Great Wheel Spinning

 

In all my spinning adventures, learning to card and spin on the great wheel has been the steepest learning curve. Over the past month there have been highs, and some downright frustrating lows.

In the beginning, every draw was hit or miss, mostly miss. Stage two for me was realizing the difference in my left hand when drawing versus my right hand (I'm right handed). In my right hand I'm confident in my ability to manipulate the fibers, almost as if I knew where each fiber was and where they were headed (of course I don't really know where each fiber is, but there is an awareness of what's slipping where). I could tell when to stop, where to put pressure, when to release pressure, when to hold back. In my left hand, no such thing. It feels like holding a clump of wool in the hope that some will draw out in a way which makes a suitable thread.

This realization was important because I started to focus on the palm of my left hand in an attempt to gain a sense of control. This is one moment in life when my spinning challenges mesh with the piano challenges: I've been doing a lot of left hand work at the piano.

This stage saw some improvement, at least it seemed that way. No, really, there was. A bit anyway. Then I decided to turn my focus to carding, with the thought that a really good preparation would make drafting more fluid. Sadly, it seemed to not make much difference! It's clear I need a few hands-on lessons in carding and drafting long draw.

One month in (approximately) I can honestly say I'm learning and improving, but there's a way still to go. The fact that my great wheel wobbles in every joint, but also where it's not really conceivable (well, it seems that way) doesn't make it any easier.  I have discovered things about the minor's head that have helped stabilize it, but the wheel still likes to throw it's band. So I'm going to jerry rig some low barriers around the wheel to keep it from slipping off. Not sure what product I will use but it will be something non permanent.

At any rate, at the end of the day I have managed to spin 185 yards of 2 ply yarn and I love it. It's soft and lofty, and I really like how the colors are turning out. You may remember I'm combining a grey wool/bombyx/apalca blend with a multi-colored merino. A short length of grey followed by a short length of colored merino to make the singles, and then plying them to make yarn. It is far from even yarn, so I will call it 'art' yarn. It's certainly useable. (The pictures look better when enlarged, simply click on them.) The singles on the swift:

After plying:

It's not wet finished yet and I may leave a good soak until after it's knitted up. I plied it balanced so there's no excessive twist, hence it doesn't need a warm, relaxing bath.

The difference between the color of the merino top and the finished yarn can be appreciated in this picture. I've wound the skeins into balls: (ignore the white/purple/orange skein, that was previous spinnning.)

I think I'm going to make fingerless gloves with this yarn so I can appreciate it's soft squishiness every time I wear them. To that end, I knitted a swatch to check gauge and to see how the color would knit up. I like it.:

This swatch didn't meet gauge so I knitted up another in needles one size smaller. It's better and I'm going with it. I may make pattern adjustments to fit my hand anyway.

This video shows what I aspire to. Can you image how much yardage you could spin up in an afternoon!?

Emergency knitting

 Yesterday, my dishcloth--the last of the lot--gave up the ghost! With no more in store, I had to dig out a favorite pattern and get going. I really like this pattern a lot. With size 7 needles it makes the perfect size cloth to fit my hand. I also like that it is round. Sometimes, with square ones--especially if they're a little too big, the corners fling around splashing water all over. Also, this one is pretty! And so quick and easy to knit up: Start to finish while watching one and a half of Richard McVeigh's organ recitals last evening. So I had no excuse for not doing dishes today.

The pattern is called "Almost Lost Dishcloth". I forgot where I got it from originally, it's been on my laptop for years. I do know it was a free pattern.

This one is knit in Pima cotton. I went upstairs last evening to look through the 6 large bins of yarn stash looking for the bag with cottons, but I couldn't find it. I think it must be in one of the 'attic' spaces, and I didn't feel like digging through there last night. I will go up and find it this weekend so I can knit up a few more.

Almost Lost Washcloth
by Julie Tarsha

Cast on 14 stitches using long tail cast on method.

row 1: knit
row 2: k4, yo, knit 8
row 3: Leaving last 2 stitches on needle, turn and knit to end of row. (15 stitches on needle)
row 4: k4, yo, knit 7
row 5: Leaving last 4 stitches on needle, turn and knit to end of row. (16 stitches on needle)
row 6: k4, yo, knit 6
row 7: Leaving last 6 stitches on needle, turn and knit to end of row. (17 stitches on needle)
row 8: k4, yo, knit 5
row 9: Leaving last 8 stitches on needle, turn and knit to end of row. (18 stitches on needle)
row 10: bind off first 4 stitches, knit to end of row. (14 stitches on needle)

repeat rows 1 – 10 thirteen more times for a total of fourteen points.

Bind off all stitches. Using mattress stitch, seam beginning and ending rows to close the circlular cloth. Picking up innermost bumps of each garter ridge with your tapestry needle, cinch together open circle in middle of cloth and fasten off. Weave in ends.

Good news on the Howe sewing machine front ... Today it made it's first real stitches in over 90 years (I'd venture to guess). They're not perfect, but considering I've done minimal tweeking so far, they're not bad. I believe just a little bit of tension adjustment above and/or below will do the trick. I consider this a minor miracle seeing how it operates with a vibrating shuttle (vs rotary). I was sure getting it to make stitches was going to be quite an effort. But I am learning that the needle is very--very--important. If it's not inserted correctly (groove needs to be on the right), and at proper depth, you'll never get a vibrating shuttle to make stitches. This weekend I will separate the cabinet from the irons so I can do a proper job on the irons.

Here is picture of first stiches, top on the left, and bottom on the right:

Sewing machine restoration

 

The dining room's Victorian tree was taken down last week and the real tree in the salon was taken down this past weekend. I wanted the dining room window back and the salon tree was getting very dried out, it was no longer a joy to look at, with drooping limbs and ragged edges. But it was a wonderful tree while it was up.

It is nice to have the windows back. The silver tree in the kitchen is still up and I light it every day; it may well stick around until Candlemas. Much of the other decor is also still in place, except for the Santa collection. The imagery of Santa fades quickly after Christmas, faster than the greenery.

Now that we are quite properly into winter, with all the big seasonal chores out of the way, I'm looking at my restoration projects. I have 2 treadle sewing machines from the 1870s, a pump organ, and two typewriters from the first decade of the 1900s to restore.

The pump organ is one of the very first antiques I ever bought, purchased soon after I graduated high school. I recovered it when I moved back to NH ten years ago. It had some work done on it some years ago but last year I decided to give it a good cleaning and adjustment. I got as far as removing the coupling action and cleaning up the connecting rods but stopped due to autumn chores--mostly moving and stacking wood. I will finish the organ this year (I hope!) so that it will be playable again by next Christmas.

But I'm turning my attention to the sewing machines first. One is a bent needle Wheeler & Wilson dating from 1872 and the other is a Howe dating from around 1874. I found them together last summer in an old house that hadn't been touched since the 1930s. The place was packed full of very old items including a huge printing press that must have weighed tons. Believe me, if I had the space for it I'd have seriously considered buying it. It was beautiful. At the time the house was closed up, it had a general store and post office on the first floor. The fixtures are still there and they are beautiful to see.

Both sewing machines were covered in rust and both were frozen. I spent enough time cleaning them last summer to get them moving again, and with some tweeking, actually got the Howe to make a few stitches. Today I worked on lubricating the Howe and getting a drive belt attached. The entire iron works needs a thorough going over, probably with Rust-oleum to begin with, they are very rusty.

Elias Howe Jr. was the first person to patent a lock-stitch sewing machine, in 1846. Before this, he worked in the textile factories in Lowell, MA. I visited the textile museum in one of the old Lowell mills several years ago. A fabulous exhibit with some real working looms.

The Howe as it arrived at my place last summer:

 You can see how small the head is... it's so cute! Sadly all the decoration has been lost on this one and some of the Japanning is worn off as well. I'm not sure yet how I will deal with the bare spots, I've read of a car product that might work and will look into it.

For cleaning the wood veneer, I use Gojo (the one without pumice--very important). It's a hand cleanser used by mechanics and can be found in auto parts stores. It's great for getting off old grime and dirt. Then I wash with Murphy's Oil soap and dry it. For now I'm following this cleaning with Old English wood conditioner and cleaner. It does a nice job of evening out a splotchy finish. I want to do some tests with a mixture of boiled linseed oil and something else which I have forgotten and need to look up. (I'll get back to this in a future post.)

This short little video is from this afternoon after I got it to run via the drive belt. The thread is not threaded through the needle, I was simply testing whether it would run via the treadle. Note: bird noises... (Caution: the volume may be loud!)

Practical, mechanical machines from the late 1800's, early 1900's, I love it. Over a hundred and fifty years old and still running... soon to be running well. I love it.

A pic from Lowell, MA textile mill some years back:

A new hat

I made this hat before Christmas but I forgot to post about it. It's the same pattern I've used for 10 years now. In fact, I made my first one during the move from NYC to NH using Noro colorways. The second one was knit about 5 years ago using Lambs Pride in blue/red/yellow. The latest is in green, I've been wanting a green hat.

It's knit in a type of stitch closely related to brioche but it utilizes 'knit one below' and regular knit stitches--on every row--so there's no bringing the yarn forwards and back, making the knitting fairly easy. Also, every row is knit in a single color so there's no carrying the other color around. The increases for this pattern give it just enough variety to keep it interesting. It makes a lovely, well defined stitch. And it's thick which gives the fabric warmth. The band is twining stiches which is also easy but slow'ish because the yarns need constant untwisting. Constant. But it's only 4 rows.

I sized this one so it fits more like a skull cap and I'm right pleased with it. This is what the stiches look like on the reverse (i.e., inside the hat):

I've been wearing it constantly outside and it's perfect.

Here's something I've never made before: mulled white wine. I've made mulled red wine many times, but never white. I'm sipping some as I type this, it's fantastic! Here is the recipe I used. The measurements are as given, and the ones in bold are my modifications. I could tell (from my experience making mulled red wine) that the amount of sugar and some spices would have been too much for my tastes. IMO, my alterations were spot on. I used an inexpensive Chardonnay. After all, this isn't about savoring the the complex nuances of a fine wine. As you can see, I altered almost every ingredient and omitted one.

Mulled White Wine

750 ml white wine

1 cup water (1/2 cup)

3 Tbsp orange juice (omitted, since there's orange slices included*)

1/2 cup sugar (1/4 cup)

2 Tbsp honey

1 orange, sliced (1/2 orange, sliced)

1 lemon, sliced (1/2 lemon, sliced)

10 cloves (5)

4 star anise (2)

4 cinnamon sticks (2)

*(eta correction 1/9/24: Since I used only 1/2 the orange as slices, I squeezed the other half into the mix.) 

Throw everything in a pot and slow cook it, stirring to dissolve sugar. Don't bring to a boil. I left mine on low heat for about 20 minutes. Yummy! After pouring a glass, I add about 1/2 jigger of brandy to replenish some of the evaporated alcohol. I mean, after all.

I finished the drummer boy for the 12-days ornaments and have also finished the piper. I noticed the order of the gifts is not the same as the song I'm familiar with, but upon doing some investigation, found that the order of these ornaments is what they were way back in 1780 (and at other various times in history). The Wikipedia entry for this song has a huge table of variations on the gifts and their order. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)

Chistmastide is now over, but I'm thinking of extending the Christmas season up to Candlemas, February 2. It was common at the old English court to do so. Works for me. A particularly interesting bit of history: In England, men and women's labor resumed the day after Epiphany. Two names associated with the first Monday after Epiphany were Plough Day (men's work) and St. Distaff's Day (women's work) for it's when the women went back to spinning again, after the prolonged holiday festivities. Cool.

My decorations are still up and I'm not ready to take them down yet. Maybe they won't be up until February 2, ... but maybe they will.

This is a really lovely channel... Richard McVeigh's "Beauty In Sound". So much beautiful music. This is the live from Christmas Eve (below). He has great visuals on his videos so you can see his feet, his hands, etc. Very well done.

The organ in his home is a very cool Hauptwerk set up, i.e. a virtual pipe organ. Basically, it's midi capable keyboards and pedalboard and optional physical stops that are connected to a computer via an intermediary audio/midi interface. The computer runs Hauptwerk software which takes "sample sets" from famous organs and plays those samples via the keyboard and pedalboard. Very cool indeed.

Happy New Year!

 

On the 7th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, seven swans a swimming...

The swan has been on the tree since just before Christmas. On the 8th day, the gift is "maids 'a milking." I just finished her yesterday and she's now on the tree. Her construction was a little more involved than the previous 7. This appears to be the case with the remaining ornaments as well.

I cut out the pieces for the drummers drumming this afternoon and have already embroidered the drum.

It's still Christmastide so it feels perfectly 'in season' to continue making them and hanging them. I may even continue past Twelfth Night, which is Friday, and finish them all this month. I plan to have the tree up for at least a week after Epiphany... there might be just enough time. And if there isn't, I'll either keep the tree up until I'm done, or I'll make them whenever, and pack them away till next Christmas (only 359 days away! 😉 ).

I could swear the light coming in the window this afternoon was at a different angle! Maybe it's simply that we haven't had as many sunny days lately and I'd forgotten what it looks like. But there is no denying the fact that the light is coming back, as imperceptible as it is from day to day.

The neighbors were over the other evening for a game of Scrabble. I didn't win. I figured something retro to snack on would be fun, so I made a batch of 'Nuts and Bolts' (aka 'party mix', 'Chex mix', ...). This is a very good recipe...

10 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1.25 teaspoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
.75 teaspoon onion powder
.75 teaspoon thyme

Melt it all together and toss with 11 or 12 cups of the following in proportions that suit your taste: Corn Chex, Wheat Chex, Rice Chex, Cheerios, skinny pretzels, salted mixed nuts. Bake at 250F for 1.5 hours, stirring every half hour. The possibilities for what you add to the mix is pretty open.

It was a big hit and everyone got addicted to it. I had beer to wash it down and everyone went home happy. In a few weeks we go to my neighbors across the street to learn Bridge. We're going to be known as the Groton Bridge Club. LOL.

Do I have any New Year resolutions? I don't usually partake of this ritual, but there are a few items I want to attend to. The first is to read Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. I should have read it years ago. Oh, well, never too late. I have it on order. The second is arranging to work with a piano teacher/coach on a regular, but not weekly, basis. It helps so much to work with someone. For one thing, it takes one out of oneself and I believe that strengthens the learning experience. For another, an objective pair of ears is invaluable. I got the names of a few contacts while attending the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra's concert last month in Plymouth. The woman I was sat beside told me to contact the director of the orchestra because he's a piano teacher and he knows others in the area. I'll get in touch with him.

What am I hoping for 2024? Peace, who isn't. It shouldn't be so hard! The preservation of our Democracy. I shudder to think we could be on the cusp of seeing the end of this experiment. No!... Positive thoughts! ... We must persevere.

More personally, I'd love to have a more fruitful vegetable garden, but the fact that I didn't get a greenhouse up before winter means I'll be buying potted seedlings again and that's a crap shoot. I did not concentrate on veggies last year, but this year... yes. There are a myriad of projects on the list and I hope a few of them get crossed out this year.

A channel recommendation... If you love organ music and old churches, Ben Maton's channel, "The Salisbury Organist" is worth checking out. He travels to small churches in England to seek out and play their organs. Very lovely.

From a few years ago... nature doodles