Tips on Drafting

From River’s Edge Weaving Studio’s newsletter, are some good hints and tips when drafting your fibers to spin. Go to their site for even more info: http://www.weavingstudio.samsbiz.com/

Fiber length – pull off a few representative fibers, and determine the longest length.
The longest one plus 1 inch (especially if a blend) is the minimum distance between your hands when drafting, aka attenuating.
When spinning blends it’s very easy to end up with a lot of one fiber of one length going into your draft, and none of the other length of fibers.
When your hands are the minimum distance apart, various blends of fibers will remain suspended within each other and therefore draft easier.
To create a softer fluffier yarn, you may wish to try taking your forward hand (closest to the orifice) and when you are ready for the twist to go into the drafted fiber, let go with that hand, bring your hand back, pinch and start over. By not sliding your fingers along said newly twisted fibers, you will end up with a softer, more natural type yarn rather than one that is stringy without much life to it.
For example: One of our blends is 50% cashmere/50% bombyx silk. The bombyx is long, smooth and straight (although silk does have a “tooth” to it) while the cashmere is shorter with a totally different crimp-like texture. As this blend is as soft and light as air, a softer handling by you will result with a luscious halo effect when using the previously described technique.

Three things can occur if you slide your hand closest to the orifice over the newly twisted fibers: heat-moisture-pressure. These are the very same principles that create felted fibers.

I don’t often share knitting patterns for pets, mostly because I don’t think of it. I don’t have a dog, and I’ve never knit for my cats except a knit couch and a little cat bed I made on a knitting machine, both of which were pretty much ignored.

I have shared some pet bed knitting patterns, and both hats and sweaters for dogs.

But I don’t think I’ve shared a pattern for a cat sweater, until now.

This one is the Bunny sweater by Sarah Zhou, so named because her cat is named Bunny, of course.

It’s a made to measure pattern because cats come in all shapes and sizes, and you can also use any yarn you like and whatever gauge you are getting with that yarn.

The design is knit from the bottom up, that is, from the tail side up toward the head. Pairs of decreases shape the body as you work toward the armholes, which are made by binding off a few stitches. Then the belly and the back are worked flat, then joined and worked in the round for the chest part.

There are some design options in the pattern, from the look of the photos they include using a contrasting color for the edging, working a scalloped edging, maybe a foldover collar? But of course you can add your own embellishments, stripes, make it in team colors or for a Halloween costume. I’m sure they’re quick to knit so you can make a bunch if you have a cat who is willing to submit to such torture.

Bunny looks like a very good and mostly tolerant girl; I don’t think either of my cats would be willing to wear a sweater. But if you make one (the pattern is available on Ravelry) and successfully get your cat to wear it I would love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sarah Zhou]

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