How often do we have such gorgeous weather in May in the UK?
So I decided to take advantage of it by having a swim and then sitting down with my spinning wheel to spin up some Jacob’s rolags I’d carded last night. What more perfect way of spending on Friday afternoon.
Ok the garden needs attention and I’ve got plants to plant out and I should be writing and all sorts of things, but sitting in the sun and spinning just seemed undeniable.
See more about machine and hand knitting and hand spinning on my ‘Vikkikit’ YouTube channel.
Yesterday, a friend who I think has more spinning wheels than even I have, brought an older Louet wheel along to the monthly meeting of the Brighton Textile Arts Group. She didn’t know the model, and I still haven’t found it online, but that’s sort of irrelevant as it’s the Irish tension that caught my eye.
I have learned from many texts and posts online that ‘Scotch’ and ‘Irish’ don’t really relate to geographical origins. I also understand that ‘Scotch’ and double drive are both flyer-led and ‘Irish’ is bobbin-led (literal and more accurate descriptors), but the terms Scotch and Irish tension are in common use so I will stick to them here. In flyer led systems the wheel drives the flyer around the bobbin, and the bobbin is braked by either the brake band or the second loop of the double drive band. In bobbin led systems the bobbin is driven by the wheel so spins constantly, but the flyer, which feeds the yarn onto the bobbin is braked by either a leather band at the front (as on the Louet) or by using a brake band. In both systems, the spinner restrains the yarn from being pulled through the hooks/flyer and onto bobbin as twist is introduced in to the fibres and then releases their hold to allow the yarn to be drawn onto the bobbin. Both systems rely on some slippage of the bands, which is something I have not fully understood as yet, and am not sure is really necessary, but fascinating all the same. So far I am not sure how the difference in circumference of bobbin and flyer whorl affect each other in Irish tension as they do in double and Scotch tension systems. Another interesting thing to spend time testing out.
I learned to spin on a Westbury wheel, which was a gem of a wheel. My Mother bought it in Glastonbury as a kit – she was so excited, and my Dad built it for her and stained it dark walnut – not a fashionable option today, but it did look charming. The Westbury has both double drive and Scotch tensions, but I only used the Scotch option as we really didn’t understand the double drive. After this there was a gap in my spinning and Mum didn’t carry on with it for long, so that wheel has long gone, (something I really regret).
My interest in yarn design endured, but was industrially focused, so it was quite a few years later that I resumed hand spinning. I now prefer double drive but have several wheel which are switchable and value the flexibility this gives me. So that I can share with you, these are a Wee Peggy and a Schacht Matchless and an Ashford Traddie that I have converted to double drive but which still retains the option of Scotch tension. Of these the Matchless is a recent purchase, chosen after trying lots of wheels over longish periods of time, (hence my collection of wheels) and is my absolute favourite. It is a dream to spin on and has double treadles and a central orifice which is super ergonomic; I find single treadles can make me twist and lead to back and hip ache nowadays so can’t spin for too long on these.
So let’s get back to yesterday and the Louet wheel. Which is a sweetie I have to say. I like Louet wheels, (and of course own one) because they are so thoughtfully designed and this was no exception; sturdy with a central orifice and an onboard Lazy Kate, all made in lovely wood – very nice apart from the rather high treadle position. I’ve not used the Irish tension system before and so was keen to try it. I didn’t actually shove her out of the way, but hovered and green-eyed it and eventually asked if I could have a go. Generously she gave me fibre, and left me with it, saying she found it quite a challenge to be able to control what she was spinning, although I thought her samples were soft and pretty even. However, she was right!
After a while I managed to set the leather band so that the fibre wasn’t ripped from my fingers, and could start to spin. I found that very little tension was needed, which I am not sure is normal. We inspected the tension band, orifice and brass bearing and whilst the band didn’t look worn at all, the orifice outer was a bit sticky and the brass bearing seemed a bit rough. We cleaned these as best we could with what we had to hand which helped a little, but probably a gentle swab of alcohol on the orifice outer and brass would be a good idea.
Once it was going I was really surprised how different the Irish tension felt to the two other systems, and can see why it is good for thicker yarns because of its pretty intense pull-in. Plus I imagine it is great for plying. However I managed a reasonably even singles that was indeed thicker than I usually spin double drive, so that sort of proved it to me.
Being an equipment squirrel I immediately wanted an Irish tension wheel. So imagine my joy when I found that my Matchless would convert to Irish tension! In my excitement of first owning the Matchless I tried both double and Scotch tensions and have been using these both since then, but I clearly forgot that it has three tension modes. I’m not sure it tells you in the manual, but you simply swap the drive bands over. The wheel drive band goes on the bobbin, and the Scotch brake band on the flyer whorl. I have set mine with the larger bobbin whorl to the back with the medium flyer whorl, there may be better arrangements but I have yet to try these out.
The result felt very similar to the Louet, with the brake band needing hardly any tension, so maybe that is normal after all. I found starting needed care so that the fibre doesn’t pull away too rapidly, but once going it went well. It might be me, but most times after I moved hooks the pull-in became stronger, then settled down again. This must be because the smaller circumference of the bobbin to start with pulls the yarn in faster. Because of this I can see why a Woollee Winder type system might be useful with this tension system, but I am not tempted due to price. The hooks will do me just fine and I really don’t like the sliding hooks on any make so far.
As you will see in the photos, the singles I spun are nothing to write home about, but its early days for the Irish tension set-up. The fibre is onion-skin dyed Lleyn blended, (rather poorly because I was in a hurry) with rust coloured Alpaca, then taken as tops off the drum-carder.
The Irish tension set up on my Matchless. The drive band is the one I use for Scotch tension – I have a cotton one for double drive. They both stay on the wheel tucked underneath. I am wondering what will happen if I put the brake band on the smaller flyer whorl? The Lleyn was deliberately left with nepps to create a textured fibre, and the way the onion-skin dye has taken differently on the nepps enhances the texture. Roughly blended with the Alpaca – ‘do what I say not what I do’ is the underlying message here! I think I will ply with a finer singles made from undyed Lleyn for a tweedy final yarn.
Yesterday I had a fab time at a workshop learning to spin fancy yarns. We only managed boucle and slub but that was so rewarding. The workshop was organised by the Brighton and Hove Textile Arts Group and hosted by Spring Farm Alpacas in Fletching West Sussex. Ann Dishman led the workshop and provided Blue Faced Leicester tops, still various and other threads for us to spin with.
Although I have spun both types of yarns before, I learned a lot and really enjoyed having four hours in which to practise the techniques. I also found out that Ann had been taught to spin by my spinning hero, Mabel Ross, which made me extremely envious.
Unwashed boucle, Blue Faced Leicester singles and loops, cotton binder. Unwashed the boucle was a bit lively, but it balanced out nicely after a strenuous washing.
Unwashed soft slub; Blue Faced Leicester singles with a fine industrial wool binder.
I took my Louet Victoria travel wheel and at usual she spin well and reliably, it was the user who made the mistakes!
I recently read an article in SpinOff about distaffs and decided to try using one when spinning in a wheel, not just on a drop spindle. Luckily I had a handy drumstick lying around that I use to roll rolags off the blending board and it is just about the right length and weight. Its varnished surface also helps the wool slide off easily as I take it from the distaff.
At the moment I am spinning Ryeland fleece and have been preparing batts on the drum carder. I used to be able to take a roving off but since the carder was motorised its not so easy as it won’t rotate freely. So now I split the batts into narrower lengths to wind around the distaff. This seems to work OK and after a spray with spinning oil I find the fibre supply much easier to handle in this manner. Using my (new) large double drive wheel I get a good speed up and even doing short draft can spin a surprising amount, (for me anyway) at a sitting.
I will carry on with this and see how it works out. I may even get to attach the distaff to one of the wheel uprights which might be even more efficient.
Distaff held in my waistband, but sometimes under my arm or in my outside fingers.
The fleece I am working with is not brilliant, but I am using it to practise making a balanced, soft spun woollen yarn for knitting. To do this I read up on Mabel Ross’ method, and with a little tweaking to suit my preferred yarn handle, it worked!
Mabel Ross worked it out for us and it is quite logical really. You do need to know your wheel’s ratios, work consistently with your draft and count your treadling to start with, so if thats not your style, don’t go there.
I was aiming for around 2tpi in the finished yarn, but actually increased this a little after the first samples.
The equation is to do with spinning the singles at the tpi you want and then plying them to get the final tpi you want. Its really helpful to remember that if you spin your singles Z, when you ply them S you will be unwinding some of the single’s twist. (update- I have subsequently spun some yarn at a much higher tpi using a 1:10 whorl that has come out soft after a similarly balancing plying method. Maybe I’m getting it…)
I worked backwards from my 2tpi goal.
For example: I was working with a 1:6 whorl, therefore one revolution of my wheel would turn the bobbin 6 times. I was spinning ‘Z’ twist with a long draw of 12″.
First of all I needed to know how many treadles to the 12″ draft would give me the tpi I required. Yes I know I’ve muddled metric and imperial, but it still works.
Number of treadles = (required tpi x planned draft length)/ divided by wheel ratio (which i know will be 6)
tpi of my singles = tpi of my plied yarn divided by number of plies
II reckoned that if I want 2tpi in the plied yarn, I needed to spin the singles at around 4tpi.
The equation I worked with using MR method to find out how many treadles I needed to a set draft length was:
tpi = (wheel ratio x treadles)/divided by draft length.
Go back to the earlier question of how many treadles?
Number of treadles = (required tpi x planned draft length)/ divided by wheel ratio (which i know will be 6)
which came out as
tpi (4) x draft (12″) = 48/6 = 8.
So 8 treadles using the 1:6 whorl to a 12′ draft should give me 4tpi. in my singles…
Well I wrote this post a while ago, and since then have done some spinning. It was not successful, way to soft and loose spun for my taste, but a balanced yarn – no twisting and it knits without bias.
I upped singles tpi a little and also the ply by a smaller amount and the yarn improved. and stayed balanced! A lesson learned.
A bit like outdoor anything – providing its not raining or freezing – spinning is enhanced by the open-air. I took my little Louet wheel with me whilst on holiday on the Pembroke coast recently. We were being careful and avoiding towns etc in our caravan sitting on a farm, so there was plenty of opportunity to spin in the lovely sunshine. It seems ages ago now, but was so refreshing.
Victoria beside the caravan, enjoying the view.
I took a bag full of mixed colour Jacob’s fleece and sorted it into dark and light before hand carding it. Ifirst of all spun a skein of cream to test the tpi and grist I was aiming at and on a rainy day decided to dye it with the onion skins from our soup.
All very earthy!
I can’t resist a marl yarn, so plied the colours into variations on this.
From left: knot or knop marl, slubby marl, onion dyed 2 ply, chain plied random carded colours
If you have seen some of my earlier posts about machine knitting and spinning you might realise that I am keen to put the two together. I was given a fleece that is long-staple, not-very crimped and quite lustrous, but I don’t know what breed it is from. Its also quite coarse with well defined locks. The first batch I stove-top rainbow dyed, and spun from flicked locks. It worked OK, and I got a reasonably fine yarn. I also have a lovely soft, long staple Alpaca fleece, so I worked with the two as separate singles to ply together. This yarn worked at tension 8 on a standard gauge knitting machine.
However, I was determined to get it thinner. I started with the Alpaca, and after hand carding the fibres, spun it worsted using a double drive wheel with the lace flyer and was so pleased with the results. I got a 28wpi singles from the Alpaca which was quite dense, not light an airy, but I wanted it to match the coarser fibre’s density. To prepare the long-staple wool I decided to comb the locks on wool combs. At first I was slow, because although I have done this before I’ve not practised a lot. It was exciting to find I got faster quite quickly and began to get some lovely long slivers coming off the comb. After spinning in the same set up as the Alpaca, I have also managed to get the rather coarser wool to produce a 28wpi singles, so I am pretty pleased as this will give around 14wpi 2ply.
I have plied all of the yarn, and am waiting for the second skein to dry. Meanwhile I have knitted a tension swatch on the Knitmaste SK840 and can get it to knit at either tension 5 or 6. Tension 5 is a nice looking stitch, but the handle is stiff, so I opted for tension 6 instead. I probably should have tried between the two, but when each metre of yarn takes so long to prepare and spin I was reluctant to use too much on sampling at this stage. I will add photos of the fabric once I have given it a wash and steam.
Replacing the tension dial on the carriage of a Knitmaster 700, some tricks and tips to make this easier. Knitting socks and hand spinning yarn for machine knitting socks.
Follow my podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts or iTunes.
Show Notes:
Although an older model, the Knitmaster 700 is a lovely machine. It is a punchcard machine and ball bearings so it slides very smoothly on the bed. One really nice feature is that it will knit intarsia without using a special carriage. Two white levers on the left and right of the carriage activate the intarsia setting.
Whilst knitting the sock, I found the tension dial was unreliable and replaced this with a secondhand assembly and this records doing this.
‘The Answerlady and Jack’ on YouTube are life-savers for machine repairs.
A trick for reassembling the carriage when it is difficult to get the tension assembly back into the carriage so that it will turn all the way round.
Never use metal things to poke inside your carriage unless you know what you are doing!
Mend the plastic carriage cover or any other plastic cracks, chips etc with epoxy resin glue. If you leave the cracks, particularly if they are around a metal screw head, they will quickly deteriorate and bits will break off.
Inside the carriage handle, around the screw hole
Inside the carriage, the mounting screws
Don’t use spirit on the plastic parts of the machine, use a slightly damp cloth to wipe these parts. Metal areas can be cleaned with surgical spirit (rubbing acohol) with a drop two of oil in it. This leaves a film of oil after cleaning. Make up a small jar and keep it with your maintenance tools so that it is always to hand. Use soft cloths and cotton buds to clean your machine.
Keep your machine oiled for the best performance, oil the bed every 100 or so rows. Invest in proper sewing machine oil or knitting machine oil.
Sock knitting on the knitting machine. Not being a keen hand knitter of socks, I revisit machine knitted socks made from wool yarn. Short row heels, short row or decreased toes?
Vikki Haffenden 