A weft yarn

Spinning

I have made reference to our new spinning wheel in a couple of my previous posts. It is a Pipy Spinning Wheel and was made in New Zealand. It was made sometime between 1962 and 1982. It is a lovely little thing. Quite small and with a few gentle nudges of the treadle it whirls around in a smooth and hypnotic way. Can we spin anything though? Hmm.

We mentioned that we were interested in learning to spin after we went to a Spinners and Weavers exhibition two years back. So my mother-in-law gave us her old spinning wheel and some fleece. We were very excited. Unfortunately, a part was broken and although the resident handyman tried to repair it, you would kind of need a professional wood turner kind of person to make this small wooden part properly. It is a moving part and so does need to work well. As we didn't know anyone with those skills, it sat in the corner gathering dust. Then about a year later, at my tapestry Christmas party in December 2011, as we were saying our goodbyes, I happened to mention something casually about spinning (and our desire to have a go) and lo and behold, my friend had just received her fourth spinning wheel. Her husband was making noises about numbers of wheels in the house...so...she was...very keen to find a home for her 'overflow' spinning wheel. She just about insisted I should have it. She insisted so much, I think I got it for an absurdly ridiculous low price. A few days later, we went around to her house, gave her some loose coins, a few bits of lint and fluff from the bottom of my handbag and then we had a beautifully constructed, tiny bit of women's fibre history and ancient craftmanship sitting in our lounge room.

Taken from this website..Pipy products were coded, in hand writing under the table or treadle - M.A. (+ some numbers) is the Pipy saxony, M.B. the Wendy, M.C. the Poly, and M.D. the Sprite (picture at right) rather like a metal-wheeled Poly, of which only a few were made. A few early Polys have a metal wheel also, but can be identified by the code. Website: An Identification of New Zealand Spinning Wheels and their Makers.

So based on the photo we have a Pipy Saxony.

Pipy was one of several types of wheel made in Auckland by Philip Poore (Pipy Craft Ltd) from 1962. This is an early Pipy; later he made the legs a little more sturdy. It was designed for double drive but can be adapted for brake tension or even bobbin lead.

The bobbins have a metal shaft, and the spindle runs in metal bearings. A hook flips over to secure the orifice. A cord is used instead of the usual rigid footman. "Queen Victoria had a spinning wheel with a cord footman" says Mr Poore, "which is all that is needed for a downward foot movement and is very light."
More on Pipy wheels

Well.....can we spin? It goes like this. The wheel came home with us after a demo at my friend's house. Then we had a few goes in our lounge room and could make no sense of it. My husband was all for taking the machine apart because clearly it wasn't working properly. I encouraged him to think maybe it had something to do with our technique and skill level rather than the mechanics of the wheel. As proof, I suggested we just go ahead and wind on a bobbin of wool. So we took a ball of knitting wool and managed to 'spin' or wind it onto a bobbin. In the top photo of this post you can see a bobbin with some blue commercially spun wool on it. So -  yes  - the machine works. Must be us. We spent a couple of days over the Christmas holidays spinning fleece onto the bobbin. It was fun but really pretty hopeless and completely unusable.  It was reasonably even but so thick it was like rope. We knew it wasn't meant to be like this but it was still a great lot of fun to get some fleece out of a bag and through our hands and onto a bobbin. Clearly though we needed help and practice.

My friend had said that we could come back in January and have a proper lesson with one of her friends. So, Tess and I spent a really lovely morning with Ester and Alexis teaching us how to spin. For a few beautiful and magical fleeting moments I could feel, really feel how to spin. But like all new skills, a few moments later I lost the art of getting both hands and foot completely in sync and we were back to overspinning the fleece.  This below is the product of a morning's proper tuition.  It isn't even - so maybe it looks like a step backwards but I don't see it like that. Some of the spinning is producing a thinner result, more like something vaguely like a yarn instead of a rope. So - that's progress. I'm not 100% sure where spinning fits into the crafting world of two suburban home bodies (Melissa and Tess). I know we have loads of encouragement and support from Alexis so it's really up to us whether we want to take this skill forwards and give it a go. I am tempted.

Here you will see a relative of my spinning wheel (scroll down to bottom of post). I used to read Poppalina all the time. I think she's gone silent now. I loved her blog...she even had ducks ...and she's a much better spinner..

This story is about restoring a Pipy Spinning Wheel - but not a Saxony - a Wendy instead.

Weaving: blue scarf, long and blue

So Tess finished her third scarf on the Ashford Knitter's Loom back in January. She put the finishing touches on it while I was having a spinning lesson from a friend. We had brought our Knitter's Loom over to our friend's house to show her how portable and easy it is to use. My friend has been spinning for years but as she doesn't enjoy knitting or crochet, she seemed keen to take a look at this small and portable loom. Perhaps she'd be able to use the products of her 30 years of spinning and weave something with her yarn.

I was at first a bit bemused about her not using the yarn that she spins but she explained that it is spinning that she loves. It relaxes her and she loves the soothing process of spinning fleece into balls of yarn. I'm happy to report that I found spinning a 'potentially' relaxing activity. But that is a report for another day.

Meanwhile, back at the loom...

 

 We had used the beautiful blue hand dyed wool that we bought in this yarn and sack club.

 

 On the shuttle we mixed two different mohair bobbly wools. This loom is designed to take a funky, bobbly wool - which works for us. The mohair made the scarf quite soft and fluffy.

We had planned to make this scarf as a gift for a family member, but once it was finished we both really cooled on that plan. Tess does work very quickly (at all things - homework, craft, family activities) and sometimes she doesn't necessarily fuss over the details. Anyway, in the early parts of the weaving she clearly was racing through it. Whereas about half way through, she started attending to the process of actually weaving and tried to keep her edges neat and made sure she used the shuttle to push the yarn down into the fabric.

So the first half is disturbingly loose but more importantly it's just really different to the second half of the scarf. Unfortunately it doesn't look like a design feature, so we are chalking this up to skill development. We do wear it around the house and use it play with the cats, who love nothing better than chasing a blue tail. In summary we love the colours, the feel, and the wool, but think we'd better be a bit more even in our weaving if we want to make gifts on the loom.

I think it's my turn next on the loom....but I said that after she finished scarf number two. I didn't move quickly enough and before too long she'd got started on the warp and weft for this scarf. I might need to put the loom away in a cupboard so she forgets about it and gets on with practicing spinning. Since December we now have two spinning wheels. One that works and one that was gifted to us from a family member and doesn't work. We both need to put some practice hours into the spinning to make anything at all. Obviously, practice on weaving would make a more perfect object, but you can just leap in and make something without needing to be some kind of hugely eye-hand-and-foot coordinated master. Spinning was not so forgiving. Our first few efforts were completely unusable. Again, though, that's a story for another day.

Previous posts

Weaving with the Ashford's Knitters Loom - update on the blue scarf (May 2011)

Our new weaving loom (April 2011)

Weaving with the Ashford Knitter's Loom - update on blue scarf

So we are at the end of the weaving process that was begun here. Tess has finished the weaving and now we need to cut the ends and tie the knots. As part of earning one of her Girl Guides badges, she took the loom to Guides one night and demonstrated the weaving. She had also got onto the internet and done a bit of research on weaving and having seen photos of woven baskets and bags, she then rummaged through our dress-ups box and found a woven grass bag that had come home with us from a trip to PNG in 1994. So she took her loom, her printed A4 pages of weaving research and her grass bag to Guides and did her bit. I gather the whole session went over time, as many of the girls wanted a hands-on go. Who wouldn't? I can't wait to get my hands on it. She has agreed to lend it to me (for a small fee - very entrepreneurial of her - she's currently addicted to Sylvanian families, which is burning a hole in her pocket money).

Here's the end of the loom. We will cut these threads and make a knotted fringe. I'll update when that is done. And if you are interested, here is a blog with a quite nice, detailed, adult version of weaving on the Ashford Knitters Loom.

Loot, treasure, promises as yet unfulfilled, gratitude expressed late

In this photo: Mother's day flowers, Autumn wool and sack club, and the generosity of fellow bloggers.

In this photo: May 2011, April 2011, August 2009.

In this photo: Fibrewebs Autumn club 2011. Merino silk. 50/50 superwash merino and silk, 100g, 393m (430yds), Mulled wine. AND 4ply sock, 420m, 105g, 60% superwash wool, 20% cashmere, 20% nylon, handyed by knittingsprouts.

So, I have love, promises of future projects, beauty, and gratitude in this photo. As well as tardiness and regret at taking so long to post a great big "thank you" to knitting sprouts, for the hand dyed wool sent to me in 2009! I'd like to think, it's never too late to say sorry and never too late to say "thank you".

When my daughter finishes her weaving, I might request the loom for a short period of scarf making.

Our new weaving loom

Not exactly sure why I'm saying "our" except that I love my daughter's new weaving loom. It arrived under the tree at Christmas time and we do love it. It is an Ashford Knitter's loom ,which though made in NZ can be purchased locally, and it is particularly designed to take some of the new knitting yarns. It has a wide eye reed that makes it possible to use the bobbly and funky and furry new yarns. Tess and I had gone to the Spinners and Weavers exhibit at CSIRO last year in April 2010 and really enjoyed it. The ladies were very patient and spent quite a bit of time with Tess talking about weaving and spinning. We both came home and thought we'd like to try that.My mother-in-law has since visited and delivered her old spinning wheel to us. We aren't quite ready to try spinning. We'll start with the weaving and see how we get on.

Aside from the loom, we also got a book specific to this loom with patterns in it, and one of these super lovely 4 season yarn and sack clubs, and on Christmas day Dad was pressed into service and set up the loom. On our first run through we used some old wool that was hanging around the house. She's pretty diligent my daughter and that first scarf came off the loom within a few days - even with all the Christmas stuff going on.

Then she got Dad to set it up again and this time we used the beautiful blue wool that came in our sack club. Unfortunately, we had some company from the kitten. I mean wool, moving wool, bits going back and forth - excitement, tantalising excitement for a kitten. Still, he had to be moved and he thought about it for a millisecond and then tried to get back in by climbing up the screen. Hmm.

 

No - stay out. So here's one happy girl about half way through the setting up process. While the weaving is really straightforward, the setting up is a bit technical (sheepish - hence the Dad).

Sorry this photo is a bit blurry but this is the small person pretending to be an annoying kitten but it does give you some sense of the process. The loom can be folded up and stored in a tote bag when its not being used. But it is dead simple to use in front of the television and quite a bit of progress has been made on this blue scarf. As mentioned in previous posts, Tess is the kind of crafter who just gets going. She's not fussy and fiddly, like I am. I'm like my Dad and she's like my Mum. Funny isn't it, how genes express themselves. It's good we work together. I add a bit of methodical steadiness and she adds the flair.