Spinning on the River - November 2006

Editor's Note

Hello spinners!

Wow, it's been a busy month. Mary, Andrea, and I missed the guild anniversary meeting last month because we were on the way to Oklahoma for Master Spinner level 2 - read three perspectives on the class in this newsletter. It was an intense week and we have a lot of homework to do in the next nine months. I haven't had the time to start yet, because...

November 4th I led a Scarf-in-a-Day workshop for the local weavers' guild with some assistance from Mary. Participants with no prior weaving experience started the morning with a prepared loom and a little instruction. Nine ladies completed their own handwoven scarves by the end of the afternoon. There were enthusiastic requests for more classes and some interest in spinning - perhaps we'll see some crossover to our group.

November 11th I was again a demonstrating spinner at the Zoo's Harvest Festival while Mary wove rag rugs on the antique barn loom in the Once Upon a Farm building. Patricia was spinning alongside another weaver near the front gate, and Brigitte was out with her knitting. The cold spell kept a lot of the visitors away this year, but those that stopped by were interested in our spinning and weaving and Lola, the 65-pound boa constrictor loose in the corner by Mary and I.

Plus, I spent the week in between in Washington, DC. I am glad to be home and done with fairs, workshops, and travel for a while. Time to turn back to my own projects and get started on that homework!

Happy Spinning,

- Angela

---

Minutes for October 15, 2006

Spinning On The River Guild members present: Kimberley, Sylvia, Patricia, Marie, Kaaren, and Joann.

This is the day we celebrate the ninth birthday anniversary of the spinning guild. Our members Mary, Angela and Andrea are in Oklahoma this week for classes. We are thinking of them as they miss this milestone, and look forward to hearing about their exciting, busy week of studies when they return.

Show and Tell:

• Kimberley has many bags of colored wools and exotic fibers. She told about each of the fibers, where she got them, how she dyed them. Many of the bags of wool and Angora were from her own animals, which are all named.
• Sylvia brought her spun yarns and fibers and the attached ribbons that she earned by placing them in the Midsouth Fair competition. The beautifully knit cardigan that she entered sported colored square buttons that were made by Kimberley. The sweater also sported the red ribbon for winning in it's catagory. Sylvia's new Angora rabbit named Butterscotch provided beautiful fiber for yarn, which is just the same color as the rabbit is named. This yarn also won a red ribbon. Sylvia said she is knitting a baby cardigan for an expected baby in her family.
• Marie is busy crocheting a black and white tweed shawl. She showed the pattern to us. She is really making progress on it today.
• Kaaren is hand carding and spinning the white wool that she bought at the Midsouth Fair Wool and auction sale.
• Joann brought some of the washed and carded white Hampshire wool that she bought at the Fair.

Sylvia told of the Arlington Harvest Festival that will be held on October 21st in Arlington. She asked if anyone would be able to go and participate. See Sylvia's report from Arlington.

Potluck snacks were enjoyed by all.

Joann

---

Member Gallery

Wandering Master Spinner students brought back lots of sample skeins and fiber for their homework assignments. Click to explore a larger image.	Mary models a perfect puni of camel down.
Spinners - please send pictures of your handspun projects for future issues. Your work just might inspire someone else.

---

Master Spinner Class Report from Angela

Master Spinner Level 2 was intense. Early mornings, busy classes, homework, late nights, and lousy beds made for a tiring week. Gayle, our instructor, was great. She was very technical, but very gentle and patient. She dumped information about a technique and then went over slowly giving us time to absorb it as we worked along with her.

We started out trying consistent drafting length, treadle count & flyer whorl to get even twists per inch. I had heard about that but never got the hang of it before class. I start out counting my feet movements and eventually realize I'm counting hand motions. It takes practice. Consistency was a goal throughout the week. We moved on to four drafting techniques: "short forward draw" or "inchworm," "short backward draw" or "short draw at a distance," "point-of-contact" and "unsupported long draw." That was my favorite thing - long draw has been something I wanted to learn for a while. It works by allowing some twist into the fiber supply, then pulling back. It creates a big slub which is stretched out into a smooth yarn. There's lots of finessing, which we learned to do in all of the drafting styles.

We hand carded very tidy rolags and combed top. We talked about design of cards and combs. I discovered there is a big difference between larger Viking-type combs and small finer-tined mini combs for short, fine fiber. The little combs made perfect top out of 2" Ramboulliet locks while my big combs left lots of neps. The bigger combs work fine for longer coarse fibers. Flat vs. curved hand cards are a matter of preference, while the density of the teeth determine what the cards can do. 72 tpi or coarser hand cards work just great for wool, allowing the fibers into the teeth. Finer teeth tend to keep the fiber on the surface. That doesn't work so well for coarse wool but is exactly what you want for fine short fibers like cotton. Good to know, since I was considering some finer wool cards. Hand-prepared fiber rules. It's so much easier to spin than the commercial stuff - by the way, "carded" roving sold in the US is not really carded. It's been pin-drafted to straighten it so it performs kinda like top. Technically it's "gilled sliver." We looked at several ways to loosen up the commercial preparations, too.

We worked with several grades of wool: Lincoln, Jacob, Ramboulliet, Merino, Shetland, Wensleydale, and Corriedale lamb, plus we have a challenge to duplicate the Lord of the Rings elven cloak yarn with Stansborough Gotland wool from the flock that provided the movie costumes. It's beautiful wool. We also worked with camel hair and down, llama, huacaya and suri alpaca, silks, and mohair.

Each student had to do a presentation of a class topic. I picked braiding and did a quick hands-on session using kumihimo plates I made from salvaged cardboard boxes. The morning before my afternoon talk, the teacher asked if the other class could sit in. I found an empty diet coke carton and spent lunch making enough extra cards for everyone. No pressure! It went well and a couple of people had an inch of braid formed after a few minutes. We have to make a cabled yarn and a braid sampler as part of the homework. I'm thinking of spinning the camel hair for the yarn and using the homework as the incentive to try ply-splitting. Gayle, our teacher, learned it in a workshop with Linda Hendrickson. If you look at Linda's article in the Summer 2005 Spin-Off, you'll see Gayle's work on page 55. She had the grey and yellow distaff with her.

Our classmate Melissa gave a very interesting talk about alpacas since she raises them. Another classmate April talked about drop spindles and gave out homemade Turkish spindles - something I hoped to find at Convergence, but didn't find one I liked. Mary's Lincoln presentation impressed everyone with how well it works for felt. She also jumped in with a demonstration of making perfect top with mini combs. Andrea reviewed fleece faults. We helped our roommate Margaret prepare samples for a blending presentation. We talked about the history of the spinning wheel and of silk. We have to research both as part of the homework. We'll have to estimate the amount of raw wool and time required to get a finished sweater by measuring a sample, then do a project. That will be a nice push to start making sweaters with all the fleece piled up around the house. After all it doesn't do any good keeping the plastic bins warm! As busy as we were, unfortunately the class could have been paced a little better. The last day we had to cram in several topics. We saw but didn't get to try Navajo spindles and talked about blending colors for a color wheel. We never got around to trying each other's wheels, but I had a chance to work with the roommates' wheels after hours and make discoveries about double drive.

I think it helps to have been exposed to all of the topics before the class. It would be overwhelming to face that much information if it was all new. I took 22 pages of notes. We had a potluck dinner & fashion show Monday night and some spinning games Tuesday night on top of fleece washing homework both nights. Not everyone had the energy to attend. Mary and I competed in one of the spinning games. She treadled while I walked backwards drafting and other helpers held the yarn off the ground. It was a very silly contest and we managed to out-spin the team of teachers! We also ended up playing a round of Spinnium that I brought with just in case. It was a big hit.

Our homework this time is very heavily weighted on research. It's possible to fail all the skeins and still pass. Of course I intend to turn in perfect skeins ;-) It's going to be very interesting. Another piece of the homework is to spin a yarn suitable for needlework and make a small sampler. Margaret challenged me to use handwoven linen as the canvas – so I challenged her to use handspun, of course. If you're exhausted from reading this, then you get a little impression of last week. There's a lot of learning ahead with the homework, and don't be suprised if there are a few guild programs as a result!

Angela

---

Master Spinner Class Report from Mary

Andrea, Angela and I spent an invigorating, enriching and educational week in Oklahoma. I learned so much from our wonderful teacher, Master Spinner and holder of COE Gayle Vallence. This year's focus was on drafting technique, camelids, silk and mohair. Andrea now will be giving the fleece faults talk as she gave a thorough and excellent talk to our class. Angela gave an excellent hands on program on braiding, making recycled garbage-er card marudai for everyone, even the 8 who were invited last minute to join our group! I gave a horrible short talk on Lincoln, the hit of the talk was my purse as people seemed amazed that I was able to felt with that breed. I also snuck in a talk and demo about combing with mini combs, which I was more comfortable with. I traded a weavette for some alpaca raised by one of the students. I'll try spinning it with the techniques we learned and hope to give the Guild a talk about it next year.

As part of the fun we had a fashion show and pot luck dinner the first night. The second night pitted Angela as the drafter and yours truly as the treadler against two of the teachers in a timed spinning for length in the parking lot. We had to have two people hold the thread off the ground it got so long and we won! We both chose to bring home more fiber-surprise!

The second night we had teachers and students teamed against each other in Angela's Spinnium game. Our Guild spinners should be proud of their knowledge. You would have done well as a team too.

Despite the rain and cold I spent two nights in the hot tub at our cabin. I had forgotten how beautiful the skies are in the country. It was a lovely way to close out busy days.

Mary

---

Master Spinner Class Report from Andrea

fiber week in Oklahoma...

Amazingly, we managed to fit three adults and our assorted spinning "stuff", plus extra fleeces, food and knitting into the car. With every inch packed, Mary, Angela and I set out October 14th to attend the US Masters Spinners week in Davis Oklahoma (sponsored by Olds College, Alberta, CA). I took a tumble while on vacation the week before, landing on my right knee, my treadle knee. It was sore and I was a bit apprehensive about the week ahead. I also admit to a healthy dose of anticipatory awe and intimidation at spending the week with a variety of spinners I was sure would be far more skilled in the art than I. Despite my puffy knee, I looked forward to a week of learning and practice, and packed a supply of remedies and a cold wrap along with the fiber paraphernalia.

Despite a slightly less then ideal class space in the county extension building, we settled in Monday morning for our first long day of class. Gayle Valance was our instructor; it was a joy to watch her spin. She is a gentle teacher, patient with those less skilled and adept at offering some new bit of learning for each of us. She even threw in enough technical details to appeal, I think, to those who wanted to know the why's of the varieties of techniques we practice. Her quiet skill was especially evident when she spun a delicate yarn to the pattern of "The Lord of the Rings" shawls out of the Gotland samples she brought.

We practiced plying and cabling. We spun llama, alpaca, camel hair and camel down, silks and mohair and a variety of wools. We talked about the history of spinning wheels and the Silk Road and its influence on spinning. After trying various spinning techniques: short draw, forward draft, back ward draft, point of contact and long draw, and unsupported long draw; I continue to struggle to spin a consistent yarn. Woolen and worsted became more organized in my mind. The various fibers were fun and, for me, very challenging. While teaching specific techniques, Gayle managed to stress that each of us would find what worked for us; and that spinning, most importantly, should to be enjoyed. Seems to me that someone else has been telling me to take a deep breath and have fun for a while now! I think this week got me through a learning hurdle that will make the fun easier!!

I enjoyed meeting spinners from around the country; each one had something to share and something to teach. A good thing as one of our classroom tasks was to teach something about something we were learning. I gave a presentation on how to evaluate a fleece, Angela taught us braiding (mini cardboard loom included) and Mary shared her knowledge of Lincoln fleeces including showing off her lovely felted Lincoln purse. Several of the women there raised sheep, alpacas or goats, others were adept at weaving, needle work, and knitting. Some said they spun daily while others fit their fiber passion into very full professional lives working in every arena imaginable, and some even unimaginable (as in secret or classified work or something far above my head in a field I little understood). Some, like me, were newer spinners, others spanned the years in experience. Some spun to weave, some to knit, some of us were still spinning just to spin, though we did spend a fair amount of time learning how to pick a fiber and style of spinning for a specific project and the prospect of getting to that place now seems in the realm of possibility.

I came away with some general observations. We were NOT the most packed vehicle there. (One woman's husband drove a truckload of "stuff" up for her and after visiting their cabin I think we could have filled a bit more space in our vehicle :-) ) I won't have to do much to learn how to spin novelty yarns when they come up in the schedule (at least the slub filled variety). Purple is my favorite fiber color; I loved the purple toned folk scarf and the purple felted hat in the fashion show. Some nights I just needed to go to bed early and rest my grey stuff; even if I fell asleep counting TPI, WPI and CPI formulas instead of sheep. Scurf is sheep dander. They do make a comb holder for my mini-combs. Angela and Mary are super long draw spinners, really LONG draw. Mary's vast fiber wisdom sparkled throughout the week and Angela's spinning samples were consistently among the finest in the group. We are truly blessed to have Angela and Mary in our guild. Looking back, the week far exceeded my expectations, including the awe factor; I recommend it to anyone looking for an intensive hands-on learning experience. Oh, and after being home a couple weeks, I seem to have graduated to a skinny yarn spinner; I wonder how I will learn how to spin fat yarn again when I want to.

Andrea

---

Arlington Harvest Festival

A few weeks ago our guild was invited to spin at the Arlington Harvest Festival in downtown Arlington. This was the first harvest festival they have had. Kaaren, Marie, Kimberly and myself showed up to spin. We had a nice spot on the covered front porch of the quilt shop. It was not right along the main "entertainment" area so we did not have loads of visitors, but enough folks stopped by for us to share our love of fiber with. The weather was beautiful and not cold at all. We enjoyed free popcorn and coffee that was being served at the hardware store. (I noticed they have a Great Wheel for sale, in good condition) There were no quilting demonstrations or any other fiber related craft demo's that I know of besides ours. The old fashioned Blacksmith Shop was up and running for the event. That had a lot of interest. As I've noticed when we spin at other festivities, the guys are the most intrigued by our spinning wheels and the whole process of spinning fiber. I had brought samples of spun "Sparkle" (Pomeranian) and "Butterscotch" (Angora rabbit) that brought Ooo's and Aaa's, besides other fiber samples. We stayed almost until we could not see our fiber anymore. Kimberly and I made a quick trip along the shops before going home. This is definitely one festival I think we'll enjoy participating in next year. See you there!

Sylvia

---

Pink Palace Craft Fair

I didn't spin at the Pink Palace but I volunteered at the weavers table helping any interested children and a few adults catch the weaving bug. Two peacock looms were available to weave on using a myriad of colors. The table covering was made from strips woven in previous years. The weather was great, the company new and interesting and the weavers eager. I recommend the experience for one and all.

Mary

---

Library Update

Danielle Burch, a weaver from Helena, AR recently donated many weaving books to the Memphis weavers' guild library. Joan Leon, the local weaver who collected the books, offered the spinning and dyeing titles to our spinning guild. Thank you Danielle and Joan. Our new books are:

I've also recently added a library database to our web site and our librarian Sandy has been busy entering all of our books. The new list can be found at http://www.memphisfiberarts.org/spin/librarylist.php and you can sort by author or title by clicking on the column labels.

- Angela

---

Skeins in and for Spin-Off

Don't forget the next submission for Spin-Off skeins is due the 1st of next month. I'll take any finished skeins home with me and mail them together if you have them ready. The category is organic fibers. I'm spinning organic cotton. I'll be glad to bring some for others if you are interested.

Check out our Guild participation in the last issue, the cabled yarn. January, Christi and Marie are on page one. Kimberly, Dana, Sandy, Sylvia, Kaaren, Angela and I also have skeins. I'd guess that is 2/3 participation. Way to go girls!

Mary

---

Breed of the Every Other Month Club

What ever happened to the Breed of the Every Other Month Club?

I don't know either! It is time to start thinking about next year's programs. Please come up with some ideas and let the group know if you want to continue talking about fiber choices available to spinners.

Mary

---

Calendar

All meeting refreshments are Pot Luck.

Meeting - Sunday, November 19, 1:30-5pm
Program: Officer elections; Organic yarn spin-in

Yarns due - Friday, December 1
Organic yarns due at Interweave Press for the Spin-Off Your Yarns! feature.

Meeting - Sunday, December 17, 1:30-5pm
Program: Holiday Party