By Jove!

I am beginning to think we are getting the hang of the spinner.  Also, things I learned a decade or more ago regarding handspinning are coming back (slowly....) but are really helping out. 

Yesterday, the spinner hummed along nicely.  We felt good about that.  Until I came home and washed one of the skeins.  AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH to quote Charlie Brown (or someone).  So I went back today to spin a little of the roving I left yesterday.  Then I started taking a good look at the roving.  Not pretty.  it had lots of little "pills" in it that were not part of the original fleece.  We still had some of that left and I looked at it.  It had been tumbled, washed twiced, rinsed all was beautiful with this fleece.  White, really fine, really crimpy as all be.  But the roving, well, sucked.  So we decided to see which machine created the pills.  It was the first one we tested - the picker.  We know it violently rips things apart, but it is particularly rough on really fine fleeces.

So we went avante guard and carded without picking (GASP).  Much less pilling.  We sent it through the pin drafter 2 times and sent a little thru 3 times.  The third trip thru spun up beautifully.  So the rest went thru the pin drafter a 3rd time and everything got spun up.  I have a skein soaking at the moment but looks like I will not be disappointed by the washing today. 

Here are some px.  Hope they help or just that you enjoy them.

 

Craig's rug yarn from rug yarn heaven bags.

The official greeter.  Please do not let him out!

 

Sample cards from today at the spinner.
Which yarns do you prefer?

I will say that I am impresesed that the more and more we use the machines (and the more issues we have to deal with) that Craig and I seem to be getting a real feel for them and what might be good or bad in the way they are preforming.   We have not given up on anything - we spend time working through what  the issues may be.  And we are getting it.

Todays yarn was 33-35 wraps per inch (WPI) as a single; 22 as a ply; we were told we could not spin straight alpaca this fine.  I love being told things like that!  Makes me want to try.  This is the equivilent to a fingering or a baby weight yarn (based on WPI not actual weight as alpaca can weigh a lot more than other natural fibers).  It is borderline lace.  And that is a really good thing to be able to make.  

I will get skein pictures up later tonight or tomorrow.  One is bathing at the moment and would prefer not to be disturbed by papparazzi.