Fiber Musings

Random thoughts of a fiber enthusiast - mostly fiber related, sometimes coherent

Category: Spin Page 36 of 69

Yarn

By

On 20 Jun, 2009

In FO, Spin

April ClubLest you think I’ve completely gone over to the dark side. There has been activities other than weaving around here.

Tactile Fiber Arts April Club

Fiber: 50/50 Angora/Merino
Weight: 2 oz
Singles: 60-68 wpi
2-Ply: 36 wpi, pre-fulled; 28 wpi, fulled
Yardage: 438 yards, pre-fulled; 426 yards, fulled.

Singles spun on Reeves Frame Wheel. Plied on Schacht Matchless.

I firmly plied this yarn so that the bunny fur will stay put instead of shedding on my clothes, once knitted.  Then I fulled it by shocking the yarn in alternate hot/cold soapy baths, and generally bashed the yarn around with a water bottle in the hot soapy bath. After pressing out the water in a towel, I thwacked it several times while rotating the skein to ensure that the entire skein has received “the treatment.”

“Thwacking.” Someone asked what this is in one of the Ravelry discussion groups.  You take the wet skein on one hand and swing it from the back of your head against a sharp edge (the edge of a table or your kitchen counter).  This does a couple of things.

  1. It loosens up any felting of strands that you may have done in the hot/cold, bashing around process.
  2. It fluffs up the short fibers and helps it bloom.  The yarn now has a lovely halo, which it didn’t have when it first came off of the spinning wheel.
  3. It helps even out your twist by shifting it a bit.

I am giddy

By

On 3 Jun, 2009

In Knit, Spin

Dear Ann,

Thanks so much for entering our “All Wrapped Up In Natural Fibers” contest. Congratulations—your scarf has been selected as a finalist for the Fall 2009 Handspun Gallery!
…

Best wishes,
Amy
Editor of Spin-Off magazine

Finishing Work

By

On 1 Jun, 2009

In Knit, Spin

merino-silkThere has been some finishing work around here.

I finally finished spinning and plying the moorit merino/silk roving. There are 1,460 yards of 2-ply yarn here. It’s approximately 18 wpi off of the wheel. I haven’t wet finished this yarn yet. Once I do so, the fiber will bloom quite a bit. Why haven’t I wet finished it yet? I would like to over dye this yarn. I think color on the light brown will be very interesting. And the silk will really pop out. The question now, of course, is what color or colors. Until I do, they yarn will stay as it is. There’s no need to wet/dry the yarn twice. Lazy? Probably, but I prefer to call it efficient. Or better yet, more environmentally responsible.

pinwheelThe edging on the pinwheel shrug is finally done. I stayed up until way past midnight to finish off the last panel. Waldo really wanted to go to bed and was very vocal about it. As a shepherd, he needs to be in the same room as I am in order to keep an eye on me. He can’t go to bed in the bedroom with me still in the living room. He was getting quite cranky when I wouldn’t play along.

Anyway, next step will be to unpick the white waste yarn and pick up for the sleeves.  The edging is approximately 6″ wide.  I’ll work the sleeves to about elbow length in stockinette, then finish it off with the lace edging.  That will make the sleeves just shy of wrist length.

The sleeves will have to wait until I return from Washington.  Besides, I don’t have 16″ 4.00 mm needles.

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