Taking Care of your Spinning Wheel

I bought some Wood Beams at PLY Away and I've been anxious to give Lucy (my spinning wheel) a good rubdown with it.

While I was at it, I also gave her a good checkup to make sure everything was tight and working smoothly. If you're not sure what you should do to keep your spinning wheel looking good and working good, download this care sheet. It gives you some good basic tips for keeping your wheel in good condition.

It's always nice to spin on a clean and polished spinning wheel!

Spin for 10

It's been a busy month. We had terrific shows at DFW Fiber Fest and the first PLY Away, and all the hard work we put into preparing for them definitely paid off. We had a great time at each show, and the response from the attendees was terrific.

And now it's time to relax a little. I'm getting back into my Spin for 10 routine...still working on this merino:

After seeing all the wonderful spinning inspiration at PLY Away, I'm really looking forward to some serious spinning time!

On the wheel : Pebbles Merino

Next up on the wheel is the Merino from last May's fiber club offering. The colorway is called Pebbles, and I'm really enjoying spinning this. I mean, what's not to love about merino?

I'm spinning this a bit thicker, to hopefully end up with something near a worsted weight 2-ply. I'm thinking mittens or a hat. But we shall see;)

Handspun Yarn : Flannel Shirt Merino/Silk

I finished up my Flannel Shirt handspun (except for soaking it to set the twist) and I just love it! Squishy, soft and bouncy...good stuff. I'm already hunting project ideas to cast on.

Details :

Fiber : October House Merino/Silk
Color: Flannel Shirt
Amount: 4 ounces
Ply : 2 ply
WPI : 13-14
Weight: Fingering to Sport
Yardage : 504 yards

Next up on the wheel:  Merino in the Pebbles colorway (from last May's fiber club).

On the Wheel : Flannel Shirt Merino/Silk

I've managed to do a pretty good job in my "Spin for 10" goal. I spun for at least 10 minutes everyday in January. Then we headed out of town for a few days the first part of February, so no spinning then. But we're back and I'm in the middle of the second bobbin. Below you can see a few pics of the progress:

I did finish a wee little project with some handspun:

This little cup cozy is for my sister-in-law. She's been very sensitive to cold in her fingers lately, so this will give her a warm grip on her iced tea:)

A little spinning everyday

One of my goals for this year to spin more. I know I can't spend hours, but I can spend a few minutes! So, I've given myself an informal challenge of spinning for just 10 minutes five days a week. It makes it seem very manageable - just 10 minutes.

Here's the first bobbin of the new year...merino/silk in the Flannel Shirt colorway:

It makes me warmer just looking at it:)

Spinning the blues

The first week of the Tour de Fleece has come and gone and I managed to spin at least a little bit every day except one. I'm feeling pretty good about that, considering the lack of spinning time I've had recently.

I'm finishing up the April Showers BFL/Silk fiber, and if I get through it before the end of the tour, I'll start on the rest of the Botanical Wensleydale.

After the tour, I think it's definitely time to look into knitting up a couple of handspun projects!

Tour de Fleece 2015

It's almost Tour de Fleece time again, and October House Fiber Arts is once again sponsoring a team! We had a lot of fun with it last year, and I'm hoping this year will be even more fun.

I'm planning on not one, but THREE prizes throughout the tour to give everybody some encouragement and motivation. So, if you've never participated in the Le Tour de Fleece before, this is a great time to join. You can join our team in the Tour de Fleece group.

Team Name: Team October House 2015

Rules for Team October House:

You must be a member of the Ravelry group to join the tdf team. Join here! Then join Team October House here.

We're a free and easy group, so our rules are simple. Have fun and spin anything you want! However, in the team threads, we ask that you share spinning projects and finished yarn that feature October House fibers. Combination spins, undyed fiber, or colorways from another source are welcomed, provided that the content also includes October House fiber.

Please use the following Ravelry tags for your projects: tdf2015OHFA, tdf2015OctoberHouse

There will be a total of 3 prizes awarded during the tour:

Week One:

One winner will be randomly chosen from posts containing an image in the Team thread on Monday, July 13. Spinners may post as many OHFA WIP images as they wish during this week to qualify. 

Submission dates: Saturday, July 4 - Friday, July 10

Prize: One braid of October House fiber

Week Two:

One winner will be randomly chosen from posts containing an image in the Team thread on Monday, July 20. Spinners may post as many OHFA WIP images as they wish during this week to qualify. 

Submission dates: Saturday, July 11- Friday, July 17

Prize: One braid of October House fiber

GRAND PRIZE:

One Grand Prize winner will be chosen from eligible posts in the OHFA tdf 2015 Grand Prize Thread onFriday, July 31. (This thread will be in the October House Fiber Arts Ravelry group.) In order to qualify for the Grand Prize drawing you must submit images of finished yarn only.

GRAND PRIZE: A $50 shopping spree in the October House Fiber Arts shop with free shipping included. Choose whatever you like!

Winners for the prizes will be chosen using a random number generator.

Tour de Fleece Guidelines (NOT RULES):

Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday July 4 through Sunday July 26th. Days of rest: Monday, July 13th and Tuesday, July 21st. (Just like the actual tour.)

Spin something challenging on the challenge day (usually the toughest high mountain stage: this year, it’s Stage 18, on Thursday, July 23rd, when they will climb 5 mountains, including the 1,924m high Col du Glandon).

Wear yellow on Sunday, July 26 to announce victory. Why not wear yellow on any day you feel particularly successful? (Yellow is the color of the race leader in the Tour - but here we are all ‘race leaders’) Other colors if desired: Green (sprinter - think FAST), Polka-dot (climber - as in uphill), and white (rookie).

Spring Spin-a-Long

We're having a Spring Spin-a-Long over in the Ravelry group! Come on over and join us...

WHEN : Through the month of May

WHERE : Post your spinning progress in the Spin-a-long thread in the group

WHO : Anybody and everybody is welcome!

WHAT : Spin anything, or to be eligible for the grand prize, spin October House fiber!

I’m still trying to spin down some of my spinning stash this year. So I thought a spin-a-long sounded like a good idea! We’ll spin through the month of May, and there will be a grand prize at the end of the month!

We’ll take a “free and easy” approach to things - spin a lot, or spin a little; spin for a specific project or a specific yarn type; spin on a wheel or a spindle. So grab your October House fiber and let’s get spinning!

You don’t have to spin October House fiber to participate in the spin-a-long, but to be eligible for a prize you’ll need to spin at least some OHFA fiber:)

In a Blue Mood

It seems I'm in a blue mood.  Colorwise, that is...not emotionally. I've got several knitting projects in various stages - and they are all some shade of blue! 

Plus, my spinning at the moment is in lovely shades of blue:

I'm pretty sure this is a first. I've had a couple of projects in the same color before, but I don't think I've ever had everything I'm working on basically the same color.

And, I would've thought it would be gold, or brown or "autumnal colors"...not blue:)  Go figure. But I shall enjoy my "blue mood" while it lasts!

On the Wheel: April Showers

I'm spinning some fluffy clouds these days:

This is the fiber club colorway from last April...April Showers. It's on BFL/Silk and I am thoroughly enjoying it.  BFL/Silk is my favorite fiber blend to dye, and it's pretty great to spin, too!

The fiber club colorways are exclusive for one year, so this color will soon be available in my shop. I'm dyeing up a batch next week on a few different fibers, so keep an eye out:)

I'm not sure what this yarn will become just yet, but I'm enjoying being able to spin without pain!

On the Wheel : Seashells

I'm not getting a lot of time to spin or knit right now (it's dye, dye, dye all the time around here), but I do have this lovely bit of fiber on the wheel when I do get a moment or two to spin:

This is last June's fiber club colorway.  It'll be available as a regular color this coming June:)

Spin a Singles Yarn

Singles yarns are soft, so wonderfully soft. And light and airy...and the color! Oh, the beautiful color changes you can get when there's no plying.

If you're making a singles yarn, that is, a yarn that is not plied, there are a few things that can help you get a beautiful, soft but somewhat strong finished yarn that will be a little more resistant to pilling. (Disclaimer: singles yarn is much more prone to pilling, that's just how it is:)

Lower your twist
If you start off making singles the same way you would as if you were going to ply them with another singles, you will probably find you have a bit too much twist in the finished yarn. Just tone it down a little. Aim for a slightly underspun singles.

Predraft, predraft, predraft
Start out with a fiber supply that you have predrafted, and predrafted well. Combed top is a perfect choice for your first singles yarn, although a smooth spinning batt would work well also.

Take a rest
Try to let your singles rest on the bobbin for a day or two. This will let some of the twist get stale, so you won't have a kinked up mess while trying to prepare it for it's bath. Tie your skein in at least 4 places. Not tightly, but you don't want it roaming around in the water too much.

Shock it
You want to slighty full (felt) your singles yarn. I like to give it enough of a workout so that it just barelystarts sticking together. My method is below:


TO FULL (SLIGHTLY) YOUR YARN
1. Fill two sinks with water. One with hot soapy water, and the other with cold clear water.
2. Plunk the yarn down in the hot water, swish it around a few times (wear gloves), pull it up out of the water and back down in a few times.
3. Transfer it to the cold water side and swish it a few times. Squeeze all the water out.
4. Repeat the hot/swish and cold/swish a few times until the strands just begin to stick to one another. (To check, try to pull a strand loose. If another strand or two comes with it, you're probably there.)
5. End with a good thwack or snap and hang to dry unweighted. (I usually go for the snap instead of the thwack, but that's just me. There's a great description of how I snap my yarn in this article from Jillian Moreno on the Knitty blog.)

Fiber Focus : Yak/Merino

Since I opened my shop, I've continued to add new spinning fibers a little bit at a time. I tend to add fibers that I personally am interested in spinning or trying out. I've also added a couple that Ravelry group members have mentioned they were interested in.

It's fun to try new breeds and fiber combinations, especially if you've never spun with a certain fiber before.

The most luxurious fiber blend I have right now is a 50% Yak/50% Merino blend.

A little about Yak
In case you didn't know, Yak fiber is softer than Merino and warmer than Cashmere. Yes, you read that right. Softer than Merino. Yak produce two types of fiber, guard hair and down hair. This is the down hair, which is the fine, soft undercoat grown in the winter. Yak fiber is odorless, does not shed and like wool, maintains its ability to keep you warm even when wet.

Since the Yak is a dark brown fiber, and it's blended with ecru colored Merino, the combed top is a brown heathery color. I over-dye this to create the colors you see below:

Left to Right: Nightshade, Dried Herbs, Spice Garden, Rainforest

Have you tried Yak fiber or yarn?

Slow Summer Spinning

Well, the Tour de Fleece is over and gone...and I still have about half a bobbin of singles to finish. :)  Such is life! But I am working away on them slowly, but surely.

This month, at least, I'm spending most of my time dyeing fiber and yarn. Getting ready for my first fiber festival, Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza. It's just a little over a month away at this point. And while I feel pretty good about the amount of fiber and yarn I've got ready to go, I know I'll be busy these last few weeks, dyeing, braiding, re-skeining, labeling and all the other little things I'm not thinking of!

But, I am trying to do a little bit of personal knitting or spinning each day. And that even includes some spindle spinning:

I'm trying my hand at spinning silk hankies on a spindle. So far (which is not very far at all!) it's going well. The silk is long and strong, good qualities for a beginning spindler. I doubt I'll ever be a great spindle spinner, but it is nice to play at it now and then.

October House Fiber Club

I introduced the fiber club back in December 2013, and I can happily say it keeps growing! I love coming up with a special colorway each month for the club. I tend to think rather seasonally most of the time (as you can probably tell by the pictures below), so the club offerings tend to kind of follow the seasons. But you never know when I might throw a surprise in there!

Below is a little collage of the past several months of the club colorways, starting with February:

Have you tried the October House Fiber Club? You can sign up at any time, and there are options available for 3, 6 or 12 months.  Click here to get more information and sign up!

Plum Good

There's a lot of plum pictures popping up in my flickr account, since I'm taking a daily progress pic of my Tour de Fleece spinning.  This is a collage of Week 1. I almost got through this braid in the first week, and I'm pretty pleased about it.

I'm not the fastest spinner on the block, and considering the other things I've got going on, I'm thrilled that this is the amount of spinning I accomplished in just one week.  I'm starting to actually believe I could spin 3 braids during TdF.  Go me!

Underway

We are underway with the spinning for Tour de Fleece!  I got a very slow start on Saturday, the first day of the tour. We had to make a flying trip to Jackson, Tennessee and back. Let me tell you, a 13-hour car trip does not make one want to sit and spin.  Mostly the sitting. I was done with the sitting for sure.

But, Sunday dawned clear and bright with a pile of fiber waiting to turn into yarn.

I actually do better at spinning through the week than I do on weekends. We tend to be up, out and doing stuff on the weekends. But through the week, I've always got a couple of hours in the evening to work on whatever project I want - knitting, spinning, etc.

My goal is to spin about 16 ounces of fiber during the TdF.  We shall see if I'm delusional or not as we go along.  That'll be fun, won't it?

Tour de Fleece 2014

Are you ready for the Tour de Fleece? We're gearing up and getting ready to spin, spin, spin! 

If you're not familiar with the Tour de Fleece, it's  the annual Tour de Fleece spin-along during the Tour de France. They spin, we spin. A real spinning-themed spin-along.  The concept is simple:

Challenge Yourself.
Spin.
Have fun.

The tour begins July 5 and runs through July 27, with a couple of rest days sprinkled in here and there.

If you want to challenge yourself with a spinning goal, join Team October House! Don't think you have to spin a sweater's worth of yarn to participate. It's all about challenging yourself at whatever level you're at: novice, experienced, or somewhere in between! And don't forget FUN...let's definitely have fun:)

Check the October House Fiber Arts group for more details and to sign up as a team member! You can also snag an official OHFA Tour de Fleece ravatar here.

Do you have a project (or projects) lined up for the Tour? Let's hear about it!

Note: You do not have to spin October House fiber to join the team (although you are certainly welcome to), and you're encouraged to join any other teams you are interested in joining!

On the wheel (and needles)

I am spinning some Wensleydale top in the Botanical colorway and loving it.  It's a very long staple and the spinning seems to go very fast. I'm going to do a 2-ply and make a small shawl out of it (I think!).

I've also got several things on the needles right now.  2 pairs of socks:

Left:  Handspun Forest Trail socks                                                    Right:  Lang Jawoll Magic socks

And the Bartok tunic:

I'm working on the first sleeve, and rather worried about having enough yarn for both sleeves (yike).

I did finish this little patchworkey/stripey sock cozy for the iPad mini. I used a bunch of handspun odds and ends and I'm very happy with it.

I also need to pick up this shawl and get to work on it again:

Hopefully, I'll get a few things finished this month!