My new Strauch drum carder has arrived!

My carder arrived from Strauch on Friday. I spent the rest of the day carding my Shetland and Llama fleece. On Saturday I blended them 50/50 which makes a very soft, durable yarn. I also had some roving that if I remember right is BFL which I had experimented with my new Lanaset dyes. I did one roving in warm colors, one roving in cool colors and then a third in various greens. I carded each of those rovings separately and got some beautiful blends. I have batts lying all over the family room that I took over for my fiber addiction!

Finished spinning roving from NW Michigan Fiberfest

I finished spinning and plying the roving I bought at the NW Michigan Wool and Fiber Fest last month. It turned out pretty cool, huh?

I got my stock dyes all mixed and the secondary colors. Then I realized I didn't order the Lanaset orange for some reason. I ordered the orange and the rest of the main colors I didn't get the first time. That order should be here tomorrow and I can finish mixing up all my colors.

My drumcarder is shipping from Strauch's tomorrow...yipppppppeeeeee! I can't wait to get my hands on my new drumcarder and get my fiber ready for dyeing and spinning. Let's have a dye party next week...I'll be ready!

Tired

I'm so tired right now but I noticed that I haven't posted for over a month. Where does the time go? Just because I'm working three jobs, reading 3 books and a magazine, knitting half a dozen projects AND trying to keep my house clean doesn't mean I don't have plenty of spare time - HA! and you thought you were busy? I guess we'll just turn our shirts inside out and wear them another day because I didn't get the laundry done...got to blog. Wear the darker ones they don't show the dirt.

I've ordered some Lanaset dyes that I can't wait to break into and start mixing up colors, but I'm reading Deb Menz's - Color in Spinning first and my latest issue of Spin Off before diving in head first. I've also been out in the yard picking up leaves, not raking, just collecting for my color inspirations. One of my first projects will be - you guessed it, autumn leaves.

Oh, and I've got my new drum carder ordered which should be here next week and I can hardly wait to get started with that. I've got boxes of fleece that will finally get carded up, dyed and spun, what a concept.

I'm going to sleep and dream about my fiber addiction and how much fun I'm going to have in the coming days, weeks, months, years...lifetime.

Sockpile

My sock pile is growing, so many socks and so little time!

I'm currently working on a pair of socks for my daughter. I told her that if she wants more, she'll need to learn to knit socks!

I have at least 3 other projects to finish at any given time. I don't want to have UFOs (Unfinished Objects) lying around my house.

Mordant and Dyeing Times

The natural dyes previously listed in the blog are all done with the following methods. All mordants were mixed in pot of water and brought to a simmer. The skeins of yarn were then added and allowed to simmer for one hour. Then the heat source was turned off and the yarn was allowed to soak overnight in the mordant solution.

The dyestuff was used at a 2:1 ratio, twice the amount of dye material to the wool weight (often referred to as WOG - weight of goods). This was brought to a simmer and allowed to continue simmering for 30 minutes. The dyestuff was strained off and the strained dyewater was poured back into the pot. The yarn was added and allowed to simmer for 30 minutes. After the yarn was removed it was spun to remove excess water then rinsed in clear water and spun again before hanging to dry. When I refer to spun, basically spin the hank of yarn around your wrist to sling out excess water.

The brazilwood and logwood were purchased from a supplier. All other materials were gathered locally, mostly from my property. The brazilwood chips were added to a pot of water and allowed to soak overnight before proceeding with the usual dyeing procedure. The logwood was an extract (purple) and was just mixed in a pot of water before using. No presoaking was necessary for the extract.

Brazilwood

Brazilwood bark extract was used.

Pre-mordants used were L-R: Alum, Tin, Copper, Iron

Dyed on Shetland white wool.

No assists were used.

First two samples show Alum pre-mordant with 15 minutes in dyebath and second was 30 minutes.

Goldenrod - leaves and stems

Goldenrod - leaves and stems were used.

Pre-mordants used L-R: Alum, Tin, Copper, None

Dyed on Shetland white wool.

No assists were used.