New Fleece!!!!! What is it???

I have been soooo bad about keeping up on my blog! I actually have been bad about keeping up on everything! But I had time to find some pretty fleece :) Priority's you know!

Look, hardly any VM and it's not coated!

Interesting huh?

Let me tell you all the good things about this so far. It is low in grease, hot tap water will wash it. It has good crimp, and lock length, about 4" average. It is a beautiful cream color when washed. It spins into a soft,springy yarn.

So below is what it looks like after it is washed

Isn't it a pretty color?

Here it is combed for spinning

Here is a sample skein

So I'm impressed. IMO I think it is as nice or nicer than Cormo or Polypay. I am in love!

It goes on my Etsy site this week :)

So if anyone would like some raw or washed, let me know. It will be 10$ a lb raw, and 12$ washed.

I know you are going to love it when you get it!!

What is it?

Texel

Spun up My Sample!

I spun up some of the sample I had carder the other day and wasn't happy with the way the white spun. I needed to much twist compared to the rest of the fibers. So I got some Cormo out and blended it and it looked good. So here is how it turned out.

Comb,Comb,Spin,Spin

I have gotten some pictures taken of my last couple of days work or I should say fun. First I have been complaining so about not having any of my knitting caught up. As I looked thru it and decided what I was going to finish and what I wasn't, it's not as bad I thought.

I have this vest for hubby, it is CVM and so soft! Variegated greys with dark grey trim. This is what it will look like when it's done.

As you can see, I only have 3/4 of the back done. I need to get going or he will never wear it this winter.

This is another vest, yes hubby likes vests, he wears them instead of coats most of the time.

This fleece was huge and so full of colors! It was so much fun to knit up and see how the colors mingled.

This one is all done except the pocket lining which I need to spin a little yarn for, it gets a zipper up the center, blocked and it is all done! It has 2 big cables up each side, it is so heavy and soft, makes you want to cuddle up in it.

Now for my shawl, I'm making it from Store Bought Yarn! Yes I know, it went against my grain too, but it is Cashmere and I loved the colors.

This is what it will look like when I am done.

It is called Waves in the Square Shawl by Silva Harding. The yarn is a pink,taupe and brown marl.

I am only about 1/4 of the way finished with this one. If I would just sit down and get to it, I could have it done in a week or so. So what's keeping me? That's a good question :)

Here is my experiment with a variegated yarn in a Fair isle. I guess you would actually call it Fake Fair isle. It was going to be a hat for my daughter, if it gets done. For some reason I have just lost interest in it :( The yarn is gorgeous, Grey Shetland and Angora back ground and a Mohair,Shetland and Angora design yarn. It was one of my first attempts in blending Angora. That tells you how old the yarn is!

This is some Green Salish,Silver Salish and a blend of Rose Llama,Columbia. I'm going to spin this up for a sock yarn.

The Salish gives it a fuzzy look like Mohair only softer. It is as strong as Mohair so I should make some nice socks. I am tearing the batt and spinning with the colors blocked.

Remember when I washed and dyed up the Rambo a few weeks ago? Well here is some I spun up last night. I had a break in the yarn while plying it so it will be used for weaving. I have about 270 yds. of lace weight in this skein, so I think I will spin up something to go with and make a scarf on the loom.

This was spun woolen long draw, it really is a springy yarn.

The color turned out a soft red, I wonder what color would look good with this in a scarf? Any ideas?

This is my skein that I am so please with! You know when you are spinning something and you have it in your head how nice it will be, only to get it off the wheel and it isn't as nice as you thought? I was so hoping this would turn out nice. After looking at the taupe color so long, I was wondering if it would be boring. It is CVM blended with Angora also spun long draw. I plied this on my Mach 1 and ended up with a total of 700 yds in one skein. It is a very light weight lace and oh so soft! I have it washed, but it's not quite dry, after it is good and dry, it will go in my dryer on air and fluff up! Then I will take another picture and post it.

I am as pleased as I hoped I would be!

Now the big decision, do I keep it and make a shawl? Do I put it up on my Etsy site for sale? Only time will tell :)

Here is my experiment for this evening. I blended this today, it is Rose Alpaca, White Romney and Brown Merino. Oh yes soft!! So I'm going to spin some up and see how it turns out. I don't want to blend something and put it up on my Etsy site and then have it spin up into a glob of colors. I am hoping for a nice variegated yarn. Will see!

Wow this was a long post! I guess I have been busier than I thought!

Now Can I Stay Current This Month??

I have been good about posting this last month, which is good seeing that it really isn't my favorite. So I am hoping this month I can do as well! I did sampling today of the fleece I dyed. They turned out so nice,


this is Llama



Salish



taupe Salish, isn't it pretty?


I also took a couple of pics of my wheels,this is my Mach 1 and my knitting rocker. It is so comfortable to spin in.



This is my Timbertops

I did allot of washing the other day, as you can see from my earlier post, and boy my shoulders, neck and hands ached that night! It was foggy the next morning so I figure it must be the moister in the air. I hate having to slow down as I get older. I used to go till bedtime, which wasn't 9 pm! Now hubby and I look at each other around 9, yep time for bed. Thank goodness for Tivo :)

I joined several web rings, but am still pending so I can't go from site to site

yet :(

Here's some of the CVM I washed the other day, I love this fiber! It is so fine and soft. It mixes with anything, great by its self! And did I say soft?

So I think if I remember correctly I promised pictures of some things I did the other day. Here is the water left over from washing after it cooled.

There is a slight scummy surface but the minute you put the spoon in, it breaks up! I think it is the detergent that emulsifies it so it doesn't form anything hard, just like when you wash dishes. This leads me to believe that is why dish soap works so well. Laundry detergent doesn't break up grease. Of course this is just my opinion!

Here are some samples of the wool I washed yesterday. Everything turned out nice and clean! I did try to comb the Rambo to early, I figured I usually spray the wool before I comb it so it shouldn't make much difference if it's damp, right? Wrong! I stretched the fiber and neps neps neps! So I waited till it was dry, then combed and used my spray, neps :( So I combed some without moister, it was fly away, but no neps! This convinces me that stretching the fiber is the worst thing you can do with this fine of fiber. This is so delicate, that when you separate the lock with your fingers, you need to be careful! A little too touchy for me, but it has been a learning experience. Below is the Rambo, you can see the CVM and the Salish are above.

So now to get busy and do something with all this!

Yes I've Been Dyeing Colors Colors!

So I got up into the rafters, pulled out some Salish,Alpaca,Llama,CVM and Merino and I started dyeing. I have all kinds of colors! Here's what I did yesterday. You can also see my old man, that can hardly get up and down with out help, found a way to get to his favorite spot! He is so sweet. I have to help him with a towel to get in and out of the house, and sometimes just to move from bed to bed, but somehow he managed to get here from the bedroom! That's not unusual for Great Danes when they get old. Most die around 7 or so. Pete and Penny will be 11 in February! As they age they seem to loose track of the hind end. They don't know where it is or what it's doing :( They aren't in pain at all, it just does what it wants. So when he tries to get up, sometimes his legs get under him and work and sometimes he tries so hard and then looks at me and waits. It is very time consuming, but we love him and he has been such a good friend, he will be taken care of until he leaves this world on his own, or gets so uncomfortable he wants too. His sister is much more agile, and she has had both her hind knees replaced! We thought she would end up with arthritis so bad she would be in pain as she got older, but she is doing so well. Some people really think we are crazy as our lives really revolve around these guys now that they are old, but I don't want someone putting me down just cause I am a little extra work! Our little rescue Jack, he's 155lbs now :), is doing very well, he has fit right in and actually has perked up the old guys. We were worried they would have a problem with him, but they tolerate him quite well :)) He was only 95 when we got him, he had been in the pound for 3 months, had an infection and was so sick. My vet called and asked if we would take him as he wouldn't last another night. So what could we say? She took him home, treated him till he was on his feet and home he came! He hid in the bedroom for 2 weeks! Ducked every time we would reach out to pet him, as felt so scratchy :( Now he bounces and leaps, plays tug a war, and tries to curl up on your lap in the evening to watch TV! He is so sweet! If you can't tell, we love our dogs :))

So here is some fleece I combed, thought I would take a pics as it shows how different fleece and lengths comb up together. I think it turned out nice and fluffy!

So now I need to get busy and get all the wool I dyed today dry!