Sidetracks
May 20th, 2008 by 
mel
Spinners, please help me!
I was struck by a sudden urge tonight to spin on a project I haven’t touched in months (with the exception of a brief and ill-fated attempt at the last spinning guild meeting - I blame the plying flyer I was using instead of the normal one). Middy joined me for a few minutes and Tad was able to fire off a stealth shot from behind the other couch before she got wise and ran away:
Anyway, everything was going along nicely - I was getting a really nice fine single without any trouble and humming right along… and I started to feel really excited about this yarn again, like there might be a possibility I could actually finish it in the foreseeable future. And then, the single broke. And the end disappeared into the bobbin. Now how in the hell do I find the end?? I looked for a good 30 minutes before giving up. Any tricks or tips to force it to show itself?
This is not at all what I had planned to post tonight - sidetracks are the name of the game this week I guess! Most of them have been fun and productive though, so I can’t complain. And if I can find the end of the yarn before I lose my excitement again, this too will have been worthwhile!
—————-
Now playing: Mates of State - Mates of State - My Only Offer
via FoxyTunes
It’s positively impossible to be frustrated while listening to this song. The lyrics have a little more going on, but the sound - so light and happy!!
Posted in spinning | 
May 20th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Well, I don’t have too much help for you, but if you look where on the bobbin the wheel was set to wind when The Fatal Event occurred, at least you’d have a general vicinity in which to look…
But when this happened awhile back, I’m pretty sure I ended up just ‘accidentally’ ripping the yarn and creating a new end…if it’s wool and you’re going to ply it, you can splice it without too much worry, I would think.
P.S. FIRST! (I’ve always wanted to do that…)
May 21st, 2008 at 12:08 am
Run your finger across the bobbin in the opposite direct in which it is spun on the bobbin. It should fluff up the end of the fiber. It might help to dampen your finger as well to try and pick it up.
Good luck!
May 21st, 2008 at 7:51 am
Try Scotch tape, pressing it in the direction the single was spun and lifting up in the opposite direction. That usually works. Good luck!
May 21st, 2008 at 10:21 am
I vote for the scotch tape option. Good luck to you! The spinning looks gorgeous!!
May 21st, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I was going to suggest the scotch tape too.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:03 pm
All the suggests sound good. Have found that if there was a lot of spin happening when the thread broke, the end can bury itself - that means cutting a thread n order to get a new end but first instead of scotch tape, try duct tape and be sure and run your hand over tape in a 2″ or 3″ length, because if you end did get buried, the end is probably down several layers of thread so you need to make sure the tape is touching the part of the thread you need -the end - goodluck.
May 21st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Poor Mel. Read this.
May 21st, 2008 at 5:54 pm
FREAKING BEAUTIFUL SINGLES.
May 21st, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Duct tape is always a winner in my book. A stiff drink, and a bushel of patience will also help. And clearly Middy had a premonition about this bobbin tragedy - that’s why she looked so upset in her photo.