Tag Archives: Spinning

Wet Weekend Inside

The leaves seemed to have gone wild and vibrant overnight, and I’d like nothing more than a weekend being productive outside in that beautiful blaze of color.  Alas, it’s super rainy and gross out, so we’ll be spending the weekend inside.

Which is soooo much more than okay, because I have a few new toys to play with. Chief among which, is this:

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That, my friends, is a beautiful Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel. I am beyond lucky and spoiled to have some incredibly wonderful friends, because this was given to me by my friend Kris, who is downsizing in preparation for a move.   I’ve been spending a lot of time playing with my drop spindle, trying to get the hang of proper drafting.   It’s paid off in the sense that I knew the mechanics of working with a wheel and how twist works, etc.  Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m any good at it.  I’m still working on getting the knack of making yarn that is uniform and not too thin, too thick, or weirdly bumpy.  Fortunately there are many, many excellent tutorials on the internet and I have a whole rainy weekend in front of me to work on it.

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Neve is trying to get the hang of the drop spindle now.

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Of course we have plenty of “help” from the cutest kitten in the world.

I’ve got some yarn dyeing to finish up, but I am happy for it to rain, rain, and rain some more, because a lot of my weekend will hopefully look like this:

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Tagged: Spinning

Snow Day

Like many folks across the midwest today, I am sitting inside my house, watching the snow pile on the ground fast and furious, and enjoying a quiet day off work. The longer it snows, the harder it seems to snow. It seemed like a good time to take stock of all of my works in progress.

Brocks Aran
Brock’s sweater has continued apace, but I set it aside about a week ago because I was jonesing for something with a little bit more color and a little bit less mental involvement.

garter stitch baby kimono
Insert the Garter Stitch Baby Kimono. I’ve been working on this sweater a stitch here and a stitch there for the last couple of months, but this past week I decided it was time to finish it. (This has nothing to do with feeling like my due date is suddenly much closer than it was two weeks ago.) This is my kind of dye job. Bold. Bright. A little garish, perhaps, but completely adorable at the same time. (Yarn is Vice Yarns Paradigm in Plain Jane.)

baby hat
The sweater used most of the skein of yarn, but I wanted to make matching accessories anyway, and I just happened to have an undyed skein of yarn that is, if not the same base, a very similar one. I cast on a little hat and am planning on making a pair of Stephanie Pearl McPhee’s Cutest Booties in the undyed yarn with the bright yarn as the ties and the pom poms…I should have just enough yarn left for that.

latest handspun
Last time, I showed you some singles on the bobbin of the yarn I was currently spinning. The photo above shows what those singles became. It’s a squishy worsted weight two-ply yarn that I think needs to become a great big, warm, squishy shawl.

shawl ingredients
Pairing it with this undyed skein of merino yarn should help stretch to make the handspun into a great big shawl. This will be my snow day project–seeing how much of it I can get done before the snow clears up.

wensleydale
And if I need a break from knitting, I’ve got this lovely little ball of Wensleydale that needs to be spun up as well.

Stripey Baby Blanket
Or I could try my hand and decorating some more fabrics.

Stay safe and warm everyone!

My Weekend in Pictures

It feels like I have a million different projects going on, but none of them are finished enough for a real post. I am still working on Brock’s sweater, and I am still working on various sewing projects for the baby. In the past few days I’ve knit my sister a pair of mittens and spun a skein of yarn off a gorgeous batt I made, and I’m still sick enough to not have a voice and to feel pretty crappy in the morning and the evening.

So today, I mostly just have pictures.
sheep on a blanket
Printing sheep on a baby blanket

baby blankets
Still need some practice. (That yellow in the background is another baby blanket that I dyed yesterday. First time dyeing plant fibers!)

half a ginat batt
A really horrible picture of half of my giant batt. I forgot I hadn’t taken any pcitures until I had half of it spun already. Yes, I was that anxious to spin it.

spinningfromabatt
The other half of the batt, already on the bobbin. I got about a 200 yard worsted-ish weight skein out of it that is currently drying.

What have you been up to?

Like riding a bicycle

It seems silly, these days, to think of myself as a spinner. Once upon a time, Stella the spinning wheel lived in a corner of our living room, and so I thought nothing of spending a few minutes with her...

Drive By Update

1. I just did an impromptu giveaway on facebook. It was quick and fun, and I will definitely do it again. Winners will be announced tomorrow, and everyone that participated will get a 10% off coupon for the shop.

2. It has been a long and stressful few weeks as Brock tries to find a job. I am trying to hold it together, but just keep researching magic instead of working on Tiny Dino Studios, because one day I will actually write a young adult fantasy novel.

3. The first issue of ply magazine debuted and it is gorgeous. The first article on the first spinners made me want to go back to school and do the Textiles BFA at KU with a minor in History. Someday, I will do this.

4. Since Brock is unemployed, but brilliant, he is making a video game. I might be fantasizing about it having Minecraft-type success and becoming a full-time student/mom who couldn’t give a damn about money. In these fantasies, I am also, thinner, taller, blonde, and wearing a baby on my back as I work on the looms in the art building and walk around campus.

5. Despite the above despairing, I have been dyeing, and I have updated my shop accordingly.

6. I have also been spinning some really dreamy alpaca, pictured below. I don’t even hesitate to link you to Marcia’s shop because her stuff is so brilliant. (Most alpaca breeders go for density and then fineness. Marcia just breeds for fineness, and let me tell you what I am spinning is like buttah.)

greyalpaca
Available for purchase here. Let Marcia know I sent you.

And here’s what just went up for sale in my shop, if you can pull yourself away from the Alpaca.

magic moss2

morning rainbow

appleblossomandpeavines

harvestgoldpteranodonworsted2

sea glass tunis

Here comes the heat!!

Lots of fiber and clay happening down here in Virginia.  Despite the rising temperatures... (it was bound to happen eventually right?)

Remember the haul from Maryland Sheep and Wool?   Many of you fell in love with the two twists on the far left....




Now they are a 3 ply (Navajo plied...meaning there is some color separation...) light worsted yarn!  A three ply this thin is pretty good for me.  (That's a nickle for scale.)



Meanwhile my friend Lynette is working on items for her show in August.  I spin wool for her sculptures...and this 8 oz will become a beehive.  The colors are perfect!  We were excited to find it at Maryland.


My latest blanket.....


And I had an exciting visitor.  No pictures of course but Hannah McAndrew was in town!  She was on the long journey home to Scotland after her show with the St Croix Valley Potters in Minnesota.  She was very interested in a blanket so we made a swap.

This plate is BIG, 15 inches across and much more golden than it looks in this picture.  I love it!  And I know Hannah will enjoy her wool throw in chilly Scotland. Thanks so much Hannah!


And I have finally found my groove again in the clay studio.  It was slow going at first.  Even though I have been throwing pots for over 7 years I still often struggle with some of the basics.  I am so thankful when it starts to flow again.


I am working on getting a kiln load dry and ready to bisque in the next 2 weeks.  All those little bowls on the top two shelves of the drying rack have to be in Vermont before the end of the month!



I am SO GLAD that my little AC unit seems to be working ok in my studio.  Not nearly as efficient as the split system I had in my studio in Charlottesville.  I should have taken it with us since the buyers are simply using the space as a garage.  It is definitely cooler then the 90 degree air outside but the humidity still seems high.  Drying is going slow...

So potting, weaving, spinning and sweating on those morning walks with Layla.


She LOVES her air conditioning.

Brought to you by the color green

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I finished my plying marathon with this lovely green 3-ply (2 merino, 1 angora) for Miss Pat’s hat. The white angora was just too dominant for my purposes so I over-dyed the skein a deep blue green. I took both skeins to the library for Pat to see and she was absolutely delighted with them.

Now with more twist

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The first skein of yarn for Pat’s hat is finished. This is 2 plies of cormo x romney and one ply angora. It’s about sportweight and is very fluffy and springy.

Envy

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This is the final bit of spinning for Ms. Pat’s hat. I’m going to spin two of these green singles to combine with the tan angora. I bought this lovely merino at SPA last February specifically for her hat.

On an angora roll

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I still had quiet a bit of white angora roving after my bobbin was full so I decided to add more to the tan angora bobbin that’s only half full. I finished up the angora I bought last February and then found some  more in my fiber stash. This second batch of roving is very different having a more silky slippery texture. I wonder if it’s a breed difference?