Dying Some More

I've had a couple of days off this week so I decided to do some dying. I wanted an effect where there was one colour at one side and an other at the other and they would merge in the middle. I wanted the colours so be strong and saturated so I mixed up more dye then I usually do and poured away. The colours that I wanted were the emerald green and a navy blue. I don't have navy blue so I mixed some russet into the sky blue to see if the colour would be close to navy. I learnt that even if you put just a bit of red it really overpowers that other colour. I had to add half as much more blue again to get it to the colour I wanted. Also even though when the fiber cooled the water in the pot was clear it took many washings to get all the extra dye out. I think there is still some in the fiber but I got tired of washing and just laid it out to dye. Here is a pic of the fiber in the dye pot.

The blue looked quite purple even though I added half a cup of blue dye on top but it merged well when it set in the oven. The end product is pretty close to what I was aiming for. There are a few areas that are not completely saturated but that's ok. Next time I think I'm going to try to actually paint the fiber. That way it will have the colour exactly where I want it. Here is a pic of the finished roving.

On a different note I think I'm really getting the hang of spinning with a spindle. Drafting finally clicked in my head. Before I would have to do a lot of pre-drafting and then spin it with very little drafting to get the thickness that I wanted. Now I'm able to do a little of drafting to fluff up the fiber and then seperate it in fourths instead way thiner and then draft as I'm spinning. I still don't have the yarn perfectly even but it is still a huge improvement. I feel as though I'm spinning way more then just putting twist to something. Yay for me!

Dying Test no. 3, Random Picture of FO's

I finally got a picture of my latest dyed roving! Had some issues with my new digital camera and had to go exchange it. Ended up up-grading to next model up from the one I bought. Love it! I've had no problems with it so far. Here is my roving.

The fiber is superwash merino/nylon. I presoaked the fiber in a water/vinegar solution then arranged the fiber in a spiral in the dye pot. Poured and splashed the dye in a random pattern. Set in the oven at 250 for 30 minutes. The colours I used were russet, sky blue and brown. I added a few drops of russet in the blue to change the colour a bit. I really like the effect.

I've started to spin it on my spindle. I Pre-drafted it pretty fine so the singles are more consistent.

The next dye test I'll try will be blue and green I believe. I'll also try to saturated more of the fiber so that there is no white. I think that I'm scared of wasting my dye so I under dye. The effects have been wonderful but I have to get over it on just pour more dye on.

On a different note I have recently joined Ravelry.com and I took some pictures on some Fo's that I have knitted in the past. I have a bunch more but have not taken any pictures yet. So for now here are the first two.

The first is a pattern from Victorian Lace Today. It is called Scarf with the No. 20 edging. The title is actually longer but I shortened it to that. I knitted it with Roving's hand painted 100% Polworth wool in Brick. It was my most complicated project ever but so worth it. I could not memorize the lace pattern even after repeating it 50 times. But I love it.

Here is a close up of the scarf.

The scarf is really wide. It could also be used as a wrap. I feel glamorous when I wear it.

The next project is the Brea Bag from Berroco. It's a free pattern on their website. I use this bag all the time. I knitted it with South West Trading Company Bamboo yarn. I doubled up the yarn to get closer to the gauge. I also knitted a strap instead of buying a leather one like the pattern suggests. I lined both the purse and the strap with a red Asian themed fabric. The button is from AB Originals who makes hand made buttons. Here are some pics.

The lining inside the bag.

Handmade button by AB Originals.

Russet, Sky Blue and Emerald Roving All Spun Up

My first hand dyed roving is all spun up!!! The thickness is a lot more even then my first attempt at spinning. Here is a pic:

I spun approximately 50 gr of merino and got about 56 yards. Not sure what category that makes my yarn fall into but I think that it is a bulky yarn. Not sure yet what I will make with it. Maybe a neck warmer or a purse. I'll wait till inspiration hits me.

Right now I am spinning the Polypay pencil roving that I got. I'm not liking it too much. I don't have to draft it since it is so thin already and the yarn is coming out very consistent. But it is too easy. Maybe I need a challenge but I don't think I'm learning anything when I'm spinning this fiber. I'm just going through the motion of spinning. Think I'm just going to spin a spindle worth and then ply it. I'll keep the rest for when I get my spinning wheel. I can use it to learn how to spin with the spinning wheel without worrying how to draft at the same time. Once I have the motions down I can try drafting and spinning at the same time.

On a different note the reason why I did not post my yarn last weekend it because I went out and partied! It was so much fun. We went out to celebrate my birthday which is tomorrow. I went out with my best friend and a friend from work joined us a bit later. We danced like crazy and had way too much rum and cokes and tequila shots. My feet were still hurting the next day.

It made me realize I don't go out nearly enough. I forgot how much fun it can be. There is no reason why I shouldn't go out more, I'm single and still young. Guess it's because I work evenings and every other weekend. My best friend is also married so I don't think her husband would appreciate it if she went out with me all the time. Oh well it was fun anyway.

Spinning Away on My Spindle

So I have been spinning away for the last couple of days and below is how my hand-dyed roving is turning out.

It's comming out really nice. The thickness of my yarn is more constant and I really like how the colour changes from red to blue to green. The shades are also gradual where the colour changes and I like watching the colours mix as I spin them.

I still have the other half of the roving to spin to make the yarn a 2-ply. There is more white in the other half so it's going to be interesting how it will differ from this one. Also it will be interesting how the two singles with ply together.

First Dye Job Reveal

In the last post I had dyed my first pot of merino fibers and I was patiently waiting for them to cool. Needless to say that was a couple days ago and I have definitely washed dried them since then. I have been painting my apartment with my best friend for the last three days so I have had no energy to post. But it is all done now so on with the spinning.

So this is what the roving looked like when it is all washed out and dried. There is quite a bit of white still but that is okay. I have learnt a few things with this first experiment.

The first is to look under the roving to see if the dye saturated all the way down. This is why there is still so much white. So note to self: make a bit more dye solution and check underneath.

The second thing I learnt is that when the roving is packaged they fold is in half lenghtwise. I was wondering why the middle was taking so long to dry. When I tried to spread it out I noticed that is was folded. So next time I dye fiber I will open it up and see if it changes anything.

That is it for this post. In the next one I will show off how this roving spun. I am also in the process of ordering more fiber with The Black Lamb so I will have more blank canvases to play with.

First Post, First Skein

Welcome everyone to my first blog.

I've never blogged before so this should be interesting. The purpose of this blog is to document my experiments with spinning and dyeing. Feedback is definitely wanted and appreciated. I will show my successes and failures and hopefully as I gain skill in both subjects there will be much more of the former then the latter.So on with the main subject of this first post: my first skein.

Isn't lovely?! I'm so proud. So I guess a little bit of background first on how this lovely skein came to be would be a good idea. I have been wanting to learn to spin shortly after I first learnt to knit. I was trying to find the perfect yarn to go with a project I had in mind and I couldn't find it. It wasn't the right colour, the right texture or the right fiber. It was frustrating. I was searching the Internet for ideas and found this little gem of a site called Knitty.com. They have a section in their magazine on spinning and I thought "Wow, that is awesome." It opened my mind to so many options. If I learn this skill then I can make what ever I want. I won't be dependent on what I can find in the store. This is great.

So I started dreaming of learning to spin. I tried to read all articles I could find. Looked in the library for books. I read and I read and I didn't get it. I could kind of see how it would work but I realized that this is a skill at least for me that I would need someone to teach me. Unfortunately I don't know anyone that spins. So my dream was put on hold for awhile.

Fast forward a year and a half later. I was shoping for yarn for a christmas gift project at a new local knitting store and I overheard the owner talking to a customer about drop spindle classes and I thought "Ohhh, I want to do that class!!!" So when they were done their conversation and the customer left I went over and asked about the class. There was one starting up in a couple of weeks but with christmas comming up I couldn't justify spending the price of the class on myself.

Fast forward a couple of months later and I was doing errands near the knitting store and I thought I'll just go in and ask if they were going to be having that class again any time soon. Lo and behold they were planing on having one next weekend! I signed up on the spot. There were to be two classes for two hours each. The second class was last saturday and the picture above is the product of that class. It is very bulky/thin but I love it. The fiber was dyed by the teacher and it is a mixture of orange and pink. I'm not a fan of pink usually but I really like how this one turned out.

As part of the fee of the class I got another braid of undyed fiber to spin and I am looking forward to dyeing it. I just got some dye that I ordered yesturday in the mail so I will probably do my first experiment in dyeing tomorrow. I still need to get some equipment before I get started.

So that is all for my first post and first skein. I do have a question of anyone out there that spins and lives in Canada. Where can you get affordalble fiber to learn and practice on? I don't want to start on expensive/luxury fiber. If anyone knows of a good supplier of medium quality wool please let me know.