Vintage fabric, with a twist spun into it...
Cotton warp, hand spun yarn, leather, wool fabric, silk sari-scrap yarn, cotton fabric strips...
...a leather bottom and wool fabric straps. It's a mixed textile tote.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Busy Knitting
Although I haven't been blogging, I have been busy knitting. First I made the Basket Weave Cowl out of a two ply hand spun.
Digging through my yarn stash I found a 3 ply yarn that I died with Cochineal. I made up a cable pattern and knitted a little hat.
This floppy hat is made from hand spun hand dyed merino. I used the basic beret pattern called One Day Beret Recipe and modified it with rounds of purls to make a little ridge every so often.
Using the same beret recipe, I've started another hat.
A few months ago I got this half-made hand knit sweater at the thrift store. It still had the knitting needles in it! I ripped it out with the intent of recycling the yarn.
I used the recycled yarn to make a hat and a pair of fingerless mitts.
Digging through my yarn stash I found a 3 ply yarn that I died with Cochineal. I made up a cable pattern and knitted a little hat.
This floppy hat is made from hand spun hand dyed merino. I used the basic beret pattern called One Day Beret Recipe and modified it with rounds of purls to make a little ridge every so often.
Using the same beret recipe, I've started another hat.
A few months ago I got this half-made hand knit sweater at the thrift store. It still had the knitting needles in it! I ripped it out with the intent of recycling the yarn.
I used the recycled yarn to make a hat and a pair of fingerless mitts.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Stinky Finian
Who's Finian and why does he stink? Finian is that little Shetland in the photo. I bought his fleece last summer. I washed it with really hot water and Dawn using the top loader method. Then I dyed little batched of the fleece on the stove with various dye stuff. And guess what! You can still smell his stink. I don't know why.
The yarn samples above are from Finian's fleece dyed with marigold with alum as a mordant. I ran the locks through my drum carder just once. The staple length is so long that it barely worked to card it that way. I was trying to decide between a 2 ply and a 3 ply yarn. I'm going with the 3 ply and plan spin a whole skein now.
The yarn samples above are from Finian's fleece dyed with marigold with alum as a mordant. I ran the locks through my drum carder just once. The staple length is so long that it barely worked to card it that way. I was trying to decide between a 2 ply and a 3 ply yarn. I'm going with the 3 ply and plan spin a whole skein now.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Natural Dyeing - this time with iron
For the next batch of natural dyeing I used iron as a mordant. I'm pretty sure that I used too much because the wool feels somewhat sticky. The purple-blue grays were achieved with logwood and the light khaki green is from marigolds. The wool is Shetland.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Natural Dyeing
This weekend I got out the old dyeing pots and some natural dye stuff that I've been storing. I used the Shetland that I washed in a washing machine a few months back. It's still stinky so I figured dyeing it will at least change the smell---hopefully for the better. I used Alum for the mordant for all of the colors above. The dye materials consist of logwood, madder, marigold, cutch, and red onion skins. As I spin this fiber I will label it so you can see which dye stuff I used for the individual color. For now it's all drying on the deck while the next batch is on the stove.
This one skein took all week to spin. It's the Polypay I mentioned in a previous post. I flick-carded the locks then spun right off the little individual pieces. It's a two-ply. I want to dye it and make something lacy, but I really don't have a project in mind.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
FO - Cold Mountain
Last spring I started Cold Mountain, a Knitty pattern. It was my first real lace project. I used baby alpaca yarn--two skeins that I bought at Weaving Works--I didn't keep the label. It took 5 months to knit. Then it sat in a box during the move to the new house. I finally blocked it and took a few photographs. Here it is...
Friday, September 16, 2011
Polypay
Last Christmas my husband gave me a whole Polypay fleece. I finally got it out and washed it. Now I'm flick carding the locks and spinning a worsted yarn. If you are not familiar with Polypay, let me tell you it's really nice to spin. It's soft and durable at the same time. Apparently it's a breed created in the US in the 1970's. It's a cross breed of Dorset and Targhee with Rambouillet and Finnsheep. My husband bought this one from Maplewood North. I have purchased several fleece from these folks and I've been pleased with the product every time.
I'm spinning without a planned project. I love spinning that way because as I spin I can contemplate what exactly I'll do with the yarn. This time I'm thinking "socks...no, mittens...no, something lacy...no, socks". I have to admit, I don't even know if this is going to be a 2-ply or a 3 ply yet...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The Barn
Saturday, September 10, 2011
I moved to a new house.
Life is good.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Catching Up
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Washing Fleece
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Woolly Rug - Take Two
Sunday, May 1, 2011
More Yarn Made of Scraps
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Handcarding scraps
Monday, April 18, 2011
SUNday
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Lace Weight Handspun
Monday, April 4, 2011
Tired Hands
Friday, April 1, 2011
Jacob Fleece
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