SpinWiki

March 18th, 2008

I started this project a week or two ago inspired by the [KnitWiki](http://www.knitting-and.com/wiki/Main_Page) to create a [SpinWiki](http://spinwiki.greenkri.com). On the Spindlers Ravelry group, I find myself and other members explaining the same concepts over and over. I personally don’t mind this, and consider it a part of forum culture. New people arrive and need the same information as everyone else. However, I thought that perhaps having a place online with answers to their questions might help *some* people. I know there will always be those that need direct help and answers to their questions.

So I’ve finally opened up the SpinWiki publicly after spending quite a bit of time getting the basic structure up. I wanted to have all the policy, copyright, and help information all ready before opening things up. I also wanted to make sure I understood how things worked, and that I had some idea for a system in place for a community to form. I’ve had a little activity from others, but so far not a lot of information being added. I’ve been doing what I can when I’m feeling reasonably intelligent, but the articles I’ve added will definitely need *more*. Hopefully I can slowly build up a steady number of contributors so we’ll have one place where we can learn more about spinning.

3 Comments | Categories: Spinning |

Silk Thread

March 16th, 2008

I had a wonderful time on Saturday shopping at my local fiber store. Thanks to my awesome husband I got a lot of nice new fibers to try. One of them I chose specifically for the Spindlers group challenge on Ravelry, so I had to start spinning it right away. This is some beautiful hand-dyed silk cap that I thought perfectly fit the theme “Stirrings of Spring”.

If ever you have been told by your fiber or spindle just what you are going to spin, then you will know what it was like for me to start this “yarn”. I pulled out all my available spindles, which were all fairly light weight. I like spinning lace so this was fine with me, but I was not intending to spin quite as fine a yarn as I got. I tell you, as I was drafting out these long silk fibers I felt almost as if the spindle and silk were conspiring against me to do as they wanted. I thought to myself that even if I were to ply this thin-beyond-laceweight yarn it would be too thin to consider knitting. I like lace but geeze!

Another thing that makes this yarn unique is that it’s a very low twist despite being so fine. The fibers are so incredibly long (6″ and up, you can imagine how far apart my hands need to be to draft it) so they hold together very easily. This is perfect for embroidery thread, because I won’t have to ply and it will retain much of its sheen. It’s a very unique spinning process, I must say.

I’ve done some embroidery in my time, and in fact embroidery was my craft of choice for a good year before I decided to learn how to knit. I don’t like it as much as knitting as it doesn’t have that same meditative quality. However, it does satisfy my need to create, and I can get a bit more artistic with it than with knitting or spinning. It was decided then; this “yarn” that I was spinning officially became *thread*.

I’ve completed what seem like one or two layers of silk cap into what you see above. I leared my lesson with this first length of thread, and taped a tube of cardstock to the shaft of the spindle before starting the second batch. Winding all that thread onto a more manageable cardstock bobbin took **forever**, and I wasn’t planning to do it again.

I’ve been plotting, and scheming, and thinking about what I’m going to embroider with it. I’m thinking a mostly monochrome piece with some leaves and stems. I have some nice even weave linen that’s easy to embroider on, and we could use another decoration for the wall. Hopefully I can get some pictures up of my embroidery doodles as I tested out this thread. It works great! There is lots of shine with just a hint of texture.

2 Comments | Categories: Spinning |

2am Hat

March 9th, 2008

I finally brought out the hat tonight, hoping it was going to look penitent. I’m not sure whether or not it did, but I certainly had more motivation to put time into fixing it. I’d originally started this hat bottom up, cut off the ribbing to pick up stitches and knit down again. I wanted a hemmed bottom with some short row shaping to bring the hem around the ears a little lower. Well I fudged that up by making the hem too high after already sewing down ripping back up and sewing down again. It was at this point that it went into the basket for I don’t even remember how long.

Another 2am finished object, and it always seems to be on Saturday night. Anyway, I started undoing my sewing to an old production of Sense and Sensibility, and got to working on a ribbed edge. Back to the beginning again. I don’t know why this hat should have been so much trouble, because there really isn’t much to it! I’ve done all manner of complicated knits, but this is my third and only successful attempt at knitting a hat. I think the one thing I should have done different was to knit the ribbing on a needle size smaller. Glad to have this one done and off my needles!

Oh yeah, and the 2am part explains why I look so horrid in the picture. I just wanted to get it over with!

3 Comments | Categories: Knitting |