Andean Plying and Tools

One of the plying types I have a love-hate relationship with is the Andean Plying. This technique allows you to use one bobbin of singles and ply it onto itself. The trick is you wind you singles onto your hand or a tool in a special way that allows you to make a bracelet around your wrist that will freely run the each end as it makes a continuous loop of the single to create a 2ply.

http://www.mielkesfiberarts.com/andean-plying-instructions/

POSITIVES:
You use fewer bobbins (only 1 vs the 3 of standard 2 ply)
You use up all the singles and don't have to worry about getting to even bobbins of singles

NEGATIVES
If you are using your hand you end up chained to your equipment and it's not as easy to set aside quickly
You can allow load so much on your hand before you dislocate a finger, and while you can keep making chains on your wrist having stuff wrapped around your fingers is not easy.

If you are like me and enjoy this spinning, but don't like using your hands (if like me you have joint issues) to load the singles you can by an Andean Plying Tool.

I recently picked up Nancy's Knit Knacks Handy Andy Plying tool from Fiberific

Kitty only wants pictures taken when he is not the topic of the picture

Comes with a reat little case everything just slides into.

Here is a great video by Chantelle the owner of Fiberific demonstrating how to use this little too. I haven't had a chance to use mine yet, but I can't wait to try it.


Etsy also has lots of other tools available. Though this one for the price is a lot nicer than some available to Australians. Also with shipping and USD-AUD it gets pretty close.

I like that this one has a base so you can leave the bracelet on the tool and ply with two free hands. I also like that you put the tail in the little notches at the bottom as one issue I keep having when hand plying is where I put the tail so I don't stuff up!



Others have made their own adaptions of these using books and this was my try (and fail) at doing so.

I lost so much of my single is a giant twisted mess after this!

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PLY Magazine

I have been eyeing off subscribing to a spinning magazine for awhile. After much discussion, I decided to investigate PLY magazine. Ply magazine is a bit different than standard magazines. People told it is more akin to a journal. Each publication has a topic which the articles focus on. Currently, they have the First Issue, Colour, Woolen, Silk, Twist, Community, Worsted, Leicester, Fine, Texture, Singles and Cotton. This is a quarterly publication that started in summer 2013 with their 'First' Issue (which is so well liked they can't keep it in stock. They stick predominantly to wheel spinning while including a bit of spindle spinning. Any extras like knitting, weaving etc is specifically related to the spinning topic.

There are no distributors in Australia anymore, but the previous wholesaler had some back issues available so I bought 4 to investigate. Out of the 12 issues already out and what was left available I purchased Woolen, Worsted, Fine and Cotton. These magazines are very sturdy and I enjoy the focus of an issue being singular vs. lots of random articles. They even have examples to follow like knitting patterns based on the singles you spun. While it has ads they aren't obstructive and many are made specifically for the article (The cotton and fine one have an add about the Majacraft lace flyer and why this piece of equipment suits the style being investigated.

Part of the cotton issue

The magazines also allow for a lot of spinners comments on the topic as well, as there are very few things in spinning that are so cut and dry with only one way to do it. So it is interesting not to only read the experts opinions, but also your everyday spinner. In one issue they also did a blind test of the WooleeWinder with 3 mystery spinners to get their opinion on the equipment. 

The photography and graphic design work that goes into this makes it a beautiful magazine. When I asked if anyone had any back issues they wanted to rehome I was met with much laughter at the hilarity that anyone would sell any issue. I would like to eventually get all the back issues, but there are a couple of topics I think I will leave till very last. The website has information on what each magazine has in it and after reading them I will leave the community one (talks about things like Ravlery and Craftsy and the online community I am already very well aware of) and Leicester (SHEEP!). I am keen to get my hands on silk, twist and colour.

Each one has a funny cartoon related to the topic

So after going through the back issues I bit the bullet and purchased a year's subscription (and chucked in the back issues of texture and single). The upcoming topics all look like skills and topics I would highly appreciate getting information on. Next up is the Bulky Issue, then Bouclé, then the one I am highly anticipating PLYING! and finally the Down Issue (not quite sure about this one, but I am sure they will do quite well if they are presenting all types of Fiber down. 

Prices for back issues seem to vary a little between sellers, but the official store has them from $10-$11. Depending on your country the Subscriptions range a bit, in Australia it jumps to $64USD. Unfortunately, due to the quality of the printing material and extensive writing, these are not light. So shipping can jump up to $65! So I can't wait till an Australian seller comes back into the fold. 

Now to read my issues extensively while I wait for the next issue!

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Lace Flyer - results!

As I mentioned I have been playing with my new Majacraft Lace Flyer and I thought I would show my efforts quickly! This is a first time so I bet I can get thinner with more effort and practice. Consistency and plying are the areas I need to work. I had to run the ply through twice, but I finally got something that looked like the tight ply you get with conventional yarn, but was actually balanced.

Lovely dyed merino

8ply thickness beside them. As you can see some are a lot thinner, others not so much. 

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The Spinning Pen

You can't see it here but the top I was spinning matched my shirt

So today (and tomorrow) I was a demo spinner at a country show. It was an interesting setup. In the middle of the building we were in with all the arts and crafts, there is a section that had a pen areas with a gate and everything where we spinners and other crafters were corraled for patrons to walk about and check us out like the other livestock. I had a good time ad even went to say hi to the alpacas and asked them who wanted to be a sweater. I am hoping on the last day tomorrow some breeders will be wanting to sell off their fleeces.








At these shows, I seem to have the knack of sniffing out the one small basket of fibre available in an entire show. Last time I got the kid mohair. This time, I managed two small bags of cashmere! I grabbed the white and natural brown. While I am not anywhere skilled enough to spin it, cashmere is not easy to find so I am storing it aside. I also showed another few spinners the hidden treasure. I also picked up a skein of spun and dyed 100% cashmere. This skein came with a scarf pattern that could be made with the one skein. It was a hard job deciding which colours as it is not cheap!


While there were many spinners in the craft pen there were a few other crafts including lace making and wet felting. I made friend with the lace maker and mentioned this craft was on my list and I had some cheap bobbins at home from eBay to get ready.  She actually had some starter kits available so I nabbed that too.

Finally, I got the results for the entries I put into the craft competition. I put in 4 skeins (one that placed in the previous show) and 3 crochet items. Never being to this show and believing it was probably smaller compared to the city show I didn't realise I was competing against many people with more experience than I have years to my name. So I got a Highly commended in the novice section (kinda like an example of me almost graduating from being a novice. The others didn't place (even the one that took second before and won a special category).

Mix of alpaca, Corriedale and silk.

I did much better than I anticipated in the crochet section. With my shawl (Virus Shawl) taking out first place in crocheted shawls and a doll (Lalylala Kira Pattern) getting second place. My crocheted jacket didn't place. So not a bad effort seeing I took up crochet when I moved to this city barely a year ago. This show gives feedback, so this will be immensely helpful. There is at least two more shows interstate I will be aiming to send items to.

I spent ages sewing in that Joey so it wouldn't get lost. 

Using Moda Vera Fayette 

I didn't get many other photos but here are two more! 

Yes! That is a syringe filled with Nutella. 

Cool wet felted shoulder thing with lots of feathers off it

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Weaving

Yes, I actually do something with my looms....well I do now! So I went early to Petlins and learnt (reminded) how to warp up my rigid heddle loom in preparation for a Mobius Scarf.

I picked up some of Ashford Tekapo 8ply Yarns. THese have a nice soft feel that a lot of wool yarns seem to be missing which is lovely. This is also the first time I have changed colours. My first scarf was just one colour for both warp and weft. 

So I have managed a few pattern repeats (instead of working lol), so I can see how it is working. I didn't spend a lot of time thinking out the pattern so we will see how it goes. I am working very hard keep my edges and beating even. 

I am finding the colours very Spring like. How I picked the colours was very random, they just happened to be stocked this way. 

Though I think I have a bit of a critic of the colours or pattern.

Yummy!

All mine!

I have been finding the book I bought with it has been a wonderful primer. I can't wait to try other patterns now I have become for confident with the loom. 

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Recent Acquisitions

I have had a little buying spree thanks to lots of luck.

This warping board I got off eBay. To buy this size upfront is $140AUD and even the smaller one is over $100. So I was very glad to get this one for under $70. The lady I got this one was lovely and we had a great chat and she also went to Petlins. So I got to send her regards when I went to spinning later that day. 

I also got this from the lady I got the warping board off. She was unloading a couple of her looms as well (which I bid heavily on until they were over my price range. She kept her rigid heddle and wheel and the space is now for her pottery. 

While at Petlins later that day we found they had reduced their boxes of Ashford samples and I managed to grab this one that has the silk Merino blend. I say grab because there were a few of us watching each other carefully. I feel like I should have grabbed one of the merino colours for blending. However, I had a big day of spending. I also picked up a lambs skin that I am going to cut into treadle covers like seen here.

With all the work I had been doing get yarns ready for the next show I had a lot of plying. With all that plying I realised I needed a tensioned lazy kate. I was sick of getting piggy tails. The little chicken was along for the ride!

I also got an order I had previously made. A friend and I were lamenting the loss of the Lace Flyer and its insanely high ratios for the Ashford Wheels. We found out the whorl for the Kiwi would give some quite high ratios so I grabbed on. I have yet to try it as my Traveller is being borrowed at the moment. I can't wait though since seeing how fun lace spinning can be!

While not purchased this week I got this in the mail from Ixchel, which is her Frida Adventure. They are the same fiber, I just wanted one un-dyed. These contain Navajo Churro, Angora, Cashmere and Agave Cactus Fibers. The cool sheep and cactus sold it for me and it is soft, which is nice seeing the Churro is not the finest micron sheep. I am now awaiting for her Viking blend!

I stopped in at the Guilds Market Day and checked out their shop as well.  I picked up some Ginned Cotton in preparation for the cotton section of my CCHS. I love the feel of cotton!

The Guild meeting also had some Sheep owners selling their lovely fibre. Kurrambee Coloureds. My only regret is I didn't buy more. These staples are so well separated and so easy to prepare. I have put some into one of my competition entries for the Hawkesbury Show. I love this natural grey colour. 

At the guild store they also had bags of alpaca for $2 a bag, so I grabbed 2! It is nice and soft and quite a nice colour. At the guild store they also had bags of alpaca for $2 a bag, so I grabbed 2! It is nice and soft and quite a nice colour. 

Finally, I picked up some handmade Lucets at the guild. A standard 2 prong and in the bag a 4 prong. While I have never used these cord making tools they were $1 and $2.50 each so I grabbed them!

Lincraft had a sale around easter so I picked up two of these Spaghetti Yarns (they are super heavy). While it is hard to tell it is a mauve colour. I think I will make a rug. 

I also saw these and thought they reminded me of the colour-way for Dr Who's. Now to find a pattern that also reflects Dr Who! They are also soft and light! 

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Lace Flyer

Majacraft Lace Flyer kit

So a few weeks back I finally got my lace flyer that will fit both of my Majacraft wheels. With much trepidation I finally attached the fast whorl onto my Aura and got spinning. So what are my thoughts?

I bought the full kit that includes: the flyer, a fast whorl and 2 lace bobbins. Each of these items can be purchased separately.

This kit (and all other equipment) took awhile to come as all items are handmade to order pretty much (some places keep basic stock). So if you are after one quickly you might be out of luck. At least, you know they are well made and properly balanced. I ordered mine from Ewe Give Me Knits. The transaction was fine though the process is not finalised at once. You put in the order and the owners gets back to you with a quote that includes shipping later vs having a standard shipping. The order is sent through to Majacraft who does everything from there. So packaging and shipping etc was done by Majacraft and they were well packaged and shipping prices were fairly standard.

The flyer is the newer version and slightly different from what is displayed on the sites. I had known about the possibility through Ravalary's Majacraft website. However, I think it might be time for them to update the website. The difference is that the older flyer had two hooks on the bar to allow for cross warping to help reduce the pull. The newer version only has one, and it is also more an orifice rather than a hook which requires an orifice hook to put things through. I think if I had the choice I would prefer the to open hooks at the front. I believe the change was based on minimising the weight and perfecting the balance. I hope they bring back the double hook. For now, I am crossing over the arms of the flyer.

The tiny blakc piece that when missing!

The whorl was something I was very keen to get on my wheel. While I love my Aura the original whorl is a tad limited in ratios which are 4.1-7.3. Adding this whorl gave me a range of 10-19.4. I checked out the largest whorl and it came to about 10 revolutions. I am quite interested in getting all the whorls to play with. I must admit, this is the one time I prefer Ashford for changing whorls. It isn't difficult per se, but wasn't the simple slight twist Ashford does. I think now I have done it once I will be a bit better and I don't anticipate multiple changes. As you can see by their video to change the whorl one must use the provided Allen key and insert it into the hole in the metal area. What I didn't know however was that there a tiny plastic screwy kind thing in there. I discovered it when I felt something drop on my foot. Thank god I found the insanely tiny little black piece. It took a little while for me to get it tight enough to get things sorted so I could get the Aura flyer off to change (you have to hold the whorl and give a slight twist).

So finally how does it spin?

LACE!!

While I know a good spinner can spin anything on any wheel at any setup I can really appreciate how the whorl, flyer and bobbin work together to make it effortless. I started spinning some of the thinnest spin ever on the superwash Merino I had going. For awhile I kept breaking because I was getting too thin, but by the end I was getting fairly good. I have one bobbin done and am setting up another bobbin to get ready for some plying.

I did find that getting my treadling started was a bit harder and I can't tell whether things is just me comparing my Suzie rather than an actual issue. Will have to keep an eye on it. Having these add-ons really does make the Aura able to spin a large range without difficulties. I will be interested in how it goes on the Suzie as the fast whorl give a range 9.5-18.8 compared to the standard 4.2-14.5 on the Suzie whorl.

I have done an entire bobbin and a half so far and still loving. I had this set up at spinning recently and sold my other Aura sister on this as she had been watching and we had a chat. It is lovely when the item speaks for themselves.

Now for pictures showing how tiny this set is compared to the big Aura ones!

Standard Aura whorl with lace whorl.

Aura vs Lace Flyer bobbins and flyer sizes 

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