Archive for the ‘Spinning’ Category

My order from Spunky Eclectic came earlier this week. The box wasn’t particular large. But it contained pounds of wool that I had been anxiously waiting for. I am quite happy with the quality.

The above is 4 oz of Galaxy Series, hand-painted natural colored Blue-Faced Leicester wool. Colorway Saturn. The colors are wonderful. Exactly what I was hoping for. Can you guess what I want to do with it? Morning Surf. Yes, I love that scarf! I think 4 oz is enough. I just don’t know when I’ll start this project. It is getting so warm here in So. Cal.

The above is 8 oz of naturally colored Blue-Faced Leicester wool. It’s considered a dark color by the vendor. From the book In Sheep’s Clothing, Blue-Faced Leicester wool is a good choice for strong and smooth fabric. Staple length 3-6 inches. It’s micron count is 28-24. Not as fine as Merino. I’ll have to do the next-to-the-skin test. Is there a good method? :-) I might take this to -Dye Fest. Yes, I am going! Yay! Now I have to figure out the colors that I want to try.

Above is one pound of Black Shetland wool. The color is more dark chocolate than pure black. I wonder if I’ll get a ‘raven-like’ effect when I dye this at Dye Fest. Shetland has a micron count of 30-23. Staple length 2-5 inches.

Above is one pound of gray Icelandic wool. A really nice silvery gray. Feels a bit scratchy. My guess is that it has both the outer and inner coat fiber. I am not sure. I’ll have to handle it more to see. And you know I will. :lol: It’s micron count is 31-28 for outercoat, 22-19 for undercoat. Staple length is 4-10 inches for outercoat, 2-3 inches for undercoat. The book says that the if spun softly, the fiber from both coats can be used together for garments. This really needs planning. Anyone has any suggestion? I might take this to Dye Fest, too.


Photo from Summer 2008 issue of Spin•off

Creator: Smoking Hot Needles (Monika)
Fiber: Merino/Tencel, colorway ‘Aspen’, from Spunky Eclectic
Pattern: Morning Surf
Read the creator’s original blog post

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this scarf. It’s featured in the latest issue of Spin•off. The article presented several finished spin-to-knit scarves using the same pattern, Morning Surf. This one is my favorite. The pattern, the colors just work together very nicely. Plus the knitting is fabulous! I want one! The pattern is free. I just need to find the right fiber to spin. Oh, and time. ha ha ha :-D

Other news. I talked to my sister in Taiwan. We are going to continue the effort of completing the hotel unless there’s a serious buyer. This means that I will most likely go to China very soon. IF there’s a serious buying interest before July, I’d be able to escape the trip. Crossing my fingers.

Tomorrow is GLASG’s May meeting, and… HOLY SMOKES! I forgot to post last month’s photos. And, it was such a fun, colorful event that I just have to get a few pictures up.

We had a “Kitchen Sink Batt” class with Janel. We carded scraps of leftover fiber together into colorful batts to be spun into unique yarn. (I’d bet there will be a lot of interesting yarn in tomorrow’s show and tell.) Guild members brought in their drum carders to share with the whole group. People donated TONS of fiber for the class. It was so much fun. And so much fiber! But it also fed my desire of owning my own drum carder. Tempting, tempting, tempting!!!

See more photos here.

Last Saturday was the monthly GLASG meeting. We had our usual meeting and show and tell. Plus, Randall gave an introduction to spinning wheel mechanics. I should have listened carefully and learn a few things. But I was spinning with a drop spindle and was so focused that I didn’t hear most of it. Sorry Randall.

We had lots of beautiful show and tell items:

Do you see something familiar? Well, it’s probably hard to tell, but that’s the Hugger in the middle of things. Aren’t these a colorful bunch?

Here’s Dorothy showing off her needle felting jacket.

Jerry showing off his second finished skein of hand spun:

More amazing items:

See more pictures here. Next post, a very long, but very wonderful day at the temple.

This last Saturday’s spinning guild meeting was quite fun and educational. We had Dr. Elizabeth Barber giving a lecture on ancient textiles. She was quite engaging and funny. Lots of interesting info. Ellen and Jerry were there, too! You can read more about the lecture on their blogs.

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Then during Show & Tell, Ruth introduced us to the Caracol dye.

Caracol dye comes from the Caracol snails. No snails are harmed to get the dye. They release the liquid when handled in a certain way. Maybe a defense mechanism? The dye goes on the fabric kind of muddy green. After it is exposed to sunlight it turns magenta. Fascinating. You can see pictures of the snail on Ruth’s blog.

More photos here.