Persistent Knitter

My spinning group met today; and for the first time in a long time, all five of us were present!  It’s our last official spinning get together before the Sheep to Shawl contest at the Estes Wool Market. 

I love this group because in addition to being a bunch of fairly like minded women that range in age from 30ish to grandma age; there is an incredible wealth of knowledge that they have. I’m probably the newest-spinner of the group; having only been spinning for 3 years now.

Topics of discussion included:

Q: How should I spin this batch of fleece I have? 
Answer: just like you did your sample.  I have aboue 1/2 lb of this beautiful fine fleece (I don’t know the type , probably Rom/CVM cross), and I have carded up 3 batts of it using my new drum carder.  It wants to be fairly fine; but it comes out a tad bit fuzzy when spun long draw woolen style.  It was determined that I should get over it and spin it because it looks just fine

Q: How many treadles does it take to ply your yarn?
Answer: As many as you need.  One of our members likes to count the treadles even while spinning the  singles, and also uses a fairly large whorl even though she spins a beautiful thin yarn.  Most of the rest of us prefer to ‘wing it’ when spinning the yarn; and then only worry about counting treadles on plying. 

I like a fairly round yarn, so I tend to add quite a bit of twist while plying. To counterbalance this, I add a tad bit extra twist when creating the singles.  I still like to create a fairly soft yarn though - esp when the fiber is a soft yarn.  The treadle-counter in the group goes by the 1/2 the number of treadles you used in the singles is the amount you use when you ply.   It’s been interesting to see how different each of our yarns come out based on our own personal spinning preferences.  It’s amazing that we can all spin like each other enough to create a beautiful shawl in the Sheep to Shawl contest :)

Q: Are we ready for the contest?
Well, we hope so! A quick run down of the things we needed to bring; and who was bringing what ensued. We’ve all been on the team for the two years prior; so we feel like we’ve got a handle on what we’ll be doing on contest day.  The only difference this year is we’ll be two plying instead of navajo plying.

Q: What should I enter in the Handspun Yarn contest at Estes (or the county fair following shortly)?
Various strategies were discussed - entering just the yarn, or knitting up a 6" x 6" sample for the project category. Who the competition would be in each particular category.

Last year was the first year I had ever entered a handspun yarn contest. I’m not sure why I did - I was certainly in no danger of winning.  It was interesting to receive the comments from the judge and to find out what they look for.  In a way it gives me something to spin better for; although that’s happening naturally over time. I still have plenty to learn (hence the "how should I spin this fleece" question above). It remains to be seen whether I’ll be able to get the form to fill out ahead of time, have time to knit a 6" square swatch. Debbie has graciously agreed to tote the yarn up there and turn it in at the appropriate time and place for me since she’ll be on the premises for some workshops.

And just to prove that Rebecca actually attending, here’s a horrible picture* taken with my cell phone/camera (She’s the one on the right waving):

* The only reason I posted the picture is because one of our regular group members couldn’t be there today due to a sick kid - although she was spinning with us in absentia and she requested I take a picture.