Hmm... what's this?

(merino/tencel 80/20)

And this:

(silk hankies)

And this:

(alpaca/merino blend - very black with very dark red/dark teal highlights )

And this:

(Wensleydale lamb/yearling & kid mohair/tussah silk/silk noils 35/40/15)

And... oh my...
This last batch is raw baby alpaca - the softest stuff I have ever laid hands on. WOW. The peach is very clean; the dark dark brown/black has a lot of vm in it so I'll probably doing that one outside. Current plan is to ply the two together, if I can stop petting it!

Yep, I went to the annual spin-in and bought way too much fiber - I'm going to have to clone myself to get all this done before next year's! I bought a lot more this year than last, but I am spinning more as well (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!).

All of the fibers are very soft (except for the hankies). Everything is roving except the hankies and the alpaca - the alpaca is in locks, but appears to be very easy to spin without having to prep it. I love the colors too, and can't wait to start spinning them. Hmm... I'm going to need more bobbins or another wheel....


I actually did some spinning this week too - at the spinning club meeting the optional topic was silk hankies:

This is a hankie my sister gave me a few years ago. It's surprisingly purpley, as the hankie had a bunch of yellow or yellow/green in it that has kind of disappeared. I'll be winding it on a wheel bobbin when I'm done so I can see if there are color progressions. I'm doing this on the Liten Spindle - it's PERFECT for this!



Look! A finished skein (except for setting the twist etc etc etc):

The furry Brown Sheep stuff - after Navajo-plying it's much less furry and looks much better.



Look - weaving! :-D


The first week's weave-along square at eLoomanator's blog, in linen. The linen turned out great for a lacy effect. I am way behind in the weave-along, but these little squares go so quickly it shouldn't take me long to catch up.

Spinning!

I haven't had much time to spend on the computer lately (I was having a "Firefly" marathon this weekend); and I've fallen behind on the Weave-It weave-along (though it shouldn't take long to catch up), and still haven't fixed that fell-line on the Flip project; but I've been spinning! And a bit of knitting too - I really want to get that scarf done, as it's starting to get cool here, at least in the mornings.

I finished spinning the hairy wool, and it awaits Navajo-plying.

I've also done a bit on the beautiful red roving, but I still have a long way to go on that. Since I bought that roving in two separate batches (separated by a few years) I have to keep track of which batch I'm spinning. A more-experienced friend suggested spinning it all and then plying old and new together - which is great idea! I'm probably going to need more bobbins though.

I also spun some of a silk hankie last night on the Liten Spindle - I'm having trouble getting my drafting very even but the yarn looks really cool - and the LS is perfect for spinning these! This is a handpainted hankie, and the colors appear to be going together better than I expected. :-)

Hopefully I'll have a chance tonight or tomorrow to do a better post with pictures!

Warped and ready!

I spent yesterday trying out a slightly different warping 'method' - this is best done while you still have the other end on the warping pegs though, it would be a whole lot easier!

Anyway, I cut the warp off the back beam and actually tied it like you do with the front beam. My NSI loom was supposed to be warped that way, as I recall; and I had done my best warping that way. Since I had already taken the warp off of the warp pegs, I used my second raddle to help keep the warp spread out:

(The raddles are extra-long so they will work on the wider Harp as well.)

It took quite awhile, but I took my time at it too. Then I wound the warp on using venetian blind slats, and when I ran out of them I used heavy paper for the last few turns. I probably used way too many slats. :-) But doesn't that look nice & even?


So then I did the header and started the hem. I have an obvious bow in the hem (pictures really show flaws!) so I'll be fixing that before I continue.



I finished the Weave-It square for eLoomanator's weave-along as well - it looks more windowpane-y in real life.


I've got the Weave-It wound for a linen square as well - that ought to be much more obvious. I was going to weave the linen square yesterday, but after putting everything in my box to take to the other room, I set it down and promptly spaced off the project. :-/ Oh well, tomorrow's the weaving guild meeting and I have 4 HOURS between the time I get off work and the time the meeting starts (and can't go home, as it's an hour drive each way), so I'll be taking the Liten Spindle and the Weave-It with me to work. I'll get some uninterrupted crafting time in my office. :-D

It's Saturday!

I'm still in the fall-cleaning mood, so little crafty stuff has been done. Unless you count cleaning the guest room-turned-into-crafty room. This is what it looked like before.



The guest room had become a disaster, between the previous fall cleaning and just not having a spot to put stuff. So yesterday I took off work a bit early, went to Target to pick up a couple of shelf-type things, and got to work.


I'm not finished yet, but it's much much better. I especially like having a cube for the paper, shuttles, and pieces of venetian blinds I use for warping, as the basket I had them in was always falling over. And I can walk in the middle of the room now.




I may go back to Target and get another connecting-cube unit - I really like that I can put it in any configuration. This shelf unit is for spinning stuff (plus a leftover cube for my bobbins); the the cube unit in picture number 1 is set up for my weaving stuff. And both of these units can go into my craft room someday, if I ever get my stash pared down and sell a couple of treadle sewing machines. Now I need to figure out where to hang that clock....

This is how far I've gotten on the eloomanator weave-along,

but after I get this post finished, I'll be finishing this square. (And start lunch.) And then I'll work on the Flip warp, and then I'll start another Weave-It square. And I need to squeeze some spinning in - I need to get that hairy stuff finished or take it off the wheel so I can start the Brown Sheep roving for a sideways sweater. It's too hot and muggy to do anything outside (in October?!!), so I'll be doing inside stuff unless DH remembers whatever it was he or we were supposed to do today.

Square Deal Weave-Along starts today!

Go over to eLoomanator's blog and get the pattern o'the week - it's one I've been wanting to try. I'm going to try it in Aunt Lydia's Denim first; and then if I have time I'll try it in Euroflax linen.


I haven't wound on the warp on the Flip yet, as I can't decide if I want to try lashing on. It would make sense to try it on this loom since the warp is so much narrower. If tomorrow goes well, I'll try to decide and get started.