Lockspinning Mohair yarn for a bulky art yarn full of texure. This is wonderful weaving yarn. Read more…..
Tag: Made in Michigan
Ocean Wave Textured Yarn Shawl AR1WP0001WEA
Ocean Waves Textured Shawl off the loom and finished. Handwoven from hand dyed handspun Textured yarn. Most of the Textured yarn is Lockspun from Leicester and Teeswater longwool locks.
This is me back weaving again after a long vacation from most of my looms. This my first one just off the loom. I thought I was going to hate the colors at first when I started to weave, but it is growing on me. I did try an experiment with 2 rows of nothing but locks to see if it will look great. I think it added some pizazz!
Still working on some of the last of a Border Leicester x Gotland lamb fleece, with some Teeswater and Leicester Longwool locks I have dyed up and ready to spin. All the weft is my handspun and hand dyed textured yarns. The two I used the most of in this weaving are Seabreeze Textured Yarn and Summer Forest Textured Yarn. The warp is some of my own homegrown merino and mohair left from my time out in Colorado. All the yarn that is not turquoise is lock spun from same locks in the 2 rows and plyed with a lace weight Angora rabbit yarn.
It was going to be either a shawl or a bag for my new 20 inch ocean drum. I could not make up my mind which until it was off the loom and depends on how it acts after being washed, fulled and dried. It took two days to wash, soak, dry and decide. I think it is a shawl.
Oceans Wave Shawl is now listed in the shop for sale. This is very unique Textured weaving that will not last long. There is only one. Shop link in the menu top. Direct link is HERE! The shawl is in the Wearables section. Hurry!
Now I have to warp up the loom and weave another because I really do need that bag for my new Ocean Drum.
Rolags, Blending Boards and Textured Yarn Spinning
I made a new colorway on my blending board of my Rolag Hybrid. I am calling it Silver Gray Sparkles.
Silver Gray Sparkles is a smooth sparkling rolag batt. No locks or chunky bits….just tons of sparkle and various smooth fibers. My Rolag is a hybrid of a layered batt and rolag.
I layer my fibers on my blending board without packing them down into the blending board teeth. I use the dowels to roll up the rolag without drafting through the inner fibers. I only draft at the end of the roll to secure the rolag closed. It is best spun from the end in 2-4 inch rolled up sections pulled off the roll while still rolled up. Picture taking a BIG piece of a jelly roll cake…but still rolled up. I have found sections larger than that a bit much to handle in my hand. If temperatures or humidity is high, there is a risk of felting that is possible while holding a large rolag for a longer period of time.
I let the rolag sit for a while trying to decide if I wanted to spin, felt or sell them. I decided to spin these all up this week into 2 large skeins. Each skein is a 2 ply and spiral plyed. Each skein has one of the plys as this silver gray sparkle rolag hybrid. It is a blend of numerous fibers such as Merino, Black Dyed Tussah Silk, Gotland, Masham, and White Firestar.
Each of the 2 yarns is one ply of the above rolag with the other ply being different in each skein. The lighter color skein was plyed with a 2 ply fine silk thread and done as an extreme spiral yarn. The darker skein was plyed with a handspun bamboo ply. Both skeins are a textured yarn with that homespun feel.
I am a bit stunned how intensely different the two skeins look and feel. The darker skein with the bamboo ply is very heavy weight wise. And with so much bamboo in it, it took forever to dry! I have been staring at them for a while now trying to decide how to use them.
I need help. What do you think?
I really think I want to weave a wider scarf on my 16 inch rigid heddle loom. But past that I am stuck.
I think if I use one skein for weft and one for warp that the difference between the skeins will be lost.
So do I warp up with :
1. A white warp and weave strips?
2. A white warp and weave 2 separate scarves?
3. A white warp and weave 2 scarves alternating both skeins and afterwards seam 2 scarves together and make a shawl?
4. A white warp and weave 2 scarves with just one skein in each. So have a light and dark scarves than seam those into a shawl??
5. A dark warp and than where the heck do I go?
6. Just keep staring at them and weave nothing?
See why I need help?? Comment below your thoughts.
Hygge Collection What is Hygge?
Hygge Collection is nearly finished. Are you ready? Want to see a few? Part is live in the shop already. So….. what is Hygge?
Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment. There is no direct translation in English, but hug and cozy are a start in the correct direction.
Pronounced “hoo-guh,” this Danish expression is an attitude towards life that emphasizes finding joy in everyday moments. Rather than drudge through the winter, hygge is about celebrating coziness, warmth and family, as well as practicing mindfulness.
I have always tried to have this sort of mindset being I usually have lived in locations with rather inclement weather. Born in Michigan, as a child I was mostly bundled up and outside building snow forts, burrowing tunnels through the snow. In the summer, I built my forts out of blankets and climbed up the trees and to the roof of our buildings.
As an adult while living in Scotland and later in a cabin in the Colorado mountains, I snuggeled down into sweaters, layers of clothes, blankets and scarves. I loved a bowl of popcorn while all wrapped up in a blanket, or a mug of hot cocoa with extra marshmellows please! Puppy dogs all around and snuggeled with me….pure Hygge.
Apparently, I have been living Hygge all of my life….before I even knew what it was. Older now, I try to make a point to Hygge. As adults, sometimes we forget to live in the moment. Breathe, relax, take pleasure in every day simple, appreciate, to be grateful…. To Hygge. This is what the Hygge Collection means to me and what I felt while creating it.