Cinnamon Rolls...I Know, Not Fiber Related.

On an unrelated fiber note. I've begun holiday baking. I made cinnamon rolls. For the first time by myself. They are awesome. 

The Mahogany Beauty

I missed my wheel. So much. It's sitting comfortably at my parents home with my loom. Most likely waiting for my return. It's a sturdy wheel, it has no qualms about spinning whatever fiber I want, whatever quality. My clumsy spinning techniques aside, it doesn't complain. I've never taken a wheel apart, and I didn't know how to tell my parents to take it apart and ship it to me.

So, I scoured ravelry, searching for one that I could afford. I finally found one. An Ashford Elizabeth I. She arrived Tuesday. She's a bit finicky, but that's okay. We're just getting used to one another. Definitely not as easy going as my Ashford Traditional. But, I couldn't expect a different wheel to act the same way as my first wheel. That's just setting myself up for disappointment. In two days I've spun three bobbins. (I don't count today because I haven't spun anything). So, it's all ready to be plied together. :)

So there she is. My Rosalinde (that's her name). This is my second wheel, and the first I've used with a double drive system. It can be converted to scotch tension, but I'm not overly interested in doing so at this point. I plan to refinish her this summer, as you can probably tell, the finish has seen better days. But, I'll stick with the Mahogany finish, because it suits this wheel so well. I'm so happy to spin again. It was just lucky that I ended up acquiring funds that I normally wouldn't have had. I should have probably spent them on rent or the two medical bills I have to pay, but I was so depressed. Without my wheel and loom I felt lost. Now, I can at least keep doing what I love doing, spinning. Here's what I've done the last two days:

 I feel better than I have since I left my loom and wheel. 

Warping Funtimes

Here's a picture of the dishtowel warp I'm working on. It's actually for my mom. She wants to learn to weave, but is not fond of warping.

Should be warped and ready to go by the end of this week. :)

Supporting Hobbies and Skills

I'm still doing the TdF. I spun up my art batt, and have started the Navajo-Churro again. As much as I love the color, it can be tedious to see after a while. As a result of the TdF I've been spending more time on the chat threads around various fiber places. Something that I've heard over and over is that husbands, children, family, friends, coworkers, and even strangers are less than supportive of their skills and hobbies. 

Every time I read something about a person being put down, or told they spent too much time on it, or have too much yarn/fiber/whatever it breaks my heart a little. Fiber related things take talent, dedication, and time. To put someone down for that is ridiculous. Not understanding why a person does this is one thing, but ignorance does not mean you can be hurtful. Finding something you love to do and becoming good at it as a result of the time spent is something to be proud of. It wasn't so long ago that yarn, clothing and house goods were made by hand. While some people might not appreciate that fact, there are those that do. It's almost like magic to take raw fiber, hold it in your hands and turn it into yarn, then to take that yarn and turn it into a usable wearable work of art. I can't fathom why the people closest to these individuals can't be supportive and proud of them.

It makes me value my family and friends that much more. I am surrounded by such supportive people. They understand how much what I do means to me. They are proud of me. They support my fiber endeavors. It means the world to me, to have their support. Especially after reading what other people have to deal with. And I know, not everyone has such hurtful people in their lives, and that makes me happy. But for those people who do, my heart goes out to them. Because they do great things and deserve recognition for the hard work their craft requires. 

Ah sorry...anyway, here's some of the yarn I've made.

This yarn has been finished since the picture, but I haven't taken another picture. I'll update later.

Tour de Fleece Part 1

Since getting my wheel up and running, I've been spinning up a storm. I've spun through all of the fiber I had in two weeks and spun some silk, Norwegian top, mystery wool, Lincoln top, Churro, and a blended art batt. The Churro I scoured myself and have three lbs of.

 This is silk that I've dyed myself. It was a gift, and it was so super fun to spin.

 This is the first of my Navajo-Churro.

 Here's the art batt. I've spun half of it. and have two more batts to spin afterwards.

The Tour de Fleece has been really great for me. I've learned a lot, and made some really lovely yarn. I'm excited to see how much I can spin during this Tour. 

Spinning With Joy

This past Thursday I was able to spend the afternoon spinning with Joy, a weaver and spinner who has been in business for a really long time. She makes amazingly beautiful wool rugs. Met by way of my mom's co-worker, she was going to give me some tips on spinning. But when I showed her what I have done, she said I was a good as she was, and I didn't need any lessons from her. I got to spin some Navajo-Churro wool that she uses. It was amazing. I ordered a raw fleece in tan and I'm going to learn how to scour it. This is the wool I did with Joy. This is my franken-yarn since I used four different colors, and three different types of wool to spin. It looks neat, though.

This is the Lincoln Top I dyed with food coloring last year, I spun it up as a last resort because I ran out of everything else. (The fiber is horrendous to spin, it's so coarse it rubs my fingers raw). I love how it spun up, and I do have enough to spin another bobbin with, which should keep me busy until I can pick up my Navajo-Churro fleece Monday.

I'm so excited to spin up more yarn. Along with that I have an old sheet to cut up and weave into a rag rug. So I have a busy weekend ahead of me. : D

Fiber, Fiber, Fiber

Since my spinning wheel was fixed, I've only stopped spinning when my fingers grew too raw. I've spun up almost all of the fiber I have, and some that I was given by a really awesome weaver/spinner. I've only made 4.5 bobbins worth of yarn. But it's been great. I have two bobbins of Norwegian Top, and one of some wool, but I don't remember what kind.
The first here is the unknown wool. The second, silvery one is the Norwegian Top. Love it. It's like liquid.

I've also signed up for the TdF on ravelry. So I'm hoping to use that opportunity to improve my blossoming spinning skills. I'm also considering buying a fleece to dye and use for the Tour de Fleece. It sounds like a fun challenge.

My First Real Handwoven Rug

The woman we bought my loom from was an amazing individual. She showed me some of the rugs she wove on it. They were so beautiful I decided I had to attempt it myself. My first real rug (I made a square that I do not count) was made of fabric that I cut into strips and wove accordingly. It's 23"x50" So it's longer by a tiny bit than the standard rag rug. So, here are some picture of the weaving process, and then some of the finished piece. One, with my Luna sitting in the middle looking lovely. The camera did wash the colors out, quite a bit in fact, but there it is.

Now that this one is done, I have measured out the warp for my next rug. A Fuchsia and Turquoise warp!  Along with that I was finally able to spin my first yarn on my Spinning Wheel. Which even for a beginner like me was way faster than a drop spindle. My dad was the awesome person he is and helped me (more like did the whole thing himself) replace certain pieces using the Ashford Maintenance Kit. So, now, it's pretty much good to go. Love it!

The flash was on so you can't make out texture, but it's there, and I'll post a better picture when the bobbin is full. Yesterday was the most productive day I've had in ages.

LOOM!

Yes, I have a loom. A full size sits on the floor kind of loom. It has a 45inch weaving width, 4 harnesses and is counterbalance. LeClerc made. I was looking on craigslist and found it. My parents and boyfriend both offered to pitch in as an early birthday present. I'm so happy. It's beautiful. I looked at it for a day too afraid to touch it because I still couldn't believe that it was mine. Finally I got the courage to sit down at it. I've never sat down at a loom so large before. I felt incredibly small. But I knew it was time to at least begin. I secured the treadles to the harnesses and then began the warping process.

This ended up being the largest warp I have ever done. White with an off-center pink stripe. I'm hoping to make a few rag rugs on it. I cut up some old t-shirts and rolled them into proper looking balls. I wove that into a mini rug and ran out of t-shirt yarn. So I cut it down. I didn't have anything else that matched. I then took some fabric and wove a long rug that reminds me of a garden.

Craftster

I decided to browse the Craftster fiber page today. Since the semester is winding down I have a bit more down time than usual. I noticed a comment on one of my pages and wanted to see what it said. I guess won a "Craftster Best of 2011" award for one of my weaving pieces. Which is super exciting! Out of all the fiber posts that year one of mine was chosen as one of the top four. I'm pretty proud of that. :) Its also really inspiring. Especially since I'm unable to weave at the moment, with my loom in Arizona. So once I can get to my loom this summer, I plan to weave once again.


I'm a Craftster Best of 2011 Winner!  

Two Weeks Into the Spring Semester.

Well, I did it. I moved 1000 miles (more) away to go to school. The most heartbreaking thing was leaving my cat and my loom behind. But, they are both with my parents. So I know they will be in good care. But I still miss them. I did bring my drop spindles, knitting needles, and yarn. So I am not without my fiber goods. I'm in my second week of school. Ironically I was unable to get into a fiber class. So I'll have to wait until next semester. I'll keep myself busy with spinning and knitting. I could set up a tiny loom if I get stir crazy.

But so far so good. The weather is cold, and beautiful. The campus is lovely and my classes are pretty interesting so far. I hope my education will provide me with a boost out in the job world. I'll keep going for now.