Part of the reason I was so determined to publish tonight was because I was so excited. I received the CVM fleece today, and it's beautiful! It's amazing... I can't see any VM anywhere on it. I'm sure there is a small amount, but I don't see it. She did a wonderful job skirting this thing. It'll probably be until the weekend before I'll be able to have time to wash any of it. But in the mean time, here are a few pictures of it. Both in the bag (sheared side facing out) and unrolled (tips facing up). Oh, and BTW, the browner sections on the sides aren't dirt, that's the color of the fleece at those spots...
As is obvious, I'm quite happy with it!
Now to catch up! First, the Targhee and Romney that Carole sent me. Both were wonderful. And I really liked being able to have small amounts to work with. It gave me the freedom to play alot more than I usually do. I really need to pick certain parts of my fiber stash to do this with more frequently. Granted, it wasn't my best work, but you know what, I finally successfully did a long draw! I've never been able to get the knack of it... but I finally did it! I was so happy. Then, of course, I was sore the next morning... apparently there are muscles in my shoulder that I don't use for other things! :-D Also, I was finally able to do Navaho plying. Every time I've tried in the past, I've gotten a tangled mess. And even this time, it wasn't the neatest job at first, but by the end I was starting to get the rhythym of it...
Here are the rolags after washing and carding the raw targhee. It really was a beautiful fleece. Very clean. Carole did a wonderful job picking it out. The second is the Romney on the bobbin unplied. Finally, the third is actually both the Romney and the targhee. As I said previously, both were done long draw and then Navaho plied.
Honestly, there isn't tons of stuff after that only because I was spending alot of time working on the Fire Spirit Targhee and the Flower Basket shawl. Both of which are progressing. I didn't even bother taking a picture of the shawl. It's large enough now that I can't really lay it out flat w/ the 32" needle, so there isn't much to take a picture of! However, I finally got a decent amount of the Targhee that I wanted to ply. Usually, I try and wait until it's all finished, but I really wanted to see how it was coming out.
Wow! I actually managed to get 20wpi after plying AND washing! And it's at about 725 yards so far. That's the thinnest yarn I've managed to date. And it's reasonably consistant. I even noticed a significant difference between this and the Finn I a few months ago. So I'm quite pleased. And, I've still got quite a bit of fiber still to spin. The bag is 10in in diameter and height. Probably about 4-5 oz left. It was originally about 11 oz. I've already got this earmarked for a new shawl too... I thought it would look really cool as an Icharus Shawl. The colors seemed appropriate to the myth. :-D
And finally, one last item. Not a new purchase, but a new yarn acquisition. There is a wonderful woman in my spinning guild who was giving away yarn her mom used for weaving. Her mom is too old to really use them anymore, and she wanted others to be able to enjoy it. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I just thought these were so pretty, so I decided to bring them home. I already did the usual burn and bleach tests. It did catch fire easily, but actually extinguished itself after only a small portion of it burning. And the bleach test didn't disolve it. It doesn't stretch, and is laceweight (probably around 30 wpi). I'm guessing it's probably mercerized cotton, but I'm not completely sure. If anyone has any better suggestions (or other tests I should do!) I'm all ears!
5 comments:
I need to get washing Petey and her sister. I LOVE the way it turned out!. Isn't that Romney fun to spin???
I too have a large head so I think I'll leave the calorimetry as is... it'll prolly be just fine.
Oh I bought 4 pounds of polypay today.. well prepaid for the new shearing. (did you see the post of Fleece for Sale?) Couldn't help myself. The lady with the Ramboullet never got back to me, so....
I need to get some work done for my job tmrw, but I want to knit up a swatch of my wool. Life isn't fair. Now tell me though, do I need to wash the wool before knitting with it? Can't I just knit it without?? Clue me in here.
Also I had thought about using the ball winder and trying the idea... so I'm glad that you posted that cuz I'll do that There are only a few yards (maybe 30 or so) left on the bobbin single ply but, so I'm a bit torn. Maybe I'll wait and see if I need more or what. I can always ply it later!
Once I finish spinning yarn, I always wash it in wool wash, then wring out as much water as possible and let it dry. To wring, I usually squish between towels. Just do whatever you usually do with wool soakers and pants.
Oh, and the other thing I read in a few places -- while its still wet you should whack it against the floor (and or the a shower/tub wall) a few times as well. It supposedly also helps set the twist too. I'm not sure how much that helps and/or is necessary, but it's fun, so I do that as well!
This helps mainly b/c it puts the yarn in it's "resting state". As a result, it usually shrinks in length a bit and blooms. And it definitely does make a difference. I usually loose about 15 - 20% of the length and it usually goes up a few wpi (depending on how fine it is).
Hey Lea! Colleen (cgkueter) here. The fleece is beautiful! I can't imagine something like that showing up in the mail. Wow. A friend who spins sent me a little CVM that was not "spin-worthy!" I am going to use it to stuff a Bubby -- ever since I got a Waldorf doll for AMK, I can't imagine stuffing a lovey with anything but wool. Must get aroundtuit!
Hi Lea, it's Annalea from the YarnAddicts. :o) I love the stuff you've done . . . and the coned yarn is so pretty! My guess is it has some silk in it, because silk self-extinguishes like wool. Cotton does not self-extinguish--it burns avidly with a burning paper or leaves smell to it. Maybe it's a silk/rayon blend? It's probably incredibly soft. I wish I could do a touch test online, lol. I could probaby tell you what it is just by that. :o)
Thanks for the pretty pictures! Love that firey colorway . . .
I meant to comment -- based on some of the tags on the middle, my current guess is actually perle cotton. It's a common mercerized cotton used for weaving, but, like Zephyr, has migrated over to the knitting world. It'll actually come in handy when I try again to make a shawl for my MIL.
Although the comment about the self-extinguishing and silk made me think... but I'm still not completely sure. If it weren't for the self extinguishing, I'd swear it's cotton. Every other test matches cotton. And while it's soft and glossy, it doesn't have the "drape" that even partial silk yarns usually have... Maybe the mercerization affects how it burns? Honestly, I'm not completely sure it really matters -- I'll just have fun making something with it!
Post a Comment