Washed the fleece of an Icelandic lamb named Frenchi, ancient breed, very odd fleece, looking forward to working with it to see how it behaves:
Wed 23 Nov 11
Fri 18 Nov 11
Spinning – Willow and Bonnie
Taken off the bobbins:
Into a half-pound hank:
Close-up of mohair shininess:
Observations: Not sure my drum carder has the right number of teeth in the cloth, as much of the mohair ends up on the licker-in drum if not covered by a thin layer of wool when entering the teeth. In the future may need to consider a finer cloth on the drum.
Wed 16 Nov 11
Mohair-Wool Mix Batts
Observations: To properly mix the Willow the mohair goat with Bonnie, the Romney/Border Lesicester crosssheep, required 3 passes through the drum carder. After less-than-satisfying spinning, mixed/split the batts and recarded again – success. Approx. 40% mohair/60%long staple wool.
Mon 14 Nov 11
Drawing – Yak
Ordered yak fur to spin, so yaks were on my mind:
Observation: a drawing exercise recommended turning something you were working on 180 degrees, wherein I discovered my darks were inadequate.
Sun 13 Nov 11
Drawings – Eyes
First, eye straight on and sideways, putting all the outside forms around the globe of the eye
Second, sideways, slightly more fleshed out; pupil extends outward from eyeball
Third, locate in the skull
Observations: need to draw more and remember it is play.
Sat 12 Nov 11
Knitting – Entrelac Scarf
Got a few rows done on the entrelac scarf; about 2/3 done.
Close-Up of texture:
Composition:
Variegated squares: 2-ply, Handspun commercially-dyed Polwarth Combed Top; 2/3 Brown Suri Alpaca (no crimp) 1/9 Jenny (Border Leicester/Romney Cross) 2/9 Merino (local sheep, name unknown).
Brown squares: 50% Lydia the alpaca (huacaya presumed due to crimp) 50% Opal Border Leicester/Romney
Observations: Combed top is not as much fun to spin as something I prepared; commercially dyed top colors appeared different at home out of the package ( too much mixing was required to make the colors tolerable); suri alpaca requires an inordinate amount of mixing effort to be able to card; prefer to card and spin huacaya alpaca because it has some crimp; entrelac was difficult to learn but is quick and pleasant once it was figured out; entrelac is a good way to calm down variegated yarn; variegated yarn is too busy for my tastes.
Knitting – Learning New Mitten Pattern
First the test mittens made of commercial acrylic and cotton:
Second pair – given away before photographed.
Third pair: First mitten complete. Uses Natalie (light) and Opal (dark) Border Leicester/Romney Cross handspun.
Started second mitten:
Observations:
Learned stranded/two-color knitting, which makes for a thick, warm mitten; need to learn to spin more consistently, especially between different animals (Opal spun up much thinner than Natalie even though the staple length and breed are the same); fuzzy handspun requires simpler and larger motifs, as details are lost.
Felting – Needle Felt On Sweater
First try at needle felting. Tried on a ratty old sweater kept for painting/studio. Pics in order: Before, After, Close-Up to show dimensionality.
After:
Close-Up to show dimensionality:
Observations: Fabric failed to felt, apparently has less wool content than I thought; sweater is 80% dead dinosaur/20% angora, but that is apparently enough, and the embellishments penetrated well; non-wool items can be felted down with an overlay of felt (orange yarn over grey fabric).
Felting – Glass Case
First try at wet felting. Felted over existing plastic eyeglass case. Used wool drum carder waste, wool handspun, and commercial wool yarn. Clear case is an additional case – before felting.
Observations: Prefer to wear rubber gloves; fibre must be separated if reached for wet (cannot go back in the bag); need to spend longer felting; use less soap; add soap to make up for rinsing during hot/cold shock stage.
Spinning – BFL Blue Faced Leicester Lamb
Left to right, in order of fineness of preparation: 100% BFL/DrumCarder (wasteful); 50% BFL/50% Jenny Border Leicester/Romney Cross (loss of loft); 100% BFL/Hand Cards (difficult to card); 100% BFL/Combs – Best result, least loss.