Sunday, January 27, 2013

Rapunzel's yarn

Just finished spinning Rapunzel's first coat.  I got 185 yards of lace weight and 100 yards of closer to sport weight.  That's what happens when I spin it at different times, I get different thickness.




Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Tie-dye yarn



 Who doesn't love a little tie-dye?  Although this isn't really  tie-dyed yarn I was inspired to try to recreate the look using a couple different bowls in a larger pot.  This pot is only used for dyeing fiber so it's OK to use a combination of commercial dyes and food dyes.  The hot pink and blue are Country Classic dyes (haven't decided yet if these are as safe as Kool-Aid) and the yellow is Wilton's cake dye with a little bit of vinegar for a mordant.  I wished the colors didn't mix as much as they did but it took longer to heat up the smaller dishes so the blue kept bubbling up into the other colors.  That's OK though since I really liked the finished product.
  
 
This is where I start to get a little anxious.  I have a lovely hank of natural white yarn pre-soaked and I don't want to mess it up with less than desirable colors so I better think carefully before dyeing it.



But the fact of the matter is, if pink is involved I will LOVE it.



Indeed I DO love it.  The blue combined with the pink to make purple as well.   I always google color combinations to make sure I am using complimentary colors or colors that do not  inadvertently make brown.


Friday, January 18, 2013

finished

I really enjoyed working with this yarn.  The finished baby blanket ended up being 33 inches squared.  Quite fun:)

 
 
 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Bunny Tails

What a perfect name for this yarn and a perfect yarn for me to work with.  I have been eyeing this yarn at Michael's craft store for quite some time but I thought it was a bit pricey at $5 for 46 yards.  This past week it is on sale for $2  so I couldn't resist and bought enough to make a baby blanket.  6 skeins will make an ample blanket.


Loops and Threads Bunny Tail yarn.
 
 
A work in progress.  This pattern is very simple and only uses the knit stitch, it is knit on the diagonal.  The pattern is:
Cast on 2 stitches.
K1, K2 in next stitch.  Turn.
K1, K2 in next stitch.  K to end. Turn.
Continue on in this pattern until desired width.
K1, K2 together, K to end.  Repeat until 2 stitches remain.  Bind off.
 
 

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Roman's yarn

I save just about every bit of fiber that comes off of my angoras.  These three skeins are made from the combings and some mats off of  my chocolate tort buck, Big Times Roman. 

 
 

Roman before...

 



Roman after

 

The skein on the far right is one ply angora and one ply viscose made from bamboo.  This is a perfect natural color that needs no dyeing in my opinion.