There's not much to see here in the way of visible progress. But there is new yarn, a must-knit future knit, a new cast on, and a whole lot of spinning to talk about.
01:51 Eyes and Ears - Books, Hooks, and Yarns
04:53 Handy Dandy
06:56 - Bernie's Big Mood Mittens
16:57 Eye Candy - yarns from Tarndwarncoort
22:10 - Dione
25:27 - more yarns from Tarndwarncoort
28:09 Craft for Thought
35:18 Out of My Mind
42:07 Multicrafty
42:16 - Spindle spinning from the fold
44:28 - Why take a course?
47:46 - Spinning course at the Guild
56:02 Heart Full of Craft
59:09 Thanks!
Transcript
Welcome to Episode 17 of Bobolog. Today I will be sharing progress on my sweater that I am designing, one new cast on, some new yarn, future knitting plans, and I'll also be talking a lot about spinning
Greetings, my name is Bobbie Olan and this is my vlog where I come to share all of my knitting and other fibre craft adventures. I live in Victoria and I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which I live and create, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, and I would like to pay my respect to their Elders past, present and future. And I would like to extend that respect and acknowledgement to all Aboriginal peoples across Australia.
Thank you for joining me for another one of these episodes today. You can also join me on Instagram @PlatypusKnitting where I share all of the things that I am doing, although I've fallen off lately just because of life. And you can also find me on Ravelry under BobbieOlan. In the YouTube description below, you will find links to those social profiles and also to a website where I have the transcripts for these episodes, and also the links to everything that I mention throughout this episode. So I guess let's get into it.
Eyes and Ears
Books, Hooks, and Yarns
So I'm gonna start today with Eyes and Ears. So there is one vlog that I have started watching since the previous episode came out that I hadn't watched before and that is called Books, Hooks and Yarns. Or at least the playlist was originally Books, Hooks and Yarns. I believe, from what I can see, that Kristel, whose knitting vlog it is, has recently started a new series called Kristel Knits. So as I have said before, when I start watching or listening to a new vlog or podcast, I have to go from the very beginning. So I'm still only a few episodes in and there are 30 videos in the Books, Hooks and Yarns playlist.
I do find it interesting that she calls it Books, Hooks and Yarns because while she has talked about crochet she- it is mainly about knitting. And she says at the beginning of it that she's a beginner, knitting, and she's a beginner in all of the crafts that she does. But she's not - I mean, in my mind she's not that completely new a beginner because it seems like she's done a lot but it's still, as always, really interesting to watch her journey of trying new things out and that's always really fun to see.
One of the other new crafts that she picks up and sort of shares throughout is her adventures in yarn dyeing. So she - initially, at least, she primarily dyes using food dyes. Which I had heard of before, but I'd always been just a bit skeptical about their colour fastness. So, I'm really interestes- interested to keep watching her progress and see if she, you know, brings back any of those posts- any of those projects that she has dyed so you can see how the colour has faded or held. So I'm really hoping to see some- some more of that throughout her videos.
She does also actually live in Victoria but we haven't met in person. So we are part of an online group of knitters and Aussie podcasters. And so I've- I've met her in video chat, but we haven't met yet. So hopefully one day we will be able to catch up in real life. So that's it for Eyes and Ears.
Handy Dandy
Next I will jump into Handy Dandy which is just going to be a short one because I have not done much in the last couple of weeks. I- I haven't worked on any old projects. But I have cast on one new project.
So I have done very little of it. Just this here. It's a bit tangled and messed up because I always get in such a mess when I- when I'm doing colourwork two-at-a-time, but I can't help myself. I- I fear second sock syndrome. Even though these aren't socks. I guess - what would you call it? - second... I mean, second mitten syndrome. But if there's like an overall sort of catchphrase for the whole idea of it. Second pair? No, that's not right. Anyway.
I- I like to work two-at-a-time because I want my gauge to be consistent throughout. And I just feel like - I mean, I don't know if this is true - but in my mind it would take so much longer to knit one item and then to knit a second item. Even though I'm sure they're actually really similar times to complete the thing because you're knitting the same amount. But anyway, I really like working two-at-a-time in magic loop for anything that comes in a pair, even sleeves on a garment. I- I try to do two-at-a-time, even if you're picking up from the garment and knitting down so it's all very attached and very- there's a lot of manoeuvring going on. Anyway, I digress.
Bernie's Big Mood Mittens
These are what I have cast on recently and have been working on. These are called Bernie's Big Mood Mittens by Jess Anderson. So as the name implies, they are inspired by Bernie's mittens, which I'm sure you know about if you're a knitter because it just kind of - it blew up in the knitting world when- when Bernie was wearing knitted gloves that turned out to be, I believe, someone had upcycled an old sweater and cut it up and sewn them into mittens and gifted them to him.
Anyway, my cousin at the start of the year requested these gloves and I have to say it's not something that I was interested in knitting at all. In fact, the first place that I went online was Etsy, looking for what options there were for just buying imitation gloves that someone else had made because I'm really- I just really wasn't interested in making them. But then, of course, I couldn't help myself. I had to look at Ravelry as well. And I guess I was trying to find something that had something a bit more different - had something unique to it that would make it more enjoyable and interesting for me. And I found these patterns by Jess.
Which actually - so you can see - so there's one type of pattern there and then on the back of it - or I can just show you on this next one here is a different pattern. So they're called the Big Mood Mittens because this bit here - you can maybe kind of see - it spells the word 'mood'. I believe that goes on the palm. And then this pattern goes on the back of the hand. So because I'm doing two at a time, they're- they're not- they're not knit so that they're facing in towards each other. So I'm not knitting two backs and then going around and knitting two fronts. I'm following how she has the charts laid out which is... the inside... I'm explaining this really badly.
Basically she has one chart for the right mitten and one chart for the left. And because the gussets for the thumbs are in the same place - because they both start at the thumb gusset and then go around - so both of my gussets are on the same side. So the hands are being knit like that. So one- one hand facing me and one head facing out, which is why I get a bit confused figuring out which part of the chart I'm following. But now that the pattern is more established, it's kind of easier to know exactly where I'm at.
But - So the back of the hand is the part that's going to look like Bernie's mittens. And then the inside is going to say 'mood', which you can kind of maybe make out there. There's 'M', 'O', 'O' - where is it? - 'D'. So I saw these and I thought they were quite interesting and pretty cool. And I thought my cousin would like them and I showed them to her and she absolutely loved them. If she hadn't then I probably would have just said that I'd be happy to buy her some ready made ones from Etsy as a present to her. But since she was really interested in these ones, I was happy to knit for them- knit them for her. And also, I love her. I also consider her one of my closest friends so I'm always happy to to make something for her. So that's that one there.
I am for once knitting it in the recommended yarn which is Cascade 220, which is, I believe, Peruvian Highland wool. I haven't got a label here with me but I believe it's 100% Peruvian Highland wool. It's probably one of the most- most used yarns out there. At least, I have heard of it a lot and it seems like a really common, staple yarn. I have never knit with it before. I'm quite liking it. It is, I think, a worsted weight yarn.
So it is the recommended yarn in the pattern. And since I had access to it, I really wanted to use it. But the pattern is also big. It says in the pattern that they are massive gloves. She says something like they're ridiculously huge or they're laughably huge or something like that. And, I mean, I want my cousin to be able to wear them. So I have gone down in needle size. I can't... What does she recommend? I feel like the pattern recommends something like 4.5. Yeah, 4.5 mm needles, I think. Oh, I can check actually in my trusty notebook here. Let me see. So yeah, so the pattern recommends 4.5 mm needles at a gauge of 20 stitches and 28 rows in 10 cm. So I didn't bother doing a swatch for these. But I went down to 3.25 mm needles, and I was a bit concerned that it would be really stiff and dense. But it's not. It is- it is quite firm, which I think is is really good. But it's still, you know, got some- some stretch to it. It doesn't feel really stiff and of course blocking it will help it relax a bit as well.
They are still a bit big. So if I put them on me - and I have to remember that I have tiny hands - you can see how much extra space there is. Can you see if I do it there? You can kind of see how much extra space there is beyond my thumb there. And I think my cousin has pretty small hands as well. Didn't actually check how much bigger they are than mine. I'm sure they are because I have teensy tiny hands. But I think that's a pretty comfortable ease to have there for mittens. But there are still some more- a couple more increases to go on the gusset. And then I might just have to eliminate some rows so that they- it doesn't end up ridiculously long. So I'm kind of just going to try to figure that out as I go. But other than that they are working well.
So I have finished the section in this dark brown. So the- the white is going to continue in the next colourwork bit. But it's going to switch to a light brown and then there's going to be some dark grey in here as well. But they are coming along really nicely.
I am using my Lykke circular knitting needles, which are really comfortable to use. And I think that's all that I have to say about those ones.
I have - I'm pretty sure my cousin doesn't watch this - but I do have some other plans that I won't mention until I start working on them. A) In case I never get around to it, and B) just in case she does watch I don't want to reveal to her.
So it's really cold in Victoria at the moment. It feels like we've just skipped autumn and jumped straight into winter. It has been freezing. So I thought, you know, that I would aim to finish these by the end of this month and give them to her before winter actually starts. But I think I'm going to prioritise these now and get them done as soon as I possibly can. Because I'm sure she'd appreciate being able to use them in the freezing weather that we've been having lately. So that- that's the Bernie's Big Mood Mittens - which is a free pattern, I should say. A free pattern by Jess Anderson. And yeah, it's coming along really nicely.
Eye Candy
My next segment is Eye Candy.
Yarns from Tarndwarncoort
So I have some yarns to share with you and - surprise, surprise - they're from Tarndwarncoort. If you've been watching this year I talk about Tarndwarncoort pretty much every single episode. I hadn't knit with them before this year, unless you count some mini skeins that I'd ordered last year just to do some swatching in. But I love- I love their yarn. I'm loving working with their yarns. I love the people at the farm - at the homestead. They're all just really friendly and, you know, they're- they're really inviting and I think they're just wonderful people.
I did go - you would have seen in a previous episode, possibly, that I went to a natural dyeing workshop at their homestead earlier in the year which I absolutely loved. And I bought some hand dyed yarn while I was there as well. And I found out shortly after that, that my favourite colour of theirs had actually sold out which I was completely devastated by. That's this one here which is called Mallard. I love this colour so much and I was so crushed to find out it had sold out. I wish I hadn't waited to buy it but I've been trying not to buy yarn until I'm ready to start working with it.
So when they revealed that that was all gone, I contacted them and I asked if they could possibly try to hand dye a batch that was similar to this. And actually the only reason that I thought to do that is because they had posted that they had dyed some 4 ply yarn that was similar to the Mallard that was sold out, which is how I found out that the Mallard had sold out. So because they had already hand dyed some 4 ply, I asked if they could possibly try to do the same with some 8 ply because the pattern that I'm dreaming of for this yarn requires a DK weight yarn. So that's the Mallard there.
They did do a sweaters quantity of a similar colour in their 8 ply, which is this beauty here. It's- it's really hard to get an accurate colour. It's- I think it's- I think it's- it's much brighter in real life. And it's brighter and darker. Both of these are darker in real life than it looks like they're showing up on the camera. But you can see they got it pretty close. Like that's- that's really impressive how close they were able to get the colour there. I still- I still somewhat prefer the darker colour of this - of the Mallard there - but I absolutely really do love this- this hand dyed version here. I do love how- how bright it is actually. Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely- it's definitely the right colour for me.
So I bought six skeins of this. They had six skeins and I took them all because I want to knit a sweater out of it. A particular sweater that I have had my eye on. The thing is, they had another colourway - a variegated colourway - that's really similar to this. It- My assumption is that out of the same dye pot, maybe they had some colours leftover in there and they put in a couple- a few extra skeins and- and did a variegated version because this is the other one here. And you can see there is a lot- a lot more of a difference in the tonality there. So if I put them side by side, you can see- you can really see the difference there. But they are definitely a similar colour.
Dione
So the thing is the- this sweater that I have my heart set on, I now don't know whether I want to knit it completely in this one or if I want to use both. So the sweater is called Dione and it's by Natasja Hornby. And this is one of those patterns that as soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it. And I knew that I had to knit it. There are- I have so many- so many patterns in my favourites and so many in my queue on Ravelry but there's really only a handful that are 'must knits' and this one - Dione - is definitely- was definitely immediately a 'must knit'. I think it is elegant and sexy and stylish and just beautiful.
And interestingly I- most of the projects on Ravelry have all been done in a single colour. I think there is one that is done in two colours, which was my original thought for making it. So if you look at the pattern, it's got - the top part of it is plain and then it goes down into a pattern and it almost looks like they're wearing an off the shoulder sweater over the top of another garment. So my thought was that if you did the top part in a different colour, it would emphasise that look. There is one pattern- one project on Ravelry - the last time I looked - that had actually done it in two different colours. And while it does look really good, the ones that are all in one colour also, you know, look amazing. The original is just done in one colour.
But now I can't actually decide if I would have this colour in the top and this colour in the bottom. Part of me likes that the difference is more- would be- would be quite subtle and more like the original. But then part of me is also like, 'Is it- is it too subtle? And would it actually just look better if I did it all just in the one colour?' I honestly- I honestly can't decide.
So I have enough of this to do the whole thing. And then I bought two skeins of this one, which I'm sure would be plenty to do the top part. And I definitely can't get a whole garment out of the two skeins I bought of this. But yeah, I just really don't know what to do. So let me know what you think.
But it's not something that I'll be able to cast on anytime soon, I'm afraid. I still- I've got a lot of other things that I've planned that are- that I have to get out by certain deadlines this year - fingers crossed - so this one might have to wait until next year. But it is definitely on the queue. And since I have the yarn now, it's definitely jumped up in the queue. So one day. But yeah, let me know which version of it you think I should do.
More yarns from Tarndwarncoort
The other yarn I bought from Tarndie is there Ciderhouse Red which I have mentioned before. So that is this one here. When I was at the natural dyeing workshop, I didn't realise - somehow - that the yarns in their farm shops were hand dyed yarns and were not the yarns that I had shade cards for. So I purchased a few skeins of this thinking it was the Ciderhouse Red. It's clearly not. They're very different.
So this gorgeous, bright one I will keep for something for myself. I haven't quite decided what I am going to create out of that one yet. There's a few options in my queue. I just- I just haven't quite decided. And again it's probably not going to be cast on this year because I have other things to work on.
This Ciderhouse Red is going to be my next big cast on because it's going to become a sweater for my partner. His birthday is in mid June so I really- I really need to cast this on and get started. Because I highly doubt that I'm gonna get it done in time but I really want to try to get it done in time. It will be my first garment - my first adult garment - made in fingering weight yarn. So wish me luck. But yes, that's the beautiful Ciderhouse Red colour from- from Tarndwarncoort.
So if you're familiar with them, you would be aware that they are the- that they're- the family who runs the homestead are the original breeders of the Polwarth sheep. So their yarn is 100% Polwarth. They do have a silk blend variety but I haven't jumped into- to that yet. I feel like once I have made these I need to try some other sheep breeds. But it's -when you've found something that you love it's hard to- so hard to pull yourself away sometimes. Especially when they have so many beautiful options and colourways to use. But I do want to- I do want to try- I'm always wanting to try new things. So I'm going to try not to buy any more from them, at least until I have finished what I've got which is at least- which is more than two sweater quantities worth of yarn.
So that was a really big Eye Candy.
Craft for Thought
Next up is Craft for Thought. So this segment is sort of meant to be the section where I talk about things that have gone on in my life and relate it back to crafting or, you know, I just talk about crafty things. It's basically just a chatter-about-whatever-I-want segment.
Before I filmed the previous episode actually - which was I think- I believe I filmed that on ANZAC weekend - the week before that I stubbed my toe. And it still hurts. It's still bruised and I have only just - it's been three weeks and I have only just gotten an x-ray for it. And I'm only just going to see my GP about it for the first time this coming week. Because it's a stubbed toe.
I walked into a wall because I was too busy watching crafting things on TV so I walked into the wall and it didn't hurt that much. I have stubbed my toe much more painfully so I didn't really think anything of it but then it continued to hurt. And I pretty much haven't done any exercise since then because I can't use my foot and the reason that I haven't gone to the doctor sooner is - it feels better. So I think it's fine, but then I'll do something like I'll go swimming, I'll go for just a little bit of a walk, or - the other day I accidentally like snagged it very minimally when I put my socks on and it hurt. So any of those little things that I try to do with my foot hurts it again and- and I limp for another day. And then it gets better again and, you know. It's just a cycle. But, you know, it's been three weeks. I really should have gotten that looked at sooner and I'm gonna get it looked at now.
But the point is, because I haven't been able to, you know, get out and about so much I feel like I should have gotten a lot of crafting done. And I guess I kind of have. It just doesn't feel that- like it because I don't have much to show you. But also, I think because that has been taken away from me - that option of going out, of being able to like go for a nice walk every day or, you know, whatever else I might want to do - because I can't do that and I don't have a choice about not being able to do that, I feel like I'm more restless.
And I'm... Like it's- it's- it's harder for me to sit on the couch and just craft because I feel like... It's kind of like because it's not my choice, I feel like I'm being, you know, imprisoned on the couch in a way. So I don't want to do it. So yeah, that's kind of been interesting. Yeah, yeah. I really feel like I could have and should have taken so much more advantage of being confined to the couch because of my stupid toe but I haven't and it is what it is.
There are also some other things that have been going on that have, you know, reduced my knitting and crafting mojo a little bit. One of them is that this has just been a difficult time of year. So April is my birthday month and I had a lovely birthday. And, you know, that's all really nice. But April has started having some difficult associations for me as well.
So a couple of years ago, at the start of the m- of April, I lost my grandfather on my mother's side. So he's in the Phil- he was in the Philippines with my uncle - living with my uncle there. And that was- that was, you know, when COVID was fresh. And none of us here in Australia could fly over. But, you know, they were able to do the service via Facebook Live. But that was really difficult as I'm sure you can imagine. We- We- Like I couldn't even go and watch the service with my mother. I did that on my own here in my house because everyone was locked down.
Anyway. So that's- that was- that's one difficult April association. And then another is last year at the end of April, that's when my uncle was admitted to hospital. And this past week, we actually had the anniversary - we had the anniversary of his passing. So that's been really hard. Sorry, I wasn't expecting to get all teary about this. Yeah, so that that's been really hard. For me, it feels like the end of April is like... it just feels like a countdown to this time.
And yeah, so I'm sure that has also contributed to me not being so inspired to craft a lot. Yeah, and I guess one of the things that probably has also contributed is that I am getting so into the other crafts that I am doing that sometimes I'm just paralysed about making a choice about which one to do. So really, knitting wins out most of the time. But I- Like I have a weaving project that I'm- that I have planned that I need to get done this month because it's going to be a gift for someone. And there's also all of this spinning that I want to do. So sometimes I just dither about which one to take up and I don't end up doing anything.
Yeah, so I think that was a bit of a messy ramble. I think that was all that I had to say on Craft for Thought anyway. Just sort of musing out loud. No real point or purpose to it.
Out of My Mind
So I will jump on to the next section - segment - which is Out of My Mind. So this is the segment where I talk about my design. So I can't design- I can't seem to design multiple things at once. So I do have other ideas in my head for other things that I want to do. But because this one has been taking me so long, I just want to- I want to get it out and I want to put all of my time and energy into getting it out before I try to get onto something new. Because I feel like once I started something new, I'll get so caught up in that that this one just won't finish and I really want to finish this one.
So this- this pattern still doesn't have a name. So if you have any ideas from what you see then I would love to hear from you. Just let me know in the comments below. But I should- I do have a few ideas of what to call it. I just can't decide.
So this is it here. So that's the back of it with a little box pleat and - if I can pull it out enough yarn without it going everywhere - that's the front of it there. So this is where the V neck starts. And it looks like I have done nothing since I last showed this to you a couple of weeks ago. But I have. I promise you that I have. I had gone all the way up and was about to do the cast off for the back neck. And then I counted my stitches and I checked my calculations and I realised I had done it completely wrong.
So I'm- I feel like I'm trying to put too many complex ideas into this sweater but I really want to do them because I think they'll produce a better fitting garment. At least that's my hope. So one of those things is that the front part of the garment is slightly wider than the back part so that, you know, there's more room in the front because people generally have more bulk in this area. So when I calculated the V neck decreases, I had accidentally used the stitch count for the back so I was having too many stitches at the front by the time I got up to the shoulders. So this- the seam wouldn't have worked well, because there were more in the front than there were at the back - than there would have been at the back for the shoulder seam.
So I'd knit nearly 60 rows. And then I realised that and went back to my calculations and I figured out what I thought it should be. I tinked all the way back down and then I knit all the way back up - back up to binding off- to- up to binding off the back neck. So I hadn't bound off anything for the back neck yet and I stopped again and I counted my stitches and they still weren't right. So I looked at my calculations and I realised that there was just one tiny bit that I had done wrong. And now I've tinked it all the way back to pretty much the start of the V neck again. So it looks like I have done nothing. But it- There's just been a lot of ripping back which has been really frustrating. And I kind of- I think- I think I need to put this in a timeout for a bit. I'm probably going to put this on a timeout, get started on this one.
I seem to be knitting in this colour a lot lately. It's kind of funny. I feel like- I feel like my knitting kind of goes in waves. So right now it feels like everything that I'm doing is this colour and/or colourwork. And then the next few projects that I have planned - aside from this one here - are all going to be cables. So right now I'm knitting a garment and accessory - a garment and an accessory - in colourwork. The next garment - not including this one - the next garment that I have planned is going to be cables and the next accessories that I have planned are going to be cables. So it never seems to be a mix and match. It always just seems to happen that it's all one thing or it's all another. there was a point last year, I think, where it felt like everything that I was knitting was the same colour. Yeah, so it all just seems to come in waves.
Anyway. Bit of a tangent there. What was I talking about?
Yes. So this- I think this needs to go on a timeout for a bit. I will work on something else. And before I come to this, I will double, triple, quadruple check my calculations because this- yeah, I don't want to have to rip all this out a third time. And I don't want to talk about it anymore. So let's let's move on.
Actually, sorry. There will- there's one more thing that I want to talk about. I have made one mistake on this, which is just here. See this triangley thing here? Is it- This triangley thing here- this- this bit- this bit of colourwork here. That shouldn't be there. I- that was a mistake. But even though I have ripped back twice - and I could have ripped back down to that point and re done it and eliminated that mistake - I'm already doing so much re-knitting that like I couldn't even bear to do that much extra ripping out and re-knitting. So when I'm done I'm probably just going to make, you know, a couple of tiny patches and just try to cover that up with- with a- with a patch attached over to the top of it.
But anyway, that's just a minor thing compared to everything else. And now I'm done talking about it.
Multicrafty
Next up is Multicrafty and it's all about spinning.
Spindle spinning from the fold
So just super, super briefly - this is where I am with my spinning on my Tur- Turkish spindle. So I've got two here. I believe this is the- the first 7 g lot that I spun from the fold. This is the second 7 g lot that I spun from the fold. I don't know why the first one is so much neater, such a neater ball than the second one. This one just seems to want to collapse. But anyway, so they are both just completely solid in this- this grey- light grey colour of roving that I have. And then the other- the third and final ply spun from the fold is this one here.
What am I doing? So I'm not sure- you should be able to make out there's some bits of tan in there along with the pink. So this is- these are samples. So this is the one that, when I bought this huge amount of roving I had some ex- some colour samples sent to me. So I'm trying to use them up in these practice spins.
So I was just very roughly tried to hand blend some pink and some of like the tiny, tiny amount of tan that I had. And I only did one pass of hand blending them because I didn't- I didn't mind too much if they were separate since it's going to be a separate ply all on its own. It's- it's going to- it's going to like marl? Barber pole? I don't know what the- what the correct term for it is. But yeah. So once- once this one is done, I will ply them together. So that's my attempt at spinning from the fold on a Turkish spindle.
Why take a course?
And I am not sure if I have said it on this vlog but I had decided a couple of months ago that I - Okay, let me start again.
So, when I originally took up spinning and tried to teach myself spinning, I had looked at a course for beginners from the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria. But that course is on a spinning wheel. And I- I do want to get myself a spinning wheel eventually. But when I started, of course I didn't want to make that huge investment before I even knew that I liked it. So I tried to learn as much as I could on my own first and then I thought, 'Once I know that I liked it, I'll sign up and do the course.'
But then a couple of months ago, I decided that I wouldn't actually sign up for the course because it is on a wheel and I only have a drop spindle. And I wasn't sure how easy that would be to translate across different tools. And also I didn't want to do the course before I was ready to buy a spinning wheel and I- I feel like, or I felt like I wasn't- I didn't want to buy a spinning wheel for a couple of years. I wanted to give it some time. And we may move house in the next couple of years. So I was thinking I shouldn't buy a wheel until we move if we're gonna move. So I didn't want to do the course now and then forget everything that I learned by the time I actually got my own wheel and have to learn it all again. So I had decided that. I had decided that I would put off during the course.
But then in the last episode I mentioned that I started doing some online classes in Craftsy. And there were spinning classes amongst those and they sort of helped me realise that, as good as they were, I- it's still of course so different to have someone actually looking at what you yourself are doing and- and correcting you and instructing you instead of you just trying to copy what other people are doing without actually knowing if you're doing the right techniques. So I- I kind of realised that I didn't want to form bad habits or the wrong habits with spinning and then do a course and have to un-train my- my thinking and my muscle memory if, you know, if- if there were things that I was doing wrong. So I decided to do- to sign up for the course.
Spinning course at the Guild
And I had my first class yesterday. I'm filming this on Mother's Day, which is the Sunday the 8th of May. And I did my first class yesterday. There are going to be four lessons in total. And it was so much fun. I loved it. It was- I just- I couldn't stop smiling. It was just really like well done. There are about 10 of us in the course and the instructors are really knowledgeable, obviously. And just doing it on a wheel - it's so much faster obviously. And it is- it is- it is quite different. But, you know, there are motions that are of course the same. You- It's like the same drafting motions. It's just slightly different with the tools that you use.
And what I am- one thing that I'm trying to do with it is when I do on the spindle, I did try both hands, but I was finding that I really was a lot more comfortable holding the fibre in my left hand and spinning the flind- spinning the flindle? - spinning the spindle and drafting the fibre with my right hand.
With the wheel, because I don't need to worry about flicking the spindle with my right hand - which for some reason I just couldn't get the hang of with my left hand - I decided that I do want to try- I want to teach myself to do it with my left hand because I'm just trying to balance, you know, which arms, which hands, which side of the body that I'm doing things with so that not all of the strain is on my right hand. Which - as you would know if you watch this - I have issues with. So one of the ways I'm trying to manage that is to try to spread the pain. Spread- Spread, you know- Share around which muscles are getting used.
So I did initially start drafting with my right hand. But then I tried with my left hand and it wasn't as difficult as I had expected to be. So even though I am more comfortable drafting with my right hand I want to train myself to do it with the left hand on a spinning wheel. So yeah, I'm going to focus on that.
We are- we are starting off with spinning from fleece which I've never done before. It's actually this here. So this is some raw fleece from - I believe it's a Border Leicester / Merino cross. So you can see the beautiful crimp there. The tips and the fluffy cut ends. And they let us take a big bag of it home so that we can practice. We also get to take a wheel home for the duration of the course which is fabulous. And I'm using a Ashford Joy, I believe it is. So it's a double treadle. I wanted a double trevel- treadle - again, because then it's not just all on one side of my body that's doing the work. It's- You can't see my feet pedaling, but I'm pretending to pedal in midair. Yeah. So an Ashford Joy and spinning fleece.
I have bought a flicker which is this fun lethal looking tool here. So you get- you get a bit of it- of the- of the fleece and you sort of like brush it out with this tool here. And it makes it this- this beautiful fluffiness here. So I'm sure I could have combed it out more or flicked it out more, whatever the method is. And maybe, I don't know, this seems like a good amount to me. It's just nice and fluffy. The fibres have been separated out a bit so that it's a bit easier for drafting.
But because it's- it's in the grease - which means it hasn't been scoured yet - you can really feel the lanolin, you can feel the oils, the natural oils in that. So they said that that's good for- it helps the fibres stick together better so they think it's- it's great for learning on. And I think they, you know, they also like spinning in the grease in general, I think. But yeah, they said it's a- it's a great one for beginners as well. So that's what it looks like once it's been combed or flicked or whatever you call it.
And then they got us spinning on the wheel. And so they explained what to do with short forward draw, but they were- they were saying that the first lesson was more about just getting a continuous thread rather than getting a perfect yarn. So my yarn - as you can see - it has lots of pigtails.
So one thing that I'm finding with spinning on the wheel is I have been able to draft a fine thread - it's quite thick and thin really actually - but because it just keeps feeding onto the bobbin immediately, I - it's not like with the spindle where I spin a bit, I check the twist to see that I'm happy with it, and once I am done, I wind it onto the bobbin. This one is just going on straight onto the bobbin and unless I stop and check it - check- check the twist - I don't know what this is doing. So there's lots of pigtails because I'm over twisting, I believe that is. So I have no control over that yet. So it's- I'm just learning the motions and to get it to be... I don't know.
But I mean, it's- it's doing something. Yeah, and I'm pretty excited to be learning that and now I am really keen on getting my own wheel. So we'll see how long I can hold off on doing that for.
One of the things that I found is that joining new fibre is something that I find pretty difficult. It's actually kind of easier with the wheel because you're not having to worry about keeping it spinning and having twist go in, which is what captures the new fibres and joins it. So joining is easier in a way. But what I'm finding is that while it's easier for the fibres to catch it's- for me it's harder to- to- to control the thickness at the join. So even if I am managing to get a really fine fibre- pretty consistent- a really fine thread consistently, my joins are fat lumps. And then it goes nice and thin again. Yes, so I'm really looking forward to getting more into the technique side of things. But I'll spend the next week until the second class practicing a lot and getting through as much of that- that fleece as I can and just getting in as much practice as I can before then.
Yeah, so that's really exciting and yeah. I- Just too many crafts. There's too many to do.
Heart Full of Craft
So I really should start wrapping this up now because it's been nearly an hour and I have to go pick up my Mother's Day present. So just quickly - Heart Full of Craft.
I am grateful for the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria. I wish there was a Knitters Guild. I mean, I think there is a Knitters Guild but it doesn't actually do anything. As far as I'm aware, they just do one- one yarn and craft market which is coming up this month. But that's the only thing that they do. I think. It's the only thing I ever see that they do.
Anyway, so it was really interesting because it's the Handweavers and Spinners Guild, but at the start of the class when she was getting us all to introduce ourselves - and she introduced herself - the teach- the teacher introduced herself - she- she didn't really talk about weaving. She talked about knitting. And most other people there were knitters. There were a few crocheters, but most people were knitters. And I was surprised by that because I watch Roxanne Richardson's vlog, and when she took up spinning, I think- I think she was the only knitter in her class. I think everyone else was spinning just for spinning itself. Or maybe they were weaving but I feel like- from memory I feel like she was the only knitter so I was kind of expecting that here. But then everyone was talking about knitting and a couple of people were wearing- were wearing their own hand knits. So that was really cool. It was nice to to be part of a group that I know really shares the same interests as me. So that was- that was really good.
Yes, so- so thankful to the Guild. Really thankful to the teachers, Carmel and Sarah. They were both really great. They would- they'd tell us what to do and then they would go around and watch whatch- watch what we were all individually doing and correct us here and there. I- The- The- The main thing for me is they kept telling me to slow down my treadling because I was like this, and I- I think I've got to be more like this. But yeah, that's something that I'm struggling with.
The other thing is I- when I'm changing something in- in how I'm drafting or if I'm joining yarn or something like that, I do- I have been doing like little micro pauses in my treadling so- and that's enough- that was enough to start the wheel spinning in the opposite direction. So I kept having to then correct that. So just consistency and slow speed in treadling is something that I have got to focus on and work on.
Thanks!
And that's it for today. Thank you so much for spending your time here with me again.
Like I said before, all of my social media links and all the links to everything that I've talked about are in the YouTube video description below. If you liked this video, then please give it a like. And I hope that you consider subscribing to my Platypus Knitting channel as well.
I hope you're all taking care of yourselves, staying connected to the people you love, and finding time for happiness, relaxation and crafting. I'll see you in a couple of weeks.
Fare thee well.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Resources
Mentions
Books, Hooks and Yarns vlog (Kristel)
Lykke circular knitting needles
Ashford spinning wheels and tools
Roxanne Richardson (YouTube channel)
Patterns (on Ravelry)
Bernie's Big Mood Mittens by Jess Anderson
Dione by Natasja Hornby
Yarns (from my LYS, or on Ravelry)
Cascade 220
Tarndwarncoort yarns from polwarth sheep
Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic