Seabreeze Spinners

Pluckyfluff approaches spinning with energy and imagination. She has two books out that are fun and imaginative. Visit her site HERE and feast your eyes on incredible “home spun”/”hand spun” yarns. This is not your grandmother’s hand spun.

Tropical Twister

Apparently, there has been a wobble problem with spinning with the SpinOlution Spindles when using them as top whrol spindles. I asked Kris Pauly of SpinOlution about it. She responded:

“The fix for the wobble is to bend the hook on the spindle slightly so as to make the thread
be at the exact center of the spindle. This will correct the wobble. I am working on an
update to the website to address the issue. Mike and I were amazed at how simple the
fix was.”

Sounds easy. You Top Whorlers let me know if this does the trick.

Tropical Twister

I’ve started and unraveled my llama scarf over and over. I had planned to knit a llama scarf from the llama yarn I spun HERE. I selected a pattern from an archived issue of Spin-Off. I’d get about two inches and my row would have more stiches than pattern, ugh! After several attempts, I searched for a different pattern. I found a pattern I liked from a sock pattern and gave that a go. Several attempts with several inches each later, same problem. I seem to be able to knit two or three pattern sequences then all of a sudden I end up with an “extra” stitch. I’m so used to plain knitting when I would just “absorb” the extra stitch, say with a knit together. I know with pattern knitting that to do so would likely put the whole pattern out of kilter (is that a word?)

Sooo… my plan is to set the yarn up on a loom and weave it. It may actually suit the yarn better as the yarn varies in color which would make stripes in the knitting and will blend lovily in weaving. How frustrating. My guess is I shouldn’t attempt pattern knitting at the end of the day after my brain has gone dead!

Tropical Twister

I’ve been in correspondence with Florence of the The Spinning Wheel Slueth (find it HERE). She had the following observation regarding the Mystery Wheel:

“You have a lovely European spinning wheel. I think it is possibly from Eastern Europe. Some indicators are the steep slant of the table, the cut out slot for the drive wheel, and the braces from the wheel support posts to the legs. The turnings and chip carving are very nice. It appears to be complete. With a drive band it should function. Florence Feldman-Wood, The Spinning Wheel Sleuth”

Eastern Europe hmmm…. I trust her judgement and expertise. If you haven’t visited The Spinning Wheel Sleuth you simply must. Great historian of wheels (they also have artilcles on looms; that’s where I found information on my orphan Master Weavers Loom III).

Tropical Twister

See the under $15 Marudai in action below:

I liked the kum-loom but I was frustrated by the slow speed. Using a Maurdai allows me to move two strings at once. The action is different from the rotating kumi-loom. Instead of moving in a circular manner, the loom remains in the same orientation to the braider. I wanted to learn the Maudai action before I became too habituated to the kumi-loom. Movement was slow at first but picked up. The movement is repetitive so I expect it will get faster and faster. At first it’s a bit like patting your head while rubbing your stomach (LOL).

HERE is an example of someone making a simple braid on a Maurdai.

This is my first attempt. (This is a different pattern that the one demonstrated above.) The braid is only two colors and eight strands. I am trying to keep it simple The braid produced is a flat alternating diagonal pattern. (After I stopped for the night, I used the clip to mark the front of the Maurdai so I wouldn’t loose my place when I went to start again.) I move the right and left hands at the same time (like in the video). Indicated by R & L in the pattern. The numbers represent the positions on the loom. This same pattern could easily be worked on the kumi-loom.

The braiding process needs weight. I used a small quarter ounce fishing weight inside each EZ bobbin. I clipped the braid with a large clip to weight the braid. I had to play with the weight on the braid a bit to get the right tension. (While I was braiding the braid was down inside the Maurdai. I took it out to photograph.)

See the pattern below:

Here is how to build an inexpensive, as in cheap, Marudai for Kumihimo that you can build with no woodworking skills and easily obtainable materials. I’d been wanting to try a Marudai but didn’t want to spend one to two hundred dollars on one until I was sure this wasn’t one more hobby I’d cast aside. I saw a lovely Marudai HERE but it required a marble topped side table from a yard sale which I haven’t happened to run across. I’d also considered putting a hole in a bar stool and may still make one of these but it’s really heavy and not reall portable for this back. So, my solution …

I took the plastic ring used as a ceiling decoration above a fan and a waste basket. The ceiling ring is from Lowe’s ($6.63) and the waste basket is from WalMart ($5.16).

I cut the top off the small plastic waste basket and mounted the ring.

You can see that the top of the waste basket was cut off in such a way as to leave the rim. The rim was glued to the underside of the ring. The Maurdai has it’s draw backs. You have to remove the top to adjust the center weight and to examine the braid. It also has it’s advantages. It’s very light. It’s very portable and all my stuff can be toted easily within the Maurdai. The braid winds itself up within the waste basket so it doesn’t get dirty even if I take it outside. In subsequent postings I will demonstrate the setup and will demonstrate how to create various Kumihimo patterns on the Maurdai.

Tropical Twister

Tropical Twister