Wheels, Dyeing, and Lace
Last week, my new spinning wheel came in! Yeah! Here's a pic of my Ashford Traveller beside my new Majacraft Rose. I am selling my little Traveller. In fact, I already have a buyer lined up, hence the reason I went ahead and purchased Rose. Now, you can see that Rose is a tad smaller and a bit slimmer than my Traveller. I found putting the two wheels side by side very interesting.
Rose is wonderfully easy to carry upstairs too! But, imagine my surprise when I treadled Rose and found her bobbins squeal/whistle. Apparently this will disappear, at least I hope so, but for now the bobbins squeal and whistle a bit. I even rubbed the metal rod that comes with the additional box/lazy kate through the holes in the bobbins with the hope this will ease the whistling. Did it work? Well, I'm chicken to try it again. I will probably try spinning again tonight. I was so afraid I purchased a dud, I emailed my friend who has a Rose and she reassured me it was the new bobbins. So, I'll spin on her and see if the bobbins quiet down after a while. I hope so, since my Traveller is, in essence, sold and blessedly quiet when spinning on her.
Will I miss my Traveller? Well, yes I will. Robin taught me to spin on that wheel, so I have fond memories of Robin teaching me. Also, I spun up many nice skeins on that wheel, even state-fair winning skeins. So, yes, I will miss her, but she's going to a good home and I'll be able to see her.
Dyeing? Yes, again I am dyeing. Same yarn brand too -- Grignasco Regina, laceweight merino yarn. Yesterday I did some rainbow dyeing and, in true Annette fashion, I didn't like the colors, so I redyed the skein this morning. The newest dyed version is still in the dye pot cooling, so here is a picture of the skein after the first dyeing session. Why did I redye it? The colors were too pale and blah for me.
The new version is more intense in color, at least I hope the colors are more intense. I haven't peeked after rainbow dyeing the yarn up.
What did I learn this time? 1) I learned to use similar fiber ties. Last time I dyed this yarn I had two types of ties, one set was wool, one was cotton. The cotton repelled the dye and left white areas under the ties where no dye was absorbed by the yarn. The wool ties didn't have any white areas. This time I used wool ties and no little white areas appeared beneath them. Yeah! 2) This yarn absorbs dye like you wouldn't believe. When I added a very dilute concentration of dye, the dye was wicked right up but the excess water was left on the Saran wrap! Amazing! I used a paper towel to blot up the excess water and there was no dye transfer to the towel. Seems that some fiber types just absorb dye better than other fiber types. I haven't had this happen to me before when rainbow dyeing with Robin or by myself.
And last but not least, I started the mysteryshawlalong2 and am enjoying myself. Here's my version of clue 1.
Alright, that's it for me. Happy fibering!
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Will I miss my Traveller? Well, yes I will. Robin taught me to spin on that wheel, so I have fond memories of Robin teaching me. Also, I spun up many nice skeins on that wheel, even state-fair winning skeins. So, yes, I will miss her, but she's going to a good home and I'll be able to see her.
Dyeing? Yes, again I am dyeing. Same yarn brand too -- Grignasco Regina, laceweight merino yarn. Yesterday I did some rainbow dyeing and, in true Annette fashion, I didn't like the colors, so I redyed the skein this morning. The newest dyed version is still in the dye pot cooling, so here is a picture of the skein after the first dyeing session. Why did I redye it? The colors were too pale and blah for me.
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What did I learn this time? 1) I learned to use similar fiber ties. Last time I dyed this yarn I had two types of ties, one set was wool, one was cotton. The cotton repelled the dye and left white areas under the ties where no dye was absorbed by the yarn. The wool ties didn't have any white areas. This time I used wool ties and no little white areas appeared beneath them. Yeah! 2) This yarn absorbs dye like you wouldn't believe. When I added a very dilute concentration of dye, the dye was wicked right up but the excess water was left on the Saran wrap! Amazing! I used a paper towel to blot up the excess water and there was no dye transfer to the towel. Seems that some fiber types just absorb dye better than other fiber types. I haven't had this happen to me before when rainbow dyeing with Robin or by myself.
And last but not least, I started the mysteryshawlalong2 and am enjoying myself. Here's my version of clue 1.
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-- posted by Annette @ 5:30 PM
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