CVM variation

I'd mentioned I wanted to take this photo--it's some of the yarns all from one CVM lamb fleece, showing the color variation. The very darkest chocolate brown yarn, though, is from another Romeldale fleece; identical characteristics, just a different sheep. Yes, one sheep provided pure white, a few different silvers, and charcoal.

A Pot of Yarn

Is simmering on my stove.  It's two skeins of undyed sock yarn mordanting in alum and cream of tartar so that I can dye them.  One skein is destined to be dyed in broomsedge to make yellow socks for Kayla.  The other has yet to find its destiny, but at least it will be prepared.

You'd think I have enough to do between now and Pesach without trying to commit to finally getting Kayla's socks done, but apparently you'd be wrong.

And yes, Jeffrey will undoubtedly comment on how once again everything in the house is somehow being used for yarny purposes.

Jeffrey would like it known that he did not comment on household items being used for wooly ends; he made snarky jokes about how the yarn looked like spaghetti.

still another bad photo

I did photograph the smaller of the two skeins of bulky wool/silk/angora/everything but the kitchen sink yarn in the sunshine, but in fact I think the earlier photos showed the colors better than the direct sunlight did.  BTW, it's about 7-8 wpi, which is more of a worsted to heavy worsted weight but pretty much matches the grist of the sample skein to which we were matching, so all is well:

And it does hang completely straight!

Baby Owl Sweater

I actually knit this a long time ago, but tonight was "finishing night" and I was busy finishing up a few old projects--a toddler sweater that photographs terribly but is adorable IRL (it's a shiny/dull multistrand flag yarn in bright pink; I can't imagine what anyone would make from it other than babywear); a blanket I wove on the triloom but which won't be photographed until it's washed and fulled; and also this:

It's Penny Straker's Baby Owl pattern, worked in Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK yarn.  Love the pattern, absolutely hated the yarn--I ran low and had to buy extra from a different dye lot and even though the color matched quite well the gauge was completely different!  I double and triple checked that it was the identical yarn, and it was, but if you hold strands of the different balls next to each other, you can see a difference in grist right away.  I was able to get away with using the newer yarn just for the sleeves and edging, so it doesn't show, but I will not buy this yarn again for anything!

Now Addie just has to grow into the sweater.

A little spinning advancement

Last Sunday I had a spinning class on twist and grist, as offered by Sally Jenkins of The Golden Needle.  One of the first things we did was to check the actual ratios of our wheels.  My Fricke 160-ST turned out to actually have ratios of 5.25:1, 6.7:1, 8.25:1, 11.25:1 and 17.6:1 (claimed numbers were pretty close:  5.7, 6.8, 8.7, 12, and 19.4).  So now I know exactly what I'm dealing with.

Then we tried working yarn at different treadle speeds:

and at different ratios:

Finally, I was able to prepare and spin a few samples of specific yarns, designed and properly executed, including sock yarn (3 ply, 21 wpi, other values measured but not being reported here):

and lace (2 ply, about 32 wpi):

So I'm quite happy.  Or I would be if only I had time to spin.

You spun what? Chiengora?!?!?

My boss Rich now thinks all the women who work for him are absolutely crazy.  You see, Margie was in the office a few weeks ago and handed over a small bag to Ellen, who gave it to Rich to bring to me.  And what was in said small bag?

Hair brushed from Margie's prize wheaten terrier.

So what did I do with it, you might ask?

Well, I handcarded it (it was very matted so excuse the noils):

And then I spun it into yarn (in this case, short-draw, chain-plyed yarn):

And now I'll send the teeny yarn sample back to Margie.  I don't think I'll need to involve Rich this time; a #10 envelope should do the job.

Beach babies and a Yarnapalooza

We're back from a few days at Bethany Beach, where we hung out on the sea shore, ate ice cream, rode bikes, walked, and generally chilled out.  A great and wet time was had by all.

Meanwhile, Sachy has left for Camp Simcha.  He'll be back in 2 weeks.

We came back to find this:

Something like 10 pounds of yarn for charity afghans, courtesy of Ravelry member XenaBob!  I've already told Robin M. who coordinates the charity afghan group here, and I'll be distributing the yarn to everyone who is working on granny squares for the blankets.  Thanks again, XB!

Spun! Done! (almost)

It's about 1010 yards total (12.5 oz or 350 grams) of hand spun 3-ply wool, silk (tussah, bombyx, noil) yarny yumminess.  There's still about 1 ounce of the dyed yarn that was left on one bobbin; I've divided it onto two, but have to spin some more of the Corrie singles to ply it with; that'll be about another 100 yards, if my quick math worked earlier.

I have to wait til it dries before I can measure wpi, but from the yardage/weight I'm thinking it's dk weight, which is exactly what I was shooting for.

Bah, hum (and whatever angora bunnies say)

Where have I been for the last week? At the world-famous Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! I actually got to take a fabulous 3 day class with Robin Russo, on fiber preparation for spinning, and I now can actually comb and card and my spinning is SO much better too.
I can now produce an honest-to-goodness real hand-carded rolag:
We mostly used combs and drum carders, though. We worked with something like 10 different breeds worth of sheep wool, plus alpaca, llama, quiviut (!), angora, silk, mohair, and then blends.
Here are a few shots of my classmates; note all the different wheels. We had everything from a Merlin Hitchhiker to a classic Great (Walking) wheel.

Having learned all that, of course I had to shop for combs (I had already bought hand cards in the hopes of getting into a class with Judith Mackenzie McCuin which was full, but that worked out anyway). I wound up buying the Indigo Hound English combs, though I'd like to get either the Louet Dutch combs or the MajaCraft handcombs, both of which are quite dull. I know that sounds silly when I now have a set of lovely double-pitch sharp combs, but in a child-intensive household such as this I feel like I can only use the Indigo Hound combs when no one else is home, for fear that one or another of the kids (read: Feivel or Gilad) will seriously hurt himself).
I also got...drumroll...a 3' triangle loom from Carol Leigh. I've really wanted one for a while and figured this was my chance.
The best thing is that after all this time of focusing on fibers and spinning techniques most suitable for fine knitwear, I now have a hunger for fibers like Churro and Jacob which I would weave. You know, because I need more fiber obsession.
I also bought assorted dizzes and other little odds and ends, and a little fiber and about 1500 yds of medium weight yarn, nothing too much in that area.
Overall, it was, as always, fabulous!