As for me, well, I’m up to my elbows in a pile of spinning projects. Lovely projects, for lovely people, but there seem to be tons of them.

First off, I’ve been working on spinning up some Aussie fur for a good friend. (Yes, dog fur.) It’s really soft and fluffy, and has been washed. Definite bonus. I’m spinning it on a spiffy new gadget I’ll have to tell you all about in a future blog post.

Theoretically this yarn will end up as a two-ply fingering weight, although there will be some DK weight bits in there, given the nature of the fiber. I carded the fur into batts, but it’s so fine that it spins more like a cloud, which results in a lot of difficulty keeping things even. And there seems to be different lengths of fur in there, which also makes things interesting.

All in all, it’s spinning up to be an interesting taupe color. Almost like sand.

Another fiber project I’m working away on is some more indigo merino. Remember the indigo merino from last year? This is more of that. Thankfully it’s going much quicker this time, although it’s having to share space on the wheel with a different project.

It’s been audio book city around here as I work away on all this. Nothing like a good audio book to make spinning go faster! Or at least, to keep me sitting there longer.

The third project, and the biggest, is some wool that I’m washing and spinning for a lovely new friend. Her parents have some Corriedale sheep, and she and I worked out a swap where I would wash and spin a portion of their fleeces for her, and then I could keep the rest of the fleece for myself. And, given how it’s behaving, I’m really excited. The fleece is gorgeous. But you don’t just have to take my word for that, you can see it.

It washes up really white, and has a great feel to it.

It also cards into beautiful, fluffy batts. I’ve already spun one and a half of those little fellas into the first skein of probably eight or nine at least. A nice two-ply light worsted.

I’m happy to report that the fleece is well worth any hassle to work with. Including the somewhat amusing event that occurred on my hour’s drive to pick up the raw fleeces.

Picture me in my father’s little blue Honda, trucking happily down the highway with my Google Map printout. No cell phone, but I had directions, so who cared? I followed the map step by step, turned off the highway, and started along a nice little country road. Then a sign loomed up.

Pavement Ends.

The last thing I wanted to do was drive my dad’s car down a little one-lane gravel road, but there was no obvious alternative. I drove along, watching the mailboxes for the right number and keeping an eye out for any enormous pick-up trucks who might want to pass me.

Then the road got narrower. And suddenly it ceased to be a road and became a grand canyon with a rushing river in the bottom of it.

Okay, so it was more like a normal creek bed, but the road tilted down into the water, then emerged on the other side in a somewhat muddy slope.
I am not a country driver. I am a city girl. And I am a city girl who knows better than to take her father’s car through water, thank you very much.

Hope springing eternal, I turned the car around and headed back up the road to see if I had missed the number. Turns out I hadn’t, but the road continued on the other side of where I got on it, so I crossed the pavement road and checked out the other side. The numbers decided to go the wrong direction. And then that road T’d with another road and hope was squelched.

I had no cell phone. I had no map. (Well, I had a map, but I was off the edge of it.) There was nothing for it but to turn back around and pray I could survive.

Now, thank God, the second time I showed up at the creek there was a very nice lady in her four-wheeler who assured me that the water was not as deep as it looked, and that as long as I “stayed far away from that big rock there” I’d be okay. (There were three big rocks sticking out the water, and I never did figure out which one she meant.) So, with a deep breath, more prayer, and a trembling accelerator, I splashed in. And across. And up the other side. (You may sing the “Hallelujah Chorus” here.)

Wet, muddy, and gravel-dusted, I set off along the still-unpaved road to find the farm. The road went on for a bit, then suddenly dead-ended at a nice, paved road, and the sign informed me that the road I wanted continued to the left. Through lovely suburbia. And easy roads. And a little way down that road, there was the farm!

If my web map had routed me one more road down the main highway and come at the farm from the other side, I would have had completely normal driving the whole way.

As I said before, though, the whole trip was worth the wool and getting to make a new friend. And maybe God decided I needed off-pavement driving practice, who knows? I do think next time, however, I will make sure I have a cell phone.

But, I have made some rather good progress on my second alpaca sock, and I have found the secret to finishing a never-ending pair of extra-tall socks! The key is to go and stay in a rather chilly house for a few days. Take the sock knitting, and just barely enough pairs of regular-height socks. By the middle of the first day you’ll find yourself huddled on the couch watching old, instant-stream TV shows off of Netflix and knitting for your life in the hopes of warmer toes.

Unfortunately this knitting streak didn’t cross over to the other pair of unfinished socks I brought along, or the Emily Dickinson shawl that I had hoped to start again. However, I did have a lovely time resting, reading (three whole books!), and movie-watching.

If I’d been thinking I would have taken along the Fall Shawl and a large needle for “weaving in the ends” purposes. Oh well. It’ll get done eventually.
As you may be able to see, I didn’t quite finish the pattern. Due to my scandalous “departing of the text” and “altering,” the final project was smaller than I thought. So, I stopped knitting a ways from the end of the neck and left myself a handy little notch out of the middle. That way it actually stays on for the most part. I think a really interesting shawl pin or button will be in order for this. The best way to wear it is with the two edges meeting in the front like the front of a cardigan. It keeps my shoulders and neck warm and doesn’t look half bad—once you learn to ignore the gazillion and three little bits of yarn dangling off of it.

Yes, I think a button and loop would be the best way to keep it on in the front. I know of some rather fun buttons at JoAnn Etc. They’re wooden, and not quite square. Or I could purchase some from this interesting shop - We shall see what comes.

Speaking of buttons, I still don’t have them for the Sky Pirate gloves! They shall have to languish under my desk a while longer.

But, on the bright side, here’s one of my more recent yarn creations. It sold right away, but I will definitely be making the colorway again.

When I first made it, I didn’t keep track of how I did the colors, so I thought it was non-reproducible. Then a good friend asked me to pretty-please try again for her sake, and I tried, and (praise God!) it worked! So, it is now fully reproducible. Allow me to introduce, the Dawn Treader yarn!

Shortly after I recreated that, my friend with the drum carder came for a visit. We had to cut things short, due to the threat of impending snow, (Yes, snow here in the Southeast. Lots of it.) but we still got ten batts of the Iowa fleece all carded up. I have some interesting plans for these. Hopefully it will work out.

And, as a fun note to end the post on, my knitting sister (who is also my amazing yarn photographer for the Etsy sites) put together a collage of all the products I made and listed last year. Quite a few, eh?

After the wooly mammoth hide experience (see last post) I did some online tutorial hunting in the hopes of coming up with a way to make less blended, but still great batts.

I came across a very helpful series of video how-tos, although I’m loath to post the links to them, as they’re rather hyper and there is a bit of language. Suffice it to say, I went back to the craftroom revved up and ready to go with my fist full of very helpful notes.

Here is the result. My lovely Rose Garden batt.

I found the success very inspiring. Especially because I could sing the song from Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. “Up from the ashes, grow the roses of success. . . ”

So, from there on out I blended batts with much more confidence and triumph. For example, here are the Alaska batts. A trio of pale turquoise blue, chestnut, and white.

Actually, I plan to put a lot of these up on Etsy sometime this month, Lord willing. I’ve still got to take some of them up to the PakMail and find out how much shipping would cost. And make the labels, and get some packaging material. All that jazz.

I did card some stuff for myself. Or at least, for my use. These are pieces of a batt from the Iowa fleece. I plan to spin it up into a thick and thin single and possibly list it on Etsy. It’s got absolutely gorgeous colors in it, and I added some black glitz. These were actually the first “from locks” batt I carded this go-round. All the others were mainly from smooth roving with the odd mohair lock for interest.

I have a few more photos of finished batts, but I also have news on the knitting and spinning front, so I’ll intersperse them with each other in a couple more posts. It seems I’m back to the old regimen of feast or famine, blogging material-wise.

But would it be as fun? Part of the fun of hobbies is to be able to do different things and keep them fresh. If it’s not interesting, why do it? Now, granted, I’ve taken hobby-gathering and turned it into an extreme sport, but I only keep the ones I enjoy. The trouble is that I enjoy a few too many to maintain with sanity.

The solution? Rotate them out as the mood strikes, and try not to leave any unfinished projects. The first part is easy. I’m still working on the second part. Although I am proud to report that I still only have one knitting project going, despite a red sock yarn’s constant pleading and a shawl pattern’s lingering glances.

And, thus far, here is the fruit of my labor on the sweater. It’s a top-down construction, so I’m working on making the yoke (or shoulder or whatever you call it) tall enough. It doesn’t get too boring if a movie is involved. I had to order two more balls of the yarn, since my gauge is so far off, but that doesn’t count against the “not spending anything” rule because I’m trying to actually finish the project. See the difference? (Play along with me, okay?)

The weather cleared up enough the other day for me to haul out the fleece box and start picking through it.
It’s un-skirted, so I’ve got to get out any VM and other odds and ends, as well as divide it up into manageable portions. I don’t have the technology to wash an entire fleece at a time, although that would be nice. It’s much easier to grab a plastic grocery bagful and clean it, than it is to lug a garbage bag full of wet fleece down a flight of steps.

There’s a whole lot of fleece there, although it doesn’t look that big in the picture. It’s actually sixteen pounds of fleece, and it’s quite nice stuff. Ranging from low to high crimp and pretty uniformly whiteish cream.

I’ve also been working on some fibers for an new MaidenYarn product. Most of them are dyed now and hanging up to dry.
That took up almost an entire afternoon and left me quite tired. It would have taken longer, but I ran out of vinegar, which is what makes the dye actually work, so it pretty much left me high and dry. I’m hoping to get more soon.

In the meantime I’ll knit and spin and generally enjoy myself. Unless you count reorganizing my closet again. Yes. Again. There’s just too much stuff in there! This time I am actually purging, yes, getting rid of some of my stuff. Mainly the half-used-up acrylic yarns that I’m not all that keen on keeping and using again. I’m an enlightened knitter and crocheter. In short, a fiber snob — and while I love soft acrylic for afghans, I’m not planning to make an afghan any time soon. Out it goes.

And, since we’re all cringing at the thought of getting rid of any yarn, I will leave you with this happy fiber moment.

First off, I took along the indigo-dyed merino and a spinning wheel, hoping to get a bunch more spun. Unfortunately, I didn’t spin quite as much as I’d planned, but I was able to teach a friend to use the wheel, and two others to drop spindle. Now the goal is to finish the indigo merino well before Christmas.

I didn’t spin as much as I had planned because I was working away at my latest pair of socks. The first one is done, and the second is well on its way to the end. I’m now in the “knit until sock measures x length from heel” stage. A little on the boring side, but it needs to be done so I can get to some of the stuff I bought.

And, would you believe it? I forgot to see if my pattern could get translated! I brought it all the way out there and promptly forgot it. Oh well. I’ve got other things in line now. Big things.

Like a cowl made out of this. It’s a mohair blend, and the actual yarn is a lot more navy than it looks in the picture. I thought it would make the perfect “dress up” item for my rather plain sand-colored coat. I’m thinking a simple pattern would be best. Maybe a check or herringbone sort of thing. Nothing too lacy. I got two balls of it, so I should have enough. Possibly more than enough. But that’s okay.

Speaking of more than enough, how about three bags full of alpaca and llama fleece? Or are they all alpaca? I’ve lost track. Two gorgeous shiny black, one cinnamon brown.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy. I’m in fiber heaven, but also project shock. What on earth am I going to do with it all? (Aside from the obvious: Fondle and spin.) Thanks, MamaMentor!

More yarn and fiber to show tomorrow. This was a very fun and productive trip. Not to mention I got to have some of the best African food ever!

Wool is one of the easiest fibers to dye. It responds readily to Kool-Aid, commercial dyes, natural (plant- or animal-derived) dyes, and even food coloring.

There are dozens of different ways to color wool, and, as I’ve only tried a few of them, I can’t give you detailed tutorials for everything, but here are some of the ones that have helped me along and given me some really great results. I use Jacquard Acid Dyes for most of my dyeing, with the odd natural dye thrown in. The Jacquards are really nice because the only chemical you need to set the color is vinegar!

Kettle-Dyeing

If you’re a knitter you have probably heard the term “kettle-dyed” before. It pretty much means that the yarn will be mostly the same color, with a slight shift in intensity in some areas. This is achieved by cooking the yarn (or wool roving) in a pot of dye solution. The actual process will vary depending on what kind of dye you use.

This tutorial is for doing more than one color at a time, and I did it a couple times awhile back. You can read about them in this post and this one if you want to see the results. This method is quite fun.

Rainbow in a Pot

This is my favorite way to dye yarn. You just mix up the dyes and pour them in!

Roving for Supper

And this is the way that I do practically all of my wool rovings. No open flames on the stove top to worry about! Sometimes, if I don’t feel like heating up the oven, I’ll put the wool in a pot and treat it like the yarn in the “Rainbow” method.

The Kool-Aid Way

If you’re looking for something less “toxic” than usual dyes and something that you can do on the stovetop or in the microwave, this is the way to go. I have a friend who has gotten beautiful colors out of this.

I tried it, but as a school project for some young friends of mine. From the moment I found I couldn’t fit a mason jar into their tiny microwave, I knew things were going to be a bit rocky. Thankfully the colors still turned out well. We just set each jar into a big pot of boiling water and let it sit there and steam until I figured the colors were done.

Why Choose?

When I first became a spinner the sheer number of wool types available boggled my brain. Was “Merino” or “Romney” a better choice for a beginner? How about “Rambouillet”? And what on earth did “staple length” or “crimp” mean? Did it really matter what I chose?

I wanted a complete list of every kind of fleece available and information on how it spun. To the best of my knowledge a list like this did not exist (yet!), so what I ended up doing was scrolling through the fiber websites looking for something — anything — labeled “good for beginners.” In my first months of spinning I found a few favorites, maybe branched out a bit, and wound up only spinning certain types of wool because, well, the others might not turn out nicely.

Thankfully this attitude of wool ineptness left after a while. I’m now willing and eager to skim the offerings at fiber fairs and on websites. I can pick a wool with confidence because I have a good bit of head knowledge that tells me how a type of wool will behave.

This article is designed to equip you with the knowledge you need to look at a type of wool and say “Perfect!” or “Run for your life!”

What To Watch For

When you look at a type of wool, whether you’ve run across it or researched it, you want to keep these things in mind. They are the keys to picking the golden fleece, so to speak.

1) Staple Length

This is how long the individual hairs are. If they’re really short they will slip and slide off each other and fall apart. (Not good beginner material.) If they’re really long the twist can get away from you and you’ll end up constantly reversing the twist to rectify an error. The perfect beginner staple length, in my opinion, is two and a half to three inches long.

Sometimes websites will not list the staple length. The good news is that staple lengths are relatively consistent within a breed, so research around a bit and see what you can find. The term “staple length” is usually used when buying a non-processed (raw) fleece, but sometimes it’s applied to roving or other prepared fiber forms.

2) Crimp

A describing word referring to little kinks in the wool. If you look at a lock (small section) of the fleece you’ll see little zig zags in it, rather like someone gave it a very tight perm. (Think: the edge of a Ruffles potato chip.) This is called “crimp” and it’s usually measured in crimps per inch.

A high crimp count means the yarn will have tons of elasticity. Think sproing-sproing perfect yarn for something that needs to stretch and return to its proper shape. Low crimp means not as stretchy. Again, this term is mainly used when buying a raw fleece.

3) Micron Count

Oh dear. A technical term. And one that I have yet to fully wrap my brain around. Micron count actually refers to (are you ready for this?) the diameter size of each individual hair. But, before you rush out to buy a ruler and microscope, let me just give you the reason for this measurement. The thinner the hair, the finer the wool (obviously). A thick hair means coarser wool. A thin hair means a fine wool, like merino, the queen of soft.

So, wouldn’t it be easier to just say thin and thick? But how thin is thin? Is it thinner than this thin or that thin? Thus micron count came into the picture. You might see a merino roving that says 64 micron count, and one that says 100 microns. Which is finer? Well, this is where things get tricky. While the actual micron count means you want the lower number, some times the wool is actually graded according to the Branford count, which means you want a higher number. (And to make matters worse, sometimes the two get confused and incorrectly labeled.) Here is a nice article on understanding the differences between Branford, micron, and an extra bonus — blood count.

4) Luster

I think everyone knows what this word means. The shine, the glow, the sparkle, the gloss that makes you weep. This is another “buying in the raw” one. (“All right,” you say, “We get the hint. You’re going to post about raw fleece next, right?” And to that I say, “Right! However did you guess?”) Sometimes the seller will mention the luster; sometimes they won’t.

5) Hand

This is a little harder to describe in text. It’s the “feel” of the wool. When you put your hand down in it and rub gently, do you think “this was a steel wool producing sheep” or “Ooooooooohhhhh”? It’s what gets us lady spinners into such trouble in a room full of fleeces begging to be taken home. One feel and it’s ours.

Sheep and Their Fleeces

All right, you have the basics; now, which breeds of sheep (and therefore fleece) go with which kinds of crimp and luster and micron count? Excellent question. The answer is, I’m still learning myself. Get out there and do your research! Call up a spinning friend, Google different sheep breeds, or just experiment.

Here are a few breeds to research to get you started.

Merino
Rambouillet
Corriedale
Cotswold
Jacob
Icelandic
CVM (No, it’s not referring to vegetable matter. It’s the abbreviation for California Variegated Mutant)
Finn
Tunis
Romney
Wensleydale
*If you can’t make up your mind what to try first, I found this wonderful Website on Knitty the other day. They carry packages of assorted raw wool in two ounce batches. Brilliant! I can hardly wait to try one myself.

And, just keep in mind, no sheep breed is set in stone. (Thankfully.) There are variations within breeds and crosses between breeds. These are usually marked by an “x” between two or three sheep names, such as a Tunis X Dorset X Romney, or a Corriedale X Cotswold. (The first raw fleece I ever got was one of those, actually. It had the ease of spinning and softness of Corridale, and the shine and strength of Cotswold.)

Now that you feel better equipped, go out there and start playing with fleece!

I’ll be focusing in on wool types and working with fleece. I’ll go into picking the right type of wool to use and how to choose a raw fleece, wash it, prepare it, and dye it. I’m so excited about these new posts. It’s a lot to cover in one week, but we’ll have a good time.

Posts start September 9th.

As always, these articles are intended to be wildly helpful, so please, don’t hesitate to leave a comment if something needs clarification or elaboration. These are for you and others who love learning. Share your knowledge.

And if there’s anything scarier than doing a natural dyeing pot, it’s doing it for the second time. Because things can go differently. And this second pot of indigo decided to change whatever could be changed. The indigo didn’t dissolve as nicely, the bloom took longer in forming, and the actual vat decided to get oxygen in it a couple times. I tell you. It was crazy.

Well, it still behaved fairly well. Although it seemed a lot stronger than I’d planned. I wound up with a nice medium chunk of fleece.

And then I pushed the vat to see how dark I could actually get. This wool was . . . I think six or seven dunks. I could have gone longer, but I was worn out. You wouldn’t think standing in the kitchen could get so old after awhile.

Anyway, I also over-dyed some leftover yarn from my raspberry sweater. This yarn was originally mordanted with alum and dyed with cochineal. You can see its color and the color of a darker, non-mordanted, vinegar-enhanced cochineal skein in this picture. Here they are pre-soaking.

I dunked them into the indigo and got these lovely purples. Over-dyeing is quite fun! I’d love to try for some greens once I get a chance to dye some things with my goldenrod. (Which I wish I’d bought more of.) The picture shows them a bit darker then they actually are.

Then I also did a little sample of merino roving to take to a friend so she could see the range of colors. Dip-dyeing is quite easy in the indigo vat because you only have to hold the fiber up for a minute at a time.

My friend did come and bring her drum carder, and I have some nice pictures of the batts we made. I’ll be getting those up pretty soon.

And, for MaidenYarn news, my blog is now moved to maidenyarn.com. (I have my own domain!) If you type in the old address it will still redirect to the new location.

I’m also getting another Beginner Series ready to go. This one will focus on fleece!

Every single scrap of Iowa fleece I have left (except for one chunk that had lots of VM) has been pre-soaked twice. All of it. Excuse me while I go collapse.

I spent I don’t know how long outside in the backyard hauling pots of water, wrestling fleece, spinning out the excess water, and shooing away any curious insects. It wiped me out. I have this feeling that the neighbors think I’m some sort of odd person — constantly lugging pots out there, whirling around spraying water in every direction — yeah. Well, if they want some wool they can have it. I just want to get it all washed by the second of August.

Why the reason for this sudden haste? A certain special friend is coming to visit next month, and she’s bringing a toy with her. Something very beneficial for those who have lots of fiber to process. Any guesses?

A drum carder.

Ta-da! Cymbal crash. Wild applause.

And, on the knitting front, (while it’s not quite as exciting as a drum carder) I threw the potential sock pattern out the window and started spinning the indigo yarn the way I wanted to spin it. If I really want to use that pattern once the yarn is done I’ll go dig around in the roses until I find it, but in the meantime I’m having fun.