Dye Workshop with Nancy Finn

Over this last weekend I got to take a dye workshop with Nancy Finn of Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks. It was quite an eye opening experience. I wasn't prepared for how difficult it would be to find the "right" colors. I don't even know what that means! I took the Second workshop first and skipped the First workshop, the one where you learn about the color wheel and make a sample book of colors. I'm really really in to this color thing, so in a few days, I'm going to start another fundraiser to take the first workshop. Even though I went into the workshop thinking I knew what I wanted, what colors I was going to try and achieve, when I actually sat down with the dye liquid, all my wants got confused and flew away. The results are, I think, amazing. I'm spinning the silk we did the first day, which I thought was going to be awful, but now I'm spinning it and I love it. Love. One of the harder parts of the whole thing was dyeing the the fiber I have left over from Helen, my first and most inspirational spinning teacher. I've been holding on to some of that stuff for years, in its natural colors. The color has inspired me to spin is, which is I think, what she would have wanted.

This is the silk dyed the first day in class. This is absolutely not what I was going for, but I love it!

Day 1 and morning of day 2. I've gotten pink down, K will be so pleased.

The purple is about half the merino/mohair blend I did over the weekend, and all that blue is the alpaca/mohair blend I got from Helen a few years ago. 

Lunch day 2, I realized I hadn't brought enough of my stash to take up a whole day. This is the whole class at lunch when I rushed home, grabbed what I had left behind and rushed back. Yay! 

This was a fun experiment... I spun both of these, on the left is a single spun grey Corriedale and on the right is a 2ply out of the (purple, above) mohair merino. I put them both in the same tray and lay them out together and painted them the same colors, and they look so different. Duh, though... they were totally different colors to start out with, plus, the way they each are spun totally reflects light differently... any way, those will be photographed again in better light and posted for sale in my etsy. someday. eventually.

One of the pink (surprise!) braids was commandeered by K who has possessed a fascination with the drum carder since it came into our house. So, I showed her how to separate the braid by color, then... we referred to the latest issue of Ply Magazine for the article Lacey (MoonRover... mmmm MoonRover...) wrote about how to card striped batts. Somewhere in the middle we snapped the band, and while waiting for it to cool, K became distracted by some dinosaur something and went off to play with Z.

Spinning the silk outside between rain drizzles and 10 second storms. 

The alpaca/mohair blend will be the primary fiber in a thank you sweater I'm making for my brother. When I took the spinning class awhile ago, he drove all the way here (3ish hours) to watch the kids for a day. Then, last weekend, while I was at the dye workshop, the family went to visit him, and he took the kids on a "playground crawl" while my parents were at costco. He deserves a sweater. The next step is find a suitable blend fiber to stretch this out enough for the whole project. 

A Little Bit of Wooly Wednesday, Ginny's Yarn Along, and Unschool Monday All Rolled Into One.

Today's post is a blog roll mash-up. A little bit of Spinspiration's Wooly Wednesday because I have been really loving spinning and found myself surrounded by delicious roving with no idea how it happened. There's a bit of what I'm working on mixed with what I'm reading for Yarn Along over at Small Things. And then what I'm reading and how it inspires my family's unschool adventure for the Owlet's Unschool Monday... even thought it isn't monday.

I find myself standing in my yarn room looking around at all the different wooly choices. I was recently blessed by a box of 16oz pin drafted roving, some Noro, a Manos top braid, a copy of Taproot, Mendo Homemade Blackberry Jam and Vanilla, and special gifts for the Littles. My beloved friend Lily went to the fiber fair in my place (she was going any way, but she made time for wool) and totally scored for me. No really. Big win. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but she found the hottest yellow orange dorset x merino with firestar... it's like spinning the sun. I was enchanted by it right away, at the same time, I thought it kind of odd, sending me this hot sun while I live in the desert. Then I realized it will be perfect during our first winter in Maine. Perfect. I've spun about half a bobbin of teeny little singles that I'm going to wind around card board and keep tight in the bag, ready for the dark and cold. Then another 7oz of alpaca / bamboo silk / Corriedale in a sort of fluffy purple. I'm really excited about this one, I haven't spun with any of this blend and that makes me a little nervous, but man, it's gonna be fun. Both from Morro Fleece Works and both pin drafted roving both on my floor being drooled over right now. 

Those, plus the Manos braid she stuck in, plus the sparkly stuff and that gorgeous angry ocean grumpy rainbow braid from Wanda, plus the stuff I brought with me, plus all the undyed heaven I've been lugging around with me.... well, let's just say, I never need to buy roving again.


Meanwhile, I'm feeling a lot of pressure from various fronts regarding the education of my kids. The more I read about unschooling, the more interested I am in just letting the kids be kids. I feel like moving to Maine is going to plant us right in a community that supports that idea. The issue of Taproot (thanks lil, even huz is reading it) that I have my hands on right now supports that idea. I am aware that things are rarely as awesome as they seem from outside, or, in this case, from the other side of the continent. It will be cold, and we will be outsiders. KaBean told my mom today via skype that she "has concerns about moving" but is "really excited to have a garden where it snows." Huz and I are ready to switch our struggle from 'explaining why daddy is always gone getting money for the family to live' to 'growing a garden and raising some chickens and at least trying to be a little self sufficient'... As I read thru Taproot and share ideas with my man, I see people who have already walked this path. People and families who are trying and failing and succeeding to live on their own, in a community of people who want the same thing.

Wooly Wednesday, or, I'm Really Scared to Use the Wrong Oil

what if i gum up the ball bearings in the center of the fly wheel?
what if the olive oil turns rancid and then my wheel smells like old french fries for ever?
what if, by using non-Ashford-aproved oil I rip a whole space-time-wool continuum and suck the universe into the void?


Turns out, I'm scared to death to oil my spinning wheel at all, unless I know for certain the oil is spinning wheel safe. Before we moved, I had a needle oiler and it was perfect. It came from a spinning wheel company via my spinning mentor so I knew it was legit. I could squeeze the exact right amount of oil into all the spinning bits and know that I was doing well by my wheel. Well, the hellspawn wonderful and beloved fruit of my womb snapped of the tip of that ever-important needle oiler and then removed the cap and dumped all the oil onto the deck... days before we packed up to move. I very carefully moved my sacred spinning wheel, it rode in the back of the rental car with the kids and I so that I knew it would be safe...

it is a horrible picture taken in the middle of the night, the only time on the whole adventure that I remembered I wanted a pic of the way I packed the wheel with the house plants, diapers, and snacks. useful.

So we got here, to our new house and I set up my very own fiber room. A special place for my wheel to be safe from heathens who love whirling anything. A wooly sanctuary, I've written about it before... But I have yet to spin there... I haven't replaced the oil and oiler and I am petrified that I will cause the metal bits to rust into oblivion and the plastic bits to melt like lava. So my wheel sat, untouched, not feeling any love... I tried to show it love by surrounding it in fibers and glorying in all the wonderful yarn spun so far, but it is still mad at me. 


A few days ago, I went to Ravelry and asked around about the types of oil I could use in a pinch. The same amount of people said "Yes, olive oil is fine in a pinch." as said "No! it'll go rancid and you're wheel will never recoverrrrreeeee......." I did what any desperate addict fiber artist would do... I tried it. The wheel hated it... or maybe I was projecting my fear and uncertanty. I oiled it up, I gave it a few test treaddles and everything seemed fine-ish. I hooked up the drive band and the tension thingy and got out the rest of the brown and grey merino I'm trying to spin into self striping sock yarn. I fussed and fidgeted, I adjusted tension, seating arrangement, hand positions... I moved off the carpet... Turns out, that helped a lot, but not enough. It felt like my poor wheel hated being treaddled. like hated hated. I don't know what to do besides wait till I get a new bank card and order a new oiler. In the meantime, though, I arranged my beloved wheel with The ManChild's birth plant in another attempt to make it feel loved...

The trunk the wheel is sitting on came from the old country with one of my grandma's people. Inside are clippings from the Ukrainian or something newspaper. I've had it for years and I love keeping all my special things, photos, baby clothes... special stuff, in there. 

yes, I know that if I intend for this to be an even remotely successful knit blog, I might need a better camera... working on it.

..... And I spun this on my drop spindle out of random leftover bits that got left behind out of their own braids...

The color looks mostly blue in the picture but it is a crazy mix of purple and yellow and pink and orange and blue (yes, a lot of blue) and green and I love it. It is a blend of every different fiber I've ever spun since the very first yarn all combed together and plied with some white mystery sheep roving. At the very end of the plying I realized I hadn't spun enough white so I stretched out the last of the blue and plied it back on itself so there is about a yard and a half for a border or something. Honestly, it's kind of itchy so I have to figure out what to do with.

Now, make sure you head on over to Spinspiration to see what every one else has been working on, some of these ladies are quite talented...

OK, So Yesterday When I Said "Tomorrow..."

Maybe I was being a little... ummm... optimistic...

In all fairness, I did write the post before I knew Huz had loaned his money maker (aka the pro camera) to a "student of his..." wtf? for real, if this student breaks, looses, or sells this camera how are we supposed to feed the kids? Any way, I thought that since I wont be getting the camera today, I should start by organizing the Stash and WIPs (works in progress) to make the shoot more efficient... plus, I like fondling wool. Here are a few pics of my Fiber Room, from the floor, with my laptop camera...

As you can see, over turned baskets, projects and needles strewn everywhere... It's probably a good thing I can't use the camera today...

Silk

I got some great comments on my previous post and they inspired me to fix the blogger app on my phone because I really did take pictures of the silk singles!

So...

This is what it looks like to spin out died silk singles. The unspun silk is super fluffy and soooo soft, just a dream to spin once you get a good long draw draft (?). After I spun these singles I plied them together and I am sort of disappointed in how it looks. I mean, yeah, it is gorgeous, because it is silk died the most wonderful combination of purple and blue and green, so of coarse, it is amazing... but... it is too... heavy? BUT! I did save some of the singles to ply with my blue/green/ocean merino, and THAT yarn is perfect. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures.

That is all for now... Pretty soon, we will be in our new home and I will unpack all my yarn and make have Huz take real pictures of everything and feel like a professional artist... or... I'll just keep spinning and stashing and spinning and giving. 

PS- I forgot to link this in my Wooly Dreams post, but if any of you readers are interested in seeing more aahhhh-mazing hand spun yarn, check out Woolly Wednesday over at Spinsiration. There are some great links, but I'd love to see more so if you spin too post something!!! 

posted from Bloggeroid

Wooly Dreams...

oh, spinning. I have been just spinning. non-stop at my wheel... roving into singles into plied, washed, hung, dried yarn... all the fluffy wool, like a rainbow cloud. soft in my fingers... loving all the finished skeins hanging in the window... mmm... woooollll...

and then i wake up.

and i should be preparing my family to move. Officially. It is almost time. We are leaving the house, and eventually, this town. But all I can think about is yarn. I'm not really knitting at the moment, although I did just knit the teensiest swatch out of some merino single plied with silk (yum!)... No, not so much knitting, and that's ok. Well, I know a certain aunt who wouldn't think so, but tough luck cookie, I packed all my yarn, but none of my roving.

Here is the run down of everything I've been spinning, in my very exaggerated estimations:
(oh also, because I'm awesome, I can never find my tags, so it all becomes mystery merino... i'm pretty sure all the wool I have right now is merino. And the only other thing I've spun lately is that silk {oh.my.god.} . . . )

ok, never mind... it's all merino, or silk, or merino with silk... and the colors are all to die for. *I have this brown the I hope will be the finest yarn I've ever spun- like a 3 or 4 ply... I'm trying to do the worsted (? maybe? i don't really know...) technique for this...  I read that it is stronger and better for socks. and that is what I hope to have at the end- brown, self striping sock yarn. *Then there was about a bobbin full of the yellowandpurpleandmaroon polwarth I bought at the fair last summer that needed to not be on the bobbin because I needed... Any way... I decided to ply it with some merino that had been um, resting? around the back of a chair in the closet for months to test if the big ball of it would look good with some ice white merino combed top I have... both packed. Let me just say, Experiment success! So fluffy and bouncy and bright... *The reason I needed the bobbin free was for this gorgeous merino sea blue/forest green/rainy day hiking color... Spinning the singles and plying them is what got me spinning again... This stuff is my favorite handspun so far. *I spun almost all of my silk. but i don't love it. It was gorgeous to spin, but... *I did ply some of the leftover silk singles with some of the left over dark merino singles and that has become my 2nd favorite. Actually, since there is so little of it, it is just going to get knit up into a bunch of squares for the crazy blanket.

I have piles of new roving in a new color for me... as in: not containing purple, and I have some more purple that will be spun with some mohair locks... I seriously go to sleep at night and see wool. I dreamt about plying the polwarth with the white for 2 nights before I did it, and when I finally did, I had one last night of awesome, wooly dreams and then my fiber focused dreams shifted to the fluffy blue/green/brown roving waiting to be spun...

Hey! that actually turned into a pretty good rundown... When huz gets back, I'll use his phone to take some pics...

Packing

There is a stack of packed boxes in the corner of our living room. Empty walls and shelves are appearing all over the house. The white plastic bags full of things we are donating or selling or giving away are piling up. The laundry is almost caught up... it is amazing, I think I'm down about half on clothes for everyone. lol. The move has inspired the purge bug in me again, it is true. I love sorting thru our stuff and deciding if it is something we need or not. I am parting a dozen diapers, toys I've had since childhood, clothes from when my son was small. But removing these things also puts into perspective the things that are important. I am keeping about as many dipes and toys and baby clothes... all bundled up with my high school and college photo albums tucked inside the steamer trunk that a distant ancestor brought over from Croatia... I get a chance to purge the kitchen stuff. Really evaluate what we use and what we don't. This weekend, everything will go out on our lawn with a sign that says "free or donation." I'll probably put a jar or a sign to the mailbox or a sign that says knock or something... or I'll let people figure it out.

I've been so busy packing, and I've been falling asleep with the kids early every night so I'm falling behind. But I feel my wheel calling me... My beloved teacher Helen is at Death's door. I wish I had been there more for her. So I'm going to spin.

Day 13

Nap time spinning. oh it has been too long...

posted from Bloggeroid

Spinspiration's Woolly Wednesday! yay! I Love Spinning!!!

Yay! I went from spinning absolutly nothing for months to spinning over 500 yards in less than a month! I didn't count (or remember) all the singles and the 500 + includes like a bajillion yards of 2 ply. If that made any sense you deserve some kind of award. Thank you for reading.

Any way. The Boonville Fair just happened and it always has an amazing fiber festival! Jess took me and the kids to see the animals and so I could "check out" the fiber bestival. I even said "Jess please don't let me break my second $100." But with the entry and the food and the ride tickets, I sorta had to. so I did. and it was soooooo worth. It comes with a mini story... I have always been on the quest for a great yellow in yarn and it is always hard to find. I think yellow must be a hard color to get right. Melinda once told me she needs more yellow in her life. And so there it was, a beautiful maroon and yellow and purple braid of Polwarth roving. Just holding it I knew it was perfect. I have only ever spun various marino wool and silk, this polwarth is amazing...

ok, long break of about 2 days from writing that^^^

any way, I spun a lot this month. I picked up and knit something for the first time in a long time. I've been very pre-occupied by Occupy Wall Street. Little A is confusing me right now, I feel like I am on the verge of failing as her mother... but I sure do love her and that counts a whole bunch.

I wish I had pictures of my glorious yarn, there is a blue/purple merino blend 2 ply... tee hee. so soft and wonderful. and there is lots and lots of it. I'm not sure what to do about measuring it after I wash it. Should I get a swift and re niddy-noddy it and count that? or do I just have to go by weight? I wrote all the numbers that I remembered down on our white board but then we erased it to plan our top secret move to...?  Then there is that wonderful Polwarth. Yellow and maroon and wonderful. Even if I had a camera I doubt I could get the colors right. and it is so soft. and i love the way the color changes. Ooh! the color change, that reminds me. I don't want to ply the beautiful yarn back on itself and ruining the color change but I also don't want to knit it as a single... can I ply it with white yarn or... I dunno, I have a lot of it maybe I'll... play!

Spinspiration Presents Woolly Wednesday- Spinning in the Sun

Spinning Submarine Mystery Wool Roving (?) on my new Ashford Traditional Wheel. Turns out I have been knitting for about a year and spinning for maybe 4 months (?). I love spinning! It is amazing how relaxing it is when I have a chance to spin for more than a few minutes at a time. While I was spinning, my babies were doing this:

Thanks to my amazing man for these beautiful pics!

My first ever This Moment from SouleMama. I love the way she captures the special moments in her life. 

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

(She is pushing the treadle in perfect rhythm, her hands to her sides while she sings to herself)

O! The Lure of Calming Past Times

So I worked on KaBean's socks for about an hour. Turned the heel, started on the gusset. I'm really proud of my second sock. It looks much more consistent than it's mate, lol.

I just picked up spinning some 100% silk roving (? the fibers are aligned and it has been dyed?) on my drop spindle. I'm trying to draft it very thin and then get some white merino from Helen to ply it with and make little braclets or something for friends and people I love. Any way, right now, I can't decide to spin the beautiful silk by itself or should I get out the wheel and spin the silk together with some beautiful dyed wool, I started some last night and it is sooo beautiful. But it is tricky, trying to draft 2 different fibers at the same time might be waayyy above my skill level.

Or should I go to bed???

Spinspiration Presents Woolly Wednesday

So I recently found this blog called Spinspiration and fell in love! She has some great posts and pics and explanations. Every first wednesday she hosts a great thing called Woolly Wednesday for spinners (what do you even call people who spin- spinners? spinsters? spindle jockies? lol). I hope to be able to keep these dates, I know, this one is late, better late than never yeah?

I would like to thank Farmama for the inspiration to go out and learn how to spin. She is an amazing, resourceful woman. She could prabaly out McGyvor McGyvor!

As a few of you know, I have recently begun my addiction- er, study, of the art of spinning. I bought my first drop spindle about 2 months ago. I was hooked. I met a wonderful woman who loaned me her hand painted Ashford Traditional Spinning Wheel.

at my mom's house. see the little sheepies? oh and isis peeking out...

Spinning on it has been amazing! (i know, i still have to put up the videos of me spinning) My first few attempts ended with some less than awesome awsome-ness. But I can't stop. I love the feeling  of the fiber pulling thru my fingers, even when it is being pulled to fast and I have to readjust the tension.

'orange-y, pink-ish with some yellow' single ply and fluffy roving (should i point out it is from a sheep and not a llama?)
purple, orange, pink, blue and pink double ply and single ply. mystery origin.
1 beautiful fluffy soft pink ball of... some sort of rabbit fluff? i picked it up from the holly hobby shop in town.

That's all folks!

Let's Write About Diapers... Cloth Diapers!

My toddler has stinky pee. yes she does. I don't know if other toddlers have stinky pee. People don't really talk about it I guess. It's ok for her to have stinky pee if I remember to put a diaper on her at night, right now she uses the Thirsties covers and either a flip instert or a BumGenius bamboo fitted and that works great. Unnnnnnnnfortunately, I often forget (I stay up too late knitting or spinning) and so she has a big night time accident. right next to me. at night. like last night. And maybe tonight... I forgot again. oh Duh- I will jump up and put one on her.

HA! Done.

Anyway, to the point. I have finally built up a stash that allows me to go every other day for laundry. Which is rad. The problem is that leaving KaBean's overnight diapers sit overnight builds up a great amount of stink. Like ammonia. gross i know. After scouring the internet for ideas on how to get rid of the stink I have found that ~a cold wash with Thirsties Pre-Wash ~a hot soak with 2 tbs of Rockin'Green for a few hours, the you know, just close the lid and let the wash cycle run ~one last hot wash every 3 or 4 wash days, but usually just a cold full wash or a hot rinse~ works the best! For about 2 weeks there has been no stink when I pull the dipes from the dryer or the kids wear them. score one for the mom team.

On these cloth diaper pages I see a lot of people asking how others travel with CDs. There is always a long list of suggestions about how to organize 78 different bags for different travel scenarios... but here is my cents: JUST DO IT. Take those bad boys out. Show off those awesome prints and that unnecessary collection of Baby Legs. Bring enough for the trip X 2 or call ahead and ask about laundry. Bring your wet bags and your butt spray. Make sure to bring plenty of wipes (I just bring all my wipes because you never know...). Check that you have your trustiest diapers, or the ones you don't mind losing, depending on how you roll I guess. Toss them all into your suitcase pack the diaper bag for just travel time and off you go! Easy. I've made 2 week long trips and many many day or overnight trips and every time it gets easier. I love my diapers, even if they start to smell. Every problem has a solution. love it!

now i will go cut up my spinning video to share with you...

My First Ever Homespun Yarn

WOOT!!!!! I have so far successfully completed 2 balls of 2 ply home spun yarn and knit them up. The thing I am knitting out of my first attempts at spinning with a wheel is called "The Evolution of Skill" lol. It has no shape or function really, the yarn is thick and fluffy in some places and thin and hard and poky in others. There is nothing consistent about it, except that I keep practicing and that it is still fun and exciting!
When Jess and I were looking for videos on how to make the wheel work we found no videos or pictures showing the parts or the skills it takes to learn to spin. When I was trying to learn the drop spindle, I found nothing at all that had helpful tips for beginners, they were all done by people who are already very good at the craft. So I decided I would chronicle my spinning journey from almost beginning to... somewhere (lol) in hopes that seeing what it looks like to be a beginner will help others trying to teach themselves how it works. But I haven't edited the clips down yet so for now, here is a picture of my first homespun yarn ever, all knit up.

And here is a picture of my WIPs basket and my mountain of yarn...

and part of my loom...