Tag Archives: fiber spinning

“I am going on a trip and I am taking…”

This post feels a bit like that childhood memory game we used to play as kids and with our own children where we add to a list of items we are taking on a trip and have to remember the ones other people said before us.

I think we used to say we were going to Africa for some reason but my trip is not so exotic but very exciting for me. I am going to Colorado to the Interweave Yarn Fest. I won’t be taking my spinning wheel because I don’t want to risk any damage to it or risk my being thrown off the plane if anyone pushed hard on it in the overhead compartment and I sought revenge. I am taking classes other than spinning.

I will be packing some dubious looking tools in my checked luggage.

These are just used on wool, honest

Should I have the confirmation of my class in hand if questioned when security screens my luggage?

I am very excited to be taking an all day workshop with Esther Rogers called Wild Fiber: Getting Creative with Your Fiber Prep. I love carding, combing and drum carding natural fibers maybe even a little more than I love spinning them so I am looking forward to learning new tricks with the tools I already have. I can’t take all my tools since some are too big, but she will have them there too.

When I go to Colorado I am taking my….. pointy dangerous fiber combs…

I am taking some snacks with me including some from my new favorite sourdough recipe. Any time you use the sourdough starter you have to feed it every twelve hours for a day or so to allow the yeast to revive from its hibernation in the refrigerator. Each time you feed it flour and water you have to remove all but four ounces of the rising starter. Sourdough baking is not for the faint of heart. There are many good recipes for this put aside starter and these crackers are one of those. They keep for a week. I added a few dried herbs to them.

My first batch of sourdough crackers

When I go to Colorado I am taking my pointy dangerous fiber combs and my sourdough crackers.

I also need a knitting project for the plane and waiting time to board. I am not an especially good sitter and I am really not good at sitting and keeping my hands still. I am thinking of making the second sock for this pair of cozy slipper socks that I am making out of rare sheep breed yarn that I have spun..

First sock of an unmatched pair made from rare sheep breed wool

When I go to Colorado I am taking my pointy dangerous fiber combs, my sourdough crackers and a sock to knit.

Also exciting will be my chance to visit cousins in Colorado and Wyoming. I have never been to Wyoming and am looking forward to venturing into Longmire territory. Anyone who hasn’t seen that series needs to watch it immediately and I will leave it at that. I can’t add anything I may be taking for them here because then YOU will know, Dell. 🙂

I am feeling some separation anxiety about being away from my cat and chickens but I know they will receive very good attention and care. I am also not an extrovert by any means but I feel no shyness whatsoever about going to this large gathering where I will know no one. Spinners, and other people who love working with fiber, and love fiber animals, have instant unspoken connections. It’s a given and really nice. I am sure other groups of people who share deep interests find the same thing at their events. We need as much of that as we can get in this world.

This trip came about because last fall I told my husband that I don’t need any more “stuff” for gifts. I said I would rather have experiences than things. That statement prompted this trip as Christmas, Mother’s Day and birthday presents. I knew something was up when he asked to read my latest Spin Off magazine, an event that never happened before or since. I didn’t know it was this trip!

Looking forward to reporting from the field!

A Non-Violent Takeover

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Yesterday my fiber flock took it upon itself to spread to a clear area in my house. It reminds me of a conversation I had with my sister-in-law a few years ago. I was telling her about a blog entry I read about a woman who bought a home with her sister and then made every room a fiber room. I told her how much fun it sounded to me and that I would love to be able to do that (but didn’t think I should because my husband deserves a little non-fiber space.)

She remarked that I already had done it. 🙂 I guess I had. And after yesterday am still working hard toward that goal.

The early morning tranquility of the dining room.

But the fiber is slowly and steadily encroaching.

Completed! No fiber or furniture was harmed in this takeover.

Christine and I are making batts to sell and yesterday I loved having everything around me to pick and choose. More dyed fiber troops did arrive as the day went on and my enthusiasm kept on increasing. If that is possible.

Remember Henna the Gulf Coast before she was dyed?

Gulf Coast Henna before she was dyed.

Henna the GC sheep dyed

Below shows her now.

Henna the Gulf Coast blended with other fibers

Colorful Batts and BFL locks

These are the batts made so far. I put Josie the Bluefaced Leicester locks on top of two batts that will go into boxes full of a variety of spinning fibers that we will be selling. I kept it there for the picture because it reminds me of our latest tv obsession, Broadchurch, seen on BBCAmerica. It takes place in today’s Great Britain and in the courtroom scenes the judge and lawyers wear traditional small white wigs on top of their regular hair. Kind of the George Washington style but smaller and perched on the head. Kind of like the locks in my picture.

Which brings me back to the wonderful and adorable Bluefaced Leicester sheep.

Leicester ewe (female sheep) thanks to Farm-Images.CO.UK

I don’t know a single spinner who isn’t crazy about Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) fiber. The locks are just so darned cute. Here are some lamb locks I dyed. They are short, bouncy and have the sweetest little curls.

BFL Lamb Locks- Millie

Individual BFL lamb locks

I am not going to use these locks for anything except adoration.

BFL sheep typically have fleeces that weigh between 2 1/4 and 4 1/2 pounds. The lock length is 3-6 inches. Mine shown here is shorter as it was a lamb’s fleece. Her adult fleece would be longer. The individual fibers from an adult fleece are measured to be 24 to 28 microns. The reason a non-math spinner like me avidly follows micron counts is because they correlate with scale of soft to coarse feel of the fiber. 21 is considered to be the highest count that many would find comfortable next to the skin. It is a general term because people vary in the way they perceive fiber. Millie’s lamb fleece is probably softer than 24 microns because lamb’s fleeces are softer. I am not interested in micron count because I always want soft wool. I don’t always. I have lots of uses for coarse wool too. Micron count helps me to better understand the fiber as a whole.

BFL has a nice shine to it (luster) and as pictured above, takes dye well. Since the locks are so bouncy and curly they are best first picked open. I sometimes pick them apart with my fingers but usually give them a few strokes with my hand cards. More on processing/spinning BFL next week.

Making Our Own Peace

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At Christmas when I received books I realized I already had several that I hadn’t read, or had only read partially. I put those books in a basket and decided I would not take a new book out of the library until I had read those. I do keep a list of books I hear about that I would like to read when I have earned it.

One Man’s Meat

One of those books was One Man’s Meat by E. B. White. It has a series of columns that he wrote while living on his small farm in Maine in the 1930s and 40s. I didn’t understand the title until a few weeks ago in an old movie someone said “One man’s poison is another man’s meat.” Now the title made sense. For him and me. He knew that leaving the city and close proximity to his publishers was seen by many to be a foolish thing to do. I could relate to that as sometimes people tell me that they can’t believe anyone would spin and raise chickens. 🙂

He didn’t seem to care and certainly neither do I. We all need to do what feels right inside of us and it is different things for different people.

His columns show a slice of life from that time period. The war in Europe and then our country’s entry into war were occasionally subjects of his columns. He made this statement in his forward that resonated with me to the extent that I still feel a little emotional when I write it here. “It is a collection of essays which I wrote from a salt water farm in Maine while engaged in trivial, peaceable pursuits, knowing all the time that the world hasn’t arranged any true peace or granted anyone the privilege of indulging himself for long in trivialities.”

I feel privileged that I am able to take time each week to indulge myself in trivial pursuits that give me peace in an uncertain world. I think that when we pursue peaceful goings on in whatever form they take there is some good being given out to counter the unpeaceful things in this world.

Certainly his book, published in 1944, continues to radiate peace. Thanks E.B.!

Josie’s Bluefaced Leicester lamb fleece

This month I want to talk about the also peaceful Bluefaced Leicester sheep. They have the sweetest little curls in their fleece which has great sheen (shine).

A friend and I “disagree” about the outward appearance of these sheep. I dearly love them but I think their faces are, well, kind of unattractive. The babies look like little aliens to me. She doesn’t think they are ugly at all.

Bluefaced Leicester yearling females in wool . stock photo

Bluefaced Leicester Sheep thanks to Farm-Images.CO.UK

BFL Gray Sheep Named Silver Dyed with Blue and Yellow

BFL Grey Sheep Named Silver Dyed with Blue and Yellow

Bluefaced Leicester Lamb Locks

Millie mitten

Here are mittens I spun several years ago and wear a great deal each winter. Still in excellent shape, This fiber was from a BFL lamb named Millie.

More on the wonderful Bluefaced Leicester next time! Until then, find a trivial pursuit that gives you peace and go do it, even if you only have a few minutes. E.B. would approve.

Cape Cod March 2015

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I took my spinning fibers and yarns a couple days ago to Sage Yarn in Falmouth on Cape Cod. We lived in Falmouth for two years and I always love the chance to go back. It is only 45 minutes from here so it is easy to do.

The first year we lived in a big old sea captain’s home. I grew up on the Connecticut coast and used to hear the fog horn in the distance. The day we moved to Falmouth was rainy and I felt instantly at home because I could hear their soothing fog horn from my bedroom. The next year we lived in a tiny winter rental beach cottage. Size wise we went from one extreme to the other. Almost every evening we could sit in our living room and looked at the most spectacular sunsets over Old Silver Beach.

Cape Sunset

Below is the beach as I saw it on this visit. Still spectacular. The white isn’t foam, but chunks and chunks of ice.

Old Silver Beach

I loved living on the Cape and especially loved the off season. The natural beauty was still there and somehow it seemed more like real life then. The nuts and bolts of it.

One of the great things about my time in Falmouth was getting to know Sage Yarn. It is a beautiful bright shop. Here is the selection of handspun and hand dyed yarn and spinning fibers which are sold on consignment for those of us who love to make more than we know what to do with.

Sage Yarn

Well, this year I planned with determination to only buy part of a shared fleece because I have so much. I really tried to walk away from this roving she had but it called so loudly to me that it was impossible to leave it behind. Some of it literally clung to me- well, maybe the velcro on my coat- which I noticed later. It is a Romney/angora combination. 83% Romney and 17% angora. (How do they get the percentages to be so precise??) So unbelievably soft. It is from the Wind Ridge Farm in Ashburnham MA.

Romney Angora Fiber

Romney and Angora

I looked forward to experimenting with it. I took some of the fibers apart to see what I was dealing with. The Romney is below the ruler and the angora above. Romney is a sheep that can grow long locks, and angora is from a rabbit and has short fiber. Typically longer fibers like Romney are spun in a worsted fashion which pushes the air out and makes a sleek yarn and shows the fiber’s sheen. The Angora rabbit’s short fibers are spun with a woolen technique which keeps the air in and makes the yarn fuzzier. Angora needs a lot of twist put in it to hold it together and Romney does not. These Romney fibers aren’t too much longer than the angora so the length differences shouldn’t be a problem. I was excited to experiment to see what techniques work for this blend of fibers.
After playing around today I ended up spinning it with my usual semi-worsted style. I found myself treadling three times as I moved my fingers back about 2 inches each time, and treadling twice to allow it to feed onto the bobbin. The band was on the second smallest whorl to give it a lot of twist but not a super tight twist. It is soft and strong and lovely. I may end up dyeing the skeins when they are made to get unique gradations of color since it contains so many variations of grays.

Romney Angora Yarn

Another wonderful result from Falmouth was getting our cat from a fabulous shelter, People for Cats. She was semi feral and for months hid in terror from us under furniture. Things have changed.

Her favorite place

I love to find new ways to use up leftover yarn and now I am having fun making this afghan. It is kind of like a quilt in that I remember the items made with almost all of them. In it is my first experience dyeing with black walnuts. There is gray alpaca from Firestar who lives on the Cape. Lots of memories.

Afghan from Leftover Yarns

Okay, what I really should be working on is an Einstein coat I started when I lived in Falmouth. I did start it but made the first piece too big so started over again. I told Jen that some day when I am very old I will come walking in with my cane and proudly announce that I have finally finished it!

So much fiber so many ideas so little time.

	Betsy Alspach on Surprised by Musk Ox
	Bud Anderson on Surprised by Musk Ox
	Betsy Alspach on Character
	LuAnn & Pam on Character
	maile jones on Character

woolgatheringwithbetsy

Indulging in the delights of spinning, dyeing and weaving, soap making and gardening