Fleece plans

I achieved two accomplishments today. The Shetland fleece is now all scoured and teased, and the mixed fiber roving from Wellington Fibres is now all spun up.

I got 689 yards total of 3-ply yarn from the 250 grams of roving. Not enough for a vest or sweater. At the moment I'm undecided what I will make with it. I could weave a shawl--they are handy in the winter. Nothing feels cozier than a wool cloth around one's shoulders when the temperatures dip low.

I haven't weighed the fleece yet to see how many ounces there are. I did not have to toss too much of it, just a bit more than a handful of it was too soiled to try and keep. I will put that in the garden as mulch.

My large basket was overflowing and I had to employ a smaller one as well!

I have come up with a plan for this fleece so long as there is enough of it. First, I'm going to dye it. A large portion will be dyed "Tobacco Leaf Brown", one smaller portion will be dyed "Cayenne Red" and another small portion will be dyed "Forest Green". All three dyes are acid dyes that I have on order from Dharma Trading Co. They should arrive next week, I hope.

I had wanted to use natural dyes, Black Walnut, specifically. But since I don't have any Black Walnut trees, I would have to order the powdered form (or possibly see if I could find chunks somewhere). However, the fun of natural dyeing is going out to harvest materials oneself. It's the process that brings me joy. So if I'm going to buy powder, it might as well be an acid dye because it will be much more light fast. I've worked with acid dyes before and they are fun too, but not the same as foraging and making do with that which is at hand. It's just different. Acid dyes are called acid because they require the presence of an acidic environment to work. Vinegar is often used to make the bath acidic. Another option is citric acid.

The red and green dyed wool will provide a heathered effect in the brown. After the wools are dyed, I will mix the three colors on the drum carder. I chose green and red because they are Christmas colors and if all goes well, I will have a cape or cloak to wear around that time of year.

Yes, that's the plan: A garment. After dyeing and carding I will spin my brown heathered yarn and weave it into enough cloth to hand sew a lined cloak or cape. Gosh, I hope there's enough fiber. I think there is.

If it turns out I'm short of yarn, the Vermont Sheep & Wool is coming up in October and I might be able to buy another Shetland fleece there. If not, I'll have to think of something different to make.

Processing a Shetland fleece

The craft/spare room has become something of a magic cabinet. Every time I go in, I come out with something new and exciting! The latest is a Shetland fleece that I purchased a few years back.

So I've taken it downstairs to process. Over the past few days I've scoured about half of it. The remaining half sits spread across the corner of the kitchen (picture above) while a quarter of it--already scoured--sits on a screen on the deck where the breezy, beautiful, warm air is drying it speedily.

 Another quarter of it, that which was already dried from yesterday and some from earlier today, sits in this basket having been "picked". Picking is the process of opening up the locks and separating the fibers.

My scouring routine is to use two plastic tubs in the sink. I use hot tap water (it's pretty hot) and a bit of Dawn dish detergent (no more than a tablespoon) .

After a 20 minutte soak in the soapy water, I carefully remove it, wring it, and move it to the other tub with fresh soapy water for a second soak. As can be seen in the following picture, the first soak removes a lot of lanolin and muck.

After a second soak in soapy water, I  wring it and lift it into a rinsing bath. Always matching the temperature of the new bath to the old, or hotter, but not cooler.

Rinsing is the last step in the kitchen, after which I take the wet wool outside, to the deck, and lay it out on screens to dry. When dry--which is pretty quick in this weather--I "pick" it; some may say "tease" it.

I am seriously thinking of dyeing these fibers before I spin them. I would like to create a heathered yarn. A nice heathered, Shetland, yarn.

After dyeing, since I would like to create a heathered yarn, I will probably run the wool through the drum carder and tie the batts to a distaff to spin from.

More to come on this project.

Another quick knit

Somehow I'm continuing to get good mileage out of the old handspun scraps. There is nothing like restricted choices to get the creative juices flowing!

I'm quite happy with this skinny scarf. I realized, when close to half way through, that there would not be enough gray to continue alternative white and gray for the entire length. There was still a small ball of the blue/burgandy wool/silk and after some thought and hesitation decided to go with it.

I also wanted the ends to be different from each other, and I still had a small amount of repurposed sari silk "yarn" (which I did not spin, it's the only bit in the scarf that's not my own spinning) so I used that.

The doubts were high as I approached the finish on this scarf that it would just look ridiculous, but in the end, I don't think it does. I quite like it.

Skinny scarf number two:

There is still some yarn left, but the pickings are getting slim. I will try to put yet another knit together. :)

Spinning Silk

Mawata, to be precise. Silk cocoons that have been slit open, degummed, and stretched on a frame, and beautifully dyed.

I remember, years ago, taking a class in silk reeling where the intact cocoons are heated in water and a thread from maybe half dozen of them are gathered up and pulled into a long strand. Fine thread indeed.

Working with Mawata is very different. It is full of nebs and noils, and although a very thin thread can be obtained, it is unlikely to be 'silky' smooth. However, it takes well to chain plying and the plying tends to even things out, leaving a nice silky, shiny yarn.

With Mawata, it's all about pre-drafting. I start by lifting one hanky out of the bundle and stretching out it's border, all around. Then I poke a hole in the middle of the hanky and pull it into a ring, breaking it at one point. I then draft the whole into an almost final size. I finish the drafting while spinning. It requires a very long drafting area as the fibers are long and strong. Couldn't be much easier, but it's challenging if there's the slightest breeze and the silk wants to stick to everything. It finds every little rough spot on your hands

Top to bottom: A 'hankie', stretched out edges, pulled into a circle, drafted out (this is about 1/4 of the pre-drafting that I will do before starting to spin it.).

There is a technique of spinning Mawata where one simply bunches it up and drafts away. I haven't tried that yet but my experience so far tells me that the drafting must be quite difficult. I will try it at some point.

I'm spinning with a drop spindle, one I purchased years ago from someone online. Resin with embedded leaves. It spins beautifully.

Current amount spun. This is 3 ply, chain plied.

I found this fabulous carrier the other day at the thrift store, $4! It has a zillion compartments and pounches, perfect for porting my spindle spinning.

Work continues on the woolen, modified long draw spinning, and the green Merino spindle spun yarns.

Another knit and more spinning

The decade old yarn has inspired another knit, a skull cap for me. I dyed both colorways and I think they go together quite alright. I love the way it fits me and it will get good use this fall. Did not work from a pattern, just winged it, a very simple design.

I started by checking the gauge with size 8 needles then calculated for the circumference of my head, accounting for the 2x2 ribbing. The ribbing is followed by stockinette and six decreases on every row. Easy peasy.

I wonder what else these yarns will inspire? Hm.

The green Merino is spinning up well and I have switched to one of my Kunderts. This will be the second skein when full, a larger skein than the first. You will notice the masking tape I adhered to the bottom of the spindle for better gripping when imparting a spin. One wonderful feature of the Golding I showed in the previous post is the ribbing carved into the bottom of the spindle. A great enhancement.

One great side benefit of spindle spinning, seeing how I prefer to do so standing up, is it is getting me on my feet! A good thing.

I finally figured out how to spin the 'mongrel' roving I purchased from Wellington Fibres as a 'mystery' roving. It's a mix of wools and, I believe, mohair. The short, whispy, mohair makes it difficult to short-draw. I tried. The mix of long and short makes it difficult to long draw. I tried.

Modified long draw is the ticket. I'm carding the roving into rollags first. The noils in it create a challenge, both in carding and in spinning, but modified long draw is working out quite well. I'm very pleased to have settled on a method for tackling this beautiful roving. I'm planning to make either a vest or a sweater with the yarn, depending on how much yardage I end up with.

When all the various colors in the roving are blended into yarn, the result looks purple. A very nice purple, especially when viewed in the blue, evening light from the window. In reality it is not quite this blue, but still a very nice gray/purple.

Somewhat different from the distinct colors in the roving.  (Also, the picture below was taken in 100% artificial lighting.)

For this spin, I'm using my Country Craftsman spinning wheel. It has the speed and perfect tension adjustment I need for the technique.

I have decided that the Country Craftsman, the Kromski Mazurka, and the Shaker Great Wheel are the three wheels which I am going to keep. The other two: an antique flax wheel and an Ashford Traditional will go to the thrift shop if I don't find a buyer. The flax wheel is lovely but the bobbin is small and there's only one of them. The Ashford just isn't doing it for me, I'm afraid. The tension is fiddly, and again, I only have one bobbin. Truth be told, I only have one bobbin for the Country Craftsman as well, but I know someone who makes them for sale.

I only need the one bobbin for this spin because I'm Navajo plying directly off the wheel onto a spindle!

Furthering the discoveries from my foray into the upstairs craft room was a ball of repurposed sari silk "yarn". This is yarn that is made from torn up silk saris--into strips--and then twisted into "yarn". It has absolutely no give whatsoever, even less than cotton. I bought a few balls of it at one of the sheep and wool festivals many years ago because it was so beautiful. Shortly after I bought it, I decided to weave with it, on a pin loom. Back then, I had woven two squares. I wove two more this week.

Now that I have four squares--there is still enough "yarn" to make a fifth if I want--I'm thinking of sewing them together to make one big square, then crocheting a border around it to make a table centerpiece. It would look very nice with a piece of hand-thrown pottery on it.

We had a couple cool days early this week making it feel vaguely autumnal! I think it's warming up again. Good. I love autumn but we need to get through summer first.

Inspired by old work

Taking out the yarn left overs from many years ago reminded me of the joy I derived back then from spindle spinning, especially yarn that I plied 'on the fly', and it has inspired me to take out the spindles.

I purchased some green gradient Merino last year at the NH Sheep & Wool and I'm spinning it on my Golding spindle.

As in 'the old days', I'm Navajo plying it and doing so 'on the fly'. Navajo plying goes by a few different names: N-plying, Navajo plying, chain plying. "Chain plying" is the most descriptive of the three, but not very exciting or colorful as the other two names if you ask me. It creates a 3-ply yarn. Chain plying "on the fly" is a way of spinning a single thread and plying it right away. Great for instant results. Navajo plying is super useful as a method for isolating colors in a multi color preparation.

I wind my singles temporarily at the bottom of the spindle until I've spun about 2 or 3 yards, then I wind it off the spindle onto my hand from whence I will ply it. (Clicking the picture will enlarge them.)

The following picture shows how the plying works. The "Single" is passed through the loop to form a new loop which causes 3 singles to lie next to each other. These three are spun counterclockwise to ply them together, and the process continues, creating an ongoing chain of large loops. I do like to create quite large loops, a yard long if possible.

I am planning to make a hat with this yarn when it is all spun up.

The Golding spindles are very beautiful but the one I have is heavy so as soon as this one is full I will switch to one of my Kunderts, my favorites of all, and they are very light.

Speaking of hats. There is still plenty of yards of old yarn left and I've picked some out for a hat. There may not be enough of these to knit the entire hat and I'll have to dig into the bag of scraps again. I'm sure something will work out. Here I am swatching for gauge: I hand painted the yellow/green and blue/purple silk/wool blend. It's a very soft, luscious yarn.

I've got more Hollyhocks than ever this year. This one is over 8 feet tall!

The scarf got frogged

I had a change of plans for the scarf.

Since the yarn is a bag of left over hand-spuns from years ago, the supply is limited. But after looking at what I'd knit and seeing what was left in the bag, I decided that I could probably make something that wasn't simply 'scrappy', that there was probably enough of certain colorways to make a scarf that looked planned.

So I frogged what I had and started over. In order to make my favorite colorways last, I cast on fewer stitches. The new plan was a narrower scarf that I could consider chic. And the plan worked. Apart from 2 different multi-color yarns, the next abundant was some orange Harrisville wool that I'd spun, also 3-ply in the Navajo fashion.

I'm done with the knitting and have started adding fringe to the ends. I like the result, it doesn't look like something pulled out of a bag of scraps. At least to me it doesn't. I'm sure I will enjoy wearing this in the fall and early winter.

Another unfinished project I ran across while puttering around the spare room is a set of leaves that I knit.... oh.... four or five years ago, probably. All the knitting was done at that time, but the leaves need to be composed into a shall. Before the construction can begin all the loose ends need weaving in, and every leaf, no matter large or small, has 9 loose ends! It's tedious, but it must be done. I want to get this project finished!

The pattern for this shawl is called "Autumn Leaves Shall" and it appeared in "NORO Silk Garden, The 20th Anniversary Collection" (c) 2016, Sixth&Springbooks. It is designed by Anna Stoklosa.

I used a mix of NORO and other yarn, including Lambs Pride, when knitting my leaves.