Mystery spin - three

So now that it is revealed here are the niddy gritty details.

Thrumbs -some Cotton & acrylic, but mostly wool or wool blend. total weight 3grams.

 lighter colored alpaca - I bought this second hand and it wasn't labelled as to what type of alpaca, it is softer than the one below. 30 grams.

 Darker colored - same label problem - it is harsher and thicker in texture than most alpaca I have worked with. 60 grams

 Lincoln longwool - some veg, clean but unprocessed otherwise. 55 grams

 brown sheep wool roving from Wyoming. 14 grams

 Mohair roving from the same mill in Wyoming near my Grandpa's house. 16 grams

 This is Correidale sheep's wool. I was very unhappy with this purchase as there was a huge (about a pound) ball of muddy yuck in the center of the fleece, I couldn't see it at the time of purchase. There was also a ton of veg - I am very tolerant as that goes but this was excessive. I will not be buying from this farmer again. I like spinning Correidale and this is courser than many I have worked with. 18 grams.

 This is Rose fiber, it is rayon made from rose stems, it is soft and flyaway and lovely. 48 grams

 don't forget the beads!

So here we are the Mystery Spin revealed. I am excited but honestly have no clue what to do yet. Still pondering, one viewer asked me to discuss how I will be addressing the differing stable lengths  and I sure will - after I figure out what I am doing. One current thought is sort them into two strands by stable length, ply them together and then autoply beaded thread around them. But I haven't decided.
 ~Julia

Back to work

I had a wonderful time at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool, and before that the Walworth County fair. My work and food exhibited well at the fair and I learned a lot at Sheep and Wool.
I took a plying for knitting class from Jillian Moreno and while none of the things covered were new, her twist on a few of them immediately improved my spinning control. She is fun and I enjoyed the class. I bought her book and she signed it for me.
I picked up a bunch of one ounce samples of different breeds of sheep's wool and other fibers and some flax to play with.
I didn't buy any raw fleece this time. I have been struggling with washing my backlog all summer. I made progress but not compared to my purchase/acquisition progress. I have nearly sixty pounds left to wash. I have a hard time not buying if it is a good price or a youth farmer. So this year, I didn't attend the silent auction -though I was prepared to help a friend get her heart desire, a clun forest-blue faced Leicester cross from a specific breeder, but she didn't need help. I did walk through the private treaty sale, but so late nothing tempting was left. The washing and the studio is getting an update this week thanks to my dad and my husband making process suggestions.

Dyepot

The girls when picking dandelions for me, then I sat and pulled all the green bits off.

 All that work to get just the yellow bits. I have 135grams and the girls promised to go pick more later this week. These are going it the dyepot today!

In Progress - 1st - Drying Time

I have been working on a
few fun things amidst the admin and the clean up work. A video will be coming out soon. This lovely Eiderwolle Sheep's wool is drying after the dyepot. This time, I used Mother Mackenzie's dyes and I LOVE the results in this wool! Hanging to dry there is a single skein on single ply soft yarn, spun thick thin with lots of air. This is my Confetti colorway.

You are getting a look into my kitchen today as the dye porch is entirely too cold to work in! -2 degrees! In fact I had to have the crock I dyed the wool in, in the house for several hours before I turned it on! After, I had waited my husband pointed out that I
could have just warmed it in cool then gradually warming water... Sigh.

I hope you like the new look for the site!

Happy Crafting and Stay Warm (or cool if you are on the flip-side!) ~Julia

Wool prep - Southdown

 Welcome to my kitchen! Today I started (with some help, Thanks!) to process a Southdown Fleece. This was 7.5 pounds of wool I purchased at Sheep & Wool this year. The farmer was a young girl who sells her fleeces to save up from college, Yep this is a Junior's fleece. I am a 4H leader and always extra happy to help a Junior. This is spread out all over my kitchen table. Basically, you pick through it, remove as much barnyard and yuck as you can. Then you sort it into piles, by size, or stress in the coat. I only found a small amount of second cuttings - this is when the shearer doesn't cut all the way down and has to try again resulting in much short lengths of wool that are generally not desirable - and very little sunburn or rubbing in the coat.

 I sorted into four basic piles. One was it has lots of tiny bits of VM (plant matter) that will require extra work to get out but doesn't have much tagging (fancy, sanitized way of saying yuck - sweat, urine, and lanolin all kinda of rolled into one -  matted into the fur but that is not so bad - or full of manure - you toss.) I call this my extra picking pile.

 My compost bin pile. All the VM and manure, and the bits of wool it is not worth it to try to clean along with my second cuts. Gardeners don't worry, it take years for my compost to make it to my garden.

 This is the good condition pile, I don't think this will take any extra processing to get this ready. So wash, rinse, rinse, rinse, dry, pick, card or comb, dye and spin or spin and dye.

 This is the extra tagged pile. I will wash and rinse this. If I like how it comes out I will proceed, if not I will pick it then start over at the washing. If I had a dedicated dirty picker I would start there, but I don't.

Here is a close up of the fiber and stuff in it. I spent about three hours sorting through this wool, my daughter's both helped for a few minutes and a friend helped while her little one allowed it. Entirely by myself it would have been at least another hour if not two.

In the works.

Blended wool being removed from Carder.

Un-dyed single on the wheel.

Upcycled sweater project - really enjoying some clothes rescue this spring.

Things are cruising right along here in the studio! Getting items made, labelled, and soon post to the web-stores. Some of you may have noticed that I was accepted at Harbor Market this year and will be at Garfield Farm Museum's Rare Breed Show and at Westosha Market! Looking forward to seeing the new location there. My dates for these shows is to the the right.

Excited about the coming Season!~Julia

Bunnies

Are not a good thing in my garden, but in my fiber they are great!

It is bluer and greener in person!

I blended Cormo wool, Angora (Bunnies,) and what my Daddy would call Found wool. That being wool you found in your studio and can't find a label or remember where it came from. It is good wool and a bit like finding money in an old coat pocket.

I dyed this twice in a green and then blue green acid based dye bath and love how it turned out, soft with a great hand, pretty colorway, and a bit bulky. I have not done wraps per inch yet or labelled it, but after those sarcastic critters, I am calling it Bunnies in the Garden.

Tree Butter & Forest Champagne

A new colorway for me, I am calling it Tree Butter.

This is acorn dyed Eastern Freisian wool. I bought the wool raw (ie really dirty) from the farmer. It is now washed, dyed, washed, picked, carded, and being spun up. I am really hoping that you like the colorway as much as I do.


From the same sheep we have Forest Champagne, it is dyed with Quaking Aspen leaves.

before picking

After picking

The Maw of the Dragon - aka the business end of the picker

Dangerous and painful sometimes

Preparing to card

In the studio, in the market

This is in process, I got this really, really dirty Cotswold fleece and after washing, picking, and carding it I started to spin it. It still had too much lanolin for me to be comfortable with so I stopped at a single and washed it again. It came out great. I am considering dying it now and plying it as a boucle or spinning the rest of the fleece and deciding then.

I have been working on a blind breed study with the ladies of my spinning guild. This one was fun to spin and knit. I am still not sure what breed it is but, it will make a great sweater.

This is another breed in the study and is soft and full.

This is a fun picture. The yarn is from the breed study, I am making it into a nice welcome mat. The sleeping cat is Racer, he is good company and well mannered enough to know that the yarn and roving is NOT a cat toy.

My both at the Westosha Market showcasing my new woven scarves. Also hats, hand-dyed roving in natural and acid Dye and some jewelry! That's Melanie in the back, she runs things at the market and is absolutely great with help and ideas.

Here is some of mine and some of Dad's amazing woodwork, he really knows how to let the wood speak for itself, shining the story of the life of tree into a functional bit of artwork. The crochet hooks are a dream to work with!

Very one needs a friend, someone to keep you company, talk you through the troubles in life, be there for the great things, convince you to let good of that which causes you no end of stress, inspire you to craft more and be the you you're meant to be, and watch your booth while you grab a lemonade or run to the bathroom. This is one is mine. Thank you Resee for always being there when I need you.

Notice the lemonade!

Some changes

Washed Cotswold wool

... and comes out the other side much cleaner and opened up.

Then I card it up.

Fluffy batt waiting to be spun.

The wool enters the picker...

I've been trying to decide what the right direction is for me as an artist, a businesswoman, and a Mom.  Hopefully the changes I am making will bring me closer to my goals. Check out the new market site. I'll be posting more show date as soon as they are confirmed.