Spinning on the River - April 2008

President's Note

Dear Guild members,

The beginner spinner’s class is up to 13 now! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. We have more goodies for this month’s attendees. Please come with your wheel and enthusiasm to help them master drafting when using a wheel.

Deposits are coming in and the workshop is filling up. Be sure to get your deposit in if you want a place! To further tweak your interest Patsy’s description and supply list are in the newsletter. Do note she is going to be doing hands on dyeing on cellulose. It will be a new adventure for me.

Mary

Minutes from March 16, 2008

Members attending: Dana W, Patricia, Marjorie, Mary, Maxine, Angela, Marie, Sylvia, Leslie, Karen.
Welcome new members, and welcome more beginning spinners Nichol, Melissa, Jackie, Anna, Norahann, & Pat.

Treasury Report:
February balance: $563.09
Deposits: dues & class fees, $80
Debits: carding cloth, 114.50
March Balance: $563.09

Mary conducted a brief business meeting before class.

The Stack family of Millenial Way Farm in Little Rock, AR sent a letter to the guild inviting visitors to their open house and shearing day March 22, admission is $5.

Rebecca Wood of Roxywood Farms in Eads, TN will be shearing her llamas on April 6th or 20th. If people are interested we can make it a field trip and she will do most of the shearing that day. We can choose fleece "on the hoof." The 20th is the date of our 2nd beginning spinning class so we will go on April 6th. Several members expressed interest.

The Delta Fair will be at the Agricenter August 29-September 7. We can go Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the fair for spinning demonstrations. We will get free parking and tickets and may sell items. The fair will supply tables and chairs.

The Northwest Mississippi Community College has a show called Make It Red on display in their art gallery. The topic of the show is women's heart health and features work from six guilds. The artists' reception is Monday, March 17th, 6-8pm. The show is open weekdays through March 30.

Our own Mohair producer and fiber processor Patricia will have an open house at Little Bit Acres the first Saturday of May (see below).

Sylvia shared an invitation to spin at the Arlington in April festival Saturday, April 26.

Patricia announced a Sheep to Shawl event Saturday, April 19th at the Mississippi Craftsmen's Center in Ridgeland (just north of Jackson). We are welcome to participate. It isn't a competition, just join in the spinning.

Some equipment found it's way to a new home:

• Dana offered her Structo 20" 4-harness table loom for sale; it went home with Maxine
• Sylvia had a spinning wheel from Holland that found a new home with Marjorie
• Karen S offered her nearly new and underused Majacraft Little Gem II (but has since bonded with it)

Dana issued a challenge to guild members to finish an existing Unfinished Object:

• Dana finished a "ginormous" furry felted purse
• Angela finished samples from a weaving workshop
• Sylvia finished spinning a batch of Shelby's fleece (one of Patty's sheep) and ended up with 1000 yards.
• Marjorie used her Roc Day batt as the cuffs for knitted "hand shoes" (fingerless mitts) and she proudly showed her handspun, Kool-Aid dyed felted shoes to everyone's delight.

Angela showed her alpaca skein from Black Jack, the young male owned by Cathy Stauffer of Coldwater Alpaca Ranch. The skein was entered in the 2008 Fiber to Fashion show in Las Vegas, NV. It came back with a blue ribbon for skeins and another for Judge's Choice of Handspun Skeins.

• Students received copies of Interweave Press brochures "Introduction to Spinning" and "Low Tech, Hi Satisfaction"
• Mary explained wool grades and students received sample locks of clean Merino, Corriedale, Suffolk, Romney, and Lincoln wools.
• Angela talked about processing and demonstrated teasing, combing and carding.
• Participants received 2 batts of prepared wool and CD drop spindles.
• Mary led students through tearing strips from the batts and pre-drafting, followed by twisting with the drop spindle.
• Angela led everyone through park & draft spinning, combining drafting and twisting together.
• As everyone got comfortable with park & draft, they moved on the drop spindling at their own pace.
• We wrapped up with a discussion of fleece washing and students received a mesh bag with 120g of raw fleece and washing instructions.
• Homework is: wash the dirty fleece, and spin and much of the carded wool as you want on the drop spindle. Bring clean wool, a spindle of spun yarn and dog or cat combs or brushes for next time.
• The next class on April 20 will cover plying, processing the washed wool, dyeing, and spinning on a spinning wheel.

Angela

Treasurer's Report: April 2008

April deposits so far are $285 with additional WS and class fees.

Member Gallery

Multi-talented spinner and weaver Dana is taking a photography class at Memphis College of Art. She worked on a homework assignment with the help of Patricia's Angora goat "Princess" and Cotswold ewe "Shelby." Visit Princess, Shelby and many more in person at the Little Bit Acres Open House on May 3rd.
Spinners - please send pictures of your handspun projects for future issues. Your work just might inspire someone else.

Our own Spinning Workshop!

Spinning on the River has invited internationally known spinning instructor Patsy Sue Zawistoski for a 3-day spinning workshop in Memphis, July 25, 26 & 27, 2008! From her website http://www.spinninguru.com/, our workshop will be:

Cellulose Fibers: Old & New, Long & Short
Naturally colored cottons, various flax preparations, hemp, ramie, rayon, Tencel™ and the rayon from Bamboo have similar characteristics, but vastly different spinning and preparation techniques. The fibers vary from ½ inch cotton to more than a meter for hemp. Learn how to explore, combine and maximize these fibers’ potential. Various preparations, dyeing, spinning, plying, finishing and record keeping will be covered.

Goal: The first goal for this class is to clarify the underlying differences between the wide varieties of Cellulose fibers currently on the market. The second goal is to learn techniques needed to obtain the yarns desired, including preparing, dyeing, spinning and finishing.

Class schedule:

Day one Intro to Cellulose Booklet and spinning options card Dyeing, bagged lint, and braided and painted rovings. Introduction to Rayon, the history and development of this regenerated cellulose fiber Introduction to Cotton, spinning from unginned bolls and lint Combination and novelty yarns

Day two Rinsing the dyed fibers Introduction to Hemp, the history Introduction to ramie and flax Dressing the distaffs and spinning line flax Scouring the linen yarns

Day three Spinning cotton rovings Blending cellulose fibers Free dyeing time

This is an "Intermediate Beginner" class - The student should be comfortable with their wheel and able to spin a "good enough" yarn (not perfect) and ready for a new challenge. They do not need to have experience in any of the fibers I am covering, I will be introducing the fibers. However, they will be challenged to spin fibers of different lengths, which are not wool. They may have tried the cellulose fibers but not feel comfortable with them.

The workshop will take place at our regular meeting place at St. Francis. Registration opens March 15th (March meeting). Class fee is $175 + $25 materials fee. See the workshop registration form for full details. Class is limited to 15 participants.

Class fee is $175 + $25 materials fee. Registrations after June 1st will be charged a $30 late fee.

Plying according to Mary

Plying is the process by which two or more yarns are joined together to form one yarn. These yarns can be singles or plied themselves.

For an even ply the yarns must be held at an even tension. With an uneven tension the more tightly held yarn will act as a core with the loose yarn spiraling up the outside. In order to have uniformity of twist in the ply, the number of times treadled per length of yarn must be uniform.

Testing for balance should always be done on freshly spun and plied yarn. If the yarn has been sitting on the bobbin or in a yarn storage package (for example wound off onto a paper towel core) it should be washed to release the potential twist. A balanced yarn, usually at 1/2 to 2/3 the TPI of the singles, will hang in an open loop when skeined. Assume the spun yarn consists of Z singles/S ply. If a skein twists S-wise it is asking for more S twist to be put into the ply or less Z twist in the singles. If it twists Z-wise it is asking for more Z twist to be put into the ply or less S twist in the singles.

Another check for yarn that has singles all spun in one direction and plied in the opposite is that the fibers are aligned along the central axis.

Mary

Plying according to Angela

Plying is the process of twisting two or more spun singles into one yarn. Plying relaxes the twist in the fiber and creates a thicker yarn from finer singles. Plying can be done from multiple spindles or bobbins of singles yarn. Two-ply yarns may be plied from opposite ends of a singles yarn by using a center pull ball or a wrist bracelet. These instruction have the yarn supply on the left and the spindle on the right. A center-pull ball is held in the left hand or a wrist bracelet is around the left wrist. The singles are guided separately through the fingers.

Fold the end of the singles through the leader and give the spindle a counterclockwise twirl (or opposite the direction the singles were spun). Guide the separated singles with your left hand. Pull a length of the singles out, keeping the tension even on all strands. The singles should meet as they slide over your right index finger, being twisted by the spindle below. Repeat pulling out a length of singles and letting it slide over your right index finger to be twisted. Wind onto the spindle just as you did for the singles. The wind on is the same direction as the twist – counterclockwise. Leave a couple of inches of plied yarn above the hook, give the spindle another twirl and continue plying.

Singles that have rested on the spindle for an hour or more may have begun to set their twist. Ply a small sample and wet it to relax the twist. Use the sample as a guide for the correct amount of ply twist.

Angela

An Even Ply and a Balanced Yarn

Even plying requires that all strands are held under equal tension as they come together. They should all be at the same angle to the finished yarn and feed at the same rate. Any uneven factor will result in a yarn that looks like one strand is wrapped around another.

even plying	uneven plying

What is balanced?

Fiber resists being twisted. When it is spun into a singles yarns, it stores energy that gives the yarn a tendency to untwist. Plying yarns in the opposite direction of the singles twist releases the excess twist energy while creating a stable yarn. A “balanced” yarn will have no tendency to twist in either direction. The amount of ply twist to create a balanced yarn depends on the twist in the singles and the number of plies.

Mabel Ross (Essentials of Yarn Design for Handspinners) explains the plying, or “folding” twist removes twist from each one of the plies, leaving some spinning twist which will balance the energy of the folding twist. From her example, we can derive a formula for the ply twist required to balance any number of plies with a specific spinning twist: ply twist (measured as twists per inch) should be the spinning twist times the number of plies divided by the number of plies plus one. In a 2-ply yarn, the ply twist should equal 2/(2+1) or 2/3 of the spinning twist as a starting point. A 3-ply will have ply twist equal to 3/4 spinning twist. This is only an estimate. Some yarns require significantly more or less twist for balance, depending on the fiber and spinning style.

Testing balance

In a balanced yarn, individual fibers will run roughly parallel to the whole yarn, though they are wound around other fibers. Examine a yarn closely to check the fiber alignment.

A way to test for balance over a longer length is to hang a skein or a strand of yarn and allow is to twist upon itself. Yarn that hangs in a “U” shape is balanced. Yarn that twists upon itself has extra twist energy. If the yarn twists in the direction of the ply, it needs more ply twist, or it should have had less spinning twist. If it twists in the opposite direction, it has too much ply twist or not enough spin. Ply twist may be corrected by re-spinning the plied yarn to twist it a little in the needed direction.

The hanging test is inaccurate if any of the twist is dormant. Spun yarn begins to set its twist right away. Yarn than has been wound onto a bobbin for even a day will have a significant amount of dormant twist energy. Balancing the yarn according to the hang test will cause the yarn to be under plied. Moisture reactivates dormant twist. To check the appropriate ply twist on singles that have set, ply a small length, soak it in water or steam it and allow it to twist freely. Dry the yarn – without weight – and use the sample as a guide.

Angela

Pioneer Day at Crosswind Elementary

Friday April 25, 2008 will be Pioneer Day for the fourth grade classes at Crosswind Elementary in Collierville. For almost 10 years, spinners from our guild have been pioneers for the day, providing one of the stations for students to visit. Each class spends about 40 minutes with each station learning about some art of craft of pioneer life. The young spinners for a day are introduced to raw fleece and shown how to process it for spinning, plus fresh cotton to be hand ginned and spun. We show spindles and wheels and talk about natural dyes. Students try lap spinning with pencil roving and guess the fiber sources of finished items - with a trick question or two to keep it interesting.

Want to be a Pioneer for a Day? Join Mary and Angela for an exciting trip back in time. Contact one of us for details.

Angela

Open House at Little Bit Acres

I will have an open house for fellow knitters, spinners and fiber people in general, May 3, beginning at 10:00 am. As much as I would love to open the farm up to everyone, I find I am very short on parking space! Please car pool if possible. You will meet my goats and rabbits and all else that is around! There will be plenty of fiber and dye pots to play with. Carders will be available for mixing fibers and colors. The usual spinning, knitting and weaving fun and if any of the goats around here ever decide to have their babies, baby goats to play with! The triangle loom will be up and ready for anyone to try along with the Navajo loom. I am hoping that it will work out for Nichol to bring her newly sheared sheep and their wool over for show and tell.

Hope to see you then!

Patricia Holmberg
Little Bit Acres Farm
278 Arkabutla Dam Rd
Coldwater, MS

house phone
662-301-1615

Please use Map Quest for directions, or call ahead of time.
Cell phones do not work well, if at all, out here!

Patricia

Calendar

All meeting refreshments are Pot Luck.

Meeting - Sunday, April 20, 1:30-5pm
Program: Beginning Spinning, session 2

Meeting - Sunday, May 18, 1:30-5pm
Program: Beginning Spinning, session 3
Workshop registration closes - if there's any space left by then!

Meeting - Sunday, June 22, 1:30-5pm - Note: this is the 4th Saturday
Meeting - Sunday, July 20, 1:30-5pm

Workshop - Friday-Sunday, July 25-27, 2008
Cellulose Fibers, Long and Short, Old and New with Patsy Sue Zawistoski