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

 

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