Dying for More Dyeing

I took a wonderful class on Saturday at Misty Mountain Farm on dyeing techniques. Leanna and Linda Witt led the class. I had never tried dyeing anything before (except, maybe, food like frosting). The class was great for a novice like me because of all the information the Witts packed in. In only four hours, we learned two techniques for dyeing yarn and two techniques for dyeing fiber. I got to keep the yarn and fiber that I dyed, I had great fun, and the knowledge will be very useful. Kudos to Leanna and Linda! Check out their Web site for more fiber arts classes: http://www.mistymountainfarm.com/

Glass Spinning Wheel

I saw a post on the Ravelry group Beginner Spinners about a glass spinning wheel and I just had to check it out. A video about the artist Andy Paiko and his work is on the Web site of the Oregon Public Broadcasting station. Very interesting - he is incredible. http://www.opb.org/programs/artbeat/videos/view/216-Andy-Paiko
Certainly not a portable wheel, but I wouldn't turn it down ...

Hiatus

Shame on me for not keeping up with my blog. Excuses: travel, life, yadaah. I am gratified to see that since I last caught up, I have a couple of new responses to blog entries. One from my brother - he is apparently enjoying the toque! I'm happy for that - it's all about the user experience. I'll be interested to hear if strangers comment on it. Another entry is from a friend, Glaucia, whom I met through Ravelry. Glaucia lives in Lisbon, Portugal. I'm really glad to hear from her, and I certainly wouldn't want to disappoint by producing an inferior blog.

Meanwhile - about spinning, I posted in October about a fiber that I was having trouble spinning on my Ashford Traditional. The fiber is very slippery. I tried it on my Louet Victoria and I'm having greater success. I have spun nearly a bobbin full as of Wed. 19 November. I think the big difference is that the Louet Victoria has the Scotch tension. That is allowing more control over spin and the rate at which the fiber is drawn onto the bobbin.

Banana Blue

I like the yarn I spun from some bright blue/purple corriedale cross fiber I got at Webs in Northampton, Massachusetts. The shade of blue is a lot like bananas under UV light - wow! Check out http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2008/10/why-do-bananas-glow-blue.html?DCMP=ILC-arttsrhcol&nsref=specrt11_pic
The yarn was spun on my Louet Victoria wheel, and plied on my Ashford traditional double drive. I plied it using the Navajo ply technique and it resulted in about 12 plied twists per inch in the yarn.

Slippery Purple Slope

I am currently spinning this fiber, which I got from Webs in Northampton, Massachusetts in September. Wow, it's slippery stuff - a bit more challenging than spinning corriedale. Unfortunately I am not sure of the fiber blend. The color combination is pretty. It isn't making a variegated yarn, so I don't intend to Navajo ply it. I think this will be one where I ply two singles together. Webs, um, well, Web page is http://yarn.com/. Lots of goodies on the site. Before you are tempted, be sure you have reaffirmed that you DO NOT NEED ANOTHER SPINNING WHEEL...

Debut!

A milestone - I completed my first garment (okay, accessory really) out of my own handspun. It's brown and white fiber, spun rather unevenly. I forgive myself for that since it was one of my initial attempts at spinning. The benefit was that it had a rustic tweedy look when I knit it up. I didn't have much of it so I decided to make a simple hat. Being very textured yarn it looked best in stockinette stitch. Here is the picture - the hat modeled on its new owner, my very own brother Ed. He was very gracious about accepting it as a gift (thanks, bro!). He recognized it as a toque. Below is the picture of the yarn I knit it from.

Spinning at Great Falls

Once again great weather on Monday, and we celebrated the holiday spinning al fresco at Great Falls National Park, Virginia. Laura and I fielded questions from lots of curious folks. We can only hope that we are sparking a spinning revolution (get it? hah!). We were both spinning wool blend with some Corriedale. And (surprise), neither of us is quite sure what we will make out of the yarn we are spinning.