Spinning and Plying

Spinning and plying, I love it!

Prize Winner!

I spun a color experiment and entered it in the State Fair, and

it won 3rd prize!  I love the Shady Glade color way from Abstract Fibers.  

So I spun one hank of that roving that I first blended on my drum carder, and then 

spun the other hank from split lengths of the same roving.  Not the best picture

of the yarn, but a dandy shot of the prize ribbon! If you look closely, you can see
the blended yarn on the left, and the split roving on the right.

Etsy, like Betsy without the "B"

You can find my hand spun yarns on

Etsy

Jumbo Ball Winder

Something special for all of you frustrated by those plastic clamp-on ball winders.  You know the ones that come loose and fly off the table when the going gets tough.  I present the Jumbo Ball Winder from Strauch.  Don't you just love when things work the way they are supposed to?  This winder is a dream to operate. To make things even better,  I have borrowed an idea I saw a few years ago at Art Fibers in San Francisco,  for a sturdy core to wind my yarn on.

The Jumbo Ball Winder 

Clamps securely onto a flat surface

I purchased foam plumbing pipe insulation in 8' lengths from the hardware store.

I cut the foam in 4 "pieces, which slide easily over the large center dowel of the winder.

 To start, I push the yarn into the seam of the foam and let it hang out the top edge

The yarn winds beautifully onto the foam core.

I tuck the end into the other end of the seam which gives me 

a ball that can be pulled from the center or the end.  

This is fantastic for knitting, plying and casting on knitting stitches.  

I recently purchased the Madd Batt'r drum carder from Strauch, 

a work horse that turns out fantastic art batts.  

So I knew this ball winder would be a winner!

Thanks Otto, for these well built and beautifully designed products

Blue and Green

I am having such fun making,

Yarn, yarn, beautiful yarn!

Plying Magic!

I had a skein of thick-thin hand spun wool yarn, that was 

lovely in it's own way, but a bit dull for my purpose. 

So I plied it with wool yarns and ribbons, silk and novelty yarns!

Not a bit dull anymore!

Santa Fe

I would have to say that one of my favorite towns that we visited on our road trip was Santa Fe. From paintings to sculpture, we found wonderful art in Santa Fe.

The weather obliged us with a beautiful fall day for our stroll along Canyon Road, home to one great gallery after the next. The soft lines and colors of the adobe architecture are pleasing to the eye and are the essence of the Southwest.

I also paid a visit to one of my favorite knit shops,Miriam's Well , where I bought yarn for a side to side knitted vest. Miriam's knit patterns consist of simple stitches using luscious yarn.

That's my kind of knitting!

The style I am knitting is as shown below, but the yarn I chose is a soft alpaca in my favorite earth tones with a touch of heathered purple. The pattern is free with the yarn purchase.