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

Month: March 2011 Page 1 of 2

Study Group and New Blog

I took at three day workshop with Sharon Alderman a week ago. This is the first of a 2 part series that Black Sheep Handweavers Guild is putting on. Sharon’s class is about designing handwoven cloth for garments. Specifically, cloth for a jacket that Daryl Lancaster will help us create in September.

We created a study group to keep the workshop attendees on track for finishing the cloth by the September workshop. A new website and blog was created for the study group to share information and progress with each other and with Sharon & Daryl. You’ll find the link to it on the left under “guilds.”

I’ve posted pictures of my class samples over there.

Appreciation

Is this not the coolest book cover ever? Cover features card woven bands from guild member (and wife of one of the authors), Gudrun Polak.

And whose idea was it to use the card woven bands? The co-author, Eleanor, not the weaver’s own husband. Hmm.

If you wonder what card weaving has to do with Quantum Computing, the answer is nothing. Eleanor just thought they were pretty and would soften up what would otherwise be a dry book. It’s nice when your work is appreciated, isn’t it?

By the way, just flipping through the book gave me nightmares of my senior year in college. They lied on the cover. There’s nothing “gentle” about the book. But if you feel the need, here’s the full link to Quantum Computing, A Gentle Introduction.

Foot Notes

Specs:

  • Fiber: Foot Notes Unspun! from Fiber Optics Yarns
  • Colorway: Stormy Monday Blues
  • Fiber Contents: 80% superwash merino, 20% nylon
  • Weight: 3.25 oz (package was for 4 oz, but part of it was used for Batts in the Belfry)
  • Yardage: 396 yards, pre wet finishing
  • Plies: 2
  • WPI: don’t know. Didn’t measure, but sock weight.

This was fun to spin, but the fiber blend was slick. Slick as butter left on the counter on a hot August afternoon. But on the other hand, the fiber just flowed straight from the pencil roving and onto the bobbin. The resulting yarn is nice and squishy.

Photo on the left is what the pencil rovings looked like. The big ball of roving is the fiber for this yarn. The greenish bit on the bottom is what remains of the roving from the Batts in the Belfry entry.

The pencil roving was perfect for the challenge since all we had to do was to shove it in the orifice, but that team name was already selected. ;-)

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