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