Batts in the Belfry

This past spring, I had a great time collaborating with Sheila Bosworth of Journey Wheel.  They had a new 'Special Spindle' made of Macassar Ebony and needed batts to go along with it.  We worked out a color and went from there.


Luckily, I did not have to think very hard!  A few weeks earlier, I had visions of a new line of smooth batts for spinners.  Not layered like my spin me batts, but smooth with streaks of glistening bamboo.  The one I had just finished spinning was a golden amber color, so with a little tweeking to the recipe, the Jewelz Batts were born!  Jewelz batts are a 50/50 blend of merino and bamboo with an extra healthy dash of angelina added for good measure.


What do you think?

Amethyst

Azurite

Garnet

This is a photo from Sheila of the spindles with one of the first batts produced.  Really, Really, REALLY wish I had gotten one of these.  They are absolutely gorgeous spindles!!

Yes, I think I am back.  

Natural Dying #3

Yep, you guessed it, I am doing yet another natural dye on the blog.  I just can't help that the natural dye bug has sucked me in and in a big way!

Today I finished up my third go round with natural dyes using lichens I gathered from around my horse's paddock.  And here is how I did it......

I reused the mordant from Tuesday's go at carrot tops, by adding 10 more grams of alum and close to 250 grams of yarn.  The yarns used here are:  100 grams of heavy lace wool, approximately 75 grams of superwash merino and the rest was a superwash merino, bamboo blend.  This time about 1/2 way through the 2 hour mordant, I dropped in a couple of glugs of iron to the mordant.

Picture of the dry lichens I am using.  These were all collected from fallen branches.

Crammed my little nylon bag full to the brim with lichens.

Yarn moved from mordant to dye pot.  Lichens are under the yarn in the mesh bag which was periodically moved around.

And here is the resulting yarns!  From front to back, Lace Merino, Superwash Merino & Bamboo, & Superwash Merino.  I am in LOVE with how these colors turned out.

Another shot of the same.  Don't you just love the rich earthy browns!  I have to admit, I am supper impressed with how well the dye did on the Superwash Merino & Bamboo yarns.  Maybe next time, I will try an all bamboo yarn to see how it fairs.

I think I was suppose to keep the dye pot going until the lichens disappeared, but after 24 hours, I was happy to only have a couple of small handfuls of lichen left.  Saving these for another little dye experiment for a later date:)

All dye experiments to date.  From the bottom....  Lichen, Carrot Tops, & Black Bean.  Out of all the 3 the black beans were the only ones I found disappointing.  They have since started to fade which is faintly visible in the photos.

I have had quite a fun little time with the natural dyes, but this weekend is of course the big Labor Day Holiday.  Thinking it might be a good idea to lay off the dye pots for at least a few days:)

I hope everyone has a happy and safe week end!

2011 Tour de Fleece - Project #5

Like project #4, I think project #5 will be hanging out on my counter top for a little while so that as the abbominal snow man of Bugs Bunny fame says, I can pet it & hug it & squeeze it & call it George. I don't just like to tempt; I absolutely love when I am tempted by other indy artists' creations as well. Think this one came from Chimera on Etsy. Sorry to say it took me close to a year to spin it up! 100% Merino wool, 4 ounces & 300 yards.

Tour de Fleece Start

Started the Tour de Fleece this year with a bang literally!  Bill frowns on bringing a spinning wheel to the lake when we go so this year, I opted for a couple of spindles.

After giving the boat a quick clean and hitting the dock kitchen for a greasy burger & fries, it was time to hit the water to drift in wait for the big 4th of July fire works show put on at our end of the lake.  This year it was between Kennedy & Sunset Marinas.  

This is the first year that my allergies have really gone hay wire.  I think that since I have quit smoking over a year ago my nose is really affected by all the things that never bothered it before.  I'm not complaining though as I very much so enjoy being able to breath after going for a short walk;)

Our boat.  Click to 'biggify'.  The arrow points straight at us.

Spindling before the big show.

The pre-show.

The big show about to start.

After the show, get out of the way or prepared to be run over.  This is a wall of boats heading our way to go back down the lake to their perspective docks.

Singles

Dropped the fiber into the lake.  No way am I going in after it.

You too can be protected from the big storm...lol  Amazing what you see on the way to the lake!

Back at It

Took a little smidgen of a break over the Christmas break. It was a wonderful Holiday season with my Brother and Sister-in-law in from Japan. They are expecting a little boy in March and let me tell you..... We can barely contain my Mom. This will be her first Grandson and is she ever excite, elated and over flowing with joy..lol Of course we are all looking forward to welcoming our 'Little Bear' into the world:)

Mr Bill got me the one thing I have been wanting for a long, long time... An Ottlite! I love it, Love It, LOVE IT!

Outside of that, it's time to get back to the grind and share the fruit of my labor with fiber fanatics near and far. Here are two new 'Spin me Batts' , fresh off the drum carder and waiting for you at LunabudKnits.

-Kestrel-

A walk down memory lane and based on the colors of the American Kestrel.

-Mermaid Surprise -

Full of Fluffy Merino, Bamboo Goodness, Sparkling Firestar and a smidgen of Glitz!

Very Very ....

Busy week. And is that ever a good thing:)

Busy at the carder and busy at the dye pot, making for a Busy week. And, is that ever a good thing!

I'm very excited about the 'Spin Me Batts', a new batt collection in the shop. Spin Me Batts are a little step down from the Wacky Batty. Lovely Wool based batts with none to just a couple mix-ins. To top that off, they are all repeatable! Above is pictured the Iced Cranberries, Spin Me Batt.

Hanging from the chandelier are some very loved semi-solid Wool Lace and Silky Wool skeins. They are simply calling out to be knit up lickety split!

The Cinnamon Chai, Spin Me Batt ;)

New Fibers!

It has been a while since I posted about what is for sale at my Etsy shop: LunabudKnits. Come on by and give us a peek! And don't forget about signing up for my CONTEST! Free and fun for all ages!

Wensleydale combed top

Merino/Cashmere 80/20 combed top

Drum Carded Superwash Batts

Wacky Battys - A little bit of everything for everyone!

Hand dyed 25 micron lace weight wool yarn