The Sheep Shed Studio May 11, 2009
Posted by lunarawe in Ravelry, dyeing, handspun, spinning, stash enhancement.3 comments
So I finally (ok a month ago) entered into the lovely fiber artists’ world of the Sheep Shed Studio. This wonderful business in Wyoming provides all kinds of rovings, mill ends, rugs, mysterious bales of fiber and various other adventures for the fluff lover in us all. If you haven’t tried them out yet, I would highly recommend it. I decided to start small instead of ordering a 15 pound bag of yummy dyeable fibers. Hmmm… maybe after I move. Anyway, I asked for cotswald curls, some beautiful forest green roving, and a pound of soft grey roving that a number of dyers on ravelry had been raving about. Carol (bless her) added a little thank you sample of some black wool that you see nestled up there on the top. That grey fluff is super soft! I was ready to try my hand at dyeing greys but… first things first.
By now some of you will know that while on occasion I will accept the role of pink in gift giving, it is not a favorite color of mine. That has a lot to do with trauma overdoing the pink in my early childhood years, but that is a story for another type of blog. See that pile of pink? I think we can all agree that Carol did a lovely job with a variegated dye on those curls… sure to produce some lovely depths of color. However, pink does not go on my wheel for fun so after opening my box of goodies and cackling with glee, I pulled every pink or almost pink curl out of that back and threw it straight into one of two dye pots.
After some time in a marine blue dyebath and a high acid (for fast color striking) dyebath with blacks and mustards this is what our culprits turned into. Mwa ha ha. Soon there were batts to behold:
I did eventually get to play with some greys. I did a free form dye bath just as an experimental starting point. Whoops! Caught myself in that photo. The sun has been tricksy of late…
Here is a close up to show the color variety.
I still have a lot of fiber prep (and spinning) to do, but so far I am delighted with my Sheep Shed Studio experience. Definitely the go to fiber option for my upcoming grad school years. Hmmm… I wonder what my advisor will think of me buying fiber in bulk?
New Spinnings May 5, 2009
Posted by lunarawe in drop spindle, fo, spinning, spinning - FOs, spinning fo, yarn.3 comments
I have been watching with some envy the gorgeous rovings arriving at the homes of those participating in the Grafton Fibers Colorways club. I was proud of my resistance against joining immediately when I saw the pretty colors. Instead I do what I usually try to do. I ordered some of their fiber to experience it before jumping into any rash decisions.
Gorgeous. Soft, delicious corriedale wool in such lovely batts. I ordered three (as can be seen at the bottom of this posting) in what I hoped would be complementary colors for a nice three ply yarn.
bobbins
On the bobbins the variegations of color are nice and clear. These were jewel-like in tone and so easy to spin. The smooth softness was a joy to the hands.
I absolutely love how the colors complement each other. I wanted something with depth that resisted the traditional barber pole look. I think this suceeded nicely.
The shifting hues of color definitely keep my interest. This yarn has an overall blueish cast but mainly whispers lush, rich tidings at you quietly. This is about 3.5 ounces of corriedale, 162 yards of three ply yarn. Yum! That Colorways Club may well be in my future once I land at my new address.
Finally, I picked up a Ringspindle much more suited to my spinning style than the ponderously heavy Schacht drop spindle I was (attempting to use) using before. At 0.84 oz of weight this ebony wood spindle spins fast enough to create the types of singles that I adore without crashing to the floor. Much better for my ego than the clangs and bangs of my earlier attempts. My only remaining challenge is convincing myself that spinning 50 yarns of laceweight at a time makes any kind of logical sense! Oh well. Travel spinning. Yes. Um… I’ll keep you posted on that one.
Berries on Beltane May 3, 2009
Posted by lunarawe in dyeing, fo, natural dyeing, pokeberries, spinning.3 comments
POKEBERRY MADNESS!
This glorious tale owes its wonder to the unbelievable patience of Devorah. You are looking at three gallons of pokeberries. Three gallons! Talk about days and days of fuschia fingertips. We live in Florida (for another month anyway). The pokeberry bush in our yard got so big that it has an honest to goodness trunk at the moment and would have to be taken down with a saw. Devorah, who has long loved making ink from pokeberries, took it upon herself to find a way to dye with them. Well. For me to dye with them. But check out how many berries she picked! Two pots full over time. I helped. A bit. Such a wonderful adventure!
Devorah found this article by Carol Leigh for a nonfading pokeberry recipe. Scroll down a bit on her site to find it. Pokeberries are very tricksy about refusing to be colorfast and people have to go to extreme measures to get nonfading colors. See below.
The most important thing in dyeing with pokeberries (aside from a ridiculously high pokeberry to fiber ratio) is high acidity. These pots were prepared using 56% acetic acid. The mordant pots and dye bath both steeped overnight. There are Teeswater locks, Superwash Merino, and Bluefaced Leicester in those pots. Wool fumes! On that note. Boiling pokeberries stink. Really stink. Did I mention stink? Wow.
After a night in the acid the dyebath was intense. It is almost as black as that crock pot. Wow. There was so much dye! Magenta was everywhere! But soon wool and dyebath met in that heavenly combination that leads to spinning happiness.
It was hard to set that in the garage and walk away for a few hours. I kept wanting to poke it! Amazing how you can already see differences in color uptake between the merino and teeswater (on the bottom of the photo) and the BFL at the top.
After two and a half hours of heating in the crock the fiber sat in the dyebath overnight. Then out it came to rest on this fabulous screen set up (thanks again to Devorah) to oxidize for several hours. Can you see the cute binder clips holding the screening on this clothes drying rack? She is the best.
Later that afternoon when the sun was streaming into the garage I had to take another pic. No flash on this one, no adjusting to correct the color. This really is what that rack looked like during the afternoon on Beltane.
This was a fabulous adventure. It was well worth doing. The photo above shows the final fibers. This is after several rinses in water (no soap!) and includes the two fibers that got dyed in the pot on round two. I have no idea if they will be lightfast given that they went through the dye on the second round. The tussah silk (pink draped across the whole thing) was only in the crock for two hours. The Leicester Longwool stayed in overnight. But the crimson colors from the first fibers are not to be believed. They are just so rich and lush. While I hope that these will stay colorfast for years to come as Carol’s have, I can understand why people were willing to redye their fabrics with pokeberries once a year to keep them a brilliant red.
To think they call this plant a weed….
Yarny Goodness March 25, 2009
Posted by lunarawe in dyeing, fo, spinning, spinning - FOs, spinning fo, stash enhancement, yarn.4 comments
Hooray for the first yarn off of my new wheel! This is just over 540 yards of DK weight three ply yarn. The wool roving (breed unknown) was dyed by dudleyspinner. It started as 24 times more than this little nugget of fluff. About eight ounces.
Sorry for the blurriness. Cell phones just arent the best. I took the original roving, divided it randomly into three (by length) but then carefully separated each third into eight repeats. Happily, my attempt to balance out the rich colors seems to have worked. All suggestions about what to make from this are welcome!
I also had a ton of fun doing natural dyeing using beets. My housemate loves them, sadly enough, yet after boiling a pile in the crock pot I had a fabulous dye bath to work with. I used two different mordants on wool: alum and copper sulfate.
Here is the dyebath:
The cheesecloth was for straining out the beet bits. The pot below has wool mordanted in alum. That riotous orangey color definitely stuck! Fabulous! Time will tell if it will be colorfast, etc. I am thinking these rovings need to be turned into something that gets washed a bit less often.
Mordanting the wool in copper sulfate was beautiful! Aqualicious…
What happens to the color of beets once the copper sulfate is in the mix though… well, maybe greens should not be brought out of oranges. Lol. This looks a little too much like intestines. Ick! But the roving really is lovely. I cannot wait to see it spun.
Rinsed, dryed, and ready to spin! Both of these rovings are actually a bit darker than in the picture.
And finally I ordered some batts from Grafton Fibers! These are GORGEOUS! I am going spin them together. About one and one third ounce per batt… this is a three ply waiting to happen. We love the fibers!
HONK! March 15, 2009
Posted by lunarawe in Rhinebeck, fo, handspun, spinning, spinning - FOs, spinning fo, stash enhancement, yarn.1 comment so far
I want to begin with apologies for the lateness of my honk, and yet honk I must for I was one of the many caught off guard by this latest revelation. Fluffy, delicious batts. They are so much fun to spin! We all want them. Let’s be honest… making fiber potions of fluffy goodness is the main reason why any of us owns a drum carder in the first place. For example, I can’t wait to card some milkweed into… well, that is a story for another time. For now, suffice it to say that when I read on our beloved YarnHarlot’s blog that wool fibers should be loaded onto a drum carder sideways I was as stunned as most of the rest of you.
So here I am honking because yes, I was told to load my fibers facing toward the drum and yes, even my written instructions say to do the same. In fairness, I have an amazing drum carder. I got fluffy batts the other way… but nothing like this. The one drawback is that so much less fiber fit into this batt of lusciousness. Here is the story.
I started with this beautiful mass of wool locks that I purchased at Rhinebeck this fall. The vendor never told me the breed of sheep, and the locks were already dyed. While one of my friends tells me this looks a bit lke a diseased brain, I see only fibery goodness waiting to be spun up into something heavenly.
From this mass of potential I separated out the individual locks (above) and teased them open with my fingers (below).
I then did what I think we all ran to our carders to do (if we were lucky enough to have a drum carder. Mine was a gift for which I am constantly grateful). I loaded up my carder with overlaping locks laid sideways so they would be pulled at from their sides by the rows of tiny metal teeth.
Even the sound was different! I could almost hear a chorus of young girls complaining about their mothers being too rough with the tangles in their hair. It takes focus and grim determination sometimes to keep that handle turning. Oh the flashbacks of it all! As the fiber started teasing apart between the almost touching metal I could instantly see the depth of color that would be in the final batt. Lustrous. I don’t know what breed of sheep this is from but I wish I did.
The full drum looked like this after the first pass. It took three total passes through the carder to make the batt above.
By the time the batt was really finshed it had an even color, great loft, and a wonderful shine. I did a test twist that doubled back on itself into a two ply just to see what the fibers would do. Though in truth I really just have a hard time keeping my hands off of the wool.
I made three batts in all just 15 grams of wool each. I only purchased 70 grams to begin with… just pulling a bit out of the basket of fluff to try on my carder. I still have some wool in glorious reds from the same basket. I will have to card that into a blend with something fun. In the meantime I decided to start learning to spin using the long draw technique. It is humbling, and a good reminder, to start learning to spin all over again in a sense. So different from a nice (read control freak spinner) worsted method. The result is 50 yards of three ply. A happy and fuzzy green ending to my story.
My New Schacht wheel is Matchless! February 19, 2009
Posted by lunarawe in handspun, spinning, spinning wheel.4 comments
Possibly the biggest unshared info in recent months has been my acquisition of a new and much beloved spinning wheel. Thanks again go to Toni at The Fold for helping me to both select my wheel during a visit to Marengo, IL and then have it arrive safely at my Florida home! It is a Schacht Matchless wheel and so different from the Ashford Traveller wheel that I have now been using for two years. This again was a spliced together holiday gift (huge thanks to my parents and to Devorah). Really amazing how expensive a good spinning wheel can be. That said, I absolutely love this wheel. There are some major differences. It has a double drive mechanism (though it can be converted to scotch tension) and SO MUCH SPACE for my feet. Also I love that the orifice is in the center. Though, wouldn’t you know it, after two years of spinning twisted to the left, I still sit that way. Plus changing bobbins and ratios is so much easier. Do not misunderstand, I really love my Traveller wheel. But now I can just leave it set up with its lace flyer in place and still have a lot of options without messing with the entire mother of all everytime I want to do something else.
As always Devorah in all her fabulousness put together my wheel for me. Doesn’t she look happier this time than last time? True, this wheel does not come with 29 pages of assembly instructions. Now that was a labor of love. You know she is too good to me because trying to put a wheel together while a crazed and excited spinner is bouncing excitedly all around the house just has to be harder. Poor Devorah.
Eventually spinning was taking place and the world was very, very fine indeed. I am now 3/4 done with the last of three bobbins of this eight ounce wool roving. I am really wanting to ply!
More Rhinebeck Sitings October 19, 2008
Posted by lunarawe in Rhinebeck, sheep, spinning, stitching witches.2 comments
Fluffy Cotswold Fleece
Full confession to those who pay attention, this post was most certainly not written in October. That said, some things are worth documenting, no matter how late.
One of my absolute favorite Rhinebeck events is the Sheep to Shawl competition. In just a few hours groups of determined (mad) carders, spinners, and weavers transform unprocessed wool into beautiful shawls. It is really a thing of beauty to watch. One weaver per group, several spinners, and often a dedicated carder. They do most generously allow the weaver to warp the loom in advance. And then the madness begins!
My favorite group this year, no surprise here, was the team of witches working feverishly on their craft.
You have to admire a weaver who can hold her own in a pointy hat. Extra style points!
And this spinner was definitely a favorite. I admire the posture as much as the outfit. Plus, this group was energized and fun. There were tons of other good groups too! The group below is gathered around their wool at the start of things. Such a lush color. Beautiful.
A quick moment to admire the winning shawls, blue ribbon on the left and red on the right:
The blue ribbon shawl was dyed using natural dyes. Really stunning. As a non weaver this boggles my mind even without the frenetic racing and the time limit. Wow. This was also the same hall where the spinning competition was judged and displayed.
Three ribbons this year! I am very proud because at one and half years of spinning I am no longer considered a novice. One blue ribbon in the laceweight competition, a second place ribbon for three ply, and a fifth place for two ply. Super fun. And the lovely judges gave me this delightful mug (that I had been coveting in the fair, to be honest) with sheepies and knitting on it. Happiness! *delicate cough* And next year I will have to make sure to have neat ties that match. Oh the shame of it all. But I really appreciated the in depth notes this time around. Helpful.
There can be no sitings report complete without a photo of the delightful winner of this year’s hooked rug competition. I think this is both phenomenally done AND adorable. Definite points. And lastly, I leave you with a few llamas to tide you over until next year:
Full Day At Rhinebeck October 18, 2008
Posted by lunarawe in Rhinebeck, knitting, spinning.1 comment so far
Well the 2008 NYS Sheep and Wool Festival certainly did not disappoint! It was COLD though, for this Florida resident. But the goats were lively, the rovings were plentiful, and everywhere there was yarn to be had.
As you can see above the fair was packed today! Gone was the calm preparation and quiet of yesterday. This was a race to the shopping with no holds barred. The socks that rock line literally was half an hour long, but I got three rare gems! Hooray! I don’t think I have even seen one before. Stash enhancement photos tomorrow.
Devorah and I got to meets lots of animals today. Here was one sheep who could not get over his excitement at her, let’s be honest, orange parka.
And here I am succumbing to a friend’s insistence that I capture at least one photo of myself WITH the sheepies. The nerve of some people. *grin* At least green and purple are good witchy colors.
Oh but there was madness to behold… a speed spinning competition:
Folks trying to knit the fastest on chopsticks if you can even believe:
And a glorious pumpkin from the culinary institute of america.
And to round out the day’s collection of photos, a fine selection of goats. If you missed today, come tomorrow! Rhinebeck was a blast, as always.
Spinning Socks! September 11, 2008
Posted by lunarawe in fo, socks, spinning, yarn.2 comments
Me, the airplane, and very small needles. This combination has carried me back and forth across the United States more times than I care to count. Socks are so handy, so satisfying, and so discrete in the foul process of hurtling across the land waaaay too far above ground. I am also the type of knitter that firmly believes sock yarn does not count as stash. It is harder to hold firm on that one with roving meant to be turned into sock yarn. So why has it taken me this long to spin some yarn for glorious, cozy sock knitting?
Spinning sock yarn eats your fingers off.
Having just pulled 212 yards of fingering weight three ply in superwash wool (the first of two skeins) off of the wheel, I am now admiring the super thin grooves that have been scraped, worn, and quite possibly burnt into my sad little fingers. It must be the superwash. I have spun so many different fibers and at much smaller weight than this and kept my fingerprints intact. But no more. Talk about second sock syndrome. I have 636 more yards of singles to spin. Ow ow ow.
It is pretty though. This picture is truer to color. I will post another once the skein has finished drying.
Unbelieveable. I also recently had my first experience spinning soy silk.
I will admit that I am not as awe inspired as others have been with the finished product though it is nice and soft. But I do love these colors and it is always nice to spin something new. This 180 yard skein of chain plied yarn (three ply) was made for a friend of a friend.
May it bring healing and peace.
Still more spinning July 28, 2008
Posted by lunarawe in dyeing, embroidery, fo, handspun, spinning, yarn.1 comment so far
While there has been some knitting going on (I promise! Both a lace shawl and some socks are ever growing – but can’t be shown because they are secret still) I still have my heart set quite firmly on my spinning wheel. Mainly I have been focusing on interesting experiments.
I finally spun up the Romney wool I had blended with recycled sari silk in the drum carder. Why does no one tell you that carding sari silk sounds like pulling tangles from hair with a hair brush? Not so nice. But the inclusion in the wool is lovely. I did a basic two ply from two singles – one pure Romney, one Romney with sari silk embedded:
Yep. It even looks hairy. But the two ply is lovely. It is a little rough since Romney is definitely less soft than the ubiquitous Merino. But it does have a lovely sheen to it.
Sorry. Will try to get better pics next itme. That couch is supposed to be green. The yarn has both purple and green silk in it (as you can clearly see… oh no wait. Yeesh).
Next I went to visit a long-time, and greatly beloved, friend who graciously allowed me to spin on his wheel while I was there. This is a simple two ply Merino, in soft green and pink. I can take no credit for the staging. This is actually prior to wet setting, but the yarn was basically balanced already.
I left this 250 yard skein with him for hand weaving. He makes luscious things with his loom.
Finally for another Crafty friend I have been spinning fine two ply (why so much two ply, huh… not my norm) for embroidery purposes. She is working on a lovely hanging).
Let’s see. In the first row from left to right we have hand dyed silk hankies, 100% Merino, and more hand dyed silk hankies. In the center we have a blend of the Merino and Alpaca, which I am lovingly calling “baby puke.” The bottom row from left to right is Baby Alpaca, 100% hand dyed Tussah Silk, and 100% black Blue Faced Leicester (natural color). Everything I have labelled hand dyed I dyed myself. Super fun!
I am very happy with the red Tussah Silk. So fine!
