Beth Smith's Blog, page 11

A Look Back

I keep going back to these older posts where I had been weaving for years but was still trying to figure things out…well, that’s still happening today too.

Today’s look back takes us to a post where I had finally gotten the loom dressed with some naturally dyed Alpaca lace yarn that was dyed by a friend.

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This yarn was probably meant to be a knitting yarn but I was determined to weave with it. There were lots of problems over the whole project and I asked a bunch of people for advice. The problem was that the yarn was sticky, fuzzy and tender. I was warping from front to back which meant that the threads had to be wound through the reed and the heddles which took hours and hours to get the 5 yards onto the back beam. I’m not kidding. If I remember correctly it took 2 of us about 8 hours to wind it on.

In addition to taking a long time to wind on, the weaving was no picnic. There was some breakage of threads and I was having a hard time getting a nice open shed to put the shuttle through.

Advice I got was varied. Use sizing to help stop the threads from breaking and also to stop the threads, which were very fussy, from sticking together. Stop using a boat shuttle and use a stick shuttle instead since it wouldn’t abrade the threads as it was passed through. Loosen the tension.

Here’s what I learned. I actually increased the tension on the warp this way when the shed was opened the threads had no slack and so they couldn’t stick together. There was concern about higher tension breaking the threads but as I have learned over time, that tension is distributed over the width of the warp and so it isn’t really a problem. I also advanced the warp more often. This way I was only weaving about 2-3 inches at a time between advances which reduced the amount of stretch the threads had to go through when the next shafts were raised.

These two things combined made the weaving go much more smoothly. It wasn’t easy but it was working.

What I still need to try is what I am working on now. I have always warped from front to back. It;s how I learned and how I am comfortable. For most yarns this isn’t a problem but I wonder if dressing the loom from back to front would be better for yarns that are delicate and/or sticky. So now I’m spinning some really fine singles from Merino. I have big plans to put a sample on the loom in January. I’ll let you know how that works out.

It’s December 1. My first newsletter t the whole list went out this morning. The last one was in 2013! We’re gearing up for some great things.

Also, the webstore is in progress. Currently the kits for the upcoming Spin and Weave Along are there. It’s never too late to join in.

Housekeeping

 

NaBloPoMo

Today is the last day of NaBloPoMo. A post every day for the whole entire month and though I was worried at first I have been successful! The reason I decided to take part is because I wanted to jump start my blogging. The last few years my blog posts were hit and miss and I was unhappy with that and so I figured a project like this might help. Well, I’ve made it to November 30 with a post every day and I’ve got a plan for going forward and I want to share that plan with you. It’ll keep me on track I think.

The New Blog Plan

So I’m going form blogging 7 days per week to 3 days per week. Mondays will usually be a spinning focus post. Wednesdays will focus on Weaving. Fridays I will continue the Look Back posts. these are just general guidelines but I did find this month that this way of planning ahead with topics helped immensely. Of course if something exciting comes up I reserve the right to go off track slightly on any of the three days.

So that’s the new plan for the blog and it begins tomorrow, December 1…which is a Friday so you know what that means!

The New Website

Maybe you noticed something is different around here. Well, yes! for the last month my friend Kat and her talented man have been building a new site behind the scenes and they hooked it all up yesterday afternoon. As with any change there will be a few hiccups that will be fixed up over the next few days. Let me just say that I am thrilled with the work that has been done. I think it’s beautiful, easy to use and has a bit more information. There will also be a webstore up and running in the next little while where I will be carrying Schacht products and other things like kits for upcoming spin and /or weave alongs and some other secret stuff that is still in the planning stages.

Please be patient if a link or a clicky thing doesn’t work but please don’t hesitate to let me know so we can fix any issues ASAP.

Tomorrow

So this morning the first newsletter went out to the people who have signed up to be part of the Spin and Weave Along that begins on January 1. It’s not too late to get on board with that, by the way. Here’s the link to the sign up form. Tomorrow my first newsletter to everyone else will be in your inbox. Not signed up for that newsletter? Well, I’ve got a link for that one too!

The upcoming newsletters will contain information that not everyone will get, some hints and tips and some deals and specials meant only for newsletter subscribers.

Don’t worry. I’m not going to fill your inbox. The newsletters will be regular but not so much that you get sick of seeing me.

There are a ton of things coming up and I keep wondering how we will even get all of the stuff done that we are planning. I’m hoping you’ll want to come along for the very fun and instructive ride.

Production Spinning

Today I want to talk a little about choosing a productions wheel…or rather what I like about the wheels that I use for spinning a whole bunch of yarn. Of course those wheels aren’t with e because of my impromptu trip to Pennsylvania yesterday. The wheel I did bring is the one I rely on for a lot of things. It’s my fall back wheel. It’s my trusty Schacht Matchless.

Let me go back a little bit. I started spinning around 2001ish. Since then I’ve owned and sold a lot of wheels. In every price range. My favorites may not be your favorites but I do know why I love the ones I love an so that’s what I’m going to try and explain today so that on your search for your favorites I can help.

And I’m good at helping people find their perfect wheel regardless of their budget. If you know me you know I don’t often say that I’m good at something but wheel shopping, I have a talent. When I had the spinning store I always had at least 8-12 wheels on the floor at all times for people to try when they came so they could find the perfect fit.

But I’m getting off track here.

What is a production wheels anyway? This can be a different answer for a lot of people. For me, it’s a wheel that I can comfortably sit at for at least an hour and sometimes up to 3 hour before I get up and walk around – you know, potty breaks. It’s a wheel that will add twist to yarn quickly which means that I can get more yarn on the bobbin faster. There’s no waiting around for twist to build up. These two things will be different for different spinners based on your body and also how fast you can spin.

Matchless

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My Matchless – at one point I had three, I currently have two and am looking to sell one of those – anyway, 10 years ago I would have called my Matchless a production wheel. The drive wheel is 19.5″ and with the fast whorls and lace bobbins it can add twist at a pretty good clip. The ratio on the super high speed whorl is 21:1. I love my Matchless. It’s the wheel I go to for sample making and for relaxing spinning but it can;t keep up with me anymore when I’m in real production mode. I’ll always have one on hand though.

Schacht Reeves

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My Schacht Reeves 30″ Saxony is another one that I super love. I started out many years ago with the 24″ version then added the 30″ and when I was super comfortable with that big boy I sold the 24″. If you follow my Instagram or Facebook posts you’ll often see the SR in the photos. I currently wish it were a tad faster. The High Speed whorl can go up to 38.5:1.

I love how this wheel treadles. Super smooth. I have the double treadle model but I can spin with only one foot if I want. If I want to get her going pretty fast two feet are best. I can sit in almost any chair to spin with this wheel.

Martha

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The other go-to production wheel that I have is a Watson Martha. This is an accelerated wheel that was originally built for Amy King who also loves to spin like the wind. When her order was almost finished she asked if wanted it instead and I jumped at the chance. Then a friend of mine talked me into selling her which I immediately regretted. But now she’s back to my house thanks to my friend’s kindness. And the fact that sadly Mr Watson died and won’t be able to finish my order for a replacement.

This wheel is equivalent to a spinning wheel with a 42″ drive wheel but instead I have this little wheel that takes up very little space. She has a top speed of 48:1 if I remember correctly.

This wheel is a bit heavier to treadle and it’s better if I sit on a chair that is a tiny bit higher than my couch, like a dining room chair.

Norm Hall

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I have two Norm Hall wheels which could be considered production wheels. One is a castle style wheel which has a 24” drive wheel and the other is a Saxony that has a 22” drive wheel. These wheels have ginormous bobbins. Both of them have a lot more take up than I like even after changing the drive bands to something fine and a bit slippy. So I add some pipe insulation to the bobbin cores and it helps a lot if I want to spin a finer yarn for weaving.

All of these wheels have their own personalities and needed some time and attention so I could figure out their quirks, what drive bands work on them, which way to adjust them to get the super low take up I like and at the same time keep them spinning at top speed. Some need to be oiled every 45 minutes and some can go a couple of hours between oiling. Some are fine with me in a semi reclined position and some are better if I am sitting up straight. The feel light and easy or heavy and require a little energy to get going. I love them for all different reasons but they are all fast and I can spin a whole bobbin in a day (around 4-6 ounces of finer yarn)

Traveling

Please excuse me if this post looks wonky. I’m at a rest stop in the middle of Ohio. Using my phone to post.

I got some news yesterday that made me feel like I needed to be in Pennsylvania. So I packed my stuff and this morning at about 6:30 I got on the road.

I had a whole post planned about Giving Tuesday and my favorite charities. But I didn’t write it last night….because of packing.

But then I was driving down the road and thought I’d give you a glimpse of my car for this trip. I have a bunch of work planned that has to get done so I brought everything I need to do it.

It’s good I don’t have any passengers because the space is taken. I have bunch of spinning to do for samples for a new class I’m teaching in January at A Good Yarn in Sarasota Florida. I also have hand cards and a set of combs to help in making those samples.

In the back of the car I have my Schacht Baby Wolf that fits with plenty of space in my Honda CR-V as long as the seats are folded down. I also have 4 you’re bags, and a big suitcase.

Plenty of space! But I keep thinking if I just had that Wolf Pup! But do I really need another loom?

I’ll be checking email and stuff later tonight. I still have at least 7 hours until I get there.

 

We Have a Winner!

This morning I gathered all the names and emails of everyone who commented on the Giveaway blog post. I went to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to add the entries for people who shared the post with the hash tag #spinandweavealongwithbeth. I put it all into an excel spreadsheet so everyone had a number (77 in all!). Then I took it to the random number generator for an unbiased choice. And that easy, we have a winner.

The winner is Suzanne Turgeon. She wants to use her handspun and I’m happy to help! She wins her choice of Spin and Weave Along Kit! I’ll be emailing her shortly to find out which color she loves the best. I know it would be a hard choice for me….but I’m the one who picked the colors.

On Thursday, November 30 I’m going to send out a special newsletter to everyone who has signed up to participate in my first Spin and Weave Along. You will get the option to be first in line to order a kit before I open it up to everyone else on Friday December 1.

So there’s still time to get in on this early access by signing up for the Spin and Weave Along here.

The kits will remain available through December 7th then I will begin getting them ready to ship out by December 20th. You will have them in your hands by January 1 when our Spin and Weave Along begins.

 

It is not necessary to purchase a kit to participate so sign up and join us!

Sunday Inspiration

He is as kind as he looks.

Organization

I’m hoping you can help me. I have an organizational problem. This affects many areas of my life but today I would like to talk about my electronic organization issue.

This problem is in my email inboxes. I have 2 emails and neither is organized. My primary email inbox currently has 11,397 unread emails. That means the total emails in my inbox is way more. I don’t know how to fix it.

This problem is in my files on my computer. All of the photos are all together and so I have to scroll through hundreds of photos to find one that I want to use.

This problem is in every part of my electronic life.

Do any of you have a way to organize your stuff? And what about going back through years of stuff and organizing it after the fact or is it better just to start from today?

Any help is appreciated.

Pick of the Week

I’m loving this new Friday tradition of picking out an old post to talk about.

Today’s post comes to you all the way from November 28, 2006. By this time I have been spinning for about 5 years. I was the proud owner of a spinning store for a total of 30 days. I had never before tried to chain ply. I was a two ply only girl for all of that time. It wasn’t a thing that my teacher taught and it wasn’t really on my radar.

Even though 2006 was only 11 years ago, YouTube was only a year old, so the video resources were few and far between. Facebook was only for college students. MySpace was big but wasn’t a place adults hung out….

So anyway, I decided to try chain plying and you can see my results were not awesome. Overspun in some places and underspun in others. Betty, who I was still taking lessons from periodically, showed me a park and draft kind of thing to make it work.

And I kept at it. I ruined plenty of singles trying to get it right. And then I read something or heard something…I can’t remember where but it was within the next few months…It was about controlling the twist.

As soon as I began using my forward hand to control the twist things began to click. I moved my lazy kate to a comfortable place to grab the next yarn and things fell into place. It was like magic. Just that one hint of controlling the twist with my forward hand!

I don’t have a video of my method but I found the Knitgirllls have one and it is almost exactly what I do.

Have a happy Friday. Eat all the leftovers! Also, Only 2 more days to get in the drawing for the Spin and Weave Along. Comment on that post, and sign up for the spin/weave along newsletter to make sure you get all the details.

Thankful

It’s Thanksgiving and so I’ll write here some of the things that I’m thankful for in my life. I’m thankful everyday but I love this day that comes every year where we can be even more grateful than ever.

I’m thankful for my four nutty kids and the four equally nutty grandkids. Yes, even the 5 month old is showing signs of nuttiness.

I’m thankful for my darling and that he puts up with all of my nonsense and lack of cleaning. (I have the skills but not the desire.)

I’m thankful for my parents and the things they taught me and are still teaching me.

I’m thankful for good friends who care about me. And there are more of those than I really deserve.

I’m thankful for all of you who read this blog and come to my classes and support this thing that I do that I am interested in and passionate about.

I’m thankful for a brain that is always questioning and wanting to know more which pushes me forward to try new things.

I’m thankful to God for this family and this life and the great things and the fun things and even the hard things that stretch me and teach me to be a better mother, wife, friend and and general human being.

I hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving Day no matter how you choose to celebrate.

Thinking About Looms

I’m often hesitant to pick favorites but if you know me Schacht products are in my personal collection and my first choice for almost everything.

So today I thought I’d talk about 2 rigid heddle looms and a floor loom t

hat I love and they are all Schacht products. And in addition, if you’ve been in the market for any of theses Spunky Eclectic is having a sale on all of these and they are in stock so you could have it in your hands for Christmas.

The starting point in weaving for a lot of people is a rigid heddle loom. Often people consider these as a beginner loom or something you’ll grow out of. Well, the thing is, there are so many things you can do with pick up sticks and finger manipulation to m

ake really interesting weave structures that you may never grow out of it. If you are interested in those things check out Liz Gipson’s website. She has online classes and all kinds of stuff from beginner to advanced to help you grow as a weaver and it’s all on a rigid heddle loom.

For a small rigid heddle, 10 inches wide check out the Schacht Cricket. This is a fun little loom. Easy and also doesn’t take up much space. There are reeds available for yarns that are medium/bulky to fingering weight. You can make lovely scarves, bags, and household items using this loom.

I have a cricket but honestly if I’m going to use a rigid heddle loom I use my Schacht Flip. This loom folds and is easy to store but I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t always have a project on it. But a benefit of the folding is that it can fold with your project still on it so if you are taking a class or going to a guild meeting you can take your loom easily! I love that this loom is all ready for weaving with 2 heddles which is fun if you want to weave finer yarns or if you want to do some more complicated weave structures. Add your fingers and pick up sticks and the possibilities are almost endless.

This is a loom I don’t own but I want to have it. Seriously. The Schacht Wolf Pup LT. It’s a four shaft loom with 6 treadles. It’s 18 inches wide which some people may think is too narrow but really, this is a fine loom for making yardage for clothing. I mean, I made a skirt on a 15 inch wide rigid heddle loom so just think what you could do with an extra 3 inches. It’s small enough to put in your car (it folds) and it’s light enough that most people can lift it. It’s the perfect workshop loom.

If you don’t yet own a loom any of these are a great way to start weaving. If you have a loom but you aren’t happy, try one of these. I’ve had some not super experience with some other looms but these make me happy.

I would be falling down on the job if I didn’t remind you about the spin and weave along that will begin on January 1. I will be sending weekly emails with each step and you will be happy. All you need to do is sign up for the spin/weave along newsletter by clicking this link. And if you would love to win a kit for the spin and weave along check out this blog post for the details.