Thursday 8 September 2011

Bobbins and dyeing

 I have spent this last month trying to free up bobbins.  I have four bobbins, and am coming to the conclusion that this simply is not enough!  I had some zwartble on one bobbin, so needed to spin another to ply it with, which therefore needed another bobbin to ply it onto, but I really wanted to start spinning the alpaca as well!  So patience has had to be the order of the day, finish one job before I can start another.  Perhaps it's a good thing I only have four bobbins, otherwise I'd be tempted to start so many projects, and knowing me, never get to finish them!
So really out of curiosity I was wondering how many bobbins other people had. 

I also went along to a Guild day at a members house.  I could not stay for long as it was during the holidays, and I had two of the children with me.  They were doing all about dyeing, both natural and chemical.  It was definitely worthwhile going as it made me realise how little you actually need to do natural dyeing, as I had always had visions of needing piles of onion skins, for example, to get any colour. 

Hoping to get alot more spinning done in the next few weeks, so I have some alpaca to work with, and hopefully a skein to give to my Mum for either her birthday or Christmas.

6 comments:

  1. Looking lovely. I have 5 bobbins with my Louet wheel which came with it when I bought it 2nd hand from a guild member, and I have 6 (I think, ir is it 5!) for the Ashford traditional. I found I was always wanting more with the Ashford but the size of the Louet ones means 5 is plenty.

    Great to see you interested in dyeing, no you don't need much stuff - just dedicated equipment for dyeing, don't want to cook in it later!

    Look forward to seeing your alpaca spinning xxx

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  2. Oh dear - I am finding that spinning is falling down my list of things to do. It is so good to see your progress though - looking forward to seeing your dyeing. xxx

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  3. I have 4 now, but really want more. My father just made me two and a niddy noddy from old hickory floor board.

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  4. Hi Claire, I bought my wheel second hand, and it came with three bobbins, then I decided I really needed more, so bought three more, then I bought a jumbo flyer unit so I could ply full bobbins together in one go, so I also have three of those too! So there are usually 9 bobbins around the place, and usually at least one is empty!!
    You can never have too many bobbins.

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  5. i also only have 4 and it is never enough! i'm afraid to get more because the last thing i need is more yarn for the kids to unravel! lol

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  6. Hi Claire
    Your spinning looks wonderful! I know just what you mean about wanting more bobbins. I also get impatient and want to start spinning different fleece too before finishing off the fleece I'm currently working on. I have six bobbins which seems to work quite well for me when I want to stop working on one lot and change to another for a break. I have fawn alpaca as an ongoing project and then spin up smaller amounts on the other bobbins. I have also bought a jumbo flyer with four bobbins so that I can work on spinning up whole fleeces. I have quite a bit of handspun in smallish quantities and aim to concentrate on sticking to a fleece at a time. The jumbos will be good for that I expect. If you do want more bobbins and if they are compatible with your wheel, there is a nice ebayer selling three handmade normal size bobbins. They are lovely and he even included a batt of wool too, to spin up. If you search you should see them under bobbins. Bidding starts at £14.50 for three. I was the only bidder and I have noticed he always lists so you should be able to get some at that price if you keep a look out. They are the cheapest I have come across and I prefer to use those to the bobbins my wheel came with. Nice to know you are also in the Midlands! Enjoy your spinning!
    Best wishes

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xx