Henry's Attic!

I can't even BEGIN to put all this stuff into a photo!

Henry's Attic is a major source of undyed fibers. Silks, wools, cottons, linens, mohair, rayons, alpacas, angora, blends... I got a big, giant box full of natural-colored fiber samples and I'm still agog over it all. It will be really difficult to narrow down the selection for my first order.

Suggestions???

More fun with Bamboo!

I figured that it would be good to spin up a hank of the bamboo and see what I got. This is the result. It's yummy.

The first time I tried bamboo, when I was just a beginning spinner, it was really frustrating. It seemed like it wouldn't draft at all, or else like the yarn fell apart before I could get it on the bobbin. With a little more experience, and drafting from the fold, it really went very well this time. Now I have to figure out how much I've got and decide on a project! I wonder how pure bamboo is for sox...

Scarfage...

I wanted to see how the skein of thick'n'thin yarn from my previous post would work up, so I started a scarf on the diagonal--it's almost done. I like it! I think I'm going to dye some more of the same yarn in the amber and use it for fringes. Funky!

Oh, dear...

It's been a long time since I reported in, and I really don't have that much to report.

I'm not going to Wisconsin Sheep and Wool; they don't have space.

I am probably going to Midwest Fiber and Folk, unless their plans fall through, but they can't make any promises yet.

I need to look around for a local fall festival.

I have much dye and fiber in transit to me.

I am working on one custom order and have another lined up.

I am knitting that wild colored yarn from last time into a scarf, and will post a photo of that.

I have spun a hank of my purple bamboo, and need to go to ravelry to find a pattern for it.

I have a garden sale on Saturday to prepare for; I need to be very busy potting things up.

I'm sorry I haven't been more faithful; please don't give up on me!

Something New!

OK, I'm back on the horse!

The friend who got me dyeing used either Cushings acid dyes, which come in little packets and need the addition of vinegar, or Gaywool dyes, which come in jars and have citric acid and so forth put right in. (So forth may mean salt as a leveling agent, or else not.) The Gaywool instructions say that "One capful" will dye 1/4 lb; "one capful" turns out to be 2.5 tsp.

Gaywool dyes are hard to get in usefully large quantities, besides, there's something very stupid about importing a jar full of mostly citric acid from Australia. Cushings dyes are lovely, but I don't want to mess with little paper packets.

Jaquard Acid Dyes are available in one-pound bottles of pure dye powder. One pound dyes a lot of wool (1/2 oz. dyes two pounds). But, something this concentrated is difficult to measure accurately. Some people pre-mix them with a set amount of water, but sometimes the mixtures act up when they stand, they gel or separate.

Ta-dah! I have come up with a new answer! Turn the Jaquard powder into Gaywool; mix it with an appropriate amount of powdered citric acid; 1/2 oz mixes with 2 tablespoons. I tried it. It works. I'm going to be doing it this way going forward.

Behold thickl'n'thin yarn New Direction, the first Jaquard experiment!

Wrong again...

There is one more task before I get serious about dyeing again; my inventory has lagged shamefully and I have to bring it up to date.

Maybe I'll get #1 Son to give me a hand with that...

The dust has settled

It's been a good week for me. I only tackled two fiber tasks: I brought my books up to date, and I washed fleeces. Both went well.

I've recorded all sales and expenses to date and backed up my books. I also washed the gray Shetland (very soft and beautiful; I'm happy with it), the black and white Colonial (The dirtiest fleece I've ever handled, but came out quite nice), and half of the black CVM (coming out lovely!). I have yet to do the other half of the CVM (it was nine pounds so I'm doing it in quarters) and the first-year white alpaca, which I'm saving for last. I'm not at all sure whether the sparkling white cormo, which I got as a luxury for ME!

I still have a little BFL and a lot of yarn to dye, and on Monday I am going to order more bamboo, and Panda if they have any.

I'm also going to order more silk blends. The biggest surprise for me is that the very softly spun silk/merino, which was far and away the most luxurious thing I had, sold very well indeed! I guess craft supplies count as a small luxury compared to many other things.

If you have any suggestions for anything you'd like to see, please comment or drop me a note at mia underscore mcdavid at comcast dot net. Cheers!