The flowers are still blooming, but I know that summer is just about over. We have been busy getting things ready around the farm for the coming winter weather. There was a lot of rain in the spring, but this summer has been hot and dry. I spent time going through all the pastures and checking all the fence lines for burr weeds and sticker bushes. The burr weeds and sticker bushes are terrible for the horses manes, tails, and fetlock feathers, not to mention the sheep fleeces! I spend lots of time making sure all the pastures are clear of all these weeds!
We did get a bit of rain the other day. The pastures sure do need it.
Ok, so there is a bit of play on words for the title of this post, but honestly I wonder sometimes. I love to spin singles. LOOK at all the yardage you get from singles. Other times, I think, “Well, the yarn may be more interesting if it is plied…” The majority of the time I try to decide what the end us of the yarn will be. If it is going to be for weaving and used as weft yarn, I will keep the singles. If I am going to be knitting it, I will ply it.
I knit a lot of winter accessories. I like to use bulky yarn to knit quickly. Bulky yarn also makes a thick wooly winter item. I am outside 365 days a year in all weather tending to the animals and I don’t like to be cold! Thank God for Charhart Coveralls. They are my winter weather favorite. Ok, enough talk about winter. It is in the 80’s and super nice outside! 🙂
I spun up one of my textured farm wool batts. The fiber in the batt was Cormo, Shetalnd lamb, Wensleydale locks, mulberry silk, and a smidge of Angelina. Here is a photo of my textured singles.
Textured Single
The singles looked great, but I decided they would knit up as a nice foofy hat. The singles were Navajo plied. This yarn will knit into a quick winter hat! Oh, and I guess this ply is exempt from the title of the post. Navajo ply is a 3 ply!
My long awaited Schacht Sidekick I ordered from Spin to Yarn has arrived! I didn’t waste any time putting her together. Assembly didn’t amount to much. The wheel arrived fully assembled. I just had to figure out how to unfold it! After she was unfolded, I read through the instruction manual one last time to be sure I had everything correct. The manual specified oiling points, so I gave her a good drink of oil.
When I sat down to take her for a spin, I noticed she was a bit stiff. I had read on the Schacht Ravelry forum to oil the treadle joints, so I added a few drips of oil there. I didn’t see any improvement in treadling. I figured the driveband was a bit tight and maybe it would break in after some spinning.
After a day or so of spinning the wheel didn’t loosen up too much. I looked the wheel over wondering if I had missed something. There is a rear maiden bearing and a front maiden bearing.
Rear Maiden Bearing
I had oiled both bearings (or so I thought), but decided to oil again. After looking at the rear bearing closely, I realized I had oiled the inner white part of the bearing, but not the actual bearing line where the two black pieces of the bearing connect. My dealer had explained to oil the bearing, but it was not until I looked at it very closely that I realized I had not been oiling the correct part of the bearing.
Rear Maiden Bearing
The bearing is made up of two black rings. The dividing line between the two black rings is where the oil needs to be placed. I ran the tip of my oil bottle around the line and added a good dose of oil. As I started to spin, the difference was tremendous! I spun for a bit and added some more oil. It loosened up even more!!
It is amazing that just a little oil in the correct spot can make an immense difference in how a wheel spins! I am always sure to oil all of my wheels after a couple of hours of spinning to keep them spinning well. And remember even a new wheel needs a good oiling!
The flowers are still blooming, but I know that summer is just about over. We have been busy getting things ready around the farm for the coming winter weather. There was a lot of rain in the spring, but this summer has been hot and dry. I spent time going through all the pastures and checking all the fence lines for burr weeds and sticker bushes. The burr weeds and sticker bushes are terrible for the horses manes, tails, and fetlock feathers, not to mention the sheep fleeces! I spend lots of time making sure all the pastures are clear of all these weeds!
