Dyed!

This is the wool/dog hair scarf after dyeing. It took several tries to get the right system down. Next time I think I will try making the dye with less water. I knew there would be bleeding of the dye, but it was difficult to get the right syringe, with the right amount of pressure to expel the small amount of dye needed. I worked with a 60cc, 3cc, 10cc syringe. The winner was the 60cc which I thought would have been to big for the job, and too hard to control. I ended up dyeing both ends of the scarf solid for uniformity. The yarn fluffed up nicely during the dyeing process, and the scarf has a nice halo already softening the color blue.

A christmas Surprise.

Lisa's niece saw her scarf and hat from last Christmas, and mentioned that she wanted her own scarf from Neo and Rene'. To be exact a blue one with white poke-a-dots and beaded fringe like her sisters. I started out by making a garter stitch scarf like I had for her sister. The resulting scarfs were too light and wispy to attempt dying a pattern in. After several attempts with different size needles I went a different direction. This is a basket weave pattern using 2 strands of the lace weight 2ply yarn. The reason I am publishing this before it is done is to give everyone a chance to see a scarf in transition. The scarf will now be dyed with acid dyes. I will make a strong dye liquor and use the pattern and a syringe to (hopefully) control the color. With luck the result will be the requested blue and white pattern. I will post an updated photo after the dyeing process and then a final photo after Christmas

Lisa's 2007 Christmas Present.

Lisa's Dogs Neo (pictured) and Rene' (see "Dottie sweater") wanted to keep the tradition Dottie started. Lisa collected hair when she brushed both dogs and kept the hair in large zip lock bags. She had no idea that the "boys and I had a surprise in store for her on Christmas day. The hat and scarf are both knitted in a lace weight yarn. The yarn is 2ply one pure Border Leister the second a blend of Neo and Rene' hair. I wanted the mittens to be denser and able to stand up to frequent use, to achieve this I used 2 strands of the yarn. When the scarf is laid out you can see the bands of color from the dogs coats it creats a wonderful effect.

Machine embroideried scarf

Yes I know this isn't hand spun or handwoven, however this is handmade. This is a olive green polar fleece scarf ( it is darker in color than the pictures appear). The scarf has snowflakes embroidered with rayon thread (shiny) in a monochromatic color several tints lighter. The snowflake design on either end differ from each other. This is the perfect gift for that special person that my be allergic to natural fibers, holiday office parties, secrete santa, or last minute guests. It is machine washable, hang to dry. This scarf is for sale for $25.00, beaded fringe can be added for an additional $10.00.

Scarfs and Shawls in mixed fibers

The orange shawl is done on a Daryl Lancaster type warp with a burnt orange Chenille. The feel of this shawl and the wonderful drape make it perfect for the office or evening wear. The 100% wool teal and purple stripped shawl is what the well dress woman is looking for on cold winter days to add to your coat or a light wrap on brisk evenings in the spring or fall. The white shawl in the for front is a white 100% wool warp with 100% spaced dyed mohair weft. The mohair was a color blend the was inspired by the waterlilies by Monet. As this shawl is worn it will get a nice soft loft from the mohair, that will add a halo appearance to the wearer. The last scarf is a white wool blended with a soft green dyed angora (bunny hair) it is knitted in an open pattern and the feel next to your skin is soft. This scarf will also get a loft as it is worn. All these items are currently for sale

Tams To the Left and Tams to the Right

These 7 different tams are all knitted using different types of fiber. The solid red is a mohair blend, The darker red hat is wool with a center that has plyed eyelash yarn in it. The pink hat is wool and silk, blue hat is mohair, wool, and silk. The green and brown hat has wool, angora(bunny) and natural wild silk. The next tam is a wool base that is space dyed with greens and pinks, it also has angora in it. and last but not least is the Jacob hat the dark outer edge is from a black spot on the sheep and the grey is from the outer edge of the spot where the white and the black mix together. All these hats are currently for sale

Grey Wool Jumper

This wool comes from a sheep called Houdini. I spun the wool with a soft woolen feel and a little on the heavy side. Even though the 2ply was bulky the wool itself is light weight and has a soft next to the skin feel to it. This sweater was used as a learning project for the South County Yarn Balls Knitting Group. The sweater is made without a pattern. Instead you use a math problem to make a perfect sized sweater no matter if the subject is small or large. This sweater would fit a large kindergardener to a small 2nd grader and is currently for sale for $60.00

Grey Wool Cable Hat and Mitten set

This wool comes from one of my favorite sheep Houdini. He is a cross bred sheep of jacob, corriedale, coltswold. He was a ram but was always a sweet guy since he had been a bottle baby. All that love went right into these Mittnes that were styled after mittens my NaNa gave me as a child. I made the hat without a pattern and used the cabling to bring the set together. These were my Christmas gift to myself. All spinner should treat themself to something special each year.

Eye Lash Sparkle Scarf

Emily Rose and her eye lash scarf. Although this blog is dedicated to hand spun I have included this picture of my niece with one of her Christmas presents. I used 2 strands of commercial acrylic yarn. One was sport weight the other eye lash in a bright pink. The scarf was knitted on size 10 1/2 needles using the garter stitch so the scarf wouldn't roll on the edges. Instead of fringe on the ends I used pre-strung beads sewn on satin ribbon. This made the scarf extra special because it was not only very soft but sparkling as well. I included a polar fleece head band and gloves with butterfly's done in sparkle as well

Mohair core spun scarf

This scarf is knitted with a mohair core spun on a wool yarn. The mohair locks were dyed using a casserole method. When dried they were hand teased and then core spun onto a 100%wool yarn. The scarf was knitted in garter stitch on large needles. leaving the color and texture of the scarf the noticeable factors. The scarf was completed with beads sewn on a satin ribbon then attached on the ends. Elena loved the gift from her Aunt Lisa and wore the scarf all Christmas day

5 Hour Baby Sweater: Tunis Wool

Little Miss Watson is looking fine dressed in her tunis wool 5 hour sweater and cap. The lace weight yarn makes it a perfect in-door sweater, without the worry of the child getting over heated. The softness of the spun yarn makes it perfect for next to the skin wear even on a baby.

Dottie's sweater

This is a very special sweater for my best friend Lisa. It is the first garment I have made for her using fiber from her own pet "Dottie" the sheep. The wool was spun in a medium weight 2ply. I had planned on weaving a rug with the fiber, because the raw fleece had quite a bit of kemp (a harsh hair like fiber within the softer wool fibers). Lisa expressed a wish for a wearable garment. I tried to discourage her thinking that this was not a "next to skin" yarn, but in the end compromised on a outer wear garment. Wanting the sweater comfortable, and wearable I went with a simple garter stitch on size 13 needles, using 2 strands of the 2ply wool. I made the collar and cuffs using one strand of wool and one strand of red merle Australian shepherd hair (2ply). The dog hair has a nice loft and in person almost gives the appearance of "fur" on the sweater. Lisa says there is no itchy feel to the sweater when wearing. Rene' her Great Pyrenees is hoping next year for Christmas he can supply the fiber for "mommy's" sweater

Tunis wool Baby Sweater

This sweater is made from 100% tunis fleece. I hand carded clean tunis wool and spun very thin single with a medium amount of twist. I plied the singles to create extremely soft 2ply baby yarn. I knitted this baby sweater using a free pattern downloaded from the internet.(the 5 hour baby sweater) I made some small changes when knitting the arms, but otherwise stuck to the pattern. The pattern included instructions for baby sizes and premie sizes. The sweater was shown at the New York State Sheep and Wool Show and placed 4th, a skein of matching wool placed 2nd. The sweater was made for a very special little boy Nathaniel Jefferson Belger that arrived into the world very early.

Malamute/Tunis wool sweater

This cabled sweater is also Kathy's from her other malamute Lucy. The sweater is an unique design just for Kathy. 2 single strands of 100% lucy hair were plied with a single strand of tunis yarn creating a balanced 3ply finished yarn. Although in pictures Lucy appears to be grey her undercoat reveiled her true color red. To match the beautiful cream color a tunis fleece was chosen. Tunis sheep are considered "red heads" they are born alburn and lighten as they age to a reddish creamy color. They retain the darked red color on their heads and legs.

Malamute/Jacob wool sweater

This sweater was created for a lovely woman named Kathy. Her malamute Buzz supplied us with over a pound of hair. The hair was blended with the wool from a jacob sheep. The resulting roving was then spun and plied to produce a sport weight yarn. This simple garter stitch sweater was knitted using two strands at the same time to achieve the required guage.

Special Dream Catcher

This Dream Catcher differs from my more traditional dream catchers. It has lavender satin ribbon woven around the ring instead of tanned leather. Several satin ribbons hang down from the conch on the left side of the dream catcher with small brass bells that emit a lovely tinkling sound when stirred by wind. Behind the conch there are ostrich feathers in natural brown and white. In the center of the conch is a blue teardrop crystal a sign of Grandfathers tears. On the top of the dream catcher is a goat skull hand painted with a lizard. The Native American animal sign for dreaming. Behind the skull are natural feathers from wild turkeys and snow geese. The web itself has fetishes and semi-precious stones woven throughout. Helping the good dreams in and leaving the bad dreams stuck in the web to be taken away by the light of day.

This dream catcher is for sale at $90.00. The stone in the conch can be replaced with an arrow head if buyer choose so. All dream catches are blessed and purified upon completion

Dalton and Issabeau

This is my Aussie with HIS cat a blue lynx point siamese

Newfy sweater

This sweater is a blend of Jacob wool and Newfoundland hair. The hair was collected from a black Newfoundland using the standard brushing method. Newfoundlands being a water breed have a coat that is water resistant. The natural oils that make this breed such a wonderful water rescue dog can also hold odors if not regularly groomed. Newfoundland's that you are planning to use as a fiber source should be groomed very frequently to prevent the oil from building up in the coat. The wool and dog hair fibers were processed by Zeilingers fiber mill. The fibers were washed then carded together making a roving with a very soft hand. The roving was spun with a nice 2ply sport weight yarn in mind. The sweater design is a simple one with three cables running down the front and a rolled crew neck. The design for was very petite woman. The vertical cables help create the illusion of height. Design work tends to get lost in sweaters designed with fibers that create halo's. Such fibers are mohair, angora, dog hair, some long wools and other exotic fiber depending on spinning methods used. It is very important to keep this in mind when planning a sweater made from these fibers.

Spinning to save a Breed

This blanket was made of 100% dog hair (australian shepherds). I asked volunteers from ARPH (Aussie rescue) if they could please send me the hair from dogs that were either in rescue awaiting a home or that had found forever homes. The response was amazing. I recieved hair from all across the US and even Canada. I spun the hair into 2ply yarn and knitted this blanket. The blanket was raffled at their National Breed show that year to raise money for rescue. There are 2 articles published in national magazines about this blanket. It appeared in Aussie Times, and Spin Off

spinning with dog hair

Many people get grossed out by the fact that I spin and use the hair from my dog for garments. The most frequently asked question is does it smell. The hair I use does not. I use hair from clean well kept dogs, however I am sure there are people out there that do not practice proper grooming edicate. I can not speak about their hair, or their personal odor. When spinning I prefer hair from freshly washed, undercoated dogs. The method to remove the hair is a force air dryer (no heat) This method only removed the dead undercoat and nothing else. It in NO WAY hurts the dog. My second method of collection is daily brushings. The second question asked is what if I'm allergic. I have never met a person allergic to hair (because we are covered in it) What they are allergic to is the dander from a pet. Once the fiber is removed and washed, the allergins are gone. This Vest, Sock, and hat set are made from aussie hair and won first place in shepherds lead at the Harvest Wool and Sheep show in Salem NJ