The Art of Spinning Wheel Maintenance

I'm fortunate to have a guy who's willing and able to tinker with new spinning wheels I acquire. This one was given to me recently by his mother.  With a little love, it should be up and spinning.  Until then, it sits looking pretty in my studio. 

My hometown Holiday bazaar.

I had fun selling my natural dyed handspun, a few shawls and other items at my local HEA Holiday bazaar.  I took my spinning wheel along, spun a bit, and made a lot of new friends...what a great day!  Thanks to all who came to say hello, and to those who wanted to take something home made by me. 

In gratitude, Babbs

Filemot shawl

Here is my finished Filemot shawl on display at The Yarn Studio in Casey, IL where I purchased the yarn, a merino-silk blend, Spud & Chloe Fine, in the Shitake colorway.  I loved making this once I got into the rhythm of the lace pattern, and was even able to work on it on a road trip to New York. 

The Yarn Studio loved it too, and shared it on their Instagram feed!

It's already packed away in a box for a very special person ;) 

Indigo socks

I seem to be on an indigo kick lately.  

These socks, made of sport-weight wool from the Sonoma coast (Bodega Pastures) that I dyed with indigo, took just over two months to complete.  See previous post for an explanation.  They are my own design which I made up on the fly, and I really do love them.  

These will keep my toes very warm in the upcoming colder months.  I worked them from the toe up, separately, until I reached the lace portion on the leg.  I then joined them, and worked them together on two long circular needles. 

Happy indigo toes!!!

An Alabama Chanin Handmade Wardrobe

My current obsession with creating all things Alabama Chanin has temporarily slowed down any  knitting progress.  I didn't see this obsession coming.  In fact, I bought a sewing machine recently, and right away bought a companion sewing book, Alabama Studio Sewing + Design.  I could have looked closer at the subtitle (A Guide to Hand-Sewing an Alabama Chanin Wardrobe) to realize that this book is all about sewing by hand, and there is nary a mention of a sewing machine anywhere among its beautiful pages.  Nonetheless, I picked up my needle and thread, dove straight in, and fell in love.
All of the patterns recommend using 100% Organic Jersey fabric which you can purchase from the Alabama Chanin store.  I need to hone my skills before cutting into something so special and pricey, and so I went to my local thrift store and bought several XXL men's t-shirts.  I used my seam ripper to cut them at the seams, and was able to harvest ample yardage to start on several small projects.  The first project is the Fitted Top, in navy blue jersey:
 

 

It was a joy to create.  The art of "slow sewing" is right up my alley.  

And the best part is, it fits!  And I love it!

The Blues - Dyeing with Indigo and Woad

I recently attended The Fiber Event at the Putnam Co. Fairgrounds in Greencastle, IN, and there was so much fibery goodness in one place I could barely stand it.  Two large barns were filled with vendors of fleeces, roving, dye supplies, equipment, notions, buttons, combs, wheels, carders, etc.... I met so many new people, and learned a lot.  Various workshops related to spinning, weaving, knitting, and dyeing were offered, and I took a course about dyeing with indigo and woad.  Below are natural dyed yarn samples from the dye work of one of the instructors, Kathy Sparks.  The blues in the center were most relevant to our class.  Kathy taught the portion of the class on woad, a plant with a long history for making the color blue. 

Kathy dips a yarn sample in the woad vat.

The indigo portion of the workshop was taught by Gina Crowder of Across Generations.  Though I have dyed with indigo before, this was a great refresher course.  Working with indigo requires practice and more practice.  It is a dance with the weather, temperature, exposure to oxygen, and proper manipulation of the fibers being dyed.  I purchased some supplies from Gina's booth, and will continue to practice in my own little dye studio, with hopes of becoming more proficient in the years to come.  Below are the samples I dyed in the class.  Clockwise from top left: linen, silk, wool, and cotton.  Each sample was dipped three times in the indigo vat.  The linen swatch clearly took the most dye, and the wool took the least.  It should have been the opposite!   

Below are some samples of overdyeing with woad.  Initially, the samples were dyed with dandelion (flower heads), daffodils (flower heads), osage orange (wood chips), and fustic (wood chips).  The result was a rainbow of the yellow, blue, and green spectrum.  My favorite (not pictured) was sample dyed initially with lichens, then overdyed with woad creating a soft teal blue-green color. 

I had so much fun, and will definately be back next year!  

Lace Stole

This ethereal lace stole was finished almost a year ago, and then packed away (for the move) and nearly forgotten!  Not to worry, it was packed away neatly in tissue paper, and will make many appearances this Spring.

Pattern specs:   

Georgiana Darcy's Fancy Shawl

by Karen Joan Raz

from Jane Austen Knits, Fall 2013

Unfortunately, I don't remember the specific yarn used, other than it was a lace-weight silk/alpaca blend, and it's beautiful.  The lace pattern was a breeze once repeated a few times, though at first it was a bit difficult to grasp.  The edging is a pattern I've worked before, but adding beads was completely new.  The beads are added both to look beautiful and to add weight to the edges and enhance the drape of the stole.  

Close-up of the beaded edging.  Each repeat contains five beads placed at the edge, over 200 beads in all.  Remember when I was working the beaded edging on an aiplane?  Now that takes dedication and courage!

Also, as you can see here, I use blocking wires to block my lace (and most other knitted projects).  They give me perfect results with minimal effort every time.   



This was a satisfying lace project, interesting enough to keep my focus and just difficult enough to push my limits and boost my confidence as a lace knitter.  And, of course, the result is quite satisfying!  I will enjoy wrapping this around my shoulders for years to come.