Showing posts with label dying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dying. Show all posts

Spinning my first art yarn!

I know, I promised pictures and I haven't posted any. I'll get around to it! I went back and re-dyed the roving, and dyed another as well. I've already started spinning them up.

One thing I've had a problem with is joining two pieces of roving. I noticed it really badly when I was drafting the dyed roving, and then again today when I was about to set the twist for what I'd spun thus far. About halfway through, the green bit just slid right off the red. I had to tie them back together really quickly so I could keep on winding the yarn off my spindle. It was incredibly frustrating. And it's not the first time it's happened!

Anyway, I forgot to relay the most exciting news of all.

My dad gave me the go-ahead to buy some wool off of Etsy! It was mailed out today, and I should be getting it sometime this week! Yay! I can't wait! Especially since I sweet-talked my mom into buying me some dye the other day, so now I can make beautimous colors!

Oh, and speaking of dye... Don't look at Sam Moon for a white silk scarf. They do not have it. I guarantee you. I searched that place for almost half an hour for any solid light-colored scarf made from a protein fiber. NOTHING. Once I got all excited because I saw a bunch of pashmina scarves. Then I noticed that the tag said something along the lines of

Pashmina feel (10% rayon 10% cotton 80% polyester)

Not cool, Sam Moon.

Not cool. At all.

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I'm officially a spinning addict.

A couple of nights ago, I was so desperate to spin something that I found a couple of new pill bottles, pulled out the cotton, and spun up a little ball of nubby crochet thread. Luckily, my mother realized that I was probably going to shave the cat if something wasn't done soon. This morning, she woke me up by tossing four little bags of JoAnn's felting wool on my head. I have to admit, I was surprised at her color choices -- "Moss Green" and "Red" -- but for all I care, she could have gotten Dirty-Diaper Brown. I'm gonna be spinning again soon!

Let's face it, though. Spinning red and moss green is going to look like a lame Christmas decoration, and that's definitely not the look I've got in mind. So... After everyone went to bed...

I dyed my first roving.

I took one package of the red and dyed it with a deep yellowish green, in hopes of darkening and mellowing out the bright red color. It's almost dried now, and I don't think it took as much of the color as I was hoping. I'll probably wind up re-dying it later in the same color.

My inspiration for this yarn is kind of a weird one. A while ago, I got some shampoo and conditioner and I absolutely fell in love with the way it smells. It's pomegranate green tea and it smells divine. Told you it was weird.

So! Pictures will be up later today hopefully. Much love!

Kirsten

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Awkward First Post

For my first post, I think it's appropriate to have an introduction. I'm Kirsten, and I stink at blogging. I update regularly for a while (if I'm lucky) and then I just abandon the things completely, only to come across them months later. Hopefully this one will be different, since it's actually about something specific, whereas the rest have just been a glorified diary.


So, then, what is the point of this? It's pretty simple. Lately I've been finding new hobbies and interests that catch my eye. With each one comes a new obsession, and they're all really freaking cool. Even better, most of them interact, so I won't lose interest in one when I discover another. How, you may ask, do you keep finding all these hobbies?

The answer is simple. I happen to be looking at something relevant to my interests, and a word or phrase or link pops out at me. Curious, I investigate further, and eventually it leads to the discovery of a whole new subject. You may know it as the Wikipedia Effect, but it doesn't always take place on Wikipedia. I happened to be browsing a handmade shopping site a few weeks ago, looking at what hand-knitted and -crocheted items were on sale to see whether I could make something to sell. As I was browsing, I came across a beautiful knitted top. It cost close to a hundred dollars, so I knew I couldn't order it. But it looked fairly simple. I'm not a knitter, but I could learn. And what was it that the top was made of? Tea-dyed muslin and slub yarn? What on earth was slub yarn? Simple enough to find out, thanks to trusty Google. A slub yarn is a yarn that is intentionally spun with the occasional thick, fluffy imperfection, rather than being spun the same thickness all the way through. I was curious. I hadn't ever heard of slubs before. Imperfection? I finally found a page that explained how the wool had to be drafted before it could be spun, and that the thinner the section of wool, the more twist it would take. The fat parts wouldn't spin very much, and that would create a slub yarn. Before I knew it, my interest in crocheting had turned to an interest in spinning.

And spinning led to dying the yarn and felting.

So now, dear reader, I profess myself to be cursed with arts-and-crafts ADD. That is the reason that I require a place to keep people updated on my current hobbies. And that is the reason, too, that this blog came into existence.

Till next time,
Kirsten

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