What are you spinning for the holidays? Actually, these two rovings are just the latest additions to my inventory at Wind Rose Fiber Studio. They are both 22 micron Merino and are sold by the ounce. The little sampler you see to the left is the 8" length of Firestar that I give away with all of my Merino Roving. It's been dyed to match in the same pot with the fiber.
8 inches of Firestar is enough to give some sparkle to any skein of yarn. When I'm designing a new yarn using my drum carder, I often add some Firestar. It has such a lovely shimmer to it. Firestar also spins easily, so as you are spinning your roving, you can gradually incorporate the Firestar as you go. So why Crimson and Emerald? As a crafter with a store I do need to start thinking ahead, but really these were just two shades that were out of stock. I do my best to keep every color of the rainbow and a few in between in my store. I like selling my roving by the ounce. It's a small enough amount for felters to buy and not be overwhelmed and its nice for spinners too. You can pick out 3 colors that appeal to you and have your own special skein of yarn!
Here's the newest addition to handspun yarns at Wind Rose Fiber Studio. "Paint the Town Red" is the result of a late night inspiration. There I was, in my studio, surrounded by prepared roving just waiting to be spun, when I got this idea. Of course I abandoned all other projects for the night and went for it. I have a cache of beautiful nylon ribbon and I began to ponder how it would look plied with a wool. I was planning on making something in red, a lot of people have been inquiring about reds lately, so I already had the roving dyed. I carded one ounce of the red merino with 8 inches of matching Firestar (a sparkling nylon roving) and then spun it into a sport weight single. Next I plied that single with the red nylon ribbon making sure to allow the wool to come through in the twist. I'm so excited about the result. It's two, rich shades of red loaded with texture and shine. It's also wonderfully soft and feels great next to the skin. This is just a great skein of yarn for people who love red! Right now I just have one in stock at 58 yards, but I will be making three more to allow plenty of yardage for your projects!
I'd like to introduce you to our new kittens. The Tabby is named Costello and the little black kitten is Elvis. We've had them for almost 4 weeks now. Their animated antics have given us many happy moments. It's also nice to have a little kitten curl up on your lap and purr itself to sleep. They have both been sick since we've brought them home. They've been fighting bad respiratory infections and eye infections. It's made me feel even better about adopting them. It doesn't take very long for animals in shelters to become ill. I'm happy these two will be nursed back to health. Just in case you're wondering, I do keep the door to my studio closed and I am very careful to keep my fiber life away from my kitty life. I know there a lot of allergies out there. Your wool is safe with me! Anyway, for everyone who has adopted a pet, I hope you are as happy as we are!
So I've mentioned the yarn I''m making for my Mother-in-law, Kathleen, a couple times. I thought you might like to see a couple pictures. This is a dye-free yarn made from Merino Roving and I plan to put touches of Firestar throughout. The Firestar is the smaller, whiter fiber to the right. It's a nylon that has a lot of luster. I want the yarn to have a little shimmer to it without going over the top. The beads are multi-faceted glass and play nicely off the light. I included a picture of the beads strung onto slivers of the Merino roving. They are now ready to be spun right into the yarn. I will randomly space them and anchor them in place as I go. I haven't asked her yet, but If I know Kathleen, she'll probably want a DK weight or no more than worsted. I'll spin it as a single. I've tried 2ply before, but the beads tend to look less showy. The only thing you have to be a little more careful about with a single is setting the twist. I also stay away from any beads that are too big and heavy. Generally I go with 4 to 6mm. So anyway, all the elements are ready and waiting. Now I just have to find a little time to spin.
I have a friend with an Etsy store who sells crocheted jewelry with wire and beads. She's still finding her niche (anyone with an Etsy store knows that it can take a while) and I started to think about her store and what she could do to advance in such a competitive market.
Using a beading needle, I weaved slivers of dyed roving through the wire mesh leaving the beginning and ending pieces both on the outside of the cuff. Once I had the cuff saturated with color, I threw into the washing machine to felt it down. While that one was in process, I started on the
next. This one I did the same way only I trimmed the lengths before starting the felting process. About halfway through the felting, I filled in any gaps that were showing with some additional fiber. Ultimately I found that starting out with shorter fibers did make more sense.
