Thank you all for joining me for today’s episode! Just a reminder that you can find all of the show links here: www.woolneedleshands.com/show-links/march5
Omgoodness you are kidding! As I’m sitting like every Sunday watch this, I was so excited for whomever the winner was and I see my name pop up! I’m speechless, and so excited! The funny thing is, every since you posted about the fisherman wool, I have stalked my Joann’s and they never have it. Sending you an email now. Thank you so much!!
I made my first aran sweater when I was 14. I'm 67 now. Back then, it was called a fisherman's sweater or Irish fisherman's knit sweater. I've been knitting since I was 7.
A couple of tips for spinning more consistently: pay attention to your staple length and aim to draft about half the total staple with each forward draw. As you get to the end of the staple, the fibers will naturally want to thin out, but if you keep to the middle of the staple, it's easier to maintain consistency. It also helps to strip the fiber down into thinner section and pre-draft a little to break up any areas that are wanting to stick together. As far as the over spinning, there could be a couple of things going on. First, don't be afraid to play with the tension on your brake band. You want to make sure you have enough take-up that yhe yarn is feeding smoothly onto the wheel without feeling like the yarn is going to be pulled our of your hands. Just make sure to use small adjustments. I have a Lendrum DT too, and even a tiny movement of the brake band peg can make a big difference. Second, if you find you are starting to get a curly-q, slow down or even stop your feet and give your hands a second to catch up. When you start out spinning with spindles, beginners use what's called the park and draft method, where you put some twist into the yarn, park the spindle under your arm, and draft out more fiber. Then you slide your hand up to let the twist in, and repeat the process. You can apply a similar practice at the wheel by slowing down your treadling when too much twist is building up in the yarn. As you build muscle memory, you'll be able to treadle more smoothly. Finally, twist wants to travel the path of least resistance. It will naturally build up in areas where the fibers are thinner, especially when you spin thick to thin. As you spin more consistent yarn, you'll find your twist evening out as well. I hope that all made sense. Good luck with your spinning! The more you spin, the easier it will get. Just keep at it!
This is really good advice! I agree that using the spinning wheel equivalent of park and draft would be helpful. Anytime you have too much twist (or a thick spot), stop treadling and draft to fix the issue. And remember that the twist likes to “escape” to the thin spots, so if your yarn is thick and thin, the thin sections will always have more twist. You are doing great!
To build a little more on what GizmoFox and AmberCS said (great advice), don't be afraid to take it slow and actually break off your fiber and reattach if you're noticing a thin spot. It may seem fussy, but it's all practice. Another thing to consider is fiber type. Merino can be a fairly challenging fiber for a beginner. Try out some different ones and see if there are others that you have better results with. I totally jumped into the gorgeous braids of merino when I first started about 10 years ago, and it was difficult, but there's so much variety of fiber out there. BFL, Targhee, Cheviot, Corriedale might be some good and relatively accessible ones to try out. I had a good experience with Polwarth early on, but not everyone would agree with that recommendation. Paradise Fibers usually has a decent variety at reasonable prices; they also have a monthly fiber club that can be fun. Also look for local dyers or shepherds. Spinning "advents" can also be a great way to get introduced to new fibers. They're usually a small amount of fiber per day for a few days. I did the Valentine one from Nest Fiber Studio and it was a lot of fun. When you are first starting out, try to stay away from luxury and superwash fibers. Silk is slippery and requires a TON of twist to hold together. The superwash process removes the scales from wool so it can also be slippery. There is so much to learn in spinning. Enjoy the journey!
@@Andracrafts I am a brand new spinner (about 6 weeks in) and had the same experience. I jumped in to a gorgeous braid and it was a real challenge. I then went to woolery and got a pound of their practice fiber and another pound of BFL from etsy and it has been a WORLD of difference. I went from fighting the fiber to getting a vague sense of what the goal is and feel better with my practice spin sessions now.
Also i should have added: plying will help! It will help even out the thick and thin, it will help stabilize the twist thats in your yarn. When you ply (in the opposite direction that you spun the single) it will balance the twist. It might not be perfect but it helps make "new spinner" yarn useable.
Hi Tayler. School of Sweet Georgia (Felica Lo Wong). $30 a month and watch the entire spinning course (several videos). Cancel anytime. I learned what I needed within the month. You can also watch any of the other fiber art’s videos. There are people to answer your questions and chat threads. I learned so much about spinning there. Your sweater looks great. Good job.
Tie the skein in a couple of places. (don't twist it up - it should hang loose. Put it to soak in warm water and a little SOak, as you would with a knitted garment. After it is saturated, carefully lift them out. holding it at the top squeeze the extra water by squeezing with one hand all the way down (squeeze and release, don't run your hand down the hank. Finish by squeezing it in a towel. Hang it from a hook or a coat hanger. Use a spray bottle that is not too heavy, and use the squeeze top to hang it on to put a little tension on the yarn and let it dry. This will relax the yarn and allow the twist to even out to some extent. As youŕe spinning, check your tension. If there is not enough tension the yarn can be under spun If there is too much tension it will put too much twist in the yarn. The Ashford company has a series of great beginning spinning videos on its website. YOU have improved a lot on your second skein! It takes time to train your hands!
I find it's a lot easier to follow complicated stitch patterns if I color code them. I print out the charts and each specialty stitch gets a color. Once you do it a few times, the color becomes a visual cue to what you are doing. I hope this helps.
I had so much to say but got distracted when I heard my name 😂 I downloaded the Honeycomb Aran pattern. I’m new to cables but instantly fell in love with them. Praying the pieces part don’t intimidate me. Your spinning has improved quickly, awesome job! I am trying to teach myself how to use the drop spindle. We are not getting along at the moment so she’s in timeout 😂 Congratulations on finishing your Frankensweater! You rocked it!
Yay!!!! Markie! Congratulations! I'm so glad you commented right away. I can't wait to get this out to you. You're going to love this project bag (and the yarn is pretty amazing too). And thank you so much for your kind words about the Frankensweater and my skein of handspun. I'm loving the sweater and this new skein is encouraging for sure. I commend you for trying the drop spindle. My relationship with my spindle is tenuous at best...don't know if I'll be revisiting that any time soon. However I love seeing what others are creating with them! I saw your email, so I'll be in touch VERY soon. ❤️
My drop spindle has recently come out to play - been in storage for a couple years 😅 I finally finished the fibre I had been spinning for 5 years (it ended up in 6 hanks I think). I started with cotton balls, and doing lots of park and draft. Get some spin in the leader, park between my legs, draft up, add more twist, continue. The part I found hardest was keeping tension on my yarn while winding it on!
Congrats on your first aran. A tip which might help. If you use running thread markers to divide your panels and flip them on each cable row you will be able to read your work more easily. Also you don't then need to move all your markers every row, so it saves time. Thus helps particularly where cables have differently spaced intervals, which happens with aran.
Those singles are totally pliable, not sure the pictures of my weaving came through on email but they were in consistent and i plied them and it turned them into fab yarn for weaving. You are doing brilliantly. Love your sweater, enjoy your break
That Frankensweater is freaking gorgeous!!! Love the fact that it’s knit in affordable lion brand wool too! It rivals ANY bougie expensive wool yarn and I don’t know why but I just love that. I have all the appreciation for said bougie yarn, and dye and knit with the stuff, but like I said am still drawn to the appeal of a great less expensive option offered by brands like Lion and hobbii. Am currently knitting with lion brand Re-tweed and really liking it! Thanks for this fantastic episode, wrote a spinning friend and told her about those fantastic covers!!!
One thing about spinning fiber, I tried very hard to do thin, perfectly balanced yarn. The problem I found out was the lumpy bumpy yarn is more designer yarn. When I plied my lumpy bumpy yarn, it seemed to balance itself out. I did make some amazing socks too!
Hello from Michigan! Just wanted to compliment your Beautiful "Franken" sweater! I Love the natural colors of the yarn and the collar. What an exciting feeling you must have felt with putting it on for this video. Congratulations!
Jeanine A knitter I know joins a strand of strong cotton sewing thread with her sock yarn when knitting the heel and toe of her socks. She says it adds strength and extra comfort. It can also change the color of the heel and toe if you add a contrasting color of thread, which adds an interesting touch. Edited to change silk thread to cotton thread, which is the type of thread that knitter uses, and to clarify that the knitter only joins the thread with the yarn for the heel and toe.
Hi Taylor, I’m also a beginning spinner and my advice as a newbie is to first check your staple length, and note what it is. then practice counting your treadles in between drafts. Treadle, Treadle, Treadle, Draft, Treadle, Treadle Treadle Draft. So once you have a rhythm and have a bit of yarn, check the twist and adjust how much/fast you treadle. Now focus on being consistent with that rhythm of treading and drafting not beyond your staple length so you get the twist you want with this particular spin. Don’t worry about anything else. Just focus on this one thing. Check your twist regularly because its easy to start treadling faster without knowing and then you get too much twist and you get the curlies. Hope this makes sense. Looking forward to seeing what you create!😊
I'm a beginning spinner too and I totally agree with Irma. It helped me so much to "count" treadles and drafts to spin more consistently and to get an understanding for the rhythm of foot and hands :) This changed so much for me. Plying those singles evens out a lot of inconsistencies. I was so happy when I plyed my first singles. Before they looked very inconsistent but after plying so much better. I was very pleased with my results after plying, so my advice from newbie to newbie is to give this a try, if you're aiming for those beautiful balanced yarns too :) Your yarn looks beautiful and those fibers are very pretty 🥰
Not sure if someone has addressed this in the comments already but... Corkscrews are a result of over twisting. I think the best way to address them as a beginner is when you notice them (before they are on the bobbin) stop treadling, and draft out some more fiber. Let all that extra twist move up into the freshly drafted fiber. When the yarn no longer has the corkscrews continue spinning like normal. If your yarn is totally full of corkscrews consistently you will need to adjust your drafting speed or treadling speed. Treadle slower or draft faster. If you are plying and you notice some corkscrews you can use one hand to hold the twist where you are plying, with your other hand use your fingers to move some of the twist in your corkscrewed single away from the plyed bit, towards your body, just until the corkscrew undoes itself, then let the twist from your ply move back through where the corkscrew was. Ultimately you will still have extra twist in your yarn but it helps to move some of that so you dont have those little corkscrews plyed around another single. As you gain experience you will find a balance between treadling and drafting speed and end up with much fewer corkscrews. Another contributing factor might be where you have large slubs of fiber, its easier for the twist to sit in the thinner parts of yarn and corkscrew instead of the twist moving up through the slub. But again as your drafting improves that will happen less.
Go down a size. That's just genius! I had this problem with my WIP sweater, and I just redid the whole math. I don't do math. Thank you for saving me from just giving up doing other sweaters!
😂I'm feeling a bit of PTSD listening to your woes about setting up the cable patterns. I literally had to do the setup row for the front AND back panel 3 times each to get it right. But don't worry, the cables become quite easy to follow and remember and you can just look below to remember which way to cable each section. Lovely color!
Your Frankensweater is lovely! The collar design is quite clever and all yours. You should be proud of yourself. We're glad to be here to support & cheer you on!
Your Frankensweater is so lovely! The sleeves are fitted but not too tight, the length is perfect, the decreases in the body are attractive, and that neckline is EVERYTHING! ❤️ Brava.
Ply the singles anyways and see what happens (as long as they fit through the orifice, at least). Many of my singles are overspun when I spin them up, but when I ply (spin them together in the opposite direction), that helps calm down the twist in the singles. And then finishing the yarn usually takes care of any remaining excess twist. I also suggest trying a fiber other than merino when you're still learning -- maybe a Corriedale or BFL instead. At least for me, merino is a pain to draft and I got much better when I switched to another fiber. Rambouillet is kind of merino soft but I find it drafts easier, if you want to stay in the merino-ish realm.
Thank you Sarah! I think I will definitely try plying these singles (the one I have on the bobbin and the new skein). Based on several comments here, I'm realizing that this is a great way to sort things out a bit and I just never considered that. As for the Merino, you're absolutely right. It is trickier to draft. My first skein was from a BFL batt and I loved spinning with it and I just purchased a couple of different BFL rolags to try which I'm excited about. Thank you so much for these suggestions! ❤️
My aha moment in spinning was learning to pre-draft the fibre. I just tease the braid open, after perhaps splitting it, and give it little tugs down the length (tugging just a little father apart than your staple length) to extend and open it up. It makes the drafting when spinning so much smoother and consistent. An extra step but totally worth the time.
Hoy, oh boy, the frankestain sweater looks amazing. It looks confusing and warm….congrats. You will have no problem with the cable sweater….love to wAtch you. Thank you.
Hi Tayler. Love the collar on that jumper. It is exactly the style I like. Can’t wait till you pop this pattern out. I also wanted to say that watching you persevere with Frankie (I nearly died when you said you cut it off!) has inspired me with a string bag I am working on. The pattern is not quite right so I am on my own fourth version/design. Normally I would just finish as per pattern and then never use it but seeing you overcome your struggles has inspired me to keep going. 😊
Hi! I just started knitting again after years in pause. And I’m so glad I found your channel! You are such an inspiring and genuine person! As for your Aran sweater, don’t overthink the thing. You can totally do it! My very first sweater, when I was a teenager was a cable sweater worked in pieces. The advantadge I had was the overconfidence of a teenager! But really, if you mess up, it shows real quick, so just examine your work after every front row. And the cardigan you are wearing is sooo nice!
Your most recent spun yarn (new hampshire) makes me think of a firepit, with sparks floating into the dark night. So you should probably make some firepit mitts out of it! 😊
I think that plying would help your over-spun singles because you ply in the opposite direction. So I think you should definitely save those singles for when you're ready to try plying!
I've been spinning for several years. It's not my primary craft, so I am not very good at it, but I have learned a lot. First, ply the yarn. When you ply thick and thin yarn, the thick and thin areas tend to even themselves out somewhat. It will look better to you plied than in singles. Second, borrow or buy a copy of the book Yarnitecture: by Jillian Moreno. She explains things in there that will help you understand what happens to the fibers when you spin and ply them. It answered so many of my questions. I am looking forward to seeing more spun yarn! Congratulations on 35K subscribers. That is quite the milestone.
Hoping to help with my input on your spinning questions. Overtwisting - this will stop the more you practice but for now I'd suggest that if you notice it just as you've done it, stop your wheel and draft behind the pigtail it creates and let the extra twist into that section, do this until the pigtail eases. Stopping the wheel just means your not adding any more twist while you're dealing with that!! Undertwisting - is harder to help with, it's just a thing you need to learn what it looks like so you can allow more twist into the single before you let it on the bobbin. If you find a treadle speed and drafting rhythm that works, just by doing ply back tests (pulling your single from the bobbin and letting it twist on itself). You'll know if you need to be letting more twist in before you let it on if you keep checking this. If it struggles to twist back on itself, you need more twist. If it is really tight then you need less twist. Hope this makes some kind of sense, it's hard to explain without showing. Please ply your yarn, some of the extra twist in your singles will be removed when you ply because you ply in the opposite direction, which removes singles twist. A balanced singles is SO HARD.
I just love your spinning! Such progress from 1st skein to 2nd. Let me suggest that you divide some fiber in half, spin it onto 2 bobbins, and just ply it up. Then, WASH it , much as you block a sweater it makes an enormous difference in evening out the twist. Hang it dry with no weight at all. I bet you’ll like the results. Spinning for socks is a fabulous goal. One day you’ll spin for a sweater.🥰
All the questions you ask about your spinning are good ones, but I think your spinning is progressing beautifully. Trust yourself and practice, practice, practice. The over and under twisting will disappear as your experience increases. A good soak and those skeins will even out a bit. Lovely first skeins!!
Girl, I know you don't know me, but I am soooooooooooooooo proud of you for finishing Frankensweater. You may have gone through some things along the way lol, but from what I see, it was more than worth it. It's amazing. Thank you for letting us be a part of the journey.
For over spinning you can move your drive band to your biggest whorl or even switch to a jumbo flyer if you have one. If it isn’t plied that could be the reason. Singles have lot of energy but when you spin the opposite direction when plying you lose some twist. If you feel like you under-twisted a single just spin it onto another bobbin while adding more twist. Your yarn looks beautiful!
I’ve been wheel spinning for almost two years, so while I’m not an expert, I have some yardage under my belt. My biggest advice would probably be to treadle slower. If you’re getting the curlies, you’re probably getting too much twist built into your yarn before it goes onto the bobbin, and you’re probably drafting too slowly for your treadling speed (since treadling is the easy part to learn the mechanics of.) So slow down your treadling until you get used to drafting consistently. For undertwisted singles, treadle faster or draft slower. Also if you’re getting overplied yarn, make sure you’re plying in the opposite direction you’re spinning. If needed, you can run the yarn back through the wheel to fix your ply (same direction you plied in if underplied and opposite direction you plied in if overplied.) Since you said you’re not plying, practice plying. You’d be surprised at how much more consistent your yarn looks when it’s plied, since often the thin parts will match up with a thick part. Some of the overtwisting will come out in plying too, because you’re plying in the opposite direction (singles are often over twisted anyway because you need a lot of twist so that your yarn still has stability when you ply. If you want to spin for socks, there’s a technique called cable plying that makes sturdy yarn good for socks, but you have to have a very high twist single to do it properly.) I kept editing this comment as you asked questions. Hope it helps!
It looks like you have a number of viewers that spin. What a great resource. In case you have not seen it you might try watching Stitches and Starlight. Tashi does Q&A episodes and notes additional resources. She is fun to watch and knits with yarn she spins. The Franken sweater looks so cute and cozy!
The thinner parts get more of the twist so that's why you are getting the pig tails. When you get more consistent, then the twist will match throughout.
Hi, Tayler! Great job on the Frankensweater!! I also have an affinity for Lion’s Brand Fisherman’s wool and my tip for you is to wait for one of those insane sales from Michael’s or JoAnn’s and buy a boatload of the neutral and then custom dye it! I have 2 skeins I just dyed in olive to make a project. If I can get skeins for less than $10, I feel like I am beating the cost odds. Great work on the cables, as well. I like a U shaped cable hook. It just seems more secure. Lastly, you can add a strand of mohair/silk, or lace weight silk with your single sock yarn to give it more strength. I knit single socks for myself, but my husband only gets Paton’s (btw, it is pronounced with a long ā, like Payton’s) Croy because he is so tough on them. Lastly, I am just finishing the book Unraveled, by Peggy Orenstein about how, during the pandemic, she sheared, prepped, dyed a fleece and knit, as she called it, The World’s Ugliest Sweater. As she was learning to spin, her instructor told her to hang on to hang onto those first thick and thin skeins because after she got good, it would be very difficult to replicate them and they would be coveted as Art Yarn! So you have created Art!! Thanks so much for your wonderful podcast, it brings me so much joy! And after visiting Las Vegas last week and getting snowed on, I see why you need the woolens!
One of the first things we learned in my beginners spinning class was to practice treadling without fiber and practice treadling very very slowly and stopping and starting smoothly. We have a tendency to treadle too fast. This can over twist yarn too quickly. If you can treadle slowly you can take a few minutes to adjust the tension the twist the speed, etc. and really get in the flow you will find your twist being more even. Just go slowly. I think once you get better at spinning in general you can speed spin to get the yarn finished faster but until it becomes second nature you have to go really slowly (which is hard)!
Your Frankensweater is lovely! It looks so comfy. For spinning have you thought about signing up for online classes at School of Sweet Georgia? It’s totally worth it to watch the beginning spinning classes.
plying will actually help with the overtwist in your single, because you're plying with an opposite twist that you spun your singles, the singles lose twist as they are plied and the twist will balance out. just whatever you do, don't try to correct overspun yarn by hanging with a weight, that just hides the overtwist and it will come back as soon as the yarn gets wet again, which you really don't want to happen after you have already knit something with it
Your sweater talk was interesting. I began knitting sweaters in pieces, and I jumped into cable work from the start because all the many types of cables intrigued me. Only now am I learning how to make top-down raglan sweaters 😄 Although I'm totally embracing the joy of not having to seam pieces together or deal with weaving in multiple ends, this method has been more daunting and seems more challenging than my entree into sweater making the other way. But I'm getting there! Thank you for sharing so much specific info as you process through your knits. Love your Frankensweater results.
I have a really good hack for cables. In the inbetween cable section usually purl or seed put a waste yarn to count rows. Look at this method Counting rows with waste yarn by Susan Rainey(skip first half) you will not make a mistake and cross on the wrong row.
Oohhh! I know this one! Ashoka’s “tendrils” are called “lekku,” assuming you mean the ones that hang down. The horn-like appendages on top are “montrals.” Love the video, btw. I’m working on my first cable project, too, though mine is not quite so ambitious.
Oh and plying fixes a world of issues. Because you go opposite directions. That fixes a lot of the coils. Then after you fly and you set it by soaking that helps a lot too. If you ply you will see it even a lot.
I love the way your sweater turned out- it's exactly what I would like in a sweater!!! I hope you put together notes on your design in an upcoming newsletter. I enjoy your UA-cam videos and try not to miss a single one! Thank you!
For Beginner Spinners: Find the length of the fibers in the roving you are working with before you start by pulling on the end of the roving fibers with both hands; if you can't pull any off the end, give it a longer space between hands until it pulls apart. This will give you an idea of the length of fibers that you are working with to get a correct draft. You have to know how long the fibers are, as this will affect your draft. Shorter fibers will have a shorter draft. Long fibers will have a longer draft. To improve your spinning, slow down your wheel. If you can adjust the speed slower, do it. Since you have double treadles, you can have more control on how slowly you treadle. Draft the fiber by hand to make it smaller before you begin. Make sure you don't have too much roving fiber in your hands for the size yarn you want to spin. Begin Spinning: Let the fibers grab hold of the yarn on the bobbin of the wheel. Let the spin go up the fibers, maybe an inch or so. Then pinch the twist with your left hand to stop the spin from going further up, and then draft (pull) the fibers away from the wheel with your right hand until it looks like the right amount for the size yarn you want. Then release the left hand and let the spin enter into your drafted fibers. Then bring your left hand to where the twist has stopped near your right hand. If the spin goes further up the roving than you want, use your left hand to pinch it again and twist it backwards between your thumb and finger just to take the twist out so you can begin another draft of the correct amount of fibers. This will become easier as you practice, until it is easy and automatic. Good Luck!! Practice! 😜🙂🙃😉😊😃🤩 Progress! Let me know if this was helpful or if you have any questions.
@@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS I think I should add that stopping your wheel to give you time to work out any problem is fine and good. You are the spinner! You choose. Two treadles make it easy to control the wheel, but a single treadle is not a problem. Just stop the wheel with your right hand, then start it with your right hand when the treadle is not in a good position to get going. Eventually you will be able to spin with little stopping. Yay! 😄
The spirals are overtwisted and it has a lot to do with drafting. The twist is going to move toward the thinner areas and away from the thicker areas. Try treadling slower/changing your whorl if you can and adjusting your tension and that will let you control the twist better. Pre drafting can be helpful but be careful with it. It’s a useful tool but it has a tendency to become a crutch for a lot of spinners. Also! Finishing the skein can really help. Either ply or thwacking. To thwack tie the skein in several places and put it in lukewarm water then grab by one end and smack the other end against a table top or something similar. It causes the fibers to felt together a little bit and moves the twist to be more even. Then leave it to dry. The strands might felt together slightly but a light tug should brake them free again
My FAV vlog. It’s so helpful and, you’re so sincere, funny! I am JUST retired so have time to watch vlogs now. Get chores done in the a.m. versus the weekend. LOL SO going to knit your GORGEOUS FRANKENSWEATER version and let’s just review your ahhhmazing show notes QR code. Awesome!!! Thank you for taking time to update us and share your learning. Means a lot!!
Ply! Those are plyable singles. If you wish to keep them as singles, shock the fiber for a bit of fulling and they will hold the twist. Rest your single for 12-24 hours before plying. Spin Z twist, ply S twist. Direction of wheel goes in the direction of the central line of Z and S. Coils- stop treadling. Park and draft more- then begin treadling again. Chunky bits- park again and double draft. Get the book intentional spinner- look at Craftsy and watch the spinning classes. Basics and beyond basics. Be proud of your beginner yarn, you will try to make this look in the future and fail.
Thank you all for joining me for today’s episode! Just a reminder that you can find all of the show links here:
www.woolneedleshands.com/show-links/march5
Omgoodness you are kidding! As I’m sitting like every Sunday watch this, I was so excited for whomever the winner was and I see my name pop up! I’m speechless, and so excited! The funny thing is, every since you posted about the fisherman wool, I have stalked my Joann’s and they never have it. Sending you an email now. Thank you so much!!
congratulations on the win!!
Congrats! Enjoy the sendoff
Congratulations, Markie! Enjoy that beautiful bag of goodness!
Yay, Markie! I’m so happy for you🥳
Congratulations Markie 🎉
I made my first aran sweater when I was 14. I'm 67 now. Back then, it was called a fisherman's sweater or Irish fisherman's knit sweater. I've been knitting since I was 7.
Kindred spirit. I’m 62 and have been knitting since I was 4.
OMG - the collar is sooo Audrey Hepburn. Please, please, please write a pattern for the rest of us! Love your podcasts
Audrey H. for sure...
Want one too!!!
A couple of tips for spinning more consistently: pay attention to your staple length and aim to draft about half the total staple with each forward draw. As you get to the end of the staple, the fibers will naturally want to thin out, but if you keep to the middle of the staple, it's easier to maintain consistency. It also helps to strip the fiber down into thinner section and pre-draft a little to break up any areas that are wanting to stick together.
As far as the over spinning, there could be a couple of things going on. First, don't be afraid to play with the tension on your brake band. You want to make sure you have enough take-up that yhe yarn is feeding smoothly onto the wheel without feeling like the yarn is going to be pulled our of your hands. Just make sure to use small adjustments. I have a Lendrum DT too, and even a tiny movement of the brake band peg can make a big difference. Second, if you find you are starting to get a curly-q, slow down or even stop your feet and give your hands a second to catch up. When you start out spinning with spindles, beginners use what's called the park and draft method, where you put some twist into the yarn, park the spindle under your arm, and draft out more fiber. Then you slide your hand up to let the twist in, and repeat the process. You can apply a similar practice at the wheel by slowing down your treadling when too much twist is building up in the yarn. As you build muscle memory, you'll be able to treadle more smoothly. Finally, twist wants to travel the path of least resistance. It will naturally build up in areas where the fibers are thinner, especially when you spin thick to thin. As you spin more consistent yarn, you'll find your twist evening out as well.
I hope that all made sense. Good luck with your spinning! The more you spin, the easier it will get. Just keep at it!
This is really good advice! I agree that using the spinning wheel equivalent of park and draft would be helpful. Anytime you have too much twist (or a thick spot), stop treadling and draft to fix the issue. And remember that the twist likes to “escape” to the thin spots, so if your yarn is thick and thin, the thin sections will always have more twist. You are doing great!
To build a little more on what GizmoFox and AmberCS said (great advice), don't be afraid to take it slow and actually break off your fiber and reattach if you're noticing a thin spot. It may seem fussy, but it's all practice. Another thing to consider is fiber type. Merino can be a fairly challenging fiber for a beginner. Try out some different ones and see if there are others that you have better results with. I totally jumped into the gorgeous braids of merino when I first started about 10 years ago, and it was difficult, but there's so much variety of fiber out there. BFL, Targhee, Cheviot, Corriedale might be some good and relatively accessible ones to try out. I had a good experience with Polwarth early on, but not everyone would agree with that recommendation. Paradise Fibers usually has a decent variety at reasonable prices; they also have a monthly fiber club that can be fun. Also look for local dyers or shepherds. Spinning "advents" can also be a great way to get introduced to new fibers. They're usually a small amount of fiber per day for a few days. I did the Valentine one from Nest Fiber Studio and it was a lot of fun. When you are first starting out, try to stay away from luxury and superwash fibers. Silk is slippery and requires a TON of twist to hold together. The superwash process removes the scales from wool so it can also be slippery. There is so much to learn in spinning. Enjoy the journey!
@@Andracrafts I am a brand new spinner (about 6 weeks in) and had the same experience. I jumped in to a gorgeous braid and it was a real challenge. I then went to woolery and got a pound of their practice fiber and another pound of BFL from etsy and it has been a WORLD of difference. I went from fighting the fiber to getting a vague sense of what the goal is and feel better with my practice spin sessions now.
Also i should have added: plying will help! It will help even out the thick and thin, it will help stabilize the twist thats in your yarn. When you ply (in the opposite direction that you spun the single) it will balance the twist. It might not be perfect but it helps make "new spinner" yarn useable.
Hi Tayler. School of Sweet Georgia (Felica Lo Wong). $30 a month and watch the entire spinning course (several videos). Cancel anytime. I learned what I needed within the month. You can also watch any of the other fiber art’s videos. There are people to answer your questions and chat threads. I learned so much about spinning there. Your sweater looks great. Good job.
Tie the skein in a couple of places. (don't twist it up - it should hang loose. Put it to soak in warm water and a little SOak, as you would with a knitted garment. After it is saturated, carefully lift them out. holding it at the top squeeze the extra water by squeezing with one hand all the way down (squeeze and release, don't run your hand down the hank. Finish by squeezing it in a towel. Hang it from a hook or a coat hanger. Use a spray bottle that is not too heavy, and use the squeeze top to hang it on to put a little tension on the yarn and let it dry. This will relax the yarn and allow the twist to even out to some extent. As youŕe spinning, check your tension. If there is not enough tension the yarn can be under spun If there is too much tension it will put too much twist in the yarn. The Ashford company has a series of great beginning spinning videos on its website. YOU have improved a lot on your second skein! It takes time to train your hands!
I find it's a lot easier to follow complicated stitch patterns if I color code them. I print out the charts and each specialty stitch gets a color. Once you do it a few times, the color becomes a visual cue to what you are doing. I hope this helps.
Yes! I love the idea of color coding. Thank you Diana!
I had so much to say but got distracted when I heard my name 😂
I downloaded the Honeycomb Aran pattern. I’m new to cables but instantly fell in love with them. Praying the pieces part don’t intimidate me.
Your spinning has improved quickly, awesome job! I am trying to teach myself how to use the drop spindle. We are not getting along at the moment so she’s in timeout 😂
Congratulations on finishing your Frankensweater! You rocked it!
Congratulations, Markie!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Yay!!!! Markie! Congratulations! I'm so glad you commented right away. I can't wait to get this out to you. You're going to love this project bag (and the yarn is pretty amazing too). And thank you so much for your kind words about the Frankensweater and my skein of handspun. I'm loving the sweater and this new skein is encouraging for sure. I commend you for trying the drop spindle. My relationship with my spindle is tenuous at best...don't know if I'll be revisiting that any time soon. However I love seeing what others are creating with them! I saw your email, so I'll be in touch VERY soon. ❤️
Congrats on winning!!! My drop spindle has also been in timeout.
My drop spindle has recently come out to play - been in storage for a couple years 😅 I finally finished the fibre I had been spinning for 5 years (it ended up in 6 hanks I think). I started with cotton balls, and doing lots of park and draft. Get some spin in the leader, park between my legs, draft up, add more twist, continue. The part I found hardest was keeping tension on my yarn while winding it on!
Congrats on your first aran. A tip which might help. If you use running thread markers to divide your panels and flip them on each cable row you will be able to read your work more easily. Also you don't then need to move all your markers every row, so it saves time.
Thus helps particularly where cables have differently spaced intervals, which happens with aran.
What a beautiful Frankin-Sweater! 😊 love this podcast!
Constant Comment is one of favorites, reminds me of my grandma sweet memories.
It's such a gentle blend of spice and woodiness. I just love it. And it's so nice when you have a tea that reminds you of a special person. ❤️
Your Franklin Sweater look so cozy. Very beautiful sweater
Those singles are totally pliable, not sure the pictures of my weaving came through on email but they were in consistent and i plied them and it turned them into fab yarn for weaving. You are doing brilliantly. Love your sweater, enjoy your break
That Frankensweater is freaking gorgeous!!! Love the fact that it’s knit in affordable lion brand wool too! It rivals ANY bougie expensive wool yarn and I don’t know why but I just love that. I have all the appreciation for said bougie yarn, and dye and knit with the stuff, but like I said am still drawn to the appeal of a great less expensive option offered by brands like Lion and hobbii. Am currently knitting with lion brand Re-tweed and really liking it! Thanks for this fantastic episode, wrote a spinning friend and told her about those fantastic covers!!!
Love the Frankensweater! Congrats Markie!
One thing about spinning fiber, I tried very hard to do thin, perfectly balanced yarn. The problem I found out was the lumpy bumpy yarn is more designer yarn. When I plied my lumpy bumpy yarn, it seemed to balance itself out. I did make some amazing socks too!
Hello from Michigan! Just wanted to compliment your Beautiful "Franken" sweater! I Love the natural colors of the yarn and the collar. What an exciting feeling you must have felt with putting it on for this video. Congratulations!
Why not add a thread of silk/mohair on the feet of the socks? I do that a lot from the heel down as it makes for a warmer sock and a stronger fabric.
Jeanine
A knitter I know joins a strand of strong cotton sewing thread with her sock yarn when knitting the heel and toe of her socks. She says it adds strength and extra comfort. It can also change the color of the heel and toe if you add a contrasting color of thread, which adds an interesting touch.
Edited to change silk thread to cotton thread, which is the type of thread that knitter uses, and to clarify that the knitter only joins the thread with the yarn for the heel and toe.
@@vivianpowell1732 Oh another good idea!! Had not though of that - thanks
Hi Taylor, I’m also a beginning spinner and my advice as a newbie is to first check your staple length, and note what it is. then practice counting your treadles in between drafts. Treadle, Treadle, Treadle, Draft, Treadle, Treadle Treadle Draft. So once you have a rhythm and have a bit of yarn, check the twist and adjust how much/fast you treadle. Now focus on being consistent with that rhythm of treading and drafting not beyond your staple length so you get the twist you want with this particular spin. Don’t worry about anything else. Just focus on this one thing. Check your twist regularly because its easy to start treadling faster without knowing and then you get too much twist and you get the curlies. Hope this makes sense. Looking forward to seeing what you create!😊
I'm a beginning spinner too and I totally agree with Irma. It helped me so much to "count" treadles and drafts to spin more consistently and to get an understanding for the rhythm of foot and hands :) This changed so much for me.
Plying those singles evens out a lot of inconsistencies. I was so happy when I plyed my first singles. Before they looked very inconsistent but after plying so much better. I was very pleased with my results after plying, so my advice from newbie to newbie is to give this a try, if you're aiming for those beautiful balanced yarns too :)
Your yarn looks beautiful and those fibers are very pretty 🥰
Not sure if someone has addressed this in the comments already but...
Corkscrews are a result of over twisting. I think the best way to address them as a beginner is when you notice them (before they are on the bobbin) stop treadling, and draft out some more fiber. Let all that extra twist move up into the freshly drafted fiber. When the yarn no longer has the corkscrews continue spinning like normal.
If your yarn is totally full of corkscrews consistently you will need to adjust your drafting speed or treadling speed. Treadle slower or draft faster.
If you are plying and you notice some corkscrews you can use one hand to hold the twist where you are plying, with your other hand use your fingers to move some of the twist in your corkscrewed single away from the plyed bit, towards your body, just until the corkscrew undoes itself, then let the twist from your ply move back through where the corkscrew was. Ultimately you will still have extra twist in your yarn but it helps to move some of that so you dont have those little corkscrews plyed around another single.
As you gain experience you will find a balance between treadling and drafting speed and end up with much fewer corkscrews.
Another contributing factor might be where you have large slubs of fiber, its easier for the twist to sit in the thinner parts of yarn and corkscrew instead of the twist moving up through the slub. But again as your drafting improves that will happen less.
Go down a size. That's just genius!
I had this problem with my WIP sweater, and I just redid the whole math. I don't do math.
Thank you for saving me from just giving up doing other sweaters!
Your Frankensweater is beautiful. I love the collar.
😂I'm feeling a bit of PTSD listening to your woes about setting up the cable patterns. I literally had to do the setup row for the front AND back panel 3 times each to get it right. But don't worry, the cables become quite easy to follow and remember and you can just look below to remember which way to cable each section. Lovely color!
Your Frankensweater is lovely! The collar design is quite clever and all yours. You should be proud of yourself. We're glad to be here to support & cheer you on!
Your Frankensweater is so lovely! The sleeves are fitted but not too tight, the length is perfect, the decreases in the body are attractive, and that neckline is EVERYTHING! ❤️ Brava.
Ply the singles anyways and see what happens (as long as they fit through the orifice, at least). Many of my singles are overspun when I spin them up, but when I ply (spin them together in the opposite direction), that helps calm down the twist in the singles. And then finishing the yarn usually takes care of any remaining excess twist. I also suggest trying a fiber other than merino when you're still learning -- maybe a Corriedale or BFL instead. At least for me, merino is a pain to draft and I got much better when I switched to another fiber. Rambouillet is kind of merino soft but I find it drafts easier, if you want to stay in the merino-ish realm.
Thank you Sarah! I think I will definitely try plying these singles (the one I have on the bobbin and the new skein). Based on several comments here, I'm realizing that this is a great way to sort things out a bit and I just never considered that.
As for the Merino, you're absolutely right. It is trickier to draft. My first skein was from a BFL batt and I loved spinning with it and I just purchased a couple of different BFL rolags to try which I'm excited about. Thank you so much for these suggestions! ❤️
My aha moment in spinning was learning to pre-draft the fibre. I just tease the braid open, after perhaps splitting it, and give it little tugs down the length (tugging just a little father apart than your staple length) to extend and open it up. It makes the drafting when spinning so much smoother and consistent. An extra step but totally worth the time.
Hoy, oh boy, the frankestain sweater looks amazing. It looks confusing and warm….congrats. You will have no problem with the cable sweater….love to wAtch you. Thank you.
I would get those twirls when I ply. Having a tension lazy kate was a game changer for playing.
So excited "its alive"....👍👍👏👏🎶🎵🎵 Will wait patiently for the pattern , looks so cozy & comfy .
Hi Tayler. Love the collar on that jumper. It is exactly the style I like. Can’t wait till you pop this pattern out. I also wanted to say that watching you persevere with Frankie (I nearly died when you said you cut it off!) has inspired me with a string bag I am working on. The pattern is not quite right so I am on my own fourth version/design. Normally I would just finish as per pattern and then never use it but seeing you overcome your struggles has inspired me to keep going. 😊
Hi! I just started knitting again after years in pause. And I’m so glad I found your channel! You are such an inspiring and genuine person! As for your Aran sweater, don’t overthink the thing. You can totally do it! My very first sweater, when I was a teenager was a cable sweater worked in pieces. The advantadge I had was the overconfidence of a teenager! But really, if you mess up, it shows real quick, so just examine your work after every front row. And the cardigan you are wearing is sooo nice!
Oops! I see this is a very old podcast, so your Aran sweater is certainly long finished!
Your most recent spun yarn (new hampshire) makes me think of a firepit, with sparks floating into the dark night. So you should probably make some firepit mitts out of it! 😊
I think that plying would help your over-spun singles because you ply in the opposite direction. So I think you should definitely save those singles for when you're ready to try plying!
I've been spinning for several years. It's not my primary craft, so I am not very good at it, but I have learned a lot. First, ply the yarn. When you ply thick and thin yarn, the thick and thin areas tend to even themselves out somewhat. It will look better to you plied than in singles. Second, borrow or buy a copy of the book Yarnitecture: by Jillian Moreno. She explains things in there that will help you understand what happens to the fibers when you spin and ply them. It answered so many of my questions. I am looking forward to seeing more spun yarn! Congratulations on 35K subscribers. That is quite the milestone.
Hoping to help with my input on your spinning questions.
Overtwisting - this will stop the more you practice but for now I'd suggest that if you notice it just as you've done it, stop your wheel and draft behind the pigtail it creates and let the extra twist into that section, do this until the pigtail eases. Stopping the wheel just means your not adding any more twist while you're dealing with that!!
Undertwisting - is harder to help with, it's just a thing you need to learn what it looks like so you can allow more twist into the single before you let it on the bobbin. If you find a treadle speed and drafting rhythm that works, just by doing ply back tests (pulling your single from the bobbin and letting it twist on itself). You'll know if you need to be letting more twist in before you let it on if you keep checking this. If it struggles to twist back on itself, you need more twist. If it is really tight then you need less twist. Hope this makes some kind of sense, it's hard to explain without showing.
Please ply your yarn, some of the extra twist in your singles will be removed when you ply because you ply in the opposite direction, which removes singles twist. A balanced singles is SO HARD.
Frankensweater is fabulous!! Looking forward to the newsletter with the details! Thank you for sharing your prices. ❤
I just love your spinning! Such progress from 1st skein to 2nd. Let me suggest that you divide some fiber in half, spin it onto 2 bobbins, and just ply it up. Then, WASH it , much as you block a sweater it makes an enormous difference in evening out the twist. Hang it dry with no weight at all. I bet you’ll like the results. Spinning for socks is a fabulous goal. One day you’ll spin for a sweater.🥰
All the questions you ask about your spinning are good ones, but I think your spinning is progressing beautifully. Trust yourself and practice, practice, practice. The over and under twisting will disappear as your experience increases. A good soak and those skeins will even out a bit. Lovely first skeins!!
Girl, I know you don't know me, but I am soooooooooooooooo proud of you for finishing Frankensweater. You may have gone through some things along the way lol, but from what I see, it was more than worth it. It's amazing. Thank you for letting us be a part of the journey.
Thank you so much! It means a lot to now that you were rooting for me and also invested in the process. ❤️❤️❤️
Ah! Ahsoka Tano is my favorite character. I can't believe I didn't see her in the bag before. Love it!
For over spinning you can move your drive band to your biggest whorl or even switch to a jumbo flyer if you have one. If it isn’t plied that could be the reason. Singles have lot of energy but when you spin the opposite direction when plying you lose some twist. If you feel like you under-twisted a single just spin it onto another bobbin while adding more twist. Your yarn looks beautiful!
I want to spin just so I can sink my feet into those treadle covers!!
Love the QR option, Tayler. Cheers and congrats on your sweater FO
I’ve been wheel spinning for almost two years, so while I’m not an expert, I have some yardage under my belt. My biggest advice would probably be to treadle slower. If you’re getting the curlies, you’re probably getting too much twist built into your yarn before it goes onto the bobbin, and you’re probably drafting too slowly for your treadling speed (since treadling is the easy part to learn the mechanics of.) So slow down your treadling until you get used to drafting consistently.
For undertwisted singles, treadle faster or draft slower.
Also if you’re getting overplied yarn, make sure you’re plying in the opposite direction you’re spinning. If needed, you can run the yarn back through the wheel to fix your ply (same direction you plied in if underplied and opposite direction you plied in if overplied.)
Since you said you’re not plying, practice plying. You’d be surprised at how much more consistent your yarn looks when it’s plied, since often the thin parts will match up with a thick part. Some of the overtwisting will come out in plying too, because you’re plying in the opposite direction (singles are often over twisted anyway because you need a lot of twist so that your yarn still has stability when you ply. If you want to spin for socks, there’s a technique called cable plying that makes sturdy yarn good for socks, but you have to have a very high twist single to do it properly.)
I kept editing this comment as you asked questions. Hope it helps!
The neck line of the frankensweater is beautiful I will be stealing that idea!
Thank you Louise!!
Yeah on your second skein of handspun!! Love your beautiful sweater 💖
Wow very very nice sweater!! Well done, Congrats!! 🐑
Hello! Your neckline technic is very interesting ! Love the idea and the final results! This is fabulous! 🥰
Thank you Yasmine!
I love the collar on your sweater ❤
Love the neckline on your frankinsweater
Love your sweater, it turned out so nice. Looks great on you. Good luck with your spinning and enjoy the process.
Oh my gosh your sweater looks so great - yayyyy!!!😃😃😃
It looks like you have a number of viewers that spin. What a great resource. In case you have not seen it you might try watching Stitches and Starlight. Tashi does Q&A episodes and notes additional resources. She is fun to watch and knits with yarn she spins.
The Franken sweater looks so cute and cozy!
The thinner parts get more of the twist so that's why you are getting the pig tails. When you get more consistent, then the twist will match throughout.
You should do a KAL making the Frankensweater😁
Beautiful sweater! Love your suggestion of adding suri to make wool more wearable.
Hi, Tayler! Great job on the Frankensweater!! I also have an affinity for Lion’s Brand Fisherman’s wool and my tip for you is to wait for one of those insane sales from Michael’s or JoAnn’s and buy a boatload of the neutral and then custom dye it! I have 2 skeins I just dyed in olive to make a project. If I can get skeins for less than $10, I feel like I am beating the cost odds.
Great work on the cables, as well. I like a U shaped cable hook. It just seems more secure.
Lastly, you can add a strand of mohair/silk, or lace weight silk with your single sock yarn to give it more strength. I knit single socks for myself, but my husband only gets Paton’s (btw, it is pronounced with a long ā, like Payton’s) Croy because he is so tough on them.
Lastly, I am just finishing the book Unraveled, by Peggy Orenstein about how, during the pandemic, she sheared, prepped, dyed a fleece and knit, as she called it, The World’s Ugliest Sweater. As she was learning to spin, her instructor told her to hang on to hang onto those first thick and thin skeins because after she got good, it would be very difficult to replicate them and they would be coveted as Art Yarn! So you have created Art!!
Thanks so much for your wonderful podcast, it brings me so much joy! And after visiting Las Vegas last week and getting snowed on, I see why you need the woolens!
Ahhhh!!! The frankensweater is amazing!!!
One of the first things we learned in my beginners spinning class was to practice treadling without fiber and practice treadling very very slowly and stopping and starting smoothly. We have a tendency to treadle too fast. This can over twist yarn too quickly. If you can treadle slowly you can take a few minutes to adjust the tension the twist the speed, etc. and really get in the flow you will find your twist being more even. Just go slowly. I think once you get better at spinning in general you can speed spin to get the yarn finished faster but until it becomes second nature you have to go really slowly (which is hard)!
Love how your sweater turned out. Hope you’ll be writing it up as a pattern 🤞🏻🤞🏻
Oh man. The Frankensweater in all its glory!!
It looks gorgeous Tayler!
I love your finished franky sweater
Thank you Tracy!
Your Frankensweater is lovely! It looks so comfy. For spinning have you thought about signing up for online classes at School of Sweet Georgia? It’s totally worth it to watch the beginning spinning classes.
Congrats on finishing the sweater. It looks awesome.
Thank you Stephanie! ❤️
Love Love the Franken Sweater!!
Thank you Paula! ❤️
Your sweater is great! Really lovely piece that fits you perfectly.
plying will actually help with the overtwist in your single, because you're plying with an opposite twist that you spun your singles, the singles lose twist as they are plied and the twist will balance out. just whatever you do, don't try to correct overspun yarn by hanging with a weight, that just hides the overtwist and it will come back as soon as the yarn gets wet again, which you really don't want to happen after you have already knit something with it
That’s a great looking collar. Look forward to your breakdown of your pattern for the frankenswester cute name
The sweater is amazing Tayler. The step by step “saga” was the best, thank you for sharing. Alway so much to be learned on your channel! Be well.
The sweater looks great. Can't wait to see the next one.
I love your Frankensweater! I want to make one for me! Thank you for your wonderful podcasts!
The Frankensweater lives! Love it! Well done! Thank you for sharing the thought process and all the little details.
I just finished my first sweater and I have to make this next. I may omit the waist shaping and make it a bit longer, a little tunic-like.
Your sweater talk was interesting. I began knitting sweaters in pieces, and I jumped into cable work from the start because all the many types of cables intrigued me. Only now am I learning how to make top-down raglan sweaters 😄 Although I'm totally embracing the joy of not having to seam pieces together or deal with weaving in multiple ends, this method has been more daunting and seems more challenging than my entree into sweater making the other way. But I'm getting there! Thank you for sharing so much specific info as you process through your knits.
Love your Frankensweater results.
I have a really good hack for cables. In the inbetween cable section usually purl or seed put a waste yarn to count rows. Look at this method Counting rows with waste yarn by Susan Rainey(skip first half) you will not make a mistake and cross on the wrong row.
Oohhh! I know this one! Ashoka’s “tendrils” are called “lekku,” assuming you mean the ones that hang down. The horn-like appendages on top are “montrals.”
Love the video, btw. I’m working on my first cable project, too, though mine is not quite so ambitious.
Oh and plying fixes a world of issues. Because you go opposite directions. That fixes a lot of the coils. Then after you fly and you set it by soaking that helps a lot too. If you ply you will see it even a lot.
This is my first time watching your podcast. Loved it!
I love the way your sweater turned out- it's exactly what I would like in a sweater!!! I hope you put together notes on your design in an upcoming newsletter. I enjoy your UA-cam videos and try not to miss a single one! Thank you!
Thank you Joyce! I'm so glad you love it. Thank you for your support and for watching! ❤️
I'm late to the party, but that sweater is BEAUTIFUL! I love the neck, it's so graceful. 😍
For Beginner Spinners:
Find the length of the fibers in the roving you are working with before you start by pulling on the end of the roving fibers with both hands; if you can't pull any off the end, give it a longer space between hands until it pulls apart. This will give you an idea of the length of fibers that you are working with to get a correct draft. You have to know how long the fibers are, as this will affect your draft. Shorter fibers will have a shorter draft. Long fibers will have a longer draft.
To improve your spinning, slow down your wheel. If you can adjust the speed slower, do it. Since you have double treadles, you can have more control on how slowly you treadle. Draft the fiber by hand to make it smaller before you begin. Make sure you don't have too much roving fiber in your hands for the size yarn you want to spin.
Begin Spinning:
Let the fibers grab hold of the yarn on the bobbin of the wheel. Let the spin go up the fibers, maybe an inch or so. Then pinch the twist with your left hand to stop the spin from going further up, and then draft (pull) the fibers away from the wheel with your right hand until it looks like the right amount for the size yarn you want. Then release the left hand and let the spin enter into your drafted fibers. Then bring your left hand to where the twist has stopped near your right hand. If the spin goes further up the roving than you want, use your left hand to pinch it again and twist it backwards between your thumb and finger just to take the twist out so you can begin another draft of the correct amount of fibers. This will become easier as you practice, until it is easy and automatic.
Good Luck!! Practice! 😜🙂🙃😉😊😃🤩 Progress! Let me know if this was helpful or if you have any questions.
This is golden advice. Gosh, THANK YOU Lori!
@@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS I think I should add that stopping your wheel to give you time to work out any problem is fine and good. You are the spinner! You choose. Two treadles make it easy to control the wheel, but a single treadle is not a problem. Just stop the wheel with your right hand, then start it with your right hand when the treadle is not in a good position to get going. Eventually you will be able to spin with little stopping. Yay! 😄
Tension is key to consistency and practice.
#sendoff your techie tutorials with the QR code and Instagram picker are so cool to learn about!
Your Frankensweater looks marvelous 🎉
Frankensweater is wonderful and looks so good on you! Love the podcast.
Thank you Sherry! ❤️
The spirals are overtwisted and it has a lot to do with drafting. The twist is going to move toward the thinner areas and away from the thicker areas. Try treadling slower/changing your whorl if you can and adjusting your tension and that will let you control the twist better.
Pre drafting can be helpful but be careful with it. It’s a useful tool but it has a tendency to become a crutch for a lot of spinners.
Also! Finishing the skein can really help. Either ply or thwacking. To thwack tie the skein in several places and put it in lukewarm water then grab by one end and smack the other end against a table top or something similar. It causes the fibers to felt together a little bit and moves the twist to be more even. Then leave it to dry. The strands might felt together slightly but a light tug should brake them free again
Thanks as always for a great video!
I love your frankensweeter. It looks so good on you.
Love how you did the neckline! Same for the body shaping! Well done - It's beautiful!
It's very Audrey Hepburn, Chanel. I love it. Great job!!
The neckline doubled with the extra ribbing is beautiful. 👏
Your Frankensweater looks so good on you! Such a wonderful timeless piece that will never go out of style! 😊
Your sweater is gorgeous!
My FAV vlog. It’s so helpful and, you’re so sincere, funny! I am JUST retired so have time to watch vlogs now. Get chores done in the a.m. versus the weekend. LOL SO going to knit your GORGEOUS FRANKENSWEATER version and let’s just review your ahhhmazing show notes QR code. Awesome!!! Thank you for taking time to update us and share your learning. Means a lot!!
It's my pleasure Brenda! Thank you so much for watching. ❤️
Taylor the sweater is so beautiful. Inlove how it fits you!!! The collar/neckline is beautiful!!!
And a special congratulations 🎉 to your winner🥰🥰🥰
Ply! Those are plyable singles. If you wish to keep them as singles, shock the fiber for a bit of fulling and they will hold the twist.
Rest your single for 12-24 hours before plying. Spin Z twist, ply S twist. Direction of wheel goes in the direction of the central line of Z and S.
Coils- stop treadling. Park and draft more- then begin treadling again. Chunky bits- park again and double draft.
Get the book intentional spinner- look at Craftsy and watch the spinning classes. Basics and beyond basics.
Be proud of your beginner yarn, you will try to make this look in the future and fail.