As the Spindle Turns . . .

Or a Round-Tuit

The sun was shining and the yard needs work but boy, was it cold out! Today's high was only 34° F. For us, that's cold. So instead, I sat in a sunny window and worked on projects that should have been done two years ago. This is where I should have a gorgeous picture of what I worked on. Picture taking will have to wait. The sewing machine decided to be fussy. So now I'm hand stitching a saddle bag. I felted it two years ago with jungle-inspired fleece from The Dudley Spinner.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/dudleyspinner?ref=ss_profile

Last night I wet-felted the strap. 80" is a lot to felt. Today I hand stitched a back of green cotton fabric onto the strap; all-in-all about 165" of stitching. I also wasted a lot of time on the sewing machine fussing with the thread tensioner. I think I got it clean and lubed now. Tomorrow I hope to stitch the bag's lining into place. I have it pinned now. I did manage to get the inside pocket stitched in. Hand stitching the strap on to the bag comes next and then it will be done. My whole shoulder hurts from the 165". I think I might have over-done-it just a little.

More stuff is making it's way to http://www.UrsulasYarn.etsy.com Zephyr and heather are being hand-wound daily and pictures taken as weather permits. Master Herveus is having a look at the electric ball winder. I am hopeful that it can be fixed. But for now, the old faithful hand crank is what I've got. There are currently 321 items on the site. I managed to dyed some yellow this week. I'm really pleased with the 40/2 linen. https://www.etsy.com/listing/183805362/402-normandy-linen-in-yellow?ref=shop_home_active_4 Hemp and 16/2 linen in slate and in yellow still need to be wound. Convo me on etsy if you have an urgent need for these.

The good news is that 50 pounds of yarn to wind is not enough! I'm expecting more backorders in this week, including the long awaited 10/6 hemp yarn. Exciting times!

Ursula Central is my dining room. This is where the magic occurs. I take bulky cones of yarn and turn them into colorful jewels of wonder. Some of you may have seen the shelves of cones at Gulf Wars. They arrived late, much to late to become the 2 oz. ball you've come to know and hopefully love. Today is a day for making magic.

It starts with the cones. My favorate supplier makes Astra, in way more colors than the rainbow. Today I'm playing with 3/2 cotton. Many people ask what does that 3/2 mean? The simple answer is that 3 is a thickness and 2 is the ply. It's also refered to as lea or line. For cotton, it means that a constant of 840 is multiplied times 3 and divided by 2 to give a standard number of yards in a pound. In this case, it's 1260 yards in one pound. All 3/2 cotton should have the same number of yards in a pound no matter who makes it.

Confusion steps in (All hail Eris) when I sell 10/2 cotton. The box stores (JoAnn's, Michael's, etc) sell #10 cotton. It's not the same. It took some digging. #10 Cotton is really a three ply or a 10/3, not a 10/2. Different yardage. 10/2 cotton is much thinner than 10/3. My 5/2 cotton is closer if you are trying out a crochet pattern.

Back to the magic. I have a certified, very expensive scale. The cone goes on. The yarn gets wound to an exact weight. If there is a knot, sometimes I stop and cut it (this is where yarn samples come from) and other times I let it go but give you a bit more yarn. Federal law allows manufacturers to leave up to three knots per pound. Even modern machinery gets cranky sometimes. I have had whole cones be bad. I pull that yarn for my own projects if its salvagable. I wait until the manufacturer is on a different batch, maybe three months down the road, and then reorder. I can't begin to tell you how sad it is to throw away 8 ounces or more of chopped up and tied yarn. It happens. Think of combing your hair when humidity is low in the winter versus untangling it in high humidity. Those poor machines deal with raw fibers under both conditions. (A moment of silence will be observed for the dead but not forgotten yarn)

Today I have not encountered any problems. (Knock on wood) After winding a center-pull ball of yarn, I chose to secure it so it doesn't become tangled or unwind in transit. I take old envelopes and cut them up into strips and tape them into place. After I finish quite a few balls, I argue with a cantankerous old printer to spit out labels. It will only spit out two sheets of labels before they are illegible. Then the printer must cool down before being used again. I write down pertinent information, such as color and dyelot. Part of the yarn gets set aside for etsy and part goes into my display for shows. And thus magic is made! Now its up to you to make more magic by turning the yarn into something else.