I promised myself that I would take down my Christmas decorations today. For the few of you who have visited my home during the holidays, you know that this is a pretty big job. Feeling the desire to stall, I took a detour into my studio looking for a distraction. You see, I can justify putting off chores if there is fiber involved.
That's when I thought of my Turkish drop spindle. I guess I've had spindles on my mind since spending a recent afternoon with a spindle enthusiast. I have a Turkish drop spindle that I have taken on numerous outings. I've been working on this ball of yarn, bit by bit for a long time. I decided that today, at long last, I would remove the yarn and ply it.
I originally bought this spindle because I liked the idea of being able to ply from one ball using the center pull, beginning strand and the outer ending one. The wool that I've been spinning has sentimental value as it is a carded blend of some of my earliest wool purchases. It mostly began as raw fleece and I did all of the washing, dyeing and carding. This was back in those wonderful experimental days before I really knew what I was doing. Also, I had yet to come across my favorite wools with which to work. As a result, this yarn is a funky blend of Rambouillet, Mohair and I can't remember what else. There's even a little leftover grease as my washing could have been better.
Today is the first time I've plied yarn from my Turkish drop spindle. I pulled the center end out from one of the larger side holes. At first I was thinking I would put it on a lazy kate and just go for it. Then I realized that it 
would probably need to roll free. I was worried about the two strands twisting together as they unraveled. Then, as I started plying, I discovered that although they did twist as the ball rolled around, this really didn't interfere with the plying process.
Typically when I ply two singles, my I hold the two strands separately in my right hand and control the twist with my left. When I plied this ball, I just held them together and fed them right in. No muss, no fuss!
In the end, I find myself with about 95 yards of medium weight yarn. Since the colors are sort of Christmas-like and the texture is more coarse, I think I may use it to make ornaments. This year I was thinking that it would be fun to decorate a small tree with nothing but crocheted or tatted decorations. Of course one needs to plan ahead for such things. I think starting in January might give me just enough time!
I'm adding handpainted sock yarns to my inventory at Wind Rose and these are the first two! Crimson Wine has two shades of crimson red contrasted by a deep burgundy. Turquoise & Spruce ranges from a deep spruce to a light turquoise with shades of pewter grey.
All the yarn details are on their listings, but I wanted to explain why I'm calling them "Great Skeins". I gave them this name because of their yardage. Each skein comes with a bountiful 500 yards which is enough for a lot of sock patterns not to mention all sorts of projects.
To you, my blog readers, I'll share my inspiration. It's rather self serving. You see, maybe about a year ago, I got the idea in my head to spin a bunch of yarn and dye it so I would always have whatever I needed at my fingertips. Months later, it has become painfully clear that I just don't have enough free time to do all of that spinning. Well, I figure the next best thing is to at least paint my own yarn. I use fingering or sock weight yarn all of the time so I decided that it would be a good place to start.
So why am I selling my stash? I guess just because I enjoy making things and selling them. I also figure that there is no reason for pretty skeins of yarn to have to wait until I get around to using them. If someone buys one of my favorites, I'll just paint some more. I guess it's first come, first serve!
I'm always tickled when one of my customers returns to share their creations with me. This sweet Waldorf doll by Regan of Barking Dog Creations is so adorable that I had to share her with you too.
When Regan bought some Thick & Thin wool yarn from my shop, I would never have guessed that it would become Valentina's Hair! Regan shares, "She is most definitely a girly-girl. She loves her flowing pink chiffon skirt and her red and pink shirt- pink is her favorite color after all!"
"Valentina is made of 100% organic cotton knit fabric stuffed with clean wool. Her hair is wool, some of which was hand dyed by me using food coloring. There are also some strands of baby alpaca/silk blend yarn in her hair as well. Her hair can be styled in different ways; ponytail, pigtail, buns, half up half 
down, braids, or just worn long, but be careful she doesn't trip- her hair reaches just past her toes! Valentina is 14" tall and has green eyes that have been embroidered on with cotton embroidery thread."I think any girl would be lucky to receive Valentina as a valentine this year!Visit Barking Dog Creations on Etsy to see more pictures of Valentina. There are also two more little cuties in the shop.
I recently made a special purchase of Landscapes Dyes. I don't order this product often because it comes all the way from Australia and the freight costs are painful.
Still, I love these dyes, in spite of the added expense, because the colors are just so beautiful. They are inspired by the Australian landscape, so the names make my mind stretch to imagine Desert Peas and Wallabies.
These dyes are so easy to use and they come with a detailed pamphlet outlining several dye methods. It covers stove top, spiral dyeing and microwave dyeing. It even gives you handy tips to avoid accidental felting. I have long thought that these dyes are a great place to start for anyone new to dyeing their own fiber or yarn.
So with that in mind, I have created this Landscapes Dyes Starter Kit. It comes with 10 grams each of five colors. You'll receive the three primaries: Desert Pea (red), Wattle (yellow) and Marine (blue). I have also included Wallaby (brown) and Currawong (black). With these five shades you will be able to create your own beautiful range of colors.
I hope this kit will be a fun way for people to explore the art of dyeing!
Hello, I'm back. Sorry I took so long. It wouldn't be a typical day around here if I didn't find myself juggling activities.
When I left off, we had the yarn measured and soaking in a bowl. Now, time to figure out how much dye to use. With Landscapes Dyes you can dye approximately 3oz with 10 grams. My hank of yarn is 8oz, but the color Pacific has a lot of turquoise in it. Turquoise dye is typically a powerful hue so I basically took my best educated guess and went with 18 grams. That may seem like not enough, but in my mind, I was erring on the side of too much. I want a good, medium saturation. If I have leftover dye in my post, I can always save it for a couple ounces of roving, but it would be more work to make the yarn darker. 
So downstairs I go with my 18 grams of Pacific dye. My bowl of soaking yarn is waiting for me along with my 5 gallon pot and a measuring cup. I fill the pot with room temperature water. I want to bring the heat up after my yarn has been introduced. I don't want to shock wool yarn with extreme temperatures. That's a great way to get wool felt!
I then pour my dye powder into my measuring cup. This I mix with a cup or so of hot tap water. I want to stir until the powder is dissolved and there are no little lumps of dye left. Then I pour my dye mixture into my pot. I stir some more to make sure the color is well incorporated. I've started warming up my pot on just a little hotter that medium heat. There's a lot of water in there so it won't heat up on me too quickly.
Now I take my yarn and squeeze out all of the water I can. Into the pot it goes. You may notice, I haven't added any vinegar or mordants of any kind. That is because Landscapes Dyes don't require it. The acid has been integrated with the dye powder. You can, however, add some white vinegar if you feel your fiber needs a little help. Those last two pictures up above show the yarn right after it went into the pot. You can see that it immediately starts to take the color. The spoon of dye water shows how much color is left in the pot. This yarn has a long way to go!
So now I just let the yarn steep. I stir occasionally, but not too much. Once again, I'm not interested in making felt here. When the water starts to steam I begin to lower my heat. I want to maintain that steam, but not get any hotter. I've read dye instructions where they talk about getting the water to just below boiling. I don't think you need to get it quite that hot. I like to be a little more gentle with my fiber.
After about 45 minutes, my spoon comes up clear. There is no dye left in the water. The yarn has taken all the color. This is exactly what you want to see and it's making me feel good about how much dye I chose. I pour the contents of my pot out over a strainer. Using the hottest tap water to match the heat of the yarn, I give it a rinse. Then I shake the strainer to get out most of the water. To get my yarn even more dry, I roll it up in a dry towel and give it a good squeeze.
Finally, I take my freshly dyed yarn outside to dry. I lay it out of a fresh towel. My cotton ties have kept my hank in good shape. I'm very happy with the depth of color and how even the yarn turned out. Now I just have to wait for it to dry, then I'll wind it into a center pull ball and send it off to my mom. I'll come back with one last picture of the yarn after it's fully dry. Thanks for joining me on my project today. I hope it makes you feel like you can dye yarn too!
I have a yarn dyeing project today and I thought you might like to join me. So here's my assignment:
My mom knitted a nice winter hat for herself from some pretty variegated yarn. She would like make a scarf to compliment the hat, but doesn't want to use the same yarn. She feels that it would look a little too busy to wear a multicolored hat with a matching multicolored scarf and I would have to agree.
So when she came to visit last week, she brought a sample of the yarn. We held it up to the color charts for the two different brands of dye I carry and ultimately chose Landscapes Dye in the color Pacific. Then we went yarn hunting. Out of my collection of ecru yarns, she picked Rogue which is a Bulky weight Highland Peruvian Wool. She likes the idea of a yarn that will make up quick. Also, as you can see, the weight of the Rogue is similar to the yarn she used for the hat.
Here's my mom in her hat. Cute huh? Now we just need to dye a yarn that will make a pretty scarf to go with that hat!
My first step is to prepare the yarn. Rogue comes in 1lb hanks that contain 500 yards. My mom figures she'll need about half that amount to make a nice scarf. To measure out half, I'll use my 2 yard niddy noddy and a swift.
What's a niddy noddy? Glad you asked! It's a tool used to wind skeins of yarn and it looks like the picture to the right. I also mentioned that I'll be using a swift. The swift will hold the hank of yarn for me so I can easily wind the amount I need onto my niddy noddy. Here's a picture of my swift from a previous project so you can see what one looks like:
I'll put my big hank of ecru yarn on my swift and then start to wind it onto my niddy noddy. My niddy noddy is sized so that one complete revolution is equal to two yards in length. This will make it easy for me to measure out 250 yards for my mom. Why not just wind it into a ball? Well, we need our yarn in a good loose hank so it can take the dye evenly.
After I measure out my yarn, I'll tie the ends onto my new, smaller hank to keep it secure for dyeing. Then I will put it in a bowl of water to soak for at least 30 minutes. My yarn needs to be wet all the way through. This also helps to prepare it for the dye.
Ok, now I need to run off and actually do all of this so I can come back and tell you about the next part. See you soon!
I originally bought this spindle because I liked the idea of being able to ply from one ball using the center pull, beginning strand and the outer ending one. The wool that I've been spinning has sentimental value as it is a carded blend of some of my earliest wool purchases. It mostly began as raw fleece and I did all of the washing, dyeing and carding. This was back in those wonderful experimental days before I really knew what I was doing. Also, I had yet to come across my favorite wools with which to work. As a result, this yarn is a funky blend of Rambouillet, Mohair and I can't remember what else. There's even a little leftover grease as my washing could have been better. 
would probably need to roll free. I was worried about the two strands twisting together as they unraveled. Then, as I started plying, I discovered that although they did twist as the ball rolled around, this really didn't interfere with the plying process.
