Friday, July 3, 2009

And Away I GO!!!

Off I go on another exciting fiber adventure! I have been waiting to get caught up on a few projects before starting into this, knowing that once I got my feet wet...or the roving splish-splashed with color, there would be no turning back!!! I've fooled around with kool-aid a little in the past, when I first started spinning, but now I've got my colors all set, acid dyes, ready to go, and this is my test run. I used the cold pour instructions from, The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook, which offered the perfect measurements and weights for fiber etc.for someone like me who wants to dye small batches of roving or yarn. Here are my results! (sorry about the lighting)



Here I've applied the dye to one of my bundles and I'm just about to wrap it up like a fiber burrito, nice. I only mixed up three colors for this batch because I'm using a different brand of dye than used in the book, but I followed the formula from the book, I just wanted to make sure everything came out right before I went wild with mixing other colors.



Here are my little bundles, all ready to go into the steamer.



This is a hank of my hand spun that I am over dyeing. Sorry the picture is so dim, it's night time in my kitchen.



Ready, set, GO!!!



Here they are, all spun out and airing themselves on the drying rack! If I had a nickle for every salad spinner that I have converted to use for some other purpose (good thing I buy the inexpensive ones)...it worked perfectly to spin out the excess water. I am a little concerned because the alpaca I had processed into roving awhile back is not as robust ( dense, thick) a roving as one normally might see, I am wondering about the draft-ability when I go to spin. Though It fluffed up a bit after it's little trip through the spin cycle, and I have been fluffing it when I go by. The toughest part of the whole process...leaving it set in the steamer to cool over night and NOT unwrapping it! I am really excited to see how this batch spins up!

Have a great holiday weekend!
Blessings Friends!
Melissa

1 comment:

  1. Looks good and very colorful too. I always liked doing roving as it can be changed or blended after, if desired.
    I'll bet that would be a fun job to try with a herd of cats helping me.
    I know the waiting for it to cool and get dry is always the hardest part.
    I've been eyeing some plants in the yard for dyeing.
    You'll be having lots more fun with this, I know!

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I'm a crafter, knitter, tinkerer, who always seems to have a project or two on the launch pad. I love to share what I'm working on and I love to see what other folks are working on too, so please comment and let me know where I can see your latest creation!