Month: November 2016

Works in Progress

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Just a short note to show you my latest projects. The first a small skein that I spun last night, left-overs from an experiment in dyeing top for a long color change. Will get a picture of the large skein after it is dry from setting the twist.

handspun yarn

small skein that starts dark, blending to pale green and ending as yellow.

And this is my second start on a lace shawl that I am attempting. This time I have been placing life lines which is good since I need to rip the last 7 rows to find my mistake!

lace shawl start

start of wavedeck pi shawl

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Happy Thanksgiving

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No matter whether you celebrate Thanksgiving as a holiday or just take the time to think of all you have to be thankful for, I’d like to take this time to thank everyone who takes the time to read this (and other) blogs,the time to learn about and respect the opinions of others (whether you agree or not) and the time to give a smile to family, friends, and strangers.

A wise lady once said “there are no strangers in life, only friends we’ve not yet met.”

Have a Great Week Friends!

Oh What a Tangled…

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green linen

Very fine linen yarn.

Oh what a tangle this skein of yarn became! This was part of a custom order that I worked on sporadically throughout the summer as I found time between shows. When I placed this thin skein of yarn on the swift to wind it into a cake to use in plying I found that instead of winding off easily onto my ball winder that it kept catching, tangling and sometimes breaking . I finally wound it by hand onto an empty cone. Thankfully the lovely lady was in no big hurry, just wanted her skeins of linen yarn plied to a thickness that she could use to knit.

When we first met to discuss the project, we decided on a workable thickness and that it would be wet plied. We then went about sorting all the lovely colors into groups of three or four skeins, since they were two different gauges, the one almost as fine as sewing thread.

We did meet so she could see and approve of the progress but she wanted to wait to reclaim her yarn all at once. After many more hours than I had originally thought and well over 7000 yds of plied yarn the project is finished! I really want to see the finished items that it will become under an expert knitter’s hands. And best of all I’ve made a new friend.

The finished skeins covered my card table in a single layer, so here are the pictures with some overlap. The one multicolored skein is the uneven yardage from the original plying, plied with a continuous length of two of the finer singles that were left.

linen

plied linen

2 linen

plied linen

3 linen

3-ply linen

linen yarn

more linen

linen yarn

And more overlapped skeins

 

 

Last Craft Show!

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It’s been over a week now since we did the last craft show of our season for this year!

train in Port Sanilac Museum

Entering The Train Depot

It was a first year fiber show that I didn’t find out about until our fiber show that was the end of September. In spite of common wisdom that warns against first year shows, late advertisement for vendors, and a 200+ mile drive to a region of the state that we haven’t explored before I decided to send in an application! I’m glad we did!

The organizer communicated well, asked for pictures of our set-ups and products, and responded promptly to all my questions. The show was held in buildings of a historical museum in Port Sanilac and we needed to be able to fit our display around the furnishings of the buildings. After seeing my pictures she placed us in the Train Depot and let me know that I should be able to use my grid-wall (a display that I didn’t think I would be able to use there) but gladly brought. While this was going on I was busy trying to downsize what we would bring to fit into the suburban. After hauling a trailer full all summer I didn’t want to chance dragging it there and home if there should be a snow storm. (Michigan weather has been unseasonable this year with 50 degree  temps instead of the normal cold, but they are saying snow for this weekend!)

craft show display part 1

Left side of our display, with my shawl and wheel.

craft show display 2

dyed fiber, yarns and knitting, nestled around their glass display case and Ben Franklin stove in the back corner.

The weather was beautiful, the organizer and all the volunteers were helpful and friendly, and from the number of people that came through, advertisement had been good. We were placed next to a couple who are always our backside neighbors at the other fiber festival so we enjoyed their company as well. We did splurge for a motel and ate out (instead of our normal camping) but this first year show didn’t charge a fee. Next year they are but we signed up to repeat it and will look for cheaper lodging.

craft show display 3

smaller grid wall but still held hats, hand dyed yarn and some soft sculptures (needle felted)

craft show display 4

Son’s display of needle felting and copper shawl pins with neighboring booth in the background.

Now that the shows are over I have been catching up on a couple of custom orders, looking forward to posting more often, doing some more dyeing, knitting, and maybe even finding some time to weave!

What are your plans for this fall and winter season? Would be glad to hear what you are planning?