Using the wheel

The wheel and I are friends now. Our relationship started out rocky, but now we have a sort of understanding with each other. If it doesn't get persnickety with me, I'll spin on it and make pretty yarn. If it starts making trouble, it sits in the corner while I play with my spindle. (does that sound dirty to you?)

Behind the cut is my first honest-to-goodness bobbin of wheelspun yarn.

It's hot pink and grape juice purple Rambouillet wool, 2.8 ounces total, from Sarahwood3587 on Etsy. I only spun up about half of my first bag (1.4 oz each) before my bobbin was full. I got a whole bunch of pretty fiber from Etsy, and it all came in less than a week, but this one came first so this was what I started with. I didn't learn until AFTER I started spinning it that it's got about the same staple length as merino. Eep.

The first, oh, 30 or 40 yards of this bobbin, the stuff hidden underneath the nice pretty thin even(ish) yarn, is an absolute wreck. Thick and thin, horribly drafted, a break every two feet or so. But after a while I got the treadling down, found a good tension for me, and remembered how to draft while doing all these other things at once. It's a REALLY good thing I started with a spindle, because if I had started spinning on a wheel having to do all these things at the same time, I would have given up on spinning a long time ago.

So I'm taking the nice even part of the yarn and plying that up, and keeping the uneven stuff for another project later. I'll have some even yarn, and I'll have some lumpy-bumpy yarn. Lumpy-bumpy yarn isn't my cup of tea, but I know some other people that really like it.

I'm really getting treadling down, which is good. My drive band is about to snap, so I'll have to replace it; I'll let you know how that goes. I think I'll try cotton this time, it might not stretch as much. The only problem is I won't be able to get as smooth a join. We'll see how it works out.


The shop has a Facebook page now; check it out if you're interested. I made yarn, by Joyuna. If you become my fan, I'll send out periodic updates (I promise not to be obnoxious!) about my shop - including when the sock yarns come in. :) I'm really excited for that. I'll be dyeing over spring break (next week!) and I'll try to get them washed, dried, and photographed ASAP.

~Joy