Color Experiment

I tried something new on some sock yarn the other day. I did I guess what you'd call some "space dyeing." I used glass jars in a roaster (one used only for that purpose...no cooking in it afterward!). I bought this roaster on sale not too long ago and thought I'd give it a try. The other crock pot I'd been using was pretty small, and this one gives me a little more room to work. Usually I lay the yarn or roving out on plastic wrap and "paint" the dye on with squirt bottles. Then it's wrapped and placed in the crock pot to heat and set the dye. This time I filled the glass jars with dye and pushed the yarn down into the jars. (I actually meant to do it the other way around but was so excited to try it I forgot and poured the dye first. See how I am?) Anyway here's how it looked in the dyepot:

I think I'm going to like this method. I did a few handfuls of roving yesterday to maybe make some needle felted lavender sachets with. Those I just put in each jar separately. Here they are:

The colors came out really bright. I'm thinking more of the dye stays where it's supposed to, and the yarn or roving can take up more of it that way. Also, you don't have to worry as much about the colors running together which can sometimes happen with the plastic wrap. I'm getting ready to do another batch of sock yarn today after dinner, and am going to use the jars for it. We'll have to wait and see how it comes out.

I've been spinning some more on the roving I showed you awhile back. I was going to show you a picture of one of the skeins, but for some reason this thing won't let me add an image now. Maybe next time. There should be four small skeins of it. I'm hoping there will be close to 300 yards. I'll let you know. :)

A Mixed Bag

Just kind of a jumble of things to talk about today. It's been awhile since I posted...things have been busy around here. A little over a week ago we had an ice storm. There were several limbs down, but the power didn't go off. I didn't take many pictures, but I did poke my head out the front door and got a picture of a spirea bush in front of the house that had quite a bit of ice on it (some of it was run-off from the roof).

I'm making a little progress on the Jaywalker socks, but it's really slow. Like I said, the metal needles seem really uncomfortable in my hands, so I do a few rows and quit. It may be summer again before they're done at this rate!

I dyed up a batch of roving over the weekend. I may try to start spinning on it this evening or tomorrow. It's another bright one:

You know how sometimes you start to do some little job to organize something and then while you're doing it you find something else that needs doing and then that causes something else to need doing and your ten-minute job turns into an hour or two or more? Well, it wasn't quite that bad, but the other day I decided I would clear a space on the wire rack above the dryer to make a place to package my orders for mailing. Usually I'm scrounging around, looking for the tape and scissors, etc., etc. I thought if I put all that stuff in one place, then I could be more efficient and save some time. It always seems to be dusty on top of the dryer (maybe it would help if I dusted more often), so I looked behind it and found that the hose had some partially loose from the back of the dryer. I tried pushing it back on with the yard stick, but that didn't help a bit. So my next idea was to pull it out a little so I could reach back there and push it on. Well then the whole thing came off. From both ends. I guess when we moved into the house, they must have used an old one that wasn't nearly long enough. So now there was a load of wet laundry in the dryer and no hose connected. I also discovered there was a huge amount of lint behind the dryer. (Notice there are no pictures of that embarrassing scene.) That required lots of vacuuming of the floor, the wall, and the back of the dryer. Then I ran to the store, bought a new hose and a set of clamps, moved the dryer out some more, and put on the new hose...with clamps on BOTH ends. TIGHT clamps. Anyway, I got the dryer going and put the shipping supplies all in one spot. My ten-minute job took about an hour and a half, but maybe now I can be a more efficient packager. And maybe it won't be so dusty around the dryer...

Next Project

I thought I'd show you what's up next for spinning. I did some bamboo back in the spring, and really liked working with it. I ordered two 4-ounce packages, so I still had another one that had just been sitting here. I decided to get it out and work on it next. I dyed it with pale pink and yellow. Here's a picture:

I did it the day before yesterday I think it was, but bamboo takes a surprisingly long time to dry. I may be able to start spinning it tomorrow if it's dry. I'm anxious to see what it looks like all spun up.

New Shop Section

I'm all excited! I got my second skein of sock yarn painted the day before yesterday. So I started a new section for hand painted sock yarn in my Etsy shop and listed my first one this morning. It was also Fiber Friday at Etsy, so after I got the new yarn listed, I started to post about it on the Fiber Friday thread, only to find that it had already sold! I could hardly believe it! (A big "thank you" to my customer in case you're reading this!) Anyway, I thought I'd go ahead and post a couple of pictures here. This yarn was my entry for the EtsyFAST August Challenge. The theme is "Celestial." When it was hanging up to dry, it reminded me of pictures I had seen of the Northern Lights, so that fit right in with our theme this time. Here are a couple of pictures:


I'm hoping to order some more yarn and do another batch before long.

Sock Report

I've been working on the socks I'm knitting with the sock yarn I ordered. I forgot to mention when I posted about dyeing the yarn that I used the solar dyeing method this time. I had tried it before with some roving I think it was, but it wasn't a sunny enough or hot enough day, and there was still a lot of dye left when I rinsed it. This time, though, we'd had some 90 degree sunny days. I put it outside in the late morning and brought it in in the late afternoon. When I rinsed it, the water was practically clear right off the bat. I'm working on the gusset now. Here's a picture:

I'm not by any means a very experienced knitter. I learned to crochet years ago, but didn't really seriously try knitting till the past two or three years. And then I've mostly done small things like caps or mittens. Last year I was in a yarn shop and saw a book about learning to knit socks and thought it looked interesting, so I've done a few pairs and found I really enjoyed it. I've so far just done simple patterns...ribbed cuffs and stockinette foot. I kind of like not having to concentrate too hard or do much counting when I'm sitting there watching TV. Lazy, I guess:) Maybe one of these days, I'll give one of those fancy patterns a whirl. I don't know, though, I kind of like having a really variegated color yarn and just letting the color do the work!

What a Day

Whew, yesterday was a strange day. We were working on sorting the sheep yesterday morning when a yearling ewe decided instead of going around me she would just jump up into the air and see what would happen. In the process, she gave me an uppercut to the chin with her head. Later on then, a metal grate that was being used as a gate fell over and the edge of it hit the side of my ankle bone. Ouch! Neither was serious, though...hardly even a bruise, just a little sore to the touch. Then in the afternoon I went to rake hay. I'd done several windrows when I noticed that one of the big back tires was leaking water from a crack in the side. So I unhooked the rake and took the tractor back over to my husband's parents' house, then walked home. It's probably only about half a mile, so it was a nice little jaunt, just kind of hot. Anyway, the thought occurred to me that maybe I should just go to bed and stay there for awhile. :)

Needless to say, I haven't been getting much spinning done. I did do something new, though, the other day. I had ordered some fingering weight sock yarn and thought I would trying dyeing that. I liked the way it came out. Here are a couple of pictures:


I've started on a pair of socks and have a little over four inches done on the first cuff. I actually ordered two skeins and am planning to dye the other one to put in the shop.

A New Venture

I'm getting ready to try something new (for me) in spinning: bamboo yarn. I've seen some pictures on Etsy of some bamboo yarn and thought it was SO pretty. I ordered two 4-ounce packages of top the other day and finally got it dyed yesterday. Here it is in my "dye studio." (In other words, a corner of the basement.)

Then here it is after rinsing, hanging up to dry. I thought it might dry quicker than wool, but it hasn't seemed to so far. I rinsed it out yesterday afternoon, and it was still damp this morning.

I really like the way bamboo shines. You can't really tell from the picture how much shine there is, but I think it really looks cool.

This one has shades of lavender to almost pink, with some white. I'm anxious to get started spinning. I keep fluffing it (it was really scrunched up after I squeezed the water out) to help it dry faster, and also because it's fun. :)

Next Batch

I started on my next batch of wool today. I still can't find the lid to my canning pot! So it's back to the crock pot. About an ounce and a half of teal in there, with another ounce and a half of salmon waiting. I thought I'd sun dye it while the teal was going, but then the clouds rolled in, so it's having to wait its turn. Maybe one of these days the elusive lid will show up!

Yarn Update

The latest yarn is all spun up, the twist is set, and it's hanging up to dry. I'm hoping it will be dry by this afternoon. I'll need to weigh and measure it, too, so I may not get it listed in the shop today, but if not today, then maybe tomorrow. The close-up isn't real clear, but you can see the colors pretty well. When I spun the first ply, I was kind of worried that it might come out a little blah. But when I added the red ply, that gave it the zing it needed, and I thought it came out pretty neat. I'll try to get better pictures when I list it. Better go for now...thanks for reading!

Yarn in Progress

I've finally made some progress on my next yarn. The first ply is done...here it is on the bobbin:

The second ply is still in the roving stage. The picture is maybe a little blurry, but you can still get the idea:

Looks like it might be kind of a wild combination. I'm anxious to see what it looks like after it's plied.

I need to get out while it's not raining and start skirting the fleeces from the shearing the other day. Right now they are sitting in giant trashbags in the basement.

I'm hoping to start on another batch of roving soon. I'm planning to steam set the colors in a big canning pot. I looked around for this pot for awhile this morning (knew it had to be somewhere) and finally found it. According to the "Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook" that was the gentlest way to set the colors. Now, if I can find the lid...

Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook

I had ordered the book, "Spinning for Softness and Speed" by Paula Simmons quite some time ago from Amazon, and finally found out that they can't get it from their supplier anymore. (It turns out that you have to order it directly from Paula Simmons herself.) Anyway, instead of getting a refund, I ordered the "Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook" by Lynne Vogel. There's lots of information about designing and knitting socks, but also TONS of material on color and different dye techniques that I was especially interested in. I've already been using the new ideas (new to me anyway) on my next batch of yarn. Part of it is done, and the rest is soaking, waiting to go in the dyepot. I'll try to post pictures next time. Thanks for reading!

I found a little information on solar wool/yarn dyeing and thought I'd give it a whirl on my newest batch of yarn. I think it would have worked really well if I'd waited till a warmer day. We've had kind of a cool snap and though the day was really sunny, it was still not very warm.
After being out for about six hours, the dyebath wasn't exhausted, so I finished it up in the crockpot. Maybe you can see the colors in the picture. Yes, that's right, it's purple. And green. Together. In the same yarn. Maybe I'm just not an adventurous enough dyer, but that seems pretty wild to me. But when I asked the handspun buyers at Etsy what they were looking for, most said bulky yarn (which this is) and some mentioned bright colors (which this is). I saw a necklace at Walmart the other day that was purple and green and really liked the way the colors looked together, though I wouldn't probably have thought about putting just purple and green together otherwise. We'll just have to wait and see how it works in the shop. I need to get off for now and get the new yarn rinsed and hung up to dry. Thanks for reading!

Well, the twist has been set, and it's hanging up to dry. Actually, it's probably dry already. I'm not sure why, but it seems like this yarn has really taken a long time to finish. I've been spinning up some chunky singles yarn in response to the Etsy folks who said in their forum posts that that's what they're looking for. And besides, there are already some finer weight yarns in the shop. I spun this latest batch of Merino before dyeing the roving...now just have to come up with a bright color combination. Next time, I may dye the roving first and then spin in. It's neat to do it both ways since you get such different looks with each type. I've been using a slow cooker to dye my yarn and roving, but it's not very big, and I've been looking for other ways to dye it. My next experiment may be with "sun dyeing" if I can find a little info on it...and a sunny day.

Lambs!

I finally have some lamb pictures to post. All but one of our ewes have lambed for this season. There are some Rambouillet and Rambouillet/Suffolk cross lambs. I'm interested to see what kind of wool the cross lambs will have. This is our first experience with a Rambouillet ram and ewes. Because of their size, we were concerned that the lambs might be really big, but they weren't. Here are a couple of pictures:

If you read the listing for my "Plum Crazy" yarn in the shop, you'll know what a time I had with it. The lastest batch didn't turn out so wild. I took about four ounces of Merino wool out of the dyepot this morning that I did in "desert" colors--chestnut, olive green, oranges, and tans. I'm anxious to see what it will look like after it has been spun. It may be a little while before my next batch...I'm out of wool! Yikes! I had ordered some, and found out that it had been backordered. They didn't say when it might get here. Oh, well, maybe I can catch up with some housework! Thanks for reading!

New Yarn Project

The spinning wheel has been taking it easy for a few days. Lambing season is here, and that's been keeping me hopping. I think my next yarn project is going to be in the Tropical Island colorway like the roving that's in the shop. I really like the color combination and there was quite a bit of dye left over...hopefully enough to do around four ounces of some Merino roving. I'd better get out and do the chores--the sheep are waiting!

Colors!

I'm all excited...I'm planning on sending off an order shortly for a batch of new dyes! I'm somewhat new at hand dyeing, so I'm kind of learning as I go along. I'm still using my starter kit of dyes--it had the three primary colors, plus an extra blue and a jar of black. In theory, a person should be able to mix any color they wanted with those colors, but I thought ordering some pre-mixed would take a little of the guesswork out of it and allow for even more variety. Here are a couple of my color experiments in the yarns offered in my shop: The first one is called "Pansies." I had to do a little overdyeing in a few spots after I grabbed the wrong bottle of dye and poured it on, but it actually came out kind of neat with the different shades of blue and purple. The other one is called "Cotton Candy." The idea was to look like dainty pink roses, but it looked so much like cotton candy when the roving was hanging up to dry, that I changed the name.

Oh well...sometimes what comes out of the dyepot isn't what you had in mind, but with such beautiful colors to work with, it comes out pretty anyway. Better go for now. Thanks for reading!