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.