tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74348861880978006092024-03-13T08:48:06.737-07:00never too many stitchesMandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-68521065844178083772017-06-16T11:36:00.002-07:002017-06-16T11:36:46.491-07:00Fresh Starts It's nothing personal, blogspot. I like you. But I need a fresh start with my fibre persona online. I may or may not continue to add updates here. I have some decisions to make about what I post.<br />
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In the meantime, I'm over at Wordpress. <a href="http://mandyzmoon.wordpress.com/">http://mandyzmoon.wordpress.com</a><br />
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FYI, tied to the new/fresh blog are edits coming to the old design patterns (new layouts, updated contact info, consistency, etc.) I'm also on Instagram now (mandyz.moon because I started my mandyzmoon Insta-count years ago and have no idea what my login is since I never finished the set-up, but Instagram still recognizes that someone - me - has that account.)<br />
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TTFN,<br />
MandyzMandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-52244985708232054252017-01-06T13:23:00.001-08:002017-01-06T13:49:22.959-08:00New Year. New Fun.There is so much to catch up on, and if I was planning I'd start writing up some preliminary posts (maybe I will...), but I have so many other things I am focused on planning - paid work things - that I'll just see what I get to. I knit a few things in the past while. Just a few.<br />
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Today, however, I'm thinking about upcoming fun. I am going to offer a mini skills class on Brioche Knitting at the Norwood Naughty Knitter Fibre Frolic on Sunday, January 15th. I love brioche. I probably don't brioche enough. I could brioche more. I did brioche knit the edging of a recent scarf/shawlette instead of the (less interesting) stitch called for. I've also knit my way through many of Katrin Schuber's hats. I only own one of the hats, but I've knit a few.<br />
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For myself I started with <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/liguria" target="_blank">Liguria</a><br />
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With the same orange handspun yarn I knit my mom <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ondadolce" target="_blank">Ondadolce</a>.<br />
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Later I whipped up a bulky version of <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/beezee" target="_blank">Beezee</a> for one of the preschool teachers.<br />
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<br />Then a fellow twins-momma / dance-family friend requested a similar hat, so I made her the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/frost-on-roses" target="_blank">Frost on Roses</a>.<br />
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I think another hat is in order soon. Or perhaps one of the brioche stitch sweaters in my queue.<br />
Just look at how squishy it is (best seen in the bulky version) and those beautiful lines. Curves? Easy-peasy.<br />
Sure, you can do single-colour brioche, but I like 2 colours. In particular, I like that this is float-less colourwork.<br />
The edging of this scarf in single-yarn brioche, but not a ribbed stitch.<br />
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I know I should have some older brioche projects somewhere, but I can't recall what they are. Scarves I suspect. Simpler basic brioche. Or maybe just some stitch samplers.<br />
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I look forward to demystifying this technique for folks next weekend.<br />
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Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-29147278645503333872016-11-07T08:30:00.001-08:002016-11-07T08:30:34.637-08:00Manitoba Fibre Festival - shoppingI would be remiss if I didn't share photos of my fibre acquisitions from this year's fibre festival (even if I am late in sharing).<br />
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I did not bring home ANY alpaca NOR raw fleece. (It was tempting! I almost did.)<br />
I really don't need more of either right now.<br />
Instead I restocked my pretty-fibres stash so that I have ready-to-spin stuff available between rounds with the raw fibres I have to clean and prep.<br />
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Clockwise from the largest batt: my prize of an Icelandic wool blend donated by Tog & Thel, Merino-Silk roving from Wild Wind Naturals, a natural braid of Falkland wool and a dyed braid of Falkland from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GenerationsFibreworks/" target="_blank">Generations Fibreworks</a>, Chocolate-Raspberry merino Fluffy Roving from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cloud9fiberworks/" target="_blank">Cloud 9 FibreWorks</a> (2 braids that I claimed before she could even put it on display; good thing because when I walked away to do some organizing stuff I returned to find most of the fibre sold), and a pair of earthy merino-tencel fibre dyed by Manjusha Fibres.<br />
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I was also deeply compelled to support Wayne of <a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/NaturalKnotWood" target="_blank">Natural Knot Wood</a> designs as he added Tibetan style support spindles to his collection. Last year I was admiring (and helping others shop for) his Turkish spindles, but I have a decent collection of those already. I haven't bought a new spindle in years and I really love my other Tibetan style spindle. This one is a beauty.<br />
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As you can see from the photo above, I started spinning some new fibre on the new spindle immediately. Later, at home, I took a break from my super-fine spinning on the wheel to whip up that prize batt in a chunky 3-ply.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plying "ball" of 3 strands.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Filling my bulky quill attachment, with a bobbin for comparison.</td></tr>
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With 92 meters of bulky yarn, I'm thinking.... hat. Or mitts. Or cowl.<br />
Hmmmm.Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-88065499177123072562016-10-02T12:53:00.000-07:002016-10-02T12:53:43.245-07:00Manitoba Fibre Festival - HandspinningAfter much planning and a gorgeous weekend, the Manitoba Fibre Festival has wrapped up its fourth year. There is much I could write about, but I will focus on the <a href="https://manitobafibrefestival.com/handspun-skeins-competition/" target="_blank">Handspun Skeins competition</a> because I was the co-organizer of this event. Last year was the first competition on a smaller scale. As a lace-spinner, I wasn't satisfied by the requirement last year that yarns be of a medium weight, so I mentioned to the fabulous Festival organizers that I would love to see more categories and - as one has to expect when one asks for a volunteer-run event to develop an area - I found myself co-organizing this larger competition. Joanne Seiff was my fellow co-organizer.<br />
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All of our organization would have been for naught without a judge. We were fortunate enough to have local <a href="https://www.oldscollege.ca/continuing-education/fibre/master-spinner-program-/index.html" target="_blank">Master Spinner</a> Jo-Anne Tabachek as our judge. She carefully assessed each skein backstage at the Festival before they went on display.<br />
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We were impressed by the many beautiful entries and all the wonderful prize donations. I have linked to the websites that exist for the donations, but a few of them do not have websites. However, they are all local (to the Winnipeg area) and can likely be found again this January at the Norwood Naughty Knitters fibre event. Stay tuned for that announcement and if you want a direct update you should join the NNK on Facebook. NNK will also cross-post in the Yarn Over Manitoba group if you are there.<br />
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Back to our competition update.<br />
In the Singles category, this bright green skein of squishiness<br />
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won this fluffy delight of a batt from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/WildWindNaturals" target="_blank">Wild Wind Naturals.</a><br />
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Note that we did not have many singles submitted, so if you are a singles-spinner, send in a skein for next year's competition!<br />
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In the 2-ply category, this jewel-toned yarn<br />
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won a delightful braid of wool top from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/TheWackyWindmill" target="_blank">The Wacky Windmill.</a><br />
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Also from the 2-ply category, this soft brown yarn <br />
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won some squishy roving from <a href="http://spinitsask.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">Spin It.</a><br />
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In the multi-ply (3 or more) category, this much-admired skein of local shetland<br />
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won this soft roving from <a href="http://www.turtlemountainranch.ca/" target="_blank">Turtle Mountain Alpacas.</a><br />
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In the heavier weight of multi-ply yarns, this chunky 3-ply spun from local Shetland<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">full disclosure - this one is mine</td></tr>
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won a gorgeous batt of Shetland and other goodies from Tog & Thel<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also mine now; I'm a wee bit excited. Prizes were assigned to categories in advance of judging.</td></tr>
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For novelty yarns, much to our surprise there were only two entries and both were gorgeous. The winner was this corespun yarn.<br />
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The spinner received this fantastic blend of top from Manjusha Fibres<br />
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Our final category was yarn spun from a raw, animal source. The spinner had to start with the raw material. There were three categories - wool, camelid, and "other" (for angora, silk, chiengora, etc.) We had 5 submissions of wool, but quite surprisingly only one of alpaca. We were not surprised by the lack of submissions outside of the wool or camelid category, but perhaps that will be an incentive to spinners - you could win in this category by default. Heads up you bunny-keepers.<br />
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Back to the winners. For the wool category, this gorgeous orange yarn was not only cleaned, prepared, and spun by the contestant, but she also dyed it. I love orange.<br />
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She won a wonderful selection of Shetland and Mohair from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prairies-Edge-Wool-Farm/475028519290828" target="_blank">Prairie's Edge Wool Farm</a><br />
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Our lone alpaca yarn (come on alpaca-spinners, regale us next year!), was this soft beauty<br />
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that won some very soft alpaca roving from Penny Lee Alpacas.<br />
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All the submissions were lovely and received much admiration from the public. Here they are.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My singles submission using merino dyed by <a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/cloud9fiberworks" target="_blank">Cloud 9 Fibreworks</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">merino-silk. gorgeous.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I managed to take a terrible photo of my own yarn. It is much prettier in person.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cable-plied yarn. Now I can finally knit it!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My submission spun from "All the Wool Fleeces", the brown fleece.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
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I look forward to next year's competition and all the beautiful submissions!<br />
<br />Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-55676566221798231632016-07-03T20:54:00.001-07:002016-07-03T20:54:34.436-07:00Tour De Fleece - days 1&2It's my first year participating in the Ravelry <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/groups/tour-de-fleece" target="_blank">Tour de Fleece</a>. For those unaware, spinners commit to spinning every day during the Tour de France, resting on the Tour rest days, and giving themselves an extra challenge on the more challenging days of the bike tour.<br />
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I prepared some fibre in advance.<br />
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My starting plan is to 1) spin a 2-ply rainbow gradient yarn dyed by Waterloo Wools, 2) spin up the remainder of the jewel toned superwash merino that I carded with a little bit of white alpaca for fun, 3) make progress on the support spindle project, 4) spin up the locks as an art yarn for one of the challenges, and 5) spin my two braids of browns Falkland. For the latter, I carded one braid with some yak and angora (for fun) and blended the colours in the process. I'm going to spin the other braid as-is (with some fluffing up of course) and ply them together.<br />
If I get through that, there's more fibre. Not a ton of fibre (excepting All The Fleeces that are not ready to spin) like some of the stashes I've seen featured on the TDF discussions, but a couple more braids and a couple bags of alpaca-silk. When I'm done, I can fully justify buying more fibre at the <a href="https://manitobafibrefestival.com/" target="_blank">Manitoba Fibre Fest </a>this year.<br />
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For the first two days I was camping, but that wasn't going to stop me from spinning. I packed up fibre and spindles. I was spinning while kids ran around. I was spinning at the playground. I was spinning in the middle of the night around a camp fire. On the way home we stopped at the "Bison Day" event in Birds Hill Park where we were camping and I enjoyed spinning with some bannock (just to say I did spin there).<br />
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When I got home I gleefully started on my rainbow gradient.<br />
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(I also have a new phone and am playing with a collage app for the first time.) Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-35833170510400415542016-06-04T08:00:00.000-07:002016-06-04T08:00:19.609-07:00Pullovers finished just in time for too-hot weatherI gleefully finished two pullovers in May. I even wore them a couple times. I know it will soon be too hot to wear them. Fortunately, it will get cold again.<br />
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A <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chantalle" target="_blank">Chantalle</a> (that I fear is actually too big for me... but I'm not willing to concede that quite yet)<br />
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And my self-designed Cafe Au Lait top knit in boucle (what was I thinking when I picked that up? Well, I was thinking there was a lot of it - enough for a sweater - and it was dirt cheap second-hand) and brown chenille from a destash. The chenille colourway was "Starbucks" and when I saw it with the off white boucle I knew I had to make a coffee inspired top. It's a basic contiguous shoulders top-down construction (with bust accommodations) featuring stripes with a slipped extra YO of the boucle that crosses over the stripe to break it up... simple hey? If I write it up, I promise to give a better description of the stitch pattern I made up.<br />
After the BO I decided I didn't like how the bottom edge flipped and I wanted a wee bit more length, so I added a crochet border featuring puff stitch "beans".<br />
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Not for me, but in line with other things I knit in time for it to not be cold,<br />
my mom got this vest/shell in super bulky yarn - as per her request<br />
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And one of my dance mates / fellow twins-mama will be getting this hat she ordered (because I apparently can't get enough of knitting brioche hats). This one is <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/frost-on-roses" target="_blank">Frost on Roses</a>: <br />
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Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-59912152424551762592016-06-02T18:21:00.001-07:002016-06-02T18:22:17.500-07:00To Scour Before Combing or Not to Scour Before CombingThat was my question.<br />
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My usual order of fleece cleaning activity is<br />
1) Skirt heavily!<br />
2) Soak is Fermented Suint vat in the back yard<br />
3) Rinse fleece (in rain or bucket with rain water)<br />
4) Lay out to dry in the sun<br />
5) Comb locks<br />
6) Scour in mesh bags (hot water and Unicorn Power Scour or Dawn detergent)<br />
7) Rinse (hot water)<br />
8) Dry<br />
[9) Make rolags with hand cards - optional. But typically I do need some other prep step after scouring and before spinning.]<br />
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Why comb first? It gets a lot of the dirt out and also gets out any short bits or second cuts hiding in the locks. Recall that I am literally combing, with a small dog comb (see photo). Having removed a lot of excess - and having determined if the fleece is weak/broken and not worth washing - I save on water and product for cleaning and my water stays cleaner.<br />
But I wondered: would I save myself time if I combed after scouring? Then I wouldn't have to add a step 9 to prep the fibre for spinning.<br />
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I made a comparison<br />
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On the left is a dirty lock after step 4. It's been through the Vat, rinsed, dried.<br />
Along the bottom is a progression of combed locks (and the leftovers beneath), scoured locks, and carded locks. It's soft (and I'm spinning up about 30 rolags right now.)<br />
Along the top is the experiment of scoured (uncombed) locks. You can see the scoured lock is still quite dirty. I don't expect washing to get all the dried dirt out - or, if I did, I'd waste a lot of water and soap trying. Why do that when a quick flick with the comb gets the dirt loosened out? I wondered if the dirt would release more easily. I don't think it made much difference. Sure, the waste part looks less dirty than the waste below, but who cares about the waste? Ultimately, the scoured-then-combed locks don't look any cleaner than the unscoured, combed locks. In fact, I combed all the scoured locks and tossed them back in another wash I did today. They just weren't clean enough for me. <br />
Combing open the tips and releasing 90% of the dried dirt goes a long way in cleaning the locks, so I will keep this method. Between the FSM vat and a quick combing I've never needed more than one scour to get the grease out and whatever dirt remains. (Or I spin in the grease.)<br />
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However, a current bag of locks drying will test the one-scour method. I noted while skirting that this is a particularly greasy fleece. (The first fleece of this season was not greasy, well, very lightly.) It was so greasy that I couldn't really do a thorough job of combing. I opted instead to make sure all the tips were open and most of the dirt had fallen out before tossing in a mesh bag. Then I put it through some power scour (along with the remainder from the above experiment, in its own bag)... I am eager for it to dry.... is it still really greasy?? somewhat greasy? not greasy??<br />
Dry fleece! Dry!<br />
(patience, I'm still working on it.)<br />
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<br />Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-8194596902453438372016-05-04T12:26:00.000-07:002016-05-04T12:26:12.950-07:00Spring CleaningSpring cleaning time for All The Fleeces. Last week I hauled out the bin of fleeces I'd picked up from the stash at my sister's farm earlier in the year (when there were false hopes for an early spring). <br />
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I may have over-filled it. I wasn't counting how many I grabbed. I was simply trying to get relatively whole bundles separated from the mass in the cooler weather.<br />
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Turned out a lot of this was no good. I tossed over half of it in the garbage - including entire fleeces in addition to the parts I didn't want from fleeces. Some of it looked moldy in the centre of a roll. Eww. I'm not sure if that was from me unpacking it from the large bundle and keeping it stuffed in a rubbermaid for over a month or if it was packed in the bundle damp long ago. I'm not too worried - since there's more fleeces where these came from. I just hope that, if it was in the bundle, not too many more are damaged. As I think about it, the weather on the day I pulled them from the farm was raining heavily. I was in the cover of the barn/storage the entire time because I backed the van right in, but the damp weather may have already lodged in the fleeces and then I stuffed them into a plastic bin. Fingers crossed that was the problem.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">eww</td></tr>
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Some of it was "I want to squish you" and "this is why I love fleeces!" lovely!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">fluffy! Even after years neglected in a sack.</td></tr>
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I heavily skirted the good fleeces (I'm so picky now!). The weather had been warm for long enough that the open rain barrel was no longer a giant block of ice and didn't have an iceberg floating on top either. Transferred the water into my rubbermaid (I dumped out last year's FSM vat rather than try to store it in -30*C termperatures!) and immersed one large mesh bag and a smaller zippered bag.<br />
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Today I drained the bags after several days of soaking. I know it's not a full FSM vat at this point, but I wanted to see what a cold soak does as I develop the vat. I separated the fleece into smaller sections and gave each a good swishing in a fresher bucket of rainwater. Most of the brown tips were cleared up leaving me with relatively clean fleece.<br />
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All is now drying outside and a new sack is soaking.<br />
I have two more sacks waiting for a soaking and they have very greasy fleece. I'm wanting to remember to keep that fleece separate as I expect it will need extra scouring.Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-74997927685305648612016-03-21T16:03:00.001-07:002016-03-21T16:03:28.916-07:00I've Got The BluesFor a better comparison of the new superwash merino fibre base with the old superwash merino fibre base, I've been sent a sample of the old base.<br />
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It arrived well-smooshed for shipping, but a little shake and it was fluffy again.<br />
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Visually, compared with the new base and the non-superwash, it looks the same - you know, fluffy and soft.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pHcy_pBWHko/VuxDIwYtOsI/AAAAAAAAErQ/anlbMK6TPaYOETChFf3OtmoFlet53MVcg/s1600/DSCN8811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pHcy_pBWHko/VuxDIwYtOsI/AAAAAAAAErQ/anlbMK6TPaYOETChFf3OtmoFlet53MVcg/s400/DSCN8811.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Superwash Merino</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super-saturated colour! Old base, new base, and not-superwash </td></tr>
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It spun up as I remembered the grey superwash merino spinning - smooooooooth. Soon I realized I had the blues. All the fibre blues. All the blue. It all happens to be dyed by the same two friends.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the wheel - Earth Day batt finely spun on the left, superwash blues on a bobbin and the wheel, jewel-toned blue and purple waiting to be plied</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Earth Day batts and recent superwash contain similar shades of blue, but in different blends.</td></tr>
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The first half of the purple-blue is finished and a little over half of the superwash blues is done too. It was blue bath day in my sink.Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-11220069616237565252016-03-12T11:59:00.001-08:002016-03-12T11:59:39.914-08:00A few follow upsI promised a photo of the finished purple-garnet shawl that I was spinning for three posts ago.<br />
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This is <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tulippa" target="_blank">Tulippa</a> by Kristina Vilimaite (aka AnimaKnits on Ravelry).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tulippa for two</td></tr>
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As always, it was a pleasure to <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/MandyzMoon/tulippa" target="_blank">test knit</a> (my project link) for Kristina as I adore her designs.<br />
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I'm spinning and testing for another of her new designs at the moment.<br />
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This is some locally dyed Finn fibre that I picked up at a knitter's frolic. I am making this a 2-ply, DK weight yarn.<br />
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I also finished spinning the multi-coloured merino as a singles yarn.<br />
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As a fellow geek, I appreciate how Cloud9 Fibreworks names yarns and fibres - such as this Elephant Trunk Nebula merino.<br />
I initially started spinning this merino for the sake of comparing it with a new fibre base, but for better accuracy in comparison I'm being sent some of the former superwash base fibre so that I'm comparing like with like. More updates to follow.<br />
The real question is, what will I knit with this lovely yarn? I think I'm going to use a second solid yarn with it. Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-48410248520978308782016-03-03T17:23:00.002-08:002016-03-03T17:29:22.307-08:00Testing FibreWhen I spin, I decide the method using a combination of what I want and what the fibre does best. There's not much point, I feel, in forcing fibre to do something it doesn't want to do. I know I won't be happy with the result.<br />
When a friend asked me to test out a new superwash merino fibre base for her, I gracefully accepted the opportunity to spin lovely fibre. When asked what colour I would like it dyed, I didn't make it easy - I chose jewel tones in amethyst and sapphire. I received full, saturated colours. Gorgeous.<br />
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I wasn't intending to spin the next morning, but what's a girl to do when she opens her computer to work and it immediately reboots and begins a slow upgrade process?<br />
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This top is delightfully fluffy - no compression here and even with the saturated dark colours, there was very little tricky sections. I don't do a lot of prep with my rovings - unless they are compressed and need a really good fluffin'. For this top I tore the length in half and then split that half lengthwise so I would spin up a quarter of the fibre. I pulled the fibre sideways a little, but otherwise I spun it as is.<br />
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Initially I spun fairly loose singles. The fibre liked being a fluffy single.<br />
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Then I got to thinking that, being superwash (at least that's what I recall it is supposed to be, so I erred on the side of caution), I couldn't full a single and I didn't trust it to hold up to regular use as a single in merino. Plied up, it was too loose for my taste, so I butterflied the yarn back on to my hand and added more twist before continuing.<br />
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It's probably difficult to see how much more twist is in the single thread above compared with the single on my fingers.<br />
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This ply-back provides a much better illustration of the higher twist compared with the first run. I was quite happy with the higher twist result and carried on to finish the quarter of fibre.<br />
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Immediately following this quarter I popped in a new bobbin to spin up a sample of the fibre base my friend used to dye (because I happened to have some in my stash).<br />
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mmmmmm. Just look at those beautiful colours.<br />
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I wanted to see if the new fibre spun the same as the old.<br />
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The only difference is that this time I knew I was working with not-superwash merino, so I decided it was high time to practice spinning singles. I spun with lower twist. It pretty much drafted the same as the new fibre.<br />
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All in all, I conclude the new fibre supply is equivalent to the former fibre supply. Test done. (Now to finish spinning the fibre! Oh the demands of testing.)Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-64266369697403786882016-02-26T12:50:00.000-08:002016-02-26T12:50:42.443-08:004-ply ChainFellow spinners, have you heard the chatter this past season about 4-ply chain-plied yarn? I did, and I thought I would try it out on the thin singles of alpaca-corn fibre (ingeo) I had spun up on the wheel. It seemed like an interesting way to try and balance the evenness of the final yarn when my singles were not consistent (and I blame the fibre/roving/blend for some of that).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spinning singles in progress</td></tr>
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The basic process is straightforward if you've chain plied before. The only difference is that you work from two singles and alternate which single is chained.<br />
In theory this could be done at the wheel. I've chain plied at the wheel (and on the fly with my spindles) many times using long chains. However, I wasn't up to the task of trying to alternate chained singles as I plied. I chose to work a plying ball in advance, and even then I wish I'd done things a little differently to keep the two bobbins separate. For example, I should have used two shoe boxes spread apart to make sure the two plies wouldn't start wrapping around each other. I also wish I hadn't tried this with a yarn that already had a lot of twist in it. I was reminded that I should really find a way to keep tension on my bobbins (a brake band of sorts) when plying. In short, I only prepared several meters of chained 4-plies before I decided I should take my sample to the wheel and test if I even liked the plied result before I continued with the full bobbins.<br />
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I did like the result of a nice fingering weight yarn. A multi-ply yarn certainly helps in balancing out uneven singles. However, I really did not enjoy the process of preparing the plying ball. I decided to keep things simple for the rest of this yarn and whip up a couple bobbins of 2-ply instead so I could move on to other projects. Other than making a more consistent finished yarn, there wasn't a lot of interesting benefit to using the technique with this yarn and it wasn't as simple as a 3-ply chained yarn.<br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Knit sample of the chained 4-ply, ball of 4-ply, and 2 full bobbins of 2-ply lace.</td></tr>
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I'm quite happy with the lace yarn.<br />
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I'm still thinking of the chained 4-ply opportunities with colour work. The effort could certainly be worth it to play with colour, like a type of fractal yarn. I'd need to get more colours in my stash to try it out, although for a fractal I'm imagining you wouldn't want to alternate which thread is chained. I'd be interested, for example, in keeping one thread different and single while chaining the other. Hmm, thoughts. I have some playing to do, even if it's with different fibres. Next time, however, I won't work with high-twist singles and I will keep my bobbins separated.<br />
Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-50819454692394140522016-02-01T12:55:00.000-08:002016-06-02T18:40:12.018-07:00Spinning to KnitEvery now and then I find myself racing to spin a new yarn, even if I'm in the middle of another spinning project (or two or three).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interrupted the blue batt spinning to spin up the alpaca blend light brown, but then I *had* to spin the purple.</td></tr>
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This time it was because one of my favourite designers, <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/designers/kristina-vilimaite" target="_blank">AnimaKnits on Ravelry</a>, had inquired if I'd want to test another of her amazing new shawls. Of course I do! Alas, I didn't seem to have the appropriate yarn in my stash. The obvious solution was to look in my other stash - the fibre stash - where I found 8oz of this gorgeous purple merino-silk top from several years ago. The design features tulip flowers, so it seemed a great colour choice. (The listed colourway on this purple is "garnet", which I think is a misnomer, except for the occasional red fluff in the top.)<br />
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Thus began the race to spin up two bobbins and ply them together on my quill so that I could cast on. Then, as I was knitting (not simultaneously), I started on filling those bobbins again for a second skein which I finished just in time as the first ball of yarn ran out. Repeated this again for a third skein with the remaining fibre.<br />
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While I was spinning I decided it could be fun to record a video about this process, especially for my non-spinning friends who are interested in my hand-spun yarns. In the video below I finish a second bobbin of singles and then switch to plying on my quill/wheel-spindle. My spinning/tea room is quite cool (cold), which is why I am wearing a hat and cowl (also knit from hand-spun). It took me far too long, I sheepishly admit, to realize that my foot on the floor would be much warmer if I placed the wheel on top of one of the blocking foam boards sitting right behind the shelving. I'd been thinking of making a carpet for in front of the wheel. (I will, eventually.) I also feel obliged to add that the wheel is not normally this noisy but my treadle doesn't like how I am repeatedly trying to start treadling from a near-stop while I'm talking/distracted and because I am twisting my body a lot while I talk my foot isn't resting in the correct position. One of my bobbins also just turned chatty in the cold dry weather as I started the project. I normally enjoy near-silent spinning.<br />
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Coming soon - finished shawl photos. (As soon as I finish, that is. There are a couple of bobbins being plied right now before I can wrap this project up.)Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-2384377935790391802016-01-13T11:41:00.000-08:002016-02-26T12:53:24.510-08:00BlendingHaving blended together some fibres (usually alpaca with wool) I decided that, with proper hand-carders to work with now, I should try my hand at blending different fibres. There are a few braids of wool roving in my stash that I considered playing with, but since I'd clearly not started any of them it seemed what I needed to do was buy some wool with the intention of blending. Additionally, the wool I was thinking of is 8oz (which I'd rather keep for a single project) and is already brown/neutral - which would hide the additional fibres. I want to be able to see my blending and have visual evidence in the yarn.<br />
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So, some of my Christmas yarn shopping included a braid of green BFL from Sweet Georgia. I have silk noil (top) and yak down (bottom) in my stash from a destash purchase long ago that have been waiting for me to blend. I also thought it was time to blend in some angora (left).<br />
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(Yes, my home is dry. The angora tells you so.)<br />
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I experimented a little with how I wanted to layer, whether I wanted to use some or all of the fibres, and if I liked the spinning. I settled on a thin layer of BFL followed by very thin amounts of the other 3, with a little more of the angora, and then another thin layer of BFL on top before carding into rolags.<br />
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The resulting singles are tweedy with the noil; I like the texture. The yak down is blending in quite well and the luster of the BFL is complimented by the other fibres. The natural, light colour of the other fibres is enhancing the lovely Botanical (colourway) green of the BFL.<br />
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I started spinning on my homemade top-whorl, but I found the speed was too fast and I didn't have the sort-of-long-draw control I wanted for this blend of short and long fibres. I wound on to a medium sized Turkish spindle and this is working well. I prefer my spindles for experimenting with smaller amounts of fibre, especially when my wheel bobbins are occupied with large lace projects (as usual). So far I have prepared 12 rolags. For the sake of testing I'll spin 6+6 and ply to see what yarn I achieve.<br />
I also timed how long it took me to prepare 8 rolags. Or, more accurately, I tested to see how many rolags I could make while watching Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (a 55min episode, but only about 50min of rolag-making). I made 8. That's roughly 6 minutes each (6 and a quarter, but my measurements of time in this case are all approximate so I'll stick with 6 min), which is 4 minutes faster than combing and carding fleece (from my previous post). It takes a lot more carding to blend to my satisfaction whereas it's usually the combing that takes the most time with the fleece.<br />
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Final Yarn Update:<br />
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The remaining BFL, blended, yielded another 29 rolags. With all the fibre spun up I have about 250m of squishy worsted-aran weight yarn.Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-67798836130933195272016-01-11T11:16:00.002-08:002016-01-11T11:16:22.209-08:00Time InvestmentsWhen *someone* asked if I could whip up a golden, bulky, knit skirt from All The Fleeces just before Christmas, I laughed. I'd just finished spinning up some of the Fleece blended with alpaca to make mitten liners, so I was distinctly aware of spending a lot of time combing and carding before spinning, let alone knitting. Actually, the spinning and knitting were perhaps the least of the time. Fibre prep for a bulky yarn would take even more time. <br />
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Recently, I decided to actually time the processes and here is what I found:<br />
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<b>Time to comb and card fleece into a rolag: 10 minutes.</b><br />
<b>(I prepared 20 rolags = 200min)</b><br />
This does not account for the previous time spent skirting, washing, scouring, and drying the fleece. Why comb AND card? Because I'm still working with dirty, VM-y, dusty fleece. "All The Fleeces" are from meat sheep and have been stored for I don't know how long. They are a down breed common to Manitoba, Canada. Once cleaned, combed and carded they spin into a lovely yarn I have discovered, but it is a lot of work. OTOH, I have a huge sack of free fleeces and it turns out they're not garbage.<br />
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<b>Time to spin 20 rolags onto one very full bobbin: 50min</b><br />
(I learned that 16 rolags is probably ideal for my wheel/bobbins or 8+8 if I want to ply onto one of my bobbins. Maybe 18.) <br />
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<b>Time to make an "Andean armwarmer" because I only have 1 bobbin available and I needed to ply: 12min</b><br />
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<b>Time to ply onto my wheel quill because I knew I'd never get the 2ply onto one bobbin: 30min </b>(plying onto a bobbin may have been a bit faster; plying from 2 bobbins certainly would have been faster that working from an Andean bracelet as I did have a few snags)<br />
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<b>Time to skein: 4 min</b><br />
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<b>Total time to create 67.5m/74yds of medium weight 2-ply: 296 min or about 5 hours.</b><br />
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If I imagine using 2 bobbins and spinning on to 1 bobbin rather than the quill, I could eliminate the 12min of Andean bracelet wrapping and probably cut 5 min from plying (to half the spinning -singles time or 25min) 296min-17min = <b>279min or 4hours 40min.</b><br />
<b>That's about 4min per meter of yarn.</b><br />
(If I were to imagine needing about 600m of yarn for a skirt, that's about 40hrs of yarn-making. Yikes.)<br />
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Then I dyed the yarn using food colouring, vinegar, and the microwave since it's the fastest & easiest method and I'd have to wash to set the yarn anyhow. Microwave does most of the work, but of course there is some more time required here. <br />
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I made two skeins of yarn with 20 rolags each, so they took about the same amount of time. 10 hours or so of yarn. I quickly whipped up some knit legwarmers (a few more hours), and gifted them immediately to said someone. All that remains for me to photograph today is some yarn leftovers. The colour is just what she was looking for. Eventually I'll prep more rolags and spin more and maybe next Yule there will be a skirt. (Uh, right after I finish that blanket...)<br />
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Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-86794365951786656632015-12-05T09:16:00.003-08:002015-12-05T09:16:49.957-08:00Making clothesI've been focused on knitting myself tops this year, rather successfully (although there are a few unfinished tops I should get back to). Last night and this morning I thought it was time to try sewing clothes again. Starting simple with doll clothes using some fabric scraps I inherited. I found quite a few free, simple patterns for 18" dolls online. For my first attempt I have used this adaptable pattern from <a href="http://www.thecraftpatchblog.com/2014/01/american-girl-doll-basic-knit-dress.html#.VmMY0r_aSrY" target="_blank">The Craft Patch</a> blog.<br />
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For the back I thought I'd be "smart" and avoid a hook & loop closure by sewing most of it up and leaving a little open at the top for a snap. It is a bit snug to get on. I'm glad I happened to cut the fabric so that it stretches sideways - because I forgot to consider that.<br />
Yes, I also managed to match up the plaid - somewhat by luck since I was working with scraps.<br />
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Next up I thought I'd be adventurous and try this pattern as a coat. I made the back into the front, made sides a little wider, and went for the full sleeve. The full length sleeves are a little short for this doll (I understand not all 18" dolls have the same measurements.) These sleeves were not hemmed because I decided to skip hemming by sewing on 1" ribbon folded in half and used the finished edge of fabric at the bottom hem. Since I want to put snaps along the front, I reinforced with ribbon, which also functioned to hide the fold-over. Alas, I did not think about which way the fabric stretches when I cut and it doesn't stretch sideways. Granted, if I'd gone that way I wouldn't have the bottom finished. I did make sure the arms stretched sideways when I noticed. Pretty cute. Could be a bit bigger. I also think I'll decorate the front a little more, or see if the buttons do that for me. A couple little spots to hand sew/tack closed better.<br />
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All in all, I'm pretty happy with these and may try a different pattern next.<br />
I may also conceded and buy some hook & loop tape. I still have to find my snap closures (or buy some).<br />
<br />Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-1815614769518386712015-12-02T08:44:00.000-08:002015-12-02T08:44:44.584-08:00Stitches with a machineI don't sew a lot. In the past few years I've conceded to some hand-sewing when necessary. I own a sewing machine. I inherited it from my mother-in-law when she passed and it may have been her mother's. It is a Kenmore from the 1970s (model 1774). It's always been finicky for me. For example, it never adjusted stitch length... needless to say, I didn't enjoy using it. But hey, sometimes having a very limited sewing machine is better than no sewing machine. Since I wasn't using it, I was trapped in that ever familiar excuse - if I don't really use a sewing machine, why would I get a new one?<br />
Skip forward several more years and the mending pile has grown. There are piles of fabric (recently inherited) that I'd love to sew up and ideas galore for simple projects. I begin to harass my dear hubby more frequently about the sewing machine which has now seized up entirely. We try oiling it, but the machine is too far gone for a simple oiling. Has it even ever been serviced? (Is that a thing we actually are supposed to do with sewing machines? I had no idea before. Now I know better.) Hubby discovered there is a machine repair shop 3 blocks away, which left us with no more excuses.<br />
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Machine is now home. After paying the cost of a cheap machine (in maintenance/repairs) this old Kenmore works again! It does things it never did for me before - such as change stitch length! All the reviews I've read or watched on this machine by seamstresses praise it, so I don't mind the cost to get her back in working order. Sure, a girl can dream of a fancy new machine or of finding the pattern cams to fit it - but let's be honest, I just need basic stitches. If I want fancy embroidery, I'd be much happier with proper embroidery.<br />
I cleared off space on the "dumping ground" craft room counter in the basement (hence poor lighting) and set her up. But before I moved her downstairs, I did whip up a few items to test. (Note, I do not claim to have great sewing talent.)<br />
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First a few nose cloths - two squares of flannel with zig-zag edging. I'd serger them if I could, but I can't. I've had a couple dozen of these cloths for 8 years or so. They've withstood frequent hot washes (still in use), so I guess a serger isn't necessary.<br />
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Then I was on a roll, so I mended a shirt for kiddo and made some scrap-fabric sleeping sacks for the kids favourite toys (per their request). Eldest has been handsewing pillows with felt, so I left some of the sleep sack pillows as cases rather than stuffing them.<br />
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Have no fear. The sewing machine will not be taking over from other stitches or spinning. I also spent many hours in the past couple of weeks combing and carding All The Fleeces. Here's the most current batch on the wheel.<br />
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<br />Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-12165474542316710082015-11-10T11:10:00.002-08:002015-12-02T08:47:10.735-08:00Magical CombStill no proper wool combs around here, but I'm making do with my little comb.<br />
I remain entranced with how this little comb can transform a washed fleece with dirty tips into fluffy white stuff. The dry dirt falls right out and the short bits find their way into a mulch bucket.<br />
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It's slow work, but worth it (at least, that's how I feel about it today).<br />
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This current pile of fluffy stuff (from fleece 4 that's been through the FSM vat and one scour) is being carded together with black alpaca (Freya's fleece), rolled up and spun for a fluffy yarn that will be knit into mitten liners for hubby.<br />
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The carders were a gift from a friend who found she had extras. They just arrived and I had to try them out. I'm getting the hang of it.<br />
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As for the mittens...<br />
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I've moved on to liners because I'm not ready to deal with this:<br />
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I don't know how I managed this. I've been vacillating between two options: ripping out a thumb, grafting the hole closed, steeking a new hole, and re-knitting a new thumb OR buying more black Tuffy and knitting at least one more LEFT mitten (eventually, 2 left mittens). The problem with option 2 is that I dislike stranded knitting. I've recently tried my hand at steeking and it went well. However, my practical-self reminds my "I hate this" self that I do have a few stranded projects in my queue, including a sweater kit, and so I should practice stranded knitting so that I don't hate it.<br />
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UPDATE:<br />
I now have THIS:<br />
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I blame hubby for not exploding the Invader on the far left. I didn't make a mistake on the left mitten. Nope.<br />
<br />Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-81122875679761985302015-10-26T15:27:00.000-07:002015-10-26T15:27:09.781-07:00AlpacaWho doesn't love alpaca?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the MB Fibre Fest 2015 with one of several baby alpacas.</td></tr>
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As a spinner and fibre-prepper (it's a word, now) I love that alpaca does not require scouring. Or, at least, I never bother to scour or wash it before spinning. If I have raw alpaca fibre I comb locks/sections with my little dog comb (still no proper wool combs) and watch the dust coat the floor, then spin it. I prefer to spin from the fold, but sometimes I spin it from the end. Alpaca roving is equally lovely to spin with even less of the prep work.<br />
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Some of my first spinning was alpaca on a support spindle. That first attempt with the support spindle wasn't my best work. I did well with the long draw, but I realized fairly soon that the alpaca staple length was a little long (it was a roving from the local fibre fest) and that was making it difficult for me to learn on the new spindle. I slid that first spinning onto a straw and packed it away for years.<br />
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Until one day this year I spun/wound that first length onto a bobbin and finished spinning the remainder on my wheel. I decided to spin my first cable ply yarn for a fingering weight alpaca with decent stitch definition.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My skein-ing helpers</td></tr>
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I tried knitting a pair of intricate cabled gloves, but after knitting the first cuff I had to concede that the alpaca was still a little too fluffy to do justice to the intricate work. I needed a simpler cable.<br />
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The yarn went into Time Out again for a while until recently when I knit up these long fingerless mitts. I was tempted to work them as fingerless gloves, but feared the alpaca would become floppy. So far they've held their shape beautifully. I chose a pattern that doesn't rely on ribbing for stretchiness. These <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cancans" target="_blank">Can Can</a> mitts are fitted with decreases and I made sure to work my top ribbing sections with twisted knit stitches. I also knit <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/MandyzMoon/cancans" target="_blank">mine</a> with an extra repeat of the chart in the arm and another set of decreases.<br />
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<br />Knit in time for the chilly autumn winds to hit.Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-90473728007659693052015-07-21T08:30:00.000-07:002015-07-21T08:30:10.941-07:00Pajama Day and Naked GardeningIt's time to post about something other than All The Fleeces.<br />
Something with colour.<br />
Something knit!<br />
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How about how this gorgeous merino-silk (80/20) hand-dyed fibre from sdspin on Etsy (I bought it as a pick-me-up right after the twins were born in 2012).<br />
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became this fine single on my favourite support spindle (over a very long period of time; much of it was spun while nursing twins as I sat on the floor)<br />
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that was plied with some white louet merino-silk (plying singles were whipped up on the wheel where I also plied)<br />
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and later sections plied with some white-orange Falkland when I ran out of white<br />
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to be knit into this <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/naked-gardening" target="_blank">Naked Gardening</a> shawl. [Design link provided]<br />
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The body and lace of the shawl was knit with the white-plied yarn while the ruffle was knit with the orange-white-plied yarn. I used 6/0 iridescent beads that capture the colours of the yarn and provide a subtle shine.<br />
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Having been knit in some of my precious handspun lace (that took me over a year to finish! and actually is not yet complete as there is still some of the coloured single on the spindle waiting for something to ply it with - it's a never-ending thread! Many times I was certain I'd spun up enough to ply it with, only to discover I had much more remaining) this shawl is MINE.<br />
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I had already tested this MKAL design using white lace. <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/MandyzMoon/naked-gardening" target="_blank">That shawl</a> was gifted in June. Normally I don't reknit a pattern, but I knew this design would show off my beloved handspun delightfully.<br />
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<br />Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-34079675445563697782015-07-03T13:13:00.002-07:002015-07-03T13:14:02.672-07:00Baa Baa All The Sheep, have you any wool?...Yes ma'am, yes ma'am, three bags full.<br />
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Took a trip to the Farm for Canada Day / my BIL's birthday and skirted three more fleeces the next morning.<br />
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Empty barns/animal shelters on the way to the shed.<br />
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Sack is still very full. Will I ever empty it?<br />
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This fleece was shaved funny - it's somehow inside out!<br />
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I was much more aggressive in my skirting this time. Experience has taught me that I really don't want to deal with ALL the fleece of all the fleeces. I have enough to be choosy. Skirted more than a third of each fleece. That's the skirting from one fleece.<br />
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Some of this fleece is very yellow!<br />
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Three bags of fleeces. One extra stuffed bag of garbage.Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-77199790449734990752015-06-30T12:01:00.003-07:002015-07-04T11:19:31.402-07:00Dying (some of) All the FleecesWhile some folks might like the yellowed colour of these fleeces, I'm planning to dye most of it.<br />
I've not had much luck in the past (once) with dying fleece (was white romni), so I've avoided dying it. Mostly, of course, I've been purchasing lovely roving/batts dyed by other talented fleece artists. This won't change.<br />
However, I'm going to have to take my dying skills up a notch. I don't expect myself to spin all the yellowed fleeces into yarn and THEN dye it. That would be far too boring.<br />
Plus, I might want to needle felt some of it.<br />
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Dying the fleece is a skill I need to learn.<br />
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I'm starting simple with what I know and what I have the tools for - food colouring and vinegar dying. I'm going to need to collect other kitchen tools if I want to use not-food-safe methods. I'm sure I'll get there by the time I'm done with All The Fleeces.<br />
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I prepped a bucket of Fleece 1 - the fluffy fleece - by combing it. As usual, the middle where I hold the fleece locks remains quite sticky with lanolin, so I gave it all another hot wash along with some combed black fleece locks.<br />
The black fleece has not been in hot water or soap yet and I found that when I combed this batch it definitely needs a hot wash if I want to spin this lace easily.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for a bath.</td></tr>
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After a rinse, it was time to prep the dye water. A little orange Wiltons paste in a glass bowl with vinegar added goes a long way. This is a large and deep bowl. Fortunately, we have a very large microwave. Yes, I chose the fastest heat-set method for this test.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fluffy! Even when wet.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All soaked.</td></tr>
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After several 2 minute rounds in the microwave (and then another set of rounds with more vinegar added because the dye didn't seem to be taking as well as I would like) it was time to spin dry. Oh, first I drained the dye water and rinsed the orange fleece back in the first rinse bath - which was clean enough. I don't have a salad spinner and I'm pretty certain it would be a bad idea to toss a recently dyed fleece into my washing machine to spin dry (orange spots on DH's white shirts?). Plus, that sounded like a waste of electricity for such a small amount of fluff.<br />
I did it the manual way! Spin it in the sack!<br />
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The "black" fleece locks are looking lovely. (I should stop calling them that, even if they were labelled as such.)<br />
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The orange fleece is looking scrumptious!<br />
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Ooops, a couple of small sections were hiding in the wash bags. They'll find their way into the next dye bath once I have confirmed that I didn't create a matted mess. So far it looks fine. I'm excited for it to dry. Right now.<br />
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JULY 4 UPDATE:<br />
Spun up as 120m of squishy, worsted-weight-ish yarn. About 15m of it is a beaded 3-ply using a very finely spun portion of the wool to hold the size 8/0 beads. The first 22m section was plied with some of the natural yarn (same fleece) that was sitting around on a bobbin.<br />
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Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-4154262873369988342015-06-23T06:00:00.000-07:002015-06-23T07:28:11.437-07:00Baa Baa Black Sheep...have you any wool?<br />
Yes, maam. One fleece in the sack of "all the fleeces". Would you like to spin it?<br />
Yes, yes I would, thank you.<br />
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The "black" fleece was the second of the fleeces to be cleaned in the FSM vat. You can read about how it was rinsed and left out to dry twice in the previous post. Here is the fleece drying (first time around)<br />
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I ran out of room on my drying racks. Evidently I need more.<br />
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It's quite a lovely colour. I think of it as dark chocolate brown. As with all the fleeces I inherited, there is plenty of VM and there was plenty to skirt.<br />
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Here's a little chunk I brought inside to test. I have my tools ready - comb and hands. Doesn't that colour just look delightful?<br />
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These locks are about 18cm / 7" . Lovely.<br />
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A little combing of both ends (like brushing the tail of a My Little Pony while you hold on tight to the other end so you don't yank all the nylon out of the tail) et voila - FLUFFY STUFF<br />
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I decided that this time I would see if I could make some roving. Of course, I don't have a hackle. Nor do I have a diz. But I do have this antique needle gauge (which is in neither metric nor US sizing so it's rather useless as a modern gauge).<br />
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Not too shabby. I admit, this would have worked much better with some sort of hackle to hold the fibre, but I managed with my hands.<br />
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Spun up a sample on my mini Turkish. It feels a lot like the white Shetland I spun. Perhaps it is Shetland (or related) wool. Regardless, since it seemed like Shetland, I decide to spin it as I had found that white Shetland preferred to be spun - as lace weight.<br />
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Then I grabbed both ends of my "turtle" off the spindle when I was done and proceeded to whip up a 2-ply.<br />
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Washed and now I wait for these few meters to dry.<br />
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I believe I know what yarn I will use (after spinning more) to knit an edging on my Shetland Lace table runner.Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-36025542478543986912015-06-22T21:55:00.000-07:002015-06-22T21:55:08.314-07:00Catching up on the FSM vatLast week, before the thunderstorm hit, I pulled out the second fleece from the FSM vat and tossed in a third. I saved a small portion of the third to be soaked in some plain rainwater and washed for comparison with the FSM-washed fleece.<br />
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The fleece, again, looks quite different from the others. Perhaps more alike to the first fleece with a lot of crimp. <br />
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Upon immersion in the rainwater tub, the dirt was evident. A little swishing and the water turned a golden colour.<br />
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Time to immerse the rest of the fleece. You can see the white-ish highlights against the orange mesh bag and the dark, smelly vat liquid. Oh, yeah, the vat is good and smelly now.<br />
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Then I let the rain rinse the second fleece. This is my black fleece. While intense, the rain was short-lived.<br />
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I used rain water from the overflow barrel and one of my large buckets to rinse sections of the fleece that I could then lay out to dry. A half way through that work the rinse water was in need of refreshing. I fed some of it back into the FSM vat, fed some to the garden, and then diluted with more rain water. By the last bits, I had a second rinse going too.<br />
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Just as the fleeces were dry (last Friday), I was helping out at the school all morning when the rain hit again, unexpectedly. I had to start drying again. <br />
The story of the black fleece continues... (I've already spun a sample because I delayed on finishing this post due to too much family fun.)Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7434886188097800609.post-70425688845736463912015-06-02T09:01:00.001-07:002015-06-02T09:01:36.031-07:00From Ick to LoveI am LOVING the delightful process of taking a dirty, neglected fleece (or fleeces as the case is) and transforming it into squishy yarn.<br />
Proper wool combs would be even more delightful, but even this simple dog comb is proving very useful.<br />
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I am starting with this matty-looking fleece, pulling a comb through both ends, and ending up with this fluffy stuff.<br />
Then I spin it from the side/fold and get this squishy yarn.<br />
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See, here's a chatty video of me combing (awkwardly, for the camera) so you can see the transformation.<br />
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<br />Mandyzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05339182011461995343noreply@blogger.com0