Sheep to Shawl: Part II

So, I have pounds and pounds of (mostly washed) leicester wool (see Part I). What can I do with it all if I am uninterested in dyeing?

One lace shawl, coming up.

Moreover, I have been wanting to knit a tallit for awhile, but it is a big project that requires some motivation. The poetic interest of making a religious object "from scratch" has some appeal, and they are usually mostly white - so no dyeing required.

So, how do I get from pounds of wool to a shawl?

Washed wool ready to be processed

First off, even with the remaining gunk, the locks on this wool are a gorgeous white and long.

Six-inch leicester locks.

The longer the staple of the lock (length) the easier it is to make low-twist, drapey yarns that are perfect for shawls. Six inches is great.

The locks are too long for carding, so at first, I tried combing. But the remaining lanolin made it too "sticky" with the combs I had. It ended up snapping most of the wool, leaving only a quarter as usable.

My fiber combs

Next, I tried just using my flick carder.

My flick carder, or flicker

I kind of hate this tool, because of the way it tends to scratch up my hands when I use it. I wish that it had a blunt end, rather than than having the carding cloth go around the corner. But it opens up the locks beautifully.

Flicked locks

Just flicking the locks lets me spin with aligned fibers (which makes good knitting stitch definition) without mucking about with the combs. It also gives the little sticks and bits of grass a chance to fall out (the dreaded VM). Even though I put a cloth on my lap, it does mean that I look like I have been rolling around in mulch whenever I flick locks.

The one last question was what to do with the waste wool that gets pulled out by the flicker. I fold the lock over my finger when I flick to try to prevent loss, but there are always a few shorter hairs, and some tangles.

I have been making "dryer balls". These go in the dryer, and they supposedly save energy and make clothes naturally softer. Since they are felted, it doesn't really matter what the wool looks like, so I have been stuffing them with the waste. I haven't used them yet though, because I am waiting until I have enough to felt them in the washer.

Pre-felted dryer ball

It is about the size of a large orange. The yarn is an unsuccessful handspun made with some other waste wool.

Part III can be found here.

Sheep to Shawl: Part I

When I bought my Ashford wheel a few months ago, the seller asked if I would be interested in a leicester fleece. Apparently, she used to have a sheep, and had never gotten around to processing all of the wool. She sent along a picture of the sheep, who's name was Laverne.

Laverne the sheep

Of course, I jumped at the chance. Even though all the guides said to be wary of free fleeces (you usually get what you pay for) I knew that she was a hand spinner, so hopefully it wasn't too bad. At the time though, I didn't know about the volume that would soon be filling my small apartment.

It turned out that Laverne had produced three laundry bags full of wool, although, as you can see, she was a white sheep, not a black one. The first bag was washed, but had yellowed terribly, probably from sitting in some attic. The other two bags were unwashed, but had been sitting around long enough that the lanolin had hardened. Thus began my saga of trying (and mostly failing) to wash this wool.

Step one: a 24-hour soak in cold water to get out the dirt (and dung).

Wool soaking in the bathtub

Step 2: go out and buy soap to remove the lanolin. I bought Woolite gentle, although afterwards, I saw warnings that it wouldn't work. But they were for the regular Woolite, so I figured I would give it a try.

Step 3: wash with very hot water, the hottest that comes from the tap, and let sit in a bucket for 15 minutes first with soap, then two hot water soaks without.

Step 4: discover that the wool is still greasy. Decide that the problem is the soap, and buy several bottles of Dawn dish soap, as recommended by other fiber processors.

Step 5: repeat step 3.

Step 6: discover that the wool is still greasy. Decide that the problem is the heat of the water, and carefully add boiling hot water from the microwave to every part of step 3.

Step 7: discover that the wool is still greasy. Decide that the problem is the hardness of the water. Repeat step 3 with ammonia in the first soak, and vinegar in the second.

Step 8: discover that the wool is still a bit greasy. Give up and decide to spin "in the grease" and wash the yarn afterward.

Next up in part II: prepping the fiber to spin!

Quick Silk Update

Done with the silk yarn! (more details here)

And one more picture of it being stretched on the niddy-noddy before finishing:

Hopefully grandma likes her birthday present.

Odd Ends

The great hazard of being known as a knitter is that people will give you yarn. Some of it is beautiful, some of it is fugly, but all has a common trait: I don't have plans for it. Luckily, I don't live in a rural area, or I would probably get fleeces!

When I buy yarn, I almost always have a project in mind. It is usually vague, like "hat" or "socks," but there is a purpose. If I don't use it all, I may have random ends to add to my stash, but most of it has a purpose.

Yarn bought for the just-finished vest

More importantly, I inherited from my grandmother a dislike for "frou-frou" yarns. Yarns that have fringes, or ribbons, or beads. "Art" yarns.

An inherited "art yarn"

Frou-frou yarns can be good for scarves. They can be good for edgings. What they are rarely good for are making things I would actually wear.

They are mostly designed for beginner knitters. People who have finished a scarf and want to make another one (or a hat), but want it to look "fancy" without needing to do fancy stitches. As such, they are designed to hide stitch work as much as possible. Since I get bored with any project that is just stockinette or garter stitch, these yarns get stuck in my stash with nowhere to go.

Some other highlights of the unusable collection:

This came in a kit to make a "breast cancer awareness" scarf. I don't know anyone who would wear such a scarf, and the eyelash yarn can really be a pain to knit with.

This one was also part of a kit. To make an American flag themed bag (it came with a big red button). The yarn was just impossible to work with, frankly.

This one is not so bad, and I actually used it to make a throw that is still sitting in our living room. The problem is that I rarely like working with bulky yarns, so I have nothing to pair it with. Also, again, it tends to hide, rather than showcase, fancy stitching.

This one also isn't so bad. It is worsted weight, which I tend to use a lot. But the color-changes are arbitrary, and I'm not such a fan of the barber-poling effect. I also don't have a lot of it, so it would only work for a small project. It wasn't a gift: I found it under the bed in a hotel in a foreign country.

This stuff, I was able to make some gloves out of it. But there is just so much of it, and I tend to dislike acrylic yarns these days.

I saved the ugliest for last. I have no idea what I am going to make with this. I hate the color, and it is a bulky yarn.

Maybe there will be an update next year saying that I have used some of these in projects, but I doubt it.

Time to Block

A big recent accomplishment, and part of the reason I started this blog, is that I finished a vest. I had been working on this project (among others) for the past three years.

Wearing my new vest before it is blocked

This project took forever, but it was completely worth it.

One of the problems with being a hefty knitter is that making garments for yourself takes forever. Not only are the pieces larger (and therefore take more stitches) but anything made with bulky yarn just looks bad. So, to recap: large size clothing, plus thin yarn (and therefore smaller needles) =  projects that take forever to finish.

This project, definitely fits this description, being on size 5 needles (3.75 mm). Each row was approximately 230 stitches, so you can understand why it took three years. However, nothing compares with the pleasure of a) finishing a large piece, b) having a custom-sized piece of clothing, and c) reminding yourself that you are worth it.

This particular piece was based on a Japanese pattern: the Ripple Vest from Gosyo yarns. Japanese patterns are interesting, because they are based almost entirely on charts. And the chart symbols are standardized by the government, so naturally, they never include a key. Luckily, the internet provides, but deciphering took some work. Then, if that wasn't enough, increases and decreases are described in mysterious groups of three numbers. Apparently, 3-1-1 means to decrease every 3 rows, 1 stitch, 1 time.

Of course, the pattern did not include my size (another travail of heavy knitters) so I improvised. As you may imagine, some of it worked (it fits me), some of it didn't (the armholes are weirdly large). It didn't help that I didn't write anything down (do I ever?) and that I decided I wanted it to be knee length about halfway through the knitting.

Overall though, I am quite pleased with it, and I am submitting it to the Maryland State Fair for judging.

Of course, that means I need to block it.

Blocking is an important step for lace projects, opening up the holes and evening out the stitches. However, the vest is already a bit large on me, and if I do a full blocking with needles or wire the nice ridge pattern is likely to disappear. So I am doing a "light blocking". The yarn, which is a wool/silk/bamboo blend, will hopefully hold the blocking.

The process for a light blocking is thus:

1. Completely soak the piece in warm water. Let is soak for awhile. This not only gives a chance for the stitches to settle and even out, but it lets some of your hand oils and other dirt on the piece to come out.
2. Wring it out until it is no longer dripping.
3. Spread it out on a towel in the arrangement that you want it. You can let the holes be open, without completely stretching the piece, and the towel will hold it roughly in the shape you set while it dries.
4. Let it dry.

So, Before blocking (draped on a chair):

After soaking, spread out on the towel:

Now, I just have to wait for it to dry!

Spinning with silk

Lets's start this blog off with a project that I am currently working on (out of approximately six).

Last April I came into possession of about half a pound of hand-painted silk top from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks. The stuff is luscious, shiny, and amazingly soft: I would never have bought something so luxurious and expensive. But when I got my second spinning wheel off of Craigslist, the seller threw in a bunch of fiber, including the silk. Of course I couldn't say no to it.

I had never spun silk before, and, given that it was so expensive, I didn't want to ruin it by making unusable yarn. But something had to be first, so I bought a lighter drop spindle (since I heard the stuff was slippery) and started working with the top that had the ugliest color.

Hand-painted silk top

I know, it is not that ugly, but I have never been much of a fan of red.

In any case, I started spinning it in May. For the first time in my spinning life I made a small sample first and wrapped it around an index card so that I could keep the singles consistent from start to finish. Usually I am not so good at planning, and my projects tend to be a bit "free-spirited".  After making the sample, I split the top up into even thirds to make a three-ply. (For you spinning newbies, that means that I will spin 3 "singles" and then ply them together).

Spinning the silk was different from wool, but this form of silk is not so different that I didn't get the hang of it pretty quickly. The most interesting part was that I had never spun anything with such a long staple before (length of individual fiber) and it was amazing how loosely I could spin it without it drifting apart.

First single, with quarter for size comparison.

I spun it on a Shacht spindle that I picked up at the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival, and although this is my first project with it, I can already tell that it is weighted just right to just spin forever.

I've had a fair amount of time to spin this summer, so I finished my third single last week, after only a month of spinning.

I am currently plying. For this project I am making an effort to be careful and have a consistent plying angle, and not so tight that the silk loses its beautiful softness. There is nothing like spinning a gift to force you to pay attention to the details! If you gift yarn, you know that the recipient is going to run their hands through every single inch, and notice every flaw.

There has only been minor trouble though. Dividing the top in three did not work, and the first single is much longer than the others. I have had to cut the single and wind some of it onto another holder to try to use as much as I can (Andean plying bracelets only work for two-ply yarn). You live and you learn.

One last picture of its current state:

Plied yarn on spindle with lazy kate

As you can probably tell from the picture, I wind my finished singles onto drinking straws so that I can ply them. That beautiful tensioned lazy kate is from Yarnsanity on Etsy, though it looks like she has stopped selling them for the moment. Because of the string with the rubber band, the singles don't come out too fast and unevenly, making my job easier. Hopefully, I will be finishing this project soon. I'll keep you posted.

Edit: Finished yarn posted here.