Dear Masham,
I must confess I’m smitten. Sorry if that is a little strong after a first date, I promise the bunnies are safe.
I’ve not been long at this spinning game (6 months ish) and am still settling in with my wheel (6 weeks) but when these nice Ravelry people suggested you as this month’s fiber I had to dig the sample bag of you out of my stash. You looked so smooth and shiney in your bump, but the staple length, oh my. I’ve made good friends with merino, shetland, corriedale and oddly silk but with you I had no idea where to start. I knit lace, I knit socks but where would we find common ground? Was our first date to be one of awkward silences, stilted half started singles and a tangle of plying?
Luckily Beth Smith came to our rescue, introducing us and suggesting a good “first date venue”. Outfit chosen (wheel not spindle), date set (last night after a long day demo’ing spinning) and a suitable glass of wine poured and we were good to go. It was a jump into the unknown.
I was so worried about overspinning the singles that the first couple of grams kept drifting apart… not a good start. A quick re-read of Beth’s instructions though and I took my courage in my hands and started treddling faster. My wheel bless her is a slow old thing. I love her to bits but her 1:6.5 ratio makes for fun spinning lace. Two treddles for every 1.5-2” drafted short forwards draw though and we seemed to be getting on much better. Drafting was a dream though you still felt a little harsh on the bobbin to my untutored hands, but at least we were sticking together now. Then came the second course, plying. Ours was a short, get to know you type date so an Andean ply seemed the sensible way to go. Aside from me losing one end for about 10 mins it went swimmingly. A quick backply test, doused in suitably hot water to get a feel for what was needed and we were up and running.
All too soon your 44wpi singles were transformed into 40.6yds of 21wpi lace, set in a quick bath of warm Euclan water and dried lying across a rack in the airing cupboard. I hope you don’t mind but I took a quick picture.
Anyway I hope you had as much fun as me. Fancy a second date? I was thinking maybe from the fold or heading over to Wonderwool? Let me know what you think.
Yours still spinning,
K
I must confess I’m smitten. Sorry if that is a little strong after a first date, I promise the bunnies are safe.
I’ve not been long at this spinning game (6 months ish) and am still settling in with my wheel (6 weeks) but when these nice Ravelry people suggested you as this month’s fiber I had to dig the sample bag of you out of my stash. You looked so smooth and shiney in your bump, but the staple length, oh my. I’ve made good friends with merino, shetland, corriedale and oddly silk but with you I had no idea where to start. I knit lace, I knit socks but where would we find common ground? Was our first date to be one of awkward silences, stilted half started singles and a tangle of plying?
Luckily Beth Smith came to our rescue, introducing us and suggesting a good “first date venue”. Outfit chosen (wheel not spindle), date set (last night after a long day demo’ing spinning) and a suitable glass of wine poured and we were good to go. It was a jump into the unknown.
I was so worried about overspinning the singles that the first couple of grams kept drifting apart… not a good start. A quick re-read of Beth’s instructions though and I took my courage in my hands and started treddling faster. My wheel bless her is a slow old thing. I love her to bits but her 1:6.5 ratio makes for fun spinning lace. Two treddles for every 1.5-2” drafted short forwards draw though and we seemed to be getting on much better. Drafting was a dream though you still felt a little harsh on the bobbin to my untutored hands, but at least we were sticking together now. Then came the second course, plying. Ours was a short, get to know you type date so an Andean ply seemed the sensible way to go. Aside from me losing one end for about 10 mins it went swimmingly. A quick backply test, doused in suitably hot water to get a feel for what was needed and we were up and running.
All too soon your 44wpi singles were transformed into 40.6yds of 21wpi lace, set in a quick bath of warm Euclan water and dried lying across a rack in the airing cupboard. I hope you don’t mind but I took a quick picture.
Anyway I hope you had as much fun as me. Fancy a second date? I was thinking maybe from the fold or heading over to Wonderwool? Let me know what you think.
Yours still spinning,
K
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