Next week in Albuquerque is the Fiber Arts Fiesta, and I want to go. I wish I had a friend who was into yarns and such. I have one who has taken up knitting, but she has a newborn, so I'm not sure if that's something she can handle.
Anyone in the area up for a field trip on Thursday or Friday the 21 or 22? I believe it's at Expo New Mexico, aka the fairgrounds. If you want to go, and I realize the chances of a fellow Duke City yarnie coming across this are small, contact me though the email to the right.
Showing posts with label yarn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yarn. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday, March 17, 2008
I learned to dye yarn!
I just took a class on yarn dyeing at Village Wools. I love Village Wools because it feels like a community and it has an entire building full of wonderful, quality yarns and an abundance of knowledgeable people.
My class was in hand-painted yarn dyeing. We basically took one skein of yarn and wrapped it on a warping board in such a way that it created three connected skeins. Then we dyed each separately. After it dries, you unwind it all and wind it back together as one skein. The end result is that all the colors stripe together.
There are a few lessons I learned. The instructor told us to use superwash wool because the color would take better, but I wanted to use a thicker yarn, and it wasn't superwash. That's why my colors aren't as vibrant as I would have liked.
I don't love this one, but I thought it was going to be more of a disaster after it came out. The little areas that connected the three separate yarn sections had colors that bled strangely and I thought it would look really obvious. But once you unwind and rewind it, you see that each of those parts is quite short and unnoticeable. It's just bad at first because they are all grouped next to each other. In the end, if there's a white spot or something weird, it might only be a stitch or two on a knitted product.
For this one, I was thinking "sun, water, earth." In the end, the colors aren't great together. If the brown were darker and the yellow lighter, I might like it more.
This one came out better. It's teal and golden ochre. (That reminds me of the Cat Stevens song "Angelsea" where he describes her "golden ochre hair" and I thought he was calling it "ogre" hair.)
My class was in hand-painted yarn dyeing. We basically took one skein of yarn and wrapped it on a warping board in such a way that it created three connected skeins. Then we dyed each separately. After it dries, you unwind it all and wind it back together as one skein. The end result is that all the colors stripe together.
There are a few lessons I learned. The instructor told us to use superwash wool because the color would take better, but I wanted to use a thicker yarn, and it wasn't superwash. That's why my colors aren't as vibrant as I would have liked.
I don't love this one, but I thought it was going to be more of a disaster after it came out. The little areas that connected the three separate yarn sections had colors that bled strangely and I thought it would look really obvious. But once you unwind and rewind it, you see that each of those parts is quite short and unnoticeable. It's just bad at first because they are all grouped next to each other. In the end, if there's a white spot or something weird, it might only be a stitch or two on a knitted product.
For this one, I was thinking "sun, water, earth." In the end, the colors aren't great together. If the brown were darker and the yellow lighter, I might like it more.
This one came out better. It's teal and golden ochre. (That reminds me of the Cat Stevens song "Angelsea" where he describes her "golden ochre hair" and I thought he was calling it "ogre" hair.)
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Hand-painted yarn
I took my first of two classes on hand-painting yarn today. It's taught by the lady who runs Scout's Swag online and held at Village Wools.
I naturally chose some ridiculous 500 yard skein that ended up being rolled into a ball that could bowl over a small village if released from atop a hill. I am now regretting that as I try to wind it all into a 3-section skein to prepare it for dyeing next week.
It's really interesting and fun so far, and I'm so excited to get to learn it.
Next month is my spinning class. That would be yarn spinning and not exercise spinning. I'd rather die than do the latter. And I'd rather dye than die. Yeah, that was stupid. I'm really excited for spinning, though, because I'm hoping to buy a spinning wheel. I've saved up money and Village Wools store credit from my birthday and may soon be able to afford one. They just start at $350-$400.
In the end, I hope to be able to create interesting yarns of my dreams without spending $50 on yarn for a scarf. Maybe I can even sell some, who knows.
((Dear Mark: So what if all my hobbies are for 90-year-olds?))
I naturally chose some ridiculous 500 yard skein that ended up being rolled into a ball that could bowl over a small village if released from atop a hill. I am now regretting that as I try to wind it all into a 3-section skein to prepare it for dyeing next week.
It's really interesting and fun so far, and I'm so excited to get to learn it.
Next month is my spinning class. That would be yarn spinning and not exercise spinning. I'd rather die than do the latter. And I'd rather dye than die. Yeah, that was stupid. I'm really excited for spinning, though, because I'm hoping to buy a spinning wheel. I've saved up money and Village Wools store credit from my birthday and may soon be able to afford one. They just start at $350-$400.
In the end, I hope to be able to create interesting yarns of my dreams without spending $50 on yarn for a scarf. Maybe I can even sell some, who knows.
((Dear Mark: So what if all my hobbies are for 90-year-olds?))
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Scrumptious textiles
I like to knit and crochet a little. I'm no expert, but it's fun to do. I love textiles -- be it yarn or fabric.
I've only recently discovered my love for luscious, natural yarns. If you just go to a chain craft store, you're going to have to choose from mostly synthetic, mass-produced yarns. They are evenly spun, evenly dyed, and to me they lack personality.
Once I stepped foot in Village Wools, I realized I could never go back. Local yarns, exotic yarns, fat yarns, skinny yarns, alpaca yarns, wool yarns. And naturally, synthetics, too. All these yarns are beautiful, but also so much more expensive. I'm currently making myself a wide scarf/narrow shawl from an alpaca/silk blend and I think it's going to cost me $50 in supplies -- never mind the time it takes to knit it. This is why a hand knitted or crocheted item made with nice yarn will cost you a pretty penny.
I especially love bulky wool yarn. Thick and chunky, with plenty of personality. They hold up well when you use huge knitting needles. They knit up fast and look so snuggly. But even better are bulky WILD yarns, like this one I drooled over and finally bought:
The colors are so dreamy together.
I like when some parts are spun skinny and some are spun fat, like this, which I also want to buy from etsy.com shop Hobbledehoy (click photo for link to item):
I am interested in learning how to spin yarn from roving, and also to hand paint it. Some beautiful, hand-painted yarns that I love include this one from etsy shop Jirbydesigns:
I hope that for my birthday I can get the gift of taking a spinning class at Village Wools, and maybe a dyeing class, too.
I've only recently discovered my love for luscious, natural yarns. If you just go to a chain craft store, you're going to have to choose from mostly synthetic, mass-produced yarns. They are evenly spun, evenly dyed, and to me they lack personality.
Once I stepped foot in Village Wools, I realized I could never go back. Local yarns, exotic yarns, fat yarns, skinny yarns, alpaca yarns, wool yarns. And naturally, synthetics, too. All these yarns are beautiful, but also so much more expensive. I'm currently making myself a wide scarf/narrow shawl from an alpaca/silk blend and I think it's going to cost me $50 in supplies -- never mind the time it takes to knit it. This is why a hand knitted or crocheted item made with nice yarn will cost you a pretty penny.
I especially love bulky wool yarn. Thick and chunky, with plenty of personality. They hold up well when you use huge knitting needles. They knit up fast and look so snuggly. But even better are bulky WILD yarns, like this one I drooled over and finally bought:
The colors are so dreamy together.
I like when some parts are spun skinny and some are spun fat, like this, which I also want to buy from etsy.com shop Hobbledehoy (click photo for link to item):
I am interested in learning how to spin yarn from roving, and also to hand paint it. Some beautiful, hand-painted yarns that I love include this one from etsy shop Jirbydesigns:
I hope that for my birthday I can get the gift of taking a spinning class at Village Wools, and maybe a dyeing class, too.
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