But so cheap!

At our last weaving guild meeting of the year (our meetings run September to June), we have a carry-in meal, share our "challenge" weaving, and sell stuff to each other. One weaver who also spins brought some fiber she wanted to get rid of. So of course, it ALL followed me home. For only $25!

Coopworth wool

Alpaca/merino

Gray pink wool

Camel down

Wenslydale longwool top

Merino/angelina

Merino

Wool roving

Mohair/Border Leicester

I know - I'm hopeless.

Knitting: I've pretty much decided to abandon the basketweave socks and am in the process of picking a cowl pattern to use with that yarn instead. Meanwhile, the L-Bag marches on! And, to a lesser degree, the nonmatching socks.
Spinning: Instead of starting my day with coffee and all the (bad) news that is fit to print, I've been spinning, specifically some dark brown fiber that I think is Polish merino.

Lately, I've been contemplating the difference between habit, ritual, and routine. Maybe we can say habit is what we do, ritual is how we do it, and routine is when we do it. Hence, my new habit of spinning routinely first thing in the morning while watching the birds in the backyard.

Supported spindling

This past week we had a new member join us for weaving guild (and besides becoming a member, she also volunteered to help with our social media!) She sat next to me and spun silk on a pretty supported spindle. Before I got a wheel, I tried spinning with a spindle, but it was just too slow for me then. Now, when I may want to spin up a few yards of something for a tapestry, a spindle sounds like the perfect tool. Alas, I gave away all my spindles, so now I am shopping for replacements.

Knitting: The basket weave socks are coming along slowly - I'm not very adept at purling on double pointed needles. The mindless socks are underway, perfect for knitting during commercials and at meetings. Needless to say, they do not match.

Spinning: Still working on the beige singles and the merino/silk blend singles.

Yesterday was the first Saturday spin-in at the Little Shop of Spinning. A subgroup of us meet up for lunch ahead of time, which extends our chat session. Our discussions are not limited to fiber, sometimes we really get going about subjects like joint replacements, but the talk is always lively. I eyed the spindles in the shop, but I think the style I want is called tahkli. Since I didn't buy a spindle, I bought a(nother) hand-dyed braid.

Spinning guild is this Tuesday, and the estate sale goodies are supposed to be there. It was a bit overwhelming the first time I saw all that fiberlicious goodness, but now I have a clearer idea of what I am interested in. We'll see how out-of-control I get.

Oops - I did it again

I'm wondering what exactly is the impetus that drives me to make more fiber and fiber-related purchases. Perhaps because my doctor told me that the likelihood of my having a stroke or heart attack was remote? As if I don't already have a lifetime of fiber.

At least not all my purchases at the Jay County Fiber Fest were fiber; some were ceramic. One thing I was looking for was silk thread, but one vender suggested I try a specialty quilting shop for that. I'm always on the lookout for unusual tools, but did not find any this time.

I'm discovering that one cannot have enough yarn bowls, especially if one has more than one project in progress and/or one knits at different locations in the house. I have one by my TV chair, and now I have one for the coffee table in the livingroom. This one was made by one of my fiber/ceramic friends.

Another ceramic friend, Elizabeth Wamsley, made this sweater-like cup. I've been considering making something similar, so it is good to have a model for inspiration.

I started a narrow tapestry to record things that occur during the year, but I don't have a lot of the colors I want to use. These small cakes of pencil roving should help there.

Another fiber friend who hosts our Fifth Saturday Spin-ins had a basket of these pastel samples. I think they will help with the above mentioned tapestry as well.

I can't resist red, so I grabbed up some silk sari yarn. The price seemed a bit high to me, but the vendor dyes the skeins herself, plus the ones I picked had more yardage than some of the others.

I certainly do NOT need any more sock yarn, but this brightly colored skein sparkles. There were more colorways calling to me, but I resisted.

The estate sale fiber and equipment will again be available at the next spinning guild meeting. If the package I picked up and put back last time is still there, it just might follow me home.

I sewed something

I am no sewist. My sewing machine is so old that the only "fancy" stitch it does is zigzag. But instead of throwing out an old pillow that one of my cats had chosen for his nest, I covered it with some "no sew" fleece.

The cover is an "envelope" cover - instructions may be found here and, yes, the instructor is a bit annoying - but I was too impatient to review the video, so did not overlap the back sections far enough. But I'm sure the cat won't mind. Added bonus: the fleece will protect the pillow from puke AND I can remove the cover to wash it.

Knitting: Still working on the bigfoot socks. There was much cursing during the turning of the heels, but I'm past that now.

I went to the Little Shop of Spinning's spin-in today. Even though I complain a LOT about how much fiber I have, somehow more followed me home. Phia dyed both the sock yarn and roving shown below, using the same colorway. So I guess I could knit a pair of socks with matching mittens and/or hat.

I'm thinking that yummy roving will get me back to the spinning wheel.

Busy fiber week

This has been one busy fiber week. Per usual, times like these get me really excited to weave and spin and knit, but then time constraints hit. Still, I do what I can when I can.

First off, my SO and I met up with my son in Chesterton, IN, for lunch, then a stroll around the downtown arts district. What drew me first to this day trip was the Duneland Weavers Guild exhibit at the Chesterton Art Center. The items displayed were not only weaving, but knitting, crochet, spinning, etc. and you could touch, try on, and purchase items. I came away with some "art yarn".

Then we wandered down the street to Three Moons Fiberworks. It was easy to spot because of all the LOOMS.

The looms are not for sale but for classes and for use by individuals (for a reasonable fee). I was taken with this frame loom because at one point, I was trying to figure out how to build such a thing. This one may end up on my wish list.

Of course, there was lots of fiber for sale, and this roving found its way home with me. I'm curious if it will spin into a self-striping yarn.

That was Thursday. On Saturday, I attended a workshop by our weaving guild on harness loom weaving. A dozen or so looms were available for those of us new to harness looms to warp and weave on. What a great opportunity! And an exhausting day! It was difficult to not get excited about yet another way to weave, but I'm not sure I am ready to warp 24 ends per inch on my own, let alone figure out tie ups, etc.

Ashford table loom

Spreading the warp

Walking loom

Twill

Rosepath

M's and W's

I didn't care for the walking loom, found it too confusing for a beginner, but I can see how it would appeal to an experienced weaver. Many of us liked the Dorset floor loom on which we wove rosepath, but of course they are no longer made. All the looms folded up for easy transportation. It's really tempting, but despite their footprint being less than I expected, I just don't know where I would put one, let alone find time to weave on one. But they sure do open a whole new world of possibilities.

Knitting: While coming back from Chesterton, we found ourselves stuck in traffic for a while due to an accident. Ever prepared, I whipped out the L-Bag and worked on that. I'm on the sixth color and its about 10" long.
Spinning: STILL working on the silk/merino/tencel blend.
Weaving: I warped up the SampleIt for a new project: a table runner with Peruvian diamonds. At 15 epi, it's a bit hard on my eyes, but my Ottlite has a magnifier, thank goodness.

As if all this activity weren't enough, the spinning guild met on Tuesday. The program was about mending handknit items. I learned some new tips and tricks and hope to show you some mended socks one of these days.

Fiber friends are the best

One of my fellow fiber bloggers offered to send me "some fiber". For free. Of course, I said, SURE! What arrived was MUCH more than I expected. Thanks, Qutecowgirl!

Lone Star Arts merino 'Neapolitan'

I think it was Qutecowgirl who first turned me onto dyeing yarn, with her adventures using Kool Aid.

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sheep to Shoe 'Jailhouse Rock'

Most of the spinning I do is with undyed wool, which quite frankly gets a bit monotonous. Now I have some colors to experiment with. Fractal spinning, anyone?

Timbre Ridge Farm merino

Some of these fibers come from Rhinebeck, a fiber fest I have yet to attend.

Timbre Ridge Farm merino

The label on this chunk from Lorna's Laces specifies that the fiber is for spinning. I am guessing they had some disappointed knitters who got home and discovered their purchase was not ready for the needles. Sort of like accidentally buying whole bean coffee when you don't own a grinder.

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Wool Top superwash merino 'Devon'

Corriedale is one of my faves.

Paradise Fibers Corriedale Cross

I have a Jacob fleece in the garage, waiting for a good scour. Now I have a bit of fiber to play with while getting up the gumption to attack that fleece.

Jenny Jump Farm Jacob

This bit of bright yellow orange is from one of my spinning guild pals. Laura had purchased some roving that turned out to be a bit felted. I loaned her my hand carders so she could fluff it up. She paid me back with a sample of the resulting fiber.

I too have shared fiber with friends. In one instance, the friend was knitting prayer shawls using acrylic and eyelash yarn. I decided I was done with both of those fibers, so it all went from my stash to hers. I hope it sparked joy!

Famous last words

Sometimes I come back from a fiber festival with some luscious roving that is not labeled. If I'm lucky, there is a written receipt that describes what I purchased. Frequently, though, I just tell myself, I'll remember what this roving is. HA!

So today, having recently made a major purchase in roving from the under-new-ownership Little Shop of Spinning, I did a little housekeeping and tagged each ball of roving with the facts: breed and colorway. Well, some got facts on their tags. A few balls I purchased during the grand opening were not tagged, nor did the receipt specify what I had purchased, just what I paid. Those were labeled with guesses.

What, you may ask, do I plan to do with all those primary colors? Well, mix them, of course. Last year, at Ply Away, I took a class in what was supposed to be fiber prep but turned out to be an exercise in blending. That got me started down the path of why-look-for-the-perfect-color-of-roving-when-I-can-blend-my-own.

Back to those famous last words I'll remember. Before I learned to spin on a wheel, I made a genuine effort to spindle. Eventually, those spindles became part of my decor. I decided to try selling the spindles, but first had to remove the long-forgotten-where-it-came-from fiber from the spindles. And while I was at it, I decided to finish spinning the Shetland and ply it all off the bobbins (before I forget what is there).

From the left, white spindled yarn, gray spindled yarn, 2-ply Shetland, 3-ply Shetland, and a 3-ply skein of what I thought was carbonized bamboo. The reason I know it is not carbonized bamboo is because I came across the carbonized bamboo today, in a zip lock bag that included a LABEL. Meanwhile, the ball I spun that last skein from is probably 'Licorice' Corriedale that I thought I remembered I had but could not find, so I bought some more. This is one way that stashes grow.

Meanwhile, I am experimenting with gradient yarns for tapestry. One book I work from suggested taking the 3-ply commercial yarn one is working with and divide the plies, then combine them with other nearby colors of singles. Well, the commercial yarn I happened to be using at the time does not take kindly to being unplied and replied. Then I realized that I can create my own mixed color plies.

I have been spinning up white, three shades of gray, and black into singles, with a plan on combining the singles into a series of gradients. For the record, the white and black are Corriedale, the light and medium grays are Romney/Wesleydale, and the dark gray Wesleydale.

While looking up the links for this post, I found some photos that indicate the spindled yarn may be what came in the spindle kit from Louet. Some of that turned into a cowl that I used A LOT during the polar vortex. And I also see that the rose gray alpaca I thought I bought in Ohio actually found me here in the Fort during the Johnny Appleseed Festival. Maybe I should read my own blog to find out what's what in my stash.

Midnight Blush roving rose to yarn

I purchased this "roving rose" at the Jay County Spin-in in 2014. There was an ounce of white, an ounce of navy, an ounce of pink, and an ounce of blended colors, in llama, alpaca, and wool. I grabbed it to take with me to the February meeting of the local spinning guild and spun up the already-blended bit.

I tried to blend the solid colors on-the-fly at the meeting, but that was a FAIL. So later that week, I experimented with blending the three colors at home, using all the tools at my disposal.

A blending board is absolutely perfect for blending roving. You just "paint" the board with the fibers, layering colors as you wish.

The result is a fat sausage of a rolag. If the colors seem too separate, you can re-blend them, until they meet with your approval.

I didn't take notes, but I think I re-blended these rolags at least once, if not twice.

Or not.

I also tried blending on my new drum carder. This worked fine, although it would take some experimenting to get the combination you want.

The resulting batt can be run through again (and again) but from this pic, I think I opted out.

Hand carders may also be used to blend fiber, sort of like a mini-blending board.

I'm not very adept at using the hand carders.

Of these three methods, I like the blending board best. The rolags are fat and tight, and I think you have better control of the outcome.

More fun: spinning the blended fiber! The different methods produced different yarn, depending on how the colors mixed and fed into the wheel.

So now there are four ounces of llama-alpaca-wool, enough for a nice cozy pair of mittens, methinks. I have plenty of hats and scarves but not enough handwear.

But first, I'll take the yarn to the spinning guild for "show and tell".