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