Intrepid Fiber Wizard

New Yarn

It's been a mellow sort of day here - I puttered along with a bit of 'domestic' life (laundry, dishes & stuff) and I gave the dandelion patch a quick haircut between the rain showers.
I am slowly adding a few rows here and there to my knitting projects, and not really in any hurry to do very much else at all. I tend to like this kind of day.

I finished spinning a couple of the fibers I was working on. I'm pleased that my spinning is getting more consistent once again.

Completed:
377 Yards Superwash Merino
approx. 4 ounces
Color: Nigthfall I
hand dyed by A Piece of Vermont

completed: 
690 Yards Superwash Merino
approx 6.9 ounces
Color: My Funny Valentine
hand dyed by Great Balls of Fiber

('scuse the slightly blurry photo... it's still kinda stormy here, and this electric pink just didn't feel like posing in the lightly sprinkling rain)

Both these yarns ended up approximately 100 yards per ounce, which is what I was aiming for - a sweet sturdy fingering weight yarn for socks. mmmmmmmm. 
I loved both colors - they were beautifully hand dyed by each artist.

Currently on the wheel is a fiber hand dyed and processed by Reflection Farm in Eatonville WA. They call it a lambs wool, American CVM Romeldale Sheep. There is not a color blend name.  the soft blues, violet and pale greens flow easily together.
I picked up this fiber awhile ago when I saw these folks at The Knitter's Expo in Tacoma. I have 10.9 ounces of yummy-ness, and I'm half way through spinning the singles. It will be another fingering weight yarn when I am completed.
I should have 1100 yards (fingers crossed).
I have absolutely no idea what I will make with it.   It is a soft spinning fiber, and good practice to get my hands back in shape.

any ideas?

Big Wheel Keep on Turnin'

Guess what I've been doing? mmmmmmm - Spinning !

And it's grand to be at it once again.
I still am not able to spin for very long (and it's been ten months since I injured my hand.) I can hold the fiber for about an hour tops, which is a considerable amount less than I used to in my hay day of spinning 4-6 hours at a time. Yet truthfully, I am grateful to be spinning at all :-)
This wonderful fiber is from Great Balls of Fiber by Sarah Anderson. I picked it up at OFFF a couple of years ago, and hope to get some more this September. Her color penetration is fabulous.
It's a superwash merino named "My Funny Valentine". I have 6 ounces of it.
Sarah packages up her fiber in such a fun way - it looks like a bouquet of flowers.

Of course, no sooner do I sit down to spin, than my "helpers" arrive to sit in the middle of my lap, keeping me company. Sometimes I wonder what they think I am doing with this big wheel moving so fast (grin)

Not enough of a fiber fix? Check this one out: I just finished spinning this one, and it is from my friend Jessie Raymond at A Piece of Vermont.
It's another superwash merino colorway Nightfall I. Jessie is going on vacation this week - but check back with her soon, there will be lots more hand dyed fiber! Jessie is a one-woman wonder of creation - and she ships out her product so fast after your order that you'll be amazed :-) Over the years, I have be delighted with every single thing I have purchased from her.

I was so excited to be spinning again, that this blurry photo is the only one I remember to snap. (silly wizard)
Photos of finished yarn will be forthcoming in the near future (huge grins)
I decided to begin my re-entry into the spin world with a fiber that I know well (the superwash) because I was unsure of what my hands could/would do. Judith MacKenzie said that we all have a "default" yarn that we create, and our hands will automatically spin this when we just sit down and spin. how true. My default yarn is a fingering weight.. what's yours?

Jessie also custom hand dyed me a huge batch of yarn for a sweater I knit last year. (thank you Jessie! It was perfect). I ordered about twice as much as I needed (just in case, you know) and now you can have a chance at getting some yourself! Just drop by Claudia's blog, and make a donation to her fund Raiser for MS, which is appropriately titled Knitters Against Multiple Sclerosis, and you too might win! For every ten dollars you donate, you have a chance to win something from this huge prize basket.  The gorgeous collection of prizes is something to behold. Claudia is riding an incredible 75 miles this saturday - wow. I wish we could all be there on the sidelines cheering as she and Michelle ride by.

D is for...

Delight.

a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction.

I have been absent a bit from blogland, since I took two blessed days off from both jobs and attended Madrona Fiber Arts Fair in Tacoma, WA last weekend. It was indeed delightful. (and I have a bunch of photos to share)

Friday night about 20 of us celebrated my friend Barbie's birthday at Indochine. The tables were decorated with rose petals (and after a few glasses of Sake, so were our noses) and a humongous organza bow was wrapped around the table like a present itself. The food was nothing short of magnificent.

Knitting later around tables in the hotel was a hoot. (That's a water glass of champagne... Barbie's favorite.. ahem)

Saturday I met up with another friend, Celeste from Oregon and we toured the marketplace. It was a bit bittersweet to be there. Seeing my ex-partner, and wandering as a spectator held both joy and sadness. I could not even walk three feet without stumbling across friends from all over the world. This was delight.

Yarn and fiber was wall to wall.

We paused in the day for a leisurely lunch at Two Koi, then returned for more fiber shopping. My dear friend, Virginia (who owns TootsieP Yarns in California) came up to see me and had an amazing booth. There is nothing like a fiber pal, is there ?

I even got to see Tina briefly, and pick up some of her Raven line of yarn (yippee)

Sunday morning brought yet a delight of another kind. I treated myself to an early birthday present (my birthday is next saturday) and took a spinning class with Judith MacKenzie-McCuin, "To spin a fine thread". I have said it before, and it bears repeating..... if you ever have the opportunity to take a class with Judith, do it. She is remarkable.
We learned how to fine tune our spinning wheels so that we could go from spinning our "default yarn" to spinning yarn thin enough to run through a sewing machine. amazing, incredible, fabulous. I won't share all the techniques here, since I still believe that you should take her class for yourself - but here is one small sneak preview:

I laid out my samples on my knee during class, just to give you some idea:
My "default spinning" is a fingering weight yarn (on the top of the photo) and the bottom is the 'thread' I was able to even spin a bit finer than this, but alas, no photos of it.
Judith gave us generous samples of many fibers: three different merinos, with varying micron levels, yak-merino blend, bison, tussah silk and ramie.
Three hours of non-stop spinning was delight. My hand and arm are now talking loudly to me, but it was worth every single moment.
May your week be filled with delight.

Spinning through the week

It's been a fast week - and my reprieve from the insanity of the retail world of mega-sales-events has been spinning. (Bless you Margene and Carole for encouraging this!)
Being a bit technologically challenged (ahem) it took me a little while to figure out how to watch movies on my computer (nope.. don't own a tv right now)......... anyway, the good news is that movies are once again abundant in this fiber household. (yipppeee)
I popped into the local Borders Books and got a copy of the tv series "Firefly" on sale, and have been completely enjoying it while I spin. If you haven't seen this one, it is the tv version of the movie Serenity. Such a fun depiction of strong female warriors. a totally no-brainer-type of entertainment. (which I recommend at the end of long, exhausting days on one's feet - grin)

Finished up 8 ounces of the pound I have :
it's a slubby cormo cross, hand dyed by friends from Oregon (see last post for links)
I have no idea how many yards I finished yet, but that bobbin is about as stuffed as I could get in and still have the wheel turn (heh heh)

I got so engrossed in the movie, that I also began some of the merino tencel blend that was dyed by BMFA. I've finished about 3.5 ounces of the 7.5 that I have.  I am spinning this one very very fine (although it is hard to tell from the photos) and I am hoping that it will ply up nicely with the cormo. We shall soon see. Although I won't have enough to ply all of the cormo, it will at least be enough yardage to make something fun I hope.

I did fairly well on the spinning once a day challenge, yet now must rest - I seem to have overdone it a bit, and haven't been able to feel my fingers or thumb for a few days now... tsk tsk. A short rest, some epsom salts soaks and I'll be good as new.

On the knitting front, I have a new FO............... ta dah !Truly, I finished it up last thursday, and washed it then. Yet it has been so rainy and damp around here that it did not dry until this morning - yipes. that's a long time. It the Back to School Vest from Fitted Knits, and I love it. I wore it today to work at CC, but it was too busy to have anyone snap photos for me, so here are my very best "camera-aimed-at-mirror-shots".

Vitals:
size 3 and 5 needles
about 670 yards of handspun mystery wool
great pattern
Modifications: I decreased the repeats on the neckline and the armholes. I did two instead of three. (those of you who own the pattern will know what I mean) It just felt too chunky with three. Otherwise, it was knit as written.This is a fabulous book and I can't wait to knit more from it.

One of the things I liked best about this pattern was the dart increases on the front. They are very clever the way they slightly increase, all the while maintaining the pattern design with no blips. love it.
hats off to the designer - this type of thing is tough to do (at least for me!)
It results in a great fit with very subtle darts. click on the first picture and enlarge to see what I mean. It's really pure genius

see you soon - I'm off to knit some socks and watch a little more of that great show.......

 

Holiday cheer

   Merry Christmas from fiberwizard-land :-)

Every day has brought wonderful cards and notes from all of you - thank you so much! And yesterday's mail brought the fabulous snowflake necklace I am wearing today from Leslie Wind - (go ahead, hop over to her website - she'll make you one too!) She told me that it was an ornament - ahem.. yeah - for me! Thanks Leslie - I really love it.

(And for curious minds, yes, the sweater is one of my handknits - actually, the very first sweater I ever made - back in 2001)

The cold / flu / bronchitis are on the run away from this place (hurray and thank goodness for antibiotics!)
Christmas carols are playing all the time.
Cookie dough has been mixed up.
Presents wrapped and under the tree... speaking of which:

The kitties might well be getting coal in their stockings this year.... as they have been busy while I have been at work. Here's the tree, standing ready for Christmas - and no... I truly am NOT that bad at decorating it... (notice the obvious lack of ornaments on the bottom two feet, and clumps of them together up higher?) Well, it seems that my cats have found a great new play thing - christmas balls. They have begun a daily game with me, of pulling all the ornaments off the bottom two feet of the tree - and making nice little piles of them around the house. so silly! (and no, Lady Di lies there looking all innocent under the tree... I'm not fooled for a minute! - grin)
(this photo is not truly blurry - I was trying to mess with it a bit in Adobe Elements)
Their next fabulous feat was to strip all packages of tags and bows - (it seems that they may have been reading over my shoulder about their distant relatives - Chaos and Mayhem)
Tags are securely restored to their proper places, and ornaments are now out of reach (at least for now) - we shall see what fun and games I come home to after work tonight ;-)

I have had a tiny bit of time to finish up my lace plying.

This is my first sincere attempt at spinning lace - and although it took awhile, it was well worth it. I ended up with 1883 yards from a pound of my old corriedale colorway "Grape Jelly". It is a two ply and comes out to 18wpi. I have been eyeing this shawl - and hope that I can begin it in the new year.

Joyous holidays to all - May the year ahead be one to celebrate!

By The Seat of your pants knitting

After a few failures at finding a good yarn for a Mavis sweater, I abandoned that project and went in search of an easy quick knit.

At our local yarn store I found a wonderful new book by Jane Ellison called Araucania. There are at least 3 sweaters that I will make in this book. All are relatively simple patterns, and can be easily adapted to various yarns.... (If anyone locates this book online, I'd be glad to provide the link- I was not able to find it just yet. The cover of it is pictured below) edited to note the link to getting this great book on line(Thanks Kathy R) go here

and thus the title for this post....
I'm " knitting by the seat of my pants" - winging it, throwing caution to the wind (and all logic too) and just knitting.

The yarn I am using is some of my very old handspun Shetland. It is lumpy bumpy, irregular, over twisted in places, under twisted in others - over plyed and under plyed.... it has character! And it didn't fit any gauge that I could imagine for pretty much any sweater that I wanted to make with it. Yet, I think I may have found a perfect project: Bertha

This sweater is the one pictured on the cover of the book - such an old fashioned named for a modern day sweater.

I messed about with the stitch count until I obtained the correct width for the sweater - and then I just began knitting. It is delightful to just knit with absolutely no idea when to begin the arm decreases - or neck shaping (big grin) Truly - it is a very relaxing free experience. I figure that it's only yarn, and I can always frog it  - and thus begins the 'seat of the pants' knitting.

It has been awhile since I knit on such big needles (size 8) and I am amazed at how quickly this sweater is taking form. The character of the the yarn has also allowed me to be quite relaxed about my gauge and tension, since there pretty much is no consistency to the yarn  (another big grin)

Allow me to repeat the wisdom I have heard from all my spinning instructors: never throw away any of your handspun; you will use all of it someday! How true.

The first photo is a better representation of the actual color. Both photos show it 'unblocked'. This sweater will most certainly include some magical blocking.

I'll keep you posted as to the progress - it might even be sooner than I imagined. Woo Hoo.

Dueling Wheels

I seem to thrive on having more than one project at once - ever the woman who loves to "putter" about, I continue... with not one wheel, but two..

I have a wheel at my office (Schacht Matchless) and a wheel at home (Susie Pro) and I love them both for different reasons.  My Schacht is my ever faithful, can-do-anything wheel  - my old friend; pretty much anything I put on the bobbins comes out as I hope. Perhaps this is the familiarity that blooms with age, since we have been spinning together for almost 7 years now; yet I think it has more to do with the fact that this is just the perfect wheel for me..... a blend of height, speed, versatility and beauty. I love this wheel.
My "at home" wheel, the Susie Pro (aka my Susie-Q) is a new addition, as many of you know. I am still getting introduced to all her charms and wiles... and it is a treat every evening when I greet her after my workday has ended. She is silent in her treddling, smooth and gliding like a swan.
Right now I am playing with two fibers that I dyed - superwash on the Schacht at work, and corriedale pencil roving at home on Susie Q.

I find it an interesting challenge to move from concept to form; from raw white fiber, to a completed yarn.  At times I am closer than others. With this particular colorway, I have no idea if it might turn out as I hope.  I move from image in my mind, to the dye pot, playing around with where the dye strikes the fiber, attempting to intuit how the fibers will cross one another as I ply...... it somehow seems easier when the colors are more complex.... this time, only two colors : black and white. Ebony and Ivory. My inspiration is Stevie Wonder's song by this name, from the 60's, of course (yes that era still speaks to me ) Here is what I see in my mind's eye:

I have spun half a pound thus far - of the singles; the second 8 ounces is on the wheel. The moment of truth fast approaches. I hope to ply it this weekend. And I will soon pronounce it success or disaster. We will see. Will the black be too heavy on the white? will the grey places bleed over into white, making the entire yarn too blah?  Will the dye adhere totally where it belongs (or mush into overall grey when washed?) the curiosity hangs heavy while I spin. And ultimately, I need to see how it will look when knit. Ahh, the suspense - like a great mystery novel...
When I am spinning just for myself, I love this part - the moment of truth, the grand unveiling of a completed yarn.... yet as I create a Sock Hop Yarn, that hundreds will see and play with, my heart thumps a bit harder - will it be pretty? Will anyone like it? A vague insecurity whispers in my ear as I spin and ply.
Ultimately, I know that if I do not like it, no one else will, and I pull it out of stock. There is reassurance in this.  It has been an interesting journey to send fiber and hand spun yarn out into the world (literally) and watch what everyone creates with my vision. There have been quite a few moments of "heart in my throat", yet it is also exhilarating. thanks to all of you for the encouragement over the past year :-)

I'll keep you posted as to how this color unfolds. We'll soon know either way (thumbs up or down!)

At home, I am creating a "for me" project. I dyed up my very own pound of pencil roving in the colorway "Grapejelly" and began spinning. This time it is laceweight. My little Susie Q loves to spin fine. This is the perfect soothing project for after work, settle the mind, calm and re-center.

I hope to ply it to itself and ultimately knit up one of Anne's amazing rectangle stoles - current choices are either the Bee Stole or the exciting new leaf pattern that she has been giving glimpses of in recent posts.

While I am spinning, I settle into the rhythm of the wheel and fiber - loving this (my favorite color) and knowing that there is no rush, no deadline, and no need for absolute 'perfection' (since it is for me).  - not that I am anal about my spinning for others, but rather with this particular spin, I suspect that I am less self conscious.

Since it has been a mild summer here, (and relatively bug-free), I've even taken to bringing my wheel out to the garden to greet the sunrise on a few mornings this week. (by the way, that huge ball of fiber is only about 6 ounces, and was recently attacked and shredded a bit by one of my cats) - I suspect this will be a nice long project - grin

relaxed. soothing. and I have all the time in the world.

Making Friends

Somewhere between Secret Agent Man, American Pie, Ebony and Ivory and Magic Carpet Ride, my fingers found the balance. The sweet romantic bliss of perfect twist, no coils, no kinks, nor corkscrews anywhere to be seen....
I made friends with my "Susie Q"..... my Suzie Pro.. my at home wheel. Here, I am finishing up some Magic Carpet Ride...one of my absolute fav's.

My Schacht now lives at my office most of the time - no worries, I see her a lot and still love her a bunch. She's been a dear companion on this spinning journey for 6 years now, and she's loyal and true.

There is something so marvelously sweet about finally finding the perfect balance in the rhythm of fingers and feet, of tension and freedom, of twist and spin - a perfect yarn grows out of nothing.

Bless you Susie Q - I'm so glad we've made a partnership - may we sing sweet duets for years.

Bye Baby goodbye

The Rick Reeves spinning wheel is truly a work of art.

I have owned mine for about 3 years now, and loved it totally.

Since moving to my small cottage home, I have been going through the process of evaluating what lives where - and what is ready to be released....... it was time to let go.... so Bye Baby, Goodbye.

This spectacular wheel now is slowly making its way across the entire United States, to its new home with Cheryl... Cheryl is a friend of Laurie 's (who introduced us.. isn't blogland amazing!) - Hop on over to Cheryl's blog and congratulate her on her soon to be, newest member of the family (grin) - truthfully speaking tho', the dear Reeves wheel won't arrive at her house for about another week. Kinda makes me feel like the expectant grandmother, awaiting the phone call that the baby arrived...

It was a rather delightful adventure to get it all packed and ready to ship (and I mean this in a good way) -  I pulled out the polish, and gave her a good rub top to toe, cleaned all the loose snippets of fiber off the bobbins, and took a close look to be sure she was ready to travel.

Our local UPS store is wonderful, and the owners were gently understanding of my motherly attitude towards this wheel and my lingering over its launch out into the world. They listened patiently as I told them what was fragile, and what came apart and what did not -  and they wrapped and wrapped every piece with layers of that bubble plastic.

I admit that somewhere during the process of a zillion emails back and forth between Cheryl and me, my heart paused and thumped a bit... my gosh, I said to myself, I'm really doing this. Yet, in the end, it felt exactly right; I just knew.

The box that is arriving at Cheryl's is enormous (you have no idea!) and the freight company who is shipping it most likely thinks it is some humongo machine- since it not only contains the wheel (with all its original pieces and parts in tact) but also a lazy kate and a total of ten bobbins and four whorls. (no drooling now)

This Rick Reeves wheel (it's a Norwegian) has been Cheryl's  "dream wheel" for ages...... its a wonderful thing to make someone's dream come true. I'm so glad that it's going to a friend who is in love with it.

So - Bye baby, good bye... it's been grand....

I'll leave you with a few close ups of the amazing craftsmanship of this wheel. More than just a practical way to spin, it's a hand made work of art. Hat's off to Mr. Reeves for his creation -

 

Taking A break

The enormous mass of  boxes was beginning to get to me, (it felt like "cardboard box fever" was about to strike)  so I took a break now and then and did some spinning. I figured that my wonderful blog friends might also enjoy a break from all the 'moving news'.
And so, we now interrupt the saga of the boxes, to return to our normally scheduled blog... and talk of spinning (grin)

I have made friends with the Majacraft Suzie Pro - and I pronounce it wonderful. (smile) I was able to squeeze a full 8 ounces on one bobbin, which makes it much easier for me when creating the Sock Hop Yarn. I still have to work on getting the tension exactly right when creating my singles. This speedy wheel treddles so easily and quickly that it was difficult to have my fingers keep up.
But by the end of the second bobbin, I just about had it balanced correctly for my speed. (another smile) - that is, as long as I  remind myself to slow my feet down - hah!

I had been spinning all week during packing and then also during unpacking. It was a lovely way to settle my heart and mind back into the gentle rhythm that I was aiming for. I find that I get so much more accomplished if I keep my pace slow and steady.
I was finishing up spinning the singles of Secret Agent Man  - and also got them plyed. They are all washed now, and drying as we speak. (yay)

Many of you have asked about the unusual way I dye this fiber - curious as to whether or not it was intentional - the answer is yes!
And so, I thought I might share a few more tips about how we create the Sock Hop Yarn from our CMF superwash. You all do know that you can spin your own sock yarn, don't you? Yes, of course, most of you do (grin)

First of all, here is a photo of 8 ounces  of Magic Carpet Ride opened up from it's package.

As you can see, one half of the roving has less dye penetration than the other half. The purpose for this is to easily create the "barberpole" effect in our yarn that I am aiming for.

When I first begin, I break the roving into lengths of about 2 feet each, and make two piles - one dark, the other light. I do not "split" the roving lengthwise (although you could). Splitting the roving changes the length of the color runs. This roving has been triple prepared at our local mill, so it is very soft, and spins easily out of the fat section of roving. After I have made my two color piles, I begin my first bobbin with a section that is the darkest dyed. After finishing this piece, I then spin a piece of the lighter dyed roving. I continue to alternate this way (dark, light, dark etc) until the entire 8 ounces is spun.

I then begin the second 8 ounces, on a new bobbin. This second bobbin, starts with a lightly dyed section, then alternates to the dark. When the two bobbins are plyed together, you will end up with about 95% barberpoled yarn (yippee !) One more option that an individual might have is to spin the dark half of the roving separately from the lighter sections - and then you would have two entirely different yarns to knit socks with from just one 8 ounce package of roving.

My singles are spun at a ratio of approximately 10:1,at a thinness of about 24 wpi. and then plyed very snuggly (creating about an 18wpi yarn). The yarn is not "balanced" when it first comes off the bobbin. A vigorous dunking in cool water will correct the balance, and the yarn will hang very straight. The superwash blooms up beautifully - so it really needs to be spun much thinner than you might expect when creating your singles. You can check out earlier posts on spinning to view my washing instructions, if you'd like.

On my lap, my every trusty companion, Miss Emily, gets very comfortable as I spin. Isn't she a cutie.  Lady Di (her sister) tends to hide whenever I bring out the camera... unlike her namesake, she is very shy.

I hope this was a helpful post, and that all of you are enjoying spinning this fun fiber as much as I am.

I am hoping that next week, I can return to chatting with all of you on your blogs. thanks for understanding my transition time (smile)