no front loading washer for me!

Realized that I had more unwashed wool than I had originally thought. Sunny day, nothing to do. Let’s wash us up some fleece. I wanted to get some of those large mesh laundry bags so I could do multiple fleeces without having them get mixed up. Unfortunately Target only had one. So I put the remaining BFL/Border Leicester in the bag and dumped the rest of the Columbia into the washer without a bag. Seems to be fine. I don’t understand why the tips of the Columbia are so yellow or how to get them washed. The cut ends are super clean!

P.S.  It’s party time!! I’m making pompoms. Weee!

the same, but not

As you can probably guess, I’m very excited about my newly acquired spinning skills. For so long I was spinning all fibers and all preparations the same way and feeling very poorly about it. Then I met with Cosy and she shared her SOAR knowledge. Wow! I’ve been feverishly spinning worsted yarns like mad and I am loving the results.

I realized I had an excellent example of the differences between spinning techniques and preps. My Columbia fleece from the county fair was returned to me in excellent condition at the beginning of January. I love you Zeilinger’s!

Here are three yarns made from the same fleece. For each one I used a different combination of prep/spinning style. It’s quite interesting to visually see the differences between the yarns based on those two variables. These are in chronological order starting with the oldest. Neat, eh?

“Warm and Savory”. Flicked locks, spun woolen

“Lilac Sprig”. Carded roving, spun woolen

“Raspberry Truffle”. Carded roving, spun worsted

christmas knitting and experiments

This year I’ve decided to knit my Christmas gifts. Yes, I suppose after 3 years of knitting it’s a bit shameful that I haven’t already been doing this. I have no excuse. Why now? Because I’m poor and I have a sizable yarn stash. I think it makes sense. Thus far I’ve decided what to make for my mom and my sister. April – the sister – lives in Florida and will be getting a bag, this one, in fact.

Mom lives in Ohio and will wear just about anything I make for her while telling everyone she meets that HER DAUGHTER made it (she’s my PR representative). For her I will make the Handspun Scarf (ravelry/nonravelry) by Monica Gomi. I printed the pattern quite some time ago and when I came across it yesterday while cleaning the Fiber Den, I thought it would be appropriate. For the scarf I will be using my handspun Strings of Jade, which ended up 220 yards – I think that’s my most yet out of 4 ounces. It could have been a little more even, but it’s acceptable. I’m excited to see the subtle color changes as I knit.

As for the experimenting, this two photos are the outcome of a lighting set-up that I tried this morning. Again, cleaning the room yesterday turned out to be a major boon. Some new space was made available that works well as a small photo-taking corner. I had a 300 watt bulb that really made a difference over the 60 W bulb. I’m pleased with the results. I knew that with winter quickly approaching, hours of good sunlight would become scarce. Cheers. Problem solved.

And the yarn is called Rhinos at the Disco. It’s my Columbia locks, handdyed and drumcarded. I also added a bit of Firestar while carding – also an experiment, actually. I spun it thick and then, then plied it with button thread and seed beads.

usual assortment

Sharing some new yarns. As I mentioned before, I really have enjoyed the new Columbia fleece I bought at the county fair. I’m going to take out a few pounds so I can continue to process it myself, but the rest is going to Zeilinger’s to become roving. I love the texture in this! It’s almost so textural it morphs into a single clump.

Here is a Corriedale yarn made from two separate colorways I had listed in the shop. They were each dyed only two colors, so not overly interesting when there are 400 other options available. I decided to take them down and spin them myself. I like the way the colors came together. I’ll probably list this on Etsy eventually.

Yesterday I bought some green ribbon to use as a reinforcement on the back of my cardigan’s button band. Whenever I buttoned it up, the knitting stretched quite a bit making it look like it was too small. I thought having green would be a fun little detail.

giant clown wig

I’ve run out of commercially processed top. But I haven’t run out of dye. So I got out the washed Columbia locks that have been vacationing on the backporch for several days and separated them into 2 ounce bunches. It worked out quite evenly into 6 piles and I dyed them 3 at a time. Some of the colors blended more than others. Those that I did in the crockpot stayed more separate than those done on the stovetop. I bet you can guess which ones are which. These will eventually get flick-carded and then I’ll send them through the drumcarder. (I’m buying a real flick-carder at Rhinebeck!) I’m hoping to add batts to my etsy shop at some point.

happy little surprises

1.) Apparently I’m going to “Rhinebeck” as all the cool kids call it. It’s the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. The story goes something like this: All summer I wanted to go on a vacation, but we were too busy getting ready for our vacation (Pennsic) to get away. Rich and I then decided to take a weekend in the fall to do something special but relatively close. I ordered a AAA tourbook for Maryland/DC/Delaware/Virginia and started to plot a course to Baltimore. Then I got my fall Spin-Off in the mail and found out Rhinebeck was taking place the SAME WEEKEND we were planning to be away! I informed Rich of this and he determined right then and there that we had to go. It’s only 2 additional hours drive than our original destination. I’m excited, as I’ve not been to a large scale wool festival before. Weee!

2.) I like my new fleece. A few days ago I dyed a couple ounces. Some of it went into the drumcarder on Sunday and made lovely heathered batts. I had used scarlet, turquoise, and gold with lots of black to achieve these colors. Quite pleased with the way it handled.

I also dyed some bright orange and yellow. Those I flick-carded on Tuesday with every intention of drumcarding them also. However, the color was too irresistible and I just couldn’t wait. They were spun as fluffed locks into an uneven single that will be plied once I dig out my nostepinne after the weekend. Additionally, Zeilinger Wool Co. will be accepting fleeces at the show, so I don’t have to wait until May to get the rest of this processed! Hoobah.

3.) Not necessarily happy nor a surprise – I sort of realized beforehand that I won’t be home this weekend to select the winner of the giveaway because I’ll be at Saxon Summer in the rain. So, first thing Monday morning I will post the winner! Sorry ladies. I set it as a week later than the original entry and halfway through the week mentally acknowledged the lapse in thinking. Which also means you can still get in until Monday if you missed your chance the last few days.

So, yes. I’ll be camping this weekend in the 100% chance of rain. Come back Monday to find out who has been selected as Pieces of String too Small to Save’s First Giveaway Winner!

whiskers’ big day out

Sunday afternoon I got the bright idea that I would haul Whiskers (the drumcarder) out onto the back porch and revisit batts. All summer I’ve been staring at him feeling very guilty for not taking advantage of the awesome free machine that I was given. That plus my new fleece inspired me to go for it. This time I flick-carded the locks before sending them through the drumcarder and it made a huge difference. Mostly I worked with the Columbia fleece, adding bits of mohair into it as well (Heathered Plum). The other batts consist of mystery wool and mohair (Soda Fountain); Indiana wool and poodle (small pink batt). I realized that it’s best to always have things on hand and ready to go when you need them. Now I’ll dye more locks and flick-card them during my free time so they’ll be available.

Also, thanks to those you have taken part in the giveaway from my last post. The winner will be chosen next Saturday, so you still have time to get in!

1. Flick-carded, 2. ready for action!, 3. in progress, 4. in progress, 5. cranking, 6. in progress, 7. in progress, 8. exhausted, 9. finished batts, 10. heathered plum, 11. soda fountain, 12. batts

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

good things come in furry packages

This weekend we attended the county fair. And while there, I inadvertently purchased a fleece.

Post-skirting. Wow – there was a lot of poop on this thing! VM, not so bad.

I had my selection of the competition fleeces and decided on a second place winner. This particular fleece is of the breed “Columbia” which I was told is a cousin of the Corriedale. From Sheep 101, I read that it originated from a cross between Lincoln and Rambouillet and is considered “all American”. I had my choice between Shropshire, Merino, Corriedale, Southdown and several others. I chose this one because I didn’t want something too fine and spongy. Also, it was very large – the man assisting me said it was the biggest one there, maybe 15 pounds. And it cost only $15. So, the game plan is to skirt the fleece, separate some for myself, and store the rest for the fiber show next spring where I will leave it in Zeilinger’s capable hands.

In addition to sheep, we visited with the cutest Pygmy goats at the fair. The babies are just hilarious! Sleeping and eating and trying to climb out. Check out my photostream for more goat pictures.