more dyed fiber

So there hasn't been to much news on the crafting front since I last posted however I did dye some fiber a while back that I didnt get a chance to post yet. I bought some BFL from Mielke's Fiber Arts and went to town dying it right before memorial day. I needed a nice green fiber I could ply together with the dark green BFL I was spinning. So I dyed up about 3 oz of BFL using lime jello and neon green Mccormick food coloring that I picked up at the grocery store. It came out exactly how I wanted it. When held up next to the previous green it looked great together. I cant wait to spin it and ply the greens together.
After dying the green I decided to try out some Wilton's food coloring and dye up some BFL in pink, orange, and violet. I was in the middle of putting a swap together and my swap partner recently started spinning so for an extra little gift I wanted to send her some roving in her favorite colors. Since I didn't have her first choice I went with her second which was autumn colors. This batch of fiber came out extremely vibrant and very lovely. I will have to use the Wilton's more often. My swap partner loved it! I even have some left over to spin up for a small project. I actually have a lighter orange,pink, purple merino fiber I dyed with jello and koolaid that might look really nice plyed with the vibrant wiltons version.

I finally got my wheel back fixed and it works amazing! Such a small thing made a huge difference. I also received some more fiber and another bobbin with the wheel when it came back. I asked Jan (the owner of Heavenly handspinning) if she cold send me a little joe spindle as well instead of reimbursing my shipping. I just love those spindles. They spin like a breeze and look great! Now i have an extra bobbin for my wheel and an extra spindle! I am almost done spinning the fiber that came with my wheel. I want to finish it today and then eventually I'll spin up some natural colored fiber to ply with it. The fiber that came with the wheel is a blend of turquoise, black, and white. I didn't have enough white to use though so I only spun the black and turquoise up. I am finally getting the hang of my wheel. I can get into the groove and stay there for a while now before losing it. One day I will find my sweet spot and then I wont have to worry about losing that groove. Yesterday I stained my wheel and it came out fabulous. It's pretty much all dry except for the bottom. The weather here has been very damp so the bottom stayed wet longer. I now have my wheel laying on its side so the bottom can air out. If all goes well I should be able to use it this after noon.

For those of you wondering I am finally settling in nicely at my new job. It has its up and downs of course and I am still learning the kids and trying to figure out what motivates them and how much they can take. Their programs are becoming more familiar and when I work with I'm feeling more comfortable with what I'm doing and gaining a bit more confidence. Last week we took the kids to the Science Museum. It was alot of fun but also alot of work. We took extra teachers so that we would each only have to work with one kid instead of two, thank god! I would have been pulling my hair out if I had to watch two kids, one was enough that's for sure! Next month we are going to see if we can take the kids out for ice cream and then in August we have a field trip planed to go to a farm. I am really looking forward to going to the farm. It should be alot of fun and I think it will engage our children more then the Science Museum did.

Sheep and wool festival and more

So it has been a while since my last post. Since then I have officially graduated from college and now have a Bachelors in Psychology! I also started a new job, which has been taking up all of my spare time. I don’t get home until 4:40 in the afternoon on most days and since I am still trying to get use to my schedule and work load in my spare time I am tired as all hell. I have been there for 3 weeks now and after my first week I got sick and I’m just starting to feel better, so that didn’t help very much with my energy levels. Slowly I’m coming home with more energy, and hopefully will be able to get more accomplished.

The first weekend of my new job was Memorial Day weekend and I went away with a friend (Val) to the Massachusetts sheep and wool festival. We had a lot of fun even though I felt like crap. We drove out wet to the fair on Saturday checked into our hotel then spend the next few hours at the fairgrounds. We really enjoyed looking at the sheep and all the different exhibits. We even tried out a new hobby, Hooking, it as a lot of fun and I think, I'm just going to have to go out and buy some supplies.
They had some wonderful stalls with nice people and great products. There was one stall,however, that we came across where we found the vendor to be rather snobbish which was disappointing because I had heard great things about them and was told it was a must see. Val basically came along to keep me company and see the sheep, she does not spin and she knits rarely so she wasn’t into all the fiber and yarn, all she wanted to buy were little sheep items, and this particular vendor had an adorable button pin no bigger than a quarter, that she loved. She wanted to purchase a couple with the idea of replacing the pin with a little magnet for her fridge. After waiting like five minutes for the vendor to acknowledge her (she was pretty much standing in front of the lady who was talking to another vendor) she was told they weren't for sale but were free with purchase...now I was going to buy something, after all she had lovely fiber but the look she gave my friend when she said this was exceptionally rude and condescending. Therefore, we just left. Her prices were a bit pricey and I knew I could buy fiber elsewhere where it was cheaper and the service was friendlier. That rather put a damper on my friend’s day that’s for sure.

Her day eventually brightened up towards the end when we came across a stall, Holiday Yarns, (you can find a picture of heir stall on the owners (Jennifer) blog in this post) which really had some wonderful items! They had lovely colored sock yarns and amazing sock kits displayed (pictures do them no justice you have to see them in person for the full effect) and of course, they had fiber. It just so happened to be the only stall I saw BFL fiber sold in, which was exactly what I was looking for! After looking around for a little bit, I finally settled on buying 4 0unces of BFL dyed yellow. While I was paying my friend saw a bar of sheep milk soap which was cleverly crafted into the shape of a sheep (So cute!) that’s she loved! However by this point all she was buying was soap and already had about 6 bars in her bag, so she was hesitating and decided she wasn’t going to buy any (she was still in her bummed mood and pretty much done with shopping), seeing how much she liked it the woman running the stall (Jennifer) gave it to her for free! It wasn’t a small bar of soap either. Now that is real customer service and that act alone, even if I didn’t like her products, would have had me coming back for more. Actually, I did, I went back for a business card and then before leaving the fair I told my friend we needed to stop in one last time so I got some more fiber in the stall, some purple BFL by Gnomespun yarns. I have yet to test the fiber out but once I get my spinning wheel back I will! Once I get some more cash flow coming in I would love to buy one of their stunning sock kits and some sock yarn.

For those wondering I did get my spinning wheel, I got it right before I started my new job however I was having an issue with one of the peddles and had to send it back to get fixed. I would have it already only I wasn’t able to get it in the post until yesterday. Jan (the maker/owner of Heavenly Handspinning) will be reimbursing me for shipping and will be sending some extra goodies back with my wheel for my troubles!

I also finished my Chameleon. He came out really cute. I will have to make another one someday.

Spindles and more

I finally received my roving in the mail and they are excellent. The roving I bought from sunset fibers is so rich in color that I don’t mind the texture so much (I mentioned before I’m not a big fan of corriedale) but I have a feeling when spun up it will be wonderful in both color and texture! The roving from Copperpot is terrific not only is it super soft but the colors are lovely. The splash colorway isn’t as bright as it looked on my monitor, the pink looked like it was a hot pink but it’s really a cranberry maroon (a little disappointing ). The minute my sister saw it she said the roving looked like Barney :( I am sure it will spin up great and not look like Barney in the end. I haven't taken the roving out of the package yet so I am not sure if the colors are blended together (looks like it is) or if their more separated. If they're more separated I might see about pulling the two colors apart and plying the two colors together to create a nice fluffy twist colorway. I haven't really spun any bulky weight yarn yet as my hands seem to want to spin thin singles (which is ironic since I don’t use alot of lightweight yarn) but I want to try because I think this colorway would make a great bulky yarn. I have it in my head that it would make a great pair of chunky mittens.

It was a bad idea to buy all that roving as a last day of class celebration because it has thrown me into a shopping frenzy! I just keep on buying, I really need to stop otherwise I will be out of money in no time. At least I start my new job next week. Anyways let me share some of the items I have bought. Since we're on the topic of roving I bought another 4 oz from Copperpot and really there was no way I could resist she put another batch of her Victorian holiday up!!! That’s the one in the last post that I absolutely loved but was sold out! It is a merino bamboo blend and absolutely stunning! I cannot wait to see how it feels! Hopefully I won't be too afraid of spinning it up lol. I also bought another 4 oz from the etsy seller CatsMeowPresents. The colorway is called watermelon (image above, taken from their etsy shop) and just lovely. What better color is there to spin with the summer approaching! This roving is Falkland and I’m interested to see how it feels and spins. I'm a little nervous getting my hands on a new type of wool but excited as well.

Besides buying roving I also bought a new spindle, called a little Joe spindle, which I absolutely love! It spins effortlessly and is very pleasing to look at. Plus it is very affordable! I may have to buy more!

I got my Little Joe from Heavenly Handspinning. I bought it from their etsy shop but they also sell items on their website. I received it in the mail on Saturday and grabbed my new dyed roving (sunrise sherbet) to test it out. The first few minutes were a bit rough since it spins so differently than my other spindle and I’ve never spun merino up before. I can see now why they say merino might not be best for a beginner to start with. I love that it drafts so much easier but the downside is it also snaps/pull apart easier while spinning which resulted in my spindle dropping to the ground a few times. So I have to keep connecting my roving over again which has helped with my joins. With the first singles I spun for my yellow/orange/black yarn (now called Fiesta Time) the joinings were thicker and more noticeable. Now I can get a nice even and consistent join. Eventually I got the hang of the new spindle and have a nice consist single going. It is very thin though not sure what I would make with it, I only have 2.5 ounces of the sunrise sherbet roving, and I read it takes about 4 oz for a hat, socks or mittens. I could try to make a pair of baby socks with it. I’m sure they would come out lovely! We'll see. I might ply it with a different color to get more yardage but I haven't decided yet. I don’t want the colors to get lost when plied with something else. I do have a nice soft lavender though that might ply nicely with it. Part of me is thinks it would be to many colors but another part of me thinks the light purple would go great plyed around the pale yellow, orange and pink of my sunrise sherbet roving.

After about spinning for 15 minutes on my little Joe I am now capable of drafting the roving as I spin! I'm really excited about this as it means I won’t have to predraft as much and that the process will go a bit faster. Heavenly Handspinning has some great videos on their site, and one of them was for the park and draft spinning method, which really helped me to understand what it was I was supposed to be doing while drafting and it finally just all made sense. The little Joe spins so much longer then my older spindle that I really got a good chance to try drafting as it spun. My old spindle constantly had to be set back into a spin so that I didn’t have time to try to draft the fiber as I went and could actually see what I was doing. I still like my older spindle and will be keeping it around (after all I still have my green roving spinning on it) but I LOVE my little Joe! I might paint my old spindle and keep it around for decoration if I don’t use it after this.

Ok now on to the final and most exciting item that I bought, a SPINNING WHEEL! I have been looking at different spinning wheels online for a while now and was planning on setting up a new savings account so that eventually I could buy one. The initial plan was to put some of the money I already saved up and my graduation money into a new account to start with then transfer about 40-60 dollars each month over to it but with the price of wheels it would take me a good year or so to save enough money. I was set on this plan and ok with it until I stumble across Heavenly Handspinning! Not only do they make spindles but they also make wheels! Not only are they cute (picture above, take from heavenly handspinning) but their cheap as far as wheels go! I was a little hesitant at first since I've never heard of them and wasn’t sure how the quality was, but after watching a few videos on how to set the wheel up and some demos of how it ran I decided it looked like a great wheel for a beginner. It looks simple to assemble and spin with and doesn’t look intimidating. I also decided that before I bought it I would check on ravelry to look into different wheel manufacturers, so I did a group search for spinning wheels and low and behold there was a Heavenly Handspinning wheel group! After talking to a few members there and reading the forum posts I decided I had to have this wheel so for a graduation present to myself I bought one! I bought their double treadle Bellus wheel and it should be shipped out by the end of this week!

On a whim I also made a spindle. My sister just came back from college and we were cleaning the room and organizing when I came across a random dowel so I got my craft bin out and got to work. For the whorl I used a pom pom maker and then to connect it to the dowel I cut off the rim of a stitch protector, it was one of those plastic sock stitch protectors that you can pick up at a local craft store, placed the dowel through it and the pom pom maker sits on the stitch protector. The whorl could be heavier as the spindle isn’t very balanced but once you get some singles spun and add weight to the shaft it works nicely. The dowel did crack at the top where the hook entered so I had to use some packing tape to bind it back up. In all I don’t think it was a bad first attempt especially since it was a spur of the moment project that took 5 minutes.

Sunrise Sherbet Roving

Last night I finally managed to dye up some roving. A new friend gave me around 7 ounces of undyed merino top so i grabbed a handful and got to dying. I used 2.5 ounces of roving, 3 packets of jello mix, vinegar, and salt. First I set up set my wet roving on the kitchen table over a towel and some over lapping zip-lock bags. The method called for plastic wrap but I was currently all out so decided to improvise. Once my roving was all layed out I started to mix my dye, which was a combination of jello power, vinegar, and salt. For the yellow/lemon I used just about a full package, for the pink/black cherry I used half of a package, and for the orange i used just over a pack of jello powered. Then I put a pot on the stove top to bring to a boil. While I waited for the water to get hot enough to produce a steam I got to work applying the dye to my yarn. I knew the colors would bleed together eventually so I started out with the yellow, moved over to the orange and finally added the red so that when they did bleed together it would create a nice transition flow. Once the dye was on i finished wrapping my roving in the zip-lock bags making sure to start the roll from the yellow side that way when the water was displaced by the rolling I wouldn't get the red into my yellow. By the time I finished this my water was already at a nice boil so I placed an old strainer/shifter into the top of the pan to create a boil rack and placed the roving in the strainer/ shifter and covered it with a lid. I kept the roving in the steam for a little over 35 minutes and then let it cool in the sink for about 10 mins before I put it into a cold bath or another 15-20 mins.

I am really happy with the results! Next time i think ill use the full packs of jello for all the colors. I got a very soft pastel colorway which is lovely but i was hoping for a more vibrant color. ( the top picture shows the true colorway more accurately then the one below) I was really happy that the fiber didn't have a lot of felting after the dying process. I know it is to be expected but I was really worried it would felt alot and no longer have that nice merino texture. However the roving regain its fluffy after i snapped it a few times.

Knits, Roving and More

Ok first i want to start by saying yesterday was my last official day of college!!!! I still have to take finals and finish writing a paper but atleast i dont have to go to another class. So what does a wool addiction do to celebrate her last day of classes....by ROVING if course!!! As my last post mentioned I am still very new at spinning so i keep telling myself i am not going to go out and buy all those pretty roving s featured on etsy incase i screw them up royally but I could not resist any longer and since yesterday was pay day and I got my last pay check that included pay for vacation time i had not taken I decided to splurge a little(if $60 is considered alittle lol). Here is what i bought:

I got theses here from Etsy Seller Copperpot she really has some lovely color blends so be sure to stop by and check them out. The first colorway(the pink and lime) is Splash and its from her new line color duos. The second colorway is Mango Berry and it is just gorgeous!


My favorite colorway by here so far was the victorian holiday; it is now sold out though :( and i wasnt able to buy it. Just look at how lovely it is. It is a combination of merino and bamboo and would have been just wistful to spin with. I think i would be afraid to use it at first though.

My next stop on etsy was to Sunset Fibers and i must say the roving she is overing right now is perfect for the current season. They're just full of color. Here is bought some cooriedale roving and I'm excited to see how it feels. The yarn i made in the last post i made usinf some cooriedale that I bought for felting. It was a little rought though but i have been told i should judge until i spin some more. I will say the bit of cooriedale i did spin have have been a bit more rough them i liked but it was easy to work with. Plus the colors where just do beuatiful i couldnt resist. The first one is a lovely pink and yellow blend and looks absolutly stunning. In my opion it is the perfect summer color way. Reminds me of the sun.
The second one i got is a blend of blues and purples. I bought this one with my twin sister Vanessa in mind. Growing up she always were purple and i always where pink. I know she will like these blends of colors. If anyone is interested Sunset Fibers also has some adorable needle felting kits and patterns.

Recently i also received about 7-8 oz of a beautiful undyed wool roving from a new friend of mine Romana over at Yarn cloud. She is very kind and i think you should buy and see what she has. She has a lovely line of sock yarn and bamboo yarns. Believe the pictures she has up does them no justice at all!! I have been wanting to try my hand at dying some yarn and roving and was very excited to see that roving she was sending me was undyed! Now i have some roving to practice on! After checking out ravelry i have decided i want uses unsweetened Jello packets mixed with salt and vinegar as my dyeing solution and dye it using the plastic wrap steaming method. It sounds a bit messy but it seems like the best way to go for a beginner. It should fun but first i need to buy some supplies. I dont think my mom would appreciate it if i used her cook wear for wool dying.

Ok now for the knitting! It has been awhile since i finished my alan dart chick swap and i noe have the pictures to post for you. I was really late on sending the package out but i made sure to send alot of extra goodies to make up for it. It managed to make its way to my partner the monday following easter and my partner assured me that she keeps her easter decorations up for a while. Plus chicks are very springtime and should make a nice spring addition. Here is my chick. I am very happy with how the shell came out even if it was a pain in the but to knit! To many rows of stockinette stitch for my liking but it did come out adorable. If i make another one i'll be sure to knit the shell in the round. It wasnt to hard to seam up and in fact my seaming skils have improved immensly but it nice to know when all that stockinette stitch is complete that you dont have to seam it lol.

I am also curently knitting a new Hansigurumi pattern and it is amazing! Her new pattern out, other then those in her new book which by the way is stellar, is the a chameleon. The minute i saw it i knew i had to make one! So far its going well, it just may be the most complicated project i have knitted to this day but i'm having fun with it. I will post pictures once i finish it. Until then though i will post a picture of the chameleons she made for the pattern.

I a more personal note i will be graduating and receiving my bachelors in Psychology on may 16th and will be starting a new job the following monday. I am both excited and nervous. I managed to get a full time position at the school i was interning at which is amazing. I love it there so much and can't wait to be back to there. However i will not be working with the same class and will miss the little guys alot. I am nervous to see where i will be placed and hope it is with the early childhood kids. I will be happy where ever i am placed, after all it never hurts to broaden your skills and experience and after i do long to learn new things. I am no longer employed at my previous job. I left early so i could concentrate on finishing my classes and that way i will have a week or so with out school, finals, or work that i can enjoy the weather and get some of my crafting done.




Note: the picture in this blog where not taken by me (other then the chick) but where taken by the artisan who made the items.

Spinning

Last summer i decided to teach myself to spin so i got together with a friend and we learned together. At the time i was positive i was doing something wrong and eventually gave up since I couldnt figure out what i was missing. However I'm not one to let fiber get the best of me and decided to give it another shot only this time i was going to follow through to the end no matter how much i felt like i was doing something wrong and i did and made this. Turns out I wasn't doing anything wrong I just needed to practice. I also looked up some tips on Ravelry and you-tube and have managed pretty well. I need to work on my plying it came a bit undone as you can see by the picture.
I am still working on learning on how to draft and spin at the same time which is a weak point of mine. I was never good at coordination and its hard for me to do two different things with my hands at a time. So for now i have been pre-drafting. I am currently spinning up some green dyed bfl and really like how its coming out. It isnt as consistent in thickness as I would like but I am getting a better feel of the whorl and slowing practicing drafting as I go, which seems to be going better now that i pre-drafted the fiber out a little bit. I bought some beautiful merino roving and can not wait to spin it. I spun a small amount of it up as a test and loved it. I want to get a little better with my top whorl before i try out a larger amount of the merino.

Random side Note

hey guys and old friend of mine is getting married next year and is trying out for the show iron brides and could use your votes to get on. Her audition can be found here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQMWf32IYd4&feature=PlayList&p=452BA10B1B14885A&index=22

and all you have to do is leave a comment on her audition video ( just a simple good luck works). those with the most votes with be casted.


thanks!