Qiviut Lace and Adventures in Boucle!

I'M DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Whew, now that I got that out of my system! I'm super excited. I finally completed the qiviut lace scarf I have been working on. I blocked it and everything! As it turns out, qiviut single-ply doesn't have the memory that I might like, so rewetting the scarf undid some of the work, but the person to whom it belongs will not be repinning it every time he needs to wash it. Without further ado, pictures!!

Laid out on a chair.



Another chair angle! But, very crooked.


Working on blocking the scarf. For the record, this was my first lace project, my first blocking, and so there you have it. If you've never blocked before, it's much easier to do it once, instead of pinning and unpinning and repinning. So, here's a good(ish) way to do it:

1. Lay some straight lines out for yourself.
2. Use a marked board, or measure constantly as you go along to ensure the width is consistent.
3. Pin down one end and work your way toward the other (evenly on both sides).
4. ???
5. Profit!

Okay, kidding about the last two (I hope that joke wasn't lost competely). But I did none of the first three, and I should have. It would have made my life a lot easier.

So, more pictures:


All pinned down and waiting to dry.


Me wearing the scarf in one of many ways. Please excuse the mess -- we're packing everything up for the big move!


It ended up being approximately 7.5" X 70" after blocking. In the pictures, you can see that the weave is SUPER spread out, even for lace, but it's qiviut, and as such, it's PLENTY warm even that way. I've already decided that I am making myself a scarf similar to this one (different pattern for sure though) with my qiviut / black bear / dog hair batt.



Oh, and the boucle:



I'll dye it later, but I already packed my dyes. It's a mohair single plied with a commercial acrylic plied with a cotton thread as a binder. I can't decide if I like it or not, but it was a good first attempt.


I've also been working on making some stitch markers:


This isn't actually as good of a picture as I wanted to post here but I'm too lazy to fix it right now. These are punky stitch markers, good up to US size 4, with rainbow beats attached. I like them a lot. I am making other sets.

Also, did I post pictures of my two batts here? I finally gave in and rented the electric drum carder at my LYS a time or two and craked out a couple of fun batts.


"Trout Fishing"


"Autumn Rain"


You can see the batts in either my Etsy or my Artfire stores. The stitch markers have yet to be listed, and the scarf is obviously for someone (which is actually only obvious if you've read previous posts).

Anyway, hope this was a good update! I have bored hands and very little with which to fill them. Maybe I'll drag out some fiber...I just hate to since everything is packed up already!

More New Stuff

Okay, a list of things I want to post about today:
*Pictures of qiviut/scarf, socks, tencel, and skeinwinder/wheel
*Staining (and naming!) my wheel
*The skeinwinder I built

Here we go!


Here are two pictures of the qiviut scarf as it stands now. It's half done and quite obviously needs some blocking, but as you can see, the pattern is intact. I also finished the other half of the qiviut yarn this afternoon:

Also, I discovered that Joel's camera phone takes WAY better pictures than his digital camera:


(I have never gotten a good picture of this skein, with accurate colors and all. This is a fantastic discovery, and after we move, much re-shooting will be done!)

And, the tencel from NaturalObsessions on Etsy:


This is her "Lovebirds" colorway. The yarn has a slight amount of excess twist, but it will wear longer that way (and also makes it prepped for plying). I love the sheen of tencel. The colors are pretty fantastic, too. I just wish there were a little more blue and green (but then it'd be more like tropical birds than lovebirds, wouldn't it?). I haven't decided what to name this yarn yet but I'm leaning towards something with circus or clown in the name. We'll see. I'd better decide soon, because I want to list it on Artfire!



On another note, I can't believe I forgot to post about my wheel last time. After over two years of owning it, I decided to stain it! It's a gorgeous reddish-brown and it's dark and it makes me happy. I also painted the kiwi engraving with gold enamel paint. I may decide later to paint over it with white or bright green, but for now, I'm content with gold. Pictures:


I also got REALLY sick of not having a skeinwinder. A niddy noddy works alright for a certain amount of yarn, but I do so many bulky yarns that it was way too small, and my skeins looked like blobs of yarn. This skeinwinder is adjustable -- I can have skeins that are just under 4, 5, 6, and 7 feet in circumference. And, it attaches to my wheel! The first skeinwinder I ever used was one from Louet that was designed to attach to the wheel (thanks, Grandma!). I don't like floor skeinwinders for several reasons, including the need for more floor space, and the less optimal angle at which the yarn unwinds. This one isn't perfect, especially since we had no proper power tools (just a hand saw and a cordless drill), but it's functional, and I love it.



One more thing: Here's a picture of the socks I mentioned a couple of posts ago (mini mochi plus kid mohair from Crystal Palace Yarns).



That's all for now! I'm hoping to make one or two more posts before we skedadle to Washington.

Details on the Qiviut Scarf

I've set aside all my other projects for this scarf. Since I'm spending so much time already, I might as well record it, right? Plus, I'm going to make another one with my black bear / qiviut / husky blend batt after we move.

Speaking of moving, it's got everything messed up. I have lots of projects I want to do, but I know I won't even come close to getting them all done by the time we go, so I'm trying really hard to pick and choose the things to pack ahead of time.

So, the details of the scarf. As far as the yarn goes, I was spinning it right from the raw fiber at first. I decided before too long that carding it would work better (and it did). However, there were a few weak spots, so I've been knitting in the broken ends. Otherwise, so far so good. The pattern is complicated, especially since this is my first lace project, but as long as I pay attention and count stitches (which I tend to do obsessively anyway!) I have no problems. It takes me between 40 and 60 minutes to knit an inch on size 4 needles.

This particular pattern is knitted in two sections which are then grafted together in the center. I'm ten rows away from being half done. That means it will be time to head back to the wheel and hand cards long enough to get 125 more yards of laceweight qiviut. Oh, and this entire scarf is knitted from a single. Some call me brave -- I call me lazy :P Spinning this fiber more thinly than I am already spinning it would make this project immensely more difficult (for me, at least). I'll be sure to get pictures and wpi for this next batch of yarn. I'll also take a picture when I'm halfway done (which will be tomorrow, more than likely). The edges are a little curly, but nothing that blocking won't take care of. I'm super excited to see the finished product.

What's New, Pussycat?

Well! It's certainly been a while since I've updated here. I kind of put my spinning on hiatus after my marathon in the workshop. I was working on a Good vs. Evil yarn that I had intended to enter into a contest, but the deadline came and went, and it never got finished. It's a super fun yarn, though, and I'll post it once I complete it. The material cost was outrageously high for it, so I'm hoping it will sell one day, because I won't have any purpose for it.


I've been working on spinning a SUPER thin silk single. It's slightly larger than sewing thread, but not a lot. It might fluff out once I take it off the bobbin, but we'll see. I intend to navajo ply it once it's finished, but obviously it's taking a year and a day to spin 4 oz of silk that thinly.


Other things.......I finished the doghair socks! I don't know what happened, but I spun the yarn for the first sock heavy worsted, and I spun the yarn for the second sock between fingering and sport weight (and thought that I was doing them approximately equally! That's what I get for not checking before I was finished...). I still have to tuck in the ends and take pictures...I also plan to full them slightly before I give them to my customer, as they are a little on the fuzzy side.

One of my friends has been filling my hands with qiviut. He wants a scarf, and he's paying me ... yes, with more qiviut! I certainly won't argue, since qiviut is a pricey commodity. He also supplied me with some black bear fur that he gathered in some woods somewhere, and I am already plotting. I'll probably blend it with some of that qiviut I've received in payment, and some Siberian Husky fur. I don't know if I'll make a hat or a scarf, but either way, I need to plan amounts and get it together so I can rent the drum carder from my LYS since I don't have one of my own and I want fairly even blending. Thoughts, anyone?


And my latest project...I am making some lovely rainbow socks as a gift to a friend of mine. Crystal Palace Yarns has come out with yarns called "Mini Mochi" in several colorways. The LYS got some of these yarns in and I couldn't stop thinking about making these socks once I'd seen the yarn. I prefer to knit socks on size 3 needles (3.25mm), and these yarns aren't quite thick enough, so I am knitting this Mini Mochi yarn along with a "Kid Merino" yarn, which is also by Crystal Palace Yarns, although I wasn't aware of that at the time, what with me having lost the tag to the Kid Merino when I originally purchased it for strengthening socks. The Mini Mochi is 80% merino and 20% nylon, and the Kid Merino is a combination of merino, nylon, and mohair. I can't remember the ratios on that one, but it's great for making socks stronger, what with a high nylon content and all. Plus, it adds a tiny bit of fun 'halo' to the sock.

So, I need to take pictures of the doghair socks, of the qiviut (the raw fiber, the yarn, and the scarf, once it's complete!), the Good vs. Evil yarn, the silk single, and the rainbow socks. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me!

Updates & Comprehensive Handspinning

I just spent a fantastic three days in a Celia Quinn workshop. I don't know how many of you have heard of her, but she is fantastic. She lives in Homer, Alaska, so she didn't have to come too far to teach us, but she does classes all around the world. She's been spinning since 1975 I think, and so she's seen a ton. She has all sorts of samples and techniques and advice. It was very wonderful.

I've been spinning since 1999, and I learned a TON in this class.

There were a few important things I learned that I want to note:
1. How to spin long draw.
2. Long draw should always be used with short fibers, as worsted-style spinning makes it next to impossible.
3. Worsted spinning has greater sheen/luster, while long draw spinning is fluffier and lighter, usually with some sort of halo.
4. Cotton is not the enemy!
5. Short-staple fibers should be spun thinly (i.e. spin cotton in the thickness of a paper clip wire or thinner)

I'll take pictures of my first cotton yarn (which I spun worsted, the only way I was familiar with) and the cotton samples I spun (which were my second cottons). There's a huge difference in them.

Including a few practice fibers, we spun 97 different samples of fibers. We spun wools, mohairs, llama, alpaca, yak, cashmere, silks (both silk tops and right from the cocoon [with a pupa still inside!!]), cottons, downs, guard hairs, qiviut, horse hair [something I've wanted to do for a LOOONG time], flax, ramie, ingeo, rayon, polyester, and many many many more.

Celia offers several classes, including a dyeing workshop. If you get the chance to take one of her classes, DO IT. I had a fantastic time, and I learned a ton.

Stuff

Not a lot has happened since last time. I went to a craft/garage sale bazaar with my yarns. I sold one (better than none!) and it was overall a very slow day. It made me excited for moving to Washington, though, where there are bazaars and such all over the place! Farmer's Market might be a good idea. I want to try it out up here, but I'm afraid that the costs will surpass the money I make. I'll probably pay annual dues and try it out for a couple of Saturdays...except that my work schedule this summer conflicts with both days the in-town market is open! So cancel that. I'm hoping that I can turn enough of a profit in Washington to make it my job. That would be SO nice.

I spun up the Deep Sea Masquerade batts. I looove the yarn it made. I hope I can get good pictures of it...I also started to spin up silk I have ogled for months at Susan's shop. I'm spinning it SUPER laceweight (because it's silk, and I can!) and then I will navajo-ply it into a gorgeous, sheen-y yarn. I am super excited for it, but it will take hours of work.

I started to make the yarn for the other sock. I will probably work on it more tonight...I'm to the point where I need to card more hair, though, and I try to do that when Joel is not home. Anyway, the hair I'm using this time is still gross and dirty, but is muuuuch nicer to spin. One sock will be scratchy with a halo (the one that's done), and the other will be softer. How silly :) He will be glad to have them, regardless.

I also still need to finish that hat. It's not that far from done...but handstitching takes a long time. I still don't have a sewing machine. Don't even get me started. I'm really pissed about it.

I also got another fleece in from Etsy (I forget if I mentioned that before...). I've been taking pictures, and I'm waiting for the washing machine, so that I can finish washing it. It's super dirty (but it has low VM).

Anyway, that's all from me for now.

Pictures

So, here's the finished sock:
(Here's a shot with my hand, just for size perspective. He has size 12 feet, and it took 120 yards of heavy worsted weight yarn to make this sock!)


And here's the corespun yarn (made from the dyed wools pictured a couple posts earlier):





I am almost done spinning the purple batt into a cobweb laceweight (about 28 wpi!). It's gorgeous, and pictures are to come, of course.