Fiber Fool

I found it very beneficial to go through the list for the knitting meme yesterday and see what I have done, what I haven’t done and what I had maybe forgotten that I wanted to try. A lot of my knitting is focused on socks so it makes sense that my spinning is focused on getting to my preferred sock knitting weight, but there are so many other areas of spinning to explore. I decided a meme on spinning would be beneficial to look at as well.

The directions are the same as those book memes and the more recent knitting one. Bold those things you have done, italicize those you wish to do, and leave plain the ones that are of no interest to you.

FIBERS SPUN

Fine Wools (i.e. Merino, Cormo, Rambouillet, Polwarth, CVM, etc)
Longwool & Crossbreed Wools (i.e. BFL, Cotswold, Lincoln, Romney, Coopworth, Teeswater, etc.)
Down-type Wool (i.e. Black Welsh Mountain, Dorset, Cheviot, Shetland, etc.)
Double Coated Wool (i.e. Icelandic, Navajo-Churro, Karakul, etc.)
Mohair
Cashmere
Angora
Alpaca
Llama
Camel
Vicuna
Bison/Buffalo
Yak
Quiviut
Dog
Cat
Silk Caps/Bells/Hankies
Silk Sliver
Linen
Hemp
Cotton (prepared)
Cotton from the Boll
Engineered Fibers (Rayon, Bamboo, Soysilk, Ingeo, Ecopoly, etc.)
Recycled Fibers (Sari Silk, Jeans, Garnetted, etc.)
Holographic Fibers (Angelina, etc.)
Commercially Combed Top
Commercially Carded Roving
Hand Combed Top
Hand Carded Rollags
Hand Drum Carded Batts

FIBER TOOLS USED

Flicker
Hand Cards
Mini-Combs
English Combs
Hackle
Diz
Distaff
Drum Carder
Nostepinne
Niddy Noddy
Yarn Meter
Skeiner
WPI Tool
McMorran Balance
Top Whorl Spindle
Mid-Whorl Spindle
Bottom Whorl Spindle (includes Turkish)
Supported Spindle (Navajo, Tahkli, etc.)
Castle Wheel
Saxony Wheel
Great Wheel
Portable Wheel (Little Gem, Joy, Lendrum, Hitchiker, etc.)
Electric Spinner
Charka
Tensioned Lazy Kate

SPINNING TECHNIQUES & YARN TYPES SPUN

Worsted Spun
Woolen Spun
Long Draw
Short-Forward Draw
Double Drafting
Singles
Energized Singles
Andean Plied 2-Ply (Wheel or Spindle?)
Center-Pull Ball 2-Ply (Wheel or Spindle?)
2-Ply from Bobbins/Cops
3-Ply from Bobbins/Cops
Navajo Ply 3-Ply (Chained Singles)
4+ Ply from Bobbins/Cops
Bulky/Super Bulky Weight
Worsted Weight
DK Weight
Sport Weight
Fingering Weight
Lace Weight
Cabled Yarns
Fulled Yarns
Slub Yarn
Marled Yarn (Barber-Poled Colors)
Seed Yarn (1 Thick and Soft Ply, 1 Firm and Thin)
Wrapped Spiral Yarn
Flame Yarn (Like Seed Yarn, but with Slubs)
Turkish Knot Yarn
Boucle Yarn
Beaded Yarn
Coiled Yarn
Encased Yarn (Fabric, Flower, Feather, etc. Captured Between Plies)

OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES

Buy a Fleece
Wash a Fleece
Blend Fiber Types (Combed or Carded)
Blend Colors (Combed or Carded)
Dye Handspun Yarn
Dye Prepared Roving/Top
Dye Locks
Solar-Dye Fiber
Kool-Aid/Food Coloring Dye Fiber
Natural Dye Fiber
Commercial Dye Fiber (Gaywool, Jacquard, etc.)
Attend a Wool Festival
Take a Spinning Class
Take a Dyeing Class
Spin in Public
Teach Children to Spin
Teach Adults to Spin
Knit with Your Handspun
Crochet with Your Handspun
Weave with Your Handspun
Design a Project to Match Your Handspun
Design a Project from Fiber to FO
Spin Yarn to Match a Commercial Pattern
Make Socks from Handspun
Make a Scarf from Handspun
Make a Felted Project from Handspun
Make a Large Project from Handspun (Shawl, Adult Sweater, etc. >1000 yds)
Keep a Spinning Journal
Use A Reference Card to Aid Consistency
Spin Yarn for Pay
Dye Fiber for Pay
Write a Book on Spinning
Write an Article on Spinning
Make DIY Spinning Tools (PVC Niddy Noddy, Lazy Kate, CD Spindle, Hackle, Wrist Distaff, etc.)

Again, not shabby since I’m just shy of owning my wheel for two years. I think the biggest area of exploration open to me is exploring other fiber types. Because I did take a class I was exposed to a fair number of wools and natural plant fibers as well as equipment that I don’t own myself. I could really use exploring the more exotic fibers though, though cost has been part of the reason I haven’t explored them. I do have a few blends in the stash that contain some of them though. I’m also really anxious to do some blending - fiber types as well as colors.

How about you? What have you done? What are you anxious to try?

Seeing as how I don’t have anything of much excitement to blog about at the moment it seems a good time to do the knitting meme that Margene posted…

Bold the things you’ve done, italicize those you wish to do and leave the ones you are uninterested in.

Afghan (binding off and weaving in all ends on my mom’s doesn’t count, does it? LOL!)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn (I even have the yarn)
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater (does a tank top count?)
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone elses handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living (it isn’t enough, but I suspect it counts)
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art (because Beth said so)
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen (again, I have the yarn)
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Wow, not too shabby for someone who has only been a serious knitter for a few years!

Also, check out the Sock Madness winner! The final pattern was one of my design. I was rushed so didn’t get to fine tune it as much as I would like so I’ll be updating that a bit and then releasing it here on the site. It did seem that it looked much better in lighter colors than my original dark color…

Also, check out the May 15 edition of Yarnival!

Speaking of Yarnival, I’ve had some questions about whether I am going for a theme. I don’t think there will be a strict theme, but I would love to see fun and creative posts about fiber festivals. It is that time of year. We just had Maryland and New Hampshire as well as a few other smaller ones I believe and Estes Park will be just days after the June issue of Yarnival. So, please submit URLs to fun wool festival posts. Tutorials in knitting, spinning, and crochet are all very much welcomed too!

(Carole and Scout, that photo’s for you guys!)

Well, we got SIL3 all graduated with her MFA this weekend. On Thursday evening after dinner with FIL and MIL, DH and SIL3 headed over to the martini bar and my current sock in progress came along. In fact, that sock was never far away this weekend as I was rushing to complete number one so it could be test knit. The pattern will be a part of the August sock club mailing from Yarn 4 Socks (my Balance socks were the April mailing) and they are inspired by my first sock pattern, Spearfish.

The yarn is Fleece Artist’s Sea Wool which contains some of the newer seacell fiber which has anti-bacterial properties to it. It is a a very soft and silky feeling yarn. It is a tad splitty, but not to the point of annoyance by any means. I haven’t washed sock number one yet as I figured I’d do both at the same time. I am anxious to see how it holds up to a washing. The steaming process worked well and caused a touch of blooming. The color of this yarn is Moss, but is not the colorway that will be shipped out in the club mailing. There are still openings in the club so go check it out! They also have a selection of the semi-solid colors of FA Sea Wool in stock if you can’t wait until August :-)

Because I was knitting like a mad woman all weekend I made use of the new messenger bag and wore it diagonally and pulled the yarn out the side and knit while waiting to be seated at restaurants, while at the chiropractor etc. etc. DH was highly impressed with my ability to knit and walk at the same time and insisted on taking a picture, LOL!

So, Sunday was not all about cupcakes and magic bars. We were actually gathering because we had so much fun at Amanda’s baby shower this fall stenciling the onesies that we had decided we needed to do it again for ourselves come spring. Scheduling ended up being a bit problematic because I was sick on the original date. But Amanda, Hannah and Linsey were able to make it and there is talk of another gathering at a later date for some more stenciling fun.

Linsey went to some work to hook everyone up with a wholesale source for shirts and bags. There were no shirts in women’s plus sizes available so I got my shirts elsewhere, but I took advantage of the bags because one can never have too many bags, right? Especially when they are well under $10 each! :-) Hannah painted two shirts (no pictures as she took them home right away), Amanda painted three, and Linsey painted two onesies, a bag, and a tank top.

I, on the other hand went a little crazy. I had some stencils prepped and ready and had images ready for those that weren’t yet traced. And, since we gathered at my house I kept at it into the evening and even did another project on Monday. I turned out three tops (two tees and a tank, shown at the top of the post), and four bags. There were a few things I learned in the process as well…

The cupcake bag was a two-stencil process. Overall I’m quite happy with it, but it was prone to some bleeding of the black because the freezer paper did not adhere well to the already painted surface. I also found the bags in general to be a bit difficult to get a good adhesion to. The messenger bag was especially tough because the flap was multi-layered, but with the style of the bag having the frayed edges the slightly worn looking stripes turned out okay. In fact, the messenger bag is my favorite. It is a good thing too as it took a large chunk of my Monday to do. There was the layout on the computer and the designing of the icons I used to balance the monograms and then the painting was tedious because of how closely I spaced the stripes. But it was all worth it if you ask me!

I think my favorite part was seeing the image selection everyone made. Most of my imagery came from a sketchbook that I scanned in and then adapted to suit stenciling (little or no completely enclosed areas). I did use some clip-art for the tank top, but I even altered that and added in a bird from my sketchbook. The spindle and the metallic flower were made from photos I took. Amanda chose her imagery from some of my clip art books, Hannah recreated an old worn-out t-shirt and used a clip art image. Linsey took her inspiration from traditional stencils. It was a blast seeing everything come together and to discuss color options and such.

On Sunday afternoon a few of the gals from SnB came over for a crafternoon (I shamelessly stole the word from our friend Robin). It is of course completely impossible for me to have people over without baking something to share with them :-) This gathering was postponed by a couple of weeks due to my sinus issues, but I had kind of told myself it was a birthday party so I decided to make cupcakes. I had gotten some fun spring sprinkles around Easter that I was itching to use.

The cupcakes are a basic white cake, made from a mix with some changes and additions to the ingredients and instructions. It was a “secret” recipe of a woman in our church who made cakes and cupcakes for nearly everyone’s confirmation and graduation and any other special ocassion. But in 1994 she put the recipe in the church cookbook they published to celebrate the 125th anniversary. The directions are a bit vague and I’m not sure it is quite a perfect match, but seeing as I haven’t had one of her cakes since about 1994 it appeases my tastebuds. The original recipe calls for two boxes of mix which yields 66 cup cakes. But, now that you can buy egg whites in a carton the recipe can easily be halved! Yeah!

I also used her basic shortening frosting that has just a touch of butter so it holds up to being out at room temperture much longer than a buttercream. I tinted it yellow since the past week we had pretty gray skies and measurable rain on a fairly regular basis (a rarity around here for such a stretch). I thought perhaps we could use the sunshine color since we couldn’t do our crafting outdoors as originally planned. Drew did a lot of the icing as after just a few my hands gave up on squeezing the pastry bag.

Everyone contributed food as well. Hannah brought yummy magic bars, Amanda brought a jalapeno pesto and crackers, and Linsey brought fresh strawberries.