Spinning and Plying cotton - part two

Now for the fun bit...
Spinning cotton requires patience and practice. The method is different to wool and the settings on your wheel are different too.

First, the wheel. My wheel has a double band drive, which is not recommended for spinning using the long draw method (commonly used for cotton) as it is hard to adjust the wheel to take up the yarn slowly enough. I have found it is possible to use the long draw method with a double band wheel, you just need to be patient and keep a close eye on the yarn.

 I use what I would call a medium draw method that works efficiently for me. Instead of drawing the fibre back past my hip, as you do with the long draw, I draw back about 30 cm at a time before letting the yarn wind onto the bobbin. I also 'bend' the yarn a bit so I can control the twist in the yarn I am drafting. For non- spinners; drafting is pulling the fibre out into a thin line before the spinning wheel puts twist into it.

The clip below shows how an expert spins cotton using the long draw method.

This clip shows how I spin using my medium draw method.

It takes a long time for me to spin a bobbin of cotton, but I enjoy the challenge of getting the single (the un-plyed strand of yarn) smooth and even.

The singles are getting fairly even.

Almost filled a bobbin, just a few more nests.

When the bobbin is full it is time to ply the yarn....see you then.

From fleece to tote bag and all stops in between - part two

I have carded up a 100g batch of washed wool into cute little rolag 'nests.
Now for the spinning.....

Spinning can be seen as a science, an art or a craft. I like to think of it as a craft; I don't get too scientific or precise about it, I just spin.
So..I sit in my crafting nest in the lounge room and spin while I watch a DVD or just sit and enjoy the quiet. It takes me about four hours of spinning (broken up into movie length lots) to fill a bobbin. Then it needs to be plyed into a strong yarn.

All ready to spin...coffee; check....rolags; check.....spinning wheel......

Spinning wheel; check

A half spun bobbin of singles.

A full bobbin

There are so many ways to ply yarn, it would take me all day to explain them. I usually use a Navajo ply method which uses a single bobbin rather than two or three bobbins.

Once the yarn is plyed, I wind it onto a niddy noddy to make a skein which is then tied together and washed again to set the twist. This part is fun as I take the yarn out of the bath (as described in part one), squeeze the water out of it somewhat and then whack it against a post with some vigour. This gets my dogs all excited (maybe they think I've gone mad) and they all start barking like loons and jumping around.

A bad photo of me plying

Half a bobbin of plyed yarn

My niddy noddy

The finished skein (badly over exposed, but you get that with the flash)

Once the excitement dies down, I hang the skein on a contrived rack (on my wool cupboard) to dry, or I may decide to dye it first.

Part three is the yarn dying process.... see you then.


Glossary
Ply- Twisting two or more strands of yarn together to produce a stronger, thicker yarn.
Single - A single length of yarn, spun onto a bobbin, prior to plying.
Niddy noddy - A tool used by spinners to wrap wool around when making a skein.
Skein - A neat parcel of yarn, made by looping yarn in equal rounds.

Spinning dog hair

A few days ago a friend of mine gave me a little bag of hair from her Meremma dog to try on my spinning wheel (Thanks Lynn). Today I tried it out.
Using dog hair to make yarn is not a new fashion; ancient people made good use of the hair shed by pets and working dogs to make yarn for knitting and weaving cloth.

Amerind history
European history

This little bag of hair was a joy to work with, easy to comb, easy to spin and so soft.

This one tiny bag of hair made many meters of yarn.

The hair out of it's bag. It is so soft I could fondle it all day.

I spread it on the comb

After several combings (from one carder to the other), the roving is ready to go.

When you take the hair off the comb it becomes a fluffy batt.

The batt is then rolled into a roving ready for spinning.

It spins a smooth, strong yarn.

The resulting yarn (or single ply) looks like mohair but is much softer.

I have enjoyed this little bit of spinning. Now I will be asking my friend for more hair from her dog when she combs  her so I can finish the rest of this reel and ply the single with wool to make a skein to knit a hat.

Glossary
reel; the piece of the wheel which stores the finished spinning.
single; a single strand of spun fibre. Several singles are combined to make a yarn.
ply; twisting/spinning several singles together to make a yarn. Two ply is made with two singles, three ply is three singles and so on.

Wool spinning advice

If you read this blog regularly, you will have noticed that I am somewhat hyperactive (adult ADHD) and so Like to skip from one thing to another constantly. I have many hobbies that I keep returning to after long breaks. One of the things I like to do is spin.....sheep and alpaca wool, cotton and hopefully one day silk. I just found a great post about how to spin sock yarn that I thought I would share with you.

Knit Better socks Blog

If you are interested in spinning at all, please have a read.

Some of my home spun wool; from left to right- Suffolk cross, natural - merino, chemical dyed - merino, natural.

My old Scotch tension Ashford Traditional spinning wheel.

The start of a reel of cotton; very slow preparing and spinning.

What I like to make from my wool. I didn't spin the red and green wool for these socks; unfortunately.