Grafton Fibers Colorways Fiber Batt Club

I've been holding out on you.

I've been saving all of these lovely, amazing, beautiful batts for myself. They were too precious to even share pictures of, meant more than any photographs I could take. I have a down day and literally reach for one to hold and pet, take deep breaths of and into my happy place. The colors and the softness and the potential of each to be something great helps me pick up and go on.


Grafton Fibers, Colorways Fiber Club March 2009

You think I'm joking, to carry on about simple fiber like this. I'm not. I own many dictionaries but will never have the words, even though sometimes like tonite I just feel like trying.

I look at each, at the individual project patterns and notes Linda creates for every shipment, and lose myself in what I could make with them. She gives you a knitting project, a crochet, a felt, a DIY loom one and you believe in yourself, in your potential and what you incite.

"I can do this."


Grafton Fibers, Colorways Fiber Club June 2009

All at once within that last dimension; the initial loving gift, the fiber here and waiting, what it will finally end up as.

I've been holding out all over... I can't bear to spin them. Time's changed me from a simple yarn collector to a fiber one, each a souvenir of more than the gift. More than the anticipation outside the mailbox every month for the physical reminder, more than what was ever intended.

I can't imagine them not living in the perfect square boxes every month. I can't imagine moving forward.


Grafton Fibers, Colorways Fiber Club April 2009

That's not true. I can imagine a lot of things.

I can see an epic afghan, big enough for even a broken bed. I can see twelve yokes of twelve cardigans, bright collars solitarily worn on a black background. I can see sets of hats and mittens, waiting at the inner door for a family to choose from before venturing into the cold. I can see wee baby sweaters and booties, imaginary little ones swimming in and growing into rolled up wool sleeves.

And I can see them sitting forever stacked neatly in the closet, pretending they're holding the white boxes together from the inside. Meltaway-center Atlases, brightly festooned.


Grafton Fibers, Colorways Fiber Club July 2009

Colorful dreams nonetheless... Willy Wonka styles. (Wilder's of course.) Or Kurosawa's, I'm not picky.

Aside from the fact there's always a pattern included with the supersoft, ultrasmooth batts (and putting aside the nonfading limerence they stoke in me for just.a.moment.please.thank.you), what surprises me most is that I love each batt every month. I love that they always work. I play enough thought experiments getting lost in each to be able to see how each would spin and work up, even if I can't get past the daydreaming phase.

Doesn't mean I don't have favorites...


Grafton Fibers, Colorways Fiber Club May 2009

Inextricably linked purple, yours and mine. You'll always be my favorite.

Thank you, each month over. And twice for this.


Grafton Fibers, Swan spindle in "Winter Sky"

We should spin sometime.

shetland triangle and verb for keeping warm retail workshop

before i ramble on and on :) -- congratulations belong to barefoot rooster on random.org drawing your comment (#1!) and winning the aVfKW Ultra Club merino/silk! email sent :)

now, onto the on and on...

I think I love gift knitting because I get to make awesome things I wouldn't necessarily wear myself, and when it's a fit with the recipient everyone wins. I loved making this for my sister :)


Shetland Triangle
Handspun 2-ply tussah silk and sw merino/cashmere
Spun and knit over 4 days in April
US 10.75 needles (7.0mm)

The goal was to make something machine washable (or, at least spot washable/easy care) that she could wear easily as quick cover for nursing baby. I knit it on huge huge needles (7.0mm) to really stretch out the most fabric widthwise I could when knitting, but only lightly blocked it by shaping the edges with blocking wires and lightly stretching to dry. I worried a severe blocking would mar the pattern (already a bit indistinct with the huge needles)... and that my sister is smaller than me and I didn't want it to overwhelm her frame.


(our mom)

I think the size looks perfect when worn, and provides just enough cover to overlap in the front (and bonus-- be able to see baby at the same time.) I used my gigantic (8'+!) Mmmalabrigo Clapotis when I was still nursing as a cover, and my son loved the dropped stitches when he was a little older-- poking fingers thru, playing hide and seek behind the fabric. I am so happy my sister has so much ahead of her :)

While the goal of the project was met, it was really the yarn I was excited about.



When I spun the tussah silk I knew I was aiming for long stretches of color, but really had no idea of their impact when plied with the white until I saw the striping of the Shetland Triangle appear. They look planned... and how I love when the yarn does the work for me :) I also appreciate their subtlety; my sister isn't a knitter and what speaks to me isn't necessarily what'll float her boat. (Noro springs to mind-- I never really dug the color striping and coordination until I knit with it and saw it jump off of my own needles.) I think the white here offsets the striping impact, in that it's not the only thing you see.

For me, the only thing I see is the silk, and the baby indigo blue that looks white until you really look :)



I don't think my photos captured this shawl well at all-- big scale photos don't show the silk which for me makes my toes curl. (missing that)

I also really dig that I did what I intended to do-- spin and ply the silk tightly with the lower twist merino/cashmere, and have the white ply sort of jump out of the silk's grip in both yarn and finished object. The result is so soft and shiny... I hope she likes it too! What's great is she saw me spindle spinning during my last visit and was fascinated-- I think she'll be one who appreciates the start-to-finish of this project.

I couldn't resist showing it off before mailing, so when I heard that A Verb for Keeping Warm was having a celebration to welcome their new full time employee Adrienne, I packed it and the kid up and headed to the WorkShop where I got to show Kristine what her fiber grew up to be and see this ground-up retail store for the first time.



You walk in and immediately its spindles and fiber and yarn and wheels and gentle assault on the senses as you take it in and realize how much work is hanging on the walls around you. It still kneecaps me, knowing how much work (physical, time intensive work) goes into dyeing with natural dyes. I love acid dyers, love food grade colors, but also know the time it takes me to dye a length of roving doesn't hold a candle to maintaining an indigo vat, premordanting raw wool, all of the etc. steps. (I won't go on about natural dyeing and the steps involved, but you can hear Kristine talk about this a little bit on the YKnit podcast a 'cast or three back.)

With all the work and the subsequent higher cost these yarns and fibers have to fetch to maintain a living wage for everyone involved, I can't be happier that Verb's business is flourishing enough to hire a full time employee. Appreciation for handwork, handmade, slow artisanal crafts... sounds like what all knitters and spinners want :)



Another cool thing about the WorkShop is that its creation stayed true to the business' vision: it started with a small truly empty space that was insulated with recycled denim fiber, panelled with findings, windows and doors from Urban Ore, painted with remaindered paint from SFMOMA and floored with carpet from the same.

And it's just a neat place :)



I couldn't get away from bringing some stuff home with me. It didn't help that my son was with me, he was talking me into purchases all day :) We finally agreed on two (not eight like he wanted!) bunches of BFL for a special something for him.



I also picked up something special for me... merino/silk in "sunny side up."



SO much prettier than my overcast photos show... and the last bit :( ...an end run of a limited colorway. Ishbel maybe?

I also broke my not-a-real sock yarn fast after spying this beauty (and a sock pattern I've wanted since its publication)...


Creating yarn (Superwash Merino, 436 yd/4 oz) in "Tide Pool" and "Shaped Arch Socks" by Marlowe Crawford

I think I'll use handspun for the pattern and the yarn for a Cookie A Sock Innovation pattern (I love this book so much I should write a book report ;))... I'm obviously on a project-planning binge :)

If you're local/bay area, A Verb for Keeping Warm is hosting a "Keep the Fleece" event on May 16th, raising money for Heifer International by hosting a day of spinning and knitting scarves-- a "sheep to scarf" event in our own backyard. A perfect time to connect with local spinners and knitters, check out the WorkShop Studio in person, and raise some money to bring more fleece into the hands of the world. Again, just what knitters and spinners want :)

What we want and what we have... but as always, out of time. Til then.

crochet chain roving braiding

the first time i bought chained roving i was !!! ... so much easier to pull open and start spinning than when its braided. i'm surrounded by a bunch of superwash rovings and barknknit asked how i was chaining them up-- a few pics of the steps (and a minipreview of the new dyeing idea i had to try out)...

take one end of the roving, lay the long end over the top of the short.



reach thru the loop, grab a length of the long end...



...pull thru...



...making another loop.



keep pulling the roving thru and making loops til you run out...



...insert end into last loop...



...pull taut and you're done!



yay!

this and nine other superwash merino rovings will be listed in my etsy shop tomorrow (may day!) at 9am (pacstandard). i'll have previews up in my flickr stream later-later today and can hold/reserve colors-- just send me a note.

[8pm: all photos uploaded]



happy spinning and dyeing!

drowning in silk

I applied for a SOAR scholarship based on the writings I've done on this blog, and Friday received a kindly rejection letter from Spin Off. Admittedly I was bummed, but by the afternoon it was time to get over and into something else. My heart's always reminding me of my ability to compartmentalize-- my foolproof method is to throw myself into something new, or at least really interesting. I grabbed my Matchless and 2 ounces of indigo dyed tussah silk from A Verb for Keeping Warm and went to town.



I'm not a really big fan of 100% silk yarns, to me they mean lace or summer. I didn't want to card the silk into a wool like last time, so instead I laid out the length of silk (dyed in large color sections) and pulled off lengths in color order for spinning over the fold. I haven't spun over the fold since first teaching myself to spin, and I do like the control it gave me in handling the silk.



I mention I used the Schacht Matchless (aside from Michael, the only one who's spent time with the Joy in a long time is my son) because I have wanted to try Irish/bobbin led on it-- another one of those new, distracting things. I've spun in hybrid double drive since its arrival, and used to spin in scotch tension on the Ashford, but had never tried bobbin led before. It was an easy setup and actually a lot better than I thought it would be-- I really like a strong takeup and I certainly got it this way :)

Originally I was going to spin another handpainted single of Verb's merino/silk for plying with the tussah, but went off the rez with a white merino/cashmere top instead. I think the white really shows off the long stretches of color Kristine dyed that I tried to keep intact.



Another reason I chose the white was because it is superwash-- my baby sister just had her baby and I wanted to weave her a large nursing wrap/coverup that could be easily washed when my nephew invariably does a baby blowup near or on it. I changed my mind though (like usual)... the yarn is just way too soft for weaving; not that it wouldn't hold up to it but that the crazy softness just wouldn't translate to a woven fabric like a knitted one would.



I kept trying to take pictures so I could choose the one that looked the softest :) I don't know if it worked but eh, I could look at the shine of the silk all day.



I ended up with about 400 yards of a light worsted weight and already started on a little something :) Any guesses? Leave me a comment on what you would make and I'll randomly draw a name once I finish the project and post pictures (a week? two?) The winner will receive the aVfKW merino/silk I didn't spin for this project...



3 ounces in the exclusive Ultra fiber club colorway, "Roman Numeral." Don't spin? Never a better time or better fiber to learn with ;) Or, tear it into strips and knit with the roving, use it as mitten thrums, make a CoCoKnits fleeced earflap hat, felt something beautiful, replace the pet rock on your desk... it's up to you :)

Miss you!

fleece parade

It's kinda hard coming back and pretending everything is the same-- I had a really good driving trip thru Utah (stopping to see dad in Vegas), on which I got my rented 4x4 stuck in a surprisingly deep snowdrift and had to sleep in the 25deg car wrapped in a sleeping bag while preparing myself mentally for a 16mi hike back to the nearest smalltown the next morning. We made it 4 miles before being picked up by a set of kindly retirees from South Dakota-- and it's still very hard to wrap my mind around and talk about, the fear I had and how it was tied to my son. I don't want to talk about it-- but I don't want to forget either.

But that's where I've been! And I've been unpacking and washing the fleeces that were waiting here for me to try and bring me back to the real world...

I try and name all the fleeces in my closet (if the sheep didn't have a name), it's silly but I like when sheep have names. This one I've nicknamed "Mistake"...



I was sent this Polwarth on accident and decided with the shepherd to go ahead and pay for/keep it-- the chalky black color and crimp is beautiful! It is an uncoated fleece though-- and I'm thinking I will send it to a mill for carding since I just have an aversion to even innocous VM in fleeces.



Silly though-- I could easily wash this in pieces and just use the combs to get it clean, no skin off of my nose. Haven't decided yet... It is beautiful wool though-- from Nancy Ortmann in Montana (ad in spin-off, no website). I picked up the 3 partial colored cormos last year from her flock and they went out for blending/pindrafting to Morro Fleece Works. One batch came back while I was away, too.



It's a 55/45 cormo-baby alpaca blend, a little over 3#. Morro did SUCH a good job-- I sent 3 packs of dark brown baby alpaca Handspinner's Dream combed top from Alpaca with a Twist to be blended with the cormo and the resulting blend is just heaven-- spins both fine and to a heavier weight with ease, and is this rose-ish brown/grey color that is better than the parts put into making it.

I'm also really excited about this color...



When I opened up the box this fleece came in, my son asked if it was wool from a different animal-- he's used to the crimpy fine wools pouring out of the cardboard boxes. Instead it's a naturally colored Blue Faced Leicester, "Shelley" from Tumble Creek Farm. Yall know how I feel about colored fleeces, and that color is a recessive gene in BFLs/more white than anything to be found, so I was really happy when Robina from TCF let me know she had this one fresh off the hoof for sale. It is very different than anything I've tried washing before, so I'm not sure what I'll do yet-- but it will be fun! :)

I did decide to wash this Romeldale from Peeper Hollow Farm in pieces rather than by lock formation...



"Hartley" is a coated lamb's fleece, a big baby girl at around 5# and a gorgeous medium to dark grey. The fun thing about CVM/Romeldale (that I first learned from Sarah who raises covered CVMs and will probably be talking about HER fleeces for sale soon ;)) is that their wool gets darker with age-- not lighter like most sheep. Hartley here started out white with brown spots and over the year grew grey, and will probably result in a tweedy, deeply complex yarn once spun up.



The staples are more indistinct/don't fall into locks as easily like previous fleeces I've washed, and have so much more loft! Even though she has a long enough staple for combing (3.5-4.5"), I may handcard her to take advantage of the loft/life in the wool. Told you I really liked handcarding lately :)

That has to be it for now, I have no more storage for raw wool 'round here :)

Missed you.

on and off

One of the best things about coming home from a trip* is the mail that's been piling up while you've been away. Who wouldn't love to find this beauty waiting with open arms? :)


Bosworth Midi spindle, .98oz in Bird's Eye Maple

Amelia at The Bellwether was kind enough to give us who haunt her Ravelry forum a heads up-- there were not going to be any more Bossies available for purchase from retailers (direct buy only from Journey Wheel), so if we wanted one we should speak up NOW before she sells out her remaining inventory to classes she teaches :) I love the tiny red cedar one so much that I know I'll love this too.

I'm sure spinning this month's Verb ultra fiber club shipment on it won't hurt with that, either...


Roman Numeral

So pretty. The spaced out dyeing has me thinking I'll try for some striped yarn when I get to spinning it-- I love when colors work together like this.

Also love this...


Handdyed Banana fiber from Blonde Chicken Boutique, 4 oz in "Leaf"

I had *so* much fun handcarding the polwarth/silk that when I saw Tara's banana fiber for sale in her shop I immediately thought of the possibility of blending it with a little naturally grey wool for an artier, bulkier, Spring-has-Sprung type yarn. Her post on the "eco-worthiness" of bamboo and soy in spinning fiber/yarn is an interesting, related read too.

I did manage a little fiber time when I was away, thanks to Tactile's Superwash BFL and my 2 newest spindles...





I slid both cops off onto drinking straws like before and plied them on the wheel when I got back...



...ending up with 3.5oz and 400 yd of sock yarn. It looks bigger than it is against my new HP Mini--


(Bosworth Midi spindle, not coke zero for scale!)

The HP Mini is a really adorable machine, perfect for browsing the web around the way since *my other portable networking device has gone on the haywire.* I opted for the solid state drive, not the hdd since I plan to carry it around a lot and don't want any parts knocking about inside. I also found out that Jetflash's T3K media is the same as HP's "mini mobile drive"-- half off HP's pricing and I can increase the drivespace by 50% (more when I add in a SDHC card... both are flush with the machine when inserted in their respective slots-- nice and no breaking off.) I'm going to take it with on my next roadtrip-- that I'm leaving for in about 24 hours!! A lot of movement lately for a sedentary creature like me. When I get back in two weeks I expect to have some socks to share (with all the driving ahead)... and probably a fleece or two will be waiting as well :) Unboxing at its best.

Back soon!


*another plus of family trips-- old pics to share :)

stitches west 2009

...was awesome, as always :)
(almost as much as the company!)

Found myself buying silk blends again this year, weird since I never buy them online-- they must just not translate well across the computer screen because I jump at them in person.


l to r:
Blue Moon Fiber Arts 50/50 merino-silk in Jubilation
Pigeonroof Studios 80/20 merino-silk in Amazon
A Verb for Keeping Warm 50/50 merino-silk in No. 9

Also found a spindle I was hoping to find...


Greensleeves Damsel Monique in Masur Birch .85oz from Carolina Homespun
(I wanted a big Mjolinor in MB, but I think I may like this one more!)

...and a spindle I didn't know I was looking for.


Asciano Fiber Arts, "Mischa" in cocobolo rosewood 1.27oz
(website down?)

The style of spindle is not Mischa, instead the owner told me-- each spindle has a name. She was a real character, but I just couldn't walk away from that yellow/red combo (and that she knocked off $20 for the shaft having a warp-- don't mind a slight wobble for as beautiful as it is.) The yellow band is the wood closest to the bark side of the tree, alive where the red isn't. Neat.

Maybe not as much as the 'most interesting thing' on the market floor, as dubbed by my companion...


Tactile Fiber Arts Superwash BFL in Lichen

I can appreciate natural dyers staying as close to natural bases as they do for their dyes and superwashed fiber is just not it (you can't even make superwash wool in the US for the environmental hazards)... but I can't help but want a machine washable wool for socks. I'm really excited about this fiber base addition to Tactile's lineup.

I couldn't make it to the Knitmore Girls meetup at 2 at the Purlescence booth, but I stopped by early to say hi and Jasmin FORCED a swag bag on me ;)


(minus a KG button that went onto my now-vintage aVfKW/Tactile canvas bag)

I bought the Mini Mochi from Purlescence as a mini thank you for the shop sponsoring the Knitmore Girls podcast (I'm a fan! and won't the MM make an amazing woven scarf?)... but the rest was swag donated to the 'girls by Verena, Purlescence and others (!!) It even included a pleated scarf pattern by Chloe Sparkle/The Hundredth Monkey-- really nice and one of those 'great for handspun' options.

That was my favorite part of the market this year-- running into knitters and talking in person. Kristi's right that you kind of have to grab me because I am ridiculously shy, but it's great when it happens :)

Lots of awesome on and off of the floor this year. Thanks again :)

club roundup

I am a little embarrassed and don't share yarn purchases lately (really, do I need five MORE sweaters worth of yarn?!) but am always compelled to share fiber. Have no idea what that's about... :)


Black Bunny Fibers superwash merino-tencel, 8 oz

Not only do I love Carol's colorways (custom fit for every member) and the honking giant batches her fiber club comes in (8 oz!!), I love that they *don't* come every month. I think I'd just feel just feel drowned :) Not a bad way to go though, eh? Can't get over that color.

Black Bunny Fibers is opening up spots in the club again (actually all clubs-- fiber, sock yarn and yarn), so you can jump on the awesome fiber bandwagon too :)


A Verb for Keeping Warm merino-cashmere-angora-- "Lamb's Ear" (December)

I can't keep up with Kristine's club. I try (I'm actually spinning January's fiber now, wish me luck!) but it doesn't really matter. For as much as I have felt... constrained by having too much fiber stash, I don't worry about stashing aVfKW. I don't know why, doesn't make sense... but there you go :)

For one I *have* been keeping up with (or, actively trying!)... the latest Rhyme Times fiber sampler from The Bellwether.


Rhyme Times sampler #7 (I think?)

I've kept to spindle spinning the 1/2 oz samples up and plying them on my wheel-- good practice. I've amassed a few more since last time.


11 1/2 oz skeins (individual pics and colorway names available here on my flickr)

I really love the blended creations by Three Bags Full and Crosspatch Creations-- every colorway isn't necessarily "me," but 1/2 oz isn't that big of a deal to get thru and I'm often surprised about liking one more spun up than in fiber form (and the other way around). I found my newest favorite colorway thru the club--


"Aurora Borealis" by Three Bags Full

Merino and bamboo dyed deep, DEEP blues and carded with lime colored silk noil. I don't really ever embrace blues but wow-- spun up it is just shockingly beautiful. Aside from the discounts sent in every package (I'll have to show you what I got next time!!) another great thing about the club is knowing about the colors before they go live on the site... I think Aurora may already be sold out.

Off to go play with this month's aVfKW fiber club shipment-- can't keep my hands out of it :) For those of you local (bay area), there's another spinning meetup at Knit One One (BARTable) this Friday between 7-9pm. We split the cost of renting the space (usu. $5-6/pp), and there's plenty of space for wheels or whatever. Fun times! :)