Hello there fiber peeps! You may remember this Lake Michigan In The Summer Batt that I posted about a few weeks ago, way back in mid January. Well, I immediately spun one up for myself, fully intending to post the skein in my shop, but could never bring myself to list it! Sometimes you spin something and you just need to hang out with it for a bit...get to know it. So I have been thinking about what will become of it these last few weeks, and I have decided to do a give away! I have to say, and maybe brag a bit, about how lucky we are here in Michigan, it's a really beautiful state and of course the Great Lakes are an enormous part of that. Yea Michigan!!!
When ya got yer self a nice juicy batt in front of you, like me, you probably ponder a bit about how you want to spin it. With this batt, I decided that rather than sectioning it off lengthwise, which would effectively cut up all the marvelous colors of the shoreline, I wanted to spin it so that all the colors would blend together. I made it into more spinable sections by peeling off layers of the batt and rolling them into a tube, which I then elongated into a fatish roving which represented a cross section of all the different colors and fibers. And the results of that are pictured here in this skein I've called Lake Michigan All Spun Up. And I would like to send a little of Lake Michigan Home with one of you! If you would like this skein of yarn, all you have to do is post a comment about your favorite way to spin a carded batt or if you don't spin, you might have an idea of how you would use the yarn. When Monday rolls around, I will randomly draw a name from all the posts and and we'll meet back here so I can announce the name and email the winner to work out the details of getting the skein to her/him!!!
Best Wishes, thanks for popping in, I love reading your comments every week and I learn so much and get tons of inspiration from checking out your blogs! Blessings Friends!
Melissa
Hello, forgot to add the yarn specs!
168 yards/3.75 oz/worsted weight 9 wpi
The way I spin Batts depends on how co-operative they are.
ReplyDeleteI might roll them up from wing tip to wing tip and spin from the tail end or head end like a fat round tube.
I also might roll them up from head to tail then stretch them out gently to spin.
I have also been known to start at a corner and go diagonally stroking their wings as I spin. They seem to enjoy this method. LOL
Each way will produce a slightly different yarn when the Batt approves.
What a delightful story behind a wonderful skein!
ReplyDeleteooooh, what a lovely contest!
ReplyDeleteI am like you...I don't separate the colors of the batt. I love the unique yarn you get from spinning it as is. I tear my batts into strips to spin them. When I prep batts, I typically run them through My Precious two times too which automatically blends them up a wee bit more. That was a suggestion from Beth at the Spinning Loft.
Happy Fiber Arts Friday!
It is absolutely stunning....I have been looking for yarn to create something to remind me of my summers on Pleasant Lake in New Hampshire. What beautiful colors.
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful! I done spin - yet. I did take a class last year and my it is harder than it looks. But I am still determined to learn. I do knit and would love to knit up a hat or doll sweater from your beautiful yarn.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Elizabeth
Beautiful skein and batt Melissa, the colours are so calming and sensual.
ReplyDeleteI like to spin carded batts two ways, the first is tearing it into strips and pulling out as if to pre-draft slightly into longer strips keeping the same order of colours as the batt came in. The other way is to half the batt so I have one for each single of a 2ply yarn then spin directly from the corner of the half a batt drafting as I go. This technique works best with standard 2ply yarns but also with corespinning around a core thread of silk.
((hugs))
Helen xx
Hi,
ReplyDeleteHow gorgeous. I spun with my mom when I was smaller, and now she is teaching my little daughter (and I'm re-learning). It's such a wondrous process, it just enthralled her yesterday. With wide eyes, she learned to coordinate her feet and hands, and felt the rhythm and watched, and learned...
WIth a ltitle baby on the way in a few weeks, a little boy, I'd love to make a little jacket, perhaps with one or 2 buttons near the top.
Thank you for entering me.
When I spin a batt at night I start with the head so it can fly onto the bobbin. During the day I start with the tail and the motion of the whorl does not disturb it as it hangs there asleep.
ReplyDeleteI believe winter has gotten to me, the phrase might be "Gone Batty!"
I really have a problem selling my spun work. I'm just so darn attached to it.
ReplyDeleteYour bat is beautiful and I love the colors in the finished work.
The yarn is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThat turned out really nice Melissa. Now I can't wait to spin mine.
ReplyDeletewe LOVE michigan & spend every other summer there! my husband's entire family is from michigan & his mother has a house right on the beach...it is AMAZING! you would never think it was a lake to look @ it, reminds me of the ocean...well, aside from the temperature. ;)
ReplyDeletewe are quite addicted to knitting here & have loads of birthdays coming up, it would be awesome if one of these gifts was made from your lovely yarn!
i really admire your work & simply MUST learn to spin one of these days!!
I actually haven't spun a batt yet. I have 2 I need to spin but 1 is so beautiful I worry about "messing" it up! Isn't that awful! I guess when I do spin my batt I will pull off sections. That is my next venture when I'm done with my spin madness bag!
ReplyDeleteI'm such a novice drop spindler that I've no idea what some of the terms in the other comments mean. WIngtips and corespinnning? I've got my research project for the day! Meanwhile, I've only spun from roving, which remindes me, I don't even fully understand the difference between roving and a batt. I just hope to someday produce something as lovely as this yarn. Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI confess I have not spun a lot of batts..but when I do depending on the batt I either tear it carefully in strips lengthwise and spin it or I may pull off a layer from the top and spin it that way. I love the the anticipation of seeing a beautiful batt and then be astounded at the yarn that is spun from it. Gorgeous batt Melissa. It shimmers.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, kinda makes you want to pack up for a trip to the lake. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI would make a very simple hat to show off the yarn. a ribbed brim, basic stockingette stitch all the way up and a tassel or two to finish things off!
ReplyDeletethanks for the giveaway!
I might make a scarf with that lovely yarn. I'm not a good enough spinner yet to spin from batts. (Sigh)
ReplyDeleteI love to spin from the batts I make with my Louet Jr. I usually separate them into four sections, then draft them out a bit-getting all the juicy colors to create colorful varied yarn like what you've done. I would probably knit or weave it into a scarf.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful yarn. Leaving in the cold Canada, I would knit myself a beautiful cowl with it.
ReplyDeleteI also have not yet spun from a batt. And I have the beautiful mini one from you just begging to be spun! I think I know what I'm doing tomorrow...
ReplyDeleteWow. Gorgeous yarn, and I love all these ideas on spinning batts (diagonally?!!). I prefer to spin from a batt, and it all depends on the finished project/yarn I want to make as to how I prep it. Usually, I pull sections from the sides and act as if they're roving (after separating it into two horizontal halves for each ply).
ReplyDeleteBut, I also like layering a few batts and pulling strips OR, rolling the whole mess and predrafting from there.
It can take a while for a batt to tell me how to spin it up!
What an exciting post! I have never spun and would not know where to start. The yarn is absolutely beautiful and I would crochet myself a scarf!
ReplyDeleteI tend to look at the fiber in my stash for Quite a wwile before it tells me how it should be spun...
ReplyDeleteI know I'm crazy cause fiber speaks to me lol realy it dose...