I'm having a terrible time spinning some camel/silk top on my Ashford Traditional wheel - it just keeps falling apart on me. Any suggestions on how best to spin this? What ratio would work best?
My mom spun some camel / silk, & it likes to be spun fairly fine (think lace-weight) with a good amount of twist. Lighten your brake band tension a bit to lessen the draw-in ( Keep enough tension that the yarn goes on the bobbin without kinking up, but you don't want the wheel grabbing the yarn away from you before it has enough twist built up). I'd suggest either the middle or smallest whorl to get more twist easily. Check your yarn frequently by pulling a length back off the bobbin & tugging gently but firmly on it between your hands to check for "structural integrity" & letting it ply back on itself to check degree of twist. Camel / silk is lovely, delicious soft fiber. Keep trying, it's well worth it! LT
Thanks so much for your suggestions - I will give them a try and keep my fingers crossed!
I just wanted to thank you again for your suggestions on spinning camel/silk. Based on your e-mail, I pulled it back out of the closet and gave it another try and I think I've got it! I think really loosening the brake band tension was the key. Thanks!
Hey, I'm really glad to hear that! Very happy to have been a help. Keep on spinning!
Copyright (C) 2010 Interweave Press, LLCUse of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms and Privacy Policy, updated March 2007
