Saturday, November 25, 2006

Spinning... and YouTube again

Old footage of spinning that is really interesting, so thought I’d continue with my current thrust of showing videos here.

Spinning, like knitting, is a very relaxing and creative endeavor- you can control wool to get the look and feel of yarn you want. In this video she is spinning a woolen yarn, probably from sticky in-the=grease wool, which (after washing),make for a soft yarn, from carding (also shown) wool into a every-which-way rolag. The rolags are spun and joined. I have raw wool which I have washed (getting all the itty bitty bits of vegetative matter ( aka VM) out is quite the undertaking too. I am doing the hand carding thang too, but the charm of washing raw wool wore off after a few fleeces. I have sent some wool out to a processor. 2 month turn around. Soon I actually will get time on the wheel, without having to hand card and pick out VM-from the wool of a set of sheep I have virtually exclusive rights to!LOL. Later I will prolly get a big carder (drum machine) for color mixing but am taking it slowly due to time constraints- like a day job. Darn!

Check it out- Isle of Mann, old as the hills footage:



Next up will be a cute music video of South American women spinning with spindles, which obviously predate spinning wheels. They also display a unique ( and new to me ) way of plying the yarn as they go too. So much to learn!

For the Andean Spindlers link- click here

Off to felt soap for more party favors this season....more later!

2 comments:

Kiwi said...

Thank you for your comment on the scarf! It's speeding along and I am very proud.
If you ever want to make it to MFA, we are welcoming and enjoy new knitters showing up. We're loud, but that's not to be mistaken with unfriendly :o)
I am impressed that you used to take classes from a dancer with such colorful background as Bert's! I have never seen him dance, but I am sure it is quite impressive with all the backgrounds that are melded together. I am currently taking classes at Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance. Don't mind the complaining I do on my blog; I love the shcool and I admire the teachers. I have never danced before showing up there, although I have a profound love and admiration for all dancers and the art. I just happen to be a little slow and want everything to be absolutely perfect before moving on :p Suhaila's studio is in El Cerrito. I am sorry to hear about your friend! I do hope that you get back into dancing though, whether it is with Suhaila or another dancer closer to your side of the Bay. :o)
Oh, and good luck with the knitting holiday season!!

Tamami said...

Great videos! Thanks for posting. I am going to share this with some of my spinning/knitting friends.

About Me

Marin County, California, United States
I work for 2 non-profits in Marin County CA (near SF) that serve the Developmentally Delayed. I was introduced to weaving and knitting at a very young age. Over the years I have always had knitting on hand. There was a time where I was severely chastised for being so old fashioned, so it is great to see the upsurge in the home arts now going on! I have expanded into machine knitting; fortunately there is a great Guild nearby that has really been great. Spinning Fibers is a new thrust as well, and felting has creeped in too. If only I had more time...