DC

If anyone is interested, I just listed a bunch of things over at my Etsy shop. Take a look, and pass on the word to anyone else who might be interested.

This weekend is the 2006 Maine Fiber Frolic. Last year was my first year going, and I went on both Saturday and Sunday, and spent way too much money. This year, I just went on Saturday, and was very good about sticking to my budget. Because of the rain we've been having, and the forecast for Saturday, I didn't bring my camera, so no pics…my apologies. I was more impressed this year than last year. There seemed to be more vendors, although that could just be in my head. The weather did not seem to deter other people from going, which was good for the vendors. I wandered around for a few hours, then sat down to decide what to spend my money on. I opted to get a fleece. It's 100% Romney from Swiftwater Farm in Turner, Maine. It's a beautiful grey with tan-ish tips. It's incredibly clean, so I don't think I'm going to bother with washing it before I spin it. Last night I spun up some VERY small samples. For the first sample, I just flicked open the locks and spun, then plied. For the second sample, I combed the locks out before I spun. The spun locks show the two different colors really well, while the combed top is a more uniform grey color. Both are beautiful, so I think I'll have to divide the fleece in half and do each way. I don't like using hand cards, and I don't want to put greasy wool through my drum carder, so those options are out. I'll post some pics of the fleece and the samples I spun later on to get some feedback.

I do have a question for all you spinners out there. Usually, I wash all my fiber before I store it. Since I'm not going to wash this, I'm wondering what the best way to store it is. It doesn't have too much lanolin, and it doesn't smell at all. I want to decrease the risk of moth infestation as much as possible, and try to eliminate any matting. Any thoughts?

So, the new Knitty came out when? Just a few days ago. Not only have I already started something from it, but I've actually finished it also! Here's a pic of Topi, knit in Lion Brand Cotton Ease. It looks MUCH better on me than it does on this sad manikin head, but hey, what're ya gonna do right?And, here is the yarn that was hanging to dry. 590 yards, 13.5 oz of worsted weight, 12 WPI 100% Merino. Not sure what I'm going to do with it just yet though. Any thoughts?

Well, I've begun yet another craft obsession. This one is at least very compatible with my knitting. I'm learning how to spin my own yarn from wool and other fibers. I'm using a drop spindle, and whatever fibers I can get my hands on. Here's a summary of the past week's experiences.

I started my learning by using a type of wool preparation called "pencil roving". This is wool that is already prepared in a long, thin strip, so there is little "drafting" needed. It worked well for getting me used to the 'feel' of using the spindle. After a couple of hours, I ended up with this:

It's not really a useable amount of yarn, as it's only about half an ounce, but I'm pleased with it.

So, I continued with this process, with the intent of making an amount that I could actually use. I spun and spun, and ended up with about 2 oz. (approx 50 yards) of a much more even worsted weight yarn. Then I got an itching to dye it. While I really like the natural color, I wanted to play. So, I bought some Kool-Aid and went at it. This is what I came up with:

Kool Aid dyeing has got to be the easiest thing I've ever done. Here's what I did:
-First, I let the yarn soak in hot water while I prepared my dyes.
-The dyes are made from Kool-Aid (the little packets…NOT pre-sweetened). I used Grape, Berry Blue, and Blastin' Berry Cherry. For each color, I mixed up half a cup of water, 1 quarter cup of white vinegar, and 2 packets of kool-aid.
-Then I covered my work area with plastic wrap, big enough to let the yarn sit on it, and have enough to wrap it up in loosely.
-I squeezed out the excess water from the yarn and plopped it down on the plastic wrap and went at.
-I pretty much randomly dropped the color onto the yarn using a turkey baster. Make sure to rinse out the baster every time you change colors, or they will run together.
-Use your fingers (preferably with gloves on) to make sure all the fibers are soaked with color.
-I wrapped up the yarn in the plastic wrap, and stuck it in the microwave for 2 minutes, then let it stand for 2 minutes. Check the liquid in the pack…it should be almost clear. Mine wasn't, so I stuck it in for another 2 minutes, let it stand, and my liquid was mostly clear.
-I let it cool down a bit, then rinsed it in hot water until it ran clear, washed it with mild dish soap, rinsed again, and let it hang to dry.
-And that's it!

Now, while there really isn't a lot of yarn, I NEED to use it, so I think I'm going to make some simple wrist bands/ wrist warmers or something. I'll take pics when I get them done.

Finally comes the biggest moment so far. I have some wool top which I ordered off of eBay, in a yummy green color. I attempted to spin it (keep in mind this isn't prepared like the pencil roving), and it was a disaster. I won't go into all the details about how I figured out how to do it (if you really want to know, you can email me). I had some ingeo (a fiber made from corn) roving that I decided (with prompting) to practice on. I had an epiphany in the process, and figured out what I was doing wrong, and took a 6 inch length of the ingeo roving and ended up with this:

It's only about 6 yards, and it is far from perfect…very bumpy and uneven, but it's a HUGE improvement over my first attempts with roving.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I'll try to update more regularly on this process, so I don't end up with another really long entry like this one.