fiber arts

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I gave my original Cascade Little Si spindle away thinking I could easily replace it. Wrong. I even tried other spindles thinking there might be something else I would like better now that I have some experience. Nah.

I finally wrote directly to the company and they made one for me! I feel special. I’m not normally one to name my tools (except Frances) but I think this spindle may get a name. What do you think?

Cascade Spindle company Little Si high whorl drop spindle

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Some months ago I joined in a little fun that I called
brown paper packages which boiled down to making and sending handmade gifts to other people just because. The nice thing about it was that you had plenty of time and you could make anything you wanted. My friend Krista sent me these lovely felted wool coasters. The images are graphic and organic at the same time and evoke elements of nature. Aren’t they lovely? Truth be told, they may end up on the wall instead of under a mug!

felted wool coasters

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hemp spinning fiber
I should have a contest and have you guess what all these are. Non-wool spinning fibers seems to be a theme this last week or so. I’ve received the one above in a trade with DudleySpinner. This looks a bit like a blond wig doesn’t it? It feels more like very coarse dog hair. It is neither. It’s hemp. I know you are probably wondering the same thing I am, why do I want to spin twine? There are a lot things that are worth trying at least once. And it was essentially free. When I’m done spinning I should have enough two ply yarn to make a strong, antimicrobial market bag such as the Ilene pattern (Ravelry link).

The following fibers came last week in a trade with FuzzyBunnyFibers. The one on the left is made from milk protein! Imagine that? Makes me feel like I need to knit them with my casein needles, casein is a plastic also made from milk protein. And the other fiber is bamboo. Both are quite soft and the two together should be enough to make a pair of soft but durable, moisture wicking lace footies for summer wear. I’ll probably do some experimenting with dyeing these fibers. The acid dyes that I use on wool and silk will also be ideal for dyeing the milk protein. The bamboo will best be dyed with fiber reactive dyes, the same ones Jan and I use to tie-dye cotton and occasionally hemp although I like the natural color of the hemp fiber so that will likely not get dyed.

milk protein spinning fiber and bamboo spinning fiber

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cats sleeping on fabric

Cats. Sleeping on my project. Too cute to bother them. Alright, I have made a little progress on the drapes but not much. Somehow I’ve gotten sidetracked. Yes, it was spinning. 2oz. out of the pound of oatmeal BFL that I’ve been working off of became this fingering weight cabled four ply. And if you don’t know what that means, it’s okay, that might not be the right term. But it’s nicely round and shiny, smooth and strong. Probably make good sock heels.

cabled four ply oatmeal BFL handspun yarn

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I remember watching the Olympics as a kid and I was always most interested in the winter events. Downhill skiing, all manner of ice-skating, and luge/bobsled are probably my favorites. Through college I didn’t have as much time to pay attention but I do remember sitting with Rich rolling our eyes at Bob Costas’ commentary.

I think the kids are old enough now to enjoy watching. I haven’t had a chance to look up the schedule, but it’s fortunate that this is February break here and we may be able to watch some events live this coming week. We’ll mix that up with some winter sports of our own. Skating on the town pond, and maybe some sledding if we get some fresh snow, the stuff we have is rock hard and dwindling. The L.L. Bean MotherStore is running a week long series of mostly free events for kids; I think we’ll be checking out the Taxidermy Safari, maybe some puppets and juggling, crafts and hot cider, and definitely the Chewonki Foundation‘s Live Owls of Maine exhibit. The boy has already previewed the last one at school but I’m sure he’ll be excited to go again. Owls are pretty high on his favorite animal list.

ravelympics 2010 banner

And what is Ravelympics? Ravelympics is a for-fun spinning/knitting/crocheting/weaving/whatever kind of fiber crafting event held on Ravelry, a sprawling online community of knitting/crocheting, weaving/spinning type people. Annie sucked me into Ravelry and now I’m being sucked into Ravelympics. The basic idea is that Ravelers will be participating in challenging yarn events during the Olympics. There are all kinds of categories to choose from and all you have to do is tag your project, post photos and start and finish between the official opening and closing ceremonies. This is good for me, I need deadlines!

handspun hand-dyed three ply light fingering yarn BFL bluefaced leicester spiced pumpkin

So here’s my project/event: I’ve been working on figuring out what socks to make for myself from the spiced pumpkin yarn I spun and dyed. I’ve finally picked the pattern (Irish Ale by Nic W a.k.a RedScot) and figured out my gauge, I hope! Of course, I can’t just follow the directions, because, well, that’s just me. So I’ll be knitting these socks toe-up instead of cuff-down as written, which means some scary upside down freeform thinking that I have to be able to duplicate on the second sock! I may or may not add the “froth” at the top. If I do I’ll have to spin some bunny fur. And at the end of the Olympics will be another fibery event, NETA’s annual SPA, Knit and Spin in Freeport.

And I doubt I can go two weeks without spinning so I’ll probably start on the last six ounces of oatmeal BFL. I’m planning on spinning into sock weight three ply and dyeing it blue and green for Topographie inspired socks.

ravelympicsbob Vancouver Olympics 2010

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felted wool rabbit with polymer clay vegetables

I guess I have bunnies on the brain lately. These needle felted rabbits range from 1.5 to 2 inches long. They are accompanied by an assortment of veggies we made from polymer clay. I was inspired by a picture of felted cats that Naomi posted a few months ago. My kids have been having quite a fun time with the bunnies, playing veggie market. If only that would somehow translate into them eating more real vegetables . . .

needle felted wool bunnies with sculpey veggies

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This is the second in a series intended to show the steps from fiber to finished item. See the first here.

The fiber: a 4oz braid of handpainted merino in colorway Rocky Mountain High from Spunky Eclectic. As purchased and unrolled from the braid.

handpainted fiber hanging on upright spinning wheel hand painted wool top

singles: I pulled 1oz. off the top and then split it into four lengthwise. I arranged the pieces so that I would spin two singles with roughly the same color repeats. I then plied them together.

two bobbins of handspun singles ready to be plied into yarn two ply yarn on the bobbin of a spinning wheel

plies: After plying, I transferred the yarn from the bobbin to the yarn swift. You can see the color shifts very well. Then the skein is washed and hung to dry to set the ply. If the twist is done evenly then the plied yarn should hang fairly straight. On the left is the yarn above and on the right is the same fiber spun at a thinner weight.

handspun yarn on a yarn swift handspun yarn hanging to dry to set the twist

finished yarn: ready to knit or crochet

handspun yarn from handpainted wool fiber

project: I chose to knit a hat for the girl with this yarn. I looked for a simple pattern that would have texture but still show off the color gradations in the yarn. I couldn’t find what I wanted so I ended up making up my own pattern. I had intended to finish with a crochet border that would make the hat about an inch longer but forgot to take into account that the textured stitch I used ate up yardage faster than a simpler stockinette would so I ran out of yarn. It fits okay . . . I’m still thinking about what to do.

handknit hat made from handspun yarn

stitch: The stitch I used must have a name but I couldn’t find anything like it so if you know what it is called please tell me! It’s so simple and fast and a little girly without being too delicate. (The following instructions will only work in the round. A bit of adjustment would be needed to work it flat as the stitch pattern causes the starting point to shift.)
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: *K2togTB, YO* repeat
Repeat rows 1 and 2. Way simple.
See even more ramblings on this hat in my Ravelry projects.

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A few quick pictures. I’m not sure what these will become. I haven’t quite figured out yet how much yarn I need to make stuff, sometimes I just spin it and then decide afterwards what to make.

This is oatmeal BFL that I handspindled, plied and then dyed with grape and cherry Kool-aid for a nice heathery effect. About 100 yards from 2oz making it about worsted weight I think. I’m not very good about figuring that part out. My WPI and swatches don’t always agree with the yards per fiber oz charts.

cherry plum heathered BFL blue-faced leicester hand spindled and hand dyed yarn

The naturally brown worsted below is also two-ply and came in at around 200 yards from 4.1 oz so about the same thickness although I spun it on the wheel and went for a little more rugged look to it since that seemed to agree with the fiber. I received the fiber through SpinCycle on Ravelry.

handspun natural brown two ply worsted wool yarn

More details on both in my Rav stash.

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Would you guess this is the drainage ditch that runs through the wooded lot behind our house? Looks pretty in the snow doesn’t it?

Nice, soft snow and just a bit sticky. We got about 10 inches Sunday night into Monday so it’s not like we really needed more today but it was pretty and fun. Yesterday I took the kids to the big hill in the woods but today we stayed closer to home. First things, the girl and I attempted a snowman. Grapes for eyes, a carrot nose and a green pepper smile. I wonder if some squirrel or bird will be enjoying a little frozen fruit and veggies soon.

snowman with grape eyes, carrot nose and green pepper mouth

Back inside we were sad to discover that ballet class was cancelled so we consoled ourselves by putting on American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake and making origami animals, including a swan of course.

origami swan

Silliness broke out as I spun brown wool. The girl was giving me handfuls of wool as needed and then decided that I wasn’t moving fast enough for her. She started patting the handfuls of wool on top of her head! Now how do you like that ‘do?

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When the boy got home we all decided to take a walk, waving to neighbors and kicking through several inches of new snow. Back at the house the boy went in to get the snow tube and I got the camera. The end of our driveway had a fairly good plow pile left from the last storm and Rich snowblowed even more on top last night making for a pretty good high spot to slide down from into the backyard.

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And just a bit more silliness as we used up the last of the daylight.

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hand dyed, hand spun Romney wool potholder knit on bias and fulled

. . . that I did not take any pictures of it until I knit it up into this potholder. Did you know wool is naturally heat and flame resistant?

This yarn started out as a little more than an ounce of Romney wool that my mother had cleaned and carded. I decided to try dyeing it before spinning. Fail. I nearly felted the stuff. I spun it up thick which I am not good at so it was all over the place and overspun to boot. I threw it in the yarn bin and forgot about it until my mother asked. Sigh. I decided that I might as well try and knit it up since sometimes doing so improves its looks. I chose to knit on the bias and then crochet with natural Lopi around the edge to counteract the inevitable stockinette curl. I then washed it aggressively to full the wool a bit. Fulling is like felting but you start with wool that is knit or woven. Felting starts with the unspun fiber.

How about that? It looks pretty good now doesn’t it? It even softened up in the process. The girl claimed it as a picnic (blanket) for her dolls before it was done blocking. I had to sneak it back to take the pictures. This may be its only chance to do its intended job.

hand knit potholder  made from hand dyed, hand spun Romney wool and crocheted edge in natural Lopi

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I’d like to start an ongoing series where I show you a fiber or a yarn and track along in pictures as it gets spun/dyed/knit/crocheted etc. into a finished item. So we’ll start with something cute!

The animal: German Angora named Gabe. (I won’t generally have pictures of the actual animal the fiber came from so this is a bonus!)

german angora rabbit

The fiber: Minimally hand carded from brushed out fur. staple length about 4″? super soft. I think these would be called rolags but I don’t really know what I’m doing so maybe not but I can spin it easier. Although it was pretty easy to spin uncarded.

hand carded angora rolags

The spinning: Hand spindled into a lace/light fingering weight single. Spun on a DIY afghan hook/wooden wheel spindle.

angora spun on DIY spindle

The swatch: Swatched on US size 0 needles and blocked on my swatching cork board. Spinning got a little too thin there in spots. Can’t say I actually thought I’d be using those size 0 needles. Next time remind me not to knit angora on metal needles, slippery!

swatch of handspindled angora

And in this case the approximately 2×2 inch swatch is the final product as that’s all there was!

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Meet Gabe, the bunny, who lives with my parents. He is an 8mo German Angora. He has lusciously soft white fur which spins up into incredibly soft fuzzy yarn.

German Angora rabbit playing with grass ball

Gabe meeting the boy.
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Gabe meeting the girl.
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Name the author and setting of the title quote and I’ll send you something bunny! (fiber sample if you’re a spinner, yarn sample if you’re a knitter/crocheter, something else bunny otherwise)

(In the case that more than one person knows the correct answer, I’ll randomly choose one recipient.
ETA: comments are now closed. 1/25/10)

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Last week a large box appeared on the doorstep. It was after Christmas and I wasn’t expecting any more packages. It was definitely addressed to me but the return address was unfamiliar. I opened it up to find this chocolate cherry colored fiber!

unspun wool and card showing castle style spinning wheel

I had forgotten that a generous stranger on Ravelry had arranged to send me 2 pounds(!) of spinning fiber that she had decided she wouldn’t be using herself. A second large bag underneath the first revealed a lighter brown fiber. This one spins up easily but looks like it would also be good for felting. Doesn’t it look like a good color for baby animals?

light brown spinning/felting fiber, unknown breed of wool

And here’s a little sample of the first one on the spindle. The color is hard to describe but it also reminded me of red velvet cake. The only caveat is that my kind donor did not know what type of wool either of these are so if any of you spinners out there want to hazard a guess, I’m all ears! I’ll probably bring some to SPA with me in February, surely someone there will be able to tell me what breeds these fibers came from.

reddish brown wool on a hand spindle

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My mother “bought” a Romney fleece for the ridiculous price of $15 from a local farmer. I didn’t see it to begin with but I gather it was very dirty. She and my dad scrubbed and sorted and washed and dried. The thing is probably worth $1500 in blood, sweat and tears by now. But we’re having fun with it, at least my mother and I are! Here are some before and after picks of us carding the washed locks into “top” which I then spun on a quickly improvised drop spindle.

Here’s a bag of washed locks . . .
washed Romney wool locks

Note here that neither of us really have any idea how to card wool so constructive comments only please! Placing the locks on the cards . . .
romney locks on hand card before carding

Carding and the resultant fluff . . .
carding fleecehand carded Romney wool still on the carder

This picture to show that you can indeed spin wool with just about any old stick and round thingy (very fat crochet hook stuck through a spool of ribbon taped to a CD shown here) The top card was spun from a rolag-ish piece and the bottom card from a more top-ish piece. I can’t say I could tell much difference. I’m sure it will be more obvious as we get more practiced.
emergency DIY spindle with wool and spun singles samples

And one last picture to show the after – carded spinnable fluff on the left and the before – washed locks on a hand card on the right.
carded fluff and uncarded locks on the handcarder

And right now that fiber is in a dye bath in the oven. Better go check on it!

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Broccoli shine

I’m waiting for yarn to dry. This yarn, 6ozs. of hand spun superwash merino/tencel spun to about 13wpi a while ago, dyed yesterday and hung to dry. It’s still a bit damp but I twisted it up to take a picture anyway. It’s just the color of broccoli but shiny. Mostly dark green with some patches of lighter stem color. I can’t wait to knit up a swatch.

hand dyed and hand spun superwash merino/tencel blend yarn

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