Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast

Felting fleece is something we spinners fear right? Not always. What if you think outside of the box, and felt fleece to your advantage?

The photo shows one time Yarnspinner thought outside of that fear of felting a fleece. Listen to the podcast to learn all about how a non spinnable fleece was felted into a lovely wool pelt.

On the more practical side, fleece batts can be shape felted into anything, as long as you have a form to serve for shaping. The next example talked about in the podcast is a felted hat.

There are many more photos on this blog, be sure to take a look at those photos of the process explained in the podcast.

All the music in the podcast is from the podsafe music network. Since it is so close to Halloween, the tunes are intentional a bit spooky. A big thank you to all the musicians that shared their music. Be sure to check out links for the websites of those that you like.

Vampire Organ by Jeff Rosiana was the spooky intro.

Spooky Fractal Magic by Embertime and Spooky by Podcast Troubadour Jeff Shields both provided the interlude music.

Windy October Day by Roland Blum is the podcast's closing song.

Thanks for listening!

The September Spin In podcast continues with two more rare breeds of sheep, the Navajo Churro and the Jacob breeds.

And Yarnspinner talks about just why there is so much stash!

Pictures of the sheep breed samples can be found on the blog.

And be sure to check out the new way to contact Yarnspinner, at the new site drop.io.

Music is from the Podsafe music network. This podcast has an autumnal theme, with A Taste of Autumn by Ensemble Variable, and Autumn Colors by Ritchie Hernandez.

Thanks for listening!

Do you really know how your spinning wheel works? Knowing how it works will help you spin the yarn you want, instead of just spinning whatever happens type of yarn.

It's September, and that means back to school. So we hit the books and learn about three different types of flyer bobbin systems used in spinning wheels. Once you figure out what type of wheel you are using, you can then understand how to make your wheel work for you.

There's lots of information on this podcast, so to give us a bit of a break, I am using music from the group CatzintheHatz. Here's a link to their music:

http://music.podshow.com/music/listeners/artistdetails.php?BandHash=b588c2cc09c7fe6855202a2901643905

And to close the podcast, there's a wonderful parody song, Wake Me up When this Math Class is Done, by the group fump:

http://www.thefump.com/

As always all music is from the podsafe music network.

Thanks for listening!

Summer is slipping away, and so this month's Yarnspinners Tale is about summer memories. But there's lots more in the podcast, as I review two rare breeds of sheep, the CVM and Maine Island Sheep.

All music is from the podsafe music network. I used five different musicians this podcast, all with music around the theme of summer.

The opening song, that said goodbye to summer is by Danny Fong.

The interlude music for the sheep breed discussion is a song called Sweet Summer Memories by Steven Cravis.

A wonderfully summer song, Fireflies, is sung by JJ Grey and Mofro.

The wonderful guitar strumming behind my recap is by Tripple6fusioN (who I have played before) with Picking Memories.

And last, and best of all for the wonderful female vocals, is The Simple Things with The Moon is Torn.

The photo above is the pink superwash yarn that I have been spinning over the last several months of podcast spin-ins. It really is lovely, and I still have about 2/3 of a pound of fiber left. Lots more of that yarn to spin.

Photos of the sheep breed review can be found on my blog.

Thanks for stopping by, and for listening!

Ribbons and not medals are what you win when you let your yarn be judged. In keeping with the spirit of the Summer Olympics in one segment of this podcast I talk about how to find competitions to enter your spinning and how to prepare the skeins to be judged.

Three other segments also share some of the hints and tips I have after several weeks of experimenting with different techniques. One segment talks about what to do when you end up with singles on one bobbin and you want to ply that yarn. The method is called Andean plying and is easier to do than to explain!

A third segment talks about picking a fleece. Now this is not talking about the actual selection of a fleece, but the process that allows the locks of washed fiber to be opened so that vegetable matter or short nubs of fiber can be removed. It makes a big difference in the yarn you spin when you take the time to do this step, as I relearned this week.

And finally, the biggest challenge of all to many experienced spinners: spinning a bulky yarn is discussed. It's a yarn you either love or hate, but either way, it's good to know how to spin it.

Be sure to check out my blog to see some photos of the topics discussed in the podcasts.

Since this podcast is an eclectic mixture of topics, I have an mixture of music too. As usual, all music is from the podsafe music network and below are links to the specific musicians.

First a special thank you to Claire Dowling for the spinning intro music.

Interlude music called Summer Meadow is by Jim Richmond.

Saffire and the Uppity Blues Women sing for us Don't You Tell Me.

The music behind the thank yous is Butterfly Seranade and is by Tripple6Fusion.

And to close the show, a lovely blues vocal that just sings of summer, Watermelon Time by Marcia Ball.

Thanks for listening!

Spinning and the Summer Olympics, an unexpected pairing. Unless of course you have been hanging out on Ravelry and have heard all about the knitting olympics. Yarnspinner takes on the challenge and tells you all about it in this podcast.

Also there are two breed fleece reviews, the well known Romney, and the unfamiliar, but very American Targhee.

All music is from the podsafe music network.

Providing the interlude with a jazzy summer feel is Boom Boom Beckett. Since the musicians website is in Italian, here is a link on the music network that will allow you to buy their music.

The music closing the podcast is provided by Douglas Spotted Eagle. He has a website on My Space, or you can go to the music network for his music here.

Thanks for listening!

Episode 15 is all about preparing and spinning cotton. Joining me in the podcast are some of my spinning friends with some very good explanations of just how they do this. And also something new to the show this time: videos!

First as promised a very special spinning movie. Currently it is on YouTube, to save me some MB storage space here. The Spinning Movie is set to music from Kelvin Bear, who I found on the Podsafe Music Network. This artist does not seem to have a website, so here's a link to his music.

Now for some instructional videos.

These are for folks with DSL access.

Carding cotton and making punis

http://media.libsyn.com/media/yarnspinnerstales/adsl.wmv" length="13478823"

type="video/x-ms-wmv" />

Support spindle spinning cotton

http://media.libsyn.com/media/yarnspinnerstales/cdsl.wmv" length="5894115"

type="video/x-ms-wmv" />

Setting up a charkha and spinning

http://media.libsyn.com/media/yarnspinnerstales/chdsl.wmv" length="7385453" type="video/x-ms-wmv" />

Here are the same videos, at reduced bandwidths for dialup:

Carding cotton and making punis

http://media.libsyn.com/media/yarnspinnerstales/adial.wmv" length="1092172"

type="video/x-ms-wmv" />

Support spindle spinning cotton

http://media.libsyn.com/media/yarnspinnerstales/cdial.wmv" length="476820"

type="video/x-ms-wmv" />

Setting up a charkha and spinning cotton

http://media.libsyn.com/media/yarnspinnerstales/chdial.wmv" length="598558" type="video/x-ms-wmv" />

This is all a grand experiment for me, and you may find that because I had to use Windows Movie Maker for editing, that they will only play in Windows Media Player. If you do not have that media playing software, you should at least be able to view the Spinning Movie on Youtube, and well as the Cotton Carding and Support spindle spinning cotton.

Enjoy!

All music for this podcast is from the Podcast Music Network.

Brian McRae song July Moon provided the interlude music.

Ben Willmott ends the podcasts with the song Fireworks.

This was a fun podcast to make, and I hope you have as much fun listening to it.

Happy Spinning!

Spinning on my front porch, means cool morning air, birdsong and the occasional cow mooing in the background. But the topic of the yarnspinnerstale this month is very cool, as I tell all about my recent cruise to Alaska with Seasocks 08.

Before that though, I discuss two sheep breeds from my rare breed sampler: Cormo and Montadale. The photo is from some of the cormo spun from combed top pulled through a diz.

Music for this podcast is from the Podsafe Music Network. New music artists include:

Janet Spahr with Rosemary

Damh the Bard with Lady of the Silver Wheel

And special thanks to Wren Ross for letting me use Baa Baa Black sheep with the sheep fleece reviews, and to Clare Dowling for the opening Spinning song.

A few links I said I would include are:

Amy Singer her webpage is here. Amy taught a shawl Plug and Play class on the cruise.

Crissy Gardner, and Heather Ordover each taught in the Heels, Heels, Heels classes.

And Brenda Dayne, talking all about her experiences podcasting, was the highlight of the trip, for this podcaster.

Finally, I issue an Olympic challenge. I did this for the winter Olympics, and the blog entry is in the archives from my blog. But I am in the mood to do something different this time, and talk about that in the podcast. I hope you will join me in August as I watch the Olympics and take on your own Olympic spinning challenge. You have a bit of time, but don't dally, the challenge starts 08/08/08.

Happy summer solstice!

Part 2 of the cotton dyeing discusses how I dyed the roving using a natural dyestuff. And a very unusual dyestuff too.

There are photos, and a detailed description of the process on my blog.

I've included two songs in today's podcast, both from the podsafe music network. Be sure and check out the musicians webpages if you like the songs.

Copper Box played Need a Little Squeezin It's a great tune, and is featured on their website too.

Clare Dowling of Moot Music opens every podcast for me with her spinning song, and for this podcast, closes with Go With the Flow.

Hope you have enjoyed these two podcasts of dyeing cotton. Comments are always welcomed here or on my blog. And if you use Itunes, and could look me up there, searching under Yarnspinners Tales, leave a review. It'll help more spinners find me.

Until next time, hope all you fiber colors are wonderul.

Dyeing Cotton Part one.

In today's podcast I am joined by my local spinners/knitters for a day of dyepots, fiber and fun. Cotton fiber, specifically and the project was all for a fiber swap starting in the Ravelry group, Garden Spinning.

Please be sure to check out the blogs for each of the dyers, for lots of pictures.

Anita, Andrea, and Viki. Yarnspinners blog is here.

Here's a few key points about what we learned:

Cotton needs to be soaked very thoroughly in soda ash water, to take up the dye well.

Dyes created specifically for cotton need to be used. These are the old formula Cushings union dyes or any dye specifically created for tie dyeing.

Solar heating or low tech variations with a heating pad work well to set the dyes. Temperatures need to be around 100 degrees.

Cotton takes a very long time to dry, needs lots of dry heat or breeze to dry and looks pretty compacted until it does dry.

A good thumping on the cotton, once it is dry will fluff it up and make it ready to spin.

There's lots more on the podcast! So much more, that I had to divide the podcasts into two parts. So continue on with episode 13 to hear the rest of the story.

Music for the podcast is from the podsafe music network. Clare Dowling provides my opening theme, and the interludes today are by Dan Tharp.