Sunday, April 13, 2008

Proto Yarn (Fiber Sins)












I know this is not lace, but I swear to you it will be in the future! The moment I tried to cut back on buying yarn, my fiber purchases went ballistic! Consider this display my on-line confessional :-) Top of the list, A lovely 50/50 baby camel and tussah silk from
Anzula that I purchased at Yarn Place (colorway-Autumn). I'm in the process of plying it. It's only 4 ounces so maybe some kind of scarf or small shawlette. It's not as orange as the fiber suggests but darker than what is on that bobbin. The next three pictures are of some of my sisters Spindles since there was a request to see some of them. She keeps them standing up in a wooden container like some exotic wooden flower arrangement. She really likes to use them to spin. I'd much rather use a wheel :-) The next two pictures are of Black Bunny Fibers that I had to get because I've never tried spinning either of these. The teal is Finn Roving which is very soft and the blue is Falkland which is a little less soft but still really nice in the hands. I'm going to give in and join her fiber club if I get the chance. It will save me from having to haunt her site for updates! The two little bundles of blue fiber are a purchase I made at article pract. They have started carrying fiber from "a verb for keeping warm". These are polworth in their "Garden Series" colorway. Polworth you say? Did I not have a bad time with Polworth before? The spinning of it was lovely, the knitting, not so much. Still, I want to give it another try. Who knew I could be so Masochistic about spinning? And lastly, I had to have this small coil of Cashmere/Silk from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks that I purchased at Purlescence. It's only 2 ounces but I also purchased a 2 ounce hank of silk dyed in the same colorway to use to ply. I'm going to save this fiber to spin when I have been a very very good girl. Now that you know how bad I've been, I feel a lot better! I guess confession really is good for the soul :-) For those of you who live in the Bay Area, there is a small fiber festival that is scheduled for the end of this month "Color: a Fiber Festival" on Saturday, April 26th. There will be classes in spinning, knitting, fiber "tasting" of different types of fiber and vendors as well. I have a feeling my sister and I will be going there with big bags to carry stuff home in.
I am sorry to say I have not done much knitting in the last week because life sometimes cuts into my knitting time (who knew?) but I have actually started back to knitting the Shetland Tea Shawl which had been in hibernation for ages and I have finished the last flower in the center of the International Shawl (Yippee!) Once I get a chance I will post a few pictures of progress on these.
Last, but not least, you might like to have a listen at a podcast called "Yknit" It's nice to hear a podcast by male knitters (WonderMike & Stephen hizKNITS) and they are a nice addition to my listening line-up that includes David Reidy of "Sticks and String" and Guido of "It's A Purl Man" It's really fun to listen while you spin or knit. Hope you all had a great weekend :-)

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oooh, pretty fiber! I'll be at Color in a few weeks, and I'll probably leave with a big bag o' stuff, too. Hope to see you there!

Laritza said...

Lovely collection of color. For some reason my favorite podcasts are the guy ones.

Opal said...

Gorgeous fibers! I love it when you share your goodies! I took prefer the wheel over the spindle, but I do love looking at them and they make a gorgeous display. :)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! beautiful! Thanks for the wonderful show and tell, it's kind of like having a wonderful dessert and I don't have to brush my teeth or worry about the calories :)You deserve all of it!! Terry

LittleBerry said...

Fibre is better for insulation than yarn ;o)

Lovely haul... the camel/silk is spinning up lovely and nice colour too...

I'm going to go and have a nosey at Blackbunny fibres.. I have to make an effort to buy different types of fibre to spin, I must buy more fibre, I must buy more fibre ;o) all in the name of science you understand

fleegle said...

Yarn diets, like food diets, usually result in binges. No point :)

I love the orange roving on top, but the rest of them are beautiful too. And I am sure you will turn it all into magnificent knitting!

missalicefaye said...

oh, sigh. everything is so lovely! I'm just going to stare at these photos for a while... :)

Barbara said...

I think I have at least one of those tussah cashmere Chasing rainbows roving in the same colorway - it's almost impossible to resist. I acquired two merino tussah in the ame colorway.

i am spinning the tussah cashmere right now - fine fine fine - I had to take the scotch tension completely off my Gem to be able tos pin it as fine as it wants to be.

Have fun with it - it's heaven

Lacefreak said...

Dear Ryn,

The fiber festival looks like lots of fun. It's not like I lack for fiber, but I hope I will also see you there :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear Laritiza,

I also like the podcats by women but the perspective of the men is a little different and I guess it's just interesting to me since I know so few male knitters!

Lacefreak said...

Dear Opal,

I love how spindles look but they just don't like me LOL. I do a much better job on the wheel. Glad you enjoy looking at the fiber even though they aren't lace yet :-) I love looking at fiber on your blog as well but I know not everyone spins so I try not to do it too often.

Lacefreak said...

Dear Terry,

I might not need to brush, but I might have to floss with all this fiber LOL. Glad you enjoy looking at the fibers. Deserve it or not, I plan to spin and knit it all :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear littleberry,

I will be sure to tell my sister that the fiber will be a way to keep warm :-) Though I like to spin different types of fiber, I'm always concerned how it will end up when I have to go knit with it. Still, it makes me have to be a little mre creative with my knitting so it's all to the good! Happy to interest you in the Black Bunny Fiber. It's really lovely to spin with and she does a great job of dying her fibers.

Lacefreak said...

Dear fleegle,

I should know better than to try to restrict myself. In future, I will just try to visualize my mountain of a stash. Maybe that will make me think twice. I also love that baby camel/silk in the "Autum" color. Gotta find a nice pattern to knit!

Lacefreak said...

Dear missalicefay,

Happy to provide fiber eye-candy. Since you are also spinning these days I know it takes on a whole new dimension to see fiber posting :-)

Lacefreak said...

Dear Barbara,

I look forward to spinning with that fiber myself. It's so soft and pretty. I use a Schacht wheel for that type of fine spinning and it's a double drive band. I end up making it so loose that there is almost no take-up at all except when I pump the wheel faster and the friction of the wheel on the loose driveband takes-up the spun fibers so I totally get what you mean. I bet your singles look really great. Do you have any thoughts on what you might knit with it?