Spinning workshop: Session three

Today we had our third spinning lesson here in my farmhouse at the end of the road. We went over time as we had so much that we wanted to get done, and no one seemed to mind. First, we did a lot of spinning. I wanted the gals to have two good sized bobbins of singles -- one in white, one coloured -- so they could learn how to ply. The twist was really active in the singles, as they had just been spun, so the plying was a bit of an adventure in patience and persistence. Everyone made a lovely good sized skein. Should have taken photos of them, but was so busy with everyone, I totally forgot about documenting it.

After we did the spinning and plying, we moved over the next room where I had drum carders and a Louet picker set-up. I showed them how to use the Louet picket to tease the fibres apart and then load them onto the drum carder. Everyone made some batts and a had generally good time experimenting with the different pieces of equipment.

Here's the Louet picker. It's the oddest looking piece of equipment  but it does a nice job opening up the locks for the drum carder. I haven't had a lot of satisfaction using the rolling pin type piece, but I just use my Ashford carders instead. I toss some fibre onto the carding cloth area, and then with my hand carder, just card one way, and then the other. When I go the other direction, the fibre all comes off and then it goes over to the drum carder. Magic.

What used to take hours of teasing, can now be done in minutes.  Really.

And here's a photo of the front room, full of spinning wheels, six of them even though there were five of us in total. It's a small space but we make it work.

Thanks Heather, Katie, Diane and Tannis for a terrific day.  You are all turning into great spinners.