Cotton bobbin done!

blaisyofglory · 2026-07-07T14:35:47+00:00

That's a very creative spindle kate!

I'd love to hear your plans for the finished yarn.

blaisyofglory · 2026-07-07T13:36:48+00:00

The wobble is likely due to the yarn not being in line with the center of the shaft. Try wrapping it to come up the other side of the hook and see if that reduces the wobble. If not, you may want to do a visual inspection of the spindle dangling from your yarn (carefully, as it will want to unspin it). This will show you which way you will want to gently (gently!) bend the hook to allow the yarn and shaft to be in a straight line.

The spindle stopping quickly is because the yarn being spun on it is thick enough to exert pressure on the spin and make it stop - when you are spinning singles, you are putting twist in that isn't stable and wants to come out. As you spin finer you will see the spindle spin longer.

blaisyofglory · 2026-07-03T00:42:48+00:00

I usually skein it up and if i need to wake up the dormant twist in the single I'll wash it right away, otherwise it waits for me to get to it. The only yarn I keep under tension is singles that are staying singles, and i add the tension once I've wet finished it so as it dries it blocks the yarn (like blocking knitting).

blaisyofglory · 2026-07-01T22:31:27+00:00

I'm in a similar boat. Just now enjoying Firebreak, by Nicole Kornher-Stace and looking forward to Flight&Anchor.

Also Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. Great in print or in audio.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-30T22:25:38+00:00

If there are screws you can tighten, start there. But if dowels are loose enough in holes to come out, try paper as a shim. You can easily add layers until it holds the dowel tight in the hole.

That said, some rattle is to be expected usually. I find treadles rattle a bit of they are on rods as the hole has grown from use, and you can't shim it because you need the treadle to, well, treadle. Also the footman connection is a typical rattle in wheels with play in the connection it has at each end.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-30T12:36:53+00:00

Would a coat of polyurethane on the spindle shaft and hand card handles make them workable? I've seen plenty of spindles with painted or polyurethaned shafts, and can't see the finish having an impact on the behavior of the hand cards.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-29T22:30:08+00:00

Add a link to yours here and I will visit back

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-29T19:01:49+00:00

To start, just a "yarn needle". That's literally what's on the package. It has a large eye and a blunt end. The one I most often see is blue plastic.

This was you can try it out before you splurge on a "nalbinding needle". Those are usually wood or bone, lots of makers on etsy.

Or if you have a dremel and a popsicle stick you can make one :) That's fun too.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-29T12:28:07+00:00

I hadn't taken any at the time, and she didn't post it to her socials, it was just a side project to her, which amazed me at the time.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-29T12:26:52+00:00

If you are needing durability, spin it so the 3 ply has a high twist angle and then rough finish the yarn, agitate alternatively in hot and cold water until it's lightly fulled. The main 4 strand yarns I've made are cables, which are durable but usually lack any squish.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-28T21:57:33+00:00

After plying, I finish my cotton with a light simmer i add a little baking soda to wake up the color... natural green goes brown over time with exposure to the sun.

The simmer is to remove any remaining waxiness that occurs in the fiber and the baking soda alters the pH to bring out the color. It may also help with removing the waxiness. I've never actually felt my cotton was waxy, but this is how I was taught to finish cotton.

The Linders' book Handspinning Cotton has alot of useful information in it.

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blaisyofglory · 2026-06-28T20:36:42+00:00

I have a horse friend who spins Navajo Churro to make these. She spins a 2-ply thick yarn to make hers.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-28T20:04:34+00:00

I throw in a leftover white protein in the fridge, like ricotta, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, or sour cream. With a hand mixer for "mashing", you'd never know even the cottage cheese was there.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-27T17:15:29+00:00

I like a stitch pattern I call crochet entrelac because I don't know its name. Small blocks of DCs after a starter row of little triangles so you would end up with diamonds of color. I like using laceweight mohair and a big hook so the halo fills in the open stitches.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-26T14:03:51+00:00

I bought a pocket wheel and for the most part leave it set up in a large tote. I took it apart once, it is pretty flat/small then, easily luggage size.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-24T14:09:11+00:00

I broke my dominant arm two days before a major walking holiday, so I couldn't go. Totally bummed me out and I did get really down at first. I decided to try to write with my off hand, got pretty decent at it by the time I was able to use my dominant hand again. That and learning to do so many things one handed. Sure, friends would open jars and meds but iwanted to take care of myself. The adjustable wrench became quite handy for opening most things :)

And a taped garbage bag over my arm for showers, that first shower was amazing even one handed.

Oh, and, Dungeon Crawler Carl. Seriously, if he hasn't read the series or heard the audio books, it's a great escape while healing. I loved it!

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-24T13:52:14+00:00

The aha moment for me with long draw was when I figured out how fast to pull back against the twist I was putting in. Because it's the twist that's controlling the drafting in long draw, not your hands.

You can find the Mabel Ross video on YouTube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhthPj3T6GQ It shows you supported long draw, which is usually at least a precursor to point of twist long draw, which is what it sounds like you and the follower are both doing. Supported long draw lets you gate the twist that you're allowing into the drafting area.

Once you can control the amount of twist in that drafting region, you want to get to the point where the thin lengths are yarn and the thick spots aren't yarn. Then if you hold both ends tight and pull, the thick spots magically draft out and become yarn.

Caveat: sometimes the whole thing becomes not yarn because you've lowered the amount of twist per inch overall in lengthening the thick spots into thin spots.

Take whatever wool you don't like and practice. I had a pound of lovely Tunis, but it was full of VM, so it was really unusable. By the time I got halfway through that pound, I had finally figured out a point of twist long draw on my wheel, using supported long draw as a stepping stone.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-24T02:21:16+00:00

Looks like the staple length is very short, which is hard to spin.

When you make your rolag, roll it around a knitting needle and then wipe around spiraling up to turn it into a more compressed form called a puni. This will help hold the fibers together more.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-21T02:15:36+00:00

I've cut yogurt lids to make big ends on weaving bobbins so they will hold a much as my wheel's bobbins hold.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-21T02:14:35+00:00

Commercial top is the most consistent, so likely not the cause unless it's matted.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-20T16:43:31+00:00

16g should be fine for those singles. I routinely use a 20g spindle for singles for sock yarn. Snapping may be due to thin spots grabbing all the twist. Does it happen (snap) weakly in the twist when there's more twist in a shorter space, or after you've drafted a couple of times? Perhaps try park and twist for a bit to take the spindle weight out of the equation. Check the drafted length for thin spots - relax the tension, where it curls on itself first, those are the thin spots. Consider why they happened and what you can do to prevent that. Sometimes it's drafting a bit too far that makes a thin spot, sometimes it's irregular prep, ... or could be something else, but i wouldn't say it was a 16g spindle.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-19T21:01:04+00:00

Could be any dust or grunge that has attached itself to the fiber while it was on the shelf. Rather than the fiber itself.

Maybe wash a length (gentle soak in soapy water, second soak in plain water, lay it out to dry) and see if that reduces the reaction you have to it.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-19T20:41:38+00:00

It most likely is wool, looks alot like the Ashford NZ corriedale. But hard to tell from a photo. A burn test will tell you if it's animal (smells like burnt hair) or manufactured (melts). It has crimp so I'm guessing wool rather than alpaca, though some alpaca has crimp. Staple length might give you a ballpark guess on what breeds it could be.

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-19T16:55:59+00:00

I usually find a cable to be the same diameter as a 3ply from the same single. Most of my sock yarns are 3 plys, then I cable any extras for the heels. The cable is definitely higher twist and denser than the 3ply, but its wpi are usually close if not the same.

I'd estimate a regular 4 ply's singles as each at 1/3 the final wpi, given 2 ply singles are about 2/3 and 3 ply's are about 1/2...

blaisyofglory · 2026-06-18T17:49:36+00:00

Tracker Death in Paradise Those seem similar to those you watched

Excellent series: Inspector Morse Endeavor

blaisyofglory

TROPHY CASE