Sunday, March 30, 2014

Chinese Auction Donation

Most, if not all of you know that I have been volunteering with the local high school band for many years. Yesterday I received a text from the current band booster president asking me if I could put something together for a Chinese Auction the band is having on April 15th.  I took a minute to think about it and then said yes. I knew just what I would do.

Since this is the year of dishclothes I decided to put together a basket filled with yarn and patterns and some needles to make your own dish clothes! (Hint hint RoxieAnn this is the basket for you!)

First I started off with a basket that will be great looking to hold knitting, it has a lid for those people who have cats.


Then I added some Easter grass that looks maybe like soapy water? Just go with it.


Next I added an instruction booklet on how to knit dishcloths that have a quilting theme. See what I did there...married a few of my talents.



Add in the needles and the yarn. All that is missing are a couple finished dishcloths so that whomever gets this basket has a few samples to study. (Hint Hint RoxieAnn)

 
Look at all these beautiful patterns.




The instructions are really well written.


Now I just need to knit up a couple and my basket will be done to donate.


Saturday, March 29, 2014

Puddles

My Tadpole socks are coming along...slowly. I have been doing so much with my spinning and fiber that these have lagged behind.

I have finished the leg portion and heel flap and I am now working on the gusset.


You can see the heel turn here and how you make the turn to start on the instep.


I am not happy with the way the yarn is "pooling". This is when the same colors pool together. I think it would be prettier if the colors were more spread out but I am to far along to start over with another pattern.


You can really see it here on the back of the sock. Its a little disappointing but what are you gonna do? From experience I will tell you that the second sock will not do this. It never happens that the socks will match that well.


Friday, March 28, 2014

From Blending to Yarn

I started this yarn with these rolags that I made on my blending board. Please know that as I am blending I really have no idea what the end product will be I am just mixing colors that I think go together. This first set of rolags are mostly purple with blue and a splash of green.

(From Wiki: rolag (Scottish Gaelicroileag) is a roll of fibre generally used to spin woollen yarn. A rolag is created by first carding the fibre, using handcards, [I used my blending board] and then by gently rolling the fibre off the cards. If properly prepared, a rolag will be uniform in width, distributing the fibres evenly. The word derives from the Scottish Gaelic word for a small roll.  Just thought you would want to know.)


This 2nd rolag has browns and olive greens with some purple and blue.


I spun each colorway on separate bobbins. You can really see the difference in the colorways once they were spun up, these are called singles. One bobbin does have more on it than the other one and that is because I didn't weight our my fiber as I was blending so I ended up with more of one than the other.  This happens no big deal.


 Then I plied the two singles together to get a 2 ply yarn.  So pretty!


No idea what I will make with this yarn but I like it and I am happy with the results.


Up next...I again am taking 2 colorways and making one yarn. This time it is a grey/green and a white/blue.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Blending Board part 2

Just what you all wanted was another look at my blending board.

Lets start with the fiber. I have some wool roving that is multi dyed. There is also some color dyed wool, angelina, silk, alpaca, and some other bits and pieces.


I start by laying down some fiber.




Burnishing the fiber into the board.


 Continue on until the board is full.  Then I can start making my rolags.



First one off always looks a little funky.


Continue drafting and pulling off rolags.




Now I filled the blending board again to show you how a take the fiber off in what is called roving.


This little disk is called a diz. The 3 holes are for pulling fiber through.


I chose the largest hole but I should have gone with the middle size. Anyway I draft and pull fiber through the diz working back and forth across the blending board.




This results in the fiber being in one long strand called roving and its ready to spin. You can see the rolags next to the roving. Both are done in the same colorway.



Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Blending Board

This is a new tool in my tool box!


Not as excited as me? Well let me show you what it can do. I gather up a bunch of fiber and I start laying it on the board. The blending board has hundred of little needles that grab on to the fiber.


I just add color where ever I want.


Layer upon layer.


When the board starts filling up I use a stiff brush to burnish into the needles so I can add more. Why am I doing this...just wait, you will see.


Add some more fiber.


When the board is full I then pull the fiber off the board with a couple dowel rods or in my case a couple of wood needles.


I draft and pull and roll the fiber into tubes that are called rolags or rologs.


Draft and pull over an over again until I get all the fiber off the board.


Here the are all ready to spin.


Rolags or rologs are my favorite way to prepare my fiber for spinning. Why go to all this trouble? Because I get to be the designer and decide how my finished yarn will look.  Its not store bought and no one else will have a yarn like mine, good or bad. That to me is super exciting!!


I am a fiber artist!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Big Wheel Keep on Turning

Got out my wheel today to do a little spinning. In case you didn't notice I have a little ADD as I bounce around from project to project. But this is how I like it!

This is my spinning wheel.


And this is what I am spinning today. It is an Art Batt that I purchased from Etsy awhile ago and I was "saving" it. Saving for what I have no idea. It has all sorts of yummy bits of fiber in it that will make a beautiful yarn.






After I spun all the Art Batt into a single I then have to ply the single to get a 2 ply yarn.  There are several ways to accomplish this task but I decided to try a new way. Its called Andean Plying. You wind the yarn in such a way that it makes a bracelet on your arm and then you can spin the yarn off your wrist.  Fancy!



I really like the way it turned out.  It didn't make a lot of yarn but it will be nice to use as a accent yarn in a piece as yet to be determined. For me its not about the end product its about the process.