Well that was strange

On July 6, 2023July 3, 2023 By CarynIn Craft

To finish spun flax yarn, also known as linen yarn, author Stephanie Gaustad recommends simmering it for 30-45 minutes in a solution of soap and washing soda. I admit I have been avoiding this step for awhile. The treatment of plant fibers is very different than the handling of animal fibers, particularly those that felt easily. I admit apprehension. I finally did take the time to do the finishing step, and my yarn changed color. What?

My flax roving was from a questionable online purchase. Very little information was supplied, when I received it, it was confusingly labeled both “flax” and “nettle”, and I learned later that roving is an unusual preparation for flax, usually made of the combed discards from making the long staple length flax preparation (called a strick). Definitely a flax rookie purchase. Still, I was able to spin it after much trial and error, and ply it using my spinning wheel.

I started the finishing process and as it progressed the greenish yellow color of the yarn turned dark.

Out of the boil and rinsed in cool water, it is purple

After the full boil, my yarn was purple. What? Another rookie learning opportunity. Nettle can be used as a dye, and iron is used by dyers to modify dye colors. I used water from the tap to do my boil, which comes from our well, which definitely contains iron. Hm. I had yet another surprise coming, though.

After I rinsed and squeezed out the excess water, I hung the yarn up to dry. It turned orange. Really? Really.

There are many lessons learned here. Flax roving is a difficult thing to spin, but possible. Nettle can be used as a dye as well as a fiber source, and natural dyes are sensitive to mineral content in water. I can tell you that I won’t be spinning flax roving again, although I do want to try a traditional preparation. I have never been a fan of dye, and would rather work with natural colors. I like color, but I don’t like color change and color bleed. Dying is a fiddly chemical process.

The next step for this yarn is making sample swatches for my spinning book. All this lovely gained knowledge carefully documented and preserved so I don’t make the same choices again.

Peachy keychains

On June 21, 2023June 18, 2023 By CarynIn Craft

I recently created a PDF pattern for a local yarn shop. It is the owner’s pattern, but they needed it taken from written shorthand to a sharable PDF. It is a cute little peachy amigurumi, and in testing the pattern, I made up 6 little peaches.

The pattern is by Anniewhere at NerdCraft. I’m very excited about the wool yarn I used for the body of the peach, because it was locally spun and dyed by Texas Prairie Fiber Co. I love using locally produced supplies! The leaves I made from my own handspun yarn, that I spun from Blue Faced Leicester and silk blended roving dyed by Frabjous Fibers. This turned out to be quite the collaborative project.

I did make each one into a keychain by sewing on some chain and attaching a split ring. I used hand-spun alpaca scraps from a naturally brown alpaca (Aimee) to sew on the chain. So each peach has a little brown stem.

Woven hat band

On June 19, 2023June 16, 2023 By CarynIn Craft

For my Dad, I took an end section of my Inkle woven band (post from yesterday) and made it into an adjustable hat band.

I sewed where I wanted to put the end before cutting it, then sewed it over again to catch all the ends inside the seam. For the pin, I used a shanked button from my button stash. I believe this one is vintage, but sometimes my buttons get mixed. To make a button into a pin, I use a spiral wire with the end sharpened.

Back of button and handmade pin converter

I brushed out the fringe on the woven band and shaped it to mimic a feather. The weaving is doubled back so won’t unravel, and I think the spray of yarn adds a bit of flare to the band (although it will probably have to be combed out straight occasionally). To set the band size, the pin holds the ends of the band together.

Weaving handspun

On June 18, 2023June 15, 2023 By CarynIn Craft

After spinning all my merino wool roving, I used it to warp my inkle loom. This is my first time weaving with my own hand-spun yarn.

Inkle loom half warped with hand-spun yarn

I did learn to review instructions before starting, I thought I could warp the loom, then put on the heddles, but I forgot the warp path for non-heddled yarn is different. I had to go back and untie and retie many warp threads. Lesson learned.

Weaving started using recycled plastic strips

I used strips of plastic cut from an empty laundry container to start the weaving and keep it straight. This also saves some unwoven warp to keep as fringe in the finished weaving.

Weaving went slowly because I couldn’t progress while the kitten was awake. He wanted to help.

Another challenge was the halo on my wool. The little fibers that stray out of the spun yarn like to stick together, especially when passing other little fibers on other threads. Oy. I found if I went slower and took time to separate the warp threads when I changed the shed, things went smoother. The felted wads on heddle strings are a testament to how much wool likes to felt.

I gave the band a light felting, just by taking it back and forth from hot water to cold water. I then laid it out to dry.

Happy Father’s Day to all those that give stability and guidance. Tomorrow I’ll share what I made for my Dad.

Walking entertainment

On June 6, 2023June 3, 2023 By CarynIn Cats, Craft, dog

The Texas summer is ramping up, and I don’t like walking when it is hot outside. Luckily, I have a large kitchen counter with room to walk circuits in the house. To keep the kitten occupied, I tied a ribbon to a small clip and clipped it on the back of my shirt.

The drier air is also better for my spinning, since heat, moisture, and pressure are the factors that felt wool. Missy the dog also thinks spinning time is kick the ball time, and it is amusing to watch her figure out the timing to drop the ball in my path so I can kick it before walking past. So yes, I walk the house spinning with a drop spindle, kicking the ball for the dog, trailing a ribbon for the cats. I am walking entertainment, but I’m getting in those steps!

Critters and Craft

Tag: spinning