sweetgeorgia

Zero Pain, All Gain (Sessions with Judith MacKenzie and Sara Lamb)

This is a day of workshops I’ve needed and waited for all my spinning life, but I know it’s coming right now at the right time. Sure, I learned and practiced the techniques in each class, but amazingly, both classes ended up teaching me more than I had expected and exactly what I needed to know — ergonomics of spinning.

This morning was spent in Judith MacKenzie’s class on diameter control (spinning the yarn you want). We used Ashland Bay’s fine merino top to spin our regular, default yarn and then made adjustments to the tension alone in order to change the size of the yarn. Basically, increasing the tension (without changing the pulley) causes the yarn to increase in diameter. This totally concurs with what we learned in Margaret Stove’s class, which was to spin superfine singles, you need to reduce the tension to nearly nothing. We practiced adding tension and moving up in pulley size to make larger yarns and then reducing tension and trying to spin finer and finer yarns. Then we switched to a pure tussah silk and then a luscious blend of merino, cashmere and silk, spinning a set of each. Finally, we each got a small bump of pure cashmere to enjoy at the end of class.

Judith’s class focused on making these small adjustments to the wheel and letting it do much of the work. We also practiced both worsted spinning as well as woolen (for the cashmere blends). but somehow our class migrated away from discussion about wheels to ergonomics and that’s when I felt like I learned the most.

For some time now, I’ve avoided spinning frequently or for too long because I developed some tendonitis or swelling in my right thumb where I would pinch fibre forward. Unfortunately, it’s a result of me being silly and stressed, pinching too hard or spinning with old fibre that I bought somewhere that doesn’t draft well but being too cheap to throw it out. Any amount of short forward drafting would cause my thumb to hurt and I’d get disappointed and just stop spinning. And this year, I’ve started to wake up with numbness in my arms… apparently a sign of potential frozen shoulder… something I want to avoid at all costs, of course.

But today, Judith confirmed for us that we should not be “pinching” the fibre at all and that the thumb should merely be touching the singles lightly in order to feed it forward. She also led us through a series of stretches and exercises to do to relax our arm muscles and shoulders and also taught us how to sit diagonal to the wheel, treadling with one foot, in order to keep the right shoulder from rolling forward. She talked about frozen shoulder and all those things that happen when you’re no longer a spring chicken (she humbly referred to herself as a “winter chicken” as she chuckled).

Similarly in Sara Lamb’s Spinning with Silk class, she taught us to use a “point of contact” type of spinning that requires no pinching or thumb involvement at all. She kept saying, the forward hand is left open and simply retards the twist from entering the drafting triangle. She uses a sort of spin from the fold method for spinning silk and never spins from the tip end (only causes slubs and bumps). We spun fine and treadled as hard as we could to get more twist into the singles and then plied hard as well. The finished 2-ply silk yarn would be perfect for her warp-faced weaving projects.

Again, I absolutely love this idea that we never need to pinch or close the forward hand. It means I can continue to spin without pain. Both superfine merino (as in Margaret’s class) and fine spun silk (as in Sara’s class) with different diameters (as per Judith’s class)… I can incorporate some spinning and warming up and continue to spin for much longer periods of time now. Part of me wishes that I had received this instruction earlier, but I know that even if I had, it wouldn’t have set in my brain the same way as it has now. Unfortunately it takes some pain to get motivated to find ways to avoid that pain.

Tiny Stitches, Big Steps

Tuesday morning, our task was to spin up two bobbins of medium (18 to 19 micron) merino and in the afternoon, Margaret showed us how to ply the two together. With our plied yarn, the goal was to knit up the yarn into either a small lace square for a greeting card or a bookmark. It sounds pretty simple — spin two singles and ply together, and really, it’s not difficult… it just requires a lot of motivation and perseverance.

I managed to finish knitting on Tuesday evening, but didn’t have any pins to block my work, so I ended up dismantling one of the small picture frames in the hotel room and roughly whipstitching the lace to the frame, stretching it out as best I could. The next morning, Margaret suggested that normally it might be best to run either knitting pins or crochet cotton around the edges of the lace before attempting to stretch it out on a frame… so I knit a second piece so that I could get a better final blocked piece. I’m just a nerd that way.

We spent much of Wednesday finishing off with sampling the different fine, medium and strong fibres, trying to go back and spin “thick” using this drafting method to maintain the elasticity in the yarn. And also plucked through Margaret’s collections of shawls and knitted things — some from her personal collection of gifted Orenburg and heirloom shawls as well as shawl designs from her brand new book “Wrapped in Lace”.

Beyond simply learning the techniques for washing merino fleece, the minute hand movements required for drafting such a fine thread, or knitting with such delicate yarn, I think this class left me with such a great feeling of confidence that this whole area of fine yarn is not impossible to explore. I’m excited to go home and try Margaret’s method of spinning a single of each of merino and silk and rather than straight plying them together, try “wrapping’ the silk around the merino core lightly so that the final yarn is still stretchy and the silk is still sparkly.

But after spending all that time with super fine gossamer yarns, it’s hard for my eyes to adjust back to “regular laceweight”… but I’m taking Judith’s class on spinning to different diameters on Friday morning, so that will definitely round out my week.

Spinning for Lace with Margaret Stove

Last year before SOAR, I was so concerned about leaving my work for a mere three days to go participate in a few retreat classes. But after the first day, I just knew, I’d have to come back this year for the entire week. Similarly, today, after the first day of my SOAR workshop with Margaret Stove, I am convinced that I absolutely need to come every year.

I’m taking three full days of workshops with Margaret Stove on Spinning for Lace. I picked up a copy of her book years ago when I first became addicted to spinning and wanted to discover the Holy Grail that is merino. I found myself flipping through the book, enamoured by the photos of her washing single locks of merino by hand over a bar of soap but thought to myself, “That’s a lot of work, I’ll never do that…” and here I am, doing it, and being amazed by it.

Margaret gave us each a package of three different merino fibres — all unwashed, raw fleece — labelled fine (14-15 microns), medium (19 microns), and strong (23-24 microns). We spent the morning picking staples out of the medium fleece and… washing them individually over a bar of soap. It was a challenge to get through 17 students trying to wash their locks in all of two tiny plastic basins in the workshop room, so many of us ran back to our own hotel rooms to wash them. Somehow, Jen and I managed to book a quad room for the two of us (I vaguely recall us being ambitious about finding extra roommates) and luckily, that gives us 1.5 bathrooms. So the second bathroom has become the official fleece washing room. There are bits of merino and all colours of alpaca (Jen is in the suri alpaca workshop) strewn all over.

Following lunch, Margaret showed us her technique for spinning fine worsted merino singles which involves straightening the tiny crimp of merino with a “guide” hand as the fibre hand drafts backwards in small amounts. Usually, we spin worsted with a short forward draft, pinching and pulling forward… but this technique seems to result in slightly blobbiness. So Margaret’s method makes for a very consistent singles. I also blame the conventional short forward draft on giving me tendonitis in my thumb early on when I learned to spin and so often, I can’t spin for very long because my thumb will get sore. And the genius part of Margaret’s technique is that I barely need to involve my thumb at all! Oh, the joy of painless spinning!

After about 2 1/2 hours of this fine spinning, Margaret gave us a final challenge of spinning half the diameter of what we were already spinning. All the movements become ever more minute and she showed me that the drafting hand was only moving back not even half an inch. Simply tiny quarter-inch to half-inch movements.

The ultimate revelation was plying a length of these singles back on themselves. The yarn is stretchy! It looks like sewing thread but it acts like elastic! I don’t know why I should be so amazed — maybe because I was super exhausted by the end of the class, but seriously, I’m so amazed. My sad little two feet of yarn wouldn’t show up on film very well, but here’s a basket of Jenni C’s beautiful gossamer handspun:

Truly, not only are the mentors are SOAR wonderfully experienced and knowledgeable, but also all the participants are as well… and they all love to share their passion. I’m lucky to be in a class where I’m pretty much one of the least experienced spinners — most of my classmates say they learned to spin around mid-90′s and earlier. They all have so much skill and knowledge. Everything from being inspired by Jenni’s handspun (she also knit the shawl that I fell in love with last year) to watching Stetson spin so effortlessly on a supported spindle across from me to talking to other spinners about my arms going numb on occasion… well, I’m just learning so much.

Hummingbird: August 2010 Club

the fibre //
Merino Bamboo Silk. 50% fine merino wool, 25% bamboo, 25% tussah silk. An exquisite blend of merino, bamboo and silk makes this spinning fibre lustrous, elegant and warm.

the yarn //
Tough Love Sock. Our most popular blend of 80% Superwash Merino and 20% nylon for a hardwearing sock yarn that can by dyed in brilliantly vibrant colours.

the colourway & inspiration //
“Hummingbirds” is a collection of my favoured colours, combined in a way that doesn’t create odd contrasts or jarring transitions. Hot magenta and lime, with deep blues and violets. Had the magenta and lime been placed side-by-side, we would have seen muddy browns emerge… but here it’s all clear, clean and vibrant.

I’ve kept a little note by my desk that I hardly ever glance at until just recently. Saved from a Papyrus wedding card, it says,

“Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. The hummingbird’s delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life’s sweetest creation.”

Life is rich. Beauty is everywhere. I know I saved this note for a reason. I hope you enjoy and savor every inch of this colourway.

Diane from Alberta sent me a shot of her Navajo-plied yarn, keeping all the colours clear and even.

Here’s also Tamara’s socks that she knit up in the yarn version of the club. I love how the stitch pattern makes these little “hiccups” in the colour movement. Very cool. I like.

And finally, this is a fantastic shot of some unfinished singles by Stine. Let’s see what you made with your fibre/yarn club offerings! We share them on Ravelry on the Sweet SweetGeorgia group.

Much Spinning to Come

My brain feels like it’s turned to scrambled eggs as I try to get ready to leave for SOAR. I’m running back and forth from the studio and home, trying to figure out where those hand carders went to and trying to corral all the Louet bobbins I can find. I recall getting ready for SOAR last year and how crazy it was… luckily, this year is (kind of) better.

This year’s SOAR is near Lake Geneva in Delavan, Wisconsin, at Lake Lawn Resort. It’s too far to drive, obviously, so Jen and I are flying to Chicago and catching a 2-hour shuttle to the middle of the great unknown. So that means my beloved Matchless needs to stay home and I’ve packed the ultra tiny, ingeniously folding Louet Victoria. The wheel is so small and so light, I fear it will blow over in the lakeside breeze, but it’s perfect for fitting inside the suitcase. If what Judith says is true and lace spinning is doable and fine on a scotch tension wheel, then I should be okay for my three days of superfine lace spinning with Margaret Stove.

I’m also scheduled for a half-day retreat session with Judith on spinning to whatever diameter you want. Definitely excited about that, but now I’m starting to get a bit anxious about my spinning abilities and feel the need to practice a bit. Honestly, I haven’t had very much time to spin this year and it’s completely obvious by the fact that the fibre I was spinning at last year’s SOAR farewell spin-in is still on the lazy kate, needing to be plied. And yes, 95% of the fibre I bought at the market last year? Still in their packages. I’m awful at personal time management for spinning. I don’t deserve to attend the market this year… but since they open it up an hour early for participants only, I might sneak a peak. Maybe I’ll give myself a $20 limit? What can you get at SOAR for $20?

One of our Fibre Club members, Diane from Alberta, sent me some of her spinning photos which inspired me to get practicing again. Here’s just one of the photos — a perfectly, beautifully wound cop on a teeny tiny spindle. She says the kuchulu spindle is smaller than a cell phone. Lovely and even handspun singles that actually made me gasp in awe. I’m pretty sure this geometric winding effect has nothing to do with the spindle and everything to do with Diane.

So I’ve packed a pound of leftover Fibre Club spinning fibre that I’m going to spin for the various spin-ins, including this Merino Bamboo Silk that was dyed random greens and turquoises. No idea what any of this spinning will become. But I expect much more spinning (and spinning posts) to come.