Manspinner 🏳️🌈
@manspinner.bsky.social
I like to spin, hook, tinker in the shed and strum hula music for the dog. Raised in the Midwest, I've been some places and managed to find a terrific husband along the way. Currently settled in the desert.
Picked some fresh eucalyptus polyanthemos for the dye pot. Color looks great, but how will it stick?
November 9, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Picked some fresh eucalyptus polyanthemos for the dye pot. Color looks great, but how will it stick?
My haul from the County Fair: Homespun 2-ply Pima and Natural Red cottons on the left; 3-ply Pima, Red and Green cottons on the right; and 3-ply Merino wool dyed with prickly pear in the center.
September 21, 2025 at 7:03 PM
My haul from the County Fair: Homespun 2-ply Pima and Natural Red cottons on the left; 3-ply Pima, Red and Green cottons on the right; and 3-ply Merino wool dyed with prickly pear in the center.
I soaked a skein of homespun cotton today and decided to take pictures of it wet to run through the kaleidoscope app. It is three ply, singles of white Pima, natural red and natural green cottons, spun on my great wheel Sacramento, wet plied on my even greater wheel Broncobuster.
August 16, 2025 at 2:14 AM
I soaked a skein of homespun cotton today and decided to take pictures of it wet to run through the kaleidoscope app. It is three ply, singles of white Pima, natural red and natural green cottons, spun on my great wheel Sacramento, wet plied on my even greater wheel Broncobuster.
Day 10: Finished off this batch of crochet cotton. I reckon it would sit somewhere between #10 and #20. (I sure wish I knew how that was figured.) Wet plying worked well, and it measured out at just over 100 yards weighing a little over 14 grams. #tourdefleece.
July 15, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Day 10: Finished off this batch of crochet cotton. I reckon it would sit somewhere between #10 and #20. (I sure wish I knew how that was figured.) Wet plying worked well, and it measured out at just over 100 yards weighing a little over 14 grams. #tourdefleece.
Day 9: When I spin on a Great Wheel, I ply on my Traditional, which needs a lot of pedaling. So I tried plying this three-strand ball of Upland cotton on the Broncobuster, my biggest wheel. And I did it wet as an experiment, hence the bowl. Went fast, worked well, results soon. #tourdefleece.
July 14, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Day 9: When I spin on a Great Wheel, I ply on my Traditional, which needs a lot of pedaling. So I tried plying this three-strand ball of Upland cotton on the Broncobuster, my biggest wheel. And I did it wet as an experiment, hence the bowl. Went fast, worked well, results soon. #tourdefleece.
Day 8: Plying some Upland cotton from the Great Wheel using a homemade rig I call the "Bed o' Nails." It helps control the pigtails, and I can worry about the spin later. "One crisis at a time," I like to say. #tourdefleece.
July 12, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Day 8: Plying some Upland cotton from the Great Wheel using a homemade rig I call the "Bed o' Nails." It helps control the pigtails, and I can worry about the spin later. "One crisis at a time," I like to say. #tourdefleece.
Day 7: I want a three-ply with two colors, and debated -- two reds or two white? I decided to make a cob half red, half white, alternating every four walks or so on the Great Wheel. The cottons are white Pima and natural red. #tourdefleece.
July 12, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Day 7: I want a three-ply with two colors, and debated -- two reds or two white? I decided to make a cob half red, half white, alternating every four walks or so on the Great Wheel. The cottons are white Pima and natural red. #tourdefleece.
Day 6: To comb or not to comb, that is the question, especially when the drum carder is so quick and easy. This Border Leicester is very lustrous, long-stapled and kinky, with a bit of VM in the mix, so I opted for the combs, but I could change my mind after a test spin. #tourdefleece.
July 11, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Day 6: To comb or not to comb, that is the question, especially when the drum carder is so quick and easy. This Border Leicester is very lustrous, long-stapled and kinky, with a bit of VM in the mix, so I opted for the combs, but I could change my mind after a test spin. #tourdefleece.
Day 5: Day 4 didn't go so well. This is Emmy, my first wheel, and she's been under repair all afternoon. I had a fainting spell yesterday, swooned, and landed on her. It was not pretty. I cannibalized another wheel for a broke part, and she seems to work fine. Me, sore but OK. #tourdefleece.
July 10, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Day 5: Day 4 didn't go so well. This is Emmy, my first wheel, and she's been under repair all afternoon. I had a fainting spell yesterday, swooned, and landed on her. It was not pretty. I cannibalized another wheel for a broke part, and she seems to work fine. Me, sore but OK. #tourdefleece.
Day 4: Planning to finish off a batch of merino, spun long-draw on my first and favorite wheel. Two bobbins down and one to go. A natural overspinner, I'm trying to cut back on my spins after the draw. We'll see how it goes. #tourdefleece.
July 10, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Day 4: Planning to finish off a batch of merino, spun long-draw on my first and favorite wheel. Two bobbins down and one to go. A natural overspinner, I'm trying to cut back on my spins after the draw. We'll see how it goes. #tourdefleece.
Day 3: An Aussie friend taught me the word "ort." Today I basically spun orts. Here's the bottom of the ort pan by my great wheel as seen through the kaleidoscope filter. Funny how "ort" autocorrects to "art." Could be a lesson in there somewhere. Cheers. #tourdefleece.
July 7, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Day 3: An Aussie friend taught me the word "ort." Today I basically spun orts. Here's the bottom of the ort pan by my great wheel as seen through the kaleidoscope filter. Funny how "ort" autocorrects to "art." Could be a lesson in there somewhere. Cheers. #tourdefleece.
Day 2: While waiting for a fleece to dry today, I decided to finish off a cob of natural red cotton on the great wheel. I'm planning on plying it with the pima cotton on the other cob. #tourdefleece.
July 6, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Day 2: While waiting for a fleece to dry today, I decided to finish off a cob of natural red cotton on the great wheel. I'm planning on plying it with the pima cotton on the other cob. #tourdefleece.
Thanks for the comment. Here's the before picture. The staple looks very long, so I reckon I'll comb it and spin from the fold. The time spent getting that County Fair fleece from raw to yarn will likely dwarf the $60. Cheers.
July 6, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Thanks for the comment. Here's the before picture. The staple looks very long, so I reckon I'll comb it and spin from the fold. The time spent getting that County Fair fleece from raw to yarn will likely dwarf the $60. Cheers.
This year I plan to post along with the Tour de Fleece mob, starting today. To begin, I'm washing 720 grams of Border Leicester. Even the raw wool looked good through the kaleidoscope filter. #tourdefleece.
July 5, 2025 at 9:36 PM
This year I plan to post along with the Tour de Fleece mob, starting today. To begin, I'm washing 720 grams of Border Leicester. Even the raw wool looked good through the kaleidoscope filter. #tourdefleece.
Tinkered in my workshop July 4 making a riser for a hat block I inherited. Who needs a 7 1/2 inch crown? Since that's where my old bell lives, I opened the garage door and gave it a good ring in honor of the day. Cheers.
July 5, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Tinkered in my workshop July 4 making a riser for a hat block I inherited. Who needs a 7 1/2 inch crown? Since that's where my old bell lives, I opened the garage door and gave it a good ring in honor of the day. Cheers.
Maybe it's working.
April 10, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Maybe it's working.
A box of upland cotton came in the mail today and it spins like a dream.
March 28, 2025 at 4:50 AM
A box of upland cotton came in the mail today and it spins like a dream.
Best rolags yet. Nani helped.
March 17, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Best rolags yet. Nani helped.
I spun some Pima cotton in the library tonight. I call this wheel "Sacramento" after the mountains from whence it came. It makes a wonderful rattle, easily the loudest of my great wheels.
March 5, 2025 at 4:49 AM
I spun some Pima cotton in the library tonight. I call this wheel "Sacramento" after the mountains from whence it came. It makes a wonderful rattle, easily the loudest of my great wheels.
My annual knitting project is finished. Let the fulling begin.
February 27, 2025 at 7:19 AM
My annual knitting project is finished. Let the fulling begin.
I much prefer hooking, but once every year or so I do a knitting project just to remind myself how it's done and why I love crochet. While unpacking boxes, I found three skeins of Fisherman's Wool, so one is becoming a scarf, and it's going quite well... for knitting.
February 25, 2025 at 7:00 AM
I much prefer hooking, but once every year or so I do a knitting project just to remind myself how it's done and why I love crochet. While unpacking boxes, I found three skeins of Fisherman's Wool, so one is becoming a scarf, and it's going quite well... for knitting.
Today I spun cotton and listened to Dvorak in the craft room. I worked from roving, and realized life without rolags is possible. That's liberating.
February 19, 2025 at 6:12 AM
Today I spun cotton and listened to Dvorak in the craft room. I worked from roving, and realized life without rolags is possible. That's liberating.
I was listening to this book, Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel, while spinning cotton on the great wheel today. I know I'll enjoy it because it's being read by one of my favorite narrators, but since it was written way back in 1965, it may be hard to relate.
January 27, 2025 at 5:54 AM
I was listening to this book, Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel, while spinning cotton on the great wheel today. I know I'll enjoy it because it's being read by one of my favorite narrators, but since it was written way back in 1965, it may be hard to relate.
Remember that pic of the Prickly Pear yarn next to the eucalyptus starts? From the kaleidoscope app:
January 20, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Remember that pic of the Prickly Pear yarn next to the eucalyptus starts? From the kaleidoscope app: