SAFF purchase details: Post #3
I had seen a whole wall of rainbow-dyed silk during the first walk through, and after I had bought stuff at Gwenyth Glynn and Whorling Tides, I headed back toward the Bullen’s Wullens booth. They had some amazing shades of color. It was hard to pick just one! (The silk came in larger packages. I can’t remember now if it was eight ounces or four. It’s a good size.) But I settled on this one.
The Winner
I can hardly wait to try spinning it. I’ve never done pure silk before.
Continue Reading »
SAFF purchase details: Post #2
The next place I stopped was Whorling Tides. She had some beautiful, beautiful stuff. I walked past, glanced into the booth and saw this.
Merino Bamboo Blend
Continue Reading »
SAFF purchase details: Post #1
The first place I bought wool from I had stopped to look at an overflowing basket of gorgeous, shiny, curly, white wool locks. Next thing I knew the owner was right next to me. She was such a nice lady, and she told me all about the Wensleydale sheep she has (Wensleydales are native to England) and how nice their fleece is. Believe me, you could see how nice the fleeces were. All it took was one touch.
Continue Reading »
Saturday was an absolute blast. My first fiber fair ever, my biggest fiber purchase ever, and I think my most money spent (at one time) ever. And the fiber was totally worth it. Here is my final haul.
The Whole Kaboodle
And I got all of that from only seven vendors. Seven out of the many many many that were there. Of course, I looked up all the vendors ahead of time to find out which ones had stuff I was interested in. I walked into the fair with a list of what I wanted, and basically threw it out the window.
Continue Reading »
A wonderful big box arrived! My aunt and I got a ball winder and six new colors of dyes! I’m so excited. I can hardly wait to start winding dye balls . . . no. Dyeing wind balls . . . Oh! Balling wound dyes. Aaah!
Six New Dyes
We tried the ball winder out on some store-bought yarn. It worked beautifully. We got it rather inexpensively at
Knitting-Warehouse. I wasn’t expecting them to ship here very quickly, but they got it to me in just a few days.
There’s an umbrella swift (to hold the yarn skeins) and some blank yarn and fiber coming from another store. At least I think it’s coming. I haven’t heard anything back from them about a tracking number. Hmm. I’d better go check on that.
Yesterday my dad and I went to multiple stores and got all the stuff I need to begin washing the fleece and dyeing some roving I have stashed away. It cost a little more than I was anticipating, but it should last for quite awhile.
Washing and Dyeing Supplies
Two pots for washing and dyeing. A set of measuring cups and spoons (so I don’t get dye and grease on the regular cooking ones). Some wooden spoons for various stirring needs. Can lids to put on the pots of dye. A colander to rinse the wool in. Dawn and Simple Green for cleaning the raw fleece. (The Simple Green isn’t in the picture. It took a couple stops to find it. We finally located it at an Auto Parts store.) And finally some vinegar for the Jaquard Acid dyes. I’m all set to get started. Now all I need is time!
Sheep
We did get to go to the sheep farm! I spent over three hours buried up to the wrists in all sorts of fleeces. You know you are officially a wool-lover when you can pick through a fleece to get out all the twigs and worse things and not mind it one bit. I had an absolute blast. And things got even better.
Continue Reading »
Despite my irritations with the carded Corridale, I’m still interested in learning how to hand card and blend fibers. The only problem is that carders are on the expensive side of things, and when it comes down to carders or fiber, the latter wins every time. Or maybe I shouldn’t say every time.
Continue Reading »
