Beth Smith's Blog, page 9

Spinning Chair Height

Often a topic comes around and around and around again. One topic in particular that I’m thinking about today is what kind of chair should I use for spinning on my spinning wheel. I think that’s sort of a hard question to answer because it has to do with a combination of how long your legs are and what kind of wheel you have. Sometimes I factor in how relaxed I want to be but then the wheel type comes back into the equation.

For example, if you’ve taken a class from me, you may remember me talking to you or your neighbor about moving their wheel away from them a bit. I think it helps to sit as far away from your wheel as possible for several reasons.

Hands that are further from the orifice can be a tad more relaxed during spinning because there is more space for a bit of twist to build up if there is a little trouble and you have to fix it and you forget to stop treadling.
Sitting a bit further away from the orifice gives some space for twist to even out before it gets onto the bobbin. Evening out twist is the reason for rewinding bobbins and part of the reason for giving your yarn a good soak after you spin it so why not add that tad more room to get a tiny bit of added consistency.
Sitting a bit further away with your lower leg slightly extended rather than at a 90 degree angle with your thigh helps to make the spinning more relaxing because then you are spinning with fewer muscles. You aren;t treadling with your thigh anymore, you are really just pressing with your ankles and lower leg. It really does work.

If you have been in my classes I may also have demonstrated my favorite spinning posture for home in front of the tv. It’s sort of reclined. I lay back. If I’m on my couch I put out one of the foot rests and then I can put one foot up and treadle with the other one. My hands then rest on my abdomen and I just short forward draw until I fall asleep. Kids at home help because they can change the hooks with me ever having to get up.

With all of that said, I have 2 wheels which need a bit better posture and one wheel that needs a higher chair.

[image error]

The better posture wheel is my 30″ Schacht Reeves. I do frequently treadle this with one foot even though it is a double treadle wheel but if I am spinning to get a lot of yarn spun I do need to sit up straight. I can still sit on my couch or my comfy chair for this one but I put a couple of pillows behind my back to support myself.

[image error]

The super sit up straight wheel is the Watson Martha. This wheel is heavy to treadle. It needs you to pay attention and do the work. The other thing about this wheel is that to get it to work well I need to have my feet in the middle of the treadles rather than slightly hanging off like I do on my other wheels.

Let me explain that a little further.

Generally, I like my heel hanging a tiny bit off the treadle and the arch of my foot over the pivot point of the treadle. This allows me to use a heel-toe motion to keep the wheel spinning evenly rather than having the drive wheel change speeds as it goes around.

The Martha doesn’t love that so I need to put my feet at the center of the treadles. To get my feet at that point and get enough force to push the treadles I need a higher chair than the couch or my cushy chair. I often use my darling’s chair which is a bit taller and I actually prefer a dining room chair over all else. The height is correct and it stays in place.

I never use an office chair for any spinning because the wheels make it too unstable for the speed I like to treadle.

In a nutshell, what I am trying to say is you may have to do some experimenting a bit to see which chair works best with your body and your spinning wheel.

You might want to mess around with it a little before you start the Sweater Spin Along that is starting in only 9 more days!!!!! We’re getting ready over on the Patreon Page. I hope you’ll join us so you have a new Handspun Sweater to wear to your favorite fall fiber festival.

My Other Current Projects

There’s a lot more than fiber stuff happening right now – although there’s a ton of that too. I’m a little nervous for some of the stuff and other things just are.

Training

Yes, I’m in training. Here’s the story. Some of you may know that I love Disney World and I really love Disney Princesses (as well as real life princesses). So last year I went to Disney with my three girls for 5 days. We were there for the RunDisney Princess Weekend. We all did the 5K. I did not train at all for it and I regretted it. I spent time making my shoes sparkly and I made tutus for everyone and I ordered matching shirts but I did not prepare myself. And it was a little difficult.

[image error]

But I did finish and I have my medal. (Also, I’m super good at selfies!)

[image error]

Anyway, in May it was time to register for the 2018 race and the people talked me into doing both the 5K and 10K. Hm.

A few weeks ago I was almost ready to tell everyone that I would do the 5K but I have to sit the 10K out because I’ll never be ready in time but then Disney released photos of the medals.

[image error]

[image error]

Mhm. Merida is on the 10K Medal. So I can’t skip it. I was 8 weeks out and I started going to the gym and following this training plan. And guess what! I’m seeing improvement. But I’m so glad I still have about 4 weeks until the 5K and 10K races. I’ll be mostly walking but as long as I can keep a good pace (Disney says 16 minutes per mile) then I’ll finish without getting swept. And maybe I’ll get a bit in shape in the meantime.

Keto

Two days ago I started eating according to the Keto Diet. My doctor has been telling me to get on a diet similar to this for at least 5 years. I’ve tried lots of things and I do ok for a little bit and then things fall down. This time I have a group and we’re doing this together. When I eat a low carb diet I always feel better. I have joint pain and Hashimoto’s and all the crap that goes with that and all of those symptoms go away when I eat this way. So here I go again. Last time I ate correctly for my body I lost 45 pounds over a 4 month period. This knowledge and the feeling better should be enough to keep me doing what I know works for me and my body but….cake is delicious. I just need to find substitutes and plan better so I don’t feel left out when I go to events.

Maggie

Did you know that Maggie is studying opera? She’s awesome and I see improvement all the time. Saturday she has a competition/performance and then in another 2 weeks she has a competition to earn a scholarship. Her goal is to study vocal music at BYU. She’s working really hard. When I get back from her performance on Saturday I’ll post a video of at least one of her songs. I’m super proud of her.

Ryan

It’s hard to watch. Ryan is 14 and is currently on 2 wrestling teams. He loves it. This is his second year and he’s coming along. But he’s not as good as some of these boys who started wrestling when they were 8. He gets pinned. A lot. He works hard at avoiding it but….it’s hard to watch.

But here’s what I love most about Ryan. He has his match. He gets pinned 95% of the time. He stands up, shakes hands with the other guy or girl and then he goes back to his team mates with a smile and cheers them on. He never gets mad or upset. I could learn a lot from him.

And now I’m back to fiber stuff

In 12 days, February 1 at 9 AM, the registration will be open for anyone to sign up to be part of my 2018 Rhinebeck Retreat coming up in October. There is space for only 10 people and it’s going to be super wonderful and fun and very intimate. You can see all that’s included right here. But the day before that, on January 31, I’m going to give all of my Patreon patrons first dibs. Please check out all the things I’m doing on Patreon, Facebook, and Instagram. It’s going to be a fun year.

And I’ll be in excellent shape for it:-)

 

My Own Sweater Challenge

You may know about the Sweater Spin Along that’s coming up for my patrons. Well, you might also know that I’m not a very fast knitter. And therein lies my problem.

In November I was talking to Kat and she was raving about this “yarn” she was knitting with called Plotulopi. I put the word yarn in quotations because it’s actually unspun Icelandic wool. And then she showed me the sweater pattern. Now, I do need a new sweater. I actually need several new sweaters because all of my sweaters look like they came from the rag bag right now. They have holes and stains and bunches of issues. All that is because I have worn them and worn them. I’m almost embarrassed at this point to use any of them as class samples because they look so bad.

So anyway, off I went to Ravelry to buy the exact pattern and then I went to the Schoolhouse Press website to get the exact yarn (different colors) and I cast on my swatch in the middle of December.[image error]

So far I’m up to the arm hole with the body and I just started knitting the cuff of the first sleeve. I have 2 weeks until the Spin Along begins and I really think I should finish this Rusty Sweater before that. Mostly because I already have several projects going on – spinning Merino for a handwoven jacket, weaving cotton kitchen towels, knitting a pair of socks (which I cast on a year ago), and making samples for several new classes I have in the works.

Keep in mind that this is not a travel knitting project. The “yarn” is delicate, not easy to unknit, and needs a bit of careful attention. But the fabric is makes is light and airy and fuzzy and luxurious. The airiness is going to make a super comfortable and warm sweater. Wouldn’t that be nice to have to wear in February, the coldest month of the year.

I can finish it in 2 weeks, right? Just say yes.

If this is the first you are hearing about the Sweater Spin Along, I hope you’ll join us. All that is required is to become a patron of mine on Patreon and for as little as $3 per month I’m going to tell you everything I know about spinning yarn for a sweater – from choosing a wool to deciding on a finishing technique for the yarn. I’m excited to get started!

A Look Back – Always Improving

I smile at myself sometimes. Almost 10 years ago I wrote this post about improving my spinning consistency. The skein in the photo isn’t half bad. But I haven’t changed much in 10 years. I still look at every skein I spin and analyze it and figure out how the next one can be better.

Sucky Spinner Endeavors to Improve

The thing is though, there is one way I have changed; I’m not as hard on myself as I used to be. I definitely still want to increase my spinning consistency but I also know that when you spin with more speed you sacrifice some of that consistency and so i often decide at the beginning of a project whether I prefer speed or consistency more. The answer generally has to do with what the yarn will be used for.

A 3 ply sweater yarn can be helped in the plying and the finishing so I’m slightly less careful than I am with a 2 ply yarn I will want to use for a lace project. These are just some of the things I think about before I start spinning for a project and we’re going to have lots of great discussions about that when we begin the Sweater Spin Along in just a couple of weeks!

Also, don’t forget that registration opens on February 1 for the Rhinebeck Retreat. I’m super excited about this tiny retreat! I’ll post the link for registration everywhere on February 1 at 9AM.

It’s Weaving Wednesday

And I’m unprepared. I knew what I wanted to write about today and I sat down to write all about it but here’s the problem. I don’t have a photo to illustrate what I was going to talk about. Seriously. I went through 6 years of photos. Nothing.

Then I thought, if I had been on it and following my plan for the week I could have taken a photo with the current project and all would have been well.

Here’s the picture I could take though. See that? Remember how I wound that onto the back beam in mid December.?[image error]Since then, I counted the heddles to make sure I had enough….that should have been done before. See that bundle all the way on the right? Those are the extras. They need to be removed.

So, since I have you here, here’s my tip for the day. Stop procrastinating because you know that there are too many heddle on each shaft and the warp will be too wide and the edges will rub the extra heddles and be weakened and result in a ton of thread breaks during weaving and then there might be bad words for the full 6 yards.

Removing the extra heddles will take about 30 minutes. It’s not a tragedy. My word. Fine. I’ll do it today. Stop yelling at me!

Sweater Spin and Knit Along

We’re into week 2 of the Scarf Spin and Weave Along and so far, except for a few missteps by me, I think things are going just swimmingly. Since the Scarf Along is only 4 weeks I thought it might be time to introduce the next Along that will begin on February 1. This will take place mostly in my Patreon group so if this is something you think you might like, head on over and join me on Patreon. The Alongs are available for all support levels.

But just so you have an idea of what you might be in for, I thought I’d lay out the whole outline here.

February

Choose a Pattern for a sweater to knit
Choose a few fibers and make samples with different spinning and/or preparation techniques. Use those yarns to make swatches and make a final decision about which yarn to use.

We will talk a lot about how to make the best choices and how to match the yarn gauge. I will do some live videos with some general information about how to go about choosing
If you are a Patron at the Tiara Level I will do a video where I answer questions sent about the process, If you are at Coronet or above maybe this is where you’d like to use your chat for the year.

March

Start Spinning
Here’s where I’ll talk to you about consistency over the whole spinning process in posts and videos.

storage bobbins
sample cards and how to use them

April

I love to talk about how to keep up your momentum over a large project and what I do to stay interested.

Maybe we could have a discussion about our favorite shows to binge:-)

May

We’re still spinning

I want to give you plenty of time to get all of the yarn spun


Here’s where I’ll talk about how much I spin before I begin to ply

Also there will be a video here about all of my plying tips and how I use that sample card we made way back in February when I start Plying.

June and July

Still spinning for many of us.

Now I’m going to talk about how to finish your yarn after you spin it. Finishing choices based on your spinning and pattern choice. There will be a video here and plenty of discussion about how your finishing choice is just as important as your spinning and plying.

August

Cast on your sweater.

I’m leaving 2 months for knitting here because I am super slow and I will need lots of people bullying me into knitting every day.


This is where I’m hoping to bring a knitting guest in to give advice and tips. I’m a good enough knitter but I could use some advice too:-)

September we will finish up and I’m hoping that everyone will post a photo to the group of their finished sweater.

Doesn’t that sound fun?! Plus you get all that for only $3 per month! And there isn’t a shipping or handling charge in sight.

I have lots to talk about and I definitely need a new sweater since every single one of my handmade sweaters has at least one hole that has been patched or is waiting to be patched.

[image error]

So for my question – I was thinking that maybe some of you might want to start with raw fleece. I have a few…or 300. I’m thinking about selling some if anyone is interested. i have a wide range of breeds. If there is interest I will happily hike out to the garage and choose a few to post in the webstore. Just let me know. I would sell them by the full pound.

I also need to come up with a good #hashtag# for this spin along so if you wake up in the middle of the night with something snappy, let me know. We still have a few weeks.

 

A Look Back – Weekend Retreats

Today’s look back is taken from a newsletter I sent out in early January of 2010. That year I had scheduled Sara Lamb, Maggie Casey, Galina Khmeleva, Deb Robson, Michael Cook, Denny McMillan, Abby Franquemont and Amy King. Many of them were my first time meeting them and I was nervous every single time. And now they are all people I would consider to be friends. It was scary and awesome all at the same time.

I also was teaching a ton of classes myself.

My two favorite parts of having a physical shop was talking to people about wool every single day and helping them choose the right thing for their project and also hosting teachers. Hosting teachers let me meet a ton of super wonderful spinners and also a ton of super wonderful spinning students.

[image error]

The reason I was thinking about hosting teachers and teaching classes myself is because in only about 3 weeks registration will open for my first ever retreat. I’m not sure if you’ve heard about it but It takes place on the same weekend of the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY. It’s (almost) all inclusive and I am sooooo excited about it. Check it out and put it on your calendar. It’s going to be super small. Only 10 people. But if all goes well we will be doing them every year and maybe even a couple a year. Here’s a link to a PDF that you can print that has all the deets.

Harmony Knitter

If you’ve taken a class with me or talked to me for more than 5 minutes you know I am a scientist at heart. I love to experiment. I did work in a laboratory for a while doing cell research and I loved it so much. But that’s for another time.

Today I want to talk about my sock knitting machine. I bought it at least 2 years ago from Julia Farwell Clay who is the designer of one of my favorite sweaters – Hiro. The machine is still in the box that I got it in. It didn’t come with needles so I bought some of those too but I have misplaced them….I’m sure they are on the desk under a pile.

[image error]

So, the plan was to spin a whole bunch of sock yarns. Wool from different breeds of sheep and then different methods with each breed. I have a whole outline. I was curious about durability since I seem to wear my socks out rather quickly. but I’m a pretty slow knitter – especially socks. So a knitting machine was the key to the whole thing. I mean I can make 400 yards of 3 ply yarn in a day or two but then I take 6 months to knit the darn things.

[image error]

I did go online and try to figure out how to work it but I became overwhelmed with the information and also so much terminology that I didn’t yet know. I joined the CSM group on Facebook but again, the things they talk about are mostly over my head. I found a nice little spot on the shelf where the box fit perfectly and that’s where it has been. I have taken it out 2 or three times and then back it went. The thing is a mystery to me.

Anyway, yesterday I saw a post on Instagram from my friend Bex who lives in England. She had a stack of 5 pairs of socks that she had knit and finished in 3 days! The box of knitting machine is in the living room this morning. I wonder where the needles are. And I wonder if Bex can help me even though she is so far away. I really think I may need an in person lesson. Oh my.

All advice is appreciated and thank you in advance.

Also, by the way I’ve got the next spin along almost planned and it will be for all of my patrons. I’d love for you to be a part of it. It’s going to be loads of fun and I have some videos and live feeds and lots of how to instruction. The spin along will run from February 1 through September and hopefully at the end we will all have a new sweater. Check out my Patreon page and join in!

A Look Back – 2017’s Most Popular

It’s Friday December 29th and since Friday is the day I look back I thought now would be a great day to do a roundup of my ten most popular blog posts visited for the year 2017. Most of them weren’t written in 2017 but they get visited a ton. If you haven’t seen some of these posts, maybe you’d like to check them out. So here we go.

10. Endings and New Beginnings – Number 10 is the summing up post about the BFL dress with all of the details about the spinning, weaving and sewing of the dress which I love.

9. Washing Wool by the Lock – Back to scouring. It’s a method that many feel is too time consuming but it does go surprisingly quick and the locks get super clean this way.

8. It’s A Giveaway – Not only is this about a giveaway but there are details about the Spin and Weave Along that is about to begin on January 1. Check it out if that sounds like something you’d like to take part in.

7. The Messy Bobbin – In January 2017 I wrote this about how I went about figuring out why I was getting pigtails on a bobbin. It was certainly messy but I have fixed it!

6. More Consistent Yarn – It looks like Consistency might be something people are interested in learning more about since this is number 6 and it was just posted in November of this year!

5. Combing Can be Easy – For this one we go all the way back to March of 2012 and the fact that this is number 5 makes me think I’d better do an updated version since the pictures have disappeared and I have no idea where to find them. The info is still good but the pictures helped a lot.

4. Weaving Decisions – This post from February 2017 is about the steps I would go through to make a decision about how to finish (or not) the singles for the BFL yardage.

3. Fiber Prep for Production Spinning – Just what it says. This was for Spinzilla in September 2013

2. Your Drive Band – The first in a two part series I wrote in 2014 about drive bands, what to use and how to use them and why you would choose one or another.

Number 1!!!!!! Wool Scouring: Simple and Mostly Quick This post is from May of 2016 and is consistently in the top 5 pages visited on my site. It’s a step by step of how I get so much wool washed.

So there you have it.The 10 most popular posts visited in 2017. Happy clicking.

While you are clicking, have you checked out my New Patreon Page? There will be lots of more in depth information, group studies, live question and answers and more, I hope you’ll join us.

Thinking About Sett

I just have a tiny bit to say about this today because I think it is a huge topic. But I’m going to specifically talk about the sett for the scarf Spin and Weave Along that is going to begin on January 1.

For the clothing fabrics I have been weaving I am purposely setting the warp closer than most people advised. This is because I want a harder wearing fabric and I want one that holds its shape  when I sit down and stand up (no bubble butts in my skirt please – unless that’s my actual butt).

So, like a good weaver, I did some sampling. Most advice, when a plain weave fabric is the plan, is to measure wraps per inch and divide that number by 2 and that’s your sett. Then as you weave you put in the same number of picks (throws of the shuttle) per inch as warp threads per inch. But I thought I’d see what would happen at a tighter sett too.

[image error] [image error]

Both of these sock yarns which we will be using in the Spin and Weave Along measured about 17 wraps per inch. So technically, with general guidelines I would sett these at 9 ends per inch but that’s sort of a pain so I just rounded up to 10 wpi because I have a 10 dent reed:-). So I knew that 10 epi would be my widest sett and I wanted to do a couple of tighter setts to see the difference. So I did 14, 12 and 10 epi samples.

[image error]

The far left is the tightest sett (14 epi) next is the middle sett (12 epi) and the two on the right were sett at 10 epi. The first three were woven with singles and you can see I did some beat experiments there too which I will talk about soon. The furthest right was woven with a 2 ply yarn. All of the wefts are handspun Polwarth.

I love the fabric on the far left but I don’t love it for a scarf because it is a bit firm and there is very little drape. Definitely the best scarf fabric is the 10 epi fabric with the even beat. It is not a fabric I would choose for a jacket or a skirt but it is certainly a beautiful scarf fabric. The great thing about making these samples is that I can label them and have a reference for a future project.

Sampling is your friend.

If you’d like to join us for the spin and weave along that begins on Monday you can still sign up. Most of the instructions will come in a weekly newsletter. Discussion will happen on my Beth Smith Facebook Page so be sure to like my page and follow along. To take part all you need is a skein of sock yarn, some soft wool to spin and a loom with a 10 dent reed. Also you can sign up for the Spin and Weave Along Newsletter here.