Functional art, and a piece of history

I drove out to Wellsville, MO this morning for a farm auction. A photo of a small gypsy-style wheel, likely German, caught my eye. Unfortunately I wasn't the only one bidding on it, and it went for way more than I had budgeted. But I did snap some photos for my own edification.

It was a very small wheel - maybe a 10" drive wheel - with a small footprint. It would have needed a bit of work to get spinning again, mainly fixing the split whorl and adding new treadle leather. And the bobbin was fused to the whorl... a bit of elbow grease to loosen that up. It did come with an extra bobbin and a half, which is very rare for old wheels. It had been painted, too - in reds, yellows and blacks. Hopefully the couple that got it can restore it and keep the remaining paint intact.

Praise for Icelandic Sheep

At some point along the fiber-collecting road, I ended up with some commercial Icelandic roving. It was a pretty steel-wool gray color, and felt about the same. I wasn't so much impressed.

Fast-forward to working on my Master Spinner Program level-one homework. Part of it is a breed study, where you select 10 breeds, start with raw fleece, and work your way through scouring, prepping, spinning, and a small knitted sample. I tried to spread my breed selections out across a wide range of sheep (and fleece) types. One we had gotten samples of in class was Navajo Churro, and I knew I had more at home so I'd have enough to include that one. Except... my own stash of 4oz was nowhere to be found.

So. On to a substitution. To stay within the same type, I looked at other sheep with primitive or dual-coated fleeces, and decided on Icelandic. The sheep themselves are cute as all get-out, and I wanted to see if my initial impression of that commercial roving was correct or not.

Photo from ncwga.org

Icelandic sheep first ended up in Iceland thanks to the Vikings, who brought along sheep belonging to the Northern European short-tailed sheep family way back in the ninth and tenth century.  There has been little change or 'improvement' during the intervening years... intentionally. They are hardy, intelligent little sheep that apparently tend to exhibit a bit of personality.

In Iceland, most of the income from these sheep comes from the meat trade. But the wool fiber is highly valued too, both there and around the world.  The fleece has two layers... an outer coat called tog, which is longer and coarser. The undercoat, thel, is short and soft. They can be spun together, but often the coats are separated. The tog can be spun for stronger fiber needed for durable items, while the thel can be soft enough to use for next-to-skin items.

For class, I got both a lamb fleece and an adult fleece. The lamb fleece is incredibly soft, and I'll likely spin both coats together.

Lamb fleece

Staples from lamb fleece

The adult fleece has better definition between tog and thel and I'll be separating those coats out for spinning.

Adult fleece

Staples from adult fleece (those boards are 6" wide)

Both fleeces are from Sunrise Sheep and Wool, and I highly recommend them - they are in lovely shape.

Back to School

I'm way overdue for a report, so... here it is!

The last week of July I was up in Michigan for spinner's camp... or more formally, the Olds College Master Spinner Program Level 1. Last fall, I heard that The Spinning Loft in Howell, MI was going to start hosting the classes. As that's about 30 minutes from Ann Arbor, I could stay with my family and drive up for class, getting a nice visit and some education all at the same time. I was able to get registered for it (there was quite the demand!), and made plans to head up.

Because of the extensive supply list, I was glad I was able to drive. Even though I have my cute new travel wheel, the rest of the gear would have needed to be shipped ahead if I had flown. For the record - it is 546 miles one-way from my house to Mom and Dad's.

Nope - still didn't step on it.

I went up early so we could pay homage to the Art Fair (three fairs in one,  and MUCH bigger than it used to be), and hang out with family. Then on Monday the 23rd, I drove up for my first day of class. We had instruction from 9am to 4pm all week, plus homework most nights, and rarely were we done by 4pm. Great classmates, wonderful instructor (Coleen Nimetz), lots to do and practice, and surrounded by raw fleece and fiber toys. What a great way to spend a 'vacation'!

Fleece drying outside the shop.

A bit chaotic, but that's half the fun! And that's Tess up front.

We sorted fleece, we spun different ways, we dyed many the things... and this was all to get us ready for our homework/self-study. I've got a big list of things to complete before I can sent my notebooks in for grading. (And I'm sure I'll be posting about it more as I complete assignments.) It will be a fun and busy autumn, and I'm already looking forward to continuing on to Level 2 some time next year - I'll be signing up as soon as it's posted.

The class of 2018 with Coleen!

Meet Tess

She is here! Meet Tess. She's a Carson Cooper Sabrina, a small folding travel wheel, made specially for me in birds-eye maple and camphor burl. She's a sweet little wheel.

Tess - a Carson Cooper Sabrina folding wheel

Front view

She's going to accompany me up to Michigan in July, when I head to The Spinning Loft in Howell, Michigan for the first level of the Master Spinner Program. We've already had fun getting to know each other. Again, I seem to default to spinning thing on every wheel.

Testing different fibers

Did I mention she's small but mighty?

Spinning on the deck

Despite the current record heat, I've been keeping to The Schedule. Catching up a bit...

Sunday, June 10: 5 mi on the Elliptical Machine of Death in 68:17
Tues., June 12: 5.5 mi in 5:03:37 (5 mi = 57:17)
Wed., June 13: 6 mi in 1:07:53
Fri., June 15: 6 mi in 1:07:50 (5 mi = 56:29)
Sat., June 16: 5.5 mi walk in 1:16:31
Sun., June 17: 5.5 mi run/walk in 1:08:19 (hot)

Tues., June 19: 6 mi in 1:09:58 (still hot)
Wed., June 20: 5 mi on the EMD in 71:51
Fri., June 22: 6 mi in 1:09:11 (5 mi = 57:03) ... still slowing down
Sat., June 23: 6.2 mi in 1:13:59 (5 mi = 59:30) ... still wfhot
Sun., June 24: 5.3 mi walk in 1:14:31

Tues.: 6 mi in 1:05:56 (5 mi = 55:10)
Wed.: 6 mi in 1:10:17
Fri.: 5.6 mi in 1:04:23

Nostepinnes... get your nostepinnes...

The nostepinne test cases continue - and I think I've hit on a design I like. Up to now, I've completed four of various sizes:

Nostepinnes!

From the top, that's honey locust, osage orange, purpleheart and flame birch. At first I thought the top two might be too large, but then I compared the winding end to my NKK ball winder, and... these are definitely still smaller.

Circumference of narrowest end and widest end of several winding tools.

And, yes, smaller than a Northern toilet paper roll tube, too. (Hey - those are useful for storing samples and small lots of yarn.) So today, I embarked on a quest to try and hit the perfect size. Work in progress...

Making a lot of wood shavings, definitely.

Nostepinne in progress

The final result - good proportions between a comfortable handle and good-sized winding end, along with the requisite yarn-notch for starting the ball, and a built-in half-inch WPI (wraps per inch) gauge just above the handle. And, I just love birdseye maple anyway.

Look at all of those eyes!

Birdseye Maple Nostepinne

I finally finished plying some yarn, too - this is Bugga! Fiber from Cephalopod Yarns in the Panoply of Heaven colorway. Ended up with 558 yds/115gm of 2-ply light fingering weight.

Latest handspun yarn - a superwash merino/cashmere/nylon blend.

 Running... I met Adrienne and Kevin at Queeny Park on Sunday, for a nice romp through the park in the heat. It was about 77F when we started, and when I finished my 8 miles, 90F. It was great to see them both again.

Sunday: 8 mi @ Queeny Park (with Kevin and A) - walk/run

I feel like such a bad-ass...

... now that I can sharpen my own tools. Sharp tools are way the hell better than dull ones, and now I can just run downstairs and play on the lathe any time I want to, rather than try to figure out how much I can do before I need to run off to Woodcraft.

Case in point: before dinner tonight, I ran downstairs and turned another padauk bottle stopper top. The color in this wood is quite interesting - it's a bright orange fresh off the lathe, but after some time and two coats of butcher block oil, it's a deep rust-red color.

Padauk - oiled on the left, fresh off the lathe on the right.

And - I've been spinning! This came off the Lendrum this past weekend, and is now fluffy and dry. That's 300 yds of 2-ply in 103gm of Tunis. (It's from Gnomespun Yarn, if'n you've got a desire to obtain your own fiber.) I don't have as much experience with down-type fiber, but this was a lot of fun to spin and I love how it turned out.

Handspun Tunis yarn - 300 yds, 2-ply, 103gm

My two get-yer-ass-up-at-4:45am days this week are over - awesome.

Tuesday: Garmin says 5.5 mi in 1:03:08 (5 mi = 57:19)
Wednesdays-always-suck-days: Garmin says 6 mi in 1:09:18 (5 mi = 57:22).

The Joy of Creating

Start with some raw fleece:

Raw Bond fleece - from a sheep  named Poppy

Scour it, and drum-card it into batts:

Bond batts

Spin it up really thin:

Singles - spun on a Canadian Production Wheel (CPW)

Ply it:

Navajo-plied (to a 3-ply fingering-weight yarn)

Then knit it up into something:

Pattern: Buttonwillow Wrap, by Romi

In the meantime... catching up on that running-stuff:

Friday Feb. 24: 5.5 dreadmiles in 1:06:xx (5 mi = 59:45)
Saturday: 5 miles on the Elliptical Machine of Death in 75:41
Sunday: an ill-advised 10K the day after the EMD miles, slogged through in 1:13:19 (5 mi = 58:??)
Tuesday: 5.25 dreadmiles in 1:02:xx (5 mi = 59:13)
Wednesday: Garmin says 5.25 mi in 1:02:02 (5 mi = 59:02)
Today: Garmin says 10K in 1:09:01 (5 mi = 55:55) ... improvement!

Innocent When You Dream

That's the name of the colorway for the fiber I finished spinning up. This is Bugga! fiber from the now-split-up Sanguine Gryphon shop. (Cephalopod Yarns now carries it, thankfully.) It is 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, and 10% nylon.

This is a 2-ply, with a lovely and versatile 650 yds in 4.1oz. It's about 20 wpi, not smooshed. Working on ideas for a shawl that will work best with the variegation.

More handspun - yay!

And, I got in 5.25 miles on the dreadmill yesterday, in 1:04:something. Hit the 5-mi mark at 1:00:??, so I'm getting closer to sub-60 on the 'mill there.

One more gratuitous yarn shot...

Stupid Cold Germs

Last week was a bit of a bust with regard to running. I put in some time on the dreadmill - walk a half mile, slow run a half mile - and that seemed to be all right. I just want to keep this head cold crap from  moving into my lungs. I do not need to end up with bronchitis.

So... last Wednesday:  5 mi walk/run in 1:08:something.
Fast-forward to Saturday, when I did a VERY slow 10K in 1:27

At least it was something. Mileage so far for 2012: 75.65 mi

On the plus side, I did swap out the arms on the elliptical machine on Sunday.... something I've been meaning to do for... well, quite a while. Now I can try it out and see if the squeaking has gone away.

In other news... I'm working on a striped shawl in Malabrigo Arroyo. It's the Color Affection shawl.

Malabrigo Arroyo in Plomo and Borrajas

I also got a project off the loom - a scarf in The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga!, a merino/cashmere/nylon blend.

Bugga! in Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz (warp) and Black Witch Moth (weft)

And to round out the triad, I finished some spinning - this is Bugga! fiber in the Burrow Owl colorway. I ended up with 550 yds of 2-ply in 4oz.

Bugga! fiber in Burrow Owl

Spelsau - a primitive sheep breed from Norway

First, a week's-worth of workouts...

Monday: nada; rest day
Tuesday: 4.5 mi on the dreadmill in 55:32
Wednesday: 4.5 dreadmiles in 56:46
Thursday: nada; rest day
Friday: Garmin says 5.25 mi in 1:02:24 (hit 5 mi at 59:03)
Saturday: Garmin says 5.5 mi in 1:03:50 (hit 5 mi at 58:04)
Sunday: Garmin says 5.25 mi in 1:01:24 (hit 5 mi at 59:13)

Last week's total: 25 mi. Yay!

Today/Monday: seriously? nada - errand day

On to the Spelsau...

On Christmas eve, I got Anna, the 1860 wheel, out to spin. I worked on a sample of adult Spelsau fiber I got earlier this fall. Spelsau, or Spælsau, hail from Norway originally,  and may be the "original" Norwegian sheep breed (if one can be called that). It is from the Northern European short-tailed sheep group, which also includes the better-known Finnsheep, Gotland, Shetland and Icelandic breeds, among others.

Here's the raw fiber - a bit of Spel lamb on the left, and the adult Spel fiber on the right:

Spelsau fiber

Since there was under an ounce of adult fiber, I just spun it on to one bobbin. I'd flicked and picked it, but then decided that was all the prep I was doing. I would grab a handful, and spin from a lock formation when I could, but otherwise... it just did what it wanted.

Spelsau is a primitive double-coated breed, like Icelandic and many Shetlands. It has a very soft - and very short - undercoat, then a coarse, much longer outer coat. I didn't bother to separate the two. I wanted to see what happened when I just spun it all together.

I did the singles on Saturday, then Christmas afternoon, I Navajo-plied it (also on Anna). I ended up with 36 yds of 3-ply in 20.5gm. The dime is there for reference.

 

 

I absolutely love the color. I expected more of a gray 'impression' overall, but there's a lot of tan and some black in there. It's definitely not the softest stuff... it feels more like jute twine. But it would make something REALLY durable. I suspect it would be more suited to weaving (both warp and weft) over knitting or crochet, as the finished yarn is quite strong.

All The Pretty Colors

Wow, I suck at updating this month.

Last Thursday: pfft. Rest day.
Friday's run/walk: 5 dreadmiles in 1:05
Saturday's walk: Garmin says 5.25mi in 1:13:45, which ain't a bad pace for walking in the cold
Sunday: walked the dogs for about 1.4mi since it was such a pretty morning and Paul had to work
Monday:  nada
Tuesday: 4.5 dreadmiles in 56:37
Wednesday: nice enough outside for 5mi in 1:01:55

Last week's mileage total: 20.65mi

Catching up on some spinning... over the weekend, I finished plying some BFL. This is a Mountain Colors BFL top in the 'Northern Lights' colorway. I got 353 yds of 2-ply in about 3.8oz. Pretty, no? Spun on the Lendrum DT.

BFL Handspun - on the Lendrum

A while back, I also finished spinning and plying a pound of Bond fleece. Well, there was a pound raw, and after scouring, drum-carding into batts, spinning and plying, I ended up with a grand total of 1409 yards of 3-ply (all Navajo-plied) in 10.4 oz. Spun on the CPW Gisèle; plied on the Lendrum DT.

Natural-colored Bond, from 'Poppy' at Gleason's Fine Woolies

And, when I was getting the little 1860s wheel going, I spun a bit of spare fiber on to two bobbins. I went to ply, and... the rods on all my kates are too big. I ended up using some US 5 straight needles to rig a quick (yet tensioned!) shoebox kate to ply. I'm working on a longer-term solution using my regular kates, some dowels, and little wood balls. It'll be cute - really.

Tensioned shoebox kate - slick, eh?

Making Old New Again

Monday: rest day
Tuesday run/walk: 4.5mi on the dreadmill in 57:39
Wednesday run/walk: 4.25mi on the dreadmill in 55:05
Thursday: rest day
Friday run/walk: 5.3mi in1:04:21 (hit 5mi in 59:53 - woot!)
Saturday run/walk: 5.25mi in 1:01:49 (hit 5mi in 57:53 - bigger woot!)
Sunday: blew off running in the rain to spin

Total for last week: 19.3 mi (yeah, lame)

Back to spinning wheels. Back in September, I picked up two small wheels out at an auction in Washington, MO. I posted about the Frank Fell/Mayville wheel. I also got this little thing...

Small 'gypsy' wheel

On the bottom was the name Anna Schmidt, and 'den 30 juni 1860'... or June 30, 1860. The card attached to the wheel said that Anna was a friend of the family, and never married or had children.

The flyer was a bit of a disaster... the hooks were bent or missing, and the nut embedded in the whorl was stripped, so it snugged up too high on the flyer shaft, in effect locking the bobbin in place so it could not move freely.

Little 1860-wheel flyer and bobbins, in rough shape. And - note the itty-bitty tiny flyer hook attached to one of the maidens.

I got in touch with Fred Hatton, and he agreed to take a look at the flyer and bobbins, so I sent them on. I got them back last week - in amazing shape! The hooks had been replaced, the nut reseated, new brass bearings put into two of the original bobbins (the third wasn't in any condition to be saved), and Fred made a third bobbin for me. He also said all this was walnut.

Being quite motivated, I took advantage of yesterday's decent weather (for this time of year), and scrubbed down the little wheel. Once it was dry, I rubbed in a coat of Howard's butcher block oil. What a difference it made:

Post-spa-treatment

All cleaned up and ready to go.

And best of all, she spins like a champ! I expect a lot of enjoyable spinning time with this little wheel.

She may be at least 150 years old, but she still works perfectly.

Food, Glorious Food

Thursday: nada; rest day
Friday's run/walk: 4.5mi on the dreadmill. I promptly forgot the time after I got out of the shower.
Saturday's walk/run: Garmin says 4.7mi in 58:18
Sunday's run/walk: Garmin says 5.2mi in 1:04:44

I woke up to a damp deck this morning, but it had stopped raining. I checked the radar online and it looked like I had a decent window of opportunity, so I did a mostly-run around  the neighborhood. It was cool, but for once I was spot-on with my clothing choices, and was fairly comfortable the entire time.

One thing about cruising the neighborhoods on a Sunday morning... lots of people are up and doing things, and the cold air carries lots of smells out my way... pancakes, pancakes, maple syrup, bacon, pancakes, dryer, dryer, dryer, maple, dryer, sausage, bacon. A person can get hungry and motivated to do laundry. I had a double-whammy as I waited on a corner for a light - Panera Bread and Starbucks were kitty-corner from each other, and I was assailed by the smell of bacon, eggs and fresh coffee. There's a reason I don't carry money with me when I run.

I got home and cleaned up (and had a Canadian bacon-egg-cheese muffin for breakfast, along with a fresh pot of coffee), then headed off to spinning group. I made good progress on the rest of some Bond fiber I was supposed to have done... oh, last summer some time. But I also helped get a vintage wheel somewhat functional. It was stamped with "Midway Ornamental Mfg" on the bottom. Someone Googled up an ad from a 1977 issue of Popular Mechanics for a spinning wheel kit. This thing looked like it could spin. It did not have any lead or brass bearing for the wheel axle in the uprights, but other than that, it had a functional flyer and tension knob. With some shims on one upright to fix the alignment, it should work fairly decently.

On the way back, I stopped for Thanksgiving groceries... including soup-fixings, and ingredients to make apple, pear, and/or pumpkin butter. (Or combinations of all three.) It's that time of year... and the stuff tastes darn good mixed in to yogurt for breakfast.

And while we're on the subject of food... check this out. Chinese black rice. Tasted really good with some steamed zucchini/carrot blend and a touch of parmesan cheese.

Chinese black rice, from the Spice Merchants in Ann Arbor, MI

New Fiber from Far Away

Today's run/walk: 4.1mi on the treadmill. Half-mile walk to warm up, ran 5K (albeit slowly), then a half-mile walk to cool down. Time - a leisurely 54:32. I used to be able to run a 10K in that...

Yesterday I got a fun package in the mail, all the way from Sweden:

Looks innocent enough...

I got my fleece from Renee! Back in the spring, I 'adopted' a sheep. That sheep lives in Sweden. It was part of a flock that was rescued by Renee, who used to own some of them... but long story short, she (and the sheep) needed help, so I donated to help cover food and care. 'My' sheep is named Merrin Tiberius, and she's part Wensleydale. Her fleece was also  a mess this year. But, Renee sent these:

That's Spelsau lamb on the left, and adult on the right.

I got samples of fleece from a Spelsau lamb, on the left, and from an adult, on the right. The fleece can change quite a bit as the sheep ages, so it will be fun to spin both and see how it goes. I scoured this today and it's drying in the basement now. More on Spelsau later.

I also got over 12oz of this:

Wensleydale/Jacob cross

It's a very dark brown, near-black with gold tips, and I believe it's Wensleydale x Jacob. I have Jacob, and have seen Wensleydale, but not a cross. This will also be fun to spin up. I scoured this today also. Once it's dry I'll take a look at the staple length and what kind of shape it's in, and decide if I will comb or card it.