lisa’s place

Because I am… well… me, I had to start dyeing some of that superwash immediately!

It looked so, so lonely sitting there all naked and alone:

I can’t decide what I think of the finished products, but it sure is fun!

I just tried this and that and didn’t worry too much about my technique.  Instead, I just tried to get colors that I would actually use (or at least enjoy petting - did I mention this is some soft roving?)  Additionally, I really wanted to avoid getting too much dye and having color seep out of the roving/yarn forever.  So far, I think I was successful.

I have a pretty limited set of dyes (a cyan, a magenta, and a yellow), and I am pretty new to mixing these particular base colors.   Using citric acid crystals is also new - I love that it hardly has any smell at all this way.

Here they are.

First, the dark blues and deep purples:

The pinks and oranges:

The blues and greens:

and finally, the lighter blues and purples:

In case it isn’t obvious, I’m a bit of a fan of bright and cheery colors.

Because I am the most incredibly impatient person you’ll ever meet, I had to start spinning some of this.

Here is the first bobbin of the green singles:

I think this will be really pretty when it is plied.  I might actually end up with a sockweight 2-ply yarn- yay!

On a completely unrelated note, I am loving how easy it is to post using Wordpress - I’m afraid that Blogger made me a little crazy sometimes.  This is just so easy and so quick - it really only takes a few minutes.

Okay, that’s all for now.

Some spinning friends and I went together on an order of fiber from Sheep Shed Studio (so we could save on shipping).  Remember the fiber-y goodness from last time?

I thought the box was stuffed full for that first order… well, that was nothing like this time.

This picture really doesn’t show just how round this box was.  I actually snorted when I saw it.

16 lbs of fiber crammed into a pretty small box!   It just popped right out at me when I cut the tape.

This is my share of the Superwash wool.  I spun a little sample that Carol sent last time and just loved it.  With this roving, I am going to try a little dyeing myself.  I just want pretty deep colors for making socks.  There are so many patterns that I want to make that need a solid or semi-solid yarn (and I very rarely see the colors I have in mind in yarn shops).

In case you can’t see how soft this roving looks, here’s a close-up:

Tracy and Emily both ordered this black-mix wool.  I think it will spin into such a nice yarn (now I am really regretting not ordering any - I think I always feel that way).

We all ordered the white roving.  The selection that Carol sent all looks like this.  A little predrafting (I wouldn’t even go that far, just a slight stretch seems to do the trick) and soft, soft, fluffy whiteness to spin.  It, too, is very soft.  I can’t even explain how excited I am to have 5 lbs of this!  I’ll be busy for a long while.

Just so you can get an idea of how much fiber was in that little box - here it is all sitting behind my couch.  It looks icky because it is in plastic bags (had to divvy it up so I could start playing with my parts).  This is so much wool, I am a little giddy.  I’m sure Tracy and Emily will love this!

(Pay no mind to the grubby looking carpet

I am one of the lucky 12 members of the Creatively Dyed Fiber Club.  Dianne put together the best package for the first shipment: beautiful roving, a calendar, a wraps-per-inch tool, and a great pattern.

The roving is a 20% milk protein, 20% seacell, 60% wool blend and it was so, so soft.  This is a special club dye lot:

I love that there are so many different colors in the roving.  One of my favorite things about Dianne’s roving is how different the roving and the finished yarns look.  The rovings are always very bright and (almost overly) cheerful, but spinning always creates a beautiful and serenely colored yarn.  You never know what you’ll get until you’ve finished spinning and plying the singles.

Without worrying too much about how I spun the yarn - I just tried to enjoy spinning such pretty, smooth, soft roving - I spun a 2-ply worsted(ish) yarn:

Look at all of those different colors.  Hard to think of a color you don’t see.

The softness and smooshiness of this yarn is quite indescribable.  I just love the slight sheen.

Now, I just have to decide what to knit with this yarn.  I’m thinking a cowl, perhaps.  Definitely something to be worn close to the face - gotta take advantage of all that softness.

Of course, I had to quickly spin up some of the fiber I received yesterday.

First, the specially dyed superwash roving that Carol sent:

I tried to spin a sportweight single with quite a bit of twist.

I just can’t get over how nice the colors are.  I’ve no idea what I’ll do with this, but I know I’ll be ordering more.  This may have been the easiest roving I’ve ever spun.  I think this would be great for a beginner.

Next up, a picture of the sample I’d spun yesterday of the Brown Sheep mill end rovings in browns (now that it is dry, it is soft and smooshy and most pleasing).

Finally, here is a bit of llama I spun (in the grease) a couple of weeks ago.

This yarn has grown on me.  I am really liking how rustic and handmade it looks now.