New Streaming Leaves Lace Scarf

I started the new streaming leaves scarf last night while watching The Changeling - this time using a handspun merino/silk blend that I spun up a few years ago. I like this version much better and am thinking I'll definitely pull out the first version, way too colorful, will find another project for that handspun at some point. Of course this will look much prettier once blocked and the lace pattern really shows up.

Oh, and I started opening up the comments section on my blog - not sure if that's a good thing or not but I get final approval before they post. :-)

Chenille on the loom

Yes, I'm back to the loom - which is where I love to be! Yesterday afternoon I put on a black chenille warp for 5 scarves. I almost exclusively use 1300/yd chenille from Silk City Fibers, it's by far the best quality chenille around. This is the first scarf on the warp - it's a clasped weft technique using a lime green chenille along with the black. The remaining 4 scarves will be all black, but not for long. After coming off the loom one will get a couched design (on the sewing machine) of either a coordinating chenille or a novelty knitting ribbon/yarn. The other 3 will mostly probably get a surface design technique called discharge. I'll silkscreen designs on using a discharge paste, after it dries I hit it with the iron (well, not actually hit), the heat & steam will pull the dye out of the chenille. Black generally, but not always, turns out a gold color after discharging. Burgundy & rust have come out a brilliant gold, purple sometimes a lighter blue. I always test on a small sample piece before discharging on the actual scarf because occasionally it has turned out less than attractive.

On another note I've pulled out a third skein of handspun to try the streaming leaves scarf with - didn't care for the one I tried last night, maybe this one I'll love. I'm not ripping out the 'very colorful' one yet though, will let that sit on the needles for a while before deciding what to do.

Streaming Leaves Scarf revisted

Oh boy, decision time - as I look at the photo of the streaming leaves scarf I posted last night I think those stripes (naturally occuring in the spinning) are just too much. It doesn't look that bold in person though............will have to give serious thought today as to whether or not to continue with this project or pick a different handspun and start over tonight. I haven't knit so much that it would distress me to slide it off the needle and pull it out.

Streaming Leaves Lace Scarf

Been lax about updating the blog but I haven't done much fiber wise to post. I've still been researching surface design for a guild presentation and knitting......started a new scarf last night. I picked up a new (to me) pattern at Websters in Ashland on Monday - it's Streaming Leaves Lace Scarf by Fiber Trends. I'm knitting it with some of my handspun that was plied with quilting thread. The color changes might be a bit busy but I think I'll like it anyhow...........I'm loving the process, the pattern is very fun to knit. It will look much nicer after it's blocked. Also been working on taxes - figured it's about time to get to them..........goal is to have them finished this week........hmm, may or may not happen if I get sidetracked by fiber or the beautiful weather that supposed to be arriving on Friday.

New in Etsy Shop

Check out my etsy shop for the newest listings. I'll be listing more superwash merino roving almost daily over the next 2 weeks, more new spring scarves to come too.

Finally finished plying

I finally finished plying the blue faced leicester I had been spinning - took the better part of two evenings to do it - plying is so very boring. This was roving I bought on sale last fall at OFFF from Dicentra Designs........I know, I know, I have no business buying any roving - I have a walk-in closet full of fiber to spin plus I dye my own, but I couldn't resist this at 50% off. It turned out more grass green than I was expecting but I like it.....no clue as to what it will be knit/woven in to yet.......it will sit on the shelf and marinate for a bit. There are 860 yards in a size similar to fingerweight commercial yarn.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time shooting and editing pix of 20 scarves that will be up for sale, some locally, some on etsy. I was also doing research on surface design for a guild presentation in May. Need to start working on a presentation for the local chapter of the American Sewing Guild - they will be coming here to my studio in late April to learn about weaving/spinning - from what I understand these two arts/crafts are new to them. Hmm, I'm an expert at enabling I wonder who I can lure over to the fiber side.

Tomorrow I'll be teaching another drop spindle class at Llamas & Llambs in Jackonsville. These classes are always fun - it's so gratifying to see someone learn how to spin and really enjoy it. I'd say the majority of my students have kept with it - many buying wheels and for those that decided it's not the craft for them they didn't have to invest a lot of money to find that out....and they had fun in the class.

Braided Roving for Sale

Yesterday with the aid of the Hamilton Beach sweater dryers all the superwash merino roving was dried and then braided, coiled, weighed and tagged (each braid weighs approx 8 ounces). There were some beautiful colorways - I say were because today I was relieved of 7 pounds of it at my spinning group and I got to see 2 of them being spun - loved it! Of course a few of my favorites sold right away but I'll dye more. What's left will be moving into my etsy shop over the next couple of weeks........unless I get possessed and set aside a few of them for myself! So, if you're local and any of these colors interest you just give me a call or email so I can set them aside. And if you eventually see them in the etsy shop let me know before you buy, there's no need to pay shipping if you can pick it up.

Roving, finally dry..............

The roving is finally dry - well, almost dry. If the ends of 4 lengths hadn't been laying in a puddle of water on the plastic overnight it would have been totally dry. Those 4 lengths are on one of the electric drying racks.....they'll be dry within a couple hours. After dyeing on Friday the weather turned rainy so I knew the roving would never dry in the garage - it got moved into the sewing room on the big wooden drying racks with the ceiling fan overhead and the heat turned up. Then I pulled out the Hamilton Beach electric sweater dryers to start putting lengths of it on those - it dries so quickly on those. Another fiber friend told me about these racks a couple years ago - she got hers at Kmart and uses them for drying fleeces on. Of course, we don't have a Kmart around here so I checked WalMart, nothing there either so then I checked online. Well, WalMart had them on their website and they were on sale so I ordered two of them - they have each have 4 stacking mesh racks and a blower that blows air across all of them - great invention. I have actually used them once for drying sweaters. So first thing on the agenda today (after yoga class) is braiding all that roving, weighing it and tagging it for sale.

Exhausting Dye Day

Ok, so there are only so many good dye days in the winter since I have to work outside. Yesterday was one of them but I had less than 2 hours sleep the night before so I knew I couldn't tackle dyeing - did research on a guild program I need to give in May instead. So, today was it - the rains and cooler weather return tomorrow. Of course it was below freezing first thing this morning so I had to wait until mid-morning to set up. That and clean-up are the worst part - need to cart everything out, set up tables, mix dye stock that I'm low on, get the steamers going, etc. So, I set off to dye almost 20 pounds of superwash merino. Well, maybe 20 pounds is a bit ambitious when not starting at 8am like I do in the summer. Sam called around 5pm on his way home from golf asking if I needed anything from the store - I cried that I desperately needed help - still had several more lengths of roving to dye and I was far behind on getting roving that had come out of the steamers rinsed and hung - it was laying all over the driveway on the plastic it was wrapped in while steaming. I needed an extra set of hands if I wasn't going to still be out there in the dark. He got home carrying a bag of sushi for dinner and set to work. As I was still pulling roving out the steamer and rinsing other roving he was washing out all my dye squirt bottles, measuring utensils, etc. He put away tables, put away dyes and even coiled up that hose when we were done, a job I hate doing. As it was we didn't get in the house until after 7pm. He's the hero of the day. So here are the fruits of my labor - the earliest out of the steamer had dried quite a bit but it's going to take a while for it all to dry. The drying racks are in the garage now, as soon as they aren't dripping anymore they'll get moved in the house where there's heat.

Handspun handknit socks

Last night I finished a pair of handspun handknit socks. I have no clue what fiber this is - usually I'm very good at labeling my handspun but this time all the tag had on it was the weight & yardage - no fiber type. I used a couple of new techniques on this pair of socks that I learned recently from fellow sock knitters. First - I learned how to crochet a chain with waste yarn directly onto the knitting needle to start my sock from the top of the foot at the toe, knitting a short row toe, then picking up those stitches off the waste yarn and continuing the sock up to the cuff. In the past I had crocheted a chain with waste yarn and then knit into the chain - this was much easier - thank you Cheryl. Second - I received a worksheet to figure out how to make socks that will fit my feet perfectly - I measured all different areas of my foot all the way up to my knee and then figured out how many stitches to start with - this is a great technique for handspun which may be different than commercial yarns used for many patterns. I ended up using 46 stitches for these socks - they fit me perfectly - thank you Yolanda.

China Red Scarf revisited.......

Here's a better picture of the red scarf as it's hanging to dry - the weave structure shows up much better off the loom.

China Red Scarf

Here's today project. Wound the warp and wove a scarf in two shades of red Bambu 7 (bamboo). Was even watching a movie and the Foodnetwork as I was doing it which was slowing me down. I'm posting a picture but it's very hard to see the pattern on the loom and before washing - it's a shadow weave undulating twill. If you look really closely you might be able to see the undulating design being created. I must have taken a dozen pictures using different light & angles trying to capture the weave structure in print. Now off to wash it so I can twist the fringe tomorrow.

New beaded scarves

Here are the latest scarves to get beaded fringes. All 3 came off one warp of 8/2 tencel - it was a variegated warp that I crossed with a different colors of 8/2 tencel weft. I first twisted the fringes and then beaded in-between them. I like the look, it doesn't scream beading but adds some sparkle.

I think I'm up to date now on what I've been doing, at least the things I can show pix of.....well, am still working on two different knitted socks, don't think I posted a picture of the ones out of handspun - will eventually get to it.

Scarves I wear

These are examples of another types of beaded fringes I've done in the past - all 3 of these scarves are ones I wear all the time. All three are hand-dyed. The green one goes from a blue-green at one end to the lime green at the other. The reds yellow one actually also has lots of blue and purple in it. I dyed enough for 2 scarves and just hated the warp afterwards - it hung in the studio for a long time before I wove it - after weaving I like the scarves so much I had to keep one for myself - it looks great with a red top and jeans. The other scarf in the purples/golds and also teal is one of my favorites - I also made matching earrings and a bracelet with the same beads.

Peacock Scarf

This is a scarf I wove a few years ago - it was part of a guild challenge, I recieved a little packet with a picture, a feather and some novelty yarn snippets in it that I had to use as inspiration for a project. What came of it was this scarf. This beaded fringe took a while to do but was well worth it. I ended up writing an article for Handwoven Magazine on it and it was published in the March/April 2006 issue. This scarf was sold quite a while ago.

Behind once again.............

Many days have passed since my last post - I have been busy, too busy to dump the pictures off the camera to show some of what I've been up to. We (a weaver friend/fellow guild member) have been working on the finishing touches for a guild program we'll be giving next Tuesday on the newer hi-tech fibers available to spinners and weavers. It's going to be a great program...........well at least in our eyes. I have been spinning and knitting in the evenings, twisting fringes on handwoven scarves and beading some of them. I'm going to post some pictures of scarves I wear all the time that I hemmed and beaded. Then another scarf with a fancy beaded fringe that sold a couple years ago. And then the beading I've just finished - I saw a new technique of beading the fringe by Susan of Thrums and decided to try it out - I like the result and it's something I don't have to decide ahead of time as I'm weaving - I can twist the fringe and then decide if it beads would enhance the scarf.

Here's what I'm spinning right now. I decided since it had been raining hard the beginning of the week I wanted something that looked like spring - wow is it ever colorful!

It seems that I can never figure out how to post several items in the order I'd like so this will probably be at the bottom of today's posting - oh well...........

Apricot handspun

Just thought I'd post a pic of my latest handspun - it's spun from merino roving that I dyed here in my studio - love the way it turned out. There are 755 yards so I'm thinking of knitting a shawl with it.

Spent part of the day twisting fringes on tencel scarves, will be adding some beading to them next, will post some pictures once that's done. I've done lots of beading on scarves either by add beads onto the fringe and twisting them or by hemming the scarf and adding a fancy beaded fringe to them. But recently Susan, of the blog Thrums, showed her beaded fringes in which she beads in-between the twisted fringes, I'm thinking I'll give that a try on some of these scarves. Was thrilled to see yet another way to add sparkle to a scarf.

Another day, another fiber

Another day, another fiber to try - so many fibers, so little time. This afternoon I wound a warp of 300 ends of chartreuse 10/2 perle cotton, 30 epi. The weave structure is a plaited twill. I wove an inch in the pattern (at bottom of photo) using a tan 10/2 perle cotton to make sure there were no threading errors........rarely are, but if I'm interupted by a phone call while threading there's no telling where I'll make a mistake, especially if I'm sitting there with the phone to my ear threading the heddles while talking. So, in the picture the first inch is using the perle cotton as weft, then I started using the Habu linen paper for the weft. It's very nice to work with. I'm not sure yet what this fabric will be for, in the back of my mind I'm thinking some sort of small purse. I also only bought one skein of the linen paper to sample so after I've used it all up I'll continue weaving with the perle cotton for a coordinating fabric. The only problem I had was winding the bobbin. I set up the skein on the squirrel cage and wound directly from that onto the bobbin......I learned quickly to be very careful having paper running through my fingers - paper cuts! Luckily no blood on the weaving.

On another subject - I'm very far behind in listing finished items in my etsy shop. One of these days in the near future I'll have to get out the mannequin and start taking pictures so I can get the shop more up to date.

More Stainless on the loom

This is the warp I wound and got on the loom this morning. The warp is 8/2 tencel in black, grey & light grey, the weft is Habu stainless steel & silk in a grey color. One picture shows hemstitching in progress at the beginning of the scarf - the needle is not my usual tapestry needle but a regular sewing needle to show how small the grist is of the stainless steel silk. It does kink a bit but not too bad at all, it's very easy to weave with just like the stainless steel wool. Another picture of what the scarf is looking like as I weave, colors in the warp gradually changing to the next color. Then another picture where I held my hand under the scarf to show just how transparent and fine this scarf is. I'm anxious to see how it reacts after it's finished and washed, should hold a scrunch like the stainless steel wool. I usually put on very long scarf warps but in sampling many of these different fibers I've only put on enough for one scarf - this time I'll get two scarves off this warp....haven't decided if I'll use the stainless silk on the next one or just use some tencel......will decide when I get to it.

Stainless Steel on the loom

Ok, so I couldn't stand it, yesterday I wound a warp to try out the wool/stainless steel blend on the loom. I wound a warp using a fibonacci striping sequence in grey 8/2 tencel, black 8/2 tencel and Habu ramie (space dyed). I then wove a scarf using the Habu wool/stainless steel blend in a coal grey/black for the weft (sewing thread size in grist). Here's a picture of what it looked like on the loom and a picture of the sample piece from the end of the warp that I've scrunched up - it holds the scrunch because of the stainless steel. I'm going to wash the scarf shortly - will post a picture of the finished scarf and scrunching at a later date. These pictures aren't the best but take my word for it, it's very cool fiber.

Play day............

Friday was a play day in Ashland with a couple of other fiber friends...........a day in which we ran into two other fiber friends in Websters fondling the fiber. Had lunch at Dragonfly - one of my favorites spots over there for lunch, especially in the nice weather when the outdoor garden seating is open. Here's a picture of my stash - I kept it small, all in one little shopping bag..........beads for fringes for 2 scarf warps and a few extra crystals for myself from The Bead Studio, a vest pattern that looks perfect for felted wools or handwovens, 3 leaf cookie cutters for needlefelting, some very neat grommet trim for who knows what but I couldn't leave the quilt shop, Fabric of Vision, without it. My fiber fondling at Websters included several Habu fibers, ramie, linen paper, silk/stainless steel blend and wool/stainless steel blend.........and then two sparkley sock yarns for gifts unless I can't stand it and cast on!

Tidal wave socks

Yes, I am weaving but I'm weaving a white on white scarf, advancing twill weave structure in merino/seacell but it just won't show up in a photo so I'm not posting it. I'm also knitting, usually in the evenings. These are my Tidal Wave Sox, pattern by SWTC (Southwest Trading Company), fiber is also by SWTC called Tofutsies which is a blend of 50% superwash wool, 25% soysilk, 22.5% cotton and 2.5% chitin. Chitin is a fiber from shrimp and crab shells, label says it's "naturally antibacterial"......all I care is that it doesn't smell like shrimp and crab shells!

I also recently knit a pair of yoga sox - heel & toe missing but they'll keep the center of my foot and ankles warm during yoga practice. Jury is still out on them, wore them for the first time Monday and they moved around too much, was thinking maybe take some stitches out on the next pair. Machine washed & dried them so they shrunk a bit, fit better this morning but still not perfect. Maybe putting ribbing along the arch of my foot would help........will give that a try with the next pair. Will have to take a picture of them at some point to post.

Today at the loom

Here's what I've been up to today. Earlier in the day I wound a warp for 2 scarves in Bambu 7 which is a 100% bamboo yarn from Silk City Fibers. I threaded an advancing twill which I love weaving, my feet dance on the treadles following the pattern. I apologize for how hard it is to see the weave structure in these pictures. I used a royal blue warp - the first scarf the weft is a blue of a couple shades darker, it's very hard to see the pattern unless you look at it at an angle but it's just what I was going for, a subtle look. The second scarf I used a very dark blue weft so the pattern shows up much more..........of course, my photography doesn't really catch the true color of the warp....royal blue photo is more true for the warp color. I could have finished up these scarves this afternoon but I got too chilly downstairs - needed to come up and get warm in front of the fire.

Bailey

Ok, so a friend up north requested updated pictures of Bailey on the blog - why does the happiest dog in the world always look so sad when I pull out the camera - he really is a smiley dog..........

On the loom today

Here's what I dressed the loom with this morning, already half woven. It's a huck pattern that I thought would be perfect for this second hemp blend scarf. This is a different blend; I was a bit worried about it feeling too heavy so this very open weave, similar looking to a canvas or leno 'should' work. Hopefully after washing it will turn out nice, will know by tomorrow morning after it's been washed and has dried overnight.

I'm going back to weaving bamboo after this warp - 2 different warps & weave structures. I need to find out the shrinkage rate so it can be included the the guild program next month. So far all my bamboo has been hand-dyed by me first or mixed with other fibers which changes that figure. And still another seacell blend to try out.

I've woven with tencel for years and bamboo for the past few years but all these other newer fibers have been very fun to experiement with.

Pebble Weave

Yesterday I warped and wove a hemp blend scarf in a pebble weave structure....got it washed last night, fringe still needs to be twisted but here's a close-up of it.

Scotch Thistle Shawl finished

The Scotch Thistle Shawl is finished, blocked it this past weekend. It's quite beautiful if I say so myself. It was handknit from my handspun, original roving was some hand-dyed that I bought from Sara of Great Balls of Fiber up in WA. The colors remind me of a thistle in bloom.

Snow again here yesterday, still covering the property, more expected overnight tonight - finally moisture has returned to the area, we are way behind in rainfall for the year which starts in September for record keeping. Need lots to get us through the dry summers here.

February snow

Today was one of my weaving guild meetings around 45 miles east of here, Rogue Valley Weaving Guild. The forecast was for possible snow but I really didn't expect any. Got a phone call from Sam at lunchtime that I should head home within 30 minutes, snowing like crazy....got a phone call 10 minutes later saying maybe I should head home now. Snowed hard the entire drive home but wasn't sticking on the roads until I got close to home. I took this picture 20 minutes after coming up the drive - my tire tracks were already covered. Huge snowflakes. I missed out on the program on color but am glad to be home safe & sound. Guess it's time to head to the loom!

Handspun, handknit by Kris from my hand-dyed roving

Today I'm showing what has been spun and knit from some of my hand-dyed roving. I wasn't sure how this roving would turn out - mostly white with splotches of color. Kris from Websters bought this braid, spun it up and knitted this beautiful wide scarf from it. It's nothing like I would have expected - absolutely beautiful.....I feel like spring really will be here soon. I'm definitely going to be dyeing more in this technique and will have to spin some up myself. Thank you Kris for sending the pix of your scarf. It's always so fun to see what others have done with my playing with dye.

Handspun by Mary from NM from my hand-dyed roving

This handspun isn't mine either but it came from some of my hand-dyed roving I sell in my etsy shop. Mary from New Mexico bought two braids of this roving I called rosehips. And here is a picture of her handspun. It's amazing to see all the colors and how they interact - it always looks so different from the braid. Many thanks Mary for sending the picture

What I'm up to now..........

I'm finally back to the wheel, been missing my spinning but been spending more time weaving and knitting lately. This is some of my hand-dyed roving that I had put aside when doing production dyeing - I loved these colors as I was dyeing them.

Here is a picture of the ear flapper hat I knit earlier last month. I would have posted it earlier but left it over someone's house - just got it back yesterday. This came about from my friend Yvonne wanting to learn how to knit an ear flapper hat. I've completed this one, she's completed a number of them - saw the latest one on the needles yesterday. You can read more about how it came about on Yvonne's blog.

Monday I washed the 3 tencel scarves, they're now waiting to have the fringes twisted using my trusty Conair hair twister - it's a great fast way to twist fringes, battery powered in each direction. It would be very scary to actually use this on my hair. Speaking of hair, Monday I also got 8+ inches of mine cut off - it's still below shoulder length, may eventually go another inch or two shorter......was getting very tired of it strangling me at night and taking hours to dry. Oh, so back to Monday - I put a warp for 3 scarves on the loom in a seacell/silk blend, just a simple lace pattern. I'm very anxious to get back to this warp so I can see how it feels and drapes after washing. But not today - supposedly the (daily) fog will burn off soon and it will be sunny and warm (for a change) so I'll be working outside cutting back bushes & plants. Tomorrow the rain comes, snow in the higher elevations, maybe a bit here at our house.