Fun with fiber

So we're going camping next Friday. Not only is this an annual tradition that I dread every year but end up enjoying, It's also my annual opportunity to sit and knit for over a week. Who can complain about that? Then Jessalu mentioned how much spinning she got done at a 3-day car show and I got thinking about spinning at camp.

Over the past several months I have been burying my face in some black alpaca and gray mystery wool that I plan to blend into a charcoal-gray fiber. I'm going to spin it into a heavy yarn and make a nice thick sweater (for me, of course) for this winter. And if I took it to camp, I might be able to spin all of it in one shot instead of dragging the process out over the next few months.

Time to start carding, people. We're on a deadline.

Yesterday, I broke out my amazing Pat Green Triple Carder. This lethal spiky contraption turned my wool (a lustrous Romney cross of something that has a very long staple and yet is very fine and super-soft and yet is not Finn, like I thought) from this:

into this:

in a heartbeat. I think I picked over 2 pounds in about 20 minutes. This is quite impressive if you remember it took me hours and hours, over several months) with a dog comb to pick the wool for my husband's (almost finished) handspun sweater.

The carder doesn't get out as much VM as I would by hand, but it certainly gets out a lot of dirt, and this fiber has already been scoured:

The biggest problem I find is that the picker fluffs the wool so much it's hard to keep it contained. Here's what I ended up with, after several rounds of compacting the fiber in a 30" tall box:

I played around with different proportions of alpaca and wool:

I wanted a nice dark gray, but I was leery of putting too much alpaca in because I don't want too much drape. And I don't want to sweat to death. And I don't want to run out of alpaca. I settled on 60 percent wool to 40 percent alpaca, which isn't quite as dark as I would like, but feels fantastic. This alpaca is so soft it's practically liquid.

After one pass through the drum carder, I came up with this:

Ha, no seriously, it looked like this but it totally reminded me of Lily Munster's hair:

On the second pass, I got this:

I like the slightly unblended look but in the finished sweater I'd like a fairly solid gray. After I get done making all the batts (5 down, about 12 to go) I am going to strip them and recombine them with each other to even out the distribution of fiber. The spinning will further homogenize things. Ideally, I'll end up with a gray yarn with only slight hints of black and white. If my arm doesn't give out before Friday.

In case I don't go with my plan to spin at camp, I have a backup Lofty Goal. I might try to knit a whole sweater (provided it's not ungodly hot). Naturally, I have snagged some of my own Bristol Real Vermonter yarn with which I am so in love. I'm going with the Green Mountain Spinnery's Putney Aran, but I really look washed out in creamy colors, so I decided to dye the yarn. (I am also bringing along bamboo/merino yarn for a very plain pair of socks. I will have my second Diagonal Cross-Rib sock finished in the next day or two and I'll immediately cast on for something without any twisted stitches. Those suckers slow me down.)

I wanted a green (what's new?), but it's a color I find very difficult to dye successfully. I didn't want it too yellow, too brown, or too blue. Huh. My first attempt yielded this:

which was very pretty but a bit too Granny Smith. I loved the color but couldn't imagine it in a whole sweater. I wanted to tone it down a teeny bit, so I threw it back in the kettle and added a bit of violet and fuchsia (color theory, fascinating). Voila:

It's still very green but softer. Maybe this way I won't look like a giant furry lime coming down the street.

I don't have a shop update ready, but next week before we leave I'll be posting more Bristol Real Vermonter yarn, some bamboo/merino superwash sock yarn (a name I haven't settled on a name yet!), some bamboo/merino top, and notecards. The Bristol will be available in natural, as well as dyed, and both will be discounted for purchases of 4 or more skeins. Plus you'll get free shipping if it's over $60, so a sweater's worth won't be quite as big a hit.

Have a great weekend. Weed the garden.

Comments

[Carole]

Good luck with all that carding!

[Carrie]

Woo! Those are some ambitious plans! We too are going on the week long family vacation, but I'm only bringing three socks.

[JessaLu]

In theory, you should be able to spin a sweater's worth of yarn during your week away. I was averaging about 4 hours a day the three days I was gone - and I was forced to attend 'events'. For example: a spaghetti eating contest, burnouts (cars burning out, not stoners, heh), flamers (cars on fire, not...well, you know) and the worst, walking around the show looking at everyone else's car and listening to RR talk about his 'dreams for the Chevy' and not bursting his bubble ;o)

Your fiber is gorgeous!!

[Sherri]

Great - now I want a carder - you evil woman you ;-)

Have fun camping. It is actually something I love to do. I grew up going on camping trips every summer (5 kids = very expensive vacation otherwise. My mom hated it too...but not us kids. It was impossible to get us to sleep ahead of time - like Christmas eve. She always said the best part of camping was that we were so exhausted that we just fell into bed at night and she finally got some peace and quiet :-)

Enjoy your break.

[jillian]

Wow that's a lovely green. So subtle! "Fuzzy green lime" - ha!

[Alotta]

All I can say is..BEAUTIFUL.

[Susan]

Love that color of green. I think it is very pretty. Isn't the picker a great invention! I just broke down and bought one and am loving it. It's an amazing time saver.

[Andrea (noricum)]

Hmmm... I've been keeping on top of the weeks, but I do have a few plants to put in, and some watering to do as well.

That picking reminds me of a visit I had to Rovings... her picker outputs the picked wool into a large closet-sized room. :)

[sappmama]

It's that time of year again? Already?

Geez, time flies.

[Maple]

I definitely think you need to take your spinning to camp!!!

[Teyani]

love that cool sage green It will look fabulous on you!
And the Pat Greene Carder looks to be a lifesaver! What a gorgeous blend. I suspect that you will have a yummy heathered yarn from that :-) I just love the process of going from raw fiber to spun yarn to a completed knit. It's magic I tell you.
Have a wonderful relaxing vacation.