I took her to the student show at the Tin Thimble (excellent place) and while wandering around the shop, found material that she instantly fell in love with. To quote her "But it's so soft". Referring to raw mohair. The conversation that followed went something like this:
Me: "What are you doing?"
Friend: "It's soft. And fluffy."
Me: "Are you petting it?"
Friend: "But it's so soft."
Me: "Would you like it?"
Friend: "What am I going to do with it?"
Me: "Would you like me to make you something?"
Friend: "But I don't like felting."
Me: "You know you can spin that, right?"
(By here I realized I just said something I maybe shouldn't have)
Friend: "I'm going to assume you can spin?"
Me: "You're really asking?"
Friend: "Of course you do." (gives some thought) "Please?"
I am now spinning mohair into thick and thin yarn, in different colors, and after that step is done I will end up weaving them into a scarf. Spinning mohair is not that hard, in all actuality. That is, for a truly advanced spinner with a wheel. I am neither an advanced spinner nor do I have a wheel. But I do LOVE a good challenge.
So how does one spin mohair with a drop spindle? I'm glad you asked.
(Time-laps of about a week)
The problem with mohair is that it is both fine and fuzzy, so unless you have good tension and a base, it is not going to want to keep it's shape. I was fortunate enough to have a spool of very fine, black yarn that I could use as my base. So between that and using two cat hair brushes as my carting pallets (since I do not spin enough to actually own the proper tools, but it's the same basic principle), all of the spinning got done, despite the point that I had never spun mohair before and that it had been a long time since I had used my drop spindle. Then came the point for me to make it all into two ply yarn, which means taking two lengths of the yarn and twisting them in the opposite direction.
I have mentioned before that I tend to MacGyver a majority of my tools, and this project was no different. To hold the one ply yarn I used: a darning egg, a kubaton, and a coffee cup sleeve from Starbucks as well as a paper clip and an extra-small claw clip. At one point an empty tea tin, small quilting frame, and brass hour-glass were also involved. Thankfully my classmates have been interested in what I'm doing and were willing enough to help me by holding the two "spools" of single ply as I used something else to twist them together. The hallways on campus tend to be my impromptu craft space.
As for the weaving, it didn't work out quite the way I wanted it to. One side held shape perfectly, but as I started to turn the project, it just got thinner and more misshapen. I did my due diligence and finished it, took it off of the loom (really, this was the small quilting frame with yarn just wrapped around it. I do not really own a loom.) and looked at it with unease.
Perhaps this makes me an artist, but I was so displeased with the work that I refused to put my label on it or even show my friend. So I took it all apart, wound the yarn into skeins since it would now hold its shape, and selected a pair of gauge 13 knitting needles. Within one weekend I had finished twisting the yarn, woven it all, unwoven it, and knitted a scarf.This past Tuesday, aforementioned friend tries it on. It looked like a turtle neck sweater minus the sweater - just the neck. So back to the drawing board. I took the scarf apart, yet again, and re-knitted the whole thing 3 stitched thinner and in so doing, made it a bit longer. Now the damn thing actually looks the way it is supposed to and she is very happy with it.
To me it was a labor of love as well as a challenge, both things I enjoy immensely.
May your stitches be straight, and may your thread never tangle.
No comments:
Post a Comment