Spinning squares

[drcpunk]

Whenever the heck I was last at Pennsic, I marched, drop spindle in hand, to a merchant selling, um, spinny stuff, and asked her to please help me get this spinning thing down. Two hours later, I had it, an extra spindle -- which she kept insisting I really didn't need to buy -- and a bunch of stuff to spin. She's also a storyteller, and I've got one of her tapes. Lorna Czarnota. Got a couple more spindles from her and an inkle loom, though I'm likely to be clueless about the latter until I bring it to Pennsic and find her or someone else who weaves.

So, I've accumulated rather a lot of spun stuff. I like pre-carded wool, but the less compact stuff. It spins nicer for me. Not sure where to get it online or how to find out about cool wool events or stuff like that. And my thread is, um, eccentric.

So, I learned Navaho plying from a woman whose name I am blanking on -- she works at Poison Pen Press, but is not Devra. This is sort of like doing a chain stitch on the thread, but without a crochet hook. The tricky part is starting it -- you spin the spindle in the opposite direction you spun the thread in for the ply part, so you're kind of unspinning the thread where you're trying to join it to the leader. Once past that hump, it goes fast.

So, then, I've got balls of this. And balls of stuff I plyed by running the thread through toilet paper tubes and kind of hand twisting two strands around each other. A pain in the neck, that.

And a lot of folks ask what I'm going to do with all the stuff I spin. Mostly, I just like spinning, and I've given some of it away. But I'm midway through crocheting a Genuine Granny Square from thread I've spun. Kind of lumpy -- how many chain stitches are supposed to be in that initial loop you make at what becomes the center of the square again?

Comments

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Okay. Got a second square now. For the corners, am I supposed to chain 3 or 6? I'd been assuming 3, same as for non-corners.

I used to do this more often.

Re:

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Three works. Six would probably be a little bit floppy. I tend to do three single crochets into the corner to make it square.