Dyeing Day Part 3

Dyeing Day Part 3

Well here we go, I've just finished setting everything out.

Now to put the dye stock into the dye pot, heat it up, add the vinegar and then place the yarn, into the dye pot.  Today I'll be using my "Brown" Jacquard Acid dye, to dye up 2 more skeins of my handspun 3 ply whit alpaca yarn.  Well here goes!

Wow, the yarn absorbed this dye much faster.  Not that the other dyes didn't absorb fast, it just seems that this one absorbed faster.  It still has 15 more minutes left to soak in the very hot water, before I turn off the heat and let it cool down for 30 minutes.

Now I have 4 skeins to rewind and make labels for, while these 2 skeins hang to dry.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll have pictures to share and listings to post.



Dyeing Day Part 2

Dyeing Day Part 2

This is definitely a process and one that I truly have fun with.  Today I have my Jacquard Acid dyes out again, but this time just the one color "Sky Blue".  I'll be dyeing 2 more skeins of my handspun 3 ply white alpaca yarn.  I just placed the first skein in the dye pot and have one more skein to dye after this.  I dye each skein separate, so that there's plenty of room for each skein in the dye pot.

I still have 2 more skeins to dye, but I'll have to dye them another day.

 



What does Spinning mean to you?

What does Spinning mean to you?

 

Some think it is a child turning round and round really fast, while playing, until they get dizzy and fall down.  Some may even think of a merry-go-round from their childhood, and how fast they could make it go, before they jumped on.When you type in spinning on the internet you get things like spinning bicycle wheels, tires, exercise bikes. 

However, to us Fiber Artists, it means twisting fiber, fleece, or wool roving, silk, alpaca, angora, mohair, flax, etc. into a continuous thread using either a spinning wheel or a drop spindle.  Spinners can spin their thread thick or thin, plied or un-plied, some will dye their yarns, while others leave it natural.

Fiber artists use their yarn for knitting, crocheting, or weaving projects.  I have seen people even use unspun fiber for knitting, crocheting, weaving and yes even felting.  I love seeing all these different ways of using fiber.

I love to spin my yarn into thin singles, 2 plied yarn and even a 3 ply yarn.  I knit a lot of different projects from my yarn, like socks, hats, scarves, boot cuffs, cowls and shawls.  I have even wove triangle shawls, scarves and overshot coverlet squares with my handspun yarn.  I have even dyed my own yarn too, its fun to watch the fiber absorb the dyes.

Spinning is a form of art and is done in a variety of ways, which makes it exciting, because no 2 yarns are the same.



Newly Listed Skeins and some knitting

Well, my newly dyed yarn is all dry, labels are made, and all 4 skeins are now listed.

Pink Handspun Alpaca Yarn 179 yds.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152&products_id=581&zenid=8079d0fae3669a79e2be02d90906e82a

Pink Handspun Alpaca Yarn 178 yds.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152&products_id=582

Kelly Green Handspun Alpaca Yarn 200 yds.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152&products_id=583

Kelly Green Handspun Alpaca Yarn 195 yds.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152&products_id=584

Once I had all these skeins listed, I sat down and did some knitting on the new Handspun Knitted Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Half Circle Shawl.

I now have 103 1/2 rows completed.  I still have 56 1/2 more rows to go before I start on the border edge.



Its Dyeing Day once again

Its dyeing day again!  I've got my 2 different colors of dyes and my tools set out, so I think I'm ready to play.

The first 2 skeins that I'm going to dye, will be dyed pink.  My dye stock is all ready, I just need to pour it into my dye pot and add the first skein of yarn.  Here we go!

Oh boy!  I just get so excited when I see the yarn absorb the dye so fast.  This is going to be a really pretty pink skein of yarn.  I have 1 more skein to dye in this color, as I like to have at least 2 skeins of the same color.  So when this skein is finished I'll be dyeing up another skein in the same color.

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day! This skein of yarn is fast absorbing some Kelly green dye.  This is going to be a brilliant green skein of yarn.  I have 1 more skein to dye in this color and then all 4 skeins will be dyed up. 

 



More spinning and knitting once again

Well, lets see now........what can I show you today!  Well, yesterday I almost had the first bobbin refilled after 2 hours 1 minute 4 seconds of spinning.



I should have this bobbin filled up today and the second bobbin started being refilled, once again.

This morning the knitting needles were clicking away and another 10 rows was completed in 2 hours 20 seconds.

There is now 96 rows completed, I know it doesn't look it, but it is getting bigger.

 

 

Lots of plying yesterday and some knitting today

What more can I say?....should I gloat?....should I rejoice over my success yesterday.  Yep!  I did it!  I finished plying up the second skein, that I had started plying up on Monday.

I wound it off onto my niddy noddy, washed it, hung it to dry and headed back to the spinning wheel and plied up a third skien.

Then I wound it off, washed it, and hung it to dry and headed back to my spinning wheel.  I changed out my bobbins and began refilling the first bobbin.

I did all of this in 2 hours 4 seconds.  I now have 4 skeins (1 was from last month), that I can dye up.  I'm thinking Pink for 2 and Green for the other 2.  What do you think?

This morning I was up bright and early, as I wanted to get back to my knitting on the Handspun Knitted Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Half Circle Shawl.  I finished another  8 rows in 1 hour 51 minutes 3 seconds.

I now have 86 rows completed. 

 

Relaxing Sunday, Knitting on new shawl and maybe some spinning later today.

Yesterday was a quiet relaxing Sunday with my husband, Sue-chi.  We were hoping for some warmer weather, so that we could start leveling the ground and cinder blocks to get ready for erecting, our greenhouse.  However, we didn't get the warmer weather, so instead we relaxed and watched some old movies (Flight of the Phoenix with Jimmy Stuart, The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio).  Today though, I started off knitting on the Handspun Knitted Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Half Circle Shawl.  I was only able to knit 8 rows though, in 1 hour 48 minutes.

However, I have a total of 68 rows knitted so far and that is not bad, since I started knitting on this shawl last Wednesday.

Now to head upstairs and do some spinning.  I'm hoping to finish refilling the third bobbin and then start in plying up a new skein of Handspun 3 ply White Alpaca Yarn. 



Ideas form for some new products while spinning early in the morning.

As you all know, I really love to spin wool into yarn, knit it into products and even play with dyeing the yarn.  So this morning, when I was sitting at my spinning wheel, at 6:11 am, and spinning up more white alpaca, ideas started forming for a new product to knit up.  My spinning time went by so quickly, because of the ideas that were flowing and 1 hour 46 minutes 17 seconds just flew by.  The second bobbin was almost filled.

So when my spinning time was done, I pulled out a skein of Handspun Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Yarn, that I spun up a few years ago as a single ply yarn.  I placed it on my umbrella swift to wind it into a center pull ball.  Then I pulled out my size 8 circular needles, that I just recently bought and started in casting on for a "Handspun Knitted Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Half Circle Shawl".  Here's how much I have done so far.

35 rows finished in 1 hour 42 minutes 59 seconds.



Grand day for spinning and laying down cinder blocks

Its was a grand day for spinning

The bobbin is filling fast

and out in the yard my husband

who is bound and determined to work in the yard.

Laying out the cinder blocks for the foundation, that will eventually

house the framing

 

of our future Greenhouse.  Hubby couldn't do more then put the cinder blocks down, due to the very cold wind.  He's hoping for better weather this weekend, so he can get moving on his project.

 



Back upstairs plying and spinning.........New listing

So after spending my morning yesterday dyeing some handspun 3 ply white alpaca yarn, I headed upstairs to finish plying up another skein of yarn.

Then because my 3 bobbins were empty and needed to be refilled once again, I changed bobbins out and started in spinning again.

However, this morning was spent running errands, but once they were done I came home and rewound my newly dyed skeins, made labels, took pictures and then listed them.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152&products_id=561

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152&products_id=560



Dyeing Day, New Listing and a little spinning

Before I get started dyeing up 2 new skeins of Handspun 3 ply White Alpaca, I want to share a new listing with you.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=121&products_id=576

I started knitting this up yesterday morning, before the sun came up, then stopped to go and do some spinning.  This morning I finished it just before sun rise.

 

Now I've got all my dyeing stuff set up and I'm ready to get busy dyeing up my 2 skeins of Handspun 3 ply White Alpaca Yarn.

I've brought my water to a simi boil, added my Royal Blue Dye Stock and 1/4 cup of vinegar.  Now its time to add one of my skeins of yarn to the pot.

The yarn really soaked up the dye fast during the first 30 minutes.  Now its in the cooling down stage for 30 minutes.  Then I'll drain it and soak it in the synthrapol for 5 minutes.

 

Now that both skeins are dyed and hanging to dry, its time to head up to the spinning room and finish plying up another skein of Handspun 3 ply white alpaca yarn.

 

 



Did exactly what I hoped today today and more!

I mentioned yesterday, that I hoped to finish refilling the third bobbin today and that's just exactly what I did.

Then I went on to start in plying up the first skein and after 1 hour 37 minutes and 9 seconds, here is where I ended up.

After finishing lunch, I headed back to the spinning room to finished refilling this bobbin of 3 ply handspun white alpaca yarn.

I finished this bobbin up before the 1 hour 37 minutes 28 seconds and started in plying up a second skein.

Then after plying up this second skein, I still have some time left of the clock, so I started in plying up a 3rd skein

Now tomorrow, I'll finish plying up this 3rd skein of handspun white alpaca yarn. Then I'll start in refilling these 3 bobbins once again.  Now to go and wash the 2 skeins I plied up today and hang them to dry over night.

 

Back to the spinning wheel

After taking the last 4 days off from spinning to do some knitting, it was time for me to get back to the spinning wheel today.  I able to spend roughly 2 hours, 20 minutes and 25 seconds at the spinning wheel.  I would have spent more, Monday's are about doing the laundry and going grocery shopping.  Anyways  I came really close to refilling the 3 bobbin once again. 

I hope tomorrow to finish refilling it and start in plying up 2 more skeins of 3 ply white alpaca yarn.

Idea for new pair of Boot Cuffs

This past Wednesday night while relaxing on the couch and watching Little Women LA and Younger.  I came up with an idea for a new pair of Boot Cuffs.  When I finished my first pair of Boot Cuffs, I had planned on doing some more, but I got caught up in my spinning up more 3 ply white alpaca yarn and dyeing those skeins.  Anyways, I started in writing up my pattern, which was originally planned for using size 2 dpns.  However, are working my swatch in the round on my size 2 dpns, I found that my pattern not only needed a few more stitches, but I was going to have to change to a bigger size needle.  So I put my knitting down for the night and headed off to bed.

Thursday morning came bright and early and after taking my dog Sue-chi out for her morning walk, I started in rewriting my pattern for size 5 dpns and 4 more stitches.  I also decided to do a Long Tail Cast On versus my normal Knitted Cast On.  Now for those of you that don't know I'm left handed and knit a backwards right handed, not the conventional left handed knitting.  Anyways, I started in knitting a swatch once again in the round and found that my changing over to the size 5 dpns was working out so much better and my gauge was 10 stitches = 1 inch with the handspun 2 ply lace weight Sorrel Australian Bond Yarn I was using.  I wanted to do a full cable pattern this time versus the 2 stitch twist cable pattern I used in my last pair of Boot Cuffs.  That's why I needed to add 4 stitches as my original 60 stitches wasn't working out.  I mean it worked out great for the 2/2 ribbing I had at the beginning, but for the cable there just wasn't enough stitches.  So 64 stitches was working out just fine for my new pattern. 

Once I had the right number of stitches and I truly liked how the Long Tail Cast On looked compared to the Knitted Cast On.  I just need to know how long I wanted the bottom cuff to be, the cabled pattern and then the top cuff and how I was going to bind off the top.  I decided 2 inches was enough for the bottom cuff and that the top cuff would be 1 inch, but the cabled pattern I just was going to have to decide that as I knitted.  So once I got all of that planned out, I ripped out my swatch and started in casting on for the first Boot Cuff.  I finished the bottom cuff and started in on the cabled pattern and after 2 twists, I decided that 2 more would be perfect, then with the top cuff it would be just right.

I finished the first pair of Boot Cuffs late Thursday night while watching Project Runway All-Stars and Child Genius.  It took my 7 hours 30 minutes and 29 seconds to knit that pair. 

 

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=153&products_id=575&zenid=5bfc7c6249b7830fd7b5c83ca9ec2d01

I had enough yarn left over so yesterday, late in the afternoon, I started knitting on a second pair.  I finished on Boot Cuff last night and started on the mate before heading off to bed.  I'll be finishing up the mate today and adding it to my store too.  If I knew how to turn my pattern into a PDF File I would do that, but I'm still learning about stuff like that and it may be a while before that happens.



Spinning mood

And I'm still spinning away, just finished refilling the second bobbin of white alpaca.  I love this fleece, there's still 2 1/2 buckets of carded batts from Bellagio's fleece.  The first 2 bobbins are waiting patiently on my sewing box and the third bobbin is now on my spinning wheel.

 

Right now I just can't seem to get enough of spinning, so I am in the spinning mood,  so as soon as I fill up my bobbins, I start in plying up more 3 ply yarn.  Then as soon as a new skein of 3 ply yarn is spun up, washed and hung to dry, I'm back at the spinning wheel refilling my bobbins once again.

 



Lost in my own spinning world

Sometimes I just get lost in my own little spinning world.  Once I get into the spinning room, my thoughts are on nothing but fiber, spinning, carding, weaving and knitting.  Today was not the exception!  I knew that today I'd be concentrating on where I left off yesterday on my spinning.

This bobbin was almost completely full yesterday with handspun 3 ply white alpaca and my goal for today was to finish filling it.....

which I accomplished in the first 27 minutes and 27 seconds of spinning.  I then wound it off onto my niddy noddy, washed it and hung it to dry.

Then I began plying up another skein (22nd) and managed to almost have the bobbin full again in 1 hour.

This is what happens when I get lost in my own little spinning world!  Now that lunch break is almost over, I think I'll go and get lost again.  I so LOVE to spin!

 

 

 

Dyeing, Labels

Yesterday, after dyeing up the Handspun 3 ply White Alpaca Yarn a lovely "Aztec Gold".  I just couldn't stop, so I pulled out the other 2 skeins of Handspun 3 ply White Alpaca.  I set up my dye pot, but this time with some lovely "Fire Red" dye and place the first skein into the dye bath.

Around 5:30 pm I had finished dyeing both skeins and had them hanging to dry with the 2 skeins of "Aztec Gold".

Today, though I'll be printing labels, taking pictures and listing these 4 new skeins on my website.  So stay tuned into my shop at:  http://www.spinningginny.com as these new skeins will be listed soon.



Busy spinng the last 2 days, dyeing today #dyeing #skeins #white #alpaca #yarn

Sorry for not posting!  I just got so into my spinning the last 2 days, that I just decided to post pictures instead.  So for those of you, that don't follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, here's some pictures from the last 2 days.

 

 

Today I'll be dyeing up 2 of the skeins that I plied up on Tuesday.  These skeins will be dyed "Aztec Gold",  Here's what one of the skeins looks like in the dye pot.

I'm typing this blog, while I'm dyeing my yarn.  Tomorrow after these skeins are dry and I make labels, I'll take some more pictures and then get them listed.  I might even be dyeing 2 more skeins tomorrow, so stay tuned to see what color I choose to dye tomorrow.