So, I've been practicing woolen long draw over the weekend. I didn't think I was going to be about to do it considering that most of my fiber isn't very fluffy. Then, the light bulb went off and I remembered that I had some Perrendale Romney fiber from when I bought my wheel. A whole 8 oz. of it, which is definitely enough for practice.
At first I was having some trouble, not due to the technique itself, but my wheel was not behaving properly. I've found that one of my bobbins makes a god awful chatter while spinning and it doesn't spin as well as the others. I tightened up all the screws and gave the moving parts a good oiling. I came to the conclusion that it must be the bobbin. So, I switched bobbins and everything was magical again.
I must say, the woolen long draw is fast and much easier than the inch worm worsted technique I had been using. I filled up a bobbin in less than an hour. It's kind of amazing to watch because you let the twist just travel up through the fiber and even it out as you go. I wish I had a picture to show you guys, but lighting has not been all that great this weekend.
Also, this weekend I spent some time with Chris, my new fiber friend that I met at serendipity spinners. She's a very nice and cool person. We just hung out at the park and crocheted. She worked on her toddler's pea coat and I worked on Dina's baby blanket. Good times :)
I hope everyone is having a super fabulous week. I will be trying to enjoy it as much as possible because school starts again next week for me!
Spinning can be so much fun! It can also be a pain- there are so many things to think about at once that it can be really overwhelming. So excited you're learning new techniques!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate! I'm having a really fun time with it and if I get frustrated I just step away for awhile and try again. The woolen long draw technique is really fabulous and I'm getting so good at it I can do it with just one hand. Now if I could figure out how to knit one handed at the same time....
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