8.08.2007

Spinney Stuff


So I mentioned that I'd been spending a lot of time lately at the Spinning Loft. I'm learning a lot about fiber--you know, aside from knowing that it's soft and fluffy and fuzzy and I want to snuffle it and roll around in it and make lots and lots of things out of it.

The first part of the Sheep Breeds Study was awesome (I'm already signed up for part 2--Longwools and Crossbred wools--in the fall) but since I don't have photos yet of all the beautiful fiber I got (like Merino, Cormo, Polworth, and my new favorite, Corriedale) and am currently spinning, I will tantalize you with a few photos of other things from around the shop.

I had no idea that silk came in so many forms...


...and that it can be spun right off of the cocoon. If you shake these little guys, you can hear the worm rattling around inside. Weird!


Mohair. Gorgeous, fluffy, frothy mohair. It veritably glows.


Cashmere. Need I say more?


One day I tried out this Ashford Traditional. I was wearing a long skirt, so I felt very traditional. Kind of odd using a single-treadle wheel (my Ashford Joy is a double-treadle) but it was a nice wheel. Quite classic.



Oh, by the way, if you like Spinning Spider Jenny (Jenny Bakriges), she's coming to teach workshops at the Loft in mid-November, and Patsy Zawistoski, the original Spinning Guru, will be there in mid-February. If you want to come, we'll have a sleepover!

Not spinning, but Eggsperiment #4 (which also resides in the craft room). We got a fan for the incubator, which should hopefully increase the hatch rate. I put in 47 eggs on July 21 and, after candling, I have 33 that all look viable. Hatch should begin Friday night/Saturday. More babies!

11 comments:

Puss-in-Boots said...

Happy hatching! Hope you have a 100% success rate.

Fibre is wonderful to get involved in...a wonderful sensation for the senses. That traditional spinning wheel was like the one I had but mine was dark wood...this was more than 30 years ago...oooh, the pain! Heheh!

Anonymous said...

I am fascinated with the fiber, although I was a bit dismayed to learn that the worms don't (in general) live to see life as a moth or whatever they turn into, as the cocoon is taken (at least for some forms of silk) before they hatch.

But the eggs! How many birds are you going for???? I'm impressed.

BEESTLYproducts said...

AcK! the cocoons are sooooo creppy.

BEESTLYproducts said...

creepy, even.

Obsidian Kitten said...

i know, jessie, that is the sad part. i guess most people would say "oh, well, they're just worms"--but still! i'm such a big mush.

but creepy? just think of those worms next time you're fondling some pricey silk garment, lol

as for our chicken population, i could definitely sell more eggs. i'm barely getting enough (averaging maybe a dozen a day in this heat and dry weather) to keep some in my cooler, and i do have regular egg customers now.

figuring that half our hatchlings will be roosters, and the older hens will start slacking on the laying soon enough, it'd be great to have maybe 40 layers (as opposed to the 24 we had this year). so we'll see.

we have a really good processing place, and the males get so noisy and aggressive so quickly (and make such good eating) that i don't mind in the least taking some to be butchered in the fall.

Beth said...

That mohair is sooooo shiny. Oooooh, pretty.
Did I pay you for those eggs? Can't remember.

historicstitcher said...

Nice pictures of Beth's shop!

It's kind of weird to see pics of stuff I arranged a few days ago...if by "arranging" you mean throwing all the silk together in a pile and making sure all of the different kinds are visible. :)

pins&needles said...

Agh! That's kinda creepy and I didn't really know it came from cacoons like that! It also makes me wonder how you get silk from the caccoon and how it's processed.

Does that bag in the back of the variety silk picture say "silk waste" or "silk wasle"? Another thing to be curious about that also might creep me out and intrigue me at the same time. I still want to learn how to spin despite all of this info you mentioned.

RheLynn said...

Wonderful walkthrough of all the fibers! I agree the mohair looks beautifully shiny. Good luck all you little eggs!

mrspao said...

I have just got my Ashford Traveller in the post! What did you finish yours with? I like seeing all the fibres.

roxtarc said...

worms in PODS.... okay, i'm just beyond befuddled, beyond confused, i think i need sugar! curse you hahahah

you're so cool you hurt