happy dance

a wheel, a wheel, a new spinning wheel! one that plies as well as spins, with both jumbo and fine yarn abilities. we decided to go ahead and get an ashford traveller with a jumbo flyer accessory. i'm so happy! it could be in part because of the fumes though (i just put the third coat of st. john's wax on); not bad fumes, just strong. here's the beauty now! happy dance!

submitting

here's the yarn stash i'm taking to the georgia national fair. it is a nice assortment of colors i think. there are definitely some which i will be keeping (they're so pretty, it would be hard to part from them), and some i will post to etsy when the fair is over. other entries you may have seen before if you read this blog; mini quilts, lap quilt, various cushions, weavings, smocked pin, beaded pin, etc.

weekend fun addendum

i spun up two of the batts i carded at the workshop. the batt formerly known as clown vomit was plied with a white alpaca. it was a definite learning experience. i spun it on my ancient flax wheel (which is quite the finicky beast when it comes to spinning anything thicker than fingering, and you can just about forget spinning fat and thin singles) and it may have taken me a few hours. i try not to think of it. the plying was done on a drop spindle (again, the ancient ones' fault, as it absolutely refuses to spin counter-clockwise). not that i don't enjoy plying on a drop spindle, but it is a little awkward to try any fancy art plying. but, in the end, i really like the color play and softness of the yarn.

after borrowing my good friend's schacht matchless spinning wheel, i spun up the purple batt, plied it, and was skeining in about an hour. wee! it's quite lovely, and i really like the flashes of purple silk and amethyst corriedale locks. another lesson learnt; it is true that you shouldn't mix differing lengths of fiber when creating a batt, as the longer fibers all but disappear while spinning (much like a corespun, with the longer fibers acting the part of the core).

a snowball?

well, i managed to squeeze all of the alpaca on the drop spindle, and it doesn't look so much like a drop spindle as a softball with an antennae (or a jack in the box head). i wound it off, skeined it, and fulled it, and now have a lovely bundle of white alpaca laceweight.

i've been playing with the idea of dyeing it a soft aubergine with cochineal, but figured perhaps the white plainness may work in my favor. maybe. just guessing really. not going on any data to back this hypothesis up. we'll know in a month though, won't we?

the muslin sacks are all sewn up, corded, and tagged. it's a good thing i thought of labeling, as they're mostly indistinct from one another. i feel almost like a bank robber with sacks of money; hey, it's what they look like to me.

after picking up some color grown cotton roving yesterday, i'm down to two empty sacks. hmm. luckily i have enough cord and material for several more, and they're quick and easy to sew up.

mochi madness

getting ready for the fair, one of the categories which i am happy about is spindle spinning; which is a favorite pastime of mine. i have a mohair/silk and alpaca chunky yarn i've spun which i've entered; so for a little variety i decided to put my kuchulu to work and have been spinning a laceweight 2ply in white alpaca that i had helped shear.

one of the requirements is that the skein needs to be one to two ounces. which is fine, doesn't seem like a lot. but, when you're using a wee little drop spindle it sure seems like a ginormous amount to spin. each .20 ounce ball looks like little mochi, so cute!

i've borrowed my mothers delight spindle to ply, and i hope i can get it all on there. i have yet to master the joining of two separate 2ply strands (other than a knot). ah, well, something to aim for.

weekend fun

this past weekend i was in athens enjoying some time learning more about spinning at plying the arts 2011. it was rather nice to be amongst other fiber enthusiasts. the two workshops i took part in were a taste of silk and blending for fun.

i rather thought i knew a lot about silk, but it's so much more interesting when you learn more. overspinning isn't possible, bombyx comes in a brick form which is fluffier and spins more smoothly (sounds like an oxymoron huh?), and i still enjoy silk hankies. the little samples above are what i spun using my drop spindle.

the blending exercises using the drum carder were very fun! things learned; a new to me technique for feeding the drums (placing fiber parallel to drums), creating variegated batts, and obtaining three different batts just by blending the same batt once, twice, and three times.

this yellow green batt was the demo for seeing the effects of multiple blending. i spun up a segment taken from each time the batt was blended. the blockier colored skein went through once, and the heathered lime green skein was twice through. i rather like the more distinct colors on the first one. i haven't spun up any of the three times blended batt yet, above.

i mixed brown, white, purple, and blue into my second batt, blending it twice.

getting out of my comfort zone, i created a mishmash better known as clown vomit for my third attempt. i blended it three times, and the hot pink really didn't want to blend. i may ply it with a soft grey.

the way of shifu

i think, perhaps, i am finally understanding how to spin paper. so far, my efforts with a drop spindle have gone awry; there's nothing like spending time carefully cutting paper into 2mm strips only to see it break apart every three inches when you start to spin it.

then, after putting it aside for a bit, i came across a comment about using a bobbin winder. so, having armed myself with some medium weight handmade paper, i set about winding it on a bobbin winder and was successful. here are the results of the first success, wound onto a kiwaku.

ch-ch-changes

spinning cotton is really quite a joy on the kuchulu, the light weight of the spindle enables me to spin quite thin. the only times it broke was when i overestimated the distance between my fingers and the short fibers came free from my grasp. so far i've spun alpaca, cotton, and wool; tommorrow silk and then the world!!!!! (pinky and the brain moment there, sorry.)

i took some fresh photos today for my etsy shop, and created a new banner and profile icon. change is good, i think it's a matter of renewing how you see yourself, and pushing long held likes and preferences to the side a bit. here's hoping.

how's that for size

when i first saw the tiny kuchulu spindle on velma's blog, i knew i needed to lay my hands on one. just think of the possibilities; keep it in the purse and spin when waiting, packs light for airplane travel (and is under any bothersome length requirements), light and small enough to fit in even the littlest purses. ah, such simple joy!

dyeing haze

some of my dyeing efforts on wool roving are complete, so i carded them together for a particularly lovely batting to spin; two greyish purple shades of logwood, three shades of kamala, and one beige shade of lichen. i was hoping the lichen would be more pink, as the densely packed ammonia soaked lichen concoction was a bright pink, and at first i simmered it on low for an hour (resulting in the palest tan), then let it soak in fresh dyestuff for two weeks (only to get a slightly darker beige).

but the bluer logwood came out lovely, and the sunny strength of the kamala is nice. i threw in some purple sparkle while i was spinning to add some charm, and i quickly discovered that it is quite fun to add things while spinning. i would love to try some core-spinning, but the orifice of my old saxony wheel is too narrow to allow it. i wonder if it is possible to core spin with a drop spindle?

these colors are lovely, but i miss the sheen of silk, and the slightly more intense colors that fiber seems to acquire while dyeing. well, i shall carry on!

efforts

well, no news in the indigo front (the experiment bombed for various reasons). but, there's still some dyeing taking place in the laboratory. i've been dyeing wool roving as an experiment to see what colors i may obtain from the different extracts i have. hopefully i will end up with a good spectrum of colors to card together and spin. so far i've created bubblegum pink, deep magenta, daffodil yellow, and a ruby purple by using madder and kamala. currently resting in the dye pot is hopefully a teal and a pale green, so their final color is awaiting verification. i know i should make orange, but it's my least favorite color, so i may settle on peach. when i have them all together i'll post photos.

i was happy to receive extra bobbins in the mail from doc for my new old spinning wheel, so i tested them out and was able to spin a fine grey alpaca two ply yarn; it's especially fuzzy, so i'm not quite sure what to do with it.

on monday during the spinning meet-up, i spun a lovely silk merino i've had forever, and plied it with a cinnamon alpaca. it took a little extra work to ply as i had to reply it on my drop spindle after the initial plying was too loose. drop spindle plying is especially nice as i feel that i have more control over the end result, at this point i prefer it over spinning singles on the drop spindle (i quite like using the spinning wheel for that part).

i'm racking up quite a collection of spun yarns, perhaps i should put some of them in my etsy storefront?

creativity in the face of the dismals

well, what have you been up to anastasia? hmm, maybe not as much as i thought. you'd think being jobless would free up a lot of time to just focus. but then you want to buy the materials with which you've envisioned a piece, and find that there is a downside to being without a job; a serious lack of funds. then you think, "what about that stock of stuff i've been building up for the last few years?", and you find that your tastes have changed somewhat.

or perhaps, i just like the thrill of ordering something, the suppressed excitement of knowing that something is in the mail, the joy of finding a package waiting for you on the doorstep, the exhilaration of opening a box, and admiration, which lasts ever so slightly in the passage of time, of your new acquisition before the urge to order something else takes hold of your senses. ugh. i think i have a problem. or, rather, an addiction. join the club.

then, there's other things which arrive in the mail which aren't so welcome; bills. with the lovely bit of financial reality i receive in the mail every month, i'm beginning to realize that i can't be as free with my heart's desires, that the old piggy bank ain't giving out one more dime. i could be over come with bleakness and dive into a deep pit of despair and depression, or, i could start looking closer to home for material to work with. you know, *cough* the cats, or something.

which brings me to my latest undertaking, spinning cat fiber yarn! i'm calling it turkish van fiber. sounds fancy, huh? well, they are decadently soft, these two kitties of mine. and they really love getting combed, plus they come in three colorways, auburn, black, and white, which mixes up to a greyish yarn color once carded. so, i've spun the cat hair onto a bobbin, and plied it with wool left over from my felting days (which weren't all that many now that i'm being honest with myself), and created a lovely mottled french grey yarn which is surprisingly soft.

i'll admit it though, i really enjoy spinning, and keep wistfully gazing at the pages of ox, alpaca, linen, peace silk, vicuna, qivuit, and guanaco fiber available these days on the internet. but, thankfully for my sagging wallet, i haven't pressed the purchase button yet. sigh. i want a job. a workroom assistant to a costume designer would be nice, or to work in a couture house sewing by hand for hours, or attaching sequins to a stage outfit, any of those would cause me to hyperventilate with happiness. oh, i don't know, one can dream i guess.

an old one but a good one

my mentor and friend bonnie lent me one of her spinning wheels on friday. it's a lovely old wheel which has a lively history. while visiting england, she stayed with a friend who was in her eighties. this grand lady knew bonnie was a spinner, and decided to pass onto her this spinning wheel. she told her the story of it's provenance; when she was a girl of sixteen her scarborough beau crafted it as a gift of love. sadly though, he soon died, and they did not marry. bonnie brought it back on the plane, and her husband soon had it in tip-top shape. i'm very honored that my friend let me start my spinning on this wheel, and i was able to spin some soft grey alpaca on it today.

this is my first spinning wheel spun yarn, it's a white/color specked merino/silk and grey alpaca. the merino blend i had spun on my drop spindle several weeks ago, and i thought would go lovely with the soft grey of the alpaca. i'm very pleased with the end results!