Fiber Musings

Fiber: 100% Blue Faced Leicester (mixed black/white, over dyed)
Source: Butternut Woolens
Colorway: Sea Glass (purple, green and blue — think I’m in a color rut? It’s just like the Peacock hankies from yesterday’s post.)
WPI: 22
Plies: Single
Weight: 4 oz.
Amount: 308 yds.

Between Janine’s class on yoked sweaters and Kathryn’s class on energized singles at Madrona, I have been dreaming of a colorful yoked sweater with balanced singles. And when I found the last bundle of this BFL at the market, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

I split this once length-wise before spinning. So the color repeats are not as long as they could be, but still of a decent length. After spinning, I left it to sit in a very hot bath (near boiling) and then pulled it out and dunked it several times. That bit of agitation allowed the twist to migrate/even out, set the twist, and full it lightly. I think it will be lovely. I just need to spin the singles for the main color/body of the sweater. I have plenty of light light brown merino-x wool in the house. I think any of them will do.

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There’s nothing like an impending deadline to jump start the old creative juices. Of course, it could just be the adrenaline speaking. Case in point. I dawdled on Deb’s Scarf (not Menz) until the day before I was going to give her the present. Yes, I could have waited and given it to her late, but it wouldn’t be the same.

CNCH 2010 Return to Sender: 80/20 merino/bamboo

Now, I’m facing down the week before the deadlines for CNCH entries — Return to Sender (RTS) and Gallery.  I have committed to RTS — I bought the fiber. Yes, it’s true. I don’t actually have to submit it, but I feel obligated. The roving has been sitting on my desk. I look at it every so often and think, “Oooh, look how purdy!” But what do I want to do with it?

After Deb’s class, the thought to ply it against itself no longer has appeal. With Kathryn’s class under my belt, the thought of a balance single also crossed my mind. But I’m not confident enough of my singles to submit. There are going to be some spectacular entries, so I need to think a bit outside the box.

I pinged Amy & Carolyn on what they thought I should ply with this. I’ve been on a green kick lately. I thought of doing something with the olive. Amy suggested something warm. Caroline says to just go for it, but the olive might be too yellow. So I sat on it a bit more.

Chasing Rainbows Silk Hankies - Peacock Colorway

Due date is next Monday. The next committee meeting is on Saturday — a perfect time to deliver it in person. But it means that I’d better get cracking. And I really started to work on the color options. Suddenly, I remembered some silk hankies that I’ve been playing with.

As you can see, I’ve made one scarf with it and made a weaving sampler with it. Do I have enough? I highly doubt it.

I looked up my fiber database. Yea! There’s one more package in a bin in the garage. Hmm. But was that this package or another package? This morning, I went to the bin, and there it is. Another full ounce of hankies in the same colorway. Thank goodness for databases and marked bins!

Aside: I have Sheila to thank for the database thing. When she first told me about her database/spreadsheet, I just thought that she was even more of an OCD than I was. (That reminds me, I need to mark the new package as consumed!)

See how pretty they look together? My plan is to spin a fine single of each and ply them together. The RTS fiber will not be stripped because I want long repeats of the colors. And no, I don’t think I will separate out individual colors to make longer repeats. I’ve tried that in the past but it loses the subtle color shifts. I’d like to preserve those if I can.

As for what I think will happen, my guess is that the purple and olive sections of both the silk and the merino/bamboo will blend and the silk will disappear. The sections of red/orange/yellow will pop out. That’s my guess. We’ll see if I’m right when I’m done plying.

I think they would make a really pretty weft yarn for a scarf at the next CNCH Gallery. What do you think?

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Warp: Gold handspun in 50/50 merino/silk; approx. 40 wpi.
Weft: Olive handspun in 50/50 merino/silk; approx. 40 wpi.
Loom: Gilmore Gem II
Sett: 20 epi
Pattern: 2/2 twill
Width: 8″ on loom, 6.75″ after finishing
Length: 70″ on loom plus hem, forgot to measure after finishing

Yarn spun February 22-26. Warped the loom on March 5. Wove on the morning of March 6. Scarf presented to birthday girl at dinner on March 6. It was a sprint to the finish.

Why so long between spinning the yarn and warping? I had a wake to plan and attend to. Then it was a week on hand wringing on whether it should be plain weave or twill. And if twill, what I should do about the floats on the edges and whether I wanted a floating selvedge or not. Yes, I was over thinking it. I think it is because it ishandspun and a birthday present that gave me so much stress. Thank you Amy for much hand holding throughout the project!

Here are a few more pictures of the project:

50/50 merino/silk top from The Artful Ewe. 3.5 oz each. As soon as I saw the colors, I just knew that it was destined for a scarf for my friend. It scream her name from all the way across the marketplace at the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat.

Yarn sample card. The gold is straight off the bobbin. The olive has been wet finished.

Ellie (not) helping. In retrospect, I think she was trying to tell me she was hungry and I should be attending to her, not the loom.

Scarf finished. Starting a sampler for my records. 3/4" plain weave on each edge for a rolled hem.

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I missed a step last week, and came tumbling down the stairs in the middle of the night. Nothing broken, but I broke the fall with both hands and my (bad) knee. Ugh. It’s been a week and the right wrist is still painful. Do you know how much you use your dominant hand’s wrist on a daily basis? Everything seems to aggravate it.

Tonight, I broke down and bought a matching set of stylish wrist braces. (not!) These are make in anti-microbial grey fleece that is supposed to be soft. Guess what? They itch like crazy. Definitely not the polwarth I’ve been knitting nor the merino/silk I’ve been spinning. Yeah. Those 2 activities aren’t helping my wrist any either. I’ve changed from picking to throwing. The minute twist/flick of the wrist when you pick gets painful quickly.

Back to the itchy wrist braces…I think I’m going to have to make some fingerless mitts as brace liners a la Knitsarina.

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As I’ve mentioned before, I live in this state of creative euphoria whenever I attend events like SOAR or Madrona Fiber Arts‘ Winter Retreat or CNCH. There is so much creative energy around me, both in and out of the classroom environment.  My imagination is limitless. There are endless projects to design and possibilities to explore. (*) If there were only enough hours in the day to do them all.

Unfortunately, the euphoria wears off. For me, it’s on or about day 10. The memories recede and the projects are less vibrant and clear in my mind.  And that’s too bad. I mourn that loss after each event. And even though I know it’s coming, I am still surprised when I wake up one morning and can’t remember that fabulous project that occupied my mind for so many hours just days earlier.

This year, I’m going to try something new. I’m going to apply a bit of my project management background to the creative side. I know. It sounds totally anachronistic to the creative process. But here’s what I’m thinking.

In David Allen’s Getting Things Done, David introduced the concept of creating a list called “Someday/Maybe.” In this list, you place all the things that you might want to do someday. Maybe. It’s in this list so you don’t forget it. But it is not in your everyday task list to mock you for not doing it. You can go back and reference the list when you need to.

Since I usually come home with at least 20 (or more) projects of dramatically different types (spinning, dyeing, weaving, knitting, you name it!) that I want to explore. Each project has probably 3-5 variations that needs to be experimented on. There is no way that I can get through them all before the memory fades.

The Someday/Maybe list is perfect for these types of ideas. Jot the ideas down, with as much information as I have. Attach photos, yarns, and whatever other inspirations that I have gathered to propel me toward the finished project. File them away in the Someday/Maybe folder.

Periodically, peruse the Someday/Maybe folder for inspiration. Who knows, perhaps I’ll have another burst of creative euphoria as I look through them.

As I near day 10 of the post Madrona creative euphoria, I’m going to spend an hour or so to gather my notes, thoughts, and samples; write them down and save them for a rainy day.

Ask me in a year how well this worked for me.

* Those more observant might also have noticed that I tend to post more in this blog during the days after the retreats.

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