Using handcards to make hand-pulled top

First I started out with bits of fiber from a swap- white mohair/wool mix, gray/white mill end, and a bit of dyed corriedale from another adventure.


I threw it all into my crockpot to dye with food coloring. I used 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid crystals dissolved in 4 cups of water. I poured 1 cup of the mixture into a measuring cup and added 30 drops of purple, 20 drops of red, and 10 drops of green (mixed up quite brown.)



Poured it over the dry wool quite willy-nilly. Next mixed up 30 drops green and 20 drops yellow. Then I did a cup of 50 drops pink. At this point I poured 4 cups of plain water into the pot and pushed the wool down so that it was completely submerged. I mixed one last cup of 50 drops blue and poured that into the middle. I set the crockpot on high and walked away.


Two hours later all the dye had absorbed and I drained it, allowed it to cool, and hung it the shower to dry overnight. The next day I got set up to blend.


I was kind of surprised it turned out to be mostly reds and burgundies. Here also is some natural grey merino/alpaca fiber and a partial skein of Artful Yarns Shakespeare that I got on deep discount (I love the really intense blue.) For this blend I layered some of the dyed wool, a small amount of the yarn (single ply bulky- came apart very easily), a small amount of the gray (very small- I didn't use the whole amount shown) and more of the dyed wool on top (I tried to get some of the mohair blend into each set so it would be evenly distributed.)




I only did one pass, then gently peeled the fiber off the cards

and set it aside until I was done carding all the fiber.

Next I rolled up the first batt into a little sausage from side to side so the fibers stayed parallel to each other.

Gently tugging on both ends, I pulled it out to a fairly even snake about an arm-length's long, not too thick so that it's compact but not too thin so that it gets really airy and falls apart. Next I laid it out on the next batt, and tugged on the last 2-3 inches a little so they were a little thinner and overlapped more.

This batt got rolled up with the end of the snake in the middle. It then got the same pulling and lengthening process. Be careful as the snake gets longer and longer - it has the tendency to fall apart or over twist in some places, weakening it. I ended up making 3 fairly equal lengths (because I still don't really know how to braid one long piece.)

And braided it starting in the middle and working to one end, and then the other, being careful with handling the snakes.

Tada!

This blend feels marvelous -- need to look into ordering some mill-ends and dyeing up some more.

A wee little hat

So I have finished the body of the bathrug and I'm letting it rest before I take the next steps (I feel like that gives me the perspective and the distance to be able to make the next decisions as I've not decided whether to edge it or not. I went to Goodwill yesterday and picked up some color coordinating placemats for a quarter that I think I'm going to stitch to the back to give it a little more substance and make it non-slippy. I'm thinking if I play my cards right, doing that will help prevent some of the edge curling, so I may not need to edge it. We'll see.

In the interim I've started and abandoned a couple of hats, and had several false starts on this one.



It's a (very small) wool hat made from some handspun I bought from at the Tennessee Renaissance Festival. The vendor was a sweet little lady from Pennsylvania, and her yarn was very well priced.



I still have about 40 yards of it left, so I'll have to plan carefully. (I'm thinking maybe some felted Christmas ornaments?) I ended up casting on and knitting the brim 3 times, and when I realized how small the hat was going to turn out the 3rd time, I just gave up. Its gotta fit someone right. Thing I've learned from this project? If you thread a lifeline to try on a hat and all you've done is ribbing, you're not going to get an honest idea of how the hat sizing is going to work out, because the ribbing will overstretch, and it will seem bigger than it is. That's what happened the first time, probably would have been the right size had I not ripped back and cast on with fewer stitches.

The hat is still a little wet from blocking, so smells of sheep and shampoo, a combination I'm finding surprisingly pleasant. Since I don't know any small people I would immediately think of to give this to, I'm thinking I might donate it to afghans for Afghans. The thickness of the hat and the wool content would be ideal for their harsh winters, and my charity knitting tendencies have been all but absent lately.


I love the little nubbin at the top.

Begin

So...I make things! Let's jump right in.

Today I'm working on a rug for my bathroom. The yarn is Lion Brand Cotton-Ease which I hand-dyed.














I was a little concerned about the dyeing because the fiber content is 50% cotton, 50% acrylic, and acrylic is infamous about rejecting dye. It seems to have worked out fairly well. The colors are a little more intense in real life. I was attempting to create a yarn with Noro-like color changes and I succeeded for the most part. The colors don't gradually change though...Eh, next time.














The pattern I'm making up based on a washcloth I knit. It's a little more than half done. I've been averaging a wedge a day, what with school being out now. At this rate I should be done this week and my obsession can cease.














I'm inspired. Definitely want to make an afghan now. I'll have to alter the pattern to make hexagons though.