Flash Your Fiber Stash -- A Feast!

Here's my FIBER STASH--A veritable Fiber Feast! Looks yummy, doesn't it?

Let's see a little closer the things we have to feast on, shall we?






First Course:

Mixed dye Merino salads. Prepared for you by yours truly and Kathrows
(Note the silk hankie napkins!)

Second course:

Mohair soup, graciously provided by Bad Amy!

And pass the relishes:

White Bamboo, White Linen, Purple Corn Fiber

Now we're ready for the Main Course:

Corriedale and silk roving dyed in osage, indigo and madder surrounded by a bed of silk coccoons
(More in the next post)

FYFS 2 -- Second Course

How about some Mashed Potatoes?

Merino Top

And some Gravy? Silk Cap

Don't forget the Dressing:

Baby Alpaca!

FYFS 3 -- The Fiber Feast Continued

More side dishes:

Alpaca/llama/silk blend

Recycled soda bottles and denim

Alpaca/merino/silk

More hand-dyed merino

And to Drink:

My first homespun--Corriedale

For Bread:

Hand-dyed merino

For Dessert:

Merino and Pygora Pie

In the Candy Dish

A few Corriedale bonbons for needle felting

I hope you enjoyed the feast!

Clapotis!

I have finally officially finished a Clapotis. I feel less of a fraud in the Knitty Coffeeshop!

It took five skeins of Patons SWS -- 70% wool, 30% soy, natural plum colorway. I enjoyed working with the yarn--it's soft and cushy, with a really nice sheen from the soy. The colors are all me--purpley pinky goodness. I can't carry off a wrap like this though, so it's destined as a Christmas gift.

Clapotis is definitely a great pattern--so much opportunity for modifications and substitutions. I have the distinct feeling that this will not be my only clapotis.

More Rainbow Merino Handspun

Latest Spinning News: More Rainbow-dyed Merino! This is the second of seven skeins Kathrows (check out her brand-new blog here) and I dyed, oh a month and a half ago. So I'm moving a little slowly, so sue me. It's not like I'm getting paid, here. This one I spun a little finer, I figure it's worsted weight, two ply. I made the color a little random, too, so there's a lot of variation.
This came out a lot more even than the first one, but you can still see a bit of thick and thin action there. No one's gonna confuse it with a commercial yarn, that's for sure. But those colors are definitely not my favorites. Next up: bolder colors. Stay tuned.

Malabrigo Mittens

OOOOH, Malabrigo! I was right, it makes the warmest, softest mittens ever! Thanks to my super SP7 pal, Batty, my hands will be so warm this winter. And I just got a new black winter coat that will show off these beautiful green mittens. Knit at a tight gauge to ward off wind (and pilling), I started out with a two by two rib at the cuff and carried the ribbing up the back for a snug fit. I don't like floppy mittens. Nothing fancy--I let the yarn do all the talking. And I have enough leftovers to make a third mitten should I be so moronic as to lose one. It's happened before. Bring on Winter!

Today is a good day to spin

So I've been spinning and not posting. Bad Reluctant Blogger! Here's some stuff no-longer-hot off the bobbin.

PYGORA

Oh yeah, that's some good shit. Wish I'd bought about a pound of it. Double plied, about 10 wpi due to fuzzy, mohairy goodness. 2 ounces makes 125 yards, and I have another ounce to spin. I'm thinking maybe some fingerless mitts.

RAINBOW MERINO

The first of these skeins Kathrows and I dyed at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. I spun this to be one long progressive colorway by splitting the roving in half, spinning the singles in the same color progression, then plying them together. Of course they weren't the same length, so there's considerable mixing of colors, but that's all to the good. Wow, that's some pastel, hey?

MY FIRST YARN

So Abiknits posted her first skein. I take up the challenge! Here's my very first yarn. It's not in a skein because about two months ago I was going to start actually knitting it so I wound it up. As you can see, not so much action there. Luckily, the frightening fug is still visible in ball form. The ball on the left was my first bobbin. The ball on my right was my second and third, plied for "better consistency." Yeah, right. I am fond of its fugly self, though. I really do think the blue was the perfect calming color for a dope who bought a spinning wheel sight unseen and proceeded to teach herself out of books.

Today I have free to knit and spin, watch last season's LOST on dvd and do a little laundry. Sometimes life is good.