Dyed Locks

I'm prepping some raw Merino cross fleece for spinning. These locks are not as soft and smooshy as pure Merino, but they have considerable lustre! I'm working out a new colour work pattern for mittens and need several colors.

Into the dye pots (well mason jars, actually) to get two shades of pink, some green, orangey yellow and orange.



These are the same dark pink locks from the first photo, I've separated them and will flick the tips open before I spin them.



The green is actually from a Merino fleece - it's just a small sample. The bulk of the yarn for this particular project will be green and I love how this Merino fleece feels! I wasn't sure how best to obtain the precise green I wanted - hence the sampling.



Here's a few one yard 3ply samples that I spun from various blends of dyed fleece and undyed fleece. My fav is the one second from the left.

I'll also need light brown (sampled above), black and white. The black will be from some Shetland fleece I've recently washed and the white from some Merino lamb leftover from this dyeing project with B.

Incidently, all this fun is for Episode 3 of Project Spinway...

Handspun Anyone?

I've decided I need a new fiber toy. I want a drum carder. I believe I've mentioned before that my hubby and I have a deal. Any funds that come in through the sale of my patterns can be used for yarn, fiber, tools, etc. That doesn't mean no fiber fun enters the house unless I buy it with profits. After all, I do get gifts, too! But Christmas is too far away and I want a drum carder NOW!



So, since I can't possibly knit everything I've spun before I die, I'm having a handspun destash. Go here, to my Ravelry stash page. Every yarn with "$$" preceding its name is up for grabs. Email me, or PM me on Rav if you see anything you can't live without.

Wildfire and Calm

When I posted about my new Thumbelina, I mentioned 8oz of yarn that spun up almost without effort.

The first was 4 oz of Corriedale roving in a lovely calm beige. The second was an amazing batt from Orange Jello called "Wildfire"



These were both spun fine on the Thumbelina and n-plyed on my Ashford Traddy.

The Corriedale is about a DK weight yarn, while the Wildfire is a fingering weight. Both need a little bath to set the twist, and then I'll measure yardage.

New Spindle Candy

I've been coveting the Jenkins Turkish Spindles for some time. And I finally caved in. Usually it takes a few weeks on their waiting list before they are able to fill your order, but I got lucky. After returning from Sock Summit, the Jenkins' had a Burmese Blackwood Lark that hadn't sold...



... and now it lives on my coffee table!

Calvin needs to learn that despite its petit size, it is not a cat toy with a fuzzy wuzzy tail.

This darling little spindle arrived in my mailbox yesterday, only 12 days after I ordered. Pretty impressive for cross border shopping. It came with two little samples: one of Targhee roving and the other a merino/bamboo blend. So handy, as I had to wait a few minutes for one of my kids and was able to spin in the van after I tore open the package!

It's so cute, I almost feel like it needs a name. I think it's a boy... any suggestions?

Thumbelina

Do you ever browse Kijiji (or whatever is local for you). You know, just looking, just to see if there are any looms or spinning wheels or drum carders... Of course, you have no plans to buy - especially when the dh pops his head into the computer room and asks. "Whatcha looking at?"

Local things for me rarely pop up - so sometimes I broaden my search to include all of Ontario, because I'm "just looking". A few weeks ago, just before my family converged on my small town for a fun-filled reunion, I was "browsing". Now I realized this time that this could be dangerous, since there were three parties of family members driving in from 3 different parts of Ontario. This meant, 3 potential delivery options...

And I found something!!! A circa 1975 Thumbelina from New Zealand*.



The seller was offering the wheel and 2 bobbins for $35. I almost burned the keys off my keyboard I typed the email in so fast. It just so happened that my brother was overnighting in a hotel very near the sellers home, so she offered to bring the wheel to the hotel (always wise to meet in a public place). And now I've got the cutest little wheel sitting in my living room.

She spins like a dream. It doesn't appear to me that the wheel ever saw much use. There are very few marks of any sort of wear, a few minor bumps and dings that you'd expect on any piece of furniture. I took it apart, oiled it, put it back together and promptly spun about 8oz. I hope my Ashford Traditional doesn't hear this, but I think I like the Thumbelina better! I don't need to treadle with nearly as much effort.



My Traddy never feels effortless, and although I've made lots of yarn on her, it seems that there is a lot more resistance on her foot pedal, despite regular maintenance. Now the Thumbelina is no longer made, so I knew that getting additional bobbins would be tricky at best. But... my dad has a lathe, and has already shipped me some reproductions. I've got 2 originals and 3 reproductions that work very well. Should be able to make lots more yarn!

So the moral of the story? Don't go looking if you don't want your living room to start filling up with fiber making furniture!


*Check out this thorough resource on identifying New Zealand wheels.

Am I crazy?

My family thinks I'm crazy but this week I've turned this:




into this:


This is the softest, fluffiest stuff.

I'm averaging 3 yards of 3 ply fingering weight per day. Calvin is beginning to run when he sees the brush coming, so I'll have to let him be for a bit.

He needed brushing so badly as fur was flying everytime we had a snuggle session. Being a spinner and all, it was a very easy leap from soft fluffy cloud of kitten fur to my spindle!

So much and so little at the same time

I'm sure I've done a lot in the last 4 weeks, and yet it went by so fast it seems like just yesterday was mid September. It's amazing that almost 4 weeks have gone by since I last posted. I really don't have any good reasons for that - other than the normal busyness of life. I've been spinning, knitting and homeschooling... but haven't made the time to post it here.

Please forgive me.

Here's a few of the pretties that have been occupying my time...




260 yds 3ply sport weight. Spun from "Happy Vamp" batts from Knitty and Color. Love her colors!


A needle felted sheep. I melt every time I look into his felted sheepy eyes, even though I made them myself! Pattern by Bear Creak Designs, wool from Natchwoolie.


A colorworked Estonian Sheep Puppet. While I do like this, I'm not overly happy with my yarn choice. The pattern doesn't pop as there is less contrast than I initially thought there would be with the white and multigreen yarn. And somehow his ears look less than sheepy.

And I've started a few new projects: spinnng my Wisteria Spindies Box and making a pair of Domo mittens for my dd.

Peacock laceweight

I've finished spinning all of my Peacock Paint Box. I decided to do a two ply laceweight so I can make a Brandywine shawl. So far I've only plyed two of the three bobbins. I'll start knitting and then decide if I need the rest. If not, I'll n-ply it and use it on some colorwork mittens.





I'm very pleased with how this turned out. 440 yds 26wpi.

Retrofit

I've mentioned a few times how I like my Ashford Traditional, but wish it had more than one speed. When I want to make really fine singles, I need to spindle spin the singles and ply on the wheel. Since trying the Majacraft Suzie this summer (shhhh, don't tell my Traddy) I'd almost decided that when I save enough to buy a new wheel, the Suzie Pro will be it. While amassing the small fortune needed, I thought I'd look at buying a newer flyer for my circa 1975 Traddy. I showed a few to G, who suggested he ask around to see if anyone had a lathe and could retrofit my current flyer with a few new whorls.

So this morning, not without some trepidation on my part, my flyer took off to work with him. Apparently Speedy is the best way to describe the friend he found, because by lunchtime, I had this!



And I could spin 50 wpi singles with no effort!


And my Knotty Gloves progress?



I've almost finished the chart. I shortened the cuff by 2 cm and started the increases for the thumb gusset 4 rows early. This will effectively decrease the cuff length by 3 cm and move the cable motif a little higher on the back of the hand. I'm still a bit worried about having enough yarn, so this cuts out a bit and I like the placement of the motif a bit higher.

Borg Queen Yarn...

...your uniqueness shall be added to our own.

I have a 3 month club membership with Spindies. It's wonderful, lovely and such fun to open presents for me every month, even if I have to buy them myself!



My very first Spindies Paint Box was the Peacock inspired one. Each sample from bamboo, milk fiber, wool roving, and gorgeous blended batts were such fun to pet and play with. It really gives me a good idea of the product each of the contributors produces.

I struggled with how I should spin this lovely fluff up. I considered spinning each sample as it's own little yarn, but didn't know what I'd do with ten 0.5oz mini skeins of Peacock inspired yarn. I considered breaking each sample into little bits, and spinning a fat single with a bit of each sample in sequence, but didn't know what I'd make with the resulting yarn. In the end, I decided to go with what I know I will love, 3 thin singles, plyed into a fingering weight yarn.



I wish I had a blending hackle, but since I don't, I found another way to blend all the samples nicely. I stretched each sample out to a big rectangle (approx 15" x 20") - very easy with the batts. Not so much with the milk and bamboo rovings - those I lightly carded with my handcards. I stacked each stretched sample on top of eachother. Then I ripped the sample sandwich into eight strips. To keep things tidy, I twisted each strip into a little knot until I was ready to deal with it. Once I was ready to spin, I predrafted each knot and spun to my heart's content!

I feel a bit guilty for this approach, the wonderful uniqueness of each sample is lost this way, and I hope each of the fiber artists who contributed don't feel slighted by my melting pot approach.

I'm spindle spinning this so I can get the thinness I want from the singles, but I'll ply it on my wheel. I've got two thirds spun, and am working away on the final stretch. However, now that I'm at this point and have just found the Brandywine Shawl pattern (a Haiti relief project by Rosemary Hill) I'm considering a two-ply lace weight instead!



On the Knotty front, I've got 4cm of cuff!

Soft, Fluffy Clouds

I started carding the East Friesian last night and it is oh so soft and bouncy.


The little bowls show approximately equal amount of fiber: one washed and dried, the other also carded!


And here's all 80g carded and ready to spin. It really fills up the same blue basket the raw fiber was sitting in in the previous post.

In the Pink

Here's my lovely 3 ply...



50grams, 80 yds, dk/light worsted weight. Apparently I wasn't paying very close attention to the thickness of my singles and this did not end up at my typical fingering weight. Must be all the "big fat" spinning I've been doing recently!


Each of the pretty pink little knots from the previous post were gently coaxed into a handpulled roving like this one. Due to the hodge podge nature of the different fibers, this was a wee bit tricky at times. The mohair locks that were one of the samples refused to cooperate until I removed them all, carded them and put them back in.


I'm hoping it will be enough to make this:


"Jacobus" by Annita Wilschut. (links: ravelry, Annita's blog)

The newest spin

I decided I wanted some pink yarn. So I dug through my pile of Phat Fiber samples and pulled all the pinkish and purplish bits of fluff out. I pulled each sample into roughly the same size rectangle, stacked them up, then pulled the stack into quarters lengthwise.



Aren't those pretty little knots ready to be spun up? 55 grams of goodness, including samples from a number of Phat Fiber artists: Alaskan Sass, The Sheepy Kitty, Maude & Me, Spincerely Yours, From Ewe to You, Susan's Kitchen, Cozy Cove Farm, and Ambrosia & Bliss.




I'm planning a fingering weight three-ply.

I saw Alpacas Today!!!

The local Spinners and Weavers Guild held an open house today at an alpaca farm about 20 minutes from my home. I didn't even know there were alpacas living so close to me. I have been bursting with excitement all week and this morning was awake before everyone else, partly from excitement, partly because hubby tends to snore.



There were about 20 different darlings grazing about the farm - two tiny babies among them.

This is Jasper - I missed getting a photo of M feeding him some pellet food.


This is Coco and Cody, her cria. Cody was born premature, but is doing well.

This is Coco too! Couldn't go to an alpaca farm without coming home with something to spin.

The guild members demonstrated weaving on tabletop 4 harness looms. I've always been so fascinated by weaving. They had some fun weaving activities for the kids, but M and B were more interested in the alpacas.

B found their feet particularly cute.


These alpacas were ones she watched almost the whole time we were there.

And the spinning demonstrators were more than willing to let people try out their wheels. Up to now I've only had M spinning on a spindle, but after he spun some Romney on an Ashford Traveller like a pro, I've promised him a bobbin on my wheel.


Many of the guild members and visitors to the open house were quite awed by a young boy spinning happily away at a wheel.

Still spinning

More spinning today! I've been working on some more chubby singles, since the last yarn was so fun. After I washed that one it bloomed beautifully and ended up more of a heavy worsted/bulky weight. So for this singles yarn, I'm aiming for a worsted weight after its bath.



This yarn is being spun from some batts I purchased from It's a Colorful Life. I fell in love with the colors. They were more burgundy in the photos on etsy and more purplish in person and I think I like them better in person!



To spin the batt, I ripped the batt into strips...


...and predrafted each strip.


So far I'm loving the result!

Something New

Yesterday afternoon I decided to try making a bit of supercoil yarn. I'd seen some beautiful examples on Ravelry and thought I'd like to try. This must be the time for me to break out of my spinning comfort zone! I had a yet another Phat Fiber sample that decided it should become my first supercoil yarn.



I'd harvested a wee bit of this "Beach Glass" batt from Giffordables for a needle felting experiment, so there was only 0.2oz left. I spun a fairly thick single (for me) and ended up with 16yards. Following the example in this Youtube video, I wound some white fingering weight yarn onto my spindle and began the corespinning!



I am quite pround of my not quite 3 yards of supecoil and can see myself trying this on a larger scale some time.






I finished spinning the Wild Orchid silk too and gave it a little bath. There are about 150 yards of laceweight singles in this beautiful little 1/3 oz skein! I couldn't resist the pic of the little center-pull ball. I heart silk!

Everything is Fine Again

Although making chunky singles yarn was tons of fun, I've decided to finally try spinning some silk that was in one of my Phat Boxes. Somehow I had felt I wasn't ready for silk. But after spinning those other slippery fibers last week with great success, I thought, "let's give it a whirl". But I did want the resulting silk yarn to be fine, so we're back to my comfort zone.



This is a tussah silk sample from Wild Orchid, dyed from yellow to blue to pink, with the green and purple resulting where they ought to.



So far it's spinning up far more easily than I had expected. I don't actually find it slippery at all. It's surprisingly grippy and very easy to make a fine single with.