Too Much Wool

yes, there is some fiber

I'm pretty sure I don't knit anymore. At least not for the time being.  I knit a cuff of a sock (i.e., 12 rows of 64 sts) on/at graduation, but never picked it up again. I've been insanely busy with some deadline quilting (July 6th is the deadline, wish me luck) and all the family stuff that's been going on.

Lack of knitting aside, I have been doing some handwork. Lots of it, in fact. There's the quilting, which I can't show you. Then there's been some applique, a sample for a class.

I was gratified to learn that I still know how to applique. It used to be one of my favorite things to do, and I did a lot of it. But unfortunately its the one type of handwork that I can't do extensively without pain. So I do it in moderation. I've done a few of these blocks (designed by my talented daughter) and had fun with them.

I've also been spinning. Its my treat to myself at night when I want and need to relax. I finished spinning all the singles out of 8 oz of Spinners Hill wool/silk blend that I bought at Maryland. Almost all of it is plyed - I have one more bobbin to fill (I think) and then I'll be done.

So far I think (I have to recount after I'm done with the plying) that I've got about 500 yards, and there should be another small skein yet. I was hoping to do the Fiddlesticks Lotus Blossom shawl (hmm.... just realized I've got a lotus theme going) with it, and I'm hoping that I'll have enough. Does anyone have any idea what the real yardage requirements are for that shawl? I bought a kit that came with 800 yards of yarn, but I know that's more than is needed. I didn't like the yarn so I decided to spin for it instead.

And I think that's it. Except I'll close with a picture of my mangled quilting fingers. Hand quilting does this, and it used to be a source of pride to me that I had incredible callouses on my left hand fingertips. (The callouses are good, btw. Without them it can be painful.) Having renewed the callouses, I'm quilting up a storm with no pain.

Except now my spinner's brain wonders what would happen if I tried to spin something fine like silk or guanaco with these fingers. I probably shouldn't try.

forward

(Bee is on the right, in the cap)

She was salutatorian with a 97.7 GPA, won the Art Department award for outstanding achievement (only one student per department got that award, and it was a surprise announced at graduation), and about eight or nine other awards including the top one for Spanish.

I think this means we survived high school.

somewhat soggy spin out

In spite of the weather, the Spin Out happened. A last minute indoor venue was found, and despite torrential rain (I swear my clogs filled up with water on the walk over) there was a great group in attendance.

Chris of Woolybuns has some great pictures, and Cara should be posting hers soon as well  - and you know when Cara pulls out that camera she means business.

This was one more time when .... I didn't pull out my camera. I suppose I should be embarassed but I was spinning for about two hours (or more) and that's what the Spin Out was for. Interestingly, I ran into people I really didn't expect to see - like Ann, the woman who was with the SCA booth at the Medieval festival at The Cloisters last fall, demonstrating weaving and other fiber arts. Someone I took my spinning class at the Yarn Tree with about three years ago, and lots of other people (Nancy was there with her adorable son, and Marie of Brooklyn Handspun was there too) - and I met some wonderful new people. Non-bloggers, even. A group came all the way from northern NJ to spin, which was great.

Needless to say, a huge thank you to Cara for doing all the work in organizing this. Pulling the permits although the outdoors didn't cooperate weather-wise, and of course all the money raised for Heifer (psst - there are still a few days left to donate and win a chance to .... win - you know, in case the good karma isn't enough incentive).

Given the weather, I didn't drag my Joy out, portable though it be. I couldn't even keep myself dry, nevermind a wheel. Even a wheel in a carry bag. So I spindle spun. A lot. Got home and plyed my work up - I'm quite happy with it.

Its the Polwarth I've been washing (and washing, and washing) for the last while. I combed it and it spun like (I hate saying this) .... butter. Really. It wanted to be laceweight, although I have no idea if I can replicate this on my wheel or not.

I've got bobbins tied up with the Spinner's Hill batt I've been working my way through, as well as some Icelandic lamb roving that I've disappointed myself in my spinning of. I'll have to ply it soon and see how much improvement there is - I had been hoping for a laceweight but either me or the wheel or the roving wasn't cooperating - probably a bit of all three.

The days of school being over are more or less upon us here. Graduation is Wednesday, and so there are teenagers (sometimes more than one, we're welcoming like that) underfoot a lot lately. I'll post when I can but this looks to be a very busy week.

The Spin Out has moved!

LOCATION CHANGE!

We will now be meeting at the

The EAST 54th STREET RECREATION CENTER
348 East 54th Street (between 1st & 2nd Avenues)
New York, NY 10022
212-754-5411

Travel Directions
Bus: M15 to 54th Street
Subway: 6 train to 51st Street or E and V trains to 53rd Street

(Copied shamelessly from Cara.)

random by necessity

Well, all of the comments (wow, there are lurkers galore, aren't there?) about spinning and interest in spinning yesterday gives me a perfect lead in.

But first, the ESK prize went to Annie B., who left the comment that tipped the total to the big number. Sorry for any misunderstandings about guessing what the number was - that really wasn't necessary (but as it turns out, one person did guess correctly).

So, tomorrow is the date for the Spin Out in Central Park that Cara has organized. Its a fantastic idea, bringing together spinners and people who want to learn to spin. She's paired it up with fundraising for Heifer International - a fabulous organization that gives livestock (sheep, bees, rabbits, goats - you name it) to people to help them create their own livelihood. If you donate you have a chance to win any number of great prizes, (including a spinning wheel!). This was the charity that my in-laws chose for donations after my father-in-law passed away, and I'd been fond of it for years before that.

I'm planning on going to the Spin Out, at least for a few hours, with extra spindles in case anyone wants to try it out. The pertinent info is that it will be held at Cherry Hill Fountain (72nd street and about the middle of the park), from 11am-5pm June 24th (tomorrow). [Revised to note - there is no raindate. Come tomorrow!]

News from here? Not so much. I finished washing the Polwarth fleece. It's now living happily in a giant bag, awaiting my woolcombs and some inspiration to play with said pointy objects. I'm playing with washing some of my Icelandic fleece - playing because I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about it, and testing out small batches to see exactly how I'm going to process it. I never said that the Icelandic fleece was going to be easy.

Speaking of processing, Marcia has a great post about dealing with washing and combing fleece. Its picture heavy but well worth waiting for - I've adopted her tulle-swaddled fleece washing ideas for the Icelandic wool I'm working with right now. It's also a great little intro to woolcombing, if you're interested in learning about that.

I think that's all for now. If you'll be there, I hope to see you at the Spin Out - it would be nice to give faces to some of the names in the comments.

the fleece thing

I'm swamped. I went from barely working, and from home at that, to suddenly teaching classes usually twice a week (at Purl Patchwork), doing handwork for pay for a friend who's trying to meet a deadline, and suddenly getting asked to do a lecture on Welsh quilts at a local quilt guild. When it rains it sure does pour.

None of this is bad. I love teaching, I still find it almost funny that people will pay me to talk about things that I love. But blogfodder? As I said the other day - not so much. In my free time (is time ever free, really? I wonder sometimes) I've been washing fleece. And spinning. And thinking.

Because there have been requests for fleece pictures, I'm going to have to oblige. The Polwarth I've been muttering about is almost done. [Note to self - must do something about fleece washing productivity. It's pathetic.]

Here's some of the washed Polwarth. Claudia congratulated me the other day on not felting it, but that really hasn't been a problem. Maybe its lack of a washing machine, but I've never (to my knowledge) come close to felting any fleece I've washed.

A question: I know that sometimes a lighter tip on a lock of fleece can indicate weakness. How pertinent is this? Is it only really a weak tip if it breaks when you pull on it, or is all intensive sun bleaching a bad sign? You can see that the locks on the right hand side of the picture are quite light, although it wasn't that way uniformly across the fleece I have. I haven't really tugged on the light ones to see if they break.

In postal news, I got another fleece. It's a Finn, my first, and I'm thrilled. When I opened the box I was like.... well, okay. Then later in the evening I got a chance to really open it up and take a look. Lovely crimp - not superfine, great color, and incredibly soft in the grease.

Honestly, I'm in love with it. There are parts of the fleece that are darker and coarser, but there's a huge amount of what you see above.

Which all leads me to what I've been thinking about this evening. The issue of fleece processing (which has been on my mind and in my sink a lot recently) and the economy of spinning. A few years ago (11/03) on the Spindlers email list someone using the tag "Alison in CT" posted in response to the question of whether it was possible to save money by spinning. [I really wish I had "Alison in CT"'s email address - I saved the text but didn't save her contact info. It still cracks me up almost three years later.]

She mentioned how wheels and spindles reproduce themselves, mysteriously, and how you can save some money by spinning your own yarn (theoretically) but when you get into buying rare and unusual fleeces, and all of the equipment (combs, drumcarder, etc.) that goes along with processing said fleeces - it adds up. A lot, to be honest. Which I've noticed, now that I've got a second wheel and am thinking about a drumcarder. And while the fleeces are accumulating at a rate that's almost .... magical?

Some of us are into the process - while we may not go so far as keeping sheep and shearing them, processing fleece and combing or carding at home comes pretty close to doing everything yourself. Economical? Maybe, maybe not. But the lushness of taking a raw fleece and turning it into the yarn it wants to become, all by yourself, is something that some people ..... become addicted to, in a way. I think on some levels its a matter of total control (or absolute power?), and in some ways its a way of getting back to basics.

And for a near-total non sequitur, I'm about to hit a Big Number in my comments. The person who hits that special number wins an emergency sock kit. (Empty, sorry - the 'fully loaded' version was a once-only prize for the MS bikeathon fundraiser.) Winner's choice of whatever is available right now.

spinning in the dark

Between the weather (ick, although miraculously we're still getting cooler night air - I'm thankful) and being really busy with work stuff, I haven't been doing much that's blogworthy. Do you really want to see the umpteenth batch of handwashed Polwarth fleece? If you really do, I'm sorry. I couldn't get a decent picture.

I'm working on the SOB shawl in fits and starts. Now that the rows are close to 300 sts each, every row is taking longer, and I don't always have the time I need to knit (or SSK, or K2tog, and purl, and yarnover, etc.) across an entire row. However, it hasn't been ripped yet. Which is saying something, all things considered.

I'm somewhere around the 2nd or 3rd charted row of Chart 5. Which is just like charts 4, 3, and 2. As I said, sometimes simple (or boring) is good.

Last night at about 11 o'clock, I was sitting on my deck (love the deck, its the reason we rented the apartment) and enjoying the cool air, the slight drizzle, and the newly planted herbs that Jon had worked on in the evening. Needless to say, it was quite dark. Except for the streetlights.... well, it was 11pm. You can imagine. I went and checked on the fleece that was out there drying all day, trying to decide by feel if it was ready to be brought in yet or not [my deck is partially roofed - a little drizzle won't touch the fleece].

I'm not really a technical spinner. I just enjoy the process of spinning - spindle, wheel, wool - whatever combination suits me just fine. I like the feel of the wool turning into something and the hypnotic spin of the whorl, that's all.

When I walked away with a lock of Polworth - dry, by the way - I sat and played with it for a minute. And realized that I could, by the ambient light of the streetlamps, see just enough of the lock to maybe make spinning possible. So, I ran inside and grabbed a spindle.

Okay, I realize that this is a little weird. I sat outside at very close to midnight in the very near pitch-dark and spun. Because..... well, I thought that I could. Not the best spinning I've done, but not horrible either.

On my lovely Forrester spindle, bought at Mass. S&W over Memorial Day weekend.

At any rate, the point of all of this, in a roundabout way, is about fiber prep. I've been hand-washing fleece in my kitchen sink, and waiting (sometimes for two days) for it to dry outside in the shade. And I often wonder what in the world I'm doing with the fleece, here in Brooklyn, and why I don't just send it all out to be processed.

My spinning-in-the-dark proved it to me. I know its not perfect, and its only about 2 yards or so, but the hand-washed Polworth is better than any processed fiber I've spun in the past few weeks - and I've spun or at least sampled quite a few, bought at various festivals this spring. It flowed through my hands, even without flicking or combing open the locks - the wool itself was the experience, pretty much unadulterated.

I spun straight from the locks, freshly washed. No combing, carding, or processing at all. And even so, it was better than some of the drumcarded stuff that I've bought. I know, not all ready to spin wools are processed equally. And not everyone has time or the patience to wash greasy fleece. But I love (loveloveLOVE) working with wool that I've started 'from scratch and seeing it turn into yarn. The experience just reinforced my determination to do things from A to Z, myself. And maybe get a drumcarder - because I'm realistic like that.

small, small world of sheep people

I think by now everyone knows that I'm into Icelandic wool. And for that matter, Iceland in general - but mostly the wool, really. The rest of it came by accident. Still, I'm a bit of a dilettante. I love Icelandic wool, I'm in love with the timelessness of the breed, and love to knit with the wool, but I don't know an incredible amount about it.

I was happy, when I visited Massachusetts for the S&W there to get to hang out with Marcy(, Blogless), who knows a lot more than I do and shares my love for Icelandic .... everything. But especially the wool. She and Cate helped me buy a gorgeous Icelandic fleece at the fleece sale, and also introduced me to Barb Webb at Jager Farm. Jager Farm, to my understanding, was the first to breed Icelandic sheep in the U.S. 

Barb had a book, one I had only seen once before (at Rhinebeck) but hadn't picked up. Rhinebeck and the big fiber festivals will do that to you; allow you to walk right past something you're intensely interested in. I didn't even buy the book right away when I saw it at MassSW - again, one of those things. But I asked Marcy about it and she said that I definitely needed to have it. It wasn't until Saturday night that I got a chance to really take a look at it.

[A note about the book, The Icelandic Fleece by Elizabeth Abbot - although I know that Barbara at Jager carries it, I couldn't find it on her website. Its also available from Frelsi Farm, another Icelandic sheep breeder. Scroll down to the last picture on the page.]

When I did finally get to take a good look at the book, I was thrilled. History, practical aspects of working with the wool, and lots of information about working with it for spinning. But the thing that really floored me was the section called "The Icelandic Sheep Come to Canada."

Now, the book had mentioned from the very first pages, thanks to Stefania Sveinbjarnardottír-Dignum for translating, as well as for other information. But the chapter about Icelandic sheep in Canada at Yeoman Farm (and North America in general) really opened my eyes. Because she was the first person to import the sheep to North America from Iceland, it was basically the history of the sheep here. All relatively recent.

However, the really interesting part is this: a while back, when I was harassing Alda of The Iceland Weather Report to ask her if she knew anything about spinning in Iceland (I think she got tired of my questions) she finally mentioned to me that her mom bred Icelandic sheep in Canada and that I should just ask her mom about it all. And yes, her mom is Stefania of Yeoman Farm, and the first person to import the sheep here from Iceland (the story is in the book).

Now, I kind of felt like Alda had been holding out on me - but on second thought I realized that maybe, knowing what we're like, she didn't want to get too enmeshed with the crazy wool people. She doesn't have a knitting blog at all (although she knits), and so there was no reason why it should have come up. However, now that I know that Alda comes from sheepbreeding royalty, as it were, I may take it upon myself to harass her about knitting more often. Although I wouldn't want it to take time away from her blog, which is one of my favorites and has nothing to do with wool.

So there it is, my teeny tiny world of the internet story. I'm sorry for the lack of pictures, but I highly recommend going and looking at the pictures of Jager Farm's sheep. Gorgeous sheep, farm, wool....... lots of inspiration.

the state of things here

1255 PM EDT SUN JUN 18 2006 ...AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM EDT THIS EVENING... AN AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM EDT THIS EVENING. THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION HAS ISSUED AN AIR QUALITY HEALTH ADVISORY FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... SUFFOLK...NASSAU...RICHMOND...KINGS...QUEENS...NEW YORK... BRONX...WESTCHESTER...ROCKLAND...ORANGE...PUTNAM. AIR QUALITY LEVELS IN OUTDOOR AIR ARE PREDICTED TO BE GREATER THAN AN AIR QUALITY INDEX VALUE OF 100. THE AIR QUALITY INDEX... OR AQI...WAS CREATED AS AN EASY WAY TO CORRELATE LEVELS OF DIFFERENT POLLUTANTS TO ONE SCALE. THE HIGHER THE AQI VALUE...THE GREATER THE HEALTH CONCERN. ...... A TOLL FREE AIR QUALITY HOTLINE HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED SO NEW YORK RESIDENTS CAN STAY INFORMED ON THE AIR QUALITY SITUATION. THE TOLL FREE NUMBER IS: 1 800 5 3 5 1 3 4 5.

And so it goes. Summer is here. So is fleece-washing weather. I wonder if fleece washing is something I should consider "strenuous activity" and as such to be avoided?

Did I ever mention I don't like hot weather?

the inspiration factor

I started spinning because of Spin Off magazine. I'd been knitting seriously for a few years, and while browsing through magazines I found some knitting pattern I liked in an issue of Spin Off. Buying the magazine and reading the articles about spinning fascinated me. Although I do admit I thought the idea of spinning your own yarn was both fascinating and a little bit insane.

On a trip to the Vermont Quilt Festival with a friend in 2003 (which is almost exactly three years ago, come to think of it) we stopped at a fiber shop and I bought my first spindle. It was a top whorl Louet spindle, pretty run-of-the-mill. The shop owner gave me a quick lesson, I bought a book, and then didn't do anything for a few weeks. Then I signed up for a spindling class at The Yarn Tree. The class was comprehensive - spinning, plying - we tried out many different fibers - Kool Aid dyeing, using handcards, drumcarder, combs and hackles. In the last session we got to dye some of our handspun with Earthhues dye extracts. I was totally hooked.

I had to go to the Yarn Tree yesterday (trust me, this is not a chore - I love going there but have to pace my visits because ..... well, otherwise I buy too much). I had ordered extra bobbins and high speed whorls for my new wheel, and they'd arrived.

I spent a bit of time talking to Linda (the owner), taking her away from setting up for a class. Reminiscing about just starting out, and where I am now. Remembering when I used to buy 1 oz bags of fiber, and how I'm now a fleecehead (I think we need this word in the lexicon - there are lots of us). How I dithered and wanted to buy a wheel immediately after trying one (first wheel I ever spun on was Linda's Schacht), but couldn't seem to justify spending the money. Now I've bought two wheels, have bags of fleece everywhere, and a spindle collection that mysteriously multiplies every time I turn around.

I told her, several times, that she'd ruined my life. And we laughed about it but in truth, she changed my life, and very much for the better. Her love for fiber - spinning, dyeing and weaving - is absolutely infectious. She showed me the possibilities in a bag of stinky, unwashed wool, didn't make it seem like natural dyeing or processing your own fiber were huge endeavors, and generally imparted a sense of wonder to everything fiber-related. She hasn't changed in the past three years, and visiting with her was a huge pick-up at the end of a long day.

I guess basically what I'm trying to say is that the love, the passion, and the enthusiasm generated by some people (for anything really, but I'm thinking of wool) is what teaches other people. Its the thing that makes them take the leap from zero to sixty (or more) in a very short period of time. And I love that sense of enthusiasm in a person - there's nothing that compares for inspiration.

So, there was a some inspiration for sale at the shop - of course. Tons of different types of fiber - NYC may only have one shop that really caters to spinners but I'm not sure we could ever need more than that. I bought some 100% yak, some merino/yak (we likes the yaks), and some..... dare I say it?- just a teeny bit of.... guanaco. Also a bag of the prettiest hand-dyed merino/silk blend. I'm not much for variegated roving but this one grabbed me and dragged my wallet out.

The colorway is called "Black Iris" and (newsflash) - I bought purple roving. It's that beautiful. Its hand dyed by Lori Lawson of Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio. I got 2 oz, but only because that's all there was. Its delicious.

However, I think the best thing to come into my life yesterday, and very high on the inspiration scale, was some handspun yarn. Not just "some" handspun - THE handspun yarn. If you've been reading Stephanie's blog for a while you may remember this post. Go and look at the pretty yarn.

That Laurie spun some sock yarn for me. Words are failing, so instead you get a picture.

If that doesn't do it for you, try this one with a quarter for scale:

The first time I saw Laurie's spinning, she whipped out a skein of handspun cashmere in a restaurant in New Hampshire. I almost lost it right then and there - my first thought was that I had an awful lot to learn about spinning. This sock yarn upped the ante considerably. Hand dyed, handspun. Look at the plying. Just look at it.

Inspiration. Big time.