Fiber Meets Consciousness Technology...maybe

I've been having so much fun just spinning up some wool top I dyed in the early fall. I forgot how relaxing and meditative sitting at the wheel can be.
I did a version of the fractal stripe that Janel Laidman introduced in Spin Off a little while back.
Here are a few skeins:






Now I have to admit that a lot of yarns look prettier in the skein than knitted up. I like the accidental quality and the surprise of what develops.
I love these gloves. Not because I think they're beautiful but because they have a little ugliness that fascinates me and if I look at it sometimes it's pretty.




But really I'm considering the idea these gloves as magical objects. They look like magical objects.
My other passion is consciousness technology and more specifically the technologies that are driven by consciousness. I have played with water encoded with information, sacred geometries and jewelry that carries a certain etheric signature to name a few. To be honest, these are probably the tamest of my samplings.
I do notice that animals love things that have been handmade. I know that my handspun, handknitted garments feel completely different. They are not often beautiful but they feel beautiful and they really do fascinate me.
I feel as if there is information encoded in them and probably most of that is love since spinners spin because we love it. But there is a way to specifically encode information in objects and I would like to explore how to add to what is already there in a complementary fashion.
Maybe I'll call this pair Warm Hands, Warm Heart.

It's been a long time......

It's been a long time since I posted here. I haven't been idle. Spinning remains a thread that runs through my life. There's too much to catch up on so I'll just start where I am.
While I was dyeing top for my Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5116174
I made a mistake dyeing some superwash/nylon top. I had the heat too low and the dye didn't exhaust. I rinsed it so many times that I messed up the fiber preparation and felt it was not sale-able. I drum carded it into some batts.





I was still a little concerned about the turquoise's potential bleeding so I spun it up myself. The nylon and superwash combination makes it a perfect yarn for socks. I struggled with the nylon slipping and not catching into the yarn as well as wool (or any natural fiber I've worked with so far). When I went to ply the yarn, I had only one break and I ended up with something I love.






I have one more skein to spin and I should have enough for a pair of socks.

I've been having so much fun playing with color! I've been blending batts on my drumcarder and letting chance be a strong part of the process. I spun up low twist singles and the first batch seemed to go very well together in the end.













These were my first experiments and I really had beginner's luck. I sewed the swatches together to make a bag. It still needs a handle. Perhaps a braided I cord, maybe a cannibalized strap from a thrift store purse and if that doesn't work I guess it will have to be purchased.






I began blending more muted colors and I'm not getting as much contrast as I'd like.








I've been using the Barbara Walker short row pattern that I found on Knitty's Lizard Ridge pattern. I've been switching off colors from skein to skein so it really brings in an element of complete chance. I thought this was a good idea for me to juxtapose colors that I wouldn't conceive of either for the good or the bad. The idea for me is to bring more color ideas into my mind. While the effect is sometimes pleasing and at other times not, I consider it valuable. There are always parts of a swatch that combine colors in a way foreign to me.














I combined the skeins again haphazardly and got a less interesting result.
I realize the dark navy is very strong but I like the contrast of brighter colors here and there that I ended up with in my first swatches. Namely the magenta and turquoise.
I have an idea of incorporating these swatches into a sweater so I'll just continue to card, spin and knit as I learn more about color, i.e. how to blend interesting colors and then how to combine them in a way that appeals to me.
It is fun even when I hit these sticky spots.


I did finally get to the end of my alpaca sweater. I pulled off the turtleneck to rework but I did get to try it on as an almost finished piece and realized that it wasn't something I was really proud of. I'm pretty sure I'm going to rip it out and do something more interesting. When I use my handspun, I really want something that I'm proud of. So goodbye to this one.






I spun up this 2 ply for socks using the fractal stripe idea from Janel Laidman. I wanted to make socks for my son but I burned a skein simmering in a pot so I guess it will just have to be socks for me.(I have smaller feet.) That is if I can stop doing those swatches with those singles I'm using for color experiments. They're addicting though with the color changes the socks should keep me engaged as well.





My plan was to wash all the fleeces I bought at the thrift store on the island. Luckily, they all seem to be pretty clean so I'm lucky. This one is really beautiful. When it was wet from it's wash, I decided it would be a good time to dye it. I wanted eggplant and I'm happy with the color. It did seem to take up dye differently but blended on the carder it will be uniform but still interesting. The sun wasn't out today so the color appears lighter than it is.



Picking is a big job but I'm finding just to do a little bit at a time in between things.

Eye Ulcer Vest

The eye ulcer vest is going to have to be turned into a sweater. My gauge was off and the shoulders are startlingly wide and peaky. I continue to spin because I'll need plenty more yarn for the sleeves. I have enough fiber to make the light blueish yarn though the other yarn comes from a Crosspatch Creations batt that I don't think I'll have much luck finding. But amazingly, I have enough fiber stashed that even without looking very hard, I can reproduce the Crosspatch yarn closely enough. These are the times I feel vindicated in having more fiber than I could possibly spin in 10 years on hand.



This has been a time consuming project but fun. Each step of the way, I've encountered a problem and I move forward until the next glitch occurs. What I'm getting is a sweater I didn't initially envision. It forms itself and changes as it grows. This is a way I like to work but haven't done much of this style in my knitting. I think it's because the idea of a sweater is so overwhelming that I feel I have to have everything all planned out ahead of time. Though I feel that approach has its very strong merits, I am finding this process so much fun and so relaxing. I don't know where I'm going so there's no rush to go there.
I'm also learning quite a bit as I stagger through the design as you go labyrinth.




Oh but what I especially love are shawl collars-and seed stitch!


I was very weak in the wrap and turn short rows. After all the wrapping and turning on this shawl collar, I pray to remember how for next time the technique is needed.


My island thrift store has the most wonderful surprises! Look! Corriedale in brilliant colors from High Prairie Fibers. 8 ounces at the greatly reduced thrift store price of 1.25







Which reminds me....back in the days (not so long ago)when I first started spinning, I bought some raw fleeces there and I'm sure some were not washed! I better pull them out and wash them. I've found out fairly recently how important it is to get the fleeces clean before storing. Now, I have to sort through all my fiber and get those washed before the summer ends and maybe if I'm lucky it won't be too late.
And yes, I know I'm lucky that my thrift store is fiber friendly.

What a month!

This has been a challenging month but I've made it through. I had an eye injury that pretty much filled the whole month with its presence. At times, I could use my eyes but often I just couldn't. But still spinning and knitting happened. Worsted spinning because I don't have to look at my hands and the fiber and stockinette knitting for the same reason.
I spun half the yarn for this vest in the thick of the pain and continued to plan and knit the vest up to its present state.



The darker yarn was spun earlier this year from a Crosspatch Creations batt. The lighter bluish gray is a drum carded blend of Carol Lee's Brown Sheep wool with a little silk thrown in. I spun this rather badly and plied it even worse but knitted up, it seems to work.
Changing factors like the ability to see well and sit comfortably resulted in a different yarn and a different garment. It opened me up to other possibilities. I don't know if I'll like this finished vest but I do like its fabric. I really wish I had had enough yardage for a drapey sweater or a blanket but I combined materials in a different way and it has given me ideas for future experiments with color and fiber.



I also managed to knit and plan this felted bag. The ready made handles are from Grayson E. The yarn was from a time when I began to get the hang of woolen spun singles and I was saving it for a project just like this. I'm happy with it.




The camel/silk scarf grows slowly. I felt the need to block it a bit to see if I really want to continue. I do.








And I'm playing with the idea of 2 plys. I've been pretty much only using them for lace, having heard that 3 plys are better for general knitting but I feel the need to break away from constraints for awhile even if I find out first hand why there are rules of thumb in the first place.
Here is some Louet merino/silk that I keep sampling. I have two pounds but if I keep sampling, I will be way below that mark and will reencounter the ever present question, "Will there be enough for a sweater?"

I became very excited about dyeing some camel/tussah blend I bought quite awhile back from Crown Mountain Farms. I dyed it with Jaquard acid dyes but completely forgot to add vinegar to set the dyes though they seemed to be pretty colorfast anyway. Maybe our well water is acidic enough. To be extra sure, I gave the fiber a vinegar bath.



I started spinning without thinking about what it would be. Worsted spinning is very much like a meditative act for me. I just wanted to spin. I didn't want to plan. I loved the colors and the yarn. I wanted to preserve the color sequence and since I didn't split the roving to insure the color changes would be visible after plying, I was left with 2 choices. I could navajo ply but I'd end up with a thicker yarn and probably not enough yardage to do anything with or I could use the yarn as is-unplied. I had heard that it is not necessary to have a balanced yarn to knit lace because it is blocked into shape each time it's washed so I went for that.

This will be a long term project. Lace is very rythmic and pleasant to knit but time consuming! I do like and look forward to seeing the end result. I'm realistically thinking the fall because I will not be working solely on this.
My sweater made from handspun singles is waiting for its collar. I haven't wanted to think too much lately and the sweater is getting a shawl collar. I have an eye injury that though not serious is long lasting and very wearing.



I spun the yarn so that there would be large blocks of color but I forgot that the sweater body would be worked in the round to get some symmetry with the color. The stripes are more narrow than I wanted though the sleeves are more what I wanted. I think the different widths of color band will work. I might have to pull it together with patch pockets.
I realized after I finished the sleeves that I could have easily made the color repeats longer on the body if I had just broken off the yarn and mixed and matched as one does anyway with stripes. I had this one vision of knitting the sweeater skein after skein without breaking off the yarn. I kept that vision even when I wasn't getting exactly what I wanted but I do think it will all work out fine.
I love doing these sweaters with bulky singles. I will do more of these. They are quick to spin and knit!

I continue to work with what is on hand and it's kind of fun.
I took some white South American wool and blended it with some of the same I had dyed an unsatisfactory green to make a lighter, less offensive color. I blended the same white wool with some Brown Sheep rovings in brownish gray and blue.




Although not beautiful, I still like the result. I drum carded batts with some white Tussah silk combed top, rolled the batts horizontally but drafted out from the side.




It's fun and pretty fast going!