or any other joint/ligament overuse issues...check with your doctor...you may NOT be a candidate for practicing hand carding.

• Consider NOT air carding. This is the term given to holding your hand cards up in the air when carding. That's a lot of weight to hold up, even if the hand cards are relatively light. If you do choose to air card, be sure your body is not hurting whilst doing so.

• An admission: I'm really not much of a social spinner. I'm a private spinner who enjoys solitude when spinning. If this description fits you, you may enjoy, as I do, hand carding in public (ie. guilds, get-togethers). Once you've got the techniques that work for you down, you can chat and hand card to your heart's content.

• I'm guessing YOU could add further helps to make hand carding fun and enjoyable. Readers?

The fiber I'm using is the 7-month growth, Coopworth wool locks that were rainbow dyed. See the past post, Clear & Brilliant Rainbow Dyeing, for info on the dyeing process. One BIG tip I can give you all is to make sure the fiber you put on the card is not a huge amount. No big gumps of fiber laying on top of the teeth, please. In fact, it's a good rule of thumb to put a layer of wool/fiber that still allows the teeth below it to remain seen...a translucent layer of fiber, so to speak.

Which brings me to length of fiber. In this case, I'm using locks of about 3-4 " or so. I personally do not like to go much longer than that for hand carding. In my early carding days, I would hand card fiber of any length. Next week, I'll show you why I prefer to card fibers on the shorter side and what I do to alter the fibers if they're too long for my purposes. That said, I really like carding fibers that are shorter than 3", too. See the past posts, Making Punis, and More on Punis, for how to deal with really short fibers.

These particular locks are multi-colored along the length of the lock...they were rainbow dyed after all. In the pics below, I am not aiming to retain keeping the colors separate...not that that would be necessarily easy in this case. Carding blends. Hand carding can be used to blend colors and/or fibers. In the bare-bones-basic method below, I'm simply carding the locks together, letting the colors within the length of each blend homogenize as a new color. In the next weeks, we'll look at keeping colors clear and more-or-less separate on the hand carder, if so desired.

One of the places that causes me trouble hand carding is the edge of teeth nearest to the handle. I find that if too much fiber builds up on that edge, a stubborn ridge of fiber is left in my rolag. In any case, I stay away from that edge right off the bat. As you can see, I let the fringe of the locks hang off the other edge of the carder. Note that the teeth on the carder are bent. The bend generally goes towards the handle. If you lay locks on, as pictured, the teeth's direction (opposite bend) will hold on the locks if you carefully lash them onto the carding cloth. If your fiber's lock formation is not apparent, take a handful and lash on similarly. Watch, however, that you don't put too much fiber onto the carder.

Note that the fibers are placed on the left card, in my case. You could place them on the right carder instead, if you so choose.

Leslie took this pic directly over my head. What you are looking at are the carders on my lap. No air carding, remember? When the teeth of each card are facing each other and the wooden paddles are parallel to each other, I generally call this, "Parallel Carding." Now you wouldn't try to brush tangles out of your child's hair by going directly to the root, would you? If you do, be prepared for a lot of screaming. In carding, begin at the fringe, just as you would begin to detangle hair at the ends, working towards the root. Catch the fibers with the carder that does not have the fibers caught in the teeth. In this case, I am using the right carder to brush the fibers on the left carder. Be sure you make a complete pass. In other words, don't stop brushing mid-stream and fold fibers over on themselves. If you fold fibers, the rolag you make will have tangles and ridges in it, making for non-effortless spinning at your wheel. You're looking to incorporate AIR into the fiber. You're looking to separate the fibers from each other's grip and tangles.

This shows the above, initial carding, mid-stream. Know that I will continue to brush free until the fibers do not link the two hand carders together. When you parallel card like this, you'll get fibers resting on both carders.

Here's another pass, this time beginning the brushing further up the left carder (kind of like working through the tangles of a head of hair, nearer to the scalp.)

More of the same.

Fibers on both carders.

Bare-bones-basic carding necessitates transferring...also called doffing...fibers from one of the carders back to the other carder so that carding can continue until all tangles are removed and brushing is complete. To doff, face the teeth of each carder towards each other, handles pointing towards the ceiling but tipped away slightly from each other. Lay the fringe of the fiber you want to remove onto the carding cloth of the other and drag the carder (with the fiber you want removed) downward along the teeth of the other carder. Decide which carder, right or left, you want to remove fiber from. Usually, I like to remove fiber from my right carder and place it with the fiber on the left. That way I can continue the brushing process with a clean, right carder. But there's no reason why you can't remove fiber from your left carder and have it join the fiber on the right carder. You can alternate this, as you go through the carding steps until you're satisfied that the fiber is well-carded. Usually I repeat these steps two or three times for regular carding.

Whereas PARALLEL CARDING (shown earlier) puts the fiber on both carders; DOFFING removes fiber from one surface of a carder and places it with the fiber on the other carder.

Fiber has been removed from the right carder and placed with the fiber on the left carder.

Here's something I do that's probably a bit weird. I use the back of the card to make sure the fiber are held in the teeth of the left fiber before continuing to brush/card. I suppose I could use my hands to do this, but then I'd have to set down the right carder each time. Folks have asked me if this wears out the back of my right carder, since teeth touch the wooden surface. I do it gently and have done so for years with no untoward consequences. Just thought I'd include this practice since I do do it!

Let's pretend I've carded the fiber to my liking and want to remove it completely from the grip of the teeth. In that case, I DOFF, just as explained above. But in addition, I do something I call seesawing. Seesawing is simply doffing gently from one card to the other and then back again until all fibers are sitting on top of the teeth, not embedded at all within the teeth.

Which brings me to the question of, "Should the teeth of my carders mesh at all in the carding process?" This is kind of a loaded question because I have seen rather heated discussions surrounding this topic, believe it or not. It's amazing what we spinners get all hot and bothered about! Anyways, I can speak for my own practice in using my Louet cotton carders: Yes, my hand carders teeth do mesh and yes, I don't see this as much of an issue one way or t'other. If your own carders work better for you when they don't mesh, then by all means continue what you're doing.

Continuation of seesawing.

Fiber sitting on top of teeth after seesawing.

When you roll the just-carded fibers down the carding cloth (in this case, handle pointing towards your stomach...making use of the bending teeth which will not grip the fiber, as opposed to when you originally lashed on fiber in the first place)...you are making what is called a rolag. Flat the "a" when pronouncing rolag and you'll sound like someone born in Detroit, like myself.

I like to roll my rolag, a la jelly-roll style, with my hands on the teeth bed. Some folks like to roll on the wooden back of the carder. Some folks use the carders themselves to roll the rolag on the back of the carder. When I'm rolling, I shore up the fibers with my hands on either side of the carding bed.

Continued rolling of a rolag.

Finishing up the rolling process.

I often take the rolag, separated completely from the teeth by now, and roll it gently a few times down the carder, in order to smooth out any stray fibers along the surface of the rolag.

A completed rolag. This preparation is usually spun from the end. You can use it with any of the drafting techniques explained in the past posts, Drafting Techniques For Handspinners, and Opinions On Drafting Techniques For Handspinners. Look further within those posts on drafting for a particular drafting technique where a rolag is, perhaps, the fiber prep of choice...for some, in any case.

OK, this is one helluva long post today, but I wanted to include those naturally dyed Silk Latte swatches I mentioned last week. The scoop: The Silk Latte shown above was solar dyed and naturally dyed in-the-fiber using madder, cochineal and a water softener. The fiber had been solar pre-mordanted with alum and cream of tartar. The singles were spun on my Lendrum, largest regular whorl, using a sliding supported point-of-contact backwards long draw...now there's a mouthful! The yarn was 2-plied from two bobbins on a tensioned lazy kate. The stockinette swatch was knitted with size 1 U.S. needles.

The basketweave swatch was knitted by holding the same 2-plied Silk Latte above along with a handspun, 2-plied yarn of Optim...whose fiber was dyed in the same bath the Silk Latte went into. More on Optim at a later date, if you'd like. Would you like? The swatch was knitted with size 3 U.S. needles. The singles of the Optim were spun on an Adam Mielke top whorl spindle and plied on a Lendrum, using the largest regular whorl. The singles were wound on bobbins and placed in a tensioned lazy kate for plying.


Last, but never least, is the youngest of the spider, Alexander. For several years he wore his hair short, gelled and spikey. He's now trying to grow it long. I've always LOVED long hair on guys, so am thrilled. However, as his thick hair grows, it plateaus for awhile in gawd-awful ways. One evening, after a shower, Alex walked out and I told him he looked like David Bowie, somewhere between 1970-1975. No pic on that unfortunately. Because his hair is heavy, it fell quickly and then I told him he looked like my brother, Bob, circa 1972. He put on shades for a total 1970's look and the rest is history. Grow hair grow....