Hummin' Along

We made good progress on the spinning wheel yesterday, and even got it to the point of taking up some test string! In the photo below, you can see the flyer we constructed. It's made out of maple for strength instead of the birch plywood we used for the other parts. The arms are just dowels glued and hammered into holes in the flyer.

After this photo, I bent a piece of brass rod into shape for a delta flyer. Dad drilled some pilot holes and I hammered it home. It looks and works quite a bit like this Majacraft flyer, which was my inspiration. I didn't want to have to thread an orifice hole if I didn't have to.



I realized yesterday that while working with my dad on a project, we move through several "stages".

Stage 1: Data Dump
This is where my dad unloads all the ideas he's had whizzing around in his head since the last time we worked together. I basically sit there and try to sift through what he's describing to see if any of it is actually usable. He often comes up with 3 or 4 different ways to do something. This stage can take up to the first hour of our time together and by the end, I'm itching to get something done.

Stage 2: Get Movin'
We're finally done talking and ready to get down to business. We've decided what tasks we're going to tackle and actually start hauling out equipment, tools and materials.

Stage 2.5
Move everything back into the garage because it's going to rain.

Stage 3: The Lull
At this point, we've gotten a few tasks completed and have usually come across a speed bump in either design or fabrication. Dad wanders off into the bowels of the garage, his mind whirling with possible solutions. I begin to wonder who, in fact, is building this wheel. After a while, I realize that there are other things to work on and try to make myself useful. It's about this time that my Dad returns from his expedition with the initial problem solved.

Stage 4: Dismay
We may have solved a problem in the previous stage, but another setback can quickly lead to stage 4. It's also usually about this time that we start getting tired, likely dehydrated and definitely hungry. I don't want to work on the project any more that day and think we'll never get it done. My brain can't process what needs to be done or how to fix the problem we've encountered. Luckily, this stage mostly affects just me and not my Dad.

Stage 5: Hope
With my Dad pulling me through stage 4, we manage to plow through problems and make some tangible progress. Perhaps even, as happened yesterday, one of us is struck with inspiration that makes things a lot easier. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and am excited again by the project. Unfortunately, this is also about the time I need to leave or am too tired to keep going.

The inspiration that lifted our (my) spirits at the end of the day yesterday was to affix the treadle to the front side of the wheel instead of going under the wheel and attaching it from the back. [If you're facing the spinning wheel, the drive wheel is mounted on the backside of the upright.] This simplified several things about the design and also helped to balance the drive wheel. We also were able to jury rig a quick treadle assembly and I could see what the finished wheel will look like.

For next time, to help move us through stages more quickly, I think I'll compile a list of what still needs to be done and come up with a plan of attack. Our disorganization is a big hindrance in moving forward with building this wheel. If I at least have an idea of what needs to be done in my head, I can keep my Dad on track too.

Over Engineered

Flyer CAD, originally uploaded by Camping Jason.

I think my Dad may be going a bit nuts about building this spinning wheel. I thought this was supposed to be a joint project. I'll have to get over there soon if I have any hope of building this myself.

That said, it's a pretty sweet design, eh?

Jumping in with Both Feet

I started dabbling with spinning almost two years ago with some roving and a couple drop spindles. It was fun to begin with, but not that comfortable and definitely not fast enough. One of the things I love about knitting is that you can get some results fairly quickly. Even though I started 2 years ago, I have yet to finish spinning any yarn with my drop spindles. Add in the discomfort (read: lack of muscle strength in certain areas of my arms and shoulders) and spinning on a drop spindle was not one of my first choices for a nighttime hobby. It's so much easier to just pick up my current project and knit.

I've been intrigued by spinning wheels and the production you can get from them. Seemingly every other blogger I follow is now spinning and posting photos of their beautiful hand-spun yarn. Last weekend my intrigue finally bowled over and I began researching spinning wheels and whether or not I could obtain one; plus I have $350 burning a hole in my pocket. I quickly found that most wheels are out of my price range currently. The few that I did find in my range (particularly these) planted the seed of what I am about to reveal.

I am building my own spinning wheel.



So far I have the base built, plans drawn up and materials purchased for the wheel, flyer and bobbins, etc. The DIY Tools group on Ravelry has been a huge help in this venture. Quite a few people have made their own wheel and posted photos, suggestions and directions online. I've cobbled ideas from other manufacturer's wheels, DIY models and my own ideas. It's nothing that I'll be putting into mass production, but for an anticipated cost of around $35, it will be good enough for me to use.

A Fiber Tour: Day 5 - conclusion

I give you, A Brady Bunch of fiber

I guess that makes the blue corriedale Alice.

The final stop on our tour is one half (so far) of what will bring this all together. An Ashford drop spindle that was part of my haul from Pancake & Lulu 4 'days' ago.



She's a beast, but I'm very happy with my choice. It wasn't until I began to spin with it that I developed an appreciation for spinning thicker yarn. With my Schacht, I'm spinning for an eventual 2-ply fingering weight with the blue steel merino. It's Taking Forever. Spinning for a worsted or bulky weight on the Ashford uses up the fiber more quickly, but it's that much quicker that I get a finished product. I'm way too impatient for this :-)

Also, it may seem obvious, but spinning two different weight singles makes it that much easier to learn the difference between the two. When I first started spinning the multi-color roving that came with it, I was unknowingly spinning nearly the same weight as on my other spindle. It took going back and forth between the two to realize the difference.

The learning process with spinning is a lot of fun, but frustrating for me at the same time. It's hard to find enough time in the day to knit, let alone spin. I'm also being impatient with wanting to see how the finished yarn will look. Eight ounces is a lot of fiber to get through.

A Fiber Tour: Day 4

Bright Blue Corriedale from Hello Yarn

The rest of my birthday money went towards this purchase from Adrian at Hello Yarn. At these great prices, it's a good thing I have some restraint, or I'd buy up every thing she has. I still may.

I absolutely love the bright blue shown above. At $13 for 8 oz., it's a steal at twice the price. She has some dark blue that I'm thinking would look awesome plyed with the bright blue to create a tweed effect. 

Natural BFL

Here we have a Full Pound of natural BFL, again from Hello Yarn. Like the natural merino two posts ago, I'll probably experiment with dyeing both before and after spinning. Hopefully I can convince myself that having so much allows for errors, and not stress about waste. This bundle ran me $18, again a great bargain.

A Fiber Tour: Day 3

These two little gems I received in my order from Tactile Fiber Arts. I ordered a Schact Hi-Lo drop spindle - my first - and was pleasantly surprised to find two little gifts nestled alongside it. TFA is run by Maia and Brooke, who endeavor to supply knitters with wonderful natural fiber products. All of their dyed fiber is created using all natural products - mostly plants and foods -no chemicals here. The result is lovely, earthy tones.

Both of the above fibers are 2 oz. of Blue Faced Leicester, on the right is a natural brown and the left is a natural white that has been dyed. Unfortunately there were no accompanying labels, so I don't know what gave it the gorgeous orange color. Maia, any ideas?

A Fiber Tour: Day 2

Welcome back to day 2 of my little fiber tour.

Today we explore the other (fiber) half of my Pancake and Lulu purchase, some natural merino roving. A whole POUND of it. It's literally crammed into that little bag.


Natural merino roving - 1 lb. from Pancake and Lulu

HO-LY CRAP thisisthesofteststuffihaveeverfelt.

This is some seriously special stuff. It'll probably be the last I spin up of all this fiber I'm showing you. I want to be pretty darn good by the time I dig into it. I do know that I definitely want to play with fiber dyeing, although color ideas escape me at present.

Basically the reason I ended up with a pound of fiber was to use up the rest of the $50 gift card. The spin kit from my last post was $25 and the merino roving was listed at $6.50 for 4 oz. Do the math and I only spent $1 (plus shipping) for a pound and a quarter of fiber and a spindle. Not bad at all.

A Fiber Tour: Day 1

Recently, I've come into ownership of quite a bit of fiber. I don't really know how it happened so quickly. I barely have enough time lately to knit, so who knows when all this fiber will get spun up. Not to mention the fact that I only have two spindles and I'm not a fast spinner by any means.

Nevertheless, I thought I would get some use of the fiber by showcasing it here on the blog. You've already seen the Blue Steel from Zarzuela's Fibers, and over the next week or so, I'll show you the rest of my burgeoning stash.

Also, you'll be interested to know that every item on this tour came to me without hardly any money out of pocket.


Domestic wool roving from Pancake and Lulu

This one took a while to get. I won a $50 gift card to Pancake and Lulu via Stacy's contest back in August. At the time, I didn't think I'd ever get into spinning if I had to spend my own money on it; yarn was way more important. This provided the perfect opportunity to delve into a new craft.

Why did it take so long? When I initially got the gift certificate, there were no spin kits in the P&L shop, so I had to wait until Aimee could post one. Then I had to wait until I found one I liked :) The colors are very interesting, quite a range from yellow to red to black to blue. I'm really curious to see: a. how much it will lighten/brighten up when drafted, and b. how the colors will mix once it's plied.

It's only labeled as 'Domestic Wool Roving' so I can't be more specific about the fiber content. It's not the softest stuff I've felt, but it's not real scratchy either. I think one of the hardest parts about spinning for me right now (other than the motivation/time to do it) is trying to decide for what I'll want to use the resulting yarn. That makes it easier to determine what kind of yarn to spin. I've already split it lengthwise into two pieces, and I'm thinking I want to try for a worsted weight yarn. Other than that, all I know at this point is I'll want to use the new spindle that came with it. But that's a post for another day.

My Latest Addiction

I started Friday afternoon with a little tuft and after two hour long sessions Sunday and last night, here's what I have.

I'm so proud!

This is unbelievably fun, and I absolutely love the color. I'm getting better each time I sit down to spin. I've only had a few accidents so far. I drafted too thin at one point and the strand snapped, and another time the spindle went all wobbly throwing the hook off and it went spinning under the couch. That one gave me a heart attack. You know how many dust doggies are under there? The worst part was that a lot of the yarn (it's weird to call it yarn in this stage, I still just think of it as fiber) unraveled from the spindle and I needed help from my wife to untangle it all.

The fiber is superwash merino from Zaruela's Fibers on Etsy. You definitely need to check it out. Jessica has some lovely colors up for sale.

Blue Steel - Jamie Lee Curtis has nothing on me

Mystery socks update

These are proving to be mysterious indeed. I've now frogged three times. The first try that I described in my previous post - twisting the YOs - made the sock too tight. So I tried it as written - knitting the yarn overs the correct way - and it was still too tight. Now, I'm going to try going up a needle size to work the cable pattern.

The other sock - the one with ribbing instead of lace - I frogged back and just decided to carry the cuff pattern over the whole leg. If the cables don't work out, I'll at least be on my way to one complete sock...