Blending




I think I'm in love. Really. Blending fiber with my hand cards is so addictive. I wasn't sure how easy it would be. I see all of the folks using drum carders to make the most wonderful batts. I've been incredibly jealous. So it's good to know that I can create many of the same effects with my cards.





This is a blend of merino (hand dyed by a mystery dyer), silk (hand dyed by me) and undyed angora fiber. As you can see above I cut the silk fiber to about the same staple length as the merino and it worked like a charm. The skein is 42 yards at 9 wpi. I think I have enough fiber left to spin another 150-200 yards at that weight, but I might try going finer.



Believe it or not I have been knitting. In fact I was knitting so much that I didn't even touch my computer for a week. This year my new years resolution was to not knit any more sweaters (not forever, but just for a while). Why? Because I start way more sweaters than I finish. I knit a sweater for my Mom last Christmas. I finished all of the pieces on time and I still haven't seamed it. Considering that this sweater has been frogged and reknit at least three times using a couple of different patterns, I think I shouldn't be promising them as gifts.

I just couldn't help myself this time. My nieces was turning 13 years old. I thought a special occasion like that deserved a special gift. So I knitted this sweater from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2006.








Its the #6 Short Sleeved Pullover (doesn't VK give it's pattern the most charming names). I knitted it using Berocco Comfort DK in color #2760 on size 6 needles. I really love how it came out. The yarn is very soft and machine washable and dryable, which is essential in my sister's household. It's very easy to snag while knitting so you have to be careful, but I think it's worth it.

I also made something not fiber related.




It was really yummy. It's buttermilk cake, filled with lemon curd, whipped cream, raspberries, and strawberries. It was a special request. The kids call it the Trifle Cake. I made a trifle with the same flavors that they loved so much that when they knew I was making a birthday cake, they begged me to make the same thing but cake-shaped.

Next post there will be weaving. I received my heddle and had to make a few loom adjustments (who knew the 24" heddle was actually over 25" long. Fortunately dowels are really cheap. The loom still costs less than half the price of the heddle.

Well, I haven't got the heddle for my homemade rigid heddle loom. It is caught up in the postal system somewhere, but I do have something extra special.....


my very first fleece.






Okay, so it's not negative micron merino lamb or the fleece from a cormo blessed by the Pope himself on that day when all the animals go to church (I can never remember what they call it, not being Catholic and all, but they always show elephants in some grand cathedral on TV.) It's a beautiful chocolate brown Marsh Romney (actually it's Gulf Coast Native, ed). I wasn't brave enough to buy a whole fleece. I bought a pound of Romney and a pound of Gulf Coast Native from Running Moon Farms in Louisiana.

I've been reading up on processing a fleece for a while and was therefore forewarned that the fleece was likely to be quite aromatic. I steadied myself as I opened the box. I was prepared for barnyard, heck I was ready to deal with an odor like that really stinky breed of fox. (I don't remember its name either, but they have one at the Houston Zoo. You can find it with you eyes closed.) Well, I opened the box and guess what? Nothing, no zoo, no sheep, no general wooliness. I mean I didn't bend down close and take a big whiff, but I was almost disappointed.

I was ready to go to battle. I had equipped myself with brand new gloves, several sweater laundering bags, and a big bottle of Dawn. I was going to get in touch with nature, the earth with all of its malodorous excrescences. Instead I had the pleasure of processing a clean fleece with a few small bits of vegetable matter. Honestly there's less VM in this fleece than your average ball of Noro Kureyon.

You have to understand that when I say clean I'm speaking relatively. This photo of the bathtub filled with hot water, a few squirts of Dawn and a little salt and laundry bags full of fleece will give you an idea of what can come off of a clean fleece.






This color is light. By the time the first soak was done the water was the color of coffee. After the first soak. I washed each bag by its lonesome in my kitchen sink. Once more with soap, then several rinses. Working in the tub is great, but it takes too long to refill the tub for successive washes. I then spun the water out of the fleece in the washing machine. It left the fleece so dry it only took a couple of hours for it to dry.

I then used my spanking new Louet cotton cards (yes they work on wool) to card fluffy little rolags.





I spun the rolags longdraw to produce a sample skein of my very first true woolen yarn.





I wished I had taken a picture of it before I finished it using Judith Mackenzie McCuin's fulling technique. The difference was startling. My yarn plumped up to about twice its original diameter. The fluffiness really helps hide the unevenness. It's like magic.

Now this yarn is not baby's bottom soft, but it is far softer than I thought it would be. I have spun Romney before. Really harsh scratchy stuff sold by Louet. This is nothing like it. (Because it is not Romney, ed.) It is rustic but not prickly or itchy at all (I'm not particularly sensitive mind you). I was going spin a yarn to weave a bag (whenever I get my %^&#* heddle), but I think I might knit a scarf and gloves instead.

Now back to carding.

Edited to correct the misidentification of this fleece as Marsh Romney in my first post.

Do I really need a new hobby?


Probably not, but I just cannot resist the weaving bug. I think it's just a matter of time after you start spinning before you start thinking about weaving. Some hardy souls are able to hold back, but I'm in fiber overdrive. So now what?

I read everything I could find online. There is no way that I would even contemplate buying another piece of fiber related equipment that costs more than my wheel, unless it's a drum carder. Since my wheel was only $250, my options were pretty limited.

I've seen rigid heddle looms popping up everywhere lately and they are relatively affordable, from $120- 250. But extra heddles are $30-40. It's still too much, so guess what? I'm going to make a loom myself. It's just a frame with dowels on two ends.


I found the old dinner tray stand shown above in the garage. I'm using the long rails as the sides, the feet to hold the warp and cloth beams, and the hanging racks to hold the second beams(I don't know what they are called but they raise the warp above the frame.) I'm using hanger bolts and wing nuts to hold the warp and cloth beams so that I can tighten the warp and roll it forward as I work.


I went to the hardware store and bought two dowels and hardware. I still have to attach the last dowel, and the heddle blocks. In the end I think I will be out $10 and a couple of hours or work at most. Here it is in all of its glory.





Now to figure out a way to make a cheap heddle. I'm pretty sure making an 8 dent heddle would be no problem, but any finer is going to be really hard. I've tried string heddles and they are far more trouble than they are worth. I guess I'll keep looking.

Turning over a new leaf...


I've decided that it just can't go on any longer. I can't keep ignoring this blog. I have been knitting and spinning continuously, but this poor baby has been too long ignored.

What have I been up to?



I am currently spinning for two projects. The skein on the left is spun from a Rose Garden rambouillet, silk and angora batt from Crystal Creek Fibers. The single on the bobbin on the left is spun from a Wild Sage rambouillet and silk batt from the same place. They really are lovely to spin. What I like most is the chunkyness of the batts. You can create so many different effects. To see what I mean, here is a sample of the same Rose Garden batt spun into a sportweight 2x2 cabled yarn.





Notice how muted and almost tweedy the yarn is compared to the above skein. I was planning to overdye the yarn, because I really didn't like the peachy tone. By spinning it thicker the chunks of color really stand out and the overall effect is far more to my liking.

The scarf in the photo is the Shredded Scarf from Intertwined by Lexi Boeger. I am really loving this book. Anyone who is interested in spinning novelty yarns should really take a look at it. It is beautifully photographed and produced. Honestly it's a steal at the full price of $29.95. If you know the basic techniques of spinning, the book will show you how to spin thick and thin, coils, fabric yarn, etc.

More than an instruction manual, it gives you a peak into the mind of a fiber artist. I think the biggest impact for me is in the ways I'm thinking about designing yarn. I've been wanting to spin something special for a very good fried of mine. Today I talked to her, and asked her what her favorite things were. One of them was a gingham sundress. Now I'm planning on spinning a fabric yarn with strips of gingham, lace butterflies and some sort of stand in for daisy petals(maybe little pieces of yellow silk). I think it will make a beautiful crocheted cloche.

On the knitting front, I am knitting a pair of socks in a broken rib pattern in Noro Kureyon Sock.



It's really beautiful and rustic. I like the stiff woolyness of the yarn, but people who like squishy and soft yarn just aren't going to get it. It does soften when washed, but not that much. It will probably take a few months of wear to get really soft, but I like it.


I have recently finished several scarves.





Jonna by Norah Gaughan from Norah Gaughan Collection: Volume 1 knit from 2+ skeins of Cascade 220.







And these two scarves. The first is knit with 1 skein of Dream In Color Classy and the second from two skeins of Patons Soy Wool Solids (do not like this yarn). I just made them up as I went along. They are both reversible cable scarves with ladders.

I've been spinning a lot lately, but I don't have that much to show for it, so I'll post this instead.

Way better than anything I can create, huh?

I actually have spun up a couple of nice things. Here is my first attempt at navaho plying. It's 2 oz of merino.

Here is some BFL I handdyed and spun and navaho plied. Its 2.5 oz , 97 yards and about 13 WPI.

I'm currently working on the lovely batts I got from Loop on Etsy. They are bamboo, merino, silk and corriedale. I am spinning them and plying with a wine colored corriedale. I spun up a sample and swatched.

Nice ,now I just have to spin up the rest.

Guess what came in the mail...

I thought I should finally post my fabulous last package from my secret pal Christi. Not only did she send me the most amazing yarn in my favorite colors, but so much more.

I almost bought this issue of Interweave Crochet, but I stopped myself because I crochet like a monkey. As you can see I had to get into the yarn. I just couldn't wait until I got more batteries for my camera. Your eyes ain't lying, that's 2 skeins of Malabrigo laceweight (in my favorite color, no less) and one skein of the worsted. Plus she sent Burt's balms and a key chain and a knitting calender.

Christi has been an amazing secret pal. Not only because of the great things she sent me, but also because she started me off in a new hobby, spinning. Guess what came last week?

Lot's of pieces of wood and a picture? That jumble of lumber is my brand new Louet S17 spinning wheel. I got it from Adrian at Hello Yarn. I would definitely recommend anyone looking for a Louet to buy from her. Not only does she have the best prices I've found online, but she also sent extra instructions on assembly that she wrote herself. I really did need both sets of instructions to figure out a couple of things. Here she is finished.

I think her name might be Mavis. I've always loved the name and it just seems to fit. I didn't get the exact color I wanted, because the varnish I used had a slight amber color which really toned down her chartreuseness.

I really thought the biggest challenge in spinning was drafting. That was before I started using a wheel. I've been using a spindle for several months and I do a pretty good short draw, but there is so much more to think about with a wheel.

I should add a little background. Before I got my wheel, I had seen exactly two spinning wheels in person, both Ashfords neither in use. I had absolutely no idea how to start. I tried using my wits to figure out how to get the leader on and get the wheel to spin while actually adding twist and all hell broke loose. The drive band flew off, it was a mess.

Then I remembered that my secret pal sent me Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning by Judith MacKenzie McCuin in August. What a life saver. Even though I am pretty skeptical about any book series that has as its motto "read less-learn more", it was just what I needed. I quickly found a better way to attach the leader and even more important I learned to adjust the tension while the wheel is spinning.

I would show you my first spun fiber (that's right fiber not yarn), but I had read so much online about beginners over spinning that I under spun it so bad I could get it of the bobbin without it falling apart. I then threw caution to the wind and made this.

It's not very even and it's seriously over plied, but it's yarn. I used the Finn that comes with the wheel. It doesn't feel very nice, but it is very easy to draft. I got bored with all the white and it's so hard to see how much twist you are adding so I got out my food color and vinegar and dyed some of the roving. I folded it in half and painted it and dyed it in the microwave.

I then broke it in half. I spun each half from a different end.

I hoped to have two colors plied together in each section, but somehow the yellow lined up together.

The swatch looks lovely, doesn't it.

I made a really big swatch because I have no intention of using this for any garment. It is really scratchy. I kind of like that it's not a yarn I intend to use, because it takes all of the pressure off me while I learn. I have amassed a small stash of fiber that I would actually feel bad about ruining.

That is 8oz of undyed Bluefaced Leicester top , 8oz of wine Corriedale top, 2 oz of Dijon Merino top , 3.5 oz of Zitron Merino Pencil Roving, 4 oz of hand dyed lemon-lime Merino, and 8 oz of carded Romney roving ( a little less, because I had a nightmarish attempt at the long draw). I'm hoping that by the time I work my way through the Finn, I won't be so afraid of playing with the nicer stuff.

Ode to Garter Stitch

I have long shared the opinion of many knitters, that garter stitch is ugly and tedious, best left to beginner's bulky scarves and size 15 needles. I've even looked at the many graphic designs of Hanne Falkenberg and thought: Wow that's nice, but all that garter stitch would drive me crazy. Well, everyone, I've been converted.

This past month I've been working on two projects that rely on garter stitch as their main design element. The first is the Scarf with open and solid diamond lace edging from Weldons, 1904 from Victorian Lace Today (Don't you just love those pithy titles. It's on page 90). I wanted a simple pattern to show of the beauty of the skein of Wagtail 4ply Kid Mohair I picked up at Hill Country Weavers in Austin. I think it was the perfect choice.

This would be a great pattern for someone relatively new to lace knitting. It would be a good introduction to adding a knitted on border, because each border is added differently. You knit the first border, then pick up stitches along the side and knit the body of the scarf. Then you knit on the second border. Fun and beautiful.

I'm using the Modern Quilt Wrap pattern from Folk Style by Mags Kandis to knit a throw using Vanna's Choice (I can't believe it either). I'm actually finding the 100% acrylic yarn nice to work with. It comes in lots of colors, it was on sale, and I was itching to start. I'm glad I took a risk. I'm not sure whether it will be a gift or not and I've decided if I'm not giving the gift to a knitter then it has to be machine washable. Modular knitting really does make long stretches of garter stitch more enjoyable, and it's pretty, see.

I'm knitting the pattern twice as wide as the original, just repeating the pattern twice before I start the next row of blocks.

I made myself a scale drawing of the pattern on graph paper which is much easier to follow then the written list of colors. There is a drawing with the pattern, but it's not exactly to scale so it can't be followed without the instructions. It doesn't take long to make the drawing and it will give you an excuse to play with markers. I'd show you mine, but even though its a free pattern available at the Knitting Daily website, I'm not sure that would be kosher.

I've also completed the Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. I finished the body of the sweater a while ago, but I ran out of yarn and had to order more. Fortunately it was a perfect match. Check it out.

Pattern: Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan from Interweave Knits, Fall 2007

Yarn: Berkshire by Valley Yarns, 11 skeins

Needles: size 8 circular Susan Bates

I enjoyed knitting this pattern immensely, but I'm not sure about the yarn. I used a yarn that knits up at a larger gauge than the pattern calls for and while I got gauge it's a little heavier than I would like. Also the alpaca in the blend really stand out to much for my taste. Alpaca always takes up less dye in blends, but against the dark teal of the wool it kind of looks as if I've been rolling around in cat hair. My mother and sister really like it. I may let one of them have it. Of course this goes against the rule I stated earlier of only machine washables for non-knitters. Who says I have to be consistent?