Ain't that peculiar!

Peculiar as can be.

I have learned to knit without looking. So now I knit and watch TV or knit and read at the same time.
It's eerie.
I have not been spinning much. Fall weather went away last weekend and the desire to spin went with it. I have started knitting a double domed cap. White brim and dome 1. Still haven't figured out what the second one will be. Some random ideas in that direction: using the dishcloth patterns to put designs on your caps. 2 caps, two designs.

I want to knit a dragonfly baby blanket. But I have no baby to give it to.(Of course I still want one of my own, a boy to give it to.)

Speaking of more children, I had a dream (several) of being pregnant one more time. I'm still hoping, but a man in the making needs a man to make him. I'm surrounded by boys, guys and overgrown children. I have been dreaming of past males lately but those are more upsetting than informative.

Anyway I have figured out the gansey pattern I want to make. It has the intertwining trees pattern from lion brand on the tummy framed on top and bottom by bands of garter stitch. There are cables on either side of the chest and a set of stacked garter stitch diamonds in the center. The sleeves have diamond shaped cables running down the top to the elbow.
There are false seams, gussets, and welts, and the channel island cast on. It will be a nice creamy white and a beautiful sweater.(Now if I could just find a man to fit it.)

It's gonna be a long singlehood. I'm filing the papers next Thursday so technically my single hood hasn't even started. J however has started dating which is good for him. I am not taking that route again. This time I will let God choose.

Consistent heat

Over the course of my fiber life I have washed many a fleece. Different breeds and categories, longwools medium wools and fine wools. I always shied away from fine wools because I could never get the grease out. Longwools are easier mediums are not so much but still not impossible.
You see I was using the method that goes like this: hot water soap and sit. So many warnings about felting the fleece and not letting the water cool and the grease re deposit. The washer machine made plenty of hot water and could keep it hot for quite a while. Still I had a bit of trouble with my finer medium wools, I would have to wash them several times, rinse and dry them, only to have to wash them again later on. Worse I sometimes just spun the yarn in the grease.YUCK! I tried using more soap, less wool, less sitting times and hotter water to no avail.
So I tried washing some on the stove, (thank you Stephanie) with a fine wool. It turned out ok. By ok I mean it had as much grease left over after 2 washes as one of the medium wools after 1 wash. Ok, so why did that turn out better than the washer machine? I think it's because of the constant heat.

With constant heat the grease never has a chance to resettle. The water temp never cools down, if anything it will increase a bit over time. There is a chance for it to cool off when you drain it and refill the pot but this can be eliminated by a double pot system. (Two pots of water on the stove, one is washing while the other heats water to the same temp, ready for the next stage. When the second pot is in use, the first pot gets dumped, refilled, and heated.)
Some points to remember are that you still need to use enough soap, you may have to open the lock tips in that first wash while the water is still cool, and you can only do so much wool at a time even in a large stock pot. If you plan on dying the wool this a great method because you can go right from washing/rinsing to dying and only have to dry the wool once!

Just a tip.

One months work

What you see here is 7 oz total of brown Corridale 2 ply yarn. It took me a month to spin it at the rate of about 2 oz per week. Now according to established guidelines, this yarn is costing me: 6.00 purchase price 3 hours of spinning each at 1.00 per hour and 5.00 per oz in overhead. I will soon be adding 10 cents each for labels. That adds up to 14.81 roughly.
I WOULD NEVER PAY THAT FOR A SKEIN OF WOOL YARN! (maybe cashmere or silk but not wool alone)
Now here's where I go wrong. It takes me too long to spin too little. That means I have to apply a large amount of overhead to a small amount of product. OK, so instead of 8 oz a month lets try 8 oz a day. (We would spin singles for 5 days and spend 2 days plying)

Now we can have the same time it takes to spin 3 hours per skein, the fiber still cost me 6.00 but I have 10 lbs to spread that overhead over, so it drops to something like 1.26 per oz. That makes the skeins cost 6.07 instead. But that would earn me 3 dollars an hour. Here's where a lot of people go a little nuts. I can't see charging much more than that. I might bring it up to 7.00 tops but not more, meaning I'm still making squat.

There are things you can do to alter the numbers, buy cheaper fiber, spin faster, don't ply, reduce your overhead costs, OR charge 15.00 a skein because you are a human and not a machine. In the end it's up to you. If the people will pay it by all means charge it. It's nothing less than you deserve, and worth every penny for one months work.

Sampling

When I went to the Plum Nelly I bought a n 8 oz bump of hand dyed wool from Brown Sheep that they wanted tested for market. So today that's our topic. This wool is a roughly med length wool, hand dyed in blue, pink, and a shade of pale green that is kinda close to blue.

My first sample is spun on a drop spindle and is a high twist, fine 2 ply. I just split it lengthwise, predrafed and spun following the color sequence. The drafting wasn't bad, it was actually quite fun. I didn't have to worry about the spindle dropping, the crimp was more than enough to hold it together. The dye sections were short but when I spun it they lengthened out quite a bit.

I then plyed on the spindle (something I usually don't do), skeined, and washed it in warm water. I pressed it in a towel and hung it to dry under the vent for 1 hour. It was dry and I noticed the fiber was harsh and over spun. I thought the plying and washing would even out the twist and it did but the yarn didn't relax much in the water. I had left it to soak for 10 min. It will be good for sturdy sock bottoms or maybe weaving. If I were to knit it I would make a bag or belt or something.



So now I wanted something softer. This time I carded the wool on my drum carder twice making a nice feminine purple. Then I spun a heavy DK/light worsted single on the wheel spinning slower for consistency. The drafting was a little more difficult now, mostly because I really had to pay attention to the fiber length. I found that a long draw worked better with some redrafting of the thicker spots. I didn't predraft the batt at all so I wouldn't make the single too thin. The wool felt softer in the batt, and in the yarn. Finally I plyed it at about half the rate, skeined it, washed it, pressed it out in a towel, and hung it to dry. I could already tell this yarn would be more suitable to a hat. The yarn was squishy before I washed it. Now that it has dried It is very bouncy. It still has a rough hand but the look of the yarn is decidedly softer.
Click for a close up photo of the yarn.


Finally some book reviews: Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair...funny as all get out! Read it in 2-3 days and laughed myself silly. This lady has a blog called Crazy Aunt Pearl. I haven't checked it out yet but I will.

Paula Simmons book Handspinners Guide to Selling is another book I've picked up and it is a great resource for info on production spinning, and the business of selling your product. The tips of consistent weight and yardage in your yarns. Picking only a few weights to produce, equipment that will help, spinning tips that will help, Using samples to sell to LYS's, pricing ideas and pretty much a way to make a living at it. The only downside is that the book was produced in the 60-70's, and I don't trust that people are still making a living solely off of production spinning. She does state that demo's, teaching, writing books, and selling finished goods are a good way to round out your income. (I demo'd at the Children's Museum Sat and I wonder about charging for it. It sounds like a good idea.) It's more like they're necessary as far as I can see. The cycle of "craft resurgence" is a long one. There was one in the 60-70's and now one in the 2000-2010's That's a 40 year stretch. As much as I may want to, I think I'll keep my day job.

The Plum Nelly

Too tired to post really, I just came back from a weekend trip to Hastings and The Plum Nelly.
Please take time and visit this store. If we don't purchase from our fiber shops they go out of business. It's only 2.5 hours away(unless your me and then it's 3) and well worth the trip. The prices are cheap and the selection is good. They carry fibers from local artists as well as Brown Sheep. Iris is wonderful to talk to, and they have classes, and equipment, and...and...
Just go. You'll love it.
I gotta go lie down now.
Oh yeah, don't forget Threads in Lincoln as well.

Humble Fiber Pie

Ok I have to show you what my secret pal sent me in the mail...


Yeah, I know, and all I was expecting was yarn. (sniff)
I am humbled. When I think of what I sent MY fiber pal, I feel ashamed.
I will do better next time, I promise.

Now for a description: This yarn is merino, red angelina, and Icicle. The two lower batts show the progression in carding. The second one was blended once and the third one was blended twice and the yarn was the result!
The first bat is Blue Faced Leciester and Blue Firestar. She just threw that one in..I'm not worthy!
Am I lucky or what?!

A friend of mine tagged me, so my next post I will have to answer that.
Until then...My bunny had babies! Pics of those later...Saturday makes them 1 week old.
Toodles!

Spin span spun

Welcome to the first post of 2007.
Today we are spinning the merino Tango colorway from Paradise Fibers on a homemade drop spindle made from a dowel and 2 wooden wheels. It looks like we have done up ¼-1/2 oz and it is just a dream to work with.

What to do with it? I have 8 oz total and I was considering my options…
Give it to my secret pal
Make something out of it
Sell it as yarn in the festival.
I decided to go all of the routes. I will give some to my secret pal, I will make something for myself (maybe a set of those fingerless gloves!) and I will sell a bit of it.(If there is any left)
One of the yarns I make I will pass the fiber through the carder first. This blends the colors so that you can't even tell it's from the same roving. It also helps with the plying problem. I'm not fond of Navajo plying, and I don't like the "two verigated yarns plyed together" look.

Oh the Weather is going to be fright full, but the for-cast could be lie-full, And since I haven’t seen them yet, Call the girls for a fiber met!

Ok so I’m keeping my day job! To all you who read this I’m proposing a get together this Saturday at Wild Oats if the weather is ok. I’m thinking hot drinks, chocolate and fiber!
Amazingly enough I still have the Job. I’m down to a few buttons but I think the lady knit the cuffs wrong. Putting 2 splits on each one.

Anyway work has been a total change up. New boss, new coworkers, same old B.S.
Last night I went to the meeting at Mangelsons. Only to discover I didn't have the right equipment for the JOB.
Oh well, that's all for now.
Tune in next time for more fiber adventures on...Snarled Yarns!

Santa came early

Look what Santa left me...Yeah, isn't that cool? He got it from the Wool Peddler. It's merino handyed in the colorway Tango. So cool, I will be spinning it as soon as I can. Projects? What other projects?

I've switched to the new blogger. It doesn't seem all that different from the old one except it asks me for labels for my posts. I think this one will be mostly spinning. Let me know if you notice anything different.

Last night I gave away some 5 lbs of Suffulk wool roving I didn't like. This morning I cleaned out my stash and threw out some alpaca seconds, some chaffy Jacobs wool and some donated fiber that looked like merino or something blended (badly) with some (felted) angora. It was tacky and weird.
Then I re orginised the fiber shelf, brought the antique spinning wheel down stairs and debated about when to go through the lincoln fleece I bought. I still have many fleeces to move or spin.
Here's the list..alpaca, romney, icelandic, columbia,lincoln, silk, mohair, morino,border liecester, shetland lincoln cross,angora, and cotton(I know it's not a fleece).


FOR SALE: Louet David 8 harness 36 inch width loom. String heddles, 10 treadles, removable breast beam(front bar) foldable back beam. $700.00
I don't weave anymore.
Email me for details.