Fiber Friday - July 23, 2010

This is just a quick post to show you the finished skeins from previous Fiber Fridays

118 yards
(the most I've spun on a drop spindle! woot!)
The fiber is from a grab bag on etsy (see previous post)

100% Merino
236 yards
(singles spun on drop spindle and then plied on wheel)
Dyed naturally with Logwood chips

Fiber Friday - July 9, 2010

Over at Ravelry the Tour de Fleece is happening. It's a spin-a-long where people spin from July 3rd to July 25th. It originated from this blog and the Tour de France. I've been following along behind the scenes and trying to spin every day. Here's my progress so far:

"Anywhere but Here"

68 yards (0.5 oz)

"On the Other Side"
56 yards (0.5oz)

(Almost done this one, should be finished by Sunday)

The fiber for all three skeins were purchased from Poppy Flower Fiber on Etsy. I posted about the purchase here. I think the above three skeins are all BFL fiber, but not positive.

I'm lucky and can spin at work when it's slow, so I know there will be more yarn to post next Fiber Friday. So, I'll see you soon :)

Slow and steady wins the race

I've been spinning on my drop spindle off and on for a few weeks. Once the singles are done, I'll ply them together on my wheel to create a stronger yarn. I've really enjoyed spinning on this handmade drop spindle, because I get a thinner and more consistent yarn that I do with my country wheel. I absolutely love lace weight yarn, and this has definitely helped me work on my drafting skills.

100% Merino
Naturally dyed with Logwood chips
(the color is slightly more purple in person)

Once I'm finished the yarn I'll be able to report back with how long the skein is and also a name. Although I already have a name in mind. :)

Dog Hair Yarn

About two weeks ago, my friend Janna from Vancouver Yarn put me in contact with a woman who had collected her dog, Raka's fur over a few years and wanted it spun into yarn. The dog was a German Shepard/Wolf cross, who unfortunately passed away not too long ago.

When we finally coordinated a time to meet up, I was give two small buckets of fur. Who would have known those small buckets would have turned into this:

2.48 lbs of dog fur

2ply Yarn (left 50/50 Dog fur/Shetland sheep, right 100% dog fur)

Knitted samples of both the 50/50 blend and 100% dog fur

The yarn that is 100% dog fur is spun on my drop spindle. Dog fur is a very short staple and is hard to spin. That's why I have also done samples with the fur blended with sheep's wool. The blend helps hold the dog fur in to a yarn. Spinning on a drop spindle is a lot more time consuming, compared to a spinning wheel, but using this method I got a more consistent yarn thickness and I could also use 100% of Raka's fur.

The patron for this yarn is still in decision mode, so I am working on another commission which uses cut off thread from sewing as the base for yarn. This will be my third time spinning thrum yarn.

Fiber Friday - May 14, 2010

Wow! I can't believe it's been a week already! I'm still on the hunt for a job, but in the mean time I've been spinning lots of yarn. This week I have 3! It would have been 4, but I forgot to get a picture of the finished skein before I lent it to a friend for an art show.

"Summer Marshlands"

Romney/Mohair (from a swap on Craftster)

76 yards

(Untitled, so far)
Crossbreed sheep (I got the fleece for free at a spinning demo I participated in)
43 yards

(Untitled, still thinking of a name)
Romney (hand dyed red and a grey/blue)
68 yards

I hope you enjoy the yarns this week.

Fiber Friday!

Good Morning Bloggers! (and readers!)

I just wanted to start out this beautiful sunny day with a few skeins of yarn!
From Left to Right:
"Coco-chineal" 86 yards, merino, hand dyed with cochineal

(untitled) 32 yards, perendale, local sheep (from Ontario) and merino (?), hand dyed and commercially dyed. This was my attempt at patchwork yarn. I'm still working out the kinks, there were a lot of spots that were just one color.

(untitled) 30 yards, local sheep (from Ontario), drop spindled and then plied on my spinning wheel

I have fallen in love with drop spindling! I've been spinning on my wheel(s) for about 2 years (they are both country wheels) and I've been having a hard time achieving very thin, lace weight yarns. I did a bit of research and found a lot of people saying that it's hard to get thinner yarns on my type of wheel. I was a bit sad, but still determined and I remembered that someone from a craft swap built me a beautiful drop spindle. So, I grabbed some fleece and started spinning. I fell in love!!! I spun the above skein on the right in a day and I'm now working on some natural "black"/dark brown fleece I received from a demo I did a few summers ago at a sheep shearing event. Pictures will be posted soon.

Sheep to Shawl - 2010

This will be the second year students from Capilano University - Textile Arts program will be participating in the "Sheep to Shawl". This is a yearly event for the guilds of Greater Vancouver to compete against each one another to make the best shawl, by hand of course.

Blurb:

Cheer on local spinners and weavers as they participate in this traditional competition. Watch as they card, spin, and ply raw sheep’s wool into yarn, then weave a shawl - all in four hours! See demonstrations of sheep shearing, view wool displays, and try weaving on heritage looms or spinning on real spinning wheels. Kids can try weaving, or make sheep crafts and pictures while they watch the show.

Saturday, May 22, 2010
11:00am-4:00pm
All ages
By Donation

Entrance to exhibit gallery by admission fee.

at Surrey Museum
17710 - 56A Avenue
For information, call 604-592-6956

Spinning Saturday - March 13, 2010

"The Little Mermaid"
143 yards
Merino, corriedale, wool, firestar

"Sherbert"
16 yards
Wensleydale

Both these yarns were spun for a swap on Craftster, in exchange for some hand made gifts. I have not yet received them, but they are in the mail on their way here. I'm very excited.

Spinning Saturday?

I made this yarn.. (last week.. shh.. hehe) and I thought I would share it with you. (I've made 2 more but they are for a swap on Craftster, so I can't post just yet)

(no name, yet)
114yards
Llama and Bamboo blend

The llama (brown) was cleaned, carded and spun by yours truly. I must admit, I do enjoy processing fleece right from the animal as opposed to buying roving. It makes it feel MORE hand spun.. hehe

New Yarn: "Cake"

So, this yarn does not have a name yet, but it is inspired by Sofia Coppolla's movie "Marie Antoinette". If you haven't seen the movie, it's wonderful. A bit of a slow start but a very fun movie. If you like the story of Marie Antoinette throw all your preconceived notions out the door, this movie is more about her life turning into the queen.

But enough about the movie, this yarn was spun from fabric that I hand dyed myself last year in my surface design class. All of the fabric was ripped into 1" strips, spun and then plied with cotton yarn. The second picture is more true to color.

*Edit: I've decided on a name for this yarn: "Cake". The name is inspired by the famous saying "Let them eat cake", also, because this yarn is made from scrap fabric, and Marie Antoinette gave her "scraps" to the people of France. More or less. The colors are also very colorful like most cakes.

Craft swap surprise!

Last month,... no wait, in July! (wow! time flies!) I did a fiber swap on Craftster. I posted about it here. Anyways, my swap partner felt like she didn't send me enough, but I disagreed. Apparently I lost the argument because I found these wonderful items in the mail a few weeks ago (I know, I'm a slow poster! hehe)Once again, please excuse the terrible picture! The drop spindle is hand made! I haven't used it yet (school is keeping me plenty busy) but it is on my "to do" list! It was a very lovely surprise!

Thrum Yarn - again!

I spun another skein of thrum yarn for my Design teacher. This time I actually took before pictures! yay!

20 yards - 2 ply - Cotton thread

Spinning Au Natural and Dyeing for More Blue

The past week I have been spinning a little bit almost every night, and this is the result.

"Au Natural"
150 yards Polwarth Fleece

I also did more dying on Monday. The following 2 batts are from the shetland fleece that I bought on Etsy a few months ago.

Adding a bit of blue

2.25 oz Shetland Fleece

The second batt:The blue was the left over dye from the green batt

You can never have enough blue...

2.5 oz Shetland Fleece

The lovely couple:

The colors are a bit darker in real life.

I really enjoy the method that I used for these batts. I just soak the batt in water and vinegar before it goes into the pot and then just drop the color on the fleece once it's in the pot and let it work it's way through. I really enjoy the color variations that I've been getting.

Also,I haven't come up with any names yet, so if you have any suggestions, please post them in the comments section!

I dyed last week...

but then I was brought back to life to share this with you ;) hehe

"Mossy Oak"
61 yards - 2ply Shetland Fleece dyed with Food Coloring

It's hard to believe that the first picture of the Shetland fleece in the pot turned into the last yarn picture. It started out so bright, hahaha.

"Rainbow Cotton Candy"
Approx. 5 oz. Wensleydale Fleece dyed with Food Coloring

"Barbie's Prom Dress" Yarn

WOO! Another yarn for the week. This one is a Corridale/Perendale (I'm pretty sure..lol) Blend. It is approximately 50yards and plied with a white wool yarn. The pink is hand dyed by me, and the blue/periwinkle is commerically dyed.
The pink is a lot brighter in person. I'll have to take better pictures when the sun comes around to the back of the house ... hehe

"Unicorn Tea Party" Yarn

I am in LOVE with this yarn! Not only is it super soft and squishy!, I love the name I came up with! *laughs*
This yarn is a blend of Merino and Soysilk that I purchased from the Fibers West Show I went to in March. There is approximately 131 yards with a W.P.I (wraps per inch) of 8. It is a bit of a thick 'n thin 2 ply but overall is fairly consistent thickness.

Quick Update

I have officially finished my winter/spring semester at school! That means I have 4 months off, well... I'll be working of course, but it gives me more time to create things for myself and my etsy shop. I have already started spinning the Merino/Soysilk blend I purchased at Fibers West in March. I'm trying to spin it fairly thin, so I can ply it into a DK weight/12w.p.i. (I'm hoping). Well, like the title says, this is just a quick update. Hopefully I will have more blog posts over the summer.

P.S.
I'm picking up a drum carder from school tomorrow for the summer! I am SOOO excited!

Thrum Yarn

A few weeks ago, my Design teacher asked if I could try spinning some thrums from her machine embroidery projects, into yarn. This is the result:
The yarn is approximately 15 yards - 2 ply - with cotton thread. I wish I would have taken a picture of the cut up threads, in the ziploc bag she gave me, but I didn't think of it at the time. My teacher is giving me more to spin though, so I'll make sure to have a picture of the before and after *wink*