Finally getting around to taking some pictures of the handspun yarns. Truthfully, I had to figure out the digital camera first. Capturing the color is not easy, but really I want to show the spinning right now. This is a sample of the uncarded wool I have been telling everyone about. This yarn and others will be for sale on my website: http://summerlandfibers.ecrater.com, so visit to see more yarns even if you just want to see the dye colors or spinning samples.
Archive for Handspun Yarns
Handspun Wool Yarn
Dyeing Natural Fiber Yarns
Remember that different fibers, even different breeds of sheep, will dye different shades of color. I have put a skein of tunis in the same dye pot with a skein of rambouillet and the tunis turned out a lighter shade of turquoise than the rambouillet. Mohair will also dye a slightly different shade than the wool. This is not always a bad thing. Sometimes it is good to have various shades of same color. However, if you are doing a project that requires uniformity, use the same breed, even the same sheep….. each is different! Here is a sample of the yarns I described above. Notice the lighter skein in the pile of yarn?
New Wool Mohair Blend Yarn
I am working on a new mohair wool blend variegated yarn. I washed my fleeces first. A beautiful rambouillet fleece from one of my covered sheep, and a white mohair from one of my angora yearling does. I dyed the two fleeces together in three different colors. Garnet, myrtle green and violet this time around. Now I am carding them together with the help of my 11 year old son Zac. My table carder isn’t good for mohair or the short locks of my rambouillet, so we are using hand-carders. Hey, the kid needs something to do with summer vacation, right? Anyway…. I’ll get pictures when I get it all spun up. I am having trouble with the fleeces drying as this is our monsoon time of year and it is quite humid here in the desert. My mohair actually started molding and I had to rewash. I am picking it out wet to allow air in so that it may dry properly this time. Anyone else having that problem?
20 Year Veteran
I stopped into my local yarn store…. where incidently I sold my first fleeces, and purchased my spinning wheel……. just to chat and see what is new in the knitting community. The owner, my friend Bethe was off and a new part time employee and veteran knitter was minding the store. There she sat at her borrowed spinning wheel fighting to ply her yarn. The tangled mess had her all a fluster. Sandra said she hated plying her yarn. So….. of course I had to put my two cents into it and ask why she was doing it! I explained that I also started out listening to the “expert” spinners that a good handspun yarn is neet and even, thinly spun and PLYED….. then I met Coral, a woman at the Farmer’s Market who showed me the light. I told Sandra to make yarn that she likes! Enjoy her spinning!!! Spinning yarn is supposed to be relaxing, zen, ME time, that is enjoyable. I told her that the uneven thick/thin spun or even uncarded yarns sell better in my business, make a more textured finished product, and my customers like them better. Sandra said I was preaching to the choir. She agreed with everything I said, and she would rethink her next spinning project. Sandra was showing me some roving with angelina carded into it, and had set up a wheel for me to try. I was delighted…. I had not had a chance to try a double treddle wheel and was looking forward to it. In walked the 20 year veteran who had loaned Sandra the spinning wheel. As I set up the wheel to spin my fat yarn, the woman looked at me and offered her advice that I needed to seperated the roving into strips to make it easier to spin into thin yarn. I said I spin fat. She said if I seperate it I can get a thinner yarn, and once it is plyed it will be fatter. I said I don’t ply it. “Oh” she said with horror on her face. Fat singles yarn has no place in an expert spinners world. Why is that???? Anyway… I seperated it, showed both the woman that yes, indeed, I too can spin lacey, thin, even yarn, then I showed Sandra the beauty of the fat yarn that I spin and sell. The angelina showed up much better in the finished yarn, and the two colors that were carded together also twirled around each other and looked much better in the fat yarn. Once I demonstrated, I think I won her over. My parting words…..Make the yarn your own! Anyone can spin a yarn that looks like it was made by a machine. Why should we strive for “excellence” that is all the same! Be individual, let your personality show in your yarn……. mine is lumpy, bumpy, shleppy, uneven, and oh so unperfect….. just like me!
Handspun Yarns for Crochet and Knit
Handspun singles crochet, knit and weave as well as two ply. Don’t let any yarn store employee or spinning class teacher tell you different! These items are available for sale at http://summerlandfibers.ecrater.com.
Uncarded Mohair
Mohair spins up beautiful when left in its natural state. You can wash it before you spin, but I prefer not to do. I just grab it right off the animal and fluff slightly, then spin. The result is a wonderfully curly boucle looking yarn! The more lumps and bumps and yes, even overspins the better. The overspins turn into a tight corkscrew which adds interest! The more the better actually! You can ply it with a thin yarn or not…… I leave mine as a single as it is less work, but the yarn will be stronger if plyed. Wash by soaking in the sink in hot soapy water, hang to dry. Dye it or leave it natural. Angora goats come in so many beautiful colors, there is really no need to dye it. I do dye some of my whites, but to be honest, I sell more natural color than dyed.
Handspun Yarn
This is a close up of a natural white rambouillet wool skein of yarn. This is spun in the grease (dirty) and then washed by soaking in hot soapy water in my kitchen sink. Wring it out, pull tight, then hang to dry. As it dries it will scrunch slightly….. which add to the textured look and feel of the yarn. If you want a smoother look, hang a weight from the yarn as it dries.
Hello world!
These are the yarns used to make the fabulous creations at http://summerlandfibers.ecrater.com. Check us out!
