Just a note to show what the hand-dyed yarn looks like when it was wound into a cake. The one on the left is merino and silk while the one on the right is superwash merino and nylon. I definitely prefer the way the merino and silk took the dye although I'm very happy with both outcomes.
I have to roll up the roving too. It will be interesting to see how that looks when it's spun.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Dyeing Class
I went down to Stockton, NJ, to take a class in hand dyeing fiber. We were lucky to have lovely weather--not too hot and the threatened thundershowers never materialized. All to the good since we were working outside.
I dyed two skeins of yarn from Knitpicks--one superwash merino and nylon and one merino and silk--and four ounces of pure white roving.
The yarn in the foreground is the merino and silk. It took the dye really well. Almost nothing washed out during the rinse. The superwash also worked well, but more dye did rinse out. I'm not a pastel girl, but I really like the merino and silk which I think looks like spring flowers. It will make some really terrific socks.
Cousin Dan thinks the roving is reminiscent of a t-shirt from a Grateful Dead concert. This is not a criticism. I'm looking forward to seeing how it spins up. Of course, with the Little Debbie project, I don't know how much time I'm going to have to spin it. Maybe when I have a wheel and don't have to spin it on the drop spindle...
I dyed two skeins of yarn from Knitpicks--one superwash merino and nylon and one merino and silk--and four ounces of pure white roving.
The yarn in the foreground is the merino and silk. It took the dye really well. Almost nothing washed out during the rinse. The superwash also worked well, but more dye did rinse out. I'm not a pastel girl, but I really like the merino and silk which I think looks like spring flowers. It will make some really terrific socks.
Cousin Dan thinks the roving is reminiscent of a t-shirt from a Grateful Dead concert. This is not a criticism. I'm looking forward to seeing how it spins up. Of course, with the Little Debbie project, I don't know how much time I'm going to have to spin it. Maybe when I have a wheel and don't have to spin it on the drop spindle...
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Little Debby Project
A group from the Essex Spinners decided to buy a fleece from Julie Gerow and divided it for each of us to use it as we see fit. I am documenting my "sheep to finished object" sojourn.
This photo shows the fleece as it looked when I took it out of the bag it came in. Little Debby is a coated sheep so her fleece is very clean and free of vegetable matter. Julie skirted the fleece so the yucky parts were eliminated. This is one pound of fleece. It has brown and grays and some lovely silvery parts. This is a "dark" portion of the fleece. Some spinners got lighter portions.
I pulled off a section of fleece and washed it twice. It is now drying in the powder room. I plan to flick card it and spin it on a drop spindle since I don't yet have a wheel. I'm a complete novice at spinning so the progress of this project should be interesting and perhaps a little trying.
This photo shows the fleece as it looked when I took it out of the bag it came in. Little Debby is a coated sheep so her fleece is very clean and free of vegetable matter. Julie skirted the fleece so the yucky parts were eliminated. This is one pound of fleece. It has brown and grays and some lovely silvery parts. This is a "dark" portion of the fleece. Some spinners got lighter portions.
I pulled off a section of fleece and washed it twice. It is now drying in the powder room. I plan to flick card it and spin it on a drop spindle since I don't yet have a wheel. I'm a complete novice at spinning so the progress of this project should be interesting and perhaps a little trying.
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