Diameter with Judith MacKenzie

On the first day of the electronic spinner retreat, after we had the miniSpinner mechanic lessons, Judith MacKenzie started us on some Corriedale top from Ashland Bay.

She told us that we subconsciously will fall into a rhythm that is uniquely our own when it comes to drafting (and using the treadles) for spinning.  She stated that you can try to change your body motion but in the instant that you stop paying attention, you will fall back on your default motions.


The only way to change the thickness (diameter) of your singles is to change the wheel specifications - treadle speed (in this case the drafting speed of our miniSpinners) and the brake tension.


The HansenCrafts miniSpinner has a capacity of 1600 rpms.  The knob that controls the speed starts at the 6:00 position on the clock and gets progressively faster as you turn it clockwise.  I don't think I have ever had it at the 12:00 position yet and I usually hover between 9:00 and 10:00.  Judith stated she spins at around 900 rpms.


Our first assignment was to spin different diameters of 2-ply Corriedale yarn by minutely adjusting our draft speed and brake tension.  


Here are Judith's resulting yarns from her demonstration.

Jessica (RoseKimKnits) was really good at this exercise and here she is with her samples.

I spent some time working on my samples as well and here are the few that I did before we moved on to another exercise.