Tag Archives: weaving

Home, Knitting, Life, Photography, Spinning, Weaving, Woodturning

2023 Year End Wrap Up

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Happy belated New Year everyone!

A lot of years, it’s not until the year end wrap up that I truly understand how much I did during the previous 365.25 days.  This year even though the total yarn mileage was a bit of a shock, I was completely aware all year that I was busy.  I nearly didn’t do this post at all.

2022 ended with us knowing we were going to be redoing the shower in the bathroom.  After way too many trips to hardware stores and bathroom showrooms, we finally decided and by the end of May, that hurdle was cleared.  No more water issues in the house.  Or so I thought. Continue reading 2023 Year End Wrap Up →

Knitting, Spinning, Weaving

Known Unknowns – Learning what we can from unlabelled skeins of yarn with a little math

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A couple of months ago, I attended a Fibre Mart at the local weaver’s guild.  As always seems to happen, I came home with way more than I’d planned on but I also came home with a couple of unlabelled skeins of things.

A basket full of Spinning and weaving books, weaving cottons, linen, silk brick, quivit, cashgora and other fibres
A basket full of goodies! Spinning and weaving books, weaving cottons, linen yarn, silk brick, qiviut (Muskox down), cashmere, cashgora and other fibres. All of it – including the basket – cost me less than the price of 7 cones of 8/2 weaving cotton and I came home with way more than 7 cones worth!

Like these ones.

I can tell based on the feel, shininess,  drape, “squeakiness” and how it sticks to my dry hands that it’s likely a silk yarn but I can’t use it before I know how much yardage I have. In general, a wraps per inch (WPI) measurement and more specifically maybe even a grist would also be helpful.

A friend has started referring to me as a technical spinner and a technical knitter, so what the heck – let’s embrace this just for a moment.

No wait!  Come back! Continue reading Known Unknowns – Learning what we can from unlabelled skeins of yarn with a little math →

3D Printing, Life, Pets, Spinning, Weaving

Just This Side of Sane – 2021 Wrap Up

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Happy 2022 everyone!

For the second year in a row, I think most of us were pretty happy to see the back end of the past year.  It was a challenging year here.

I do like these year in review posts – even if they don’t tend to be that popular.  They help me to see that I wasn’t idle after all.  It seems like the winter can be a hard time to change years.  It’s dark and cold (up here anyway!) and what the heck did I even accomplish anyway?

What indeed.

There were more blog posts than usual Continue reading Just This Side of Sane – 2021 Wrap Up →

3D Printing, DIY, Spinning, Weaving

The DIY electric weaving bobbin winder – a tale in two acts… Act 3

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Mostly a little update really.  Earlier this summer I finally got out to the garage and spent a little time in serious negotiations with my router.  In exchange for it not killing me, I promised to… well not get hurt, I guess? I mean really, what’s my bargaining chip here?

The wood pieces look better now – though far from perfect.  The router and I don’t get along well.  Continue reading The DIY electric weaving bobbin winder – a tale in two acts… Act 3 →

3D Printing, DIY, Sewing Machines, Weaving

A DIY electric weaving bobbin winder – Act 2 – Double Ended Winder

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The other day, I posted about a DIY singled ended electric bobbin winder.  In November – couple of months after I built that first prototype – I found 4 used End Feed Shuttles (EFS) which suddenly made the single ended winder a little less ideal.

By responding a little too slowly, I just missed out on a used double ended electric winder from the same seller.  Having missed out on that , I decided to start plotting a way to modify my winder into a double ended bobbin winder.  Naturally, winter in central Alberta isn’t an ideal time to be trying to go outside into the unheated garage to woodwork, so the project got put on hold until January – which is still not an ideal time for wood destructor shed projects! January is when I started my next weaving project (the one I talked about in the last post.)  That project showed me that while the current winder could wind pirns, I didn’t enjoy it (I mean, as much as you’d ever enjoy winding bobbins/pirns?)

Once again, the point my mind was stuck on was the mandrel portion of the winder.  Additionally, it needed to be very smooth turning – which is why Continue reading A DIY electric weaving bobbin winder – Act 2 – Double Ended Winder →

3D Printing, Life, Pets, Sewing Machines, Spinning, Weaving

Better Days Are Coming Now – 2020 Year End Wrap up

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Well.   2020 is over, to the relief of most of the world, I’d think.  In reality, this annual post almost didn’t happen.  It wasn’t until I went back through the photos on my phone that I saw I wasn’t quite as idle as I’d thought.  I mean, I took almost 4000 pictures… I had to have done some things, right?

I was pretty sure I’d done nothing this year but between getting to know 2 new kittens, refurbishing a loom, finishing a spinning wheel, prepping Continue reading Better Days Are Coming Now – 2020 Year End Wrap up →

3D Printing, DIY, Sewing Machines, Weaving

A DIY electric weaving bobbin winder – a tale in two acts – Act 1

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I know a few people who read this blog are weavers or spinners who rewind their spinning bobbins before plying and feel like I do that electric weaving bobbin winders in Canada are a little pricey – so I did an experiment this summer. How much would it cost me if I built one?  At first, I opted for the single ended winder.  It looked simpler to build and I didn’t have pirns that needed the support on both ends. I’ll call this prototype #1.

The part that had me stumped for a while was the metal mandrel that the bobbins fit on. Continue reading A DIY electric weaving bobbin winder – a tale in two acts – Act 1 →