Tuesdays are for spinning

So for a little while now, the blog readers have been largely split on one issue. There is Camp A, who believe that I should be able to knit and spin what I want regardless of promises I may have made to a certain lovely Man who lives here with me in the wool house, and Camp B, who have been wondering (and asking) where Joe’s gansey project may have gone to and when exactly do I plan on making good on it.

Camp B is led by Rams who is a guilt-mistress of the highest order. Rams has left comments on the blog over the last several weeks pressuring me on Joe’s behalf. Rams wonders if I will ever return to spinning for Joe. Rams says she can hardly face another Wednesday where “Tuesdays are for spinning” comes and goes again without even a moments thought given to poor gansey-less Joe. Rams pressure has gotten so intense, that yesterday I decided that while I could totally live without dedicating another spinning day to Joe, I couldn’t live with facing the enormous disappointment that Rams would ooze today if I blew it off again.

Besides, I have a new drumcarder.

Dc

Here are some things I learned about drumcarding.

-drumcarding is way fast. While your average non-spinning person would probably still observe the process and think you were out of your mind for deciding to make yarn like this, it’s like greased lightning compared to hand carding.

-the tines on a drumcarder are extremely sharp.

-my last tetanus shot was in August of 2003.

-fleece that is still a little wee bit greasy (naturally, this is the way I like them, since I appear to have some sort of aversion to cleaning anything really thoroughly) are harder to card. This may mean that I need to do a better job of washing fleeces but I’m still open to alternatives, should you know of one.

-The small wheel on the carder is called the “licker-in”, and the process of removing the roving from the carder is called “Doffing”.

-This makes people (read: Joe) really interested in your after dinner converstation until they find out that you aren’t just talking dirty or making lewd suggestions.

-Drumcarders are so much fun that you will not stop until you have carded all available fleece in the house and forced the children to watch.

-Three batts off of the carder make this much spinning. (Please, lest you knock the wind right out of my sails, do not point out to me that I am so far away from a gansey for Joe that it almost seems silly to continue).

Jgsingle

Despite my devotion to Rams and the fact that I begin and end each day with her happiness and satisfaction held foremost in my thoughts….I worked a tiny bit on the MSF.

Sym

I have placed them side by side so that you may note that I have reversed the direction of the braids for the right mitten. I have a thing about symmetry.

Finally, check this out

Tbtk

It’s a copy of a really cool Zine put out by Toronto local Jae Steele called “take back the knit” and I love it. It’s edgy, funky…and despite it’s non-glossy whole wheat appearance…just as much a decent read as the big fancy mags. (Maybe more…and I’m not just saying that because my thrum faq is inside). It’s representative of a whole grass roots “you can do it” approach to knitting that I love. There are 12 simple patterns inside…along with articles with names like “knitting for cheap” and “we don’t need no stinking patterns”. If it sounds like your cuppa herbal tea, tell Jae.