Snowy days and days and days, with a little freezing rain thrown in to the south of us!
But with the snow comes lots of time to stay inside and craft so I’ve been very busy this past week.
merino top and alpaca blend yarn, hand dyed
Last Friday I dyed some wool and top and yarn. While it was drying I finished spinning some green yarn, plied it and set the twist.
warm and cool primary colors, plus pink+blue=purple
When it was dry I spread it on the table for pictures, but first I had to play peek-a-boo with Sheldon! After the game was done he still was tempted to take a closer look at the wool, but behaved and just looked 🙂
my eyes are closed…you can’t see me
can I fit?
hi!
Then I teased some of the purplish wool to remove more of the VM (vegetable matter) that hadn’t come out in the washing.
Can’t I help?
teased wool and debris
After loading my hand cards with fiber, I found that Sheldon was still watching me!
Dressing the cards
carding wool with help
carded wool
Here are some the rolags (rolls of carded wool) ready for spinning, but I have a lot more carding to do first.
rolags ready to spin
As I mentioned before we have two black cats. The following pictures will show you how we tell them apart: Sheldon has the crooked ear from the injury he came to the shelter with. Stanley has half of a white whisker (the other half must of broken off during their wrestling matches). While Stanley can usually be found be found on my husband’s lap and occasionally on mine, Sheldon has to see (closeup) whatever I am doing and shares his lap time with me and our son, while only occasionally my husband, maybe because that lap is already taken by his brother. Both take turns trying to help me spin or knit but are learning that yarn is NOT a chew toy.
Sheldon
Stanley helping me spin
The yarn that Stanley was helping me spin has now been plied and has formed skeins totaling over 500yds. Time to start spinning the next color/pound of superwash merino. Made more dryer balls today, so those are drying now. I’m thankful for the speed by which things dry during the winter months thanks to the even heat of our wood furnace. So winter does have its advantages!
singles of superwash merino
How do you enjoy winter days? Anyone a fiberholic too?
Mulch and More Crafts 
Looks cold! How do you dye your wool tops?
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I dye with a commercial acid dye made for protein fiber, either kettle dyeing or rainbow dyeing. (For rainbow dyeing I apply the dyes in spots and then heat set) When the snow gets a little warmer I may do some snow dyeing too (using different dyes that don’t require heat to set)
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Thanks. I’m just about to step onto dying my own carded wool and know it’s a bit trickier than yarn as the fibres are ‘loose’ and easy to end up felting too. Never heard of snow dyeing. Mind i don’t need to in the UK with our once in a blue moon decent amounts of snow. Mind, it has just started sleeting as i type for the first time this winter, so I may regret tempting fate.
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“snow Dyeing” can also be done using ice cubes but the results are a little different, and neither method is as easy to control since as the ice/snow melts it carries the dye in different directions. In kettle dyeing fiber, put it in a mesh bag, keep your kettle at a low simmer not a hard boil, and don’t stir too much.
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Sheldon and Stanley look like they’re becoming quite the “crafty” ones aren’t they? That weather is headed our way for the weekend. Go figure. Right now it’s almost 60 degrees. Heat off for now…not so much in a couple of days time. Handy that furnace of yours is doing double-duty helping in the drying process…as well as keeping you all warm!
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Yes, I love the consistency of wood heat and my husband has lots of wood stored in the garage. When I took that snow picture it was close to zero. another 4-5″ fell last night. Yes the cats are “crafty” and forcing me to keep things “stored/boxed” unless I’m working with them 🙂 But they are behaving better than I had first thought they would. (our last cats weren’t climbers, last night Sheldon jumped from the floor to my shoulders while I was working on the computer!)
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Looks like your cats have lots of fun watching you work 😉 And I agree on winter having its advantages when it comes to crafting, I spend much more time knitting socks at the moment 😄 Enjoy carding your lovely wool! xxx
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Do you have much snow in your area? I should knit socks too but enjoy the bigger but faster (to me) projects more.
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We did have until last night when it all melted away. But I’ll keep at knitting my socks with or without it 😉 What kind of project are they?
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This last year I made quite a few hats, cowls and shawls. I’ve made sweaters for family, but am concentrating on sizes that fit most for the craft shows and use my handspun for examples of how it looks knitted. (I don’t usually spin sock weight yarn) But I do like wool socks so get mine from a couple of vendors I’ve met that sell their hand-cranked ones. Our snow has melted/settled a little but it won’t be gone until April (if we’re lucky)
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Love your kitty helper!
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Thanks, I enjoy seeing your doggy helpers too!
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