Wednesday, December 29, 2010

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I've been spinning my hand-dyed pink and orange (porange, I'm thinking of it) silk/merino fiber into sock yarn. Up until now it was going swimmngly; half is done and one sock started on, I've got a few grams of fiber left to spin into a single, then chain-ply the second sock's worth of yarn.

So I sat down tonight, intending to finish that up, and about half an hour into the spinning, the single quit winding onto the bobbin.

Very annoying.

Well, I'm not the husbeast, but I don't totally suck at mechanics, so I started prodding at one thing and then another, trying to figure out what's going on. Everything seemed fine, but the damn bobbin wouldn't turn independently of the whorl. It took way too long to figure out, but eventually it dawned on me: THE DAMN BOBBIN BROKE. That's right, WHILE it was on my wheel! The end nearest the whorl separated from the shaft of the bobbin, and the singles on it pushed the end outward to press against the whorl. So thanks to friction, the whorl and the bobbin are all one piece. I'm pretty sure I can glue the damn thing back together, but first I have to figure out what in hell to do with the single on there. Ply it as is and forget that last couple bits of wool? Wind the whole four hundred yards (ish) onto another damn bobbin and take it from there? I think those are my only two options. If they are, I'll ply as is.

Seriously, who has this happen to them? Nobody but us weirdos, that's who.

9 comments:

SM said...

That happened this week to my son!! Just after he started spinning again as something to do during his school holidays :-(. And his v.fine [overspun] singles came off the end in a lumpy mess that I am having trouble even imagining unravelling...Should probably try and suck it up and be a good mum and have a go...

electrictree said...

I use an ashford and this has happened to every single bobbin I have ever had...I HATE IT!

Anonymous said...

You can wind the singles into a "yarn cake" using a ball winder and then ply them off that using the center pull and the outside end. This is how I usually ply so there is no waste. Also, it helps to crank the ball winder counter clockwise because this prevents the two ends of the singles getting all twisted on each other.

Good luck,
Carolyn

Deana said...

I was attacked by my bookshelf a few days ago. I'm not proud of it. Anyone else would be able to grab ONE book without having 6 more fall on their head. But me? No. I needed it.

Point being... you're right. Only the weirdest shit happens to the weird people. "weird" being used lightly here, cause I prefer "socially challenged".

Amy Lane said...

Weird shit happens to INTERESTING people--at least I hope so, because otherwise, I'm frickin' doomed!

Donna Lee said...

My daughter's wheel used to throw bobbins off and send them flying across the room. Fun times. So, is sounds like you're in good but weird company.

Linda said...

I've never heard of that before, but I'm not all that experienced ....

You are unique, one of a kind, not weird. ; ))

Corlis said...

If the bobbin is made of wood, perhaps you can find a neighbor with a wood lathe who will gladly trade a new bobbin for something wonderful.

Alwen said...

It just occurred to me: winter. Low humidity. Wood can shrink.