Category: Spinning

My best friend had a going away party for her oldest daughter and husband. Her husband is in the military and has been stationed to North Carolina.

Since her daughter is crafty, I had a lot of fun preparing a few gifts for her.

I used some of my handspun Merino yarn that I had I had Navajo plied.

 

I’d asked my friend and found out that her favorite colors were pink and blue… and so I dyed the above yarn pink.

I used my crockpot.

 

I use natural food coloring and after that was complete I hung it on the clothesline to dry.

Wound it in a yarn cake, using my electric yarn ball winder.

Created a label and put it in a gift bag.

 

I also gifted her with a beaded bracelet that I had created on my Mirrix loom.  The good news is she was thrilled with her gifts! Of course, that made me happy.

My daughter and I enjoyed ourselves immensely and felt honored to be included in the event. It was family and then there was my daughter and myself. We have known each other since sophomore year in high school. That was almost 30 years ago.

Yes, I’m still making an effort to craft several times each week and while I’d love to say I have crafted daily, that hasn’t happened; however, I have gone close to doing that. The holdup has been yardwork and gardening. Some days, when I have had moments of resting, I’ve ended up resting my eyes. I can’t complain, the exhaustion was well earned and our one acre garden reflects that. I’ll be sure to post pictures soon.

Last weekend, I finally got around to doing some Navajo ply. I have been putting it off, but I finally took the plunge.

I choose a tiny skein of my dyed (food coloring) handspun yarn. I did not mind if it turned out wonky in my attempts at Navajo ply. Armed with my fiber weapons I put the bobbin into my Lazy Kate and explored the unknown world of Navajo ply. Guess what? I emerged, on the other side, victorious! The first skein, shown above, was a bit cumbersome and it felt awkward putting my hands in the proper position.

 

The second Navajo ply was still odd, but I improved.  I still have the set the twist on this handspun yarn and dye it.

By the time Sunday arrived I found my rhythm and I was Navajo plying without any effort whatsoever.

 

Below,  I’m including the two videos that I found most helpful on learning Navajo ply.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JmlwtojLXI8

 

A few months ago,  I had purchased six ounces of raw wool that belonged to Sissy, a Shetland sheep. Isn’t she adorable?

 

Well, this past weekend I stumbled upon a skein of yarn that I had dyed using some of her fiber. Guess what? I also located her remaining raw, but cleaned, wool that I had… misplaced!

Here’s how it turned out.

This was done with natural food coloring. My daughter loves how it turned out, she said it reminds her of autumn. I believe she’s right! The lady that I purchased the raw wool from was super nice and told me to follow up with her when I turned Sissy’s wool into a project.

I already made made my yarn cake and have decided that the first project with ‘Sissy fiber’ will be a ‘spinning wheel tool bag’ to hang on my wheel. It’s small, which will make it the perfect size to store my orifice hook, spinning wheel oil and scissors. I’m currently knitting it now. Once the bag is finished, I believe I will add embroidery to it and perhaps some beads? I want it to be really nice and… I think this is a wonderful way to honor Sissy.

I finally can say that I’ve experienced the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. It’s located at the Howard County Fairgrounds, which is about 15 minutes away from where my boyfriend lives.

Yesterday, he took my daughter and I to the event. We all had a wonderful time. I must say that I was good and only walked away with one purchase… 1/2 pound of Cormo roving. Cormo is a cross between Corriedale Sheep and super fine Merino ewe. The fiber that the Cormo sheep produces is next to skin soft, but it’s not as soft as the Merino that I’ve purchased, which is 15.5 microns.

This evening, I pulled some of the fiber out of the bag and spun with it. It spins a bit different than some of the other fibers that I’ve spun, but I like it still and look forward to spinning (and hopefully dyeing) more of this fiber. I took a lot of pictures; however, the rest will be posted another day. 😉