CENTERING WITH FIBER: The Saori Piccolo40 loom and spinning on the Ashford Jumbo electronic spinner and Spinolution Firefly

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

The Saori Piccolo40 loom and spinning on the Ashford Jumbo electronic spinner and Spinolution Firefly

The Saori Piccolo 40 loom is light weight (15 lbs) portable and is self contained! unlike table looms you do not need a stand or a table , folds in 3 seconds and off you go , open 3 seconds sit and weave!My student last week brought her piccolo to work on a cashmere warp she had langushing . weft is cashmere too .

saori piccolo loom in my etsy shop here

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I would like to talk about "espinners' which stands for electronic spinning wheels

The advantage of espiners is they are light weight as opposed to manual treadle wheels

so therefore portable! want to spin in a confined space like a RV, or in a recliner, a boat, at a spin in or a coffee shop etc etc? not all espinners are alike. there are fancy wood models and ones out of plastic on the broad spectrum of things . I have owned and or spun on them all. for me the majority of styles are for average weight yarns lace weight to Dk or worsted. If a person wants to get creative and spin bulky or art yarns or simplky wants to ply their yarn in a large single skein not multiple smaller skeins then a larger orifice and bobbin and flyer are needed. you can still spin regular weight yarns on a larger wheel but you can not not spin larger yarns on the smaller orifice wheels.

I teach and use two larger espinners the Ashford superjumbo and the spinolution Firefly.( the firefly can have 4 oz ,8,16,32 all the way to 64 oz flyers

Antoinette had a treadle wheel but she had a ankle injury which she had three surgeries on. she needed to give her ankle less repetitive motion . so tried out the ashford super jumbo espinner in my class and purchased it.shee loves it! she can spin for hours now. and create large bulky yarns and plys!

Durning covid the importance of focusing on creative that brings joy and comfort is very important.

she saori weaves and spins which brings her peace and expression as well.

The ASHFORD SUPER JUMBO E SPINNER HERE in my Etsy shop.

It comes with is's owned zippered case

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The SPINOLUTION fire fly is the other electric spinning wheel . If you follow my blogs you will recognize it as the wheel I spin on the most! it is versatile you can get flyer from size 4 oz ,8,16,32,64ounce sizes! Also these heads are interchangeable with their treadle wheels so you can have multiple wheels use the same head/flyer . because Spinolution does not have a sliding yarn guide or a orifice, you can spin with out getting fiber hung or catching, or limiting the size yarn you want create!

here is my latest spin on my firefly

this is the 64 oz head/flyer bobbin. ( I customized it and place a mandala decal on the bobbin it does not come that way)

I first spun singles with the 16 oz flyer with the Paulywinder attachment first. what is a pauly winder? it is spinolutions no gear solution to auto winding the yarn onto the bobbin as you spin with out having to stop to move the yarn along the hooks on the flyer . Brilliant !

when done I plied my singles into art yarn stacks with the 64 oz flyer.

i did not have to use the 64 oz bobbin i have the 16 oz and the 32 oz as well but it was sitting out next to the wheel . the motor is quiet and very strong. also the Spinolution Firefly has A BUILT IN BATTERY. that lasts up to 18 hours. no need to buy a external battery and plug cable when you do not have a wall plug in avaiablen and want to spin.

spinolution FIRE FLY spinner in my Etsy shop here

for those who prefer treadling spinolution has many wheels , here is my echo wheel 16 oz bobbin but you can choose from 4 sizes

here is the echo with a big 32 oz flyer