Fiber Friday - March 7, 2008

[grayling40]

"Star-Spangled" - blend of wool and nylon



Can't wait to see the rest! Have a great weekend!

[jazzturtle]

Happy friday everyone!!!!

It's been a busy week for me!!

This first is my favorite. It's from a Loop spontaneous batt called Tidal Wave.  It has super soft white huacaya/suri alpaca blend, bamboo, merino, domestic wool, mohair, glitz, silk, commercial novelty yarn snippets, and other goodies
Endless sea
6 oz, 200 yards




The second is also a favorite.  It was my first attempt at "soft spun" or a low twist.  I put just enough to hold the yarn together.  I was worried it would fall apart when i was setting the twist.. but it held up beautifully, and it's lofty and squooshy.. just like I hoped.
Murmers
2 oz
Spun thick/thin
Merino, mohair, camel, fauz cashmere and sparkle



This was from batts from hobbledehoy on etsy..

Then I did one from a batt on copperpot on etsy and loose cotswold locks from hollyeqq.  It looked like these colorways were made for eachother!
3.4 oz, 68 yards
spun thick/thin with loose cotswold locks, batt of merino, silk and bamboo with lots of firestar!!



Then I did 2 skiens of  crazy supercoils which I turned into cool coillers



Happy friday everyone!!

[Kazkitty]

I love all the coils everyone seems to be doing lately.. they look so much fun!

I especially like your super squooshy yarn jazzturtle!

I haven't posted to fiber friday in a looong time.. I finally have something to show off!

Concord
4 oz 315 yds
Corriedale fiber in the rocky mountain high colorway from Spunky Eclectic





And I'm currently working on this...
(fiber is BFL in the Tiger Lily colorway from The Painted Sheep)

[birchhl]

amazing! I am in awe of the handspun yarns! Very very very beautiful:)

[pmpknpunk]

Everything looks beautiful so far! I love Fridays Here are mine for the week:

"Magically Delicious" 2 ply, 207 total yards, 5.9 oz, Corriedale x Colonial, the roving was from PerChancetoKnit on etsy



I finished it late last night so I haven't set the twist yet.

"Mint Chocolate Marshmallow" 2 ply, 62.5 yards, 2.5 oz, from Mill Ends I hand painted.




And finally this is a little baby skein I spun at my spinning group this week. Rose, the owner of my LYS gave us all a little bit to try but do you think I can remember what kind of wool it is?! NO. It's some local stuff she picked up at a shearing a few weeks ago. It was wonderful to spin!

[Lufah]

Yarnz... I has them...

The first one is one I just want to get out of the way.  I combed up some roving that had wool, mohair, nylon, and maybe some other stuff in it, but after I had a few balls done, I realized I was already sick of it.  And then it became an albatross, so I figure I had to go ahead and spin it to get it out of my life, and I realized that I didn't like spinning it either!  I got through it, though, and wound up with this navaho plied skein.  100 yards, 3 5/8 ounces.



It doesn't really look that bad, but I just never warmed up to it somehow.

Next I have Play Doh:



And its little brother, Clown Farts:



Play Doh is wool plied with tencel that unfortunately drifted apart in some spots when I was trying to make the coils.    87 yards, 4 1/8 ounces.  Clown Farts is the leftover wool navaho plied.  Not sure on the yardage, but it's 1 7/8 ounces.

The next yarn is called Little Ghost.  First I took a bunch of leftover commercial yarn bits I had from my last weaving project:



...and tied them all together.  I used that as a core to wrap some fluffy Lilac Jacob/Angora roving around, and after I had that done, I plied it with a thin ply I had spun from the same roving that I spun the top yarn with.



I really like this one because I wound up using a lot of yarn that would have been wasted, it's really soft and fluffy, and because you can see the flecks of color and bits of the core yarn where the knots are.  64 yards, 4 1/8 ounces.

Then I spun up a small skein of green viscose that Lufahsman and I dyed last summer...



(106 yards, 2 1/8 ounces)

...in order to practice for spinning the most gorgeous roving in the world...



...that Lufahsman had dyed a few days ago.  I spun it all up yesterday as a skinny single ply:





It's viscose, too.  It's called Intoxicate and is 302 yards and 3 7/8 ounces.  It's one of my favorite yarns I've ever spun!

Sorry for all the pics, but I had a lot going on this week.    So here's one more:



PS = Jazzturtle, you make me want to dig out my stash of novelty yarn and cut it all up so I can spin chunks of it into things!

[Star217]

Wow lufah that last yarn is just so...Wow!  

I have one this week 3 oz 40 yards Merino thick and thin slubby  singles
"Sandalwood"

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2149/2315683876_6f82fefe68.jpg
I fulled it to keep the thick slubs from drifting when I use the yarn. I think I'll weave something with this.

[RepoRebo]

OMG, love that viscose. LOVE IT! Can it be dyed with regular acid dyes or do you need the procion stuff?

I have a few to share this week! The first, like JazzTurtle's first yarn, includes bits of a Tidal Wave batt from Loop on etsy. I combined it with strips of pinstriped recycled fabric and hemp to make this yarn. I call it "Almanzora."



This is a mix of my own hand-dyed merino and mill ends, with gold firestar nylon carded in. I call it "Emeline". She's sweet and spunky!



And the last is a mixture of my own hand-dyed merino and mill ends, plus some hand dyed ingeo (corn fiber) from DragonCraft on etsy. This yarn already sold on my etsy shop...I'm a little sad to let it go. I called it "Wupatki" after the pueblo ruins in Arizona that I visited in November of last year.

[Lufah]

I have got to try spinning with fabric bits and pieces.  Maybe that'll be my new challenge for this week.

The viscose needs to be dyed with the Procion MX dyes.  So, there's a lot more rinsing involved, unfortunately, but it actually takes the dyes really well (especially considering that Travis was using way old, past-their-prime dyes).

[Ekioart]

Lufah, have a go at it! Its a ton of fun I'm spinning a bunch of yarn just from reclaimed and thrift store fabrics.

In that theme here's mine for the week. He He.

Astroturf Summer.

Oh did I mention this stuff is made of Vinyon?(PVC!) Its some crazy samples I found at a thrift shop.


I'm in love with Murmers Jazzturtle. **

[feralfeminine]

I had such a good fibery week. It started off with a bang this Sunday, when I went to a meet-up/spin-off with Molly, Liz of Hobbledehoy, and Steph - aka LOOP on etsy! We dyed, carded, and spun for 9 hours straight. You can read more about it here.

I spun three skeins at the spin-off:





Starlette - This skein was spun from batts handcarded by me from: soft merino-cross falkland wool in shades of mauve & lavender, deep copper sparkle, white and black mohair, and natural grey mill end wool. I also spun in gobs of gorgeous silver sparkle, super soft natural brown baby camel down (from Liz), natural brown kid mohair locks, and one big long stripe at one end of the skein of black alpaca/merino (from Loop). I really like the random black stripe! I also made a matching flower from felt. I noticed that the gross acrylic felt at the craft store is being replaced by felt made from ecospun (recycled plastic bottles)!





The Golden Ball - This yarn is inspired by a fairytale (The Golden Ball), a variation on the frog prince story. I'm not sure if it's a "real" version, since I read it in Tom Robbins' 'Still Life With Woodpecker', but it's one of my favorites. I spun this yarn from fiber that I blended on my drum carder: falkland (merino cross) wool in shades of greens (bright chartreuse, seafoam, and olive), deep teal, pale blue, and gold, shiny lime green bamboo, deep copper sparkle, seafoam sparkle, and fuzzy pale green mohair. I also spun in big slubs of bright frog green, clumps of pale green and blue kid mohair locks, and felty baubles in several shades of gold.



Magic Attic - Spun from a batt carded by me from soft merino-cross falkland wool, a mini-batt from loop that contained various wools & sparkle, bits of bamboo and sari silk, and some black alpaca/merino (also from loop).

And, a few other skeins I spun this week:





March - One ply of this is all the leftover singles from past patchwork & novelty yarns I've spun, and the other ply is a crazy mix of fiber, mostly some batts that I carded on Loop's Pat Green drum carder. This skein is mostly soft merino-cross falkland wool, but it also contains: mill end wool, farm wool, kid mohair locks, angora puffs, bamboo, baby camel down, alpaca, sparkle, and probably some other things I forgot.



Sadie Sue - Mostly chemical-free falkland wool, but I also spun in lots of luxurious slubby puffs of gold angora bunny fluff and fuzzy pink mohair, and a few little puffs of seafoam sparkle.



Snug - I spun this skein on a dark & stormy night - the wind was howling, the lights were flickering - but it didn't bother me, because I was warm, dry, and surrounded by colorful bits of wool. This one is mostly mill end wool.

And I managed to knit a pair of custom fingerless mitts from my handspun:



Whew! I hope everyone else has a good week. I'm blown away by the yarns so far - esp. jazzturtle & lufah's! I also like Almanzora & Astroturf Summer.

[Seegmonster]

Wow, I would love to see a finished item made out of this. Does it look kind of furry?

[sulkycat]

those are gorgeous - its seeing wools like these thats inspired me to spend my yearly lump sum (from marking exam papers) on spinning equipment & give it a go!

[luxx]

I only have one this week







Kindergarden - I bought a bag of random fiber from angorayarn on etsy. The bag had tons of locks and some other random fiber so I separated most of the nice locks out and carded the rest and this is the result. I'm setting the twist right now so I have no idea about yardage. I think that it turned out pretty nice and can't wait to see how it knits up!

[NativeKnits]

Yummy BFL sock weight yarn called Desert Twilight

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3030/2316018674_c4166ea549.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2150/2316018658_f0e971b449.jpg?v=0

This one is called Fairytale Sunset.  This is Merino, Mohair and a little bit of glitz.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3071/2315209451_da685db89e.jpg?v=0

Last but not least, how about some Chocolate Covered Cherries?  Yummy alpaca blend with a little bit of angora and merino, so soft and squisy, not to mention super soft and fuzzy.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/2315209437_c3b0be7f2b.jpg?v=0

Thanks for looking.  There are a LOT of amazing yarns posted this week.

Lisa

[NativeKnits]

I totally get why Intoxicate is your fave, it's mine too.  Great job.   

[phantomssiren]

Wow gorgeous yarns this week! I like Endless Sea, Intoxicate and Starlette especially. And those gloves are just fabulous *covet*

[grayling40]

I think this thread was started a few minutes after my Fiber Friday post, so it was at the top of the message board and got replied to first. So - I'm going to re-post my yarn for this week:

"Star-Spangled" - a blend of wool and nylon


Have a great weekend!

[Marlana]

Pretty yarns again!  I love Murmers and Sadie Sue. 
I have two this week.

Firestarter.  Superwash Wool & Gold metallic thread. 167yds


Cupcake.  Super crazy bulky thick and thin superwash.  53yds/ 6oz

[Laamissa]

Wow! What an amazing array of colors, textures and fibers this week!
Lufah...LOVE INTOXICATE it looks soooo soft, Ive gotta try viscose!

"Peas and Carrots"  232 Yards Merino spun singles


"Seafoam"  36 yard Mini Skein


"Easter Basket"  2 Mini Skeins totaling 64 yards


Have a great weekend all!

[ArianesThread]

You guys are such an inspiration! I love Fiber Fridays!

Here is my second real yarn. It was spun from some BFL roving from Spunky Eclectic in the Burning Bush colorway. 92 yards, worsted to chunky. It should be self-striping.



The colors are slightly off. The green is more greyish, and the orange is more burnt than it looks in the pic.

[LindsayLuu]

Wow, everyone made such fun yarns this week.  I especially like Peas and Carrots, the colors are great.  I just got my wheel last friday, so I've been playing a bunch, but I do have some finished ones for you to look at.  There are also a few hanging in my shower, but those will have to wait for next week. 

First yarn ever on my wheel.  I don't know what to call it, and I didn't meausre it.  It's a bulky 2 ply with my hand dyed rovings:


Next is "deepest sea", messy thread plied with lots of coils, curls and bumps.  120ish yards, thick and thin:



Now my favorite so far.  I haven't set the twist or measured it yet, but I think I'm going to call it simply, "summer".  2 ply, hand dyed merino by me

[isamax]

Love!  Love! Love! 
Fanstastic week everyone!

[britnlind]

You guys are amazing!! All of the yarn is just gorgeous and very inspiring.

Do you guys keep everyting that you make? or do you sell it too?

[LindsayLuu]

britnlind - a little of both.  there's no way I could knit with all the yarn I make.  I spin much faster than I can knit!

[the noodle princess]

wow, so pretty pretty. I love Emeline and Sadie Sue!

I haven't had time to finish my spinning this week. stupid job but i did dye a bunch of roving. here are 2 of them>
"good afternoon" merino roving


and "warmth" Falkland roving

[icemelon]

Oh man, Lufah--- when I saw play doh I almost choked on my drink! OMG IT'S SO COLORFUL AND AMAZING. Hahaha ok i'm done now. But seriously, brightest colors ever! What did you use to dye it with?

Jazzturtle, I really like your second yarn, murmers. It looks soooo squishy! Can I hug it forever? Pretty please??

And Marlana, Firestarter looks nice and bright and soft too! I'm digging the oranges this week.

And everyone elses is amazing too! I think I could write a book on how awesome everyones are this week!
And the pictures are a little bit more yellow than it should be, It just finished in time to post for today!




I'm calling this one Good Luck. (And only after I took the 3rd picture, but it was good luck that I didn't mess this one up too bad!)
It was my first ever time plying more than a few inches, and all done on a drop spindle. My boyfriend picked out the colors to dye it, and it's probably going to end up being fingerless gloves for him.
Merino, 2 ply, about 104 yards. I think it's mostly worsted, with a bit of thinner and thicker. not sure of weight. (man i really need a scale or something!)

[Gomerriffic]

As usual all the yarns are fabulous and some are quite adventurous! But my fav has to be clown farts. I love the bright bits, but also I just love the name! It makes me laugh!

[Flowers and Lemons]

This weeks yarns are amazing! You all had a great week for spinning, it seems. I adore the intoxicate yarn! 

[jazzturtle]

PS = Jazzturtle, you make me want to dig out my stash of novelty yarn and cut it all up so I can spin chunks of it into things!

I have this box of fibers/novelty yarns that I use for scrapbooking... and now not much of it goes into the scrapbooks! LOL!!

i LOVE LOVE LOVE your viscose!!  It's amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marlana]

And Marlana, Firestarter looks nice and bright and soft too! I'm digging the oranges this week.

Thanks!  I've been going crazy for orange lately.  It's weird, I used to hate orange, but I really love it all of a sudden.

[icemelon]

Thanks!  I've been going crazy for orange lately.  It's weird, I used to hate orange, but I really love it all of a sudden.

yeah me too! I just dyed some roving yellowy orange and usually i stay away! must be a spring thing

[ivycircle]

Okay, this has been my favorite batch yet. Do I have to pick just one? 

[silverstah]

Unfortunately, thanks to midterms last week, my crafting has been pretty slow.  Thankfully, midterms are over - no school for a week!  WOOHOO!



This is my first plied yarn - it's not perfect, but it's not bad.  Done on a bottom whorl drop spindle, using the generic wool roving that came in the beginner's kit.

[mullerslanefarm]

Merino Candy  (skeined)



Merino Candy  (balled)




Got in a CA Red lamb's fleece on Friday:

Raw:



after 2 scourings:



after final rinse:



Auburn Brown Shetland lightly carded with pre-carded white corriedale & burgandy mill ends:









Spun


Compared to all the funky, novelty yarns (which are inspirational!!) my yarns look rather bland.

[LindsayLuu]

I love the before and after pics of the wool.  it's beautiful!

[mullerslanefarm]

Thank you!  I added a pic of the spun up Shetland

[silverstah]

Thank you!  I added a pic of the spun up Shetland

Oh, the spun-up Shetland is gorgeous!

[britnlind]

I have no desire to spin or knit (sewing takes up all my free time) but I love looking at this thread. You guys make beautiful yarns. I would just want to collect them all. I wouldn't do anything with them....just have a bunch of bundles of really pretty yarn. 

[radiationbaby]

You guys make beautiful yarns. I would just want to collect them all.

Like Pokemon?
 

I love Fiber Fridays.  I'm not interested in spinning, either (yet...), but I love seeing the gorgeous yarns everyone dreams up! 

[britnlind]

Yeah, I need to be careful. I got curious and started looking at spinning sites then went off on a google tangent about angora bunnies.