Hmm, lets see...we need a new label, like maybe, "PVC Spinning Wheel"?

Yeah, as I check on who is visiting my blog I realize many folks are stopping in on a search for instructions to make a PVC spinning wheel. I must tell yee curious ones that the free instrux at DragonsKeep (link listed under label spinning) is dead. But DonisFuff is still up. She is the genius behind my dandy little yarn spinner. Whether Donis still sells her pattern or not I do not know. Just gotta contact her if interested, right? And while we are on the subject of non-free spinning wheel instructions here is another place to investigate.

Bam and Bam

These are instructions for two different types of spinning wheels. Made from wood. $6 or $7 bucks a piece. Betcha can tell which one I want. Well, really, I want both kinds, but I gotta have that spindle one. So nice looking. That may seem strange. Weird even. But what can I say? Girl's gotta have what a girl's got to have. Heart stopping. Yup.

This eBay seller also has many very intriguing patterns for sale. Seems like hundreds. How about a Victrola??

For the First Time, Introducing... My Hand Spun

It is a bit on the rustic side. But I don't mind. I'm learning so it's okay. Which, by the way, what I'm trying to learn is the long draw. It's starting to come together. Which, by the way, means the yarn I'm trying to learn to spin is not falling apart as I spin. This is probably why my yarn is a bit on the rustic side. Not trying to make excuses. But, well, it's kinda hard. I love doing it. What's wrong with me? Not really sure. Kinda hard to explain.

                   Ignore the date found at lower right hand corner.

This is a wonderful pattern created by Yolanda Teague. You can find it on Ravelry and is called the Cloud Bolero. I was lucky. Got the pattern back in 2010 when it was still free at Yarn Forward Mag.

Okay, wrong. Cloud Bolero is no longer available but a new version is. There is a link from the Cloud page to the new pattern. She also has some notes on the differences between them at her blog. That link also on Cloud page. Yolanda Teague on Ravelry

And so the above was made with one of my hand spun yarns. It was dyed with orange osage wood chips in an iron pot over an outside fire. Another story for another day. I did not care for the color so I over dyed with tobacco. The roll your own type. For real.

                     Here is the tobacco simmering. Horrible smelling stuff.

                                                 And here is the dye.

      This is how it came out. Added a bit of rustiness to the color which I liked better.

And here is a sweet little something for a sweet little person. This was spun up from wool shorn from a local Jacob sheep. The cocoon was so very soft. Baby's need soft. The mommy was very pleased.

And so this is what my PVC/bike spinning wheel has helped me to create. There was more but has been knitted or crocheted into something and given away.

A quick note on the two pattern links I put up on how to make a PVC spinning wheel. It seems one of the links is dead. That would be the free pattern. I will say the other pattern is worth every penny of the $7.00 price. And it will help out a fellow crafty person. Hey, run don't walk and get you one.

                 There were some needed changes. Will post on that soon.

Have a good day.

I'm Feeling Brain Dead

The problem... was... no computer... near the end of last year. But that has been resolved (my son's baby's mom gave me one as a gift). And so much has been happening and so much new things have been learned (sweet delish fiber goodness) that I do not know where to start. And with no computer lying around I did not use a camera just got lazy and well the brain is overloaded with it all.

Spinning. Yes, on my pvc pipe and bike wheel spindle as pictured elsewhere on this blog. I guess I am an over spinner.  But I'm learning...

Dyeing:  Very interested in natural dyes. Funny thing is they are hard to understand and woe. So far I've tried poke berries, blueberries (those both very light coloration), and of course good ol' onion skins (very deep color). Lets see, what else? Oh yeah, red cabbage. That was a beauty. Light purple; lilac. It was a color to dye for. Problem was it did not take. Lovely color in the pot, not a drop on the yarn. Dern it. Have heard a lot about mordants. They are sooo very important:
    "Simmer/boil with wool for an hour, cool then wash/rinse...OR
    "Simmer/boil with wool for an hour, let cool in pot overnight, then wash/rinse...OR
    "Simmer/boil with wool for an hour, let it sit overnight, stuff into a plastic bag and set aside for 3 or 4 days...
After performing one of the possibilities listed above you then move on to the dye pot. I'm, like, thinking natural dyes are fickle. I haven't tried the extended rest version yet. That will be next. Because really, I love those natural colors. Can't give up.

Buying: A bit of fiber, a bit of yarn, a fiber tool here a fiber tool there a fiber tool wistfully everywhere. I try mostly to buy localy. Me and my sister found a nice place near her. "Apple Tree Acres Alpacas" run by Ed and Karen Rogers in Utica, Illinios. They welcome visitors but plesae call first! Sis bought some alpaca fiber for my (2010 June) birthday. A beautiful gift. But it's a real terror to spin for a beginner. Like me. Of course you need real fiber combs. Time to move up from the doggie brush. Will break the bank (75 bucks!), but what can ya do? Take the plunge my friend. Take the plunge. Yes, a few other small treasures: a top and a bottom whorl spindle. I try to feel no shame.

Knitting: Ah yes, knitting. Lots of such. Especially with the stuff I've spun. It's all one ply. Some of the kinks don't come out after the finishing stage. Chuff, chuff.

Crochet: My default when I can not stand any of the above one moment longer. Kinked up tangles. Fibers not binding. Not dyeing. Rip it. Shread it. Hair pulling hissy fit.

Sure. Some folks think anyone acting like that is messed up.

Naa. Really, in the world of fiber, it's normal.

A note to those of you who stop by to check out the "Aran Sweater" and "Pvc Spinning Wheel" post, a quick thank you! This encurages me to get back to posting updates on things of interest. And there a some who come by to look for free knit and crochet patterns. I will shortly get to posting on some stuff that I've been up to. Nothing special. It's all fun.

Oh Hell No

My Vista computer is fried. How dare it. Probably the mother board. Can't fix her right now so I pulled out the old ME and hooked that dinosaur up. Many, many glitches. Yuck. Just started enjoying Ravelry. Now I seem to be in read only mode. No responding to posts, no PMing. Not really interested in finding out what else I cannot do. But we can get online and well, that is something, I guess. Contacted HP and the dear man on the other side of the line says to me, "honestly, ~3 years~ of using a computer, truthfully that is to be expected". Mother board fried after only 3 years? I held my tongue. He did offer me a one time deal of a lap top and a computer all for about 1,000 dollars. Well damn, let me check my back pocket. Husband Darling-Dear believes a year of no central air (yeah, damn thing's also fried) is what did it. Maybe so. Maybe not so. Seem's like there's lot's getting fried at my house. Time to go fishing. Do a fish fry. I guess.

Anyone else going through hell and back? Funny thing, this is nothing compared to what my house was going through the past few years. I should shut my mouth.

On a happier note. Pulled out my fiber goods and started to do a bit of spinning again. I parked my arse right in the living room so my hubby can feel sorry for me and get that wool picker constructed. Just a little ol' box picker. The discussion proceeded this way.

HDD: "Why don't you look for a used picker online. How much do they cost?"
He's talking about one of those Fancy Pickers made by Pat Green. He likes them. I look on Ravelry (pre-fried computer) and see several. $450-500.
Me: "Good price, babe?"
HDD: "Well, where's those plans."
Me: "There's one lady who sells a box picker for $150."
HDD: "Naaa." He's now looking at instrux. I'm a bad girl.

Shoot, I need to get back on Ravelry and look for the gal who makes spindles. She has real nice directions on getting a good friction fit.

Gotta love Ravelry.

My PVC Spinning Wheel

do you see the glow?

My hubby made it for me yesterday. Ain't he a sweetie? We used DragonsKeep's instructions. A dead link Its a bit smaller than donisfuff's stuff  but we needed to modify the instrux a bit. The most important change was the 5" lengths of pvc pipe, which are the cross bars on the bottom, and they turned out to be too long. Doni had these at 4" and that seems to be a better size. 5 inches makes the base too wide for that long bike wheel bolt thingy. That would mean the wheel sitting on air.

Hubby thought putting crossbars at this point (a change in pattern ) might be a good idea. I concurred. Of course we had not thought to check the bolt length before doing any of this. It turned out not to be a big problem. He just squeezed a bit as he went to the next level. But anyway that brought the T joint count from 12 to 16. We also cut about 4" from the top level because of adding those extra T joints. Course this was after the fact. You could instead take the extra 4" from the bottom level and make both levels look more balanced. Or something.

And with lots of little kiddies running around at our house I wanted something to stabilize the wheel. That piece of wood in the background of above picture got the vote.

the double dagger

 

Seriously though, I had a size 11 knitting needle for the spindle but could not, for the life of me, figure out which side I would be working on. I am a bit ambidextrous. Add in the fact of never sitting before a spinning wheel, and well, the confusion sets in. Husband Dear then says, "Let me grind both sides of this metal rod for you."

I'm like, "Uhhhhmm. Okay...."

this works as the break

 

a piece of pipe and two rubber bands

the little gremlins just wanna have fun...with my wheel.

Can't have that...

my cute hand crafted spindle

Here is a picture my tinker toy spindle. I think the small rocks lend a rustic feel.

these are the items I used to make it

These knitting needles were bought from Walmart. Useless for knitting because they kept catching the yarn even after sanding them a bit. They just never worked too good. The needle shown is a size 10 1/2. I used a size 11 for my spindle which needed glued but a 13 would actually be a nice snug fit. You can see how much chunkier the red tinker part is to the size 10 1/2. I'd have put the other 11 in the picture but it seems to be missing. And if you saw my work room you'd know why.

this is the little darling that started it all. a gift from a nice local fiber artist. her blog

these are my first, ever, wee, plyed, hand spun hanks

The one on the right, with the unintended VM included, was made first using the gifted spindle. I used a small wire doggie comb that looked like a dinky carder. Not very good at removing unwanteds.

The hank on the left looks a little better. The spindle I made was a bit on the light side at first so added the small stones to increase the weight. It seemed to help. That time I used bigger doggie combs on the wool and they actually removed almost all of the sticks and stones... 

As to the plying. That was frustrating (...wanna break some bones?). One lady used two med sized terracotta flower pots turned upside down with the yarn balls inside. You'd pull the ends through the holes and ply that way. A super idea but, alas, no funds for such. I think I may have found something that will work. It's one of those lazy susan wooden spice rack. like this Mine I picked up at a flee market. 3 bucks maybe? I already removed the lazy susan part for a (some day) home made yarn swift. Lots of free instrux on the web for that. So many smart inventors out there in cyber space. I send out a big thank ya! Anyway, I think if I lay the thing on its side, stick the balls inside the 4 slats and pull the ends through two of the holes I should be able to ply that way. I am currently combing and spinning some more wool and shall continue on.

Hope some one can use my spindle idea.

Have a good day.

times they are a changin'

fast! Yeah every time I turn around there is something new is going on. Here at my house. The list:

Not working. I have to stay at home because my grandson will soon be out of early head start. And I have custody.

Two of my sons (who used to babysit so I could work) they now have work pending. They are wielders. A real hit and miss kind of thing. They are on the last rung at the bottom of the ladder. You know the score. BUT there is work to be had. That is a good thing.

Scored some fleece. Two actually. And so a new adventure begins. Which I am loving. These fleeces were a freebie. What up with that? Yes God I Will Follow You Down Any Fiber Path. Course I do not have a clue as to what anything should look like. One fleece was very dirty. 4 hot water washes this creature took. 3 bottles of blue dish detergent. I bought 2 thin wire dog brushes and 2 steel dog combs. Guess you know what those are for. As I sit combing out this fuzzy fiber my husband actually had the nerve to say, "that looks like something a crazy, evil person would do." Well babe you better start getting used to it. Oh yeah.

The fleece was given to me when I volunteered at a local fair. click next until you see the sheep's wool! Pretty grimy. You can see my pile to the left. I am standing behind the camera. Just the way I like. But the Heritage Farm Museum shows how our early settlers lived. A neat place do a vacation at.

Have been looking for equipment for spinning. On The Cheap. I made a spindle with a short wood knitting needle, size 11, a round wood tinker toy connector with small rocks glued into it's holes around the edge and a cup hook screwed on top. Spun and plied one wee hank. Not to bad. When my rechargables are ready, will put up pictures of my stuff. My goodies.
Want a wool picker and a some wool combs. Want a spinning wheel. For as close to free as I can get. I'm thinking Make It Yourself. Which is not free but close enough, really.

Here are 2 different links for a PVC pipe wheel. Dragons Keep's wheel  This'un's free.

Doni Stuff's stuff  This one's for purchase. 7 bucks.

The other two items on my list? Got blessed. A gent sent me two of his wood working plans. For combs and a box picker. Free. What's wrong with him?! He asked me to put a close pin on my lips about this. His web site is still being worked on and will soon begin sales for his Fiber Woodworking Plan Creations. They are priced very reasonable. But for those of you with folding money right now here is Kaydessa's safe box woolpicker . Some wool pickers look like something that dude from the movie "Pit and the Pendulum" might use to torture you. Slowly. Painfully. I would say you could not use these things around kids. But the one in the above link looks very safe.

And so some changes are very good. Some are on the okay side. Some are a real bummer. Like making no money. That sucks!

Okay, have a good one.