The White Project...Continued

This is step TWO.  Step one was posted awhile back, the fiber spun was a BFL, silk, Angora, merino blend.  This is boring...no pattern, no color, just white...over and over and over.
When I get done with this scarf, I intend to dye it in multiple patterns and colors.
At that point the "White" project will be no longer.

See you then, Rich

Spun Dog Fiber

It's Finished!
If you read my earlier post "Dog Fiber Project), you saw that at that time I had just finished blending some dog fiber with some nice wool for stability, the blend was about 75% dog fiber.
This was not easy.  The staple length of the dog hair varied from 3/8" to 1-1/4".  Although the wool helped in maintaining a consistent spin and size, there were times when the fiber would fall apart on me and other times when it would draft out nicely.  The fiber felt as though it was ripping in my fingers while drafting, although I know it wasn't because the final product is very nice.

This was a commissioned project.  And as such I did my best to give my client (friend) what she wanted.  She wanted the yarn to be a little heavier than what it would normally spin as.  Small Slubs developed throughout the spin, these are a result of the very short dag fibers.  I let them take their course...I thought of them as little parts of the dog.


In the middle of this project I was asked by my spinning mentor if I would take on a project like this again...my answer was "most definitely".  It was a great study and exercise in being able to spin anything and provide a product that was asked for as opposed to just letting the fiber determine it's own size.

It's still a little wet so I haven't measured the w.p.i. yet, nor it's total yardage (besides this skein that filled my bobbin there is also a smaller skein).
By this time on Thursday it'll be counted, tagged, and on it's way up north.

Vaya Con Dios, Rich

Rigid Heddle project

Back on September 3 I informed everyone of my most recent Rigid Heddle project.  This was a Men's neck warmer that was made from a single ply merino/silk blend.  Here are some photos.

This photo shows the overall.  Since it was done with a single ply, the variegated coloring stands out a little more and pools less than a plied yarn would.  This is a detail showing the ridges.

As I mentioned in the earlier post, I formed the ridges by using two of the warps instead one, I did this about every 1/2 inch as shown in the details.
Please note these photos were taken prior to finish/trim.
As a last technical note on this project...Yarn-80% Merino, 20% Silk, Single Ply, 22 WPI.
It was woven with about a 14 EPI and a set of 22.

Vaya Con Dios

Dog Fiber Project

I recently began a project to spin dog fiber for a friend of mine.  This is an excerpt from wikiHow---Many people have a potential "sheep" right in their house. In North America, indigenous tribes were spinning dog hair into yarn long before the Spaniards introduced sheep. Chiengora (pronounced she-an-gora), or dog yarn, is up to 80% warmer than wool, very soft, similar in appearance to Angora, and sheds water well.
The Dog fiber I am spinning has a shorter staple than is acceptable for spinning so I had to blend it with some other material.  I blended the red dog fur with a fine Merino with an approximate ratio of 75/25.

This maintained the color of the dog fur...The softness is divine! After sorting through the dog fur and blending appropriately I ended up with a total of 5.5 ounces, distributed in 4 batts.
I look forward to spinning this in the days to come and will post the final product when finished.

Vaya Con Dios, Rich

Morning at NPR

This Morning I volunteered at KCLU, the local radio station for NPR. I was there for the pledge drive.
http://www.kclu.org/support/
I have volunteered at many different things in the past, mostly dog related.  This was different.

• The other volunteers were intelligent and well spoken :-)
• There were other fiber artists (knitters) there, they knitted between when the calls came in.
• I didn't have to stay really long, I was there early in the morning and worked only a few hours.
• I learned stuff I never knew, and talked to people on the phone.

I'm going back on Tuesday.  It should be more busy then, I'll bring my spinning and knitting, and hopefully take more calls (for the benefit of KCLU and my sanity).

I know few people care about all this.  But they were good people, trying to do a good thing, and I was a part of it, and had a good time.

Vaya Con Dios, Rich

The Spice Trade

When I was young, grade school young, I remembered having to study the trading paths of the early ships across the ocean.  I remember the  teacher constantly talking about the "Spice Trade". It never occurred to me to ask "why spice ?" obviously it was a product that wasn't everywhere, but so were certain other products.

And then I SAW the Spice Department at the super market...I walked past this area a few times, but I have never stood there and looked at the cost of spice (even generic salt and pepper).  I know a few of  you are giggling because you've known this all along, but me being new to the ways of domestic life this was a shock, I actually didn't buy what I needed that day because of the price.
It was then obvious to me why so much spice (and tea) were traded.  The price of spice per volumetric minimal space was incredible.  As I sit here and think more about it.  I come to some other conclusions; Many things like cloth can be made in the geo-political location.  Spice requires little or no special equipment, unlike most foods that may rot over a period of time.  And then the traders started shipping people....

In Defense of the Kiwi

This post is not about the strange little animal that lives in New Zealand.  It IS about a wonderful little spinning wheel that is manufactured by the Ashford company
http://www.ashford.co.nz/newsite/spinning-wheels.html

The Kiwi is often described as a "student wheel".  I hate that expression.  It gives people the idea that this is "not a real wheel", and I have heard those exact words before.  Before I step higher on my soap box I will say that I have about 5 different wheels, and all for a different purpose, and yes most of the other wheels that are not Kiwis are more expensive and look that way.
BUT... they are all spinning wheels, nothing more.
The Kiwi does have some neat features.  You can get it with an oversize bobbin and flyer.
Because it's so simple the bobbin change-out is fast.  The construction makes it easy to pick-up.
I have had my Kiwi for years, and I can trust that it will always work and never give me any problems.
Don't DIS my Kiwi dude.

ManHatter on the Loose...again

I have been know to get a little carried away with color work...here are some examples-Just a little color with some impromptu clown faces...Can't have enough clown faces.  This is the top----for all of those knitters out there I used the decrease row for the color adder, I may do this more.

And....yes, I got carried away on this one...maybe I could market these to the skate board demographic?

some simple rules---

Everytime I change color I alternate colors

Never have more than four stitches of unused color (on the inside)

Never keep track of patterns

Nothing is sacred

Vaya Con Dios, Rich

If the Sheet Fits...

I have been more involved in the daily domestic side of keeping the house in running order for a little over two months now.  During that time I have learned many things that my wife has known for years, some I have learned on my own and other items she has helped me with...some I have even blogged about because I think this information is worth your time to read and my time to write.
BED SHEETS---
I'm not sure what style of King we have, but I do know that most of the bottom fitted sheets fit differently.  I have on occasion had to re-fit multiple times in order to get (what I think) is the best fit.

There must be some additional instructions I can find...THE TAG! Just like a shirt you wear, shouldn't the tag be in a consistent location?  If it is, I have to assume that the following conditions apply-
#1- The top sheet should be facing inward (so if you cover your head you see the ribbing).
#2- The manufacture is consistent with the top sheet and the fitted portion.
#3- The quality of the sheet is such that the manufacture reallllly cares about where the tag is.
Now...With these assumptions in place I will continue to make the bed and resume my other domestic duties.

Vaya Con Dios, Rich

A Party to Dye for

This past weekend we had a Dye Party at our house.
The main purpose of this party was to Dye fiber, yarn, or any similar thing into a color that it wasn't.
We had three basic Dye stations set up for people to use, Crock-Pot, Immersion, and Space Dye.
The Crock pots were for those who wanted a somewhat variegated fiber, in a material that required heat (mostly wool).
The Immersion were big pots and a burner for those who were looking for one solid color and for materials that required heat.
The Space dye area was for people who wanted to be very creative with the location of the dye, it was also for materials that did not require heat (although some heat was good).
Most of the people that came had a better understanding of Dying than I did and I only provided a location and and set-up along with some materials if needed.
We all had a blast, and the results were wonderful.  As one lady put-it as someone else was leaving
"it looks like you have a Clown in a Blender".

Vaya Con Dios, Rich

The Rembrandt Beret

This is a knitted and felted project.
I wanted a beret that had that look of real big and sloppy, the kind that really requires a lot of nerve and attitude to wear.  A beret that could be worn in multiple ways, either off the back, or to the side.

I started with a very simple beret pattern, most of them are the same; head band, increase greatly, decrease gently.  I used a handspun merino, angora, and mohair blend (about 20 wpi) and knit on a #3 needle.  Since I was going to felt it, I increased the pattern by about 1.75.  As I was knitting, I figured I needed to know how long to make it, so it was then that I decided to knit and felt a swatch...I was surprised that the length shrunk more than the brim...OOPS....
Onward...After finishing the knitting portion, I felted, and felted, and felted, and could not get the brim anywhere near my head size.
So my wife had an idea and this is how I executed it. I took a scissor and cut a 2-1/2" length up the brim in 8 equally spaced areas around the perimeter.  Then I overlapped these areas by about 5/8" of an inch and needle felted them together. Boy, is my wife smart, after this it went back into the washer.  Needless to say, it looks planned, so planned that I might do it again on purpose.  The cuts into the brim caused an extreme decrease going into the wide part of the beret.
Lesson Learned----ALWAYS knit a swatch and FINISH as you intend to.

Vaya Con Dios, Rich

What's on the Rigid Heddle

I am currently doing some experiments with texture and ply on my Rigid Heddle.  I am working with some hand-spun of mine that is 80% wool / 20% silk (the color way is from
Red Fish Dye Works http://redfishdyeworks.com/ .
This is a single ply that is 22 wpi.  Yes, I used this in the warp, and Yes I have broken one warp so far.  I have also incorporated into the simple design a double warp thread every 1/2" with a triple warp thread on both sides of center.  You can see the textured ribs in the photo above.
Critique so far;
I don't have enough yarn left to finish a full size scarf, although it should be enough for a gentlemen's neck wrap.
The ribbing texture is a nice feature, I will do this again, with a little more gusto.
The single ply accentuates the design and color way, if I would have used a 2 ply for the warp, it would have kept me out of trouble, with all the breaking of the warp threads.

Vaya Con Dios, Rich