Spinning. All the way to Alaska

'Eltaa' (shaman's spiritual powers)
by Kathleen Carlo, 2005

In July, I had an opportunity to go on a cruise to Alaska with my parents. This is a perfect trip for people who don't have a lot of 'travel energy' (not me! My parents).  They loved it and so did we. this was the year to do it, July was the calmest month for the seas, hardly any wind or waves for the whole trip. The food was fantastic which was offset by the best view on board being from the treadmills in the gym!

My wheel after being fixed
(note the large white
outline of the 'scar'.

I decided to bring my 'Joy', spinning wheel. The rooms are small but there was enough space to entertain two couples sipping daily rituals of gin and tonic and doing a little spinning before sitting down to a late dinner.
However, let this be a warning to others contemplating taking their wheel --carry the wheel on and off the ship yourself. Don't leave it to baggage handlers. I stupidly let them take it thinking the padded bag and the fact that the boat was only 100 yards away would be protection enough. No. When I unzipped the bag there was a horrendous dent in the wheel. Luckily this did not affect the way the wheel operated, but it would need repair before moisture worked its way into the scarred wood causing it to expand and possibly warp the wheel making it unusable. I have a clever brother-in-law who was able to fix it in time for me to take it on another trip the following week.

Back to Alaska...While the glaciers in Glacier Bay were beautiful, and the scenery wild and wonderful, it was the museums that held treasures for me. It is strange that on the cruise, they promoted and advertised 'adventure' activities - take a train to see the Yukon Trail Railway; charter a helicopter to see the glaciers; take a 2 hour float plane ride; ride a dog sled; hike the wilderness; zipline through the rain-forest, etc. etc. Not a word about the local museums. Some people enjoy hair raising, heart pounding outdoor adventures. I do. But a beautifully made textile makes my heart pound and the hair on my neck stand up too!
We lucked into a few things, a couple of which I will do special posts on later (one being a somewhat unknown Coast Salish Blanket).
The Alaska State Museum has an exhibit of Ravenstail weavings. Wow. This is an awesome exhibit, dance aprons, tunics and leggings. Ravenstail weaving is worth a separate post. For now, here's a teaser.

Oh, I did manage to spin 200 meters of plied linen and spin up samples for three assignments: fake cashmere (rayon) and wool blend; soy; and corn silk, between the G&T's and the meals.

Spinning right from the source

This is too good. Spinning wool right from a Shetland sheep. This beats the traditional sheep-to-shawl competitions and demos.

Hiatus

 

A beautiful BFL fleece.  Inspiring.

 

I often read blogs on a regular basis to find that sooner or later the posts spread out,become sporadic and then come to an end or perhaps just a long pause between posts.  Has that happened here?  We shall see.  So for now, I am attempting to use the new technology and somewhat limited apps to get back to blogging.  So my next few (dozen?) posts will be catchup posts.

Tablet interuptus

I have had my head down, working frantically on my Master Spinner Level 4 home work. That, plus my laptop meltdown and new tablet replacement has brought my blogging to almost a halt. Tablets are not made for working. They are made for surfing, playing and reading. Tablets haven't yet matured with all the useful features I need, or at least I haven't found the apps that replace the tools I need.  
I need to download photos from my camera, sort them into folders, tag them and upload the important ones. I need to do the same with photos from the tablet but I haven't been able to fund an app to do it. Oh there are lots of photo apps, but not photo management. Not like organizing your photos with database-style capabilities. But I just found an app that might make it easier. We shall see.

The SABLE zone

[Photo: funny fibre - for SABLE]

 I came across this term 'Sable' recently. I  had thought she, that-woman-who-encourages-me-to-increase-my-stash, was talking about sable, as in fur fibre. But no, she was, as per usual, as she terms it 'enabling' me, or in plain language, once again, convincing me that l needed to  buy more wool or fleece, or... sable.  Sable? Who spins sable? Although, this same 'enabler' once sold me some Canadian Blue fox fibre  which  now resides in my 'stash.  So I just assumed that I would soon be adding Sable fur to the stash. 

The 'enabler' peered at me over her glasses with raised eyebrows and saw that I had not understood her.   

'S.A.B.L.E' she paused knowingly.

'Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy'. 'Sable!' she declared. 

Her husband knows what SABLE is.  He lives with it.   He accepts it. For Christmas he even gave her some funny fibre to enhance her stash, to keep her in the sable zone. 

He gave her a fabric, drawstring bag with a blue yarn end dangling from it. She showed it to me and started pulling the yarn out of the bag. Every foot or so a blue $5 bill was attached to her yarn.   Maybe next year she will receive a red-toned funny fibre. Now that would put her into the super sable zone! 

Versatile patterns

[Photo: Spiralucious ]

As a new knitter, I am keenly aware of my lagging knitting speed. I am a tortoise. Although in an attempt to boost my confidence and in my own defense, I am pretty quick in some respects. Quick to make mistakes, quick to rip it all out again, quick to re-knit it and quick to once again make a new mistake(or same old one yet again) and quick to repeat this process. Luckily I sometimes forget to make a mistake and the object of such devotion slowly progresses and emerges despite all the speedy mistakes. Where was I going with this? ...
Oh yes, so what I am trying to say is that I am not exactly producing a lot of objects. A scarf a year, although this year I am hoping to double that.

[photo: Wendy with cowl]

[photo: Wendy As sunflower]

But it struck me that I may be able to knit multi-use objects, versatile ones, like a shawl that doubles as a cowl or hoodies or small blanket. One article, four uses. So I now resolve to hunt up a few of those patterns that make me seem like a knitter who can produce. I may even be able to get away with making something for my (spoiler alert Mom, stop reading here) Mother's birthday and Christmas. One object, two gifts (but Mom, it's as much loving work as an efficient knitter knitting two objects and anyway, you weren't supposed to read this).

[photo: Wendy with La cowl]

So, I was delighted to come across a pattern that does this and more. It is a cowl,

[photo: Wendy as rooster]

Spiralucious byAnne Hanson. The one in these pictures is knitted and modelled by Wendy, a good spinner, knitter and a very good sport.

Wool combing

[Photo: the
governor-scene from a stained
glass window from the area
of Soissons (Picardy, France),
early 13th century.]

I am still having a few computer issues (the new tablet which is not totally compatible with blogging tasks) hence sporadic posts. So here is one that has been in editing limbo for almost a month....
It was totally coincidental that the Mid Island Weavers and Spinners Guild held a Wool combing demo on St. Blais's Day, the patron saint of wool combers and throats .Yes, throats. Body parts had patron saints. Go figure! 
Legend has it St Blais either died from being combed (ie. his flesh was ripped with honking big sharp iron combs) or comb torture was just the warm-up to being beheaded . No matter how he died, he is remembered by those who use those combs.  
As I was saying, it was almost on St Blais's day that Karen Braun came to show us how to use those honking big combs but in a very gentle, well intended way. 
The large combs may have 3 or 4 or 5 rows of tines while small ones have one or two rows. Such powerful tortuous looking tools are used in a graceful gentle manner to produce soft, perfect fibres, all straitened and parallel with each other, without nips, noils, or foreign bits. Just pure lengths of perfect fibre. When pulled and stretched out, it is known as 'top' or' combed top'.

[Photo: large combs]

Karen's gentle technique was to separate the locks, lay them on a towel, all with the tips pointing in the same direction. Then she spritzed them with a little water and olive oil. Some people use hair conditioner. Whatever you use, the idea is to add a little moisture to keep the fibres slick and smooth and to cut down on static electricity.

[Photo: Small combs]

Locks, enough to half fill the tines, were then placed on the tines on the comb fixed to the table, cut end in the tines and the end tip out in front. The free comb then combed the fibers until most of the fibres now clung to the free comb. What was left on the fixed comb was tangles which are removed. Deftly, switching angles, one combs the fibres again between the combs and the fibres attach back to the fixed comb (you had to be there).
A few passes between combs and the fibre is perfect and ready to be drawn through a diz (a button hole will do) so a long length of parallel fibres is created.
The lengths are made into soft nests, ready for spinning.
I know this sounds crazy, but honest to gawd, this is one of the most satisfying sensory experiences. Almost a saintly experience, spinning the ultimate perfect preparation. No wonder there were Guilds of people who just combed wool. And no wonder they had a patron saint. Try it. Life will never be the same.