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Jan. 15th, 2008 07:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI had a pretty good time at the spinning thing at Tasha's last night. The wheel (brand and manufacture unknown) was a bit tricky at first because I couldn't get the hang of treadling at the same time as doing the spinning part. Also the wheel kept going the wrong way. Argh.
I did a lot better when I put both feet on the treadle (single treadle wheel but it was a broad treadle platform so both my feet fit, double drive, castle style) and then the problem was still that it went *very* fast. Even when you treadle slowly, spinning on a wheel is faster than on a spindle. A *lot* faster. I got to the "almost got it" stage of being able to do it last night and I think with a couple more hours on one, I'd have it down.
Tasha and MB did surprisingly well considering that they'd never tried at all before. It takes (as noted here) about two weeks to make yarn that looks like it might be yarn. It takes about three days of after-work practice to feel less idiotic about the skill set, but the yarn won't get all that much better until about two weeks of practice. They were really good sports -- learning a new skill totally sucks and doing so in front of other people also totally sucks, so the fact that everybody tried and was pretty pleasant about it, that was cool. Tasha's Mike even gave it a shot, which was good for the lulz, though he didn't suck as badly as we'd hoped. Spinning, he decided, is one of those things that looks like it is a lot easier than it is. The "what to do" part looks dead easy, but when people sit down at the wheel (or take up a spindle) suddenly it's not easy. Hence the lulz.
On the wheel, I didn't want to mess with ratios or anything because I wasn't sure I could put the thing back together properly. It had a tension-adjusting knob that we messed with (successfully) to adjust the takeup slippy thing (where you have less tension on the just-spun yarn and it sucks it onto the bobbin/flyer arrangement) and boy, was I glad I'd done the reading on that in advance or we'd have been dead in the water. After an abortive attempt, I gave up on taking the flyer/bobbin assembly off because it looked as though it might require a screwdriver.
Other than the wheel-treadle mechanics and the speed, wheel spinning is a lot like spindle spinning. I was pretty thrilled that my drafting skills translated pretty easily. I do think that the stuff I rolled onto the flyer was slightly underspun, but I'm sure that would get better with some practice and/or more time to twink with the adjustments on the wheel.
Tasha says that the wheel guy has knowledge of where there are other wheels for sale, not expensively. (As in "a hundred bucks" or so. That's within the realm of the possible. I've asked her to make some inquiries on that front.)
Tasha and MB also made noises about sheep-to-shawl, which I personally thing is stretching it a bit much. We are not that good. Perhaps with regular practice, we'd be that good by July (that's when the fair is)... but the shawl is woven and we don't have a loom or anyone who can weave. Heck, you're supposed to supply your own sheep and we don't have one of those, either. Also, you need five people to do sheep-to-shawl. (The fact that I even know this should be viewed with some suspicion by the studio audience.) Barb Falvey, apparently, knows how to do most anything with sheep that needs to be done with them but doesn't own a spinning wheel. I could *probably* spin well enough by then but also don't own a wheel. And then we need another spinner, a weaver (nobody we know weaves so someone would have to learn and that someone is not going to be me), and someone who can shear a sheep reasonably competently. We'd need three wheels and a portable(ish) loom. That's a lot of barriers to entry, there.
I allowed as how maybe we'd watch the sheep-to-shawl at the local fair and see how that went. I'm in no hurry to sign up for the thing. It wouldn't be a bad idea to watch how other people do it first. Also, Sheep to Shawl will be a LOT more interesting to watch now that I know what's involved on the card/spin/ply fronts.
The spinning thing ran through dinner, which was provided. We had vension pie (very tasty) and some homemade bread that MB brought along. The bread was fresh, still warm, and excellent. There were cupcakes (Bel and Grandma Ned had made them that afternoon, chocolate with green frosting and sprinkles.) for dessert. In any cupcake tray at Tasha's, the unfrosted cupcakes are for Bel. She likes frosting the cupcakes but doesn't like to eat frosting, so any batch of cupcakes has some naked ones. Those are hers.
I did a lot better when I put both feet on the treadle (single treadle wheel but it was a broad treadle platform so both my feet fit, double drive, castle style) and then the problem was still that it went *very* fast. Even when you treadle slowly, spinning on a wheel is faster than on a spindle. A *lot* faster. I got to the "almost got it" stage of being able to do it last night and I think with a couple more hours on one, I'd have it down.
Tasha and MB did surprisingly well considering that they'd never tried at all before. It takes (as noted here) about two weeks to make yarn that looks like it might be yarn. It takes about three days of after-work practice to feel less idiotic about the skill set, but the yarn won't get all that much better until about two weeks of practice. They were really good sports -- learning a new skill totally sucks and doing so in front of other people also totally sucks, so the fact that everybody tried and was pretty pleasant about it, that was cool. Tasha's Mike even gave it a shot, which was good for the lulz, though he didn't suck as badly as we'd hoped. Spinning, he decided, is one of those things that looks like it is a lot easier than it is. The "what to do" part looks dead easy, but when people sit down at the wheel (or take up a spindle) suddenly it's not easy. Hence the lulz.
On the wheel, I didn't want to mess with ratios or anything because I wasn't sure I could put the thing back together properly. It had a tension-adjusting knob that we messed with (successfully) to adjust the takeup slippy thing (where you have less tension on the just-spun yarn and it sucks it onto the bobbin/flyer arrangement) and boy, was I glad I'd done the reading on that in advance or we'd have been dead in the water. After an abortive attempt, I gave up on taking the flyer/bobbin assembly off because it looked as though it might require a screwdriver.
Other than the wheel-treadle mechanics and the speed, wheel spinning is a lot like spindle spinning. I was pretty thrilled that my drafting skills translated pretty easily. I do think that the stuff I rolled onto the flyer was slightly underspun, but I'm sure that would get better with some practice and/or more time to twink with the adjustments on the wheel.
Tasha says that the wheel guy has knowledge of where there are other wheels for sale, not expensively. (As in "a hundred bucks" or so. That's within the realm of the possible. I've asked her to make some inquiries on that front.)
Tasha and MB also made noises about sheep-to-shawl, which I personally thing is stretching it a bit much. We are not that good. Perhaps with regular practice, we'd be that good by July (that's when the fair is)... but the shawl is woven and we don't have a loom or anyone who can weave. Heck, you're supposed to supply your own sheep and we don't have one of those, either. Also, you need five people to do sheep-to-shawl. (The fact that I even know this should be viewed with some suspicion by the studio audience.) Barb Falvey, apparently, knows how to do most anything with sheep that needs to be done with them but doesn't own a spinning wheel. I could *probably* spin well enough by then but also don't own a wheel. And then we need another spinner, a weaver (nobody we know weaves so someone would have to learn and that someone is not going to be me), and someone who can shear a sheep reasonably competently. We'd need three wheels and a portable(ish) loom. That's a lot of barriers to entry, there.
I allowed as how maybe we'd watch the sheep-to-shawl at the local fair and see how that went. I'm in no hurry to sign up for the thing. It wouldn't be a bad idea to watch how other people do it first. Also, Sheep to Shawl will be a LOT more interesting to watch now that I know what's involved on the card/spin/ply fronts.
The spinning thing ran through dinner, which was provided. We had vension pie (very tasty) and some homemade bread that MB brought along. The bread was fresh, still warm, and excellent. There were cupcakes (Bel and Grandma Ned had made them that afternoon, chocolate with green frosting and sprinkles.) for dessert. In any cupcake tray at Tasha's, the unfrosted cupcakes are for Bel. She likes frosting the cupcakes but doesn't like to eat frosting, so any batch of cupcakes has some naked ones. Those are hers.
