Spinning Spinning

It has been awhile since I have shared the fruits of my spinning. I don't believe I have formally introduced you all to my new Lendrum wheel, but I still don't have pictures so instead you get to see the first fruits.

I purchased her in July when I got my current job. And I am so glad I did. I have very much enjoyed my two months spinning and look forward to many more skeins.

(click any of the photos to make huge)

The photo on the top left is of some hand dyed merino I purchased at Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins when I bought my wheel. I have not yet decided what to do with this smooshy yarn, but I'm leaning towards a hat and mitten set for the shop.

These brown and natural skeins on the right were spindle spun and then wheel plied. This means that I made two single strands by spinning on my spindle and then spun them together on the wheel. The fiber is Colorado fiber from the Taos Wool Festival last October (oh my gosh, that was almost a year ago! - the fest not the spinning).

Next is a single skein of 100% silk that I spun on the wheel I borrowed for a year, and then plied it on my new wheel. I spun the silk before I dyed it which got a bit boring, but I LOVE the end results.

Lastly, my most recent finished spinning project is this amazing silk and merino mix. I cannot describe how snuggly it is. The color is a mysterious lavender, silver, and blue. Again, I am uncertain what these two skeins may become, but I'm thinking something for the Etsy.
Well, I hope you enjoyed catching up on what I have been spinning. Please leave a lil' comment with which skein is your favorite, I'm always curious to know what other folks like.

Spinning Distractions

I thought this might happen... I got burned out on my knitting projects. Yup - I know that seems hard to believe. I knit three pairs of baby socks in two days and re-knit an entire cardigan (double lace weight) in three and half days and that was all within a week so that has left me with three projects on needles.

The first one that is still on the needles is Juls' sweater which is coming along nicely. I put on the button bands last night so that leaves the collar and sleeves. I'm not feeling at a stand still on this projects, actually it is currently my most intriguing knit.

The second project still on the needles are some fingerless mitts that I am doing for a fabulous fiber trade. I'm knitting up a friends black and green hand spun in trade from some very nice wool. This is motivating because I am currently on a huge spinning kick, but at the same time the mitts aren't getting much attention.

Lastly, the third project that will be in continuous progress for awhile are the bridesmaid wraps/shawls I'm working on. I'll give some more details and photos on them later, but I'll just say there are five of them that need to be done by September 12th. I'm about a quarter of the way through the first one - uh yeah I need to focus a little.

So, as I mentioned I'm on a spinning kick. I have been spinning some local Colorado wool and am near that highly gratifying plying stage. The above photo is of some hand dyed super wash wool that I spun and plied by spindle - it took me awhile to get through the plying on my Navajo spindle but I did it! T

he other reason I am pretty excited about spinning right now is that I realized that my wheel savings are over the half way mark! So I feel much closer to getting my own wheel (photo link is a pretty one ganked from flickr)! Only $200 more to go!

Okay... my goal today: finish one fingerless mitt before the softball game!

On The Wheel

This lovely blue mix is on my wheel right now. I finished it up this morning and now I'll start a solid navy strand to ply with it.

Also look at these amazing colors that were gifted to me as a treat from New Zealand! Aren't they just gorgeous!

Each ball is 25 grams. I am milling through some ideas of how I want to spin this lovely stuff. What project ideas you have for me?

Yarn Survey

I have had some hand spun/hand dyed yarn in my Etsy shop for awhile now and I seem to be missing the mark with most buyers. Almost as soon as I knit my yarn into something (a hat or scarf or gloves) folks snatch it up, but for whatever reason it doesn't seem to have yarn appeal in-and-of-itself. For those reasons I am asking for you help.

Below I listed five questions and if you are a hand spun or hand dyed yarn buyer please copy the question into the comment section and respond. I really would appreciate and look forward to hearing your opinions.

1. How often do you purchase hand spun/hand dyed yarn?

2. Do you have a preference of fiber content?

3. Do you base your purchase on how many yards or ounces a skein has? If so what is your basis?

4. Do you shop for your yarn by weight (ie: sport, worsted etc.)? If so what weight is preferred?

5. Do you prefer variegated or solid colors?

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions and if you would like to do a further critique of my yarn here is where you can find my current hand spun listings (the yarn pictured above will be listed later this week). Thank you so much!

On the Wheel

This past weekend while I was touching yarn, I came across some roving that I have drooled and drooled over for months. This time the roving caught me with cash in my pocket and it won.

I knew the roving would win me over at some point - it is green, it is soft and squishy, it is merino, and it was only $10. So it was inevitable.

I started spinning it right away. And let me add it is very difficult to photo graph.

I have been spinning it rather fine, and I plan to do either a two or three ply. Probably only a two ply because that is about all I have patience for really.

The problem I am having is that I have no project for this yarn. I realize that may not seem like a real problem, but I usually don't purchase yarn or fiber without a project in mind.

I don't need any hat, mittens, gloves, or scarves so that type of accessory is out. I already have a french press cozy (made with my first ever hand spun), and I won't have enough for a cardigan. I really want to knit a kitty doll, but I have no one to give it to and I don't really want it to be green. I don't know, maybe a bag? Thoughts?

New Beauty

I would like to introduce you all to my new spindle (yet to be named, though I'm pretty sure she'll be called Maggie). This spindle was made just for me from beautiful walnut wood. I ordered it from a man in Grand Junction, Colorado who runs a shop called Magpie WoodWorks and he does beautiful work.

I also ordered this super cute yarn gauge. I realize I didn't really need it, but it was under $10 and just so darn useful and adorable I had to get one. This is made from mahogany. For those of you who don't know what a yarn gauge is... the space on the gauge is 1 inch and when you spin yarn you wrap your yarn around the inch space. Then how ever many wraps you have per inch (WPI) is the weight of your yarn - i.e. worsted, DK, sport, bulky, and so on.

Tomorrow is the birthday of a fellow volunteer and instead of cake she requested pie, which if fine by me. So I thought I'd share with you the recipe I made last night.

Apple Pie with Walnut Streusel. I mostly stuck to the recipe but I did change a couple things... substituted pecans for walnuts (personal preference), doubled the streusel topping (because streusel is amazing), and I used a 9.5 inch pie plate instead of making it in a cast iron skillet. We are having it with supper tonight so I'll have to let you know how it tastes!

Spinning Wheel Dreams

Lately I have been day dreaming about the Lendrum DT complete. I may have mentioned before that this is the wheel I hope to one day own, but it is currently on my mind because the question in my family is "what do you want for Christmas?". No, no, no, we do not buy each other gifts that cost $622 - this I know. But I am trying to decided if I want to start a Lendrum fund with Christmas gift money.

Truth is I'm leaning towards starting the fund after Christmas. Main reason - I really enjoy presents, even if I know what they are. And although I might be able to get a jump start on my Lendrum fund if it is all I ask for at Christmas, I know that I would be a little disappointed to have nothing to open.

So the result of all this typing babble is that I will save for the wheel starting in January and that I am probably a little selfish.

It's so pretty!

Snow and Fireball Yarn

Yup, that's right, it is Ocotober 14th and snowing. I'm not talking little dusty flakes either - big ol'wet ones. Snowing before halloween? I took a photo, but don't have it here at work. Last year our first snow was the day after Thanksgiving, which I think is perfect. I guess this year it IS the day after Canadian Thanksgiving - maybe God just got confused. Sigh. I just talked to my cousin in Virginia, they are wearing tank tops, and here I am sitting at my computer wearing my Endpaper Mitts. Truthfully I am more shocked than disgusted.

Okay, now to share with you my Fireball yarn, soon to be listed in my Etsy shop. I still need to weigh and count my niddy noddy wraps for length. I spun this yarn from the fireball fiber braid created on my crafty weekend. This yarn is two ply (that means there are two strands spun together) and is super wash wool. I really like how the textured turned out and I'm curious what it will look like knitted. My current debate with self is to knit something with it for my shop or to sell the yarn.

That brings us to my latest poll (vote on the right). What shall I do with this lovely yarn? Please vote!

My New Favorite Hat

I mentioned making a hat when I told you about my creative weekend a few posts ago, but I decided it was time for some photos and some details.

I realize the photos of me in the mirror sorta suck, but it isn't my fault that our bathroom door is dark brown - sorry. All of the brown wool in this hat is llama and they all the flecks of color are various fibers. I dyed some alpaca, silk, and wool mill ends a variety of colors - blue, orange, yellow, and a little bit if chartreuse.

The inspiration for this colorway came from browsing various batts and rovings online and jotting down color combos I like and then throwing different things together.

So I carded these fibers together which results in something called a batt, which you can see here on my kitchen table. So fluffy and snuggly, I decided to spin it from the fold (if you don't know what that means don't worry about it, but there is an explanation here if you are getting into spinning). I decided to spin aran weight and then ply it for extra bulk and softness.

I knitted this hat in the round using a knit one round, then knit 1 slip one with yarn in front for the next round and that is what gives it this woven ribbed look.

I'm considering spinning up so of this yarn for sale in my shop, but I'll see what you all have to say about liking the colors and such.

And that's my new favorite hat.

Rock Star Slub

So I got this bat from a fellow Etisan and I wasn't sure that I was keen on the colorway. I like all the colors separately, red - black - purple, but I wasn't sure how I felt about them all together until I spun this up.

What I like so much is how each color shows the twist of the yarn. Also the bits of razzy sparkle are fun too. Also, it seemed this yarn was perfect for making "slubs". For those who don't spin, "slubs" are the artistic bumps that spinners like to put in funky or art yarns. I find that slubs give a great texture when knitting.

So yes, this is my Rock Star Hand Spun Yarn... what do you think?

Oh the Yarn

I am excited to tell you about this latest yarn, called Lucious, that I posted in my Etsy shop. I spun this up using the last of some mill end roving I had, but the exciting part is I spun it on my Navajo Spindle. So this is my first skein to come from this spindle, and it is my largest skein I have listed in my shop. I was very happy with how the textured turned out. Though it is a thick/thin it isn't slubby. After I finished spinning it I decided to try a new method of dyeing, I baked the yarn. Crazy, I know, but it turned out really well! Thoughts? What do you think of the color combo?

My First Batts

Tah dah, these are the first batts created on my new borrowed drum carder. I am super excited to start learning more about carding and all the possibilities it provides. I'm just plying my first skein from the new wheel and these are next on the list to spin up. I'll let you know when the yarn goes up in my etsy shop.

Spinning Wheel and SLV Fiber Fest

Hooray!!! Through the generosity of a fellow knitter and fiber lover I have the privilege of using a spinning wheel. An Ashford Traditional to be exact. This lovely person also loaned me her drum carder as well so I will soon be posting some photos of batts. My plans for this wheel include starting my yarn for the lovely Sesame sweater. I have decided to go with gray and navy for my colors, and I'm going to blend in some white cotton to give it a heathered look. So I have to finish washing up my fleece and start my dyeing.

In fact, I purchased the dye for my sweater at this weekend's fiber festival - yay! It was a lot of fun. I helped out in the info booth, and a fiber angel paid for me to compete in the spinning and knitting contests. We had a lot of fun, let's just say my wheel skills need some improvement. I did mange to win the Bulky Spinning contest, which resulted in winning a LOT of fiber, so that is very exciting. I also got second in the speed knitting, although I rarely try to knit super fast in real life.

Let me leave you with a photo of what I am currently spinning on the wheel.

Finally, my Hand Spun Bolero

My face in this photo may not communicate my joy, but I do very much like this bolero. I finished it about a month ago. I can't quite recall how long it took me to spin the cotton, but I think it was about three or four weeks. From this post you can see that it had to be carded as well as spun on my tiny spindle.

The shrug could maybe have been a bit bigger, but I wanted to account for stretching out that cotton usually does. So far I only like it with tank tops, but maybe by fall I'll come around. We'll see. So what do you think of it?

My Hand Spun Fingerless Gloves

Here's my latest listing in my Etsy shop. I knit these with Targhee wool that I spun Thick/Thin and it is oh so squishy! The color was super hard to capture on camera. It is called vermilion - it's somewhere between dark magenta and burgandy. What do you think?

Spinning Cotton

This is my newest obsession (other than a baby sweater for a friend that I can't stop knitting). All the items you see in this photo were part of the generosity mentioned in my previous post. I've been doing alright using a support spindle, this brown cotton seems to lend itself to lumpiness - that could be result of me learning how to card as well.

For those of you who are not familiar with spinning cotton it is a very short fiber so the support spindle allows me to spin it without putting weight on the fiber which would cause it to break apart. Also cotton fibers don't grip each other like wool fibers, they are slick and slide off one another - these are the challenges to spinning cotton, but I'm enjoying it.

I have also been learning about the natural colors of cotton that are being experimented with. I have yet to research it, but I have some green and brown and I hear that there is blue. If you have any interesting info on this please feel free to pass it along.

So as I make progress on this project I will share it with you, but here is what I am hoping to make once I spin enough cotton (a little less than 2 100 gram skeins) - Ribbed Lace Bolero. So cute, right?

All for now, have a great day!

The stories behind my spindles

Within the past week I have received so many gifts from fellow fiber lovers that my cup runneth over! For today I will share with you my spindle love.

Some of you fellow knitters and crocheters may be familiar with Ravelry. In one of the forums on that site we were all sharing sharing photos of our spindles cause, well, we're addicted. I shared my photo and mentioned that I am in the market for some new spindles, possibly to spin some heavier yarn. A fellow spinner sent me a note saying that she would like to send me two of her spindles that haven't gotten much use since she began using her wheel. From her generosity I received the lovely top whorl spindles with the gorgeous stripes of green, maroon, and yellow. She also generously included some Targhee wool, so squishy, I love it!

The plain spindle you see on the far left is my first spindle, a student spindle. This one I received from the generosity of a fellow Etisan who read that I was interested in spinning. Basically I bought some wool and she threw in the spindle at cost - a dollar something, oh yeah!

Lastly, the two small spindles on the right involve my current project, which I will tell you more about later this week. These two small support spindles are cotton spindles. In our local knitting group and fiber group there is this lovely woman who knows everything there is to know about weaving, knitting, dying, and spinning - needless to say she never gets much done with all of us asking her questions.

Well, last week as we were knitting hats for the hospital I asked her how to spin cotton, and from that conversation she said that she may be able to help me out getting started cause she had a spindle that I could have. I thought - sweet! So Sunday I went over to her house to learn how to spin this short staple and I was blessed beyond my imagination!

Not only had she prepared a basket for cotton spinning which included beautiful brown cotton, carders, card cleaner, a flicker, two support spindles, and boiling tubes to set the cotton, but there was a whole other basket! This other basket over flowed with wool, cotton, an antique carder, and by the end of the visit it also included a swift, a yarn drying rack, two books on natural dyes, AND lichens and onion skins for dying!!!! I forgot to mention she also gave me a whole fleece and gave my friend a loom!

I share this to say I am so overwhelmingly grateful to these women for encouraging me and proving me with the tools to learn more and improve my craft. I am always amazed at how the "crafting community" rises up to support one another and others in need.

I hope this inspires you to reach out, share, and teach others the craft that you so love.

Gets Better and Better

So I continue to fall in love with spinning. I recently learned about Fulled Yarn. I asked around on Ravelry about the process and such and then decided to go for it! This Muted Spring skein is the result - hooray!

As I dyed this roving I was unsure of it. I didn't really like how the colors mixed and once I spun it I felt it was just "okay". I decided it would be a good skein to test this new technique of making fulled yarn. The process involves agitating the wool in hot and cold water and the absolute best part is whacking it all around. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was mad as I whacked this yarn full force on my front step, but it was oh so fun.

I have just listed this skein in my Etsy shop and I titled it Muted Spring.

Fingerless Glove Progress

Today I thought I'd share a little progress I am making on a project for myself. I'm getting there. I have come to the conclusion that I won't have enough yarn. I know, I know, you are thinking - "Isn't that what she always does?" Well, not always, but yes it happened with my leg warmers too. I will have a little supplemental yarn that is left over from my hat. The yarn left from that project is from the same roving but has a lot more white in it. Still, I'm hoping it is enough to complete my glove. If not, what ideas do you have?

Presenting the French Press Cozy

It is finally here! I have had request for this through a Business Ideas thread in Etsy, through my own personal use, and from a poll here, but it took me awhile to get it right. This project was started about three different times, yes that's right, three times.

Now you might not think it would be so difficult to gauge out a SQUARE, but for some reason I struggled. The first two times I got at least four to six inches into the project because I was doing some lovely patterns, and it was with the Bright FairyTale yarn that you see throughout my shop. Then I decided to sell some of that lovely yarn in a skein so I started with this hand spun blue and white wool, which is wonderfully warm. With this yarn it only took one try and it began to come together.

I love the look of this cozy because it is intricate, yet simplistic and could really go with any style home. Also this wool is very thick and the the cozy covers the length of the press which will keep the coffee nice and hot. Also I think people will appreciate the window by the handle where you can see if your coffee is brewed to your liking.

Thoughts? What else would you like to see in these cozies? Ideas? Thanks for stopping in!