Spring, Spinning, Sewing

Spring has sprung in Western MA. The birds are building nests, forsithya is blooming, the trees are budding, the grass is growing, AND it's been sunny and warm.

Which is good for yard clean-up, but not for spinning.
This is last weekends haul from rose bushes run amuck along a 20 foot alley way, next to my husband's piano shop.



I finished spinning the custom order of cormo. Here it is, ready for dyeing. 653 yards of springy 2 ply. 1306 spun yards total, at 2 hours per 200 yards, approx. 7 hours of spinning and another nearly 3 of plying and skeining. I ordered the dye from Halcyon and plan to do the dyeing this weekend. They have great instructions to go with. The yarn will be hand painted in sea greens and blues with a touch of raspberry.

My first thrill of the week was the gift of this book, Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1 (I think there are 3 in the series) which is a must have for a costumer. I've made at least five of the dresses in it over my career and am so happy to have a copy of my own. The second was being hired by a local dress company as an Office Assistant/Patternmaker/Shop Assistant. Sunday I'll be going to see the Yarn Harlot at the Calvin.

Spinning Alpaca

Last night I took a break from muddling through paperwork and
spun some of the alpaca that I got from Northstar. Initially I spun too thin and ended up with laceweight 16 wpi after plying! (pic with ruler) I never spin this thinly on the Baynes. I must have been pretty uptight. It's amazingly consistant-hope I can do it again sometime.
So then I made an effort to loosen up a bit and let the yarn be thicker-12 wpi, plyed. I think it came out great.
I should be able to re-knit the glove thumb tonight or tomorrow-whenever it's dry.









This lilac top is half of my current sewing project. It's a 1870's 2 piece dress for a 12 inch French Fashion doll in changeable silk (it has a gold cast to it). It's almost ready for the trim. Looks funny on my skeinwinder, which was standing in for a dress form.

Waiting

Yesterday was a waiting day. I was waiting for:

1. The Sears fridge repair guy (you know the famous we will be there between 8am and 5 pm) - found out at 1:30 pm that he was out sick and not coming-Thanks!

2. For the power to come back on. Due to icing we had no electricity for 2.5 hours. Not as bad as some folks but it does restrict what you can do.

3. Spring! I like to see the white flakes on occasion. I can do without ice.

So while I was waiting I decided to occupy myself with....Spinning





Soy silk plyed with silk noil. Love this combo and plan to make more.





Soy silk plyed with handspun green wool. Very Springy.
The soy silk is pink, peach, purple, blue aqua, green and yellow.

Current Spinning

Pink/Purple soy silk plus Smoky Mountain Fibers Carnivale = Romance Novel

Custom Spinning

TaDa!

I finished the custom spinning. I really love the brown mix. The red mix is soaking in Eucalon at the moment. The pic I took for this was blurry so I'll add one later.

Back to Blogging

Currently on the wheel is a custom spinning project. Merino/Colonial combed top from CJ Kopec Creations -spun thick and plyed with worsted (Brown - plyed with Manos del Uraguay silk blend - color 3109, Pink plyed with Wonderful Wool -Hot Lips, and Lavender is plyed with Wonderful Wool -Boysenberry), for a chunky yarn in three colorways. One done so far.

I opened my esty store in August and have been busy keeping it stocked with handspun. I try to add something new weekly and am working on a couple of patterns.

I am currently playing with soy silk. I love the way it takes color and drapes! I will be dyeing more soon and will add photos when I do.

Progress Report

Progress Report:

1. Toe up socks are at about the arch.

2. I still haven't finished spinning the second bobbin of merino from the Tour de Fleece, but am getting there

3. Still washing wool

4. I have tagged measured and tagged all of the yarn for the Mattoon Street Festival. Have to knit samples and hats.

5. My China now has arms and a body, but is waiting for clothes. She was just a head when I got her. Arms are leather to the shoulder with individually stitched, wired fingers.

And this is why nothing is finished. Spent most of the weekend moving the plants away from the house and relocating the ones that previously inhabited the spaces where the bushes at the top of the drive are now located. Hubby built the rock wall.

Back to filing, and looking for a job.

PS- I'm waiting for Electric spinner number 2 to arrive. The first one was defective. I am hoping that this one does not spark or have random drive band popping off for no reason issues. It has a fixed motor so it shouldn't.

Tour de Fleece

Last night I finished plying the first skein for the Tour de Fleece. This is a lousy picture the blue should be the same as on my wheel. The mohair slubs are light orange, and various shades of yellow. I'll have to take a better picture outside when it's light. Today we went to a wedding. Had to re-hem the front of my dress first as it was 1" longer in the front (nothing like waiting until the last minute!), so didn't get much spinning or carding done. Tomorrow we are off to a balloon festival. I'll take my drop spindle with me, I have some angora/merino roving to spin.