There's one thing I want to write about that I did not talk about on the podcast. The whole idea of the spin-ins is that I talk about whatever is on my mind this month, podcasting as I spin. I usually use either my Haldane, or Ashford spinning wheel. I have had several comments from listeners that they enjoy the fact that they can hear my wheel in the background as I spin.
Well, I did spin on my Haldane, while recording this yarnspinner tale, and during editing I noticed I could not hear the wheel. I had not changed anything as far as how I was recording, and was puzzled why it was not showing up in the background. It was finally the next day, as I was finishing a bobbin in order to ply the yarn, that I realized the Haldane was spinning very quietly. No rattles or wobbles like I am use to seeing, feeling and hearing. It dawned on me, that I had found the ideal combination of humidity, and heat, that put the wheel into it's perfect state. It was spinning like a Rolls Royce.
I find this amazing, especially the realization that I really will not have control over the environmental conditions in which this wheel lives, and that I have to enjoy the perfection when it arrives, and be glad for the lack of it when central heat dries the wood up again, for at least my listeners will be able to hear my wheel again.
I got busy and forgot to post the photos I talk about in the podcast. So sorry to those that stopped by, and didn't get to see the photos. Hope you come back later :)
I talk about two true rare breeds of sheep in this podcast. The first, California Variegate Mutant or CVM. This was the breed of sheep that actually started me on the collection of many sheep breed samples. I was part of an exchange, where I got samples from other spinners, with other rare breed fleece samples. I was able to locate both roving and raw fleece for the CVM breed, and so used those for my contribution to the exchange.
Here's a photo of the raw lock (upper left), the roving (upper right) and three small skeins spun from carded, combed and the lock.
This is a wonderful fleece to work with, especially if you find it already processed into roving. It's extremely soft, and comes in a variety of natural colors.
The second fleece I discuss is the Maine Island fleece I used for the Olympic spinning challenge on Ravelry. This recaps several of the blog posts on this project, and talks about my ups and downs while working with the fleece. Here's a photo of the three sample skeins I spun, two from drum carded roving and one from combed fiber.
Finally a photo of the pink superwash yarn, because for many podcasts now, I have been saying I am _still_ spinning this pink roving. I did finally ply two of the bobbins and ended up with 257 yards of a two ply yarn. It's really prettier in person than the photo, sort of a soft coral color instead of true pink. I like it but am not sure what I will be making with it. I still have probably 10 ounces left of the fiber, from the original pound I purchased.
There is extra music on this podcast too, just because I found so many songs I liked that talked about summertime. I hope others find the songs as much fun to listen to, as I did.
No comments:
Post a Comment