Out on the deck with the great wheel

Lovely weather today, bright, clear, not too hot.

I spent an hour this morning carding some Wensleydale, then tinkered with the big wheel, replacing a leather bearing that had become torn. In an effort to make a small, unofficial contribution to Tour de Fleece, I then lugged the wheel out to the deck to spin my fresh rolags.

I need more practice, lots of it. The start was a bit rough, my singles were way too thin. Also, I was being very conscious of the amount of twist going into the fibers. I don't like "hard" yarn, so my objective was to produce a somewhat consistent, pretty single with a comfortable amount of twist. An amount that would not ply up into string. It became obvious at plying time that my first few minutes worth of spinning created a single that was too fragile in places, and there were a few breakages. Not the end of the world. I spliced and carried on. Ninety-eight percent of the spun single, however, was quite decent. I had corrected the over drafting and remembered the art of 'letting go'. One trick is to start letting go of perfection when one section begins to stretch alarmingly thin. It means letting some thicker parts move on.  Difficult to do, but you know what? Plying evens out a lot of the variation. It gets easier with experience.

This was a sample run.  Plied from the reel, three ply, chain style. 25 yards. I think I will continue to spin as such, but maybe ply from 3 singles, non-chained style.

Dusk was just settling in when I hung it out to dry, but it dried fast in the ambient temps.

The resulting yarn has a substantial halo, and is soft enough for bare skin. No, I don't think I'll need to do another sample, I'm pretty happy with this.

 

 

The rug is finished

 Just finished the binding this afternoon. Here it is out on the deck...

I couldn't be more pleased with the way it turned out. I think the person who started hooking this rug--who knows when or where--would also be happy to see it now, and the thought of that makes me happy. And it looks great in it's new dining room location.

 I sewed the binding over with herringbone stitches. A wonderful, giving stitch that doesn't cause any pulling. I zipped up the 4 corners with ladder stitching to make it invisible.

Herringbone stitching

 

The corners are sewn with ladder stitches

This has been a wonderful project.

The newest unfinished rug, the one I purchased at the sheep and wool festival is not going to be worked on right away because I want to quilt this top that I made a few years ago.

I'm itching to start stitching!

But a note about the latest unfinished rug. I had developed a visceral dislike for the coloring of the largest center flower, which I believe is a rose. As seen here, it contains a lot of very, very deep red--just about brown.

Center flower creates a line with 2 end flowers.

I dislike the line it creates with the two Irises on each end, of the same color. It also, to my eyes, clashes with the rest of the pastel flowers. So even though I'm not going to work on it right away, I tore out the darkest of that flower, and in my opinion, looks much improved already. Not sure which tones of color I will re-hook it with, but it will be more in keeping with the general tone of the other flowers.

 

Dark color has been removed from center flower.

A pretty evening sky last week:

 

Approaching the last corner

Bear cubs a few years ago

Progress on the antique rug has been steady and good; I am approaching the final corner.

I most especially love hooking out on the deck. It's so peaceful and beautiful with bird song, squirrel antics, and chipmunk visits. The Humming Bird feeder currently sits on the rail of the deck and every now and then the hum of approaching wings, beating rapidly, hails the arrival of an iridescent fascination.

After the Lilacs wrapped up their stint of perfuming the yard, the Mock Orange took over, and heady it is. In the evening, the posh fragrance of a scented Daylily brings high, heavenly delight. It would be an expensive parfum if bottled.

It all makes for the perfect 'work' environment, though work is not really an apt description of the task. Hooking, after the initial period of discovery and practice, is a most pleasant endeavor. Like all other crafts that are repetitive in nature: needlepoint, hand sewing, knitting, etc. I experience a period of struggle(?) at the outset of taking it in hand. It seems impossibly slow, how in the world will I ever finish an entire rug!? Then a period of tedium might follow. But with perseverance (this is key) little discoveries are made that make the execution flow. The glitchy-ness subsides and a relaxing confidence is born. It doesn't take long thereafter for a sense of Zen to settle in. But the key is to persevere through the discouragement.

I'm feeling very good about the way the rug is revealing itself. It is just the look I love, 'cottage core' as they say these days; rustic, unashamed hand work. Love it!

Other than the rug, I've been finishing the processing of the Wensleydale fleece. Left to right: Scoured and picked, scoured but unpicked (center), and the plastic bag contains a bit of unscoured raw fleece.

 

Tour de Fleece starts next week and although I haven't given it much thought this year, I may make the spinning of this fleece a project for the month. 

 

 

A Visit to The Newbury School of Weaving

Earlier this year I signed up for a day-long workshop at The Newbury School of Weaving in Newbury, VT. The class I enrolled in is called "Introduction to the Great Wheel" and my class was held Saturday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. It was a fabulous experience.

Now, I have spun on my great wheel before, learning from videos (mostly) and articles and books. Although I can make yarn this way, I have always felt that having a real-life teacher would go a long way to filling in gaps and answering questions. I was right.

Newbury is just over the border in VT, less than 30 miles northwest of here. It's a very pretty town and the school occupies an old church on the common.

The drive up was beautiful, skirting the west side of Mount Moosilauke and the sometimes rugged looking terrain to the northwest of it. It was covered with a fresh coat of snow from the night before! I took this picture of Moosilauke some years ago, in the winter time, not far from my house: 

Stepping into the Newbury School was like time traveling. The sights, the sounds, the smells, all of it. A large cavernous space just beyond the entry vestibule is filled to capacity with counterbalanced barn looms. I have never seen so many humongous looms in one room before. A veritable forest of looms and accoutrements. At the far end of the room were 3 or 4 rows of spinning wheels of all shapes and sizes. A large work table separates the wheels from the looms.

Some of the looms had works in progress on them. The makings of warmth-providing blankets of wool that had been processed, spun, and woven there. What a joy. Here and there, bits of woven cloth, and shelves full of cones of yarn add splashes of color to the ambience. But wood, old patinated wood, predominates this large gathering place of antique weaving machinery. Heaven.

The class was everything I had hoped for and was very well structured. After a morning chit-chat to introduce ourselves and talk about our spinning, we were given some pencil roving to spin according to the demonstration our instructor had provided. This was a brilliant way to learn the movements of spinning on the great wheel. We learned how to wind off onto a reel and keep track of yardage.

When we returned from lunch, it was time to pick some scoured wool. We sat in a ring, encircling a large galvanized tub into which we tossed our fresh picked locks. This was conversation time. It felt like days gone by when people would get together to tackle a time-consuming task. Our lovely conversation touched on the historical aspects of spinning and weaving techniques, and quite a range of other making-related topics. It is an atmosphere from which one drinks deeply of the joy of life.

We were then given cards--cotton cards, much to my surprise! No. 10 cotton cards, and they worked fabulously. As soon as I got home Saturday evening, I found a pair on eBay and ordered them immediately. Then we approached the wheels again with our newly carded rolls and revisited our spinning moves only this time drafting out with the left hand.

At the end of the day I felt very satisfied with all that I had experienced and learned. The holes in my knowledge were filled in, new knowledge obtained, and confidence built.

Here is the 120 yds of highly energized singles I made during class, waiting to be bathed in hot water:

(Footnote. Progress on the rug was good last week as the weather was suitable for working on it outside.)

Sheep and Wool etc.

The New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival was held last weekend. I went down to Derry, NH early on Saturday morning to get there shortly after opening time. The weather was drizzly and a bit cool but it felt right. One of the vendors told me cool weather helps sales. That makes sense when the subject at hand is wool.

My first order of business was to drop off my circa 1980s Ashford Traditional spinning wheel at the used equipment tent. They were very happy for the donation and I was very happy to let a wheel, that I barely used, go where it will likely find a good home. With business out of the way it was time to explore and have fun.

Fun indeed! It was a fantastic festival this year and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It seems to me there was more to enjoy this year, but it could also be that I missed things in years past. The rug hooking guild was there and, well, you know me: Did I leave their area empty handed? Of course not. A handful of the guild were working on absolutely beautiful rugs, there was a ton of wool everywhere, and spread across one table were a few unfinished rugs which I presumed were for viewing purposes only. Much to my surprise and great delight, it was mentioned that they were on offer. One transaction later and I took possession of this very beautifully started rug. How many unfinished rugs should a person acquire? Is there a limit? 

It may be difficult to make out that there is a border of large leaves encircling the center medallion, but if you click the picture it will enlarge and the border should become visible. I'm thinking the area between the medallion and leaves will be a shade of grey, and the area outside the leaves will be a darker shade of grey.

Another purchase from the festival is a Cormo/BFL fleece of gorgeous black and dark grey. 1 lb., 11 oz. 

... and a new spindle. 1.5 oz. Walnut & Mahogany.

More pictures from the sheep & wool festival below.

Of my current projects, progress on the rug is steady but slow. Since yesterday, when the weather finally climbed out of the 50's F, and I can now sit out on the deck to work, I think progress will pick up a bit.

I have finished a third skein of Shetland--my best yet. This one makes me happy. 150 yds of light-as-a-feather 3-ply.

 

Pictures from the Sheep & Wool Festival

A bound rug

I have finished sewing--by hand, of course--the binding onto the rug. When the hooking is completed, excess burlap will be cut away so that it's a bit shorter than the binding width and the binding will be turned to the back and sewn down.

The border created by this binding has me seeing the rug in a new light. I have always thought the background outside the center medallion would be black. Now I can imagine a dark grey or even dark dusty green.

I wonder who started this rug? Wouldn't it be interesting to know? And to ask them what their intentions were? That would be cool. It may well be they are no longer with us. I will stick with black, I think, but first I will check my stash to see if I have enough grey. If so, then I'll have to decide. Stay tuned.

 

Quick updates

 

March struggles continue. Big temperature swings, melting, snowing; it's all over the place. But we are generally warmer than last month and it feels like spring is just around the corner, and very soon (May 9th & 10th) we'll be fawning over lambs at the NH Sheep & Wool Festival where the picture above was taken a few years back.

I have another bobbin full of the Shetland and just started plying it this morning. Spinning slowed down a bit this past month... not sure how to account for that. Unsettling times, maybe.

 

Progress on the antique hooked rug is good. I have finished filling in the scrolls and have one corner motif to hook before filling in the background. One of the holes has been patched and hooked over; there is one more hole in the background to be patched. I think this is going to be a pretty little rug.

I was making good progress on the Hammond Multiplex typewriter, but have hit a snag. There are some type selection pins in the arbor that are frozen (3 to be exact) and in order to get them moving again, the whole mechanism needs to be taken apart. The problem is this one screw which is frozen tight (red arrow). Some past event(s) definitely impacted this side of the arbor, for the three frozen selection pins are all at this end. The arbor is held together with three screws, and two of them came out without putting up too much of a fight, but this last one is very stubborn. I've tried oil, heat, impact, Liquid Wench, all to no avail. I am determined, though, so every couple of days I try again. A little more oil, a little more heat. Maybe another dose of Liquid Wrench. One of these days, hopefully.

 Quilting the appliqued top has not started yet. I decided it was best to focus on the rug and get that completed first.

Leather for reconstructing the melodion's exhauster has arrived so I can get down to business on that now. I also ordered a kit, containing leathers for the roller organ exhausters, so I can rebuild those as well.

 Here's looking forward to warmer weather!