Photo shoot...

...for fiber.

Shetland,cashmere,silk,icicle for shimmer

Hand-dyed Shetland with a touch of icicle

Natural colors...Shetland/Alpaca

Shetland/Alpaca

Fine wool/Suri Alpaca/bamboo/Angelina

**all currently residing @ madeforewe.etsy.com **

Photos

I finally downloaded the little Canon. Here are a few of my favorite photos...

Cowbirds. They travel in fairly large groups.It's not uncommon to see 20 or more under the bird feeder at any given time. Within a group there may only be half a dozen females. There are proportionately more males in the groups than females...by almost 3:1. These are male Cowbirds.

One of the few iris blooms I got to enjoy this year. My very large puppy was "picking" them as soon as they opened.

The dachshund trio. Dexter....

Ratt...

And Harley....

Yarn, Squishy Yarn

An experiment using sari silk (which I really didn't care for). This is a bulky weight, slightly thick/thin Shetland/sari silk/icicle blend. 

Edited to add photos of the hand pulled roving.

Fibery Update

I've been without Internet for most of the week. Gasp! Can you imagine? No internet!! Whatever shall we do? At first I was a bit upset...until I realized that I really didn't miss it as much as I thought I would. Sure I missed checking my email and being able to post to my blog. What I didn't miss was all the time sucking diversions. You know what I mean. You go to watch a short YouTube video on one new technique and end up watching half a dozen more.....which are all on the same technique but done a touch differently. Or you go on Ravelry to look up a single pattern and before you know it an hour has passed.....and your queue is now 20 patterns longer.....and you still haven't located the pattern you were originally looking for. With no internet I spent my time playing with fiber.

These are the last of my dye colors. The two on the right are Jacquard acid dyes. The other four are Country Classic dyes. The Country Classic dyes are complete. Nothing needs to be added. As you can see, one dye broke (front on left). Two didn't exhaust all the way (green and red in back). All have been rinsed and dried. The two that didn't exhaust had fresh fiber put in and will be checked tomorrow. I'll also take pictures of the dyed fiber. Got some really pretty colors.

Other than dyeing fiber, I also played with my drum carder. Got some really pretty blends done. No pictures though. They are on the big Canon and I haven't had time to download them. Been too busy outside finishing up my gardens and getting my large pots planted.

Played on my sock machine for a bit. It's been quite some time since I played with it. Was a bit rusty. Not too rusty though. Made a pair of socks for myself...

And a pair for a friend who recently had shoulder surgery. She loved the socks and they fit beautifully. :)

I also spent some time enjoying my flock. They got to enjoy the temporary pasture for a couple of days. Things are starting to dry up. Won't be much pasture left in a few weeks...no matter how much I water.

More Fiber Fun

Another sunny day here. Rinsed Batch #2 yesterday. Two dyes broke (green, second up on left, has spots of yellow....and, violet, last in row on right, has spots of burgundy).....and six didn't exhaust completely. Happens with the darker colors sometimes....especially fuschia. 

Today's dye session will involve those dyes that didn't exhaust yesterday. I'm using a light gray Shetland/alpaca blend. It will be interesting to see the end results especially since a couple of the jars were light on dye.

For those who are curious I thought I would explain my dyeing method. It's actually very easy. My girls and I would spend days dyeing fiber like this when they were little. Anyway, I'm using large canning jars. Quart size. About half an ounce or so of fiber fits nicely in them. My dyes of choice are Jacquard Acid Dyes, but food coloring and Kool-aid (unsweetened) works just as well. I won't comment on any other types of dyes since I haven't worked with them. The first thing in the jar is vinegar. I put in about a 1/4" - 1/2". I'm not super precise. Next thing in the jar is dye. I have these little coffee stirrers from McDonald's that I use to measure out my dye powder. They look like tiny spoons with long handles.  Once the dye is in then I add water until the jars are filled to just under the neck of the jar. Fiber is then added. I don't pre-soak my fiber. I figure it will be sitting in the dye solution for hours. Plenty of time to get thoroughly wet. I have an ice tea spoon that I use to gently push the fiber into the jar. Finally the lids are screwed on and the jars set out in the sun. Easy peasy!

I will let the jars sit out for the afternoon. Sometimes even overnight. Just depends on how busy I am that day. It's funny hearing the lids "pop". Once the dye has exhausted, or the jars have sat in the sun for a few hours, it's time to take the fiber out. Rinse until the water runs clear. Lay out to dry. Enjoy!

Another sunny day.....

....perfect for dyeing fiber. I'm slowly making my way through my dye inventory. I must have at least 40 different colors...if not more. I've always wanted to go through my dyes and dye each color up. For one reason or another it never got done...until this year! This is batch #2 - mostly blues and greens. Not as vibrant looking as the first batch. Top photo is a front view.....bottom photo a back view.

Here are the results of batch #1. Everything got rinsed yesterday. Wish I would have been under cover then. We had stormy skies with quite a bit of wind. I usually prefer to lay everything out flat to dry. Was too windy for it. Had to roll it up instead so it wouldn't get blown all over the yard. It will stay out today to insure it's totally dry before being brought in. Love how it turned out. Only one dye broke (second on the left back row next to the yellow). I think that was periwinkle.

Got a Suri blanket and some Suri seconds blown out last night. They are now ready for washing. I have a couple more Suri blankets I hope to get blown out tonight...and hopefully the llama blanket from my guardian llama. That should keep me busy washing fiber for the next few days....as long as the weather holds.

For those of you that are curious, my hubby made me a set of screens a few years back. These screens allow me to sandwich my fiber between them. They are held together with clamps at the corners. An air compressor is used to blow out the fiber. It gets rid of at least 90% of the dust plus smaller pieces of vegetation while keeping the lock structure in tact, for the most part anyway. Sure cuts down on the number of rinses needed since most of the dust has already been removed.

Edited for better photos.

Fiber Fun

The days are longer, the temperatures warmer. This is the time of the year when all I think about is playing with fiber. The last couple of days have been stormy, but today the clouds gave way to sunshine....and I took advantage of it.  I love it when my fiber play is "green". 

Washed a bit of alpaca from one of my white Suri boys.....freshly shorn locks....

.....washed and dried outside.....

......finger fluffed and ready for blending with some lovely Shetland.