Sunday, April 6, 2014

e-Spinner, yak and silk roving and another wedding ring cushion

OH took pity on me for having to stand up using my spinning wheel, something I've had to do for a while now as I get tendonitis and bursitis and other "itides " when I use any part repeatedly (possibly due to my daft body taking aim at itself - sigh).

If I use the drop spindle consistently, well then digital tendons will get annoyed so it's been "a little of this then a little of that" for some time now.
An electric spinner seemed to be the answer but it is quite expensive and would it really be "hand spun" if not spun with a completely manual device? The answer to the second objections is, in my opinion  - "yes it would" because the most skilled part in spinning fiber by hand is the drafting of fiber and the constant reassessment of how the yarn is forming, how well the treatment suits the fiber being used, the technical consistency and not least, determining how it might best be used when finished. The first part of the possible objection remained - but my birthday arrived and became a good excuse for OH to buy one for me (plus, his Christmas present to me didn't quite work out - ahem).
So it arrived along with a coupon which allowed me to choose fiber from Winghand Wool Works - great!!
I choose 200 grams of brown yak and silk blended roving - very exotic!!
I practiced first with some medium-weight fleece which I drum-carded and spun of the e-Spinner. I plan to fill tow of the big spools that came with it and ply them but when the yak arrived i had to have a go at this before the second DAU fiber was spun. I've spun 100 beams now and am half way through the second 100 grams. They will be plied together too. The white will have to be wound off into a center-pull ball to allow for the third spool for plying the yak - then I'll commence the second white  wool spool.




Then back to knitting and another wedding-ring cushion for Aoife and Robert.
I made one before and the receivers seems to like it very much so I thought I'd make one for this couple too.
The yarn is hand-spun from an old Shetland sheep fleece my friend gave me some of and the edging is knitted lace I made from mercerized cotton. The two rings are fakes and just temporary - I hope :0.


Just a little more to do to get this finished.
The knitted cover is 8.5 X 8.5 inches and I made a cushion for inside measuring 9.5 X 9.5 inches.
I don't like the white ribbon holding the rings in place so I'll look for a cream colored one instead - but I have until may so not too worried. Surely there's a cream T-shirt with cream ribbons attached inside the neck (what IS that about - keeping it on the hangers or what ? - well I save them all).

Must take Huddie for a walk now - (7 pm ) it's actually bright and sunny and no more wearing a headlamp in the dark - yeah.

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