Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Back to the basics of plying

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Soft and lofty woolen spun yarns present their own difficulties for plying, but the nature of the yarn hides the art of the plying.  If you...
27 comments:
Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Plying

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With all due respect to core spun yarns, plying is critical to the appearance, strength, warmth, and durability of yarn.  Why then, in mode...
2 comments:
Thursday, April 18, 2013

The End

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QA/QC on a large order of steel gansey needles presented me with something of an existential crisis. As I checked them, they were blunt, ...
7 comments:
Wednesday, April 17, 2013

More on the hot rod wheel

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My loom uses a warp tension system that employs sliding weights to vary the tension.  This put me to thinking that I could adjust the tensi...
Monday, April 08, 2013

The Path

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I insist that there are always better, cheaper, faster ways of doing something.  When I find a better, cheaper, faster way, of doing somet...
2 comments:
Friday, April 05, 2013

gangs of whorls for fliers

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Some would say that the last post was very unfair, as both Alden Amos and Henry Clems HAVE made DRS spinning wheels and had to take the...
7 comments:
Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Tools of the Trade

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This flier/bobbin assembly inserts ~18 twist per inch. There are 20 threads per inch on the flier axle at the left so you have some s...
3 comments:
Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Not Magic

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There is a class of knitters that knit as a social pastime.  Social pastimes have conventions that function like the rules of a game.  Lik...
20 comments:
Sunday, March 24, 2013

Flier Whorls

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For the last hundred years or so, DD flier and bobbin whorls have had "V" and "U" drive band grooves respectively.  Thi...
7 comments:
Saturday, March 23, 2013

The Circus goes to Jackson

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Recently, I taught Stephenie Gaustad to swave.  (I was at  Studio Gaustad for something else.) She is a very busy lady.  She would not bo...
8 comments:
Sunday, March 17, 2013

Motions of a Knitting Needle

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A knitting needle is really a lever (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lever) for moving loops of yarn.  A knitting needle's position in s...
7 comments:
Friday, March 15, 2013

Getting to swaving

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Some seem to feel that what I do is either an arrogant lie or an accident. No it a matter of taking some clue out of history and working ...
8 comments:
Thursday, March 07, 2013

Wangs

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Back in days when every law office had a Wang word processor, I was working for a large engineering firm with a large group doing environme...
5 comments:

Swaving tools

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My current swaving/glove knitting tool kit, and works in progress. As I go through the kit, all the needles (pricks) are between 4...

Beginners or Experts?

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Who should I make tools for? I have always made the tools that I like. Some of my first needles were polished like jewels. They were slip...
2 comments:
Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Better clew and knitting support

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Better clew (for center pull cake) and better arrangement for knitting support. The big clip-swivel is heavy, but handy, and can be ...

Swaving has ridges

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Swaved fabric knit back and forth has ridges.Above, you see them on the front and back of a gauge swatch and the heel flaps of a pair ...
11 comments:
Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Keystone XL Draft SSIS

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Comments on: United States Department of State Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SSIS) For the KEYSTONE XL P...
Monday, March 04, 2013

Brear's Fig 5 modernized

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Here are pix of my current working clew and knitting holder: On the left is the knitting sheath with WIP  boot sock for me (2x2 ri...
2 comments:
Friday, March 01, 2013

Mystery Solved.

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There are a couple of companies in England that sell "gansey knitting kits".  They include pattern, yarn, and long needles.  They...
9 comments: