Sunday, August 31, 2014

fraud and technology

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 Witchcraft to the ignorant, .... Simple science to the learned! Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. ...
6 comments:
Saturday, August 30, 2014

Students

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When I started spinning, I wanted certain yarns. I saw that certain skills and certain tools were required. I set myself a group of evo...
Friday, August 29, 2014

Metric

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At one point, I was fully metric. However, as I spin finer, the logic and simplicity of the old Bradford yarn terminology becomes more an...

Sticks and Stones

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When I started spinning, I saw that traditional hand spinners had produced 80s (worsted 45,000 ypp / 90 m/gm) singles as a commercial produ...
1 comment:
Thursday, August 28, 2014

Spinzilla

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Last night's guild meeting sorta became a celebration of Spinzilla. This morning as I flip thorough some of the material, I have some...
2 comments:
Tuesday, August 26, 2014

How long to spin a yarn for a bolt of shirting?

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A bolt of shirting is about 8 pounds, so it is 320 hanks.  At 22 hanks per week, it would take one spinner about 4 months to spin the yarn ...
Friday, August 22, 2014

The end of another chapter in this blog

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Using only bushing bearings of bronze-steel, wood-steel, and leather-steel available in 1500, a spinning wheel using DRS can run at 4,000 r...
Thursday, August 21, 2014

More on spin count

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The distaff is dressed with 60 count flock-run long wool, and the task at hand is 40s (150 wpi) for weaving warp. I need a good bit of the ...
Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Spinning

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I do not care if you are buying Italian designer suits or underwear at Target, the bulk of nice textiles are produced from thin yarns.  If ...
Monday, August 18, 2014

Overview of Spinning at the Spin Count

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Select the desired grist and nature of the single. Select a wool with a spin count that is the desired grist, and which has a nature tha...
2 comments:
Sunday, August 17, 2014

The Collorary

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The corollary to the Great Propositions is that I like to spin a single from a single grade of wool. Not some blend of a whole fleece; no...

The Great Proposition

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I assert that spinning worsted singles can be divided into drafting and inserting twist.  I assert that the wool most naturally and easily ...
Saturday, August 16, 2014

Only in California

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Wind, gusting to 40 knots, on the starboard beam.  Triple reefed, and the lee rail awash. And, in shirt sleeves.  Only in California. O...
1 comment:
Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Rodeo

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We should have a real spinner's "Rodeo" or Exhibition Yesterday the wheel went into the shop, for some touchups and tuning....
Tuesday, August 12, 2014

commerical rates

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One old definition said that a competent (hand) spinner could spin (wool)  at its spin count at a commercial rate. Of course, spin count is...

Motivation

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Sometimes it is hard to maintain a good rate of spinning - I tend to slow down. One technique is to use a metronome.  I set it to the des...
3 comments:
Monday, August 04, 2014

A Failure of Tapestries

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Looking at Great Tapestries edited by J. Jobe (1965) and the section in the back by the professional tapestry weavers Francois Tabard and...
Sunday, July 27, 2014

(Semi-)worsted 5-ply

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I keep going back to the question, "Why 5-ply?" Worsted spun sport weight 5-ply always yields the same answers: durability and ...

Perfection

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I was a member of the ASQC and ASTM. And, I helped draft important technical standards for both groups. I set standards of performance fo...

Time trials

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The new 48 mm whorls for the AA #0 flier are dialed in for singles in the range of 5,600 to 34,000 ypp. So, I brought the darkroom timer ...