Sunday, January 15, 2006

This is What Happens ....

when you are used to working in cluttered, tight places.



I was so used to having my serger control hitting something under my table that I didn't even remember what I pushed under there. Dude! I had stash from SOAR 2004!



and some gray roving.



I haven't weighed the roving, but I know there's plenty for a pair of mittens. I have been wanting to improve my Navajo plying technique for awhile but didn't want to ruin any of the painted luxury fibers I want to use it on. Dodie Rush, no website but you may have read articles by her in Spin Off or met her at SOAR, is an expert at no-bump Navojo plying. I watch her at our guild meetings and she's given me tips, but sooner or later I've got to actually do it. Strangely, I could do it when I first started spinning but when I tried recently hands and feet were not in sync. SO - the plan is to dye this roving, spin fairly thin, and then Navajo ply, keeping the colors distinct. Since the old Sabracon dyestock experiment went so well I'll give the old Sabraset dyestock a chance to shine!

After returning from SOAR I packed up and headed for my first (and only) Rhinebeck festival. In my haste I see I only alluded to the silk spree I went on. I spun up the Indigo Moon Brushstrokes and the Lambspun fiber, but these gems never made it out of the box I brought them home in.

This is Nancy Finn's Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks. On the left Merino top and on the right Bombyx top, both in the Arroyo colorway.



I think my original plan was to spin both separately then ply together, but I'm open to any suggestions. (no, I won't send it to you)

This is carded tussah from Carol Weymar - The Silkworker. The colorway is Toad Hall. It's not as pink as it looks. There is more pale gray and pearl in there.



This is also from Carol, it's top but it doesn't say on the card whether it's tussah or Bombyx. I think Bombyx, but what do I know? I love the colorway name - Tatooed Lady. It looks so much better in person. The color is very richer and saturated.



This is way better than finding money in my coat pocket.

6 comments:

  1. WOW - what a wonderful find!
    I *love* all the silk colorways....I need to budget in some spare funds so I can get me some! *g*

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  2. Wow! Hey wait, I better go dig out my office! Who knows what I might have in there? And I like the idea of spinning the merino and then plying it with the same-colorway silk. They are both gorgeous. All of it is gorgeous. I think you should share.

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  3. Whoa, Christmas in January! What fun, and what nice colors.

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  4. What a lovely surprise!
    When you have re-remembered how to navajo ply without bumps, *please* let me know! I did a class at SOAR years ago, but the details have - er - vanished.

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  5. When did you go to SOAR? I was there this year in Park City and took the sock yarn spinning class with Judith MacKenzie and Nancy Bush. And, we probably passed each other at Rhinebeck! R'beck is practically in my back yard (well, 90 minutes away) so I'm ALWAYS there!

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  6. WAY better - what gorgeous colors and what fun you have waiting in store for some spinning time!

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