Spinning to Knit!!!

Hello All!

 

We have been spinnning like crazy for this kit.  Let me give you some back ground on what I've been doing.

 

This is the green section of my scarf kit.  I've ripped it into sections and laid them out from darkest to lightest.

 

Then I stack them into a large plastic bag from darkest to lightest.  If I can keep them tidy this should lead to a seemless gradiation of color.  Should.......

The same thing was done with the bright pink.  I was kicking myself all thru this process.  See, I threw together this kit at the last minute.  I was so busy dyeing for everyone else I forgot I needed to spin one also.  SO, I was not very careful to get the gradients smooth and there was A LOT of mottling.

 

Normally I don't mind mottling.......it leads to a fantastically tonal yarn, BUT in this instance I needed clean clear non-mottled colors.  Bummer......  That's what I get for rushing the job.......

The yarn singles themselves came out OK.  There was more middle/medium color than anything else.  Because I had to pull the roving apart alot more than normal to get the same colors together.  After the singles were spun, clockwise, I plyed the singles in a Chain Ply, or Navajo Ply, counter-clockwise.

Navajo Plying is the greatest plying technique I've learned.  It allows you to keep colors clean, if that is what your going for, and to make a fluffy well spun 3 ply yarn from just one bobbin.  Don't get me wrong, I love using my lazy kate, my youngest son made it for me.  It stacks one on top of the other and there are tension nuts to keep the yarns from getting tangled.  He even stained the base to match my wheel.  Its just lovely, BUT working from one bobbin to another gives me the freedom of having multiple projects going at once.  Instant gratification and all that.

Here is the green all spun up. Not sure if you can see with this picture how the gradient is heavier on one end.  It's still pretty and soft and squishy and came out to be a little bit bigger than a large DK.  That's a big step for me.  I have difficulty getting the single small enough so that when I 3 ply it, it's not HUGE.  I think it will look beautiful against the bright pink yarn.

OK next step is knitting!!!!! 

Happy Spinning.
DD

SAL Has Begun!

Hello All,
Our First Annual SAL has begun.......well it actually began on the 1st but you see what I mean.  Did you get your scarf kit?  What will you be spinning?  Merino Tencel?  BFL?  Oohhhh something exotic like Yak?  That being said, Jenn and I are talking prizes now.  We think first will be a beautiful set of project bags, second price will be some fiber and thrid will be a cool set of stitch markers.

The winners will be picked by their FO pictures by the other contestants.  If, gasp, we have very few people joining us, then as long as they send us a picture of the finished scarve they will probably get something.......  It's so hard getting the word out when your a little fish like us. 

Enough "woe is meing".  This is going to be great!

Here is my newly cleaned and oiled wheel.  Isn't she a beaut?  I love this wheel.  Louet made some mighty fine spinning wheels.  This S10 is a very hard worker.  I've decided to spin up here instead of the basement, where the TV is.  No Arrow to disrupt my concentration.  Him with that flat stomach and the brooding Viking good looks, no not gonna do it.  I'll sit up here, all alone, in the natural light and spinn for 2 hours every day. 

You can see the package of ripped and ready roving all set to be spun in my basket. Along with my fingerless mitts, made for me by my friend, Lia.  I use them when its chilly but I still need to be able to feel the yarn. 

Ready.....set......spin

Happy Spinning
DD

Spin to Knit A-Long

Hello All,
It's almost time for our Spin and Knit a-long!  7 days until we start.  Ohhh getting excited!  Do you have your kit?  You can get into our shop and order one ASAP and I will make sure you have one in your hot ready hands by the time we start.  This will be such fun people!!
Below is the kit I spun up for my dear friend Lia.  Poor, poor Lia does not have a wheel.  She claims she does NOT need another hobby (liar, she craves the wheels freedom). She is, however, and extraordinary knitter.  She can do anything.  I swear, hand to God, she ROCKS!!  So she will be joining along in the knitting portion of our program. :)

Palest of blues out to dark royal blue. 

I Navajo plied this (3 ply) to keep her colors crisp, NO barber poleing. Is that a real word?

It came out to be about 98 yards (?!?!) I thought it was gonna be a bit longer.  But with the red should make a decent size scarf for TRHM (the red haired man) her wonderful boyfriend.  Yes, we love him too.

Here is the other half of the scarf.  Palest of blush pink out to a very strong scarlet.
Again just about 98 yards (arggh) 

Look how cool they look together.  They will accent each other nicely and look fine on a man. 

Here is the kit I will be spinning.  As you can see it will NOT be for one of my three men, this will be for MEEEEEEEEE!  Woo Hoo finally making something for myself.

I dyed this and it is called "Spring is Here!"  Whadda ya think?

Looking forward to seeing what YOU will spin.  Remember we start March 1st.

Happy Spinning
DD

Spin to Knit Scarf Kit

Hello all,
We are going to do our very first SAL and KAL.  For you not in the know that is Spin-a-long and Knit-a-long.  We have these killer scarf kits that were just recently featured in the "Get This" section of Spin Off Magazine. Thank you very much and Jenn and I thought we would attempt to prolong our 15 minutes of fame and have some fun at the same time.  Hence the SAL/KAL.

Here's what ya do.  Buy a kit.  Please, really, I've been dyeing a bunch just for you!
But if you have a ton of fiber stash, we understand and you can use that instead.  We have the pattern on sale in the shop so you can follow along.  Next, stop by our Ravelry Group and show off what you intend to spin and knit up.  Gotta show it off so that when we are all done and voteing on the best (for a PRIZE) we can see where you started.  Prizes, yes, everyone loves prizes!

Jenn, because she is wonderful, will be sending out a heads-up on when certain parts of the SAL/KAL need to be done.  We start March 1st spinning and then we end......umm not to sure.  I'll get back to you on that.

Here are some pictures to get you drooling and wanting to join in!

Morning Coffee, its a brown gradient against a YOR (yellow, orange, red), this could go for a guy or a girl. 

 
Sun and Sea, its a blue gradient against an orange one.  Simple and fun.

 

This is the way the scarf works out.  Cool Huh?  Once spun up you knit the two different yarns dark end against light end and you get this great stripy effect.  This scarf is Garden Wall, our Fieldstone Wall colorway against our Plums and Berries Colorway.  Jenn spun and knit this one up.
Gott be truthful, I'm not looking forward to the knitting part.  But Jenn assures me that I'll be able to do it, and, believe me, if I can you can!!

Look forward to seeing everyone March 1st!!

Happy Spinning (and Knitting!)
DD

Mama Wanna Mawata?

Hello all,

We have some new fiber in the studio,  Mawata or silk "hankies".  These are silk cocoons that have been de-gummed, their glue has been removed, and then stretched out to a gossamer thin square on a form and set to dry.  Each layer of the mawata square is one cocoon.  Layers and layers of them make up the hankie.  I've been playing with the color and how much dyes are needed to get a nice rich final product.  Now that the little amounts (12-16 grams) have come out well, I'll move on to a larger batch.  This stuff is super fun, you can knit straight from the hankie, a God send for those of you who don't spin, and it felts easily also.

Here is what I do......  this is the beautiful pile of silk hankies as they come from Ashland Bay.  Ohhh pretty.

You can see all the light and airy layers.  Be sure to use hand lotion, any little scratchy piece on your hands/fingers will catch on the silk.  What a pain in the butt!

 I soak them in pans with water and a wee bit of vinegar.  Gotta make sure the pretty dyes strike like they are supposed to.
 

Adding the dye is the fun part.  I pour it into the pan and gently lean the whole thing to get the dyes to spread out and mix together. 

Here is what it looks like when I'm done.  I'll let it sit for a few hours to soak up the dyes and begin to set. 

 
Then the sections of hankies (16 grams ususally) are wrapped in plastic, rolled into a big cigar and put into the steamer to finish setting the dyes.  No one wants silk that bleeds into their knitting or felting or paper or what have you. 

 

Here is what they look like after the dyeing and the drying so pretty!
 

 

 Hope this has inspired you to either, dye your own, or use a mawata to knit!

Happy creating!

 

DD

 

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas all,

Hopefully this posting is finding you happy, healthy and tired after a night of reveling. 

 

These are just a couple of quick photos to share my Holiday with you.

 

My front room and Christmas tree, the night prior to the kids opening rampage.

 

Father Christmas hanging on the tree, watching the action.

Our "Peace Dove" keeping an eye towards the coming year.

Isn't this a cute miniture reindeer?  Its made of wood and comes apart for easy storage.  I keep trying to get my guys to make me some full scale ones for the front yard.  Ah, mabie next year..........

Thanks for taking a minute check out my Holiday pictures. 
Wishing you a Happy, Healthy and SAFE New Year.
See you in 2013!

Spin faster, I'm dyeing here!
DD

New Stuff Coming

Hello All,

After a successful show season, Jenn and I have put our heads together and reviewed the notes.  Looks like a lot of customers were looking for smaller skeins that worked together.  Like a mix and match kinda thing.
So I got to dyeing on our Plum Panda sock line.  This yarn is wonderful, a superwash merino, bamboo and nylon mix.  It looks like there is silk in there, thank you bamboo, but there is none AND it is actually washable.  After the fiasco with our Saunderstown Line FELTING (!!!!) we have been very careful to make sure it won't felt up when you hand wash your lovely project.

I've added in a few pictures to get you drooling and would love to know what you think of the new sets.  I'd also like to hear about the colors you would like to see.

Thanks for your help!

 600 yards of yarny goodness. 

Pink pink and more pink, oh my!

Darn camera won't show the wonderful tonal differences in the blue-purple range.  You get the idea from this picture but it is sooooo much nicer in person.

Happy knitting.
DD

Hi All!

It's Tuesday and here are some of the new stuff I'm listing in the shop.  Ususally I don't promote in the blog, but I'm short on time this week. Sorry

 

 

Maelstrom, Merino Wool.  So very cool!!  Will make a killer yarn or felted scarf.

 Zeus, Merino Wool, new colorway.  The colors are a bit deeperr than in the pictures.  I really gotta get a new camera.  Santa?????

Cabbage Rose, Merino Wool.  Soft and subtle the perfect christmas colors.  Red, white and a hint of tan to ground it.

Equinox, Merino Silk Blend.  Deep gold in a continuous gradient out to a dark blue.  Again, damn camera.

Hope you have seen something you'll love.  See you next week.
Happy Spinning,
DD

Felted Soap What FUN!!

Hello all,

I had the sweetest client ask me to dye her some rovings for the sole purpose of making felted soap.  Cool. Fiber dyed, dryed and mailed, when I get a e-mail with a picture of her final project!  God I love that.  Well after studying her work I decided that it looked REALLY fun and that mabie I could take an hour or so and play with my fiber.

I am sooooo glad I did.  I started by hunting down some soap.  My loving hubby travels quite a bit for work and is always bringing home a soap or two.  We usually use them when we have stay over guests.  You know, with their towels stacked on their bed.  Looks sharp and makes them feel special.

The soaps I found were a hodge podge of big and small hand made and commerical bars. 



I then used some old hand dyed BFL roving.  I hadn't sold it.  It ws an early "version" that I felt had cooked a bit too long and would not draft as easily as it should.  I planned on dyeing it black and giving it to my friend Lia who needs it for the back drop of her Halloween Town she sets up each year.

I took the roving and broke it into pieces and began to pull it into a thin sheet.  The sheet was then stripped into thinner lengths.  I wound them areound the soap, making the layers into a hatch work.

The picture shows the pulled wool and then up in the corner is a wrapped piece.

You can get the complete steps in my (sorta weird)  video tutorial. :)

Here are some of my finished products!  Cool Huh?  The blue ones are done with "Deep Sea" colorway in BFL and the rusty-green ones are "Dappled Forest"

Here are my finsihed soaps!  Aren't they great?  I'm going to give one to my Mom when I go down and keep one for the outdoor shower and sell the rest at KDO in September. 

You can make your own Felted Soap also,  I've already set up, what?, 12 kits.  Stop by Knitters Day Out, September 7th in Harrisburg PA and grab one (or two).

These are fun, fun, fun my friends. Makes a great gift as is or felted!

Happy Felting!
DD

Did someone say Nuno Felting?

Hi all!
I gotta tell you that I hate to felt.  I go thru all sorts of pains to make sure my fiber DOES NOT felt prior to getting to its new home and is spun up into something wonderful.  But Jenn comes back from Rheinbeck and tells me that Nuno Felting is "in".  And that "kits" are in" and that we should pull something togehter from the shop .......  I agree with her (because she is smart) and get to work on figuring out what Nuno Felting is.  Because you can't build a Kit without knowing what is what......Right?

So I have done some research and I'm working on some instructions using the fiber that I dye. Easy right?  Well.....no.  I can't get the friggin stuff to felt correctly for me.  So this will be the saga of Cheryl's innability to get wool to felt.  Poor Child.

 This is the Hand dyed (by ME!) silk scarf.  Cool huh?  That was supposed to be a gift for Jenn.  Just rewards I guess.....

This is the roving bits I used in a colorway called Plums and Berries in Merino.  Very cool as a spun yarn.

 OK I flick out the necessary fiber on the top - going one way - and on the botton - going the opposite way - carefully and not too heavy, gotta get the fibers to go thru and hold hands....

 Spray it with the water and sprinkle with the "Soap Gel" I made.
I'll go into that later.  Great stuff for cleaning you hands of dye.  Smells wonderful too.  This is as far as the purple/pinks made it...... Bummer it was pretty.

 This is try number two with silk and a copper color........

 Again I had a dyed silk scarf.......So sorry Jenn......  But wait! why is this not felting??????? Hot Water, Agitation, Alklinity........Help!

Tune in later for more exploits  with the Dyenamic Dyestress in "Why won't this darn stuff felt?"
PS: I am not good at this.......

Crappy....oh I mean..... Happy Felting

DD