Merry Fiber-y Christmas!

It's my baby's first Christmas!  It's so hard to believe that almost a year ago, he was born and now it's his first Christmas and in two and a half weeks, he turns 1! 

We're pretty low key this Christmas though.  I had such grand plans - a real tree, lots of lights and ornaments, and in the end, after 5 days of straight downpour (which is quite rare in Southern California), by the time I got to the tree lot yesterday, the only ones left were the giant trees, which were not a god fit for our little cottage.  So, this year, even though I've got the ornaments and the lights and the tinsel, there's no tree.  But we're having a great time anyway!  And that's what matters, right?

This year, for Christmas I decided to get Leo a cheap imitation ipad, the Maylong M-150, which was sold through Walgreens but I bought it from an Ebay seller and when it arrived, I opened it so I could check it and make sure it worked fine.  He walked in just as I was powering it up and asked what it was.  When I told him it was his Christmas present, he said, "Hmmm...I really wanted a leaf/twig mulcher for the yard."

So now I have a cheap ipad-killer and he's getting the leaf mulcher.

So what did Leo get me?  Remember that Fricke coarse drum carder I had wanted to buy?  Well, after finding out that I was 'waffling' over buying it because it wasn't in my fiber budget, he said if I wanted it, "it's your Christmas present from me."

That settled it.  In a week, I was the new owner of a vintage Fricke coarse drum carder from someone whose grandmother used it to card batts for her quilts.  I've carded 2 batts on it and so far it works great!  Now I just need to incorporate locks in it and see if the carder can retain its lock structure and not straighten the crap out of it.

 My first coarse carded batt predrafted

Speaking of locks, I've also been washing my first fleece.  Well, it's not exactly my first time washing fleece so maybe saying "first" isn't exactly true.  I did receive a small box of mystery locks last year which I promptly washed and then almost gagged after seeing all that brown water - in my washing machine!

So what's made me brave enough to try it again?  I've fallen in love with long wools like wensleydale, that's why.  I got 2 ounces of awesome wensleydale locks from Namaste Farms two weeks ago and I've been too scared to dye or spin it.  I want to try out other locks first before I tackle such awesome locks as these:

So I took the plunge during a moment of weakness and ordered my first fleece.  I think it's about 5 to 7 pounds of raw wensleydale fleece that's supposed to be averaging at 10".  When I first received the box this is what I saw peeking as I flipped the box open.

So I started washing the locks in medium bunches.  I've done it twice now and each time I tried a different method.  The first time was done in the tub, however I used 2 Costco sized detergent buckets filled with hot water and then dunk the locks in to soak.  The water wasn't as hot as I would have wanted though and I ended up doing more than 4 washes and more soaks than I wanted.  I was also very stingy with the Dawn, which was one mistake since Dawn, along with really really hot water, is what pulls the lanolin from the locks.

Today Leo pulled out 2 of my roasters dedicated to dyeing  out of storage, and after heating the water at 350 degrees F and a generous amount of Dawn, I placed another bunch of locks (probably 2/3 so I've got one more 'bunch' to scour tomorrow) in a laundry netting bag and dunked it in.  After about 10 minutes or so with the water soooo brown, I pulled it out, let it drain and then dunked it into the second wash in the second roaster with hot water.  Empty out the first roaster and heat some water in it for the rinse and after 10 minutes of second-time soaking with a huge glug of Dawn, I pulled the net bag out, drained it and then dunked the bag of locks in the first roaster for its first rinse.

I ended up doing 2 more rinses in the washing machine this time and then spinning it dry.  The locks from both attempts are not greasy at all.  The locks are matted in some areas, but what can you do, right?  I guess now I've got to do some handpicking vegetable matter (or vm, as fiber lingo goes) to do during the Christmas break.

In the meantime, here's the fleece drying inside the house.

Boy, it sure feels like I've gotten much deeper in the rabbit hole now...

Well, Merry Christmas everyone and have a safe holiday!  You'll find me next to the Madd Hatter saying, "it's pretty crowded in here, too!"

I Got Something Done!

Yup, I actually got to spin an entire yarn in 5 days! It's from my Fae kettle dyed roving that I stole from the shop and then spun into a not-so-thin single, before navajo-plying the entire thing to produce 210 DK-weight yards! I think it's going to be a manly hat, don't you think?

I also got some beautiful fiber! Two days ago, my Sac friends, Sherri and Craig, came down here for an interview/evaluation for Craig to get a kidney transplant (and we think we have problems!).

Craig has Alport Syndrome, a genetic disorder that manifests early in males and later for females. It has something to do with the cell membrane lining around the ears, eyes and the kidneys that do not develop correctly and thus create scar tissue which, if you're a kidney and need to filter just about everything for the body to work right - you can't because the cells have scarred up to the point that no filtration of whatever-stuff-the-kidney-filters ever is filtered - just about renders the kidney unable to work.

Anyway, when I was in Sacramento last year, Craig drove me to this awesome store - Rumpelstilskin - and exercising a rare feat of self-control, I left there with only a skein of hand painted yarn. No roving, no wheel! Well, Craig brought Sherri there before their trip down here and she said the moment she ran her hands on the baby camel fiber, she was hooked.

Craig was eyeing the huge bag of fleece actually but wasn't sure if I could process raw fleece or not (I do! I do!). This is one divine set of fibers! I just love it and can't wait to start spinning it - maybe ply them together and then knit a scarf with it! What do you think?


Today I got to dye a small batch of 4 ounces of romney fiber that Fiberfreek had given me last year. I added a dollop of silk noils and now they're currently drying. I also got to give some merino I had lying around that still had a coat of lanolin on it a good soaking. It's drying, too! I can't wait to card it, or even try spinning it directly!

By the way, in case you haven't heard, June 13 is WORLDWIDE KNIT IN PUBLIC DAY, otherwise known as WWKIPD! If you happen to be in Southern California, come on over to El Dorado Park (off Spring Street and Studebaker Road) by the archery range and join us for a beautiful day knitting, spinning, and hanging out with friends! Last year, someone even brought a young alpaca named Seven!

Bikini Bottom

2009 WIP
Originally uploaded by velvetinna

My first WIP for 2009 is a drop spindle project spun thick 'n thin alternating some mill-ends that I dyed a few months ago and combed into little buns, and some Crosspatch Creations roving called "White Water".

This is a long-planned project I've been planning and based on the future yarn's name, unless you've been living in a cave (I must have since I had to ask Leo about it - and he can tell you stories!), it's based on a Nickelodeon character who lives in a pineapple under the sea.

Hmmmm...who could that be?

In the meantime, yesterday I spent a few hours dyeing some Sheep Shed Studio mill-ends in my new Dye Station - the garage.

I've decided to take the dyeing out of the kitchen since all the fine dye powder can get onto the counters and I have been known to miss a few spots here and there. So now I've set up the crock pot and the electric roaster in the garage and though I still have to drain the dyed fiber in the kitchen sink or the bathtub, at least all the dye powders will be mixed in the garage where there is also way more ventilation than the kitchen.

After three small batches were done, I had them drying in front of the heater (not too close!) and this morning, all the fiber's dry and ready to be carded or combed!

I so need a new drying rack. This is one that I kinda clipped on some laundry bags (the netting kind) over the bars so the fiber or locks could dry flat.

So far, 2009 is looking mighty productive!

My Neurons Are Taking A Break...

Yup...my finals are over! I didn't do as well as well as I thought (overconfident there for a second) since I didn't look over my Reproduction notes at all. And at least 25 questions were about reproduction...so, even though I may have done well in Digestion and Urinary systems, as well as Acid-Base balances...25 answers out of 113 doesn't sound too good right now.

BUT! The semester is still over and I haven't been this excited for classes to be over in a very long time. I can't wait to spin and knit, that's why. Besides, there's this whole Christmas thing to do...I'm running out of time here.

Anyway, I've been knitting very slowly the last few days. Knitting and studying do not go together - you get far in the knitting part, but definitely not far enough in the studying part. In the knitting department, I've been working on a diagonal scarf with my handspun Gallica:


I wish I would have alternated it with some other yarn. It's getting a tad boring - and I can definitely see a difference in the weight of my own handspun from one skein to another since Gallica has two skeins. Oh well...

Now that class is over, I can now concentrate on work since my practice has sorta dropped off the face of the earth since I went back to school, and started spinning and knitting in earnest. Now I can return to the normal scheduled programming and with the impending holidays, I can now cram a lot of gift knitting into the schedule as well.

Yesterday I got a few surprises in the mail, and one of them was this pretty cool fiber from Homestead Wool and Gift Farm. It's a pound of "Cool Beans" fiber and since I don't have a drum carder yet (I keep buying wheels and drop spindles instead of dropping that said money onto a drum carder) and have only a set of hand cards, I carded a few buns out of it, as well as two little buns of Sandy's bag of random fiber:


Cool Beans Picked Fiber


Carded into little buns and sitting in their little basket...

I can't wait to start spinning them as soon as I card enough, maybe 4 - 6 ounces or so. I also got a few flyers to test from a spinning wheel maker I am not naming just yet, and so far, I'm loving all of them.

Which is just another reason I need to spin a bit more, eh?