Book Review: "The Spinner's Book of Fleece" by Beth Smith

I was given a temporary digital advance reader copy of "The Spinner's Book of Fleece" by Beth Smith through netgalley to review.

"The Spinner's Book of Fleece" is a treasure trove of information for the spinner!  It describes wool working tools, how to pick the right fleece, how to deal with pests, how to know how much twist to add, and how to finish yarns.  It even mentioned making thread for tatting!  (As a tatter, I appreciated that!).  The book also gives the characteristics of types of wool, how to work with them, and some of the breeds in that category.   In the back of the book there are a glossary of terms, metric conversions, frequently used measurements, USDA Wool Specifications, Reading List, and Resources.

This is definitely a book that spinners should have on their shelves!

"The Spinner's Book of Fleece" is available in hardcover:

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (August 12, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1612120393
• ISBN-13: 978-1612120393
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches

or for Kindle:

• File Size: 56552 KB
• Print Length: 256 pages
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (August 23, 2014)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00GU2RLF4

Happy Distaff Day!

Distaff Day, also called Roc Day, is 7 January, the day after the feast of the Epiphany. It is also known as Saint Distaff's Day, since it was not really a holiday at all. In many European cultural traditions, women resumed their household work after the twelve days of Christmas. The distaff, or rock, used in spinning was the medieval symbol of women's work. Often the men and women would play pranks on each other during this day, as was written by Robert Herrick in his poem "Saint Distaffs day, or the Morrow After Twelfth Day" which appears in his Hesperides.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distaff_day

As a noun, a distaff , also called a rock is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly used to hold flax, and sometimes wool, but can be used for any type of fiber. Fiber is wrapped around the distaff, and tied in place with a piece of ribbon or string. The word comes from dis in Low German, meaning a bunch of flax, connected with staff. As an adjective the term distaff is used to describe the female side of a family.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distaff

Reenactment Preparations

This weekend is the annual Grand Rogue Encampment. I had set my mind to doing Dan's greatcoat, FINALLY! I got the pattern in 2000! I decided I needed to check if I needed to make Andy a new coat or could alter his old one. In doing that, I found a whole list of things that needed to be done!   It is supposed to be rather chilly, so I wanted to be sure everyone's outerwear was in top condition. 

The body of the coat fit well, but the sleeves were really short!

So I picked off the edging on the sleeves

cut a piece of wool

Pinned it and sewed it on

While I was at it, I added pockets, buttonholes, and buttons

I added more length to the sleeves than Andy needed so that he could wear it awhile as here is Will wearing it!

I added buttonholes and buttons to Will's coat

My coat was missing buttons

So I sewed on new ones

I finally did the hem on Dan's pants (he tucks them in his boots, so they don't show)

Emily's cape hood was rather small

I had made them with one continuous piece from one side of the face over the top and to the other side

I cut the top of the hood and added a piece the width of the back

Much better ☺

The red didn't photograph very well, but this shows the seam in the back of the hood

 

As you can see in this picture from August, Emi needed her dress longer!
So I let out the grow tucks.  I also let them out of the spare baby gown for Andy and the waist of Will's spare pants

Sarah's doll's arm was coming loose

So it got mended as well as hooks and eyes sewn on the dress (and Emi's doll's dress, too)

And here is Dan's greatcoat - front

and back

My Spinning Wheel Works!

After fiddling with the driveband, I finally was able to get the bobbin to wind on the yarn.  Here is my first spinning wheel spun yarn!

I Got a SPINNING WHEEL!!

I looked on Craigslist and found a listing for a "Great Antique Large Wood Spinning Wheel".  I tried e-mailing them and calling them all weekend and didn't get a response.  I called again this morning and they answered!  It turns out it was at a business (estate buyers) so they were gone on the weekend!  



I paid $150 for it!  It seems to be a double drive wheel (missing the drive band!)




The treadle isn't attached to the footman, but that is an easy fix (they had it wired together)




The flyer is held to the maidens with leather pieces. I can't get the bobbin off the flyer (I'm assuming it should come off!) and the bobbin spins "gummy"




The bobbin has a notch in the whorl and I'm not sure if that will affect the drve band postitioning 




There is a crack along the underside which doesn't seem to affect the stability/soundness of the wheel




The crack runs up the front to the Mother-of-all



There is one minor crack on the wheel



and part of the decoration is missing on the drive wheel support



There is a slight crack in the drive wheel support.  There is also a plugged hole.



another plugged hole in the base




This is what was in the hole to keep the wheel from coming off.   I don't think it is what was used originally and there is only one.




Andy saw me trying out the treadle and he went over, gave the wheel a spin and put his little foot on the treadle! 

 Can any spinners out there give me any more information about my wheel or how to figure the bobbin/flyer disassembly?   UPDATE:  I found out that the whorl screws on opposite of how we're used to, so I was able to get it off ☺ 

I'm a Spinner!

Okay, so I'm not very good (yet), but I managed to get some singles yarn!  It was a little more difficult since Andrew liked my spindle hanging and kept touching it, which would throw off the spin!  I have some lovely colored roving, but I wanted to start with white so that I didn't waste the color!  This is Coopworth wool which I found this information about:

Fiber characteristics: The wool is silky with a "high spiral-type" crimp, a bright luster, and pointed at the tips. Staples may be round or flat.

Average fleece weight: Fleece weights average 10-13 lbs.

Average fiber length: The staple length is 6-8 inches.

Micron diameter: 35-39 (coarse)



My hours' worth of yarn



close up of the yarn

Hand Dyed Yarn

With all this left over Easter egg dye, I couldn't just dump it!



I dug out a skein of white wool yarn and un-skeined it (is that a word?)




Tied it loosely




dipped each "corner" in one of the primary colors and microwaved for a minute, rested for about 5 minutes, and then microwaved another minute




primary colors done




dipped remaining white areas in the secondary colors




Isn't it beautiful??



Hung to dry

since I still had dye left, I did my last skein of white wool, too!

I don't know for sure what I'll use the yarn for since I hope that I don't have to make any more wool pants!

More Recycled Longies

Andy was outgrowing his wool longies and I found I had a few sweaters left over from William that I never used.



Before









After












This pair is made out of the body of the sweater and uses the neckline as the waistband.



















































This pair is made from the arms with elastic in the top.

















The two pairs don't look that different when he's wearing them!