I recently de-stashed a large amount of spinning fiber. It wasn't bad stuff since I don't buy bad stuff. It was just "second string". You know what I mean. You look at your stash of fiber, yarn, whatever, and you reach for the "Really good stuff I want to use before I die you have to take it from my cold dead hands touch it and you will pay with your life" stuff. So the second string fiber just sits there. Unused, unloved and so very very sad. I gave it to someone who will use it well.
As a result, I have "space". Good thing too since fleegle opened an Etsy shop "The Gossamer Web" It started out simply enough. There was a yarn that was no longer being made and fleegle still wanted it and thought others might like some too. Well. I just had to have some since it is a cashmere, silk and merino cobweb weight yarn. I know that 20 skeins at 2,600 meters each might look a little excessive to some but to me it's like storing nuts for the winter. You know. Be the ant, not the grasshopper. Besides, I'm thinking of taking that natural dyeing class at A Verb For Keeping Warm. Anyway that's my story and I'm sticking to it. For those who don't want to dye their own, you might just mosey on over to The Gossamer Web and look at the beautiful hand dyed roving's, lace weight yarns and the fun "tools". I picked up cashmere roving in the Hydrangea colorway which you can see I'm spinning into a nice single. It's very short staple and I ended up spinning it like you might have to spin cotton. Cashmere does not have a lot of strength as a single so I plan to ply it with a silk single that I also got from fleegle's shop which you can see in the little plastic bag. I believe it's a 30/1 weight single and should give me the strength I need. The little box fleegle gets from Japan is perfect for my various tiny little stitch markers so I don't have to keep hunting through little containers to find what I want. It was great to go to a shop that had lots of what I need rather than having to hunt all over the internet and fleegle is even making me more of that cashmere roving since I want to make a large project from it. You can't ask for more than that :-)
I have been knitting on my "Surprise" project and I'm up to row 213 of a 314 row pattern. Since it's a square, it just feels like "forever" to go around once, but I think it will be worth it. In the mean time, I did pick up a new book on Estonian lace called, "Haapsalu sall " by Siiri Reimann and Aime Edasi. You can get it at the Apollo book site if you are really interested. I posted a few pictures of some of the shawls on Flicker but I'm sure if you google the title you will find others. The stitch key is in English though the rest of the book is not. If you have knit from the Nancy Bush book then you will already have the basic information you need to use this book. It's a "coffee table" over sized hardcover book with pictures of all the lace designs and charts for the patterns. There are no actual patterns for the lace stoles you see pictured in this book. It has the charts for the centers and the edging but this is a strictly "Make up your own stole" kind of a deal. I plan to use the cashmere I'm spinning now for one of these stoles once I finish "Surprise". Last but not least, I got 4 more spindles from Kevin Rhodes. These are great little spindles at a reasonable price and he is willing to make them to order for you.
6 comments:
Well, I do feel flattered! I gawked at your spun yarn and it took me a few minutes to realize that's my Hydrangea cashmere! I am so proud!
What is that lovely red-streaked wood on the top spindle? It's lovely. Wish you would tell us what they are made of so we can gallop off and get some of our own to match :)
That cashmere spins so pretty that I'm almost done with the 2 ounces I got. You know this means I need MORE which I'm sure you will get to as soon as you can Hint Hint. I love your Etsy shop and I have lust in my heart for those bags that can carry a cone of yarn. I custom ordered the spindles you see from Kevin because I got tired of trying to buy off his site. Other people kept beating me to them. The one with the red streak is Box Elder, the really dark one is Banksia Pod and the two lighter ones are Eucalyptus Bur and Oak Bur. They look very much alike so I don't know one from the other. His spindles lack sophistication or a polished finish but he uses nice wood and the prices are very reasonable.
nice gratutious knitting & spinning pron :o)
I will just sit and admire the spindles for the wood they are.... love the cashmere fluff from Fleegle and the colourway I saw that in the shop and thought Mmmmm and now she just has a not-me-at-all pink in... but I am going to try some especially as someone gave me a suggestion how to spin finer the other day.....
Dear LittleBerry,
I love good spinning and knitting pron myself :-) The cashmere was wonderful to spin and I've ordered more since 2 ounces is just not enough for a big project. This means she is going to dye more cashmere so perhaps you will see a color you really like. Look at some of the ones she has already sold on etsy and see if she can make some in a color you like. The cashmere is really short staple so I find myself spinning on a very small whorl and very fast. spinning over the fold works really well and if you can do long draw or supported long draw you can get pretty thin. Make sure you have enough twist though or it will drift apart when you go to ply!
Ugh! This is almost too much for me to take. I would so love to get some of the goods Fleegle has in her etsy store, but with so little time to knit it makes no sense. Nice to know that someone is diving right in. Enjoy!
Hi Jane, I'm just in awe. The yarn you spin is só thin, just amazing.
Love that hydrangea colour!
I've ordered one skein of fleegles best! I haven't used it, as I don't have a swift to wind it down with. But it will keep. And I won't dye it, I really like it's natural colour.
The book sounds great, make up your own, as you get inspiration from the pictures.
And.. can't wait to be 'Surprise'-ed.
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