Jun 28, 2009

Let there be yarn!

Yes, I've been quiet. It happens. February's always a busy month, with the Florida Renaissance Festival and its accompanying four-hour-one-way drive every weekend. I also did one craft show — well, technically an antique show — a few months ago, as a favor for a friend who works for the antique shop that hosted it. And finally, I decided that this is the year I'm going to really put effort into the hobby business; this is the year it stops being just a hobby and starts being something I might be able to support myself on. The inspiration: I want my soul back, and I'm not going to find it in a nine-to-five office environment where out-of-bounds behavior and micromanagement are the rule.

So. June was crafty research-and-development month. To kick-start my fiber machine, I spun up an ounce of Bransonas Shetland kindly sent to me in a swap package.

Bransonas handspun


Then, to get into the habit of spinning larger amounts, I spun some Lapoli hand-dyed mill ends using the short-draw spinning style, which took about a week of spinning after work, for several hours some evenings.

Moss on a Rock


I learned the long-draw spinning technique and made some funkyfluffy white yarn, which took me under an hour to make, including plying (but not including washing/soaking).

First long-draw yarn


And then I went back to the abandoned Crazy Corriedale. I excavated the bobbin of Crazy Corriedale singles and plied it just to see what came out.

Before...
Key West Christmas yarn


...and after.
Crazy Corriedale, plied and washed


It looks much prettier as yarn than it did as fiber — at least, I think so.

First oven-dyed wool

Today, I also re-carded about 3 ounces of the above Corriedale and am working on spinning that long-draw style. The finished yarn will be compared to the short-draw-spun stuff.

In my wicked fiber arts frenzy, today I also bought a used Schacht Cricket loom from Meridith of SweetKnits, which is coming to me with a copy of Creative Weaving.

And I have a test knit coming from Phoenix Bess, plus I've volunteered to put together the 2009 EtsyFEST catalog.

Don't I seem terribly productive? For me, to me, compared to recent-me, I feel pretty productive. The trick will be to continue being productive until something good comes of it.

Then, I'll be myself again.

:D
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