tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49321532780401969782024-02-19T04:09:48.290-05:00FaroeViking Handspun: Me Myself and YarnHandspinning yarn plus dyeing wool, felting, weaving, knitting OR How to avoid housework and other stories
FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-78584385753896891752014-08-15T16:53:00.000-04:002014-08-15T21:13:13.447-04:00How Far Would You Go for a Fleece?<div class="WordSection1">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB">This was originally an article I wrote for a spring 2014 edition of the Ottawa Valley Spinners' and Weavers' Guild newsletter</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">I began
spinning some six or seven years ago ... I think. Time has come to do weird things in my mind
these last years. My life seems to have
divided itself into three chunks: before I had kids, after I had kids, and when
I was a kid myself --</span><span lang="EN-GB"> not necessarily in that order, and
the most recent chunk is the one of which my recollections seem the least
clear. But learning to spin came after I
had kids. And as time passes and I find
out more and more about spinning and how much there is to it that I don't yet
know, I kind of feel more and more like a beginner and less and less like I
have any idea what I'm really doing, apart from the fact that I'm having a good
time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>One of my very first skeins of yarn - alpaca with banana fibre</b></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And like
many spinners wending their way through this particular corner of the world, I
have found that I really and truly enjoy the whole process, taking the fleece
right from the sheep (well, right from the farmer who has taken it from the
sheep) and going through the whole washing, dyeing, combing, spinning she-bang. That's really the attraction, more so than
the finished product. People ask,
"And what will you do with this when you're done?" and I have no
sweet idea. Okay, sometimes I do. But generally that is never the point. Give it, sell it, weave it, knit it, add it
to my collection of handspun yarns that some day I'll do something with --</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> whatever. I'm not someone who plans ahead. I spin to enjoy the moment. Here I am, the wool is in my hands, could
life get better than this? To others be
the dry contemplation of the future.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Experimenting with solar dyeing - after spending a hot day on our sunny back porch wrapped in black garbage bags, the wool came out beautifully dyed</b></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My
discovery that there are many ropes to learn in the fleece-buying world will be
news to no one. Like everyone else, I've
spent a lot of time looking in all the usual places for raw fleece I want to
work with --</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> something that's not too harsh and
not too short and not so awfully vm-y that it will make me cry. It's nice to buy local; it's nice to buy
cheap. I've bought from near and I've
bought from far, online and in person, and my children and husband are getting
used to weekend drives involving stopping off at a farm somewhere and meeting
the sheepies. And I've made a lot of
terrible fleece mistakes. (Ah, the
stories I could tell...) As I said, I'm still learning and I have far to go. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Drying fleece along with the laundry - a purple day</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">Some years
ago I came across <a href="http://www.ruppertscorriedales.com/" target="_blank">Rupperts' Corriedales</a> in Pennsylvania. They've cross-bred their Corries with
Australian Corries and they coat some of their flock for sale to
handspinners. They don't post pictures
of their fleece online as some farms do, but you can write in and get on their
waiting list and they'll send you a description of what's available when they
shear. Maybe three or four years ago I
bought my first smallish fleece from them.
It was beautiful --</span><span lang="EN-GB"> lovely long staple, on the soft
side, and so clean and marvellous to work with.
It was my first coated fleece --</span><span lang="EN-GB"> and you never forget your first coated fleece. But that box of fleece got a major ding in
custom service charges crossing the border, holy smokes. Not custom charges, not GST, it was just a
service for transporting it through customs.
Ouch. Two years later, I bought
two more fleeces from them, a Corriedale and a Cormo-cross, and this time they
tried mailing it differently in hopes of missing the custom service charge --</span><span lang="EN-GB"> no luck, again a major extra
expense. So even though those fleeces were
amazing, even though they brought nothing but joy to my life, I had to come to
terms with reality and I promised myself:
never again. "Never
again," I told my husband.
"Never again," I said to the Rupperts' Corriedales
website. "Never again," I told
my empty bag of Corriedale fleece. I
just can't afford being fleeced for fleece.
Plus, I have a ton of fleece now.
A ton. What do I need with more
fleece --</span><span lang="EN-GB"> even if it's irresistably beautiful
and brings joy to my life?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Raw Cormo fleece from Rupperts' Corriedales - so clean and beautiful it hardly looks lived in</b></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then early this spring I got an email from the Rupperts telling me they'd done their
shearing and I was at the top of their waiting list and had my pick of the
crop. Inexplicable surprise. How did that happen? There was only one explanation: the fleece fairy had struck again! I knew it was a sign from the Spinning Powers
that Be, and one that shouldn't be ignored.
It's just not wise. So I went and
explained to my husband about the fleece fairy, and suggested it was probably
his idea that we could drive down and bring back the fleece ourselves rather
than pay that ridiculous custom service charge, and wasn't he clever to think
of it in the first place. He agreed (he is a clever guy, that's why I married
him), and Easter weekend we drove down to pick up the two fleeces I'd chosen
from my glorious position at the top of the waiting list: one Corriedale ram
and one Cormo ewe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Equally clean and beautiful raw Corriedale fleece from Rupperts' -- such a contrast in character from the Cormo</b></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The farm is
just outside Gettysburg, so to make it seem more like a family weekend road
trip and less like spending a long weekend going to a farm really far away so Mum
could satisfy her bizarre wool addiction, we decided to drive direct to the
farm on Friday, meet the family, love the sheep, get the fleece. Then Saturday morning would be an
educationally satisfying exploration of Gettysburg, and Sunday a visually stimulating
scenic drive up through the Adirondack mountains.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Washed Corriedale locks - it doesn't come out well in the pictures, but these locks are more lustrous than the Cormo, and although they're wonderfully soft for Corriedale wool, Cormo is especially super-soft</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihphUTKkK4kgHaDHdR5HUt_U_8HG9atMqCXTZFTXYabnebrBRTJjNE0i5qxziKbWSi3QnYSMTw5qs9zRquf-8L2NoFXZ9vq96HslwAL18vObGdtT_8zZ2oXz7-ycyFAtmhxO1mep6LD8qh/s1600/1-P1080422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihphUTKkK4kgHaDHdR5HUt_U_8HG9atMqCXTZFTXYabnebrBRTJjNE0i5qxziKbWSi3QnYSMTw5qs9zRquf-8L2NoFXZ9vq96HslwAL18vObGdtT_8zZ2oXz7-ycyFAtmhxO1mep6LD8qh/s1600/1-P1080422.JPG" height="596" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Washed Cormo locks - soooooo soft and fluffy</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">Alas. Although we'd counted on a certain delay
crossing the border, we had no idea it would take so long just to get through
the toll booth to cross the bridge to get to the border. ("What, you don't have sheep in
Canada?" asked the border official.)
We didn't arrive in G'burg until 8 pm, after dark. It wasn't an unpleasant entrance: the main
street is all quaint historic buildings and lined with pear trees which
happened to be in full majestic blossom, lit by old-fashioned street lamps, so
we had a spectacular drive around town.
But the kids were tired and wanted to stay at the hotel, claiming they'd
seen enough sheep farms for one lifetime, anyways. (Ha!
dream on, my pretties.) So my
husband and I bravely set off in the dark and picked our way through
complicated country roads with few road signs and no lighting to speak of and
somehow managed to find the farm.
Clearly, the fleece fairy was still smiling kindly down on the
expedition. Didn't meet the sheep --</span><span lang="EN-GB"> didn't even meet most of the family
because they'd had to go out --</span><span lang="EN-GB"> but there were my fleeces, all
bagged up and ready to go. Mummy's here,
my darlings!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOx9gOUCGj9dYkcmAPxIhnbFqT4izEZHe0B_eo1EAyEdqWpOwNf1tQc8atzv2LASWV-K0jZYUFeZE5FWn98Ta852O6KDmSH3JG2oEQWNS_ve-p8Xf2H8rlWFCc3VeS05qiZuscwwqt0wQ/s1600/1-P1080424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOx9gOUCGj9dYkcmAPxIhnbFqT4izEZHe0B_eo1EAyEdqWpOwNf1tQc8atzv2LASWV-K0jZYUFeZE5FWn98Ta852O6KDmSH3JG2oEQWNS_ve-p8Xf2H8rlWFCc3VeS05qiZuscwwqt0wQ/s1600/1-P1080424.JPG" height="380" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Combed top ready to spin - Cormo (left) and Corriedale (right)<br />You can kind of see that the Corriedale top is shinier than the Cormo</b></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the
rest of the trip? Well, it
happened. And whatever was going past
our car windows on the outside, inside my brain was the constant refrain,
"Beautiful fleece, all mine, all mine!
Beautiful fleece, all mine!" And then at some point we arrived home
again.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Spun and triple-plied - Cormo (soft and stretchy) on top, and Corriedale (soft and lustrous) on the bottom</b></span></td></tr>
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FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-42378534961748225562014-08-11T08:12:00.002-04:002014-08-11T08:12:44.479-04:00Weaving with Faroese Wool: An unfinished blanket story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Something else I've been keeping busy with this past year is a project I've been meaning to get around to for a long, long time. Some years ago o</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">n a trip to the <a href="http://faroeviking.blogspot.ca/p/faroe-islands.html" target="_blank">Faroes </a>I bought several skeins of very fine-weight Faroese wool singles (unplied wool, 6,000 m/kg). It's spun in the natural colours of the sheep, and they leave in a fair bit of lanolin so the skeined yarn is kind of stiff-ish. I'd bought yarn there in the past for a sweater, and when I got it from the store the white yarn was almost yellow and it felt -- well, it felt and smelled very lanoliny. Not a bad smell -- actually, I like it -- but not generally what you expect from store-bought yarn. It was easy to work with, however, and once my sweater was finished and washed the wool was snowy white, beautiful, and oh so warm.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Spools of Faroese yarn against the border of my blanket</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wanted to do something different this time, though, something woven and blanketish, so I got the superfine singles instead of heavier sweater yarn. I thought the extra lanolin would make the yarn really easy to work with on the loom. And aren't these colours amazing? Speaking as someone who loves dyeing wool and coming up with new kinds of purple, I have to say </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am mesmerized by the natural beauty of these browns and greys and how they look together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The yarn company is called </span><a href="http://www.sirri.fo/home.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Sirri</a>. <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's their label:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's impossible not to notice in the Faroes that the people there are very connected to their land and their history. It's one way they have managed to continue to preserve their language and culture, which in these days of Internet connectedness and general homogenization would be so easy to lose. I can't help thinking this pride in their heritage is evident right in the yarn label, which itself is very (to me) charming, printed in brown ink on light brown handmade-looking paper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And I love the nostalgic poem on the back - I wish I could understand the Faroese; it's probably better than the English translation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So back to the wool. Standing in the store hovering over the bins of yarn, I didn't have a plan in mind. I just saw yarn I loved and wanted to have and use, with no possibility of going away, thinking a project through, and returning later to make a purchase. So I just got several white skeins and then one or two each of the other colours and left the planning until later. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I got home and turned my mind to it, however, and really checked out the yarn, I found that it wasn't going to make a good warp. A basic warp strength test is to take a length of yarn and give it a yank to see if it holds together. This yarn pulled apart easily. Really easily. It was kind of devastating, because I had my heart set on weaving with it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Something else I had to come to terms with was the fact that it really wasn't very soft. In fact the opposite; it's pretty scritchy. In this close-up below of the strands of yarn -- the four on the right are my Faroese wool -- you can see how they might not be entirely soft, with those thick strands of wool sticking out. Some of the Faroese yarn wasn't very evenly spun, as well -- which is okay, much of my weaving and spinning involve yarns that aren't evenly spun. It gives an effect to the finished work that I really like. Still, in some places it got really very thin, and I knew I'd have to do some finagling to keep the yarn intact in the weaving, lest the structural integrity of the fabric be compromised.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1p8_KjwhpfBG5tPVFIv0CrLvmwiO1XHb0mN1Al8fRcZUiNyi3u1PIsQDvveg-1BQPzUIQImxl5HROl0DE40RYKJJu-uBei3f-Hf7LvJqr_QP-9X9p5vomVO-q_4ZbDpV8H8f_qqqK9cDx/s1600/1-P1080264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1p8_KjwhpfBG5tPVFIv0CrLvmwiO1XHb0mN1Al8fRcZUiNyi3u1PIsQDvveg-1BQPzUIQImxl5HROl0DE40RYKJJu-uBei3f-Hf7LvJqr_QP-9X9p5vomVO-q_4ZbDpV8H8f_qqqK9cDx/s1600/1-P1080264.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #351c75;">Yarn on the left - Alpaca/Silk 2/14 yarn from </span><a href="http://www.mbrassard.com/produits-ang.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d;">Maurice Brassard</span></a><span style="color: #351c75;"> - the warp</span><br /><span style="color: #351c75;">Four yarns on the right - my beautiful Faroese yarns - the weft</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I was going to need a warp, and I wanted something about the same thickness as the other yarns, but much stronger and hopefully much softer to offset the scritchiness of the coarser Faroese wool. I chose this <a href="http://www.mbrassard.com/cartes-couleur/carte-alpaga_soie_2013.pdf" target="_blank">Alpaca-Silk</a> yarn from <a href="http://www.mbrassard.com/produits-ang.html" target="_blank">Maurice Brassard</a>. I hoped it would show off the colours of the weft nicely - although more subtly with the white.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The chosen warp -- the "white" Faroese yarn looks creamy yellow in comparison, because of the lanolin left in the wool</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'd decided to weave a twill pattern both for a nice hang to the fabric, and because there are so many patterns to choose from that would allow a colour contrast between weft and warp threads. Because of the width of my loom (45") I was going to weave the blanket in panels and sew them together. Rather than trying to match stripes of weft colour changes in the panels, I decided to plan "random" stripes of solid colour that wouldn't align. As I looked at patterns I became fascinated with trying an undulating twill -- which, as the name suggests, is a twill with a wavy effect in the pattern. In the end I chose one from Anne Dixon's <i>Handweaver's Pattern Directory</i>, on p. 199, changing the treadling with each colour change. I sett the 2/14 warp yarn at 15 epi for a light, airy fabric.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>At each end of the panels I wove a stripe with the warp yarn. You can still see the pattern, even white-on-white. </b></span><b style="color: #351c75; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because the fabric on the loom is under tension, there are holey gaps. Once it's off the loom and washed, those holes mostly disappear or at least get considerably smaller as the threads come together and form a piece of cloth.</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Off the loom and washed</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It wove up fast and as always it was a joy to see the pattern reveal itself in the contemplative back and forthing of the shuttles. I love the way the undulating pattern gives a depth to the fabric. I'll definitely be exploring undulating twills in future projects. There are some really nice ones in Helene Bress's <i>The Weaving Book</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, the white Faroese wool wound up washing so white after I got it off the loom that there's very little contrast with the warp. Still, you can see the pattern, and the fabric is really light and airy just as I'd hoped. It will be a lightweight but warm blanket. In places where the weft yarn was spun really uneven and got too thin for comfort, I broke off the yarn, cut out the thin part, then picked up where I left off. I probably had to do that 10 or 12 times altogether, but only with the dark brown wool, so I wonder if it was just a bad batch or something.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Close up you can see what makes the undulating pattern: the warp threads are sometimes grouped or repeated in twos and threes through the same shaft, instead of changing shaft with each thread. In those places the angle of the pattern lines made by the weft changes to a more gradual slope, giving a wavy effect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because of a really ridiculous math mistake in calculating how much weft yarn I had, there's loads and loads of yarn left over. I can easily weave two more panels for a larger blanket, so I think that's what's going to happen. The alpaca-silk was wonderful to work with as a warp -- soft and strong -- so I'll get more of it for the other panels, but I think I'll get a light brown colour for more pattern contrast with all four of the weft yarns, and when I sew the panels together I'll alternate them white-brown-white-brown. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The vagaries of photography turned this white fabric silver - ah well, at least the pattern shows up well!</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So this is an unfinished tale -- I have two more panels in my blanket left to go. That means it won't get done until I finish my current exciting project which I have yet to write about, and then some tea towels I have in mind that I'm looking forward to doing, then possibly a bath towel, and then a blanket for my son in natural grey handspun, then, hopefully, there will be time ...</span><br />
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<br />FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-39223110563496398012014-08-09T11:43:00.000-04:002014-08-11T08:17:17.502-04:00Weaving Blankets with Stash Yarns<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been busy weaving blankets and towels these past months, mostly mostly working on one major project, a taste of which I present below.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Right now on my loom, luring me away from my desk to weave a bit more ...</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But first things first. This entry is about what I was weaving BEFORE I started what you see in that picture above. I've been so taken up with my projects and life in general that I have been neglecting to share my experiences with the outside world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I inherited my grandmother's counterbalance loom some years ago, a <a href="http://www.leclerclooms.com/cat_leus/08_15-16.pdf" target="_blank">Fanny Leclerc</a>. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love this loom. It is special to me because it was Grannie's and</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> she was one pretty amazing person. Sometimes when I'm weaving, I feel like I'm visiting with her. I often wonder what she would think of what I'm getting up to. I'm pretty sure she'd shake her head and laugh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much as I loved this loom, it is old enough not to have a <a href="http://www.camillavalleyfarm.com/weave/loomoptions.htm#4" target="_blank">shed regulator</a>. Even though it's possible to do many, many things on a counterbalance loom without one, I kept finding things I wanted to try that I couldn't, and it was always on my mind that if only I had a shed regulator it would be sooo perfect and how will it be possible to survive without one ... so this year I got an excellent birthday present ...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #351c75;">The shed regulator is added onto the top of the loom - all the lighter-coloured wood - to allow for an uneven shed, so instead of always raising combinations of two </span><span style="color: #351c75;">shafts, I can now raise just one or three. A shame the wood colour doesn't match perfectly, but given that it's been added a good 50 years after the loom was bought, </span><span style="color: #351c75;">it's amazing that Leclerc has kept their specifications so perfectly that I can buy a new piece this way. Also, the different colours remind me of my loom's history</span></b></span><b style="color: #351c75; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and I am pleased. I can't figure out why it works, but then I don't really understand why or how my telephone works, either. I just accept it and am thankful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was finding my yarn stash was becoming a little overwhelming, and I decided to weave some small blankets. We don't overheat our house in the winter, and at night curling up in front of the TV it's nice to have a blanket to get cozy under. I figured it would be a fun way to experiment with putting colours together and seeing how different yarns behaved on the loom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's not the first time I've done this. There's this throw blanket I made entirely from small skeinlets of leftovers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCrjkSIilAwidtXaFYrtuVc6LnroaTDzsjuMOst1lRNfzGZg3XRRwrqGZI5oaQNoS0SPnZeGAY69RNrbJZFEcJZBXPuYXkJd1E86BfGstS5cyTro812sp35HryMyuHirFVIusak8_T6se/s1600/1-P1080404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCrjkSIilAwidtXaFYrtuVc6LnroaTDzsjuMOst1lRNfzGZg3XRRwrqGZI5oaQNoS0SPnZeGAY69RNrbJZFEcJZBXPuYXkJd1E86BfGstS5cyTro812sp35HryMyuHirFVIusak8_T6se/s1600/1-P1080404.JPG" height="253" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCF-hxCSQpwaG4algbS0DayjIMwkbohNe0yLMimXy1WE7BRPyqgmk3khK_C1CAwpYYeks3EsVaQJSCE0xlNuehr5EWLZx1KjFIaomfhjiftqalj5MN4dFCFa9HQTI3yaEzBq5-FW0UzOM/s1600/1-P1080403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCCF-hxCSQpwaG4algbS0DayjIMwkbohNe0yLMimXy1WE7BRPyqgmk3khK_C1CAwpYYeks3EsVaQJSCE0xlNuehr5EWLZx1KjFIaomfhjiftqalj5MN4dFCFa9HQTI3yaEzBq5-FW0UzOM/s1600/1-P1080403.JPG" height="231" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The warp is mostly leftover Harrisville with a bit of other yarns thrown in. It was so fun just randomly choosing my next stripe and weaving until I wanted to start something new. It's not huge, just big enough for a 10-year-old to lie down under, and plenty large to wrap around a big person.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also did an all-yellow experiment, a giant shawl made from taking out my box of yellow yarns and just following my heart. I love yellow; it's always been one of my favourites.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Closeup of the shawl - I mixed fibres as well as yarn types.<br />Not woven too tight, so it has a nice drape.<br />It's much brighter in real life, I just can't capture it with our camera.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I went through my stash looking for inspiration, I came upon several balls of lopi a friend of mine gave me from a Fair Isle sweater that she'd always intended to make but never did. I'd never used lopi as a warp before, and was a bit leery that it would just break, given that it's spun with such a low twist. It worked just fine (although there was a lot of lint on the floor under the loom by the time I was finished). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were two colours, navy blue and a dusty turquoise-green. The challenge was designing a blanket that didn't need more warp than I had from the sweater yarn. I alternated the colours in six-inch stripes, sett at 6 epi. I love the difference in the weft colours as they move from one warp stripe to the next. It totally changes what they look like. Amongst the weft yarns you can see here are a few skeins of <a href="http://www.noroyarns.com/v2/en/html/yarns.html" target="_blank">Noro</a> yarn and some handspun.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6frki8INRz-1mPozHF992ZC-pKAzQks9sae0VxKfu_8HBIdozGhT8ZZDoS-HxVhMjjXD2C3hix9f5U_ZgVe6TCYsJzmdHDog4aCXN7thzSHtGvfy7_vc6iEq_sJxGkSKQivmiCMycoCXW/s1600/1-P1080401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6frki8INRz-1mPozHF992ZC-pKAzQks9sae0VxKfu_8HBIdozGhT8ZZDoS-HxVhMjjXD2C3hix9f5U_ZgVe6TCYsJzmdHDog4aCXN7thzSHtGvfy7_vc6iEq_sJxGkSKQivmiCMycoCXW/s1600/1-P1080401.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>The blanket was woven in two panels each 23 inches wide. The centre of this photo shows the seam where I sewed them together to make the blanket.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I used a skip twill pattern because I wanted to show off the colours more than the actual patterning of the weaving.</span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqknpu8uJT7LrydCW0zj4-xffBbRS8f28ImhgLZ01Jz956QxoHmFK3NqbGbK4FGZgLqYhIZxI0xoPr2Yf_soC-bBIdEpzMDJ38oKZvqmD0SDtPCRI8-ja9lKGU5iiWmzA_TaR1qJqncDz-/s1600/1-P1080402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqknpu8uJT7LrydCW0zj4-xffBbRS8f28ImhgLZ01Jz956QxoHmFK3NqbGbK4FGZgLqYhIZxI0xoPr2Yf_soC-bBIdEpzMDJ38oKZvqmD0SDtPCRI8-ja9lKGU5iiWmzA_TaR1qJqncDz-/s1600/1-P1080402.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>After washing, the yarns really pulled together nicely into the blanket fabric.<br />It's really warm and solid but has a nice drape, so I think the sett of 6 epi worked out okay.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's just the right size for laying down under on the couch. I guess some sweaters were never meant to be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also had a whole lot of pinks in my stash, most of it <a href="http://www.briggsandlittle.com/" target="_blank">Briggs & Little</a> that I had picked up here and there. They made the warp in my next project.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcI4yjKvkXQ6M7kPmxQhj4uut1Jo4d-MisPZeGA2YMVwHhXolNCXYM5e8sgzowWZa9e5y1K7Qq8ynOl-0W79DI1lORMXBJYa8T_ca8sojhm89osUBMSUctyoy_JQLlSQ1wnAAq-_Mzo4I/s1600/1-P1080176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcI4yjKvkXQ6M7kPmxQhj4uut1Jo4d-MisPZeGA2YMVwHhXolNCXYM5e8sgzowWZa9e5y1K7Qq8ynOl-0W79DI1lORMXBJYa8T_ca8sojhm89osUBMSUctyoy_JQLlSQ1wnAAq-_Mzo4I/s1600/1-P1080176.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Different pinks of about the same weight. </b></span><b style="color: #351c75; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm pretty sure that pink and grey yarn on the front right </b><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>is from my first tapestry weaving class </b></span><b style="color: #351c75; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">when our instructor was teaching us to dye yarn.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the weft I picked out several skeins of beautiful, soft yarns I'd gathered over the years. There's a lot of <a href="http://www.mistialpaca.com/about/" target="_blank">Misti Alpaca</a> yarn of various sorts</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">as well as some gorgeous baby llama boucle handpainted by the <a href="http://fleeceartist.com/colours.html" target="_blank">Fleece Artist</a> (top left), some lopi in a fabulous pink left from a sweater I made as a teenager (what ever happened to that, by the way? I loved that sweater! I'm sure I lent it to one of my sisters....) and some handspun. I couldn't wait to put all these colours together. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQUkGQB96u56BLi9z1ExGLrXAsuSpZ74eg9KLIIFh1Z5sxJP_X17ThZxQDOXsySp0B0pS2sn2O2YZMwGK-x4EvleRUHmMDen9EHLW6rEDDGt-7aIhOMfxibP-xF9SfoEXaAnKdAKQwNQLT/s1600/1-P1080183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQUkGQB96u56BLi9z1ExGLrXAsuSpZ74eg9KLIIFh1Z5sxJP_X17ThZxQDOXsySp0B0pS2sn2O2YZMwGK-x4EvleRUHmMDen9EHLW6rEDDGt-7aIhOMfxibP-xF9SfoEXaAnKdAKQwNQLT/s1600/1-P1080183.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wove the blanket in two panels 32 inches wide in a skip twill, with a warp in random stripes of pink. I changed weft colours at my whim.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElnxMZZnIYL1voGNLAWvnIbnegev4kBFWG8cPWddh5s16Z6p-6Nuo2Et2ozC0dOQi_DDy9FLY_38pKeeKbaxPeBIdECZrD-LzuY80W4DyxizozlE-rQtxnbXFi2gxlVn67WNxu8PF6KQU/s1600/1-P1080181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElnxMZZnIYL1voGNLAWvnIbnegev4kBFWG8cPWddh5s16Z6p-6Nuo2Et2ozC0dOQi_DDy9FLY_38pKeeKbaxPeBIdECZrD-LzuY80W4DyxizozlE-rQtxnbXFi2gxlVn67WNxu8PF6KQU/s1600/1-P1080181.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Given that the whole point of this exercise was to use up stash yarn, I'm really happy with the colours. If I were starting out fresh, I probably would have used something else for the warp - the colour I had the most of could have been better. Still, it's a great blanket, very snuggly and just the right size for a single bed. My daughter loves it.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyHKq6SjkxuwLwJlGUPh7SN0ACqGQvX0ZSCsb8X50ruCazM292FtDMVeOQ1vDqmV2N9td0qT33MqadLdQzqL2NiStEWtr83aW4awcLSKqk6LVGLgNvpkhaXp9VUtLV8JfoKWkhSTLQBYX/s1600/1-P1080396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyHKq6SjkxuwLwJlGUPh7SN0ACqGQvX0ZSCsb8X50ruCazM292FtDMVeOQ1vDqmV2N9td0qT33MqadLdQzqL2NiStEWtr83aW4awcLSKqk6LVGLgNvpkhaXp9VUtLV8JfoKWkhSTLQBYX/s1600/1-P1080396.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>This photo shows the seam running up the middle of the blanket between the two panels.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One comment I would have is that I'd never used Misti Alpaca yarns before. I bought those skeins because I saw them somewhere for a good price and couldn't resist the colours. I have to say now that the blanket is in use, they pill and shed outrageously. It's actually remarkable how much fibre that blanket loses from those yarns. They make for super-softness, and they're lovely to hold and work with, but I don't think I'll use them on anything practical in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now time to get back to my loom and the current project I showed you at the top, which I've been working on a full year now ... that blog entry coming soon ...</span>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com1Ottawa, ON, Canada45.4215296 -75.69719309999999344.7060866 -76.988086599999988 46.1369726 -74.4062996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-52469304669211007662013-10-21T09:46:00.002-04:002013-10-21T09:50:53.424-04:00Using Art Yarn - the Fate of my Little Ones<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Something I love about spinning is imagining what might be happening to my yarn after I send it out into the world. Most of the time I never find out, and am left to ponder its fate -- was it made into a beloved garment? Put away with the best of intentions and then forgotten about? Discarded immediately with an embarrassed shrug? I can't help wondering! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every now and then someone will send me a picture to share what they've done, though, and I can't exaggerate what a thrill that is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A year or two ago I was contacted by <a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/Markly?ref=ss_profile" target="_blank"><b>Mark Sloniker</b></a>, an artist on Etsy, with a request for some supercoil yarn. I love to make supercoil, although it's time-consuming. It involves spinning a long, thin single, then plying it with another single or "core thread" by wrapping it pretty much at 90 degrees so as to encase the other single (like a core) with a long coil of yarn. I discussed this process more, with illustrations, <a href="http://faroeviking.blogspot.ca/2013/05/one-batt-two-art-yarns-and-washing.html" target="_blank"><b>previously in my blog.</b></a></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Example of supercoil yarn: I love the look and feel of these!</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mark had a particular project in mind -- a tree stump -- and asked for specific colours. After getting his approval on the dye job I did on the wool -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1FdydFsUUrk5anFI_G-vGsd_NzimwJ9VTschCx11GXiXvBt7_MiZd7MM9zCFrzmWW0sgJOyjoRbk_YTR7PWb95Q7HP-XsJ6pyAbqg_eN7kKB6x0-mYjsNVslz2kInjRMUXR6We9HXRtI/s1600/1-1-DSCF6832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1FdydFsUUrk5anFI_G-vGsd_NzimwJ9VTschCx11GXiXvBt7_MiZd7MM9zCFrzmWW0sgJOyjoRbk_YTR7PWb95Q7HP-XsJ6pyAbqg_eN7kKB6x0-mYjsNVslz2kInjRMUXR6We9HXRtI/s640/1-1-DSCF6832.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Merino commercial top hand-painted with acid dyes</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>As the fibres are drafted apart for spinning, the colours fade and blend</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spun the yarn -</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4nn-PH8zZu0b1jQ4RiT0u2Y8ObUwkxtTS0l8u9SBw42AUV-0j0x165gBi8zOrMnYFTTbQpHXrsCRtdRsef_GKARw8S2lq6hGsibjm8zfmg1V6_N2ft6nmyKVx9_oh0AXDJhnhdBdAZRR/s1600/1-DSCF6855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4nn-PH8zZu0b1jQ4RiT0u2Y8ObUwkxtTS0l8u9SBw42AUV-0j0x165gBi8zOrMnYFTTbQpHXrsCRtdRsef_GKARw8S2lq6hGsibjm8zfmg1V6_N2ft6nmyKVx9_oh0AXDJhnhdBdAZRR/s640/1-DSCF6855.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This totalled about 56 yards of supercoil yarn</b></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrXXlxQ0lMN01KSnrYWy6YuzOfWV2dztw5oQEI4-GlK663E-sLJwAwzF7u-W80_Zsoq8h2SU1Y6mx7MrMB6Re3QBYFauPIEIoQnB26adbixmigG7YYUc2zlSPEDblag9PURbbOnEYe-Zl/s1600/1-DSCF6856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkrXXlxQ0lMN01KSnrYWy6YuzOfWV2dztw5oQEI4-GlK663E-sLJwAwzF7u-W80_Zsoq8h2SU1Y6mx7MrMB6Re3QBYFauPIEIoQnB26adbixmigG7YYUc2zlSPEDblag9PURbbOnEYe-Zl/s640/1-DSCF6856.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUzboT9MsjYzh_Ilrg6_rNVOmiX_mAJRkB8ADWdVT6OBR8M6kWPyJbUfX1S4Ogmqkuk-psZqpSg_s5WFVgLM1wI2Udb-DtgNiYpJoBQ1x79MFyGx80U1llzaFLqaFSB7UCSwvIVWuj8SFq/s1600/1-DSCF6857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUzboT9MsjYzh_Ilrg6_rNVOmiX_mAJRkB8ADWdVT6OBR8M6kWPyJbUfX1S4Ogmqkuk-psZqpSg_s5WFVgLM1wI2Udb-DtgNiYpJoBQ1x79MFyGx80U1llzaFLqaFSB7UCSwvIVWuj8SFq/s640/1-DSCF6857.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not long ago I heard back from Mark, who not only <a href="http://brunoandhegge.blogspot.ca/2013/10/the-grandeur-of-forest-floor-making.html" target="_blank"><b>finished his truly gorgeous tree stump</b></a> - as you can see below - </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://img0.etsystatic.com/042/0/10125784/icm_fullxfull.31038890_5r2112qjzdgcw4cg00gw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://img0.etsystatic.com/042/0/10125784/icm_fullxfull.31038890_5r2112qjzdgcw4cg00gw.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">You can read about how Mark made this fabulous piece</span><span style="color: orange;"> <a href="http://brunoandhegge.blogspot.ca/2013/10/the-grandeur-of-forest-floor-making.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">on his blog</span></a></span></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">but used it as part of a set for illustrations to a children's book he has written, called </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/162636372/childrens-book-search-for-the-sugar-puff?ref=shop_home_active" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b>Search for the Sugar Puff Hollow</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, available in his </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/Markly?ref=l2-shopheader-name" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b>Etsy</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> shop.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfd3dGclnDgjrMHu9uHpr0LK_aLoKt2MjsJ_XTqyu7sdTBQkoaKmr0Adx2qCNWqGyCm7uN7azTRiXnfuRyGpICaZAYh-s__c9snu7nAGVY4vQlDsuZ5htbk8XZLIVZPVIgey1kZGvPiqcZ/s1600/print+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfd3dGclnDgjrMHu9uHpr0LK_aLoKt2MjsJ_XTqyu7sdTBQkoaKmr0Adx2qCNWqGyCm7uN7azTRiXnfuRyGpICaZAYh-s__c9snu7nAGVY4vQlDsuZ5htbk8XZLIVZPVIgey1kZGvPiqcZ/s640/print+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;"> A pic</span><span style="color: orange;"> <a href="http://www.brunoandhegge.blogspot.ca/#!http://brunoandhegge.blogspot.com/2013/09/search-for-sugar-puff-hollow.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">from Mark's blog</span></a> </span><span style="color: #741b47;">about the book -</span><br /><span style="color: #741b47;">love the critters, and hey, there's my yarn in the background!</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are tons of behind-the-scene photos of the making of this beautiful book on Mark's blog<b> </b></span><a href="http://www.brunoandhegge.blogspot.ca/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So a totally exciting story of some yarn that has gone on to make me proud! I'm humbled by his amazing creativity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the meantime, I keep spinning...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">I always try to keep a few skeins of supercoil in my</span><span style="color: orange;"> <span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: orange;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/103397064/handspun-coiled-yarn-supercoil-rainbow?ref=shop_home_active" target="_blank">Etsy shop</a>..</span>.</span></span></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-49871974782208460942013-09-07T10:51:00.001-04:002013-09-28T13:07:35.892-04:00Corespun Yarn with Ribbon Rose Inclusions<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One thing I like about corespun yarn is how easy it is to include small items like beads or flowers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today it's about flowers. How decadent, to have these little beauties interspersed throughout your work, whatever your fibre art of choice happens to be. Being in the mood for reds lately, I combed out a selection of red fleeces into some lovely top. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />So what's the story on this selection of top? This past summer when I was down home in Nova Scotia I bought a lovely Romney x Lincoln Longwool fleece at <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/aspengrovefarm/" target="_blank">Aspen Grove Farm</a> outside Bridgewater. Very lustrous and curly. I dyed it mostly in different reds and one fuchsia because, hey, how can you not dye something fuchsia? It took the dye beautifully. This skein includes all those reds and pinks from the Romney/Lincoln fleece, plus a bit of Corriedale. So it won't be a soft and fluffy yarn, but it will be lustrous and textured.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because I didn't want to blend all those lovely reds together (although in these photos they seem to look more pink than red - you'll just have to trust me on this) but wanted each colour to speak its own voice in some random fashion, I prepared my top for spinning by laying out a strip of each colour on my lap ... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and drafting it out into a long cord (strip? I'm not so great at the proper vocabulary, here) of top. So there is some colour intermingling, and some striping of one colour after another. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next for the flowers to include in the yarn:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />I buy these ribbon roses from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/laurl?section_id=7106936" target="_blank">Laurl</a> on Etsy. This small size fits easily through the orifice on my wheel and doesn't get caught in the hooks. There are larger ribbon flowers available that can be fed through the orifice with lots of care and patience, and although I have at times in my life had sufficient emotional wherewithal to calmly, gently, and successfully ease large ribbon flowers through my wheel workings, this is not something I reliably have in vast quantities, nor do I want to spend it all on my yarn in case that means I'm going to have a complete meltdown later in the day when I burn supper or break my favourite mug. We live our lives and do what works best, right? For me, sticking to smaller, more easily dealt-with flowers is the road I have chosen. My advice is, before starting a project like this, make sure whatever it is you're spinning into your yarn will fit through your orifice and hooks, and consider how willing you're going to be to nurse the yarn along if it's a close fit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />I spun a small sample skein just to see how the colours would play out with the whole hand-drafting the top together method, and also to help me pick what colour flowers I wanted to use. I think any of these would be nice, but I wanted the flowers to stand out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's my practice skein still on the wheel -- you can see drafting the top as I did worked just fine, and I have random sections of different reds all throughout my yarn ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and here are my rose colour choices. Sadly, the light pink one didn't focus very well, but I think it will stand out best against the reds, and that's what I'm going with.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First step is to thread the roses onto a spool of strong nylon beading thread. This thread will be strung alongside my strong cotton core in the yarn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The roses are sewn together across the back, making an ideal spot to run the needle to thread the roses onto the nylon, i.e., between the "leaf" ribbon and the "blossom" ribbon, within the bounds of that stitch. I took some fabulous shots of the pink flowers being strung onto the nylon. What in the world happened to them? I have no idea. But they've completely disappeared so you're just going to have to use your imagination here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now I'm set up for spinning. Next to me I have a bin with my cotton core (embroidery cotton #10), and another bin with my nylon beading thread. My comments on this set-up are as follows:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. You don't need to use two cores. You can thread all the flowers onto the cotton core. However, it's a thicker thread and not as slippery, so you have to take more care putting your roses on and sliding them along as you're spinning -- which is okay, I've done it successfully and it's not a terrible drag. It's just easier and smoother with nylon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. I thread all the flowers on at once, sliding them a few metres down the thread. Then I spread out the first five or so flowers where I want them along the nylon. They tend to stay where I want them, so it's a convenient way to keep track of how far apart they are in the yarn. I've tried spacing all the flowers out at once, and wound up with a gigantic tangle of nylon in the bin, so just doing a half-dozen or so at a time seems to be the answer for me. You can see in the photo above, one pink rose hanging on the nylon thread, making its way up towards the wheel to be spun into the yarn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. One of the best online tutorials for corespinning yarn that I have seen is by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEUASvzyO64" target="_blank">Esther Rodgers of Jazz Turtle</a>. This is a good video for showing how to start your corespun yarn and introduce the core threads to get going.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Why do I use these ugly plastic bins? I know. They're not at all handmade or attractive or anything inspiring creativity. Here's the thing. Handmade baskets are tremendously beautiful. I love them. But they catch and pick at my materials as I'm spinning, which is not only frustrating but can cause damage. There are lovely felted baskets which wouldn't do that, but the reality of my life is that I use almost exclusively handprocessed fleece in my yarns. That means I'm doing a lot of combing and carding, and no matter how much vacuuming and sweeping I do in my craft room, there's always a film of VM (dried crumbs of plant matter) on my floor. I don't want to even think about what that would do to a lovely felted basket. Plus I need bins for tons of reasons, including holding uncombed (VM-laden) fleece. And the ugly plastic ones wipe out easily, are stackable, and sturdy enough that they can hold that huge cone of embroidery cotton in the same place as it's rolling around. So I forego the aesthetic qualities of more attractive baskets as worktools in this particular situation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So here we are, corespinning along. I've just lifted my thumb back to show how I keep the core threads stable in my hand by running them under my ring finger. My pointer finger smooths the wool around the core as I'm spinning along.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I get within a few inches of a rose, I stop spinning and slide the flower up the thread to meet the end point of my yarn. Here I'm holding the two core threads (cotton and nylon) separate, just for the sake of the picture. When I'm actually spinning, I hold them together.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjykWv6oxqy29_UnyZwQOb7wkfYjNPj4nrzYcmp9TZkeZrlIqvW5CiglA468ABA2XpvGJw8Xw-VbT4xRMb9K5Y20EWFk5uHhyphenhyphen4oORLDTbfLnqXYNdOrDtZhxfd6RgVGml7nzhb_dgntLk1A/s1600/1-P1070871-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjykWv6oxqy29_UnyZwQOb7wkfYjNPj4nrzYcmp9TZkeZrlIqvW5CiglA468ABA2XpvGJw8Xw-VbT4xRMb9K5Y20EWFk5uHhyphenhyphen4oORLDTbfLnqXYNdOrDtZhxfd6RgVGml7nzhb_dgntLk1A/s640/1-P1070871-001.JPG" height="448" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Fit the rose right up against the wool, treadle once ... </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56mk-vMrAnucQDiA2gbPgXHT0f7LnfDRnmJlCv4lAH7Ix7AA_pyz3dOci8m3y_G1zexWyu00_nagLsMM6eI7uaSzLXCUxvZCyKioFfrusbICTS8Zrq_8LyOy1nze4GfHVDV-aANN8q4_w/s1600/1-P1070872-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56mk-vMrAnucQDiA2gbPgXHT0f7LnfDRnmJlCv4lAH7Ix7AA_pyz3dOci8m3y_G1zexWyu00_nagLsMM6eI7uaSzLXCUxvZCyKioFfrusbICTS8Zrq_8LyOy1nze4GfHVDV-aANN8q4_w/s640/1-P1070872-001.JPG" height="430" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... which wraps the wool around the back of the flower ... </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylHj3bWJ3Uk4S9C0_DV5puikU8vGNz3HhHNK_o6X5Aovm5Ad_nXHPF2WBq3xkOdPaxlGD3FHmG3kb_-pPBukyz4NlSlM1c3NJtQ4MsUL_sNjorOzcOBkVEIltHY2iDjVk4P8swQWzuLZb/s1600/1-P1070873-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylHj3bWJ3Uk4S9C0_DV5puikU8vGNz3HhHNK_o6X5Aovm5Ad_nXHPF2WBq3xkOdPaxlGD3FHmG3kb_-pPBukyz4NlSlM1c3NJtQ4MsUL_sNjorOzcOBkVEIltHY2iDjVk4P8swQWzuLZb/s640/1-P1070873-001.JPG" height="482" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and spin on down the core. Keep an eye on the rose as you continue to spin. Hopefully it should feed easily through your orifice and onto your wheel, but depending on your wheel it may need a hand -- you'll know right away, because the yarn will stop feeding onto the bobbin. Just stop spinning, ease the flower through, handwinding it onto the bobbin if necessary, and continue on your way.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoONV0Zm4pE4OfgKTqTcAgOASrdIwsNcCkHpcKOZ1BZAqVFUJDtEfjjQbhilRcIxgN6a8DHsC9muNvQt4Pr7Ii3dJXn3pLMMsDTgTibnX7buzc6SMUNuodcXv7GaCnmfzpGixRifYOY47/s1600/1-DSCF7199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoONV0Zm4pE4OfgKTqTcAgOASrdIwsNcCkHpcKOZ1BZAqVFUJDtEfjjQbhilRcIxgN6a8DHsC9muNvQt4Pr7Ii3dJXn3pLMMsDTgTibnX7buzc6SMUNuodcXv7GaCnmfzpGixRifYOY47/s640/1-DSCF7199.JPG" height="563" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Here's a photo of the final yarn, which, taken in my homemade lightbox, shows something much more RED than the pinkish colours above. It really is these reds, and not those pinks, which teaches us all something about how unreliable cameras are for showing us what anything actually looks like. Now that's deep.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2PhaRY2ePrCDzdjeq07f-tXBsD8tXEVWbdDSWNEf7gRwTGNa858Mj_2LRboq5BeZkuY1tM7JMLCU3aK1VnEYwIRMCE5H5KMlP9-Lh9RGxSALqsi2rqdJafSVBoruwuCpdEpkomMTB_QN/s1600/1-DSCF7207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2PhaRY2ePrCDzdjeq07f-tXBsD8tXEVWbdDSWNEf7gRwTGNa858Mj_2LRboq5BeZkuY1tM7JMLCU3aK1VnEYwIRMCE5H5KMlP9-Lh9RGxSALqsi2rqdJafSVBoruwuCpdEpkomMTB_QN/s640/1-DSCF7207.JPG" height="528" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">See this yarn in my </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/164102009/art-yarn-red-yarn-with-ribbon-roses-pink?ref=shop_home_feat" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">ETSY SHOP</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are some other ribbon rose yarns I've spun - this first one corespun with uncarded locks dyed green, so there's lots of texture and curl.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAVY5q2qKZ6NJauWGdZKuRV_uGhTT29jvTW0uY7yeH6S_o9krkTDfzq97TLYgBa21xfMrgEFafz8OHRFjt8sZRuH1ZmY2B29ehszOYkMgVHh0SBsdm5FXkMjy_Y2l89dJcpCxzNS93NPW/s1600/1-P1060904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAVY5q2qKZ6NJauWGdZKuRV_uGhTT29jvTW0uY7yeH6S_o9krkTDfzq97TLYgBa21xfMrgEFafz8OHRFjt8sZRuH1ZmY2B29ehszOYkMgVHh0SBsdm5FXkMjy_Y2l89dJcpCxzNS93NPW/s640/1-P1060904.JPG" height="426" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">Available in my </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/123789129/art-yarn-green-with-red-roses-best?ref=shop_home_feat" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">ETSY SHOP</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7C-b3asPIdXRSnR5ijaVxREXnXndE0jZW1aot71i8It-8Pl3e1HdQDVRY8OQ6G9gRZTnfvPzsEfbn_5rBQBAoaCTfnianV608IRr9-USH0zJHySKLXNrYtmvN9coT4ql7GeqhRvO4tQs/s1600/P1040602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7C-b3asPIdXRSnR5ijaVxREXnXndE0jZW1aot71i8It-8Pl3e1HdQDVRY8OQ6G9gRZTnfvPzsEfbn_5rBQBAoaCTfnianV608IRr9-USH0zJHySKLXNrYtmvN9coT4ql7GeqhRvO4tQs/s640/P1040602.JPG" height="484" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">In my </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/transaction/62146349" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">ETSY SHOP</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EX9ojxRb54FJMt77yv-2OBvqkHW2cT3t9TYafpucTgjdVVTSxNIBXGMIYEdSyMDzHaeCM-_4MM4-_WrCls3bu0j1HPrL7mggCyNrTXfWKtT6WPiONDbqbPOPGrVG2V03EJDRUTVs6FLN/s1600/P1050305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EX9ojxRb54FJMt77yv-2OBvqkHW2cT3t9TYafpucTgjdVVTSxNIBXGMIYEdSyMDzHaeCM-_4MM4-_WrCls3bu0j1HPrL7mggCyNrTXfWKtT6WPiONDbqbPOPGrVG2V03EJDRUTVs6FLN/s640/P1050305.JPG" height="506" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;"> In my </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/transaction/77090778" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">ETSY SHOP</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was the last skein I spun using larger flowers. They do look marvellous, and maybe someday when I get my dream larger-orificed Country Spinner, I'll go back to including these flagrant beauties...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwI8zGuFVVYWYWZ8gd33ApyLFaWsogqJY0znSuR9-twNk3aBgo0my080g_uepLaq3Uzut9k1SrcOZV9bW_C15ZaQeFcZfOE4tMLrfepo585kXuDUAKa1bmmjorMFK99B0ulHschN8LfGW/s1600/P1050299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwI8zGuFVVYWYWZ8gd33ApyLFaWsogqJY0znSuR9-twNk3aBgo0my080g_uepLaq3Uzut9k1SrcOZV9bW_C15ZaQeFcZfOE4tMLrfepo585kXuDUAKa1bmmjorMFK99B0ulHschN8LfGW/s640/P1050299.JPG" height="426" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-61204131293918337372013-08-09T11:32:00.002-04:002013-08-17T19:15:11.560-04:00More Dryer Felting and Felt Tapestries<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZRw17AWcaZY2D1nvJ1NRrpnRa0gqhI_L7aJ4fTxtdVJEHOVHs6V1kNmzXLnbJcGd9dQ14G8HEm0ITwz2dcr1VJQRvkG2L3a8Np7cOquyvyeVo9k8x22rIoh6umn1T0Nqca7BUMPm0GYj/s1600/P1070804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZRw17AWcaZY2D1nvJ1NRrpnRa0gqhI_L7aJ4fTxtdVJEHOVHs6V1kNmzXLnbJcGd9dQ14G8HEm0ITwz2dcr1VJQRvkG2L3a8Np7cOquyvyeVo9k8x22rIoh6umn1T0Nqca7BUMPm0GYj/s320/P1070804.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Detail from my ultimate project for today's entry</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I recently made a small felt wall hanging for one of my sisters on her 50th birthday. It's had me thinking about felting and making hangings that feature words and symbols instead of pictures.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6iDnCM-p1-j_5YdGyAUJz0pKpb92PKtql6Ruet2AFypo5F4l3xI__RaFhxXRiT2CTwMYO5ZgGa5TEVUA3LXAsvDKNSLa1XHgUnbK38T_NmOsBY_FqUqnhH8Tl5CfqWSYAg_ksN1QPLugI/s1600/10-P1070059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6iDnCM-p1-j_5YdGyAUJz0pKpb92PKtql6Ruet2AFypo5F4l3xI__RaFhxXRiT2CTwMYO5ZgGa5TEVUA3LXAsvDKNSLa1XHgUnbK38T_NmOsBY_FqUqnhH8Tl5CfqWSYAg_ksN1QPLugI/s640/10-P1070059.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>She's lived a lot since this photo was taken, but hasn't changed so much... I think pictures are forever.<br />Finished piece measured about 18" x 12"</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />I love embellishing the felt by needle-felting in handspun yarn and roving. I attached the photograph on by punching holes around the edges and then needle-felting</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a continuous length of handspun yarn in the holes and into the felt around the edges to look like big stitches.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IRTsS-MERd-jB6gphNjZPAaARI2xAebixCh4UZeXfSNBj3-EIbO_WmCcu6HNaBfLOrvuFvydIy3tcq5uYuyBF6gl94DEoN8DUlqlr5HOSPYwu6xHG54I86F7mHBv9BNez2ajw7uY1hNs/s1600/15-P1070064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IRTsS-MERd-jB6gphNjZPAaARI2xAebixCh4UZeXfSNBj3-EIbO_WmCcu6HNaBfLOrvuFvydIy3tcq5uYuyBF6gl94DEoN8DUlqlr5HOSPYwu6xHG54I86F7mHBv9BNez2ajw7uY1hNs/s640/15-P1070064.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The symbols I copied out of books of Viking wooden carvings. I like not only that these are old motifs, but I love the flow of intertwining knots. Someday I'll do a huge piece with knots all around the border.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6erRvbMnc1q55oK7CmSdQ42120URb7APIVdZIfv09p7IZOwr070_aAfQPzoz10i5MpVWBZWOhEWYZu3eyopfmCVvJn3pt73D_Po5nSERA0meVd8bD8DcUdZ5xu-45IFv0j1awSw-ZfdN_/s1600/05-P1070054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6erRvbMnc1q55oK7CmSdQ42120URb7APIVdZIfv09p7IZOwr070_aAfQPzoz10i5MpVWBZWOhEWYZu3eyopfmCVvJn3pt73D_Po5nSERA0meVd8bD8DcUdZ5xu-45IFv0j1awSw-ZfdN_/s400/05-P1070054.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I particularly love this symbol, which is </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>St. John's cross and represents</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>happiness (well I guess it wasn't </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>St. John's cross to the Vikings! But </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>they used it in their art work all the same.)</b></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK7K5mdXiXHZXIWJpMxbcWuw0Z0YUV9AhOO7mHY6wP6-fwWrHXPExD0I94V_sjweqPF2ZdbUsttQRTKUwHSPjsO7KWbQG1hdf4n0ga9yMD_d7_9A89POPxkj5DvWgCToHc6m3ROjZTYoqy/s1600/03-P1070052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK7K5mdXiXHZXIWJpMxbcWuw0Z0YUV9AhOO7mHY6wP6-fwWrHXPExD0I94V_sjweqPF2ZdbUsttQRTKUwHSPjsO7KWbQG1hdf4n0ga9yMD_d7_9A89POPxkj5DvWgCToHc6m3ROjZTYoqy/s400/03-P1070052.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So after my recent experiment <a href="http://faroeviking.blogspot.ca/2013/07/dryer-felting-new-to-me-and-way-easy-on.html" style="color: orange;" target="_blank"><b>felting in the dryer with Pellon</b> </a>I got to thinking. Since the Pellon disappeared immediately once it got wet, why bother with the Pellon at all? Why not just unroll a batt, wet it, and throw it in the dryer? Batts can be so marvellous just on their own, it would be a really fun way to make felt.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii6_G9TsZw3uZJg6y6KcxWkogPr12Q5D_pBrFk9Fi29Ogy4WKx-eG-WfLXFzdjJM6I4iepmDgbLV7iXjJ1V7dLRB__mBwL840qCvTeS9_gvJoxeQcRQDgv4tyFwAB7ETrWD98H6ddU46jP/s1600/P1070709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii6_G9TsZw3uZJg6y6KcxWkogPr12Q5D_pBrFk9Fi29Ogy4WKx-eG-WfLXFzdjJM6I4iepmDgbLV7iXjJ1V7dLRB__mBwL840qCvTeS9_gvJoxeQcRQDgv4tyFwAB7ETrWD98H6ddU46jP/s320/P1070709.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So as an experiment, with as little manipulation as possible, I laid out a basic batt of carded wool (didn't want to use a MARVELLOUS batt in case it turned out a disaster) ...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPWtd94vEvftYZvi4HAoAZqSnmiEWZMMim1ihxmOHbBSElSEhBT8xDSO3BYjskPOK5IMRTf7uNh10im3wdpeUMQ5cqbIYNw6-mxDm8vRDy0mVSjamfppYzk3UqoCA1AtdfF8U79y9U58Z/s1600/P1070710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisPWtd94vEvftYZvi4HAoAZqSnmiEWZMMim1ihxmOHbBSElSEhBT8xDSO3BYjskPOK5IMRTf7uNh10im3wdpeUMQ5cqbIYNw6-mxDm8vRDy0mVSjamfppYzk3UqoCA1AtdfF8U79y9U58Z/s320/P1070710.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... added some uncarded locks for colour and texture ...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6OuybvJSB1DGEDl3_X0QPuLclGhLcXrON40ESFbrzNt2Bq-G7N-hoxFu91SdgL3m5nz3M0VgZ3WHdcnL8o9H_xnEcNVSmwqxcmRQi4l1Tawxd8ffSCJMp5p0SiF_ZcorLYq0-NdA94O0V/s1600/P1070711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6OuybvJSB1DGEDl3_X0QPuLclGhLcXrON40ESFbrzNt2Bq-G7N-hoxFu91SdgL3m5nz3M0VgZ3WHdcnL8o9H_xnEcNVSmwqxcmRQi4l1Tawxd8ffSCJMp5p0SiF_ZcorLYq0-NdA94O0V/s320/P1070711.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and tacked it together here and there with a felting needle. I tried not to do too much tacking and manipulating, because I wanted to see how successful this method could be at its simplest.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmlD0dSlDVEJx8wr2fe3c1uxL66k1CvSJZwhkC88y8mcu2I-Um2Zu_QgPj7enosP0IOEt0OaZUleOiIKShYoG2ixrobYYkR5uGbpH1bWa-1_uzuE2Am-FQGC4x0bZ_tFyX8oLHYRVpd6S/s1600/P1070713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmlD0dSlDVEJx8wr2fe3c1uxL66k1CvSJZwhkC88y8mcu2I-Um2Zu_QgPj7enosP0IOEt0OaZUleOiIKShYoG2ixrobYYkR5uGbpH1bWa-1_uzuE2Am-FQGC4x0bZ_tFyX8oLHYRVpd6S/s640/P1070713.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Here it is above, laid out on a cut-open garbage bag on a towel in my tub, after wetting it down with cold water. Then (below) I folded the garbage bag down over the top.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB5oiSxiVC51VjtCfejvvpcoVPl0KmaUCgNaK2mwzI1EOV8lxbWMDLMtHjLVUgiCBXI_mw3ukC5uRW2D30kFEPHKmWJchMNYSPII84YuH5hYBoVgyTAhC8gLpswz-8d_6fPO1hCOLH6iXk/s1600/P1070714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB5oiSxiVC51VjtCfejvvpcoVPl0KmaUCgNaK2mwzI1EOV8lxbWMDLMtHjLVUgiCBXI_mw3ukC5uRW2D30kFEPHKmWJchMNYSPII84YuH5hYBoVgyTAhC8gLpswz-8d_6fPO1hCOLH6iXk/s400/P1070714.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rolled it up around a towel</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSslh5mP7FDKbv-jZFJp963l_kC85-RU7QPIQR96HssazW4QWQnar2ZPnUMREPBOScoyL3kywMj07LKj2PzbSk-mOVYuafgI4qPnTz8dMGw9nbfod-DPIS6LRArvVDhYFL3q_RQuq96O1p/s1600/P1070715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSslh5mP7FDKbv-jZFJp963l_kC85-RU7QPIQR96HssazW4QWQnar2ZPnUMREPBOScoyL3kywMj07LKj2PzbSk-mOVYuafgI4qPnTz8dMGw9nbfod-DPIS6LRArvVDhYFL3q_RQuq96O1p/s320/P1070715.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81Kyki30OXJoW0PkwG-jH7v-OTXsd1egzn6YEPUW2meWltr6rKegbgw9rKwgmsV9knzX5prACYIQrAJforVQyaiDpE3QAFXLyzvlumD0D2mTZjNy6O1EiGcniCnNEV1l-EspYKnj-BQCQ/s1600/P1070716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg81Kyki30OXJoW0PkwG-jH7v-OTXsd1egzn6YEPUW2meWltr6rKegbgw9rKwgmsV9knzX5prACYIQrAJforVQyaiDpE3QAFXLyzvlumD0D2mTZjNy6O1EiGcniCnNEV1l-EspYKnj-BQCQ/s320/P1070716.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And tied it shut with butcher cord. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0ir2tLhJbC7QBhpPskNiDhtEQOFKq9KXVKHx7NGfL3e0PVyssR8lhWA9rotRF6f1F0p952dHh656sD_ITzzDGyAzWuMGzpJbXEGJh38fK4hPXzCCLwe2hswAUrMR8N32YUA7FKa-ej1z/s1600/P1070717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0ir2tLhJbC7QBhpPskNiDhtEQOFKq9KXVKHx7NGfL3e0PVyssR8lhWA9rotRF6f1F0p952dHh656sD_ITzzDGyAzWuMGzpJbXEGJh38fK4hPXzCCLwe2hswAUrMR8N32YUA7FKa-ej1z/s400/P1070717.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After it was in the dryer (no heat) for 20 minutes or so, I could tell from the edges sticking out that it had felted and was ready to come out.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhZWo5FDcZMp2Myk5M1wSpi9omTDqaccRjl4fne6wTfSohMp35juvnHM6KeIW2P8mxNrH_4QODPAF9FRwR7v6gciii3Fe4II0hrAbh72-V4eDe6C3BrZiuXhPjVG2LKg_EtRmDZGFUYI_/s1600/P1070724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhZWo5FDcZMp2Myk5M1wSpi9omTDqaccRjl4fne6wTfSohMp35juvnHM6KeIW2P8mxNrH_4QODPAF9FRwR7v6gciii3Fe4II0hrAbh72-V4eDe6C3BrZiuXhPjVG2LKg_EtRmDZGFUYI_/s640/P1070724.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I took the piece out, I held it up to the light to see how evenly (or unevenly) it had felted. I could see that where I had put the ties, the felt was much thinner.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vXMLGnAfAgtxlXVwiSRylq0vw-csTZpcZuXk4K8g0euVekVZXo0aZmIpQsXpfz5VM9fBSg_wS0OXlYDodq_rHD4pwU4yLN_Mo91XdUb2YUqlNkHG6coetYqDpwDKdOhek33iPv9DyVG-/s1600/P1070725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vXMLGnAfAgtxlXVwiSRylq0vw-csTZpcZuXk4K8g0euVekVZXo0aZmIpQsXpfz5VM9fBSg_wS0OXlYDodq_rHD4pwU4yLN_Mo91XdUb2YUqlNkHG6coetYqDpwDKdOhek33iPv9DyVG-/s640/P1070725.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I decided to do some fulling by hand to tighten the fibres a bit. I dunked the piece in warm water and threw the piece down onto my felting tray, which is actually a textured boot tray, about 50 times. I kind of like doing this -- it's not hard work like hand rolling is.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXcZ3Jt7hMYeiKOsCiharixVEZ0x11Eh3-NQjXM85gpdB2JK7fI3a7pVejxpYtWkykfNShtd_xemrhfbqV_PQsBBpVqR2gS5WIv03Xt3sefdj1M7fUgfu5x9Fgb16q-UwDHJQLZHWjDOpb/s1600/P1070726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXcZ3Jt7hMYeiKOsCiharixVEZ0x11Eh3-NQjXM85gpdB2JK7fI3a7pVejxpYtWkykfNShtd_xemrhfbqV_PQsBBpVqR2gS5WIv03Xt3sefdj1M7fUgfu5x9Fgb16q-UwDHJQLZHWjDOpb/s640/P1070726.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It pulled the piece together, but there are still thin places where the ties were, as well as some other thin places. I think the other thin places are because I just unrolled the wool batt instead of layering on tufts of wool at right angles, as usually done in wetfelting. Still a lovely piece of felt.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0zi2xtPDfgtBACXISqD6rt-p9GA-KG4035KJ5smdCDz7S1v6D86f0_2BkNhF73hyphenhyphenDuuo-WnlWg8b4TOaxyRcBTkvL5hZzx0GBxjbx67VBh1tRJVI1hNZMnUmWtOncDvtljXG_T2bX9-C/s1600/P1070727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0zi2xtPDfgtBACXISqD6rt-p9GA-KG4035KJ5smdCDz7S1v6D86f0_2BkNhF73hyphenhyphenDuuo-WnlWg8b4TOaxyRcBTkvL5hZzx0GBxjbx67VBh1tRJVI1hNZMnUmWtOncDvtljXG_T2bX9-C/s640/P1070727.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here it is dried and ironed</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUObGJBh9QPw-unYvUGGy8yHgW6rFw8YTnE3Qz4PffA7-e2e3QBlUAUocHx0GOh6MLxUGp78B8gUXpkiL2N0QYPKF0aiIFZtE8_WZEPKdjR2dROtHqr9uRuslCuIKqOzvn1so09j05oMI6/s1600/P1070736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUObGJBh9QPw-unYvUGGy8yHgW6rFw8YTnE3Qz4PffA7-e2e3QBlUAUocHx0GOh6MLxUGp78B8gUXpkiL2N0QYPKF0aiIFZtE8_WZEPKdjR2dROtHqr9uRuslCuIKqOzvn1so09j05oMI6/s640/P1070736.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then embellished by needle-felting on some handspun yarn. The large spiral is a Viking sun motif, and in the top right-hand corner there is the cross of St. John again, symbolizing happiness.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaoK7Mjb4bpfP519anD4TdMAFRf3vbcrv8W-AE6jD7CjaSLiGRNWiBaPywE-dTX5kDQihKiIQpMxXD2TbPiV0uZ0NQ0jg4oIPq8riPDnW7RiyFb228YVvFfinoi3EmAkpclwLnETJoKhc/s1600/P1070739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgaoK7Mjb4bpfP519anD4TdMAFRf3vbcrv8W-AE6jD7CjaSLiGRNWiBaPywE-dTX5kDQihKiIQpMxXD2TbPiV0uZ0NQ0jg4oIPq8riPDnW7RiyFb228YVvFfinoi3EmAkpclwLnETJoKhc/s640/P1070739.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like the effect of the multicoloured yarns against the textured background. I messed up the cross, though, as you can see, one of my over-and-unders should have been an under-and-over...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy74pIbNXlsYs8L_6UCf9pXEsEoKyJF_PpeW50J363MbvJNQC6Tuuoo9A4nxV1-Jp_ZrOopG-PA1PDgbwY9fq4aPu4LceWjdkSG_SFA-hmQGb9F5E0GS3ZfVCAHigaQLpTieUpUnmB5bmZ/s1600/P1070741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy74pIbNXlsYs8L_6UCf9pXEsEoKyJF_PpeW50J363MbvJNQC6Tuuoo9A4nxV1-Jp_ZrOopG-PA1PDgbwY9fq4aPu4LceWjdkSG_SFA-hmQGb9F5E0GS3ZfVCAHigaQLpTieUpUnmB5bmZ/s640/P1070741.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... but that's all right, especially with the lovely textures of the handspun boucle, which I'm kind of fascinated with spinning right now.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQuAyjMUNTk6j11v-5VTCriXYPe9F8wbCNM8B1BgyCUKLz90jQZwK97A4IZM3Iap9fRVSvWGKmOADrmCAdDhSvNCUSpWMMzLuBlzK30hEWY4C_3z82di0mmISJpZly5bQX_fmrC2SGhnSK/s1600/P1070750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQuAyjMUNTk6j11v-5VTCriXYPe9F8wbCNM8B1BgyCUKLz90jQZwK97A4IZM3Iap9fRVSvWGKmOADrmCAdDhSvNCUSpWMMzLuBlzK30hEWY4C_3z82di0mmISJpZly5bQX_fmrC2SGhnSK/s640/P1070750.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I sewed a simple pocket on the back to hold a hanging rod.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvpqaR1uc1yMIO_eQ7PJAdaPLhP_bTyPr5m57aAzHRb6uAbnUN6qy7DDoB6X_0QDZHVwunihPu7zIjcqgmE3LIn_oRAGhXvs6g-mb2ZoqpdevF9Xm7IVVnE5OfJgONdK-2mJ-7hEYNCCD/s1600/1-P1070811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvpqaR1uc1yMIO_eQ7PJAdaPLhP_bTyPr5m57aAzHRb6uAbnUN6qy7DDoB6X_0QDZHVwunihPu7zIjcqgmE3LIn_oRAGhXvs6g-mb2ZoqpdevF9Xm7IVVnE5OfJgONdK-2mJ-7hEYNCCD/s640/1-P1070811.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Now I wanted to try to make a piece of dryer felt with no thin spots from string, and no thin spots from the quick and dirty method of just unrolling a batt and felting it as is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'd been thinking about making a two-piece hanging for my kitchen wall to feature one of my favourite quotes from M.F.K. Fisher: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I still think that one of the pleasantest of all emotions is to know that I, I with my brain and my hands, have nourished my beloved few, that I have concocted a stew or a story, a rarity or a plain dish, to sustain them truly against the hungers of the world.”</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I began with two batts of light turquoise Ile de France wool:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMO5gJyal9Mg-2XfPa1xjX7zCJ7KaEPOZkLAA5oP8WxdtP4L1fuNEPldbZqfxwmEjfr4wL8wCdYHdzMwIH3QrMqVtQynMN1lXQIo515FHzXKJTYjPc0SVUd-BXTwyk-G_lo2bdfLARO8P/s1600/P1070729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMO5gJyal9Mg-2XfPa1xjX7zCJ7KaEPOZkLAA5oP8WxdtP4L1fuNEPldbZqfxwmEjfr4wL8wCdYHdzMwIH3QrMqVtQynMN1lXQIo515FHzXKJTYjPc0SVUd-BXTwyk-G_lo2bdfLARO8P/s640/P1070729.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... added at right angles other turquoise-blue rovings and cardings ...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKEEfI3DLkv3tByVzRsNCK1aJuduyBsBl9frLX_qMIhUVOf7OW_EMHSOCAq1EZil9hYwc95qMMbqvvYEIAdUiqu5y-WLxOfUYD9F949nwF_ACvv97IBvyPMYgi-QFIDtreeOknYyzdasM/s1600/P1070731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKEEfI3DLkv3tByVzRsNCK1aJuduyBsBl9frLX_qMIhUVOf7OW_EMHSOCAq1EZil9hYwc95qMMbqvvYEIAdUiqu5y-WLxOfUYD9F949nwF_ACvv97IBvyPMYgi-QFIDtreeOknYyzdasM/s640/P1070731.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and finished with some uncarded dyed fleece, tacking it all together with a felting needle.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcri_uhBySmco-BYTnlHAz51Xp6l_Yspesnn3LJqlVb2BBDl0RwSVMxgI6XSUacr877QEVFSdRQ2hP0-pjgtTy2t1gZfsJBXXvjG-3xmJF1cSmnGS8gDJgF0Ynl7Q6O4j7Kn6goDsFIhEo/s1600/P1070733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcri_uhBySmco-BYTnlHAz51Xp6l_Yspesnn3LJqlVb2BBDl0RwSVMxgI6XSUacr877QEVFSdRQ2hP0-pjgtTy2t1gZfsJBXXvjG-3xmJF1cSmnGS8gDJgF0Ynl7Q6O4j7Kn6goDsFIhEo/s640/P1070733.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This time when I rolled it up for felting, I put the roll in a control knee-high stocking and tied it shut. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItZwPXlOEHg8hNugbz6X7TF16t3pIE0EFHd9q0Zk8U0AiZbs-VQtom87e0ePKZseK_jFqbT1uM0a-kmyeQ53p07mCfP4ty6M3QNRPzlcJMLncD6xm7Oy2RrZwFRXbWui9a156GJ_CSVhT/s1600/P1070735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItZwPXlOEHg8hNugbz6X7TF16t3pIE0EFHd9q0Zk8U0AiZbs-VQtom87e0ePKZseK_jFqbT1uM0a-kmyeQ53p07mCfP4ty6M3QNRPzlcJMLncD6xm7Oy2RrZwFRXbWui9a156GJ_CSVhT/s640/P1070735.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It worked perfectly! No thin spots from ties or roving holes, and the stocking was tight enough that the fibre didn't slide around inside the roll, which I had been afraid of. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The yarn I used for the text is some leftover handspun I'd made to knit my daughter a hat last winter. The yarn on the border is Navajo-plied, and because it has such a round three-ply structure, it kept its roundness even after needle felting, which I like. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wish I could get these pics to sit side by side in this blog as they will on my kitchen wall, but they just don't want to, so it makes it tricky to read the quote ...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik-pcQZ1n6EJd3N5q7fAZlVZrasZHO7e4-x_rAVYanRn75Hl7cpFS0goQ_fquEU-rpM7Z6fGGwBPvhRj_975Dqm5L1QjbxRMp0WN91Ok4xKX4Bp-bHOJ5UPAepjcx6JQh4wuETUqEs5LoL/s1600/1-P1070803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik-pcQZ1n6EJd3N5q7fAZlVZrasZHO7e4-x_rAVYanRn75Hl7cpFS0goQ_fquEU-rpM7Z6fGGwBPvhRj_975Dqm5L1QjbxRMp0WN91Ok4xKX4Bp-bHOJ5UPAepjcx6JQh4wuETUqEs5LoL/s640/1-P1070803.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnaITsicRGO5k6gr6eeUcZgSp77F_XqszvSlU5IYvglkrOClPJfJ34gOJaXQ1PVHN-H4fatTyRaD1DV0DrLk3oOWeVB2NUavClrHFJdiVegGZEa5LYbTU6jtLR_W4I9r0wMq2JM3pr6w_/s1600/1-P1070808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnaITsicRGO5k6gr6eeUcZgSp77F_XqszvSlU5IYvglkrOClPJfJ34gOJaXQ1PVHN-H4fatTyRaD1DV0DrLk3oOWeVB2NUavClrHFJdiVegGZEa5LYbTU6jtLR_W4I9r0wMq2JM3pr6w_/s640/1-P1070808.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My kitchen is painted a deep purple, so I'm looking forward to seeing these colours up on the wall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's my St. John's cross again, this time done correctly and laced in a circle, which is also a motif I've found in books on Viking work.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRyV_hB_Z13O4zIqoAgXMk_P9G0nwlrKc_fOhiMJBwE17ELE5XWg3H84-Y031ZDVq-IPE-Ospm_CD7HuDrULx7rEVw9CwltowMcQr8eZ1IqrhgGQwJJ2rb1_-NfZycxvrIR4l0OS8VaSY/s1600/P1070810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRyV_hB_Z13O4zIqoAgXMk_P9G0nwlrKc_fOhiMJBwE17ELE5XWg3H84-Y031ZDVq-IPE-Ospm_CD7HuDrULx7rEVw9CwltowMcQr8eZ1IqrhgGQwJJ2rb1_-NfZycxvrIR4l0OS8VaSY/s640/P1070810.JPG" title="FaroeViking Handspun" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Now on to my next project ... I'm thinking either a coat or a patchwork felt blanket ...</span></div>
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FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0Ottawa, ON, Canada45.4215296 -75.69719309999999344.7060526 -76.988086599999988 46.1370066 -74.4062996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-68875645077727628452013-08-02T11:30:00.002-04:002013-08-04T09:09:54.558-04:00Two Art Yarns (with Grannie Stacks) from One Batt -- Colour Matching<script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because I often get different ideas for yarns as I put colours together for a batt, I enjoy carding a few batts with the same colours and then spinning a couple of my ideas to see how they'll turn out and compare. I can never spin ALL my ideas, but maybe that's a good thing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes it's fun to start a story at the end, s</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">o here is what I got from this particular set of batt ideas. One ply from each of these yarns has been spun from the same multicoloured batt. I chose different colours for the second ply, creating two completely different looks:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKsSQqK_OriwoqtqdHnigqxcBXWJ7fYnFFn4Du4Kr6uc72GyAL-5jm3AC_wjKkUMRYl_Le0l5nozZIIIB9gihp_6p-Y3N3Kkt6FoyMetQGukb0vXITk9jLMUmtVCdxUIq5PH4mBzstfQ-3/s1600/1-P1070762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="421" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKsSQqK_OriwoqtqdHnigqxcBXWJ7fYnFFn4Du4Kr6uc72GyAL-5jm3AC_wjKkUMRYl_Le0l5nozZIIIB9gihp_6p-Y3N3Kkt6FoyMetQGukb0vXITk9jLMUmtVCdxUIq5PH4mBzstfQ-3/s640/1-P1070762.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>If you look closely, you'll see that each of these yarns has intermittent "grannie stacks," <br />or piled-up twists of yarn, throughout. These add concentrated colour, texture, <br />and definition to the yarn, and they just make me happy.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was in the mood for yellow/peach/orange/pink, and I assembled different wools from my dyed stash and combed and carded them up. This is what I came up with -- I didn't use a whole lot of the darker orange, in the end. I'm hoping the picture reveals not only the colour differences but suggests the texture differences as well.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3O6i9En1DoiEkxKCsJ-Y7NYY035AGFrd_iviAJjQ2rvDKrVFQdQJ4vlAxlwv0G4VB1Sg5tbToUoWwEN4oRh1tk9HtferrHqCPfZ0wIh_hzRjza-mqaiyaxO5tTynnPPaI7ymoAn4X9bL/s1600/1-P1070567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3O6i9En1DoiEkxKCsJ-Y7NYY035AGFrd_iviAJjQ2rvDKrVFQdQJ4vlAxlwv0G4VB1Sg5tbToUoWwEN4oRh1tk9HtferrHqCPfZ0wIh_hzRjza-mqaiyaxO5tTynnPPaI7ymoAn4X9bL/s640/1-P1070567.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white;">Fibre includes Cormo, Corriedale, Mohair, Merino, Romney x Bluefaced Leicester, <br />Border Leicester x Bluefaced Leicester, Lincoln Longwool, <br />and a bit of BLFxSilk top that I had leftover from another project</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All spun up into my first single, it came together something like this:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8a8G6i3_WV9hHNiT5DCYCJD0nG0VOqjHOxixRjpjCv_eKAjpGoPnjNyY0zx87RYTgE75OWwmq-vO5fiBVRffNU95TtroHniFO7_mbHUCxo94D9igYLJePbs0pLl6g2SIN_EOv4qLN9u-/s1600/1-P1070649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8a8G6i3_WV9hHNiT5DCYCJD0nG0VOqjHOxixRjpjCv_eKAjpGoPnjNyY0zx87RYTgE75OWwmq-vO5fiBVRffNU95TtroHniFO7_mbHUCxo94D9igYLJePbs0pLl6g2SIN_EOv4qLN9u-/s640/1-P1070649.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Naturally, and true to my general way of doing things, I next forgot to photograph my lovely assembly of purples from which I spun another single to ply with the first. And a "single" or "singles," dear non-spinning friends, is one single strand of yarn made from twisted together fibres as is, without wrapping anything around it, just on its own. For this yarn, I'm taking two singles and twisting them together, or "plying" them, to make a two-ply yarn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did manage to remember to take a photo of me making the second single, though, and you can get some idea of the different purples that went into it from the carded batt I'm spinning from -- well maybe if you enlargen the pic by clicking on it.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwScS_jxTqmQJ768m5I4hqjr4f_hs_NmQtu4zZzJoohmt5qe-_YYzbapsRy0hZKnFrhhPkL7q4v22Y0PW_SSb8F4V2uMM3FPwlEAc_S9EMv9ouHqCEKa246ar6bKolYHYfIFrhQxQtGOU2/s1600/1-P1070696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwScS_jxTqmQJ768m5I4hqjr4f_hs_NmQtu4zZzJoohmt5qe-_YYzbapsRy0hZKnFrhhPkL7q4v22Y0PW_SSb8F4V2uMM3FPwlEAc_S9EMv9ouHqCEKa246ar6bKolYHYfIFrhQxQtGOU2/s640/1-P1070696.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are the two singles before plying.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPJ3QxT9hc8m2r0JbdnwaLSIvz9iHgEZbgrVNzNDCXbMiqjmseOBL_FveqbW8Fv0gLgJTrU7NUoGvPyrnq-H8RtxVxkOxAxihkGJAkgLZ8wbv32oamJbwGf5xMWVmjRXwgVRadFmdJYMU/s1600/1-P1070699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPJ3QxT9hc8m2r0JbdnwaLSIvz9iHgEZbgrVNzNDCXbMiqjmseOBL_FveqbW8Fv0gLgJTrU7NUoGvPyrnq-H8RtxVxkOxAxihkGJAkgLZ8wbv32oamJbwGf5xMWVmjRXwgVRadFmdJYMU/s640/1-P1070699.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Ifv_Va93THRU05nLE2S1z_yUnLezW4F6ehpAD3l_SBu9z8ME5a_ObcSUIC-Ov8O80Ok2Qt5MIzNItta_9Qt9HcracbSw49VmnyjuuKN5_qvMF2wkcxJpkOBpuFNwHuVa_F_zUDy548wV/s1600/1-P1070597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Ifv_Va93THRU05nLE2S1z_yUnLezW4F6ehpAD3l_SBu9z8ME5a_ObcSUIC-Ov8O80Ok2Qt5MIzNItta_9Qt9HcracbSw49VmnyjuuKN5_qvMF2wkcxJpkOBpuFNwHuVa_F_zUDy548wV/s400/1-P1070597.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">This yarn -- my inspiration for the two yarns I'm talking<br />about now -- is from a previous blog entry, </span><a href="http://faroeviking.blogspot.ca/2013/07/two-more-art-yarns-from-one-batt.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">HERE</span></a><br /><span style="color: #741b47;">and you can find it in my Etsy shop </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/156053328/art-yarn-with-beehive-stacks?ref=shop_home_feat" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">HERE</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I decided to do was spin two-ply yarn with beehive grannie stacks, similar to the yarn on the right, but instead of those long even coils of colour, there would be stacked-up coils, and instead of using the multicoloured single for the stacks, I'd use the solid-coloured one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So here I am plying the two singles, or twisting them together (in the opposite direction to that in which they were first spun). I hold the two singles tautishly out ... </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJon3D-IzfOhFUOmElca2cKgK7GnzCdbjIhIV5jANsYyKBiSGBraiUuHnM7bj2MLsZxZjpFT5zQyclKpf5UcXLF2N1Ax1pOmreHsu3w2BuXrUMpPgns0Sp2-2oayLrbsrF7Fcb44Itlpm/s1600/1-P1070718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJon3D-IzfOhFUOmElca2cKgK7GnzCdbjIhIV5jANsYyKBiSGBraiUuHnM7bj2MLsZxZjpFT5zQyclKpf5UcXLF2N1Ax1pOmreHsu3w2BuXrUMpPgns0Sp2-2oayLrbsrF7Fcb44Itlpm/s640/1-P1070718.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and then slide my hand up, allowing the wheel to twist them together.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggm6VlOcb4Juiv571MmNXdy-RP3lZ-gCbq-AT-YfoBoTRV03O8B41uf_c7U8zANUTwm0fxrnAw21xDmudgw4ZBYM6NyzTDQxRbRpDQkbIegG83xTFerh-bHkHOEFD4rAnLNXNib9J2Z5Xc/s1600/1-P1070719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggm6VlOcb4Juiv571MmNXdy-RP3lZ-gCbq-AT-YfoBoTRV03O8B41uf_c7U8zANUTwm0fxrnAw21xDmudgw4ZBYM6NyzTDQxRbRpDQkbIegG83xTFerh-bHkHOEFD4rAnLNXNib9J2Z5Xc/s640/1-P1070719.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After every three lengths of regular plying, I put in a grannie stack. This is wrapping one ply (in this case, the purple one) around the other in the same small area, creating a little stack, and then continuing to ply normally. So here I'm getting ready to make my stack, holding the purple single out to the side ...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1BzmUxwQtA7TYO_gCSZSNZYvxnbup2VI1A5USCC0-DcVURnQZn4z2KEG60WZcYjDIhT9VuN_16YFbXpi28LFt1ocFLUEp6jD6XsfZBgkvDTeg7oCrxjjrQQO3zGkBADLErWX38iqE9dv/s1600/1-P1070720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1BzmUxwQtA7TYO_gCSZSNZYvxnbup2VI1A5USCC0-DcVURnQZn4z2KEG60WZcYjDIhT9VuN_16YFbXpi28LFt1ocFLUEp6jD6XsfZBgkvDTeg7oCrxjjrQQO3zGkBADLErWX38iqE9dv/s640/1-P1070720.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... then I let the wheel spin it around in the same spot, angling my purple ply up and down a bit to spread out and stack the yarn. I'm holding the other single way back with my other hand, because as I twist and wrap the purple single around the other single, the other single is untwisting, and if it untwists too much it will pull apart. By holding it further back, I'm distributing the "untwist" over a greater length of yarn.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcLyox85Y_mWZzQXmh_8OTsYDj-ojtNUnA6f8lD_Wt7N5BtyQhJcPsFtHzgMzyIS8fkXbxAkm9wZSmcsZfFj4NjGB-G1MPEVDHtsJ0m9bmYVz5RINHrWoqf6rkop-H6p-DTm7FQcD1Ud6T/s1600/1-P1070721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcLyox85Y_mWZzQXmh_8OTsYDj-ojtNUnA6f8lD_Wt7N5BtyQhJcPsFtHzgMzyIS8fkXbxAkm9wZSmcsZfFj4NjGB-G1MPEVDHtsJ0m9bmYVz5RINHrWoqf6rkop-H6p-DTm7FQcD1Ud6T/s640/1-P1070721.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I'm happy with my little grannie stack, I continue plying normally. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEKKLjPcsHHmPHR-j7Navg6_SOy7qLpycqDygdCbhxnRcv0iie3-DBvUDIuIVsF5yc943ckePwHXdHe7odef62S5PJm23ofxepJNk7g4DhQT-67FXuxyBF4kOQvrZmFcsn7KauRCingkTk/s1600/1-P1070722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEKKLjPcsHHmPHR-j7Navg6_SOy7qLpycqDygdCbhxnRcv0iie3-DBvUDIuIVsF5yc943ckePwHXdHe7odef62S5PJm23ofxepJNk7g4DhQT-67FXuxyBF4kOQvrZmFcsn7KauRCingkTk/s640/1-P1070722.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here it is on my spindle</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5axG04H1hYeyGI1rqtiL4Wrw-cjGbKtKJPdSzzmEFT_DOEoPaBHu8tclx_ps2ol8iFEBUeHkt3Ygj-KItH2p48PGjvSzp8jERrtLXMmvz5OvG4FAU9f7XW6B5xWzXQ58Q8xAbKbeJIpc/s1600/1-P1070723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5axG04H1hYeyGI1rqtiL4Wrw-cjGbKtKJPdSzzmEFT_DOEoPaBHu8tclx_ps2ol8iFEBUeHkt3Ygj-KItH2p48PGjvSzp8jERrtLXMmvz5OvG4FAU9f7XW6B5xWzXQ58Q8xAbKbeJIpc/s640/1-P1070723.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>My high-tech lazy kate is there on the floor. A lazy kate is a contraption that holds your spindles <br />full of yarn and allows you to unwind them as you ply. There are some <br />very gorgeous ones out there that you can buy. This one is made from a cardboard box <br />with a couple knitting needles punched through the walls. My spindles fit perfectly <br />on the needles. The biggest trick is remembering WHERE the needles are when you want <br />to knit something with them.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And all finished. The little stacks will make little purple shouts of colour in whatever it's used for.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKqNUjBUsfSYh1W2Bs-bZdLYC5qANBooWyrNylkN_C2dQU92ZQAS4TdbAQow7EyqXv4-HbrzXfeUbEHlFL-dhCyyK3ZosAyJfAJDIMry7-jbKO3D_et_YJIDofwjaQg2tye0TviWZVHKS/s1600/1-P1070756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKqNUjBUsfSYh1W2Bs-bZdLYC5qANBooWyrNylkN_C2dQU92ZQAS4TdbAQow7EyqXv4-HbrzXfeUbEHlFL-dhCyyK3ZosAyJfAJDIMry7-jbKO3D_et_YJIDofwjaQg2tye0TviWZVHKS/s640/1-P1070756.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">You can see this in my Etsy shop </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/158350967/bulky-art-yarn-handspun-purple-yellow?ref=shop_home_feat" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">HERE</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />For the second skein, I wanted to ply with yellows. I used the same yellows that were in the multicoloured single - here they are again:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvCMvfBcP1hfIvXb2oT7Gzmwg_90SkkLZvo_3L4gyMBm2u8xmc-vZICk9VTZOrdTpiyXsnBuLZGhJE32hVYQnZS9YACV57UER-IC5bUjqwMrc6j_a4_Nxlt0j5INok0CPL9qKeuFS0L67/s1600/1-P1070568-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvCMvfBcP1hfIvXb2oT7Gzmwg_90SkkLZvo_3L4gyMBm2u8xmc-vZICk9VTZOrdTpiyXsnBuLZGhJE32hVYQnZS9YACV57UER-IC5bUjqwMrc6j_a4_Nxlt0j5INok0CPL9qKeuFS0L67/s640/1-P1070568-001.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Carded into a batt and spun in the same way as the other yarn, this time with yellow grannie stacks, it came out like this:</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVSg2jCaiEVQVA7dqUmpIb2xFMoYJiguKUvD0bVaXRXXQTtcJXqWG9aDGcSVnO6q1ND4qGh4NuHqxHKj4NLSGgQ61BbPQ_zcubuKtYOFUFyaDvhPyQ9fUkoZ1YQr8oaihoQ49d7ScNJvt/s1600/1-P1070765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVSg2jCaiEVQVA7dqUmpIb2xFMoYJiguKUvD0bVaXRXXQTtcJXqWG9aDGcSVnO6q1ND4qGh4NuHqxHKj4NLSGgQ61BbPQ_zcubuKtYOFUFyaDvhPyQ9fUkoZ1YQr8oaihoQ49d7ScNJvt/s640/1-P1070765.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">This is also in my Etsy shop </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/158350227/art-yarn-bulky-yellow-two-ply-with?ref=shop_home_feat" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">HERE</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidWqTi7zDyHZmlBWMF-ytLWWi5lAecINfeeQbu5820MWZPAbLQqS1xEAQaAkbSYxlJnMxKRQHaDhpvntTyBBoG0WAudfOmQf_dmap-cT-_C7Rm1v-fDnRMPfJUcWSBTBQyERe5JwJ7nLUs/s1600/1-P1070763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidWqTi7zDyHZmlBWMF-ytLWWi5lAecINfeeQbu5820MWZPAbLQqS1xEAQaAkbSYxlJnMxKRQHaDhpvntTyBBoG0WAudfOmQf_dmap-cT-_C7Rm1v-fDnRMPfJUcWSBTBQyERe5JwJ7nLUs/s400/1-P1070763.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Changing the colour of the second single really makes a big difference in the overall look of the yarn. If I'd had enough of those multicoloured batts, I would have plied another skein with peach/orange, and yet another with pinks. Ah, so much to do, so little time...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaflG7ZFUCEsEM4bpAnnYBLiZN4LBIXf3mFa8qeSNAmWPoulPR22kwX2hLtSlHUqUUNheLcywTgBxdixfWrx5EZZyr1sKeIh1xO9QNV2m_96nu2low359xtPagOO-WPLLeLCBCCM8Xeusf/s1600/1-P1070753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaflG7ZFUCEsEM4bpAnnYBLiZN4LBIXf3mFa8qeSNAmWPoulPR22kwX2hLtSlHUqUUNheLcywTgBxdixfWrx5EZZyr1sKeIh1xO9QNV2m_96nu2low359xtPagOO-WPLLeLCBCCM8Xeusf/s640/1-P1070753.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/158350967/bulky-art-yarn-handspun-purple-yellow?ref=shop_home_feat" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">Check it out in my</span> <span style="color: orange;">Etsy shop</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDImathW2W9_eUCQVirIabu8jubxVqjCTIPrn6a6PjQ1yy9g4wP50yqu69DS5vB7LyfY19SpFG7-stzy4mywffVgu2tGojicJEBUVWJUMlc50HfqRQF3F8VsW7kISKz9TUuDO2RsYx4WAt/s1600/1-P1070769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDImathW2W9_eUCQVirIabu8jubxVqjCTIPrn6a6PjQ1yy9g4wP50yqu69DS5vB7LyfY19SpFG7-stzy4mywffVgu2tGojicJEBUVWJUMlc50HfqRQF3F8VsW7kISKz9TUuDO2RsYx4WAt/s640/1-P1070769.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Handspun Yarn" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: orange; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/158350227/art-yarn-bulky-yellow-two-ply-with?ref=shop_home_feat" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">Check it out in my Etsy shop</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-24274124028046912572013-07-29T09:14:00.001-04:002013-08-03T12:24:23.576-04:00Dryer Felting - New to Me and Way Easy on the Arms<script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love handmade felt. I love the colour possibilities and vagaries of intertwining strands of hand-dyed fleece. I love needle-felted embellishments.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uHtI5JtVYdYpVdC3BXvRqcoX5xVHPp1jLXTfxNpEnf8En3cu9jnIRAKYGkxXFZekKdZSk7KjgqsGRcx_gzb4zA0c4RokztwrnC8Myq-y1OXk7wB1hizb4fXOTSYB3gzaFiqvzNQ3aC0F/s1600/1-P1070701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uHtI5JtVYdYpVdC3BXvRqcoX5xVHPp1jLXTfxNpEnf8En3cu9jnIRAKYGkxXFZekKdZSk7KjgqsGRcx_gzb4zA0c4RokztwrnC8Myq-y1OXk7wB1hizb4fXOTSYB3gzaFiqvzNQ3aC0F/s640/1-P1070701.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the actual process of wet felting is arduous for me and I seem to have enough aches and pains as it is without leaning over a countertop and rolling (and rolling and rolling) wool into felt for half an hour. So I was very excited to come across this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6WE4ESygL8" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">artfelting tutorial</span></a> by Karin Skacel on a Knitting Daily episode on YouTube. In the tutorial, they use some special paper to hold the wool roving in place before rolling it up and throwing it in the dryer. After the roll is felted, they pour on boiling water to dissolve the backing paper. She notes that it can leave a sticky residue but you should be able to rub most of it off. While I was very interested to try this easier-on-the-arms-and-back felting method, the words "sticky residue" and "wool felt" juxtaposed so casually give me the creeping heebie jeebies, so I cast about for an alternative to the backing paper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided to try Pellon Wash-n-Gone water soluble fabric stabilizer. What's the worst that could happen, after all? A big soggy mess plastered inside my dryer, time spent, a lesson learned. Pshaw, says I. Getting my hands on a 50 x 50 cm square (19 x 19") piece to experiment with, I embarked on this felting expedition. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First step on the tutorial is spreading a wool batt out on the fabric stabilizer, which is a lot like fabric and therefore I think it would be nicer to use than paper anyway.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_oCejHWQCWg6sL-juq-zviwRWo1EU_yijveT5moLAdPJ1mGy3LpO7YWU91SXijR4sCik1RCiekbR1MjwcwE-Aq8zM7-xBXABUbUsJ4FmdgrgRZBn-DKO4K03t-GAtHn3cybxoptwZ4xq/s1600/01-P1070653.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_oCejHWQCWg6sL-juq-zviwRWo1EU_yijveT5moLAdPJ1mGy3LpO7YWU91SXijR4sCik1RCiekbR1MjwcwE-Aq8zM7-xBXABUbUsJ4FmdgrgRZBn-DKO4K03t-GAtHn3cybxoptwZ4xq/s640/01-P1070653.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I dyed this white and grey fleece red and it came out this lovely darkish red colour</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the tutorial, it says you only have to tack the roving in place here and there with a felting needle just to keep it from sliding around. I limited myself to minimal tacking because I really wanted to check out this method as described, to see if it really is that easy. I felt like doing a lot more tacking but you'll be happy to learn I remained strong and resisted the temptation. I did not do the criss-cross of roving that you usually do when wet felting; I just laid out the batt and tacked it in place.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Here's an action shot of some hands-free tacking</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the batt was in place, I raided my big bag of wool gatherings that I've cleaned off my drumcarder and my combs and added more colour, tacking these bits in place as well.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Proper action shot to keep you riveted</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I was done it was pretty lumpy and bumpy.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkEAlNU-SYVV9PWW5rm1lt5lgs8IwsonicUPsJOJAIHlA3bgZjxr08NXGhzQsEQ4zsVGPw915QWoPQlblvRSizTzB-NTwVQz4ctE7j53OyqcFG8tVvA5M1FnsdMEGiHOBmhIIBQA3-_GZX/s1600/04-P1070656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkEAlNU-SYVV9PWW5rm1lt5lgs8IwsonicUPsJOJAIHlA3bgZjxr08NXGhzQsEQ4zsVGPw915QWoPQlblvRSizTzB-NTwVQz4ctE7j53OyqcFG8tVvA5M1FnsdMEGiHOBmhIIBQA3-_GZX/s640/04-P1070656.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then I added some yarn I had spun. I was interested to see how well this felting process would incorporate something that distinct into the piece. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFeOSk1YTsHCJCLaFBUwsQAZ3b0WM7A2F9s6aBLBEvOmQ3aYlRFlyX4mLT-kLukoPCuIH7i-04uXqIMOOr49Az0CTbjNNl7boYKIu7RCU0vcw67PIEHQEKRpxqFg9bUkL__PNFKW-OAxE/s1600/05-P1070661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFeOSk1YTsHCJCLaFBUwsQAZ3b0WM7A2F9s6aBLBEvOmQ3aYlRFlyX4mLT-kLukoPCuIH7i-04uXqIMOOr49Az0CTbjNNl7boYKIu7RCU0vcw67PIEHQEKRpxqFg9bUkL__PNFKW-OAxE/s640/05-P1070661.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Again, I tacked it in place with the needle, using a bit more care with the yarn than I did with the batt and roving. It's still pretty loosely in place, though.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAInU6mjcNuoLCIDMNwM1YjzHSXQ6dy7Kg6B3sD0YoILgtmd741m9DLWfQCG4IxZiKhp89QDKouGVdFVWLjO-E8IJZKoLut8Ajsx85CDgyI2gqybYOM88Kl-1fu8F9tbysY8kU4M-A_-n1/s1600/06-P1070664.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="596" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAInU6mjcNuoLCIDMNwM1YjzHSXQ6dy7Kg6B3sD0YoILgtmd741m9DLWfQCG4IxZiKhp89QDKouGVdFVWLjO-E8IJZKoLut8Ajsx85CDgyI2gqybYOM88Kl-1fu8F9tbysY8kU4M-A_-n1/s640/06-P1070664.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next I forgot to take pictures for the following sequence so this is a RE-ENACTMENT. I laid a wet towel in the bottom of my laundry/crafting tub (I'm lucky enough to have a waist-high bathtub as a laundry tub -- long story somewhat revealed in <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://faroeviking.blogspot.ca/2013_05_01_archive.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">this blog entry</span></a>.</span>). On this I set my felt-to-be, and I carefully poured cold water all over it, making sure it was all soaked through, but also making sure I didn't mess up my design. Yes, I said cold water, and no, there's no soap in it. Then I laid a piece of plastic on top.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1h505drwOJ-sdPBJw4gksgsqkwcCcebxNcebHy2HWtv7OhCuhSZWCqL1AoZ7Mj5RsbNBZp9pgb1JO7M-MiXDg9gV591BgQq5iQA0eDHGYGQQwTZQtI_XXJsjtxBU99EXkYGEea5Hnb0Y/s1600/2-P1070691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1h505drwOJ-sdPBJw4gksgsqkwcCcebxNcebHy2HWtv7OhCuhSZWCqL1AoZ7Mj5RsbNBZp9pgb1JO7M-MiXDg9gV591BgQq5iQA0eDHGYGQQwTZQtI_XXJsjtxBU99EXkYGEea5Hnb0Y/s640/2-P1070691.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is a cut-up garbage bag which is exactly as wide as my piece. I wished it had been wider, because edges of my felt (remember I have yarn all along the edges) were kind of sticking out. I envisioned the yarn sliding out and just felting to itself in a big mess. If you're the kind of person to get anxious ahead of time over negative foreshadowing, allow me to set your mind at ease -- nothing bad happened because of my shade-too-narrow plastic bag. It is something to keep in mind for future activities, though.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5pFw25riEKlCnk_92udbMMks3zh2ppbPDaoeqcNpnslvnPz0he0djl_OyQG8T0bsEEkcJbLbwDCs474Xl0vV193hdmZcZ8LfZs9tGdDcK30e1BRmOezWL1WmS1vxEe1FDNcGaTHvfBDq/s1600/3-P1070692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5pFw25riEKlCnk_92udbMMks3zh2ppbPDaoeqcNpnslvnPz0he0djl_OyQG8T0bsEEkcJbLbwDCs474Xl0vV193hdmZcZ8LfZs9tGdDcK30e1BRmOezWL1WmS1vxEe1FDNcGaTHvfBDq/s640/3-P1070692.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now you need a centre core around which to roll up the wool. I used a rolled wet towel placed at one end. I don't know why I wet it - it made everything much heavier. This might have made for a more vigorous thwapping around inside the dryer, but next time I may try a dry towel and see if there's any difference.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtLPMb7mDig4tp-4BQTO1b6VG2MeOfVhcBV1Tnp3uMWMZ66qiq158KrB9CNY4D5sEryAYbYgxS2kum_4E1v8qVjd5qMwff3r2j-xnwsLbQQ08N174gcfW3lmEW1ywoBDnjUyLJ8LEoKVU/s1600/4-P1070693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtLPMb7mDig4tp-4BQTO1b6VG2MeOfVhcBV1Tnp3uMWMZ66qiq158KrB9CNY4D5sEryAYbYgxS2kum_4E1v8qVjd5qMwff3r2j-xnwsLbQQ08N174gcfW3lmEW1ywoBDnjUyLJ8LEoKVU/s640/4-P1070693.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I got to this stage, I noticed that the fabric backing already seemed to have dissolved in the water. Yikes! But it was okay. I kept rolling and everything held together.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9bhg2S1UCNJm5AxgbaR6UlEqbfTBRPpXUKnO93I8wN0yTpNwIqT9P1qUFlhnclOr_mqTjYqGmb8oop8on-gaUVo6P_ubfNO9kPC8qXQ2GPFzse_icGgKiQkErhFzFuyqOdTebxqTTFEN/s1600/5-P1070694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9bhg2S1UCNJm5AxgbaR6UlEqbfTBRPpXUKnO93I8wN0yTpNwIqT9P1qUFlhnclOr_mqTjYqGmb8oop8on-gaUVo6P_ubfNO9kPC8qXQ2GPFzse_icGgKiQkErhFzFuyqOdTebxqTTFEN/s640/5-P1070694.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The piece of plastic has to be long enough to continue wrapping around the outside until the entire piece is wrapped in plastic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now the re-enactment is over and we're back to the actual wet stage of felting inside the craft tub.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEz-RcZuRiyy3TiTqqkHFXIgOxhnHzg_FvXEUr8jf9AGRGbVrKnmBQsXVh50glh0qe3yWK_HTisZlcIV6V2friyBlzky1Yn-jk9_sX-uQygzyT-cQ6csm-uAnuPKW7KYJmR-l1t2Zq1W9E/s1600/08-P1070669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEz-RcZuRiyy3TiTqqkHFXIgOxhnHzg_FvXEUr8jf9AGRGbVrKnmBQsXVh50glh0qe3yWK_HTisZlcIV6V2friyBlzky1Yn-jk9_sX-uQygzyT-cQ6csm-uAnuPKW7KYJmR-l1t2Zq1W9E/s640/08-P1070669.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Here's my wet parcel laid out in the bottom of the tub</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I tied it tightly with butcher cotton in several places. In the tutorial, she slides the roll into a leg of pantyhose instead of using string. But pantyhose is one of those things I gleefully gave up many years ago so I don't have any kicking around the house. Plus given that my piece is so much larger (and heavier) than the one in the tutorial, I worried the hose wouldn't hold it together well enough. She suggests elastic bands as an alternative, but I went with string.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPBTgTDowJHS_PFr_Vbe3itWTIbqwA9M51quIVqCFQ1VN9FlopNg89XIVcSHEVp3nbhmjFHzFT9zoGA5nWRSx70t2xUWTMjdpIVCGHPBCEkzXE1P3k61DPpVL1Ft2Y2eUDUrg_ioXMZvA/s1600/07-P1070667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPBTgTDowJHS_PFr_Vbe3itWTIbqwA9M51quIVqCFQ1VN9FlopNg89XIVcSHEVp3nbhmjFHzFT9zoGA5nWRSx70t2xUWTMjdpIVCGHPBCEkzXE1P3k61DPpVL1Ft2Y2eUDUrg_ioXMZvA/s640/07-P1070667.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Note that there's an inch and a half or so of wool beyond the outer ties - I was worried <br />that those edges would be lost as the wool slid out of the plastic in the dryer</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This wet bundle went in the dryer for 20 minutes with no heat. I checked it by sticking my fingers inside and seeing if they encountered loose roving or solid-feeling felt. It kind of seemed fine, but I decided to put it back in for another 10 minutes. When it came out I unrolled it carefully -- it was still completely soaking wet, of course -- and to my joy and delight it had felted perfectly! </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyy-NCTsu-R5G5nBklVdDFoI-kgyvMtsnLaY6tB5mPnf30Ew-dKyCFHkB5-eh5WrxuACVajaaRa6wvtL1omGJ3i8Thf88KjJ-2rTMuf6IJFbhw3DSI981_86XEgnjOip_-RKgRKIc9y7N/s1600/09-P1070671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyy-NCTsu-R5G5nBklVdDFoI-kgyvMtsnLaY6tB5mPnf30Ew-dKyCFHkB5-eh5WrxuACVajaaRa6wvtL1omGJ3i8Thf88KjJ-2rTMuf6IJFbhw3DSI981_86XEgnjOip_-RKgRKIc9y7N/s640/09-P1070671.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>You can see it did shrink a bit, as it started out just as wide as the plastic.</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the back side, a nice solid piece of felt. You can see the four ridges where the strings were tied around the bundle. Held up to the light, the felt doesn't seem much thinner here, and they ironed out fine. I might experiment with elastic, though, or even stockings to see if I can get rid of these ridges while still keeping the wool more or less in place during the thumping dryer-felting process. All said, this is definitely the easiest piece of felt I've ever made.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I ironed it a bit on the back to smooth out some of the wrinkles from where the ties were. Even the squiggly yarn going around the edges had felted really well into place. There were only a few places where it needed fixing with a felting needle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then I needle-felted in some surface texture.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bzkulmAV1PW5OfShYvg11PXZKZQL0SajH0rDB8XfCKwBqj0iOM5AXAxbbEZu5LS8CLtZgIbFI3WfOa_cgolJp73cgp2hHUwEGFVYJGNQszAcXaBUevbDqnvIXV2VENKDPLRuZ3Ko4Q6_/s1600/1-P1070700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bzkulmAV1PW5OfShYvg11PXZKZQL0SajH0rDB8XfCKwBqj0iOM5AXAxbbEZu5LS8CLtZgIbFI3WfOa_cgolJp73cgp2hHUwEGFVYJGNQszAcXaBUevbDqnvIXV2VENKDPLRuZ3Ko4Q6_/s640/1-P1070700.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And added a much-loved quotation from Mary Randolph Carter that always makes me feel better when a certain aspect of my life gets me down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's crucial to keep the important part in mind, right? So leave the tidying for another day!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Create!</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-79797516141864036012013-07-28T11:06:00.000-04:002013-08-03T12:24:34.835-04:00Framing Tapestries or Lucky to have a Folk Artist Sister<script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I do love weaving tapestries, although it's awhile since I've indulged in that particular pleasure. I wanted to share a great framing idea for small pieces -- anything lightweight enough not to sag between the hangers -- as well as my "usual" method for larger hangings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'd been experimenting with incorporating only certain warp threads into the weft, and letting others float above the weaving to add colour and texture to the image.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmt8OZAsvTvNN4kmYU6JvoO7WkXOc93dKuLJk5_xEfrSkG0T1sJTmdmAMS6sJxW63FmFaXRnfbZPGl0jAVEnLtPcpYc6EOXo9izxk_ltlonq31kL27RIdbCVHYzHJfpmNIpW3dVrED_qi/s1600/1-P1070674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRmt8OZAsvTvNN4kmYU6JvoO7WkXOc93dKuLJk5_xEfrSkG0T1sJTmdmAMS6sJxW63FmFaXRnfbZPGl0jAVEnLtPcpYc6EOXo9izxk_ltlonq31kL27RIdbCVHYzHJfpmNIpW3dVrED_qi/s640/1-P1070674.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Tapestry" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fish tapestry, 16.5 cm x 11.5 cm (6 1/2" x 4 1/2")<br />Every second warp thread is left loose to float above. I used a piece of paper to separate<br />the warp threads, flipped the loom over and wove the background from the back.<br />Then I flipped the loom over again to weave the fish into the floating warp threads,<br />and with a bundle of metallic threads did some free-form weaving to gather<br />the loose warp threads and give it a wavy, watery look. The little purple guys were too small </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to hold </span></b><b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">their shape. If you get far enough away and squint, they look fish-ish -- now I think of them </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as floating blurbles and have made peace with them.</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCE0O4sOa-KNbEupr2WMjjNJYl0H1cM5zb3QIzfaP39dZDNI3pQe_NWzdVzzhtkeQ0RXLzqcG9XSMnjYGLxLchIsK8-Sz1M8eQZFyd6-Kqx5yrEbqbr0ikPXS2YjsPJ8X2Ulu70AbEDiCd/s1600/1-P1070682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCE0O4sOa-KNbEupr2WMjjNJYl0H1cM5zb3QIzfaP39dZDNI3pQe_NWzdVzzhtkeQ0RXLzqcG9XSMnjYGLxLchIsK8-Sz1M8eQZFyd6-Kqx5yrEbqbr0ikPXS2YjsPJ8X2Ulu70AbEDiCd/s640/1-P1070682.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Tapestry" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dragon tapestry, 18 cm x 10 cm (7" x 4")<br />I alternated green boucle and blue warp threads, weaving the blue into the bottom half<br />of the tapestry and letting the green float, and vice versa for the top half, using paper to keep<br />the threads separate, as for the fish. The border edges weave in all the warp threads.<br />The tree is woven into the floating warp threads, and the dragon is embroidered<br />into the whole piece.</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's another look at my fishie and dragon:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1OhtCrmA2IXRbgh5_UGEwBy3XtEwMvykaluu1c2FpCbdWMKaNcAdeFjWx11mnUiuJ-UUGBLKg6pyKr6iTCluF2VufzxKQNVYo9Vd77moCpXIeIbDrvmQwtUsjA-SmgVDk5LNCQ4y6EkL/s1600/03-P1070675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1OhtCrmA2IXRbgh5_UGEwBy3XtEwMvykaluu1c2FpCbdWMKaNcAdeFjWx11mnUiuJ-UUGBLKg6pyKr6iTCluF2VufzxKQNVYo9Vd77moCpXIeIbDrvmQwtUsjA-SmgVDk5LNCQ4y6EkL/s640/03-P1070675.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Tapestry" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KYO82tH4v10rZOhYip6CLEW1bI865UAZxXXG3JbhmRtEkU7j0Rvlda5-btsomNYOMYzL7cFB-DasyobVPLLG7ZcvUSuFDf_gyQBWBn0byS6nP8lFCg7dhDhlFJMUdJtun32y7MisJMlh/s1600/11-P1070683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KYO82tH4v10rZOhYip6CLEW1bI865UAZxXXG3JbhmRtEkU7j0Rvlda5-btsomNYOMYzL7cFB-DasyobVPLLG7ZcvUSuFDf_gyQBWBn0byS6nP8lFCg7dhDhlFJMUdJtun32y7MisJMlh/s640/11-P1070683.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Tapestry" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The dragon is the avatar I use for my <b><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/faroeviking?ref=si_shop" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">Etsy shop</span></a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But how to hang these little guys? I didn't want a permanent frame, because life is too rife with unforeseen circumstances to gamble so flagrantly, so no gluing or anything like that. They're only small and lightweight, and I didn't want them to disappear on the wall by hanging them the usual way. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And what's the usual way? you may ask. Simple but effective: sew the fuzzy side of a length of velcro across the top of your tapestry. Staple the sharp toothy side onto a length of narrow wood.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sewing the velcro onto the tapestry can be hard on your fingers - it's tough to make <br />the needle go through that heavy velcro material. However, I do not suggest <br />using stick-on velcro as an alternative. The glue just isn't strong enough, <br />unless you have a very light-weight tapestry. And even so, I don't think it lasts long enough.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I guess you could machine-sew it onto the backing fabric before you sew it onto the</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>tapestry, but you'd have to be pretty exact in your measurements, as well as have the forethought</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>to do that bit first, which thus far in my life I guess I haven't...</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Screw hanging loops into the top edge of the wood, and hey, presto! A perfectly hung tapestry - or at least a tapestry ready to be perfectly hung.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJ9CyUFfSnrB_NCz0kOJHn2qK2Zl29Kmj3-ytc4X0_AwIFeSTdHGALwCZNpRN-1_oDyakQ1ki3T6n_GJEmXQ58HqZ4EkAgQ9dsPW0VMumr8iJc6dq2d4Kv2LwWuAudgygzvD9zTp0RECC/s1600/4-P1070689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJ9CyUFfSnrB_NCz0kOJHn2qK2Zl29Kmj3-ytc4X0_AwIFeSTdHGALwCZNpRN-1_oDyakQ1ki3T6n_GJEmXQ58HqZ4EkAgQ9dsPW0VMumr8iJc6dq2d4Kv2LwWuAudgygzvD9zTp0RECC/s640/4-P1070689.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>If the hanger is exactly as wide as your tapestry, there won't be any sag</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I learned to do this from my tapestry instructor, many, many a year ago now, given away by the year I have stitched onto the back. And the example I'm showing you is my first ever tapestry, woven in that very class. Here it is from the front:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKng0gfX1sK7KWoM6CKRoXeNUw8UMRvBUNn5RwnhE7xbZWS_DoomiTh5VreR_LCatcEiwStyWILjhR9lCBrvgGXeCh7r_RLflEupUCxixEVRuAkHKiCMSHTe-jpJ5gWTzXMZD1AJ9y76d-/s1600/1-P1070686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKng0gfX1sK7KWoM6CKRoXeNUw8UMRvBUNn5RwnhE7xbZWS_DoomiTh5VreR_LCatcEiwStyWILjhR9lCBrvgGXeCh7r_RLflEupUCxixEVRuAkHKiCMSHTe-jpJ5gWTzXMZD1AJ9y76d-/s640/1-P1070686.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Troll in the Moonlight - my first weaving endeavour 46 cm x 43 cm (18" x 17")<br />I was inspired by Faroese folktales in choosing my subject.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I loved making this; it totally turned me onto weaving. Here he is close up, gazing pensively at the rising moon ...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqHSZajStTglmsBestUPAhKBXCKtn0UoZSxAcdV42LxuW7HUcZjKQ-QXF0V1Jg10lwqi1L7Kn-ihlnF1YCr_cCz4N0tvpd1viq6u_7rJjEYQ497vXg2TfVWz9J6xQtiql_vQPtaAiltCbL/s1600/2-P1070687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqHSZajStTglmsBestUPAhKBXCKtn0UoZSxAcdV42LxuW7HUcZjKQ-QXF0V1Jg10lwqi1L7Kn-ihlnF1YCr_cCz4N0tvpd1viq6u_7rJjEYQ497vXg2TfVWz9J6xQtiql_vQPtaAiltCbL/s640/2-P1070687.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The entire piece is woven, except I top-stitched on the black outline of the troll.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>We learned yarn dyeing in that class as well, and I wove the sky out of yarns we dyed ourselves.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But back to the issue at hand. My dragon and fish tapestries are much smaller than my troll, and I wanted an actual frame to help them stand out when they were hung. This would save my fingertips from sewing on velcro, but still, what to do? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Luckily, I happened to mention this quandary to my sister Kathi, who is a folk artist (<b><a href="http://www.pufferbellies.ca/" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">Pufferbellies</span></a></b>) and good with wood. She made two great frames that are perfect - although admittedly you have to have some woodworking tools to make them just the way she did.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrPJRIQTi37wOQpT1vgAZKCyZdaw7bzqXTWRgGbfiOLnlwyjRbZKfPg0yj6rVcbS1fzSJ_KX7b_n0WZpFa1bLiMhZ7h_Pxb5q7JNdiomWvkOn2Pd2gnw7tL66RWEceMbmncjYHvAwCAvx/s1600/01-P1070673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrPJRIQTi37wOQpT1vgAZKCyZdaw7bzqXTWRgGbfiOLnlwyjRbZKfPg0yj6rVcbS1fzSJ_KX7b_n0WZpFa1bLiMhZ7h_Pxb5q7JNdiomWvkOn2Pd2gnw7tL66RWEceMbmncjYHvAwCAvx/s640/01-P1070673.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Tapestry" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each frame measures 29 cm x 24.5 cm (11 1/2" x 9 1/2"), <br />the centre area where the tapestry is mounted is recessed about 1/2 cm (1/4").</span></b></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXIbo-YOF7WBEhl-TeB2HXEfWL8Dwt1K_5c-3fOhHLxuXpCenT58SY6wc04chUtciaPit09DykaOhat6soyI-ew6y8y8qrhPm3E5MEuXh1Khkuqyy7pqgl_jd7owoMLGkUybjshrhGyku/s1600/07-P1070679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXIbo-YOF7WBEhl-TeB2HXEfWL8Dwt1K_5c-3fOhHLxuXpCenT58SY6wc04chUtciaPit09DykaOhat6soyI-ew6y8y8qrhPm3E5MEuXh1Khkuqyy7pqgl_jd7owoMLGkUybjshrhGyku/s640/07-P1070679.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Tapestry" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I love the way she painted the frames with layers of colours, <br />and the contrasting recessed centre that shows up the piece</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They're two separate pieces of wood, the 1.5 cm-thick outer frame, and a thin piece of plywood mounted in the centre like a photograph in a frame. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFJZrjqDVcZx6ZnHR0B_m8PKR7UkXJvPm1mgHnHmfixpUXEBnRcIYIRZ5fWdDYChsr1CLvitMlQuubYo1END8LwjKSmhnPRPvw37cZZGNL3nfjpBhiGr_TOFKjWBZ-I9XWlXE_aq9idhG8/s1600/09-P1070681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFJZrjqDVcZx6ZnHR0B_m8PKR7UkXJvPm1mgHnHmfixpUXEBnRcIYIRZ5fWdDYChsr1CLvitMlQuubYo1END8LwjKSmhnPRPvw37cZZGNL3nfjpBhiGr_TOFKjWBZ-I9XWlXE_aq9idhG8/s640/09-P1070681.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Tapestry" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aha, a secret glimpse of my high-tech homemade cardboard lightbox...</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The tapestries are actually tied onto the recessed centre piece of plywood. This is why I don't think it would work with heavier tapestries, because you would risk it sagging between the ties, or even being too heavy for the plywood to hold, depending on the size of the piece.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2v4-CFzLe7NnfpLg5ZjcJvFTYajIsOGID51NgekvI_rzM_bQ8kIkAYzwg3C4neh2U91H4UmuVS57vR4KKGSy8Z95W2omBm0AYgYy2xs6aKctnYgFIMsyL00yPdSWfl2wkG5QBQUViWi6N/s1600/12-P1070684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2v4-CFzLe7NnfpLg5ZjcJvFTYajIsOGID51NgekvI_rzM_bQ8kIkAYzwg3C4neh2U91H4UmuVS57vR4KKGSy8Z95W2omBm0AYgYy2xs6aKctnYgFIMsyL00yPdSWfl2wkG5QBQUViWi6N/s640/12-P1070684.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She drilled holes in the plywood to tie on the tapestries, which I did with strong upholstery thread.</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here they are from the back:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLhe1ry6pyKkcoUzZfx3LOfuuZURf927SrUmOl9r6o5xNTQmCPO3zDvdvVNRsxw6U4-TAFpG0r-vn4cIRgxZWvfDBKUAeXcmd5147niFFI-pSypf7KSPvV8-0fLh6-9eGwRVXxtsQfv5o/s1600/05-P1070677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLhe1ry6pyKkcoUzZfx3LOfuuZURf927SrUmOl9r6o5xNTQmCPO3zDvdvVNRsxw6U4-TAFpG0r-vn4cIRgxZWvfDBKUAeXcmd5147niFFI-pSypf7KSPvV8-0fLh6-9eGwRVXxtsQfv5o/s640/05-P1070677.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The plywood is held in place using those metal tabs used in photo frames. <br />With no woodworking skills or no access to tools, however, you could do something <br />simpler, just using the thin painted plywood and tying your piece onto the centre, <br />and then creating your own outer frame (out of felt, or woven pieces, or paper, or <br />more painted plywood) and gluing it onto the plywood around the piece. <br />Something quick and dirty would be to just buy a photo frame, punch holes </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>in the cardboard backer, and sew the tapestry onto that. You've lost</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>the handmade aspect of the frame, but sometimes you do what you have to, right?</b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIP8-d8PZEScl_ON3A0FBM3N_UJEbIhoZujH5-HD1q5QUAf7LZGCjsV26HE5PVR0B_RwUizoeDnghS3Q54YJtJQjxTryJdAa9d_AD5W62XIvMWtOCgZ1t9KR1HQlOxWFLkb5mi0qVq3SBS/s1600/06-P1070678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIP8-d8PZEScl_ON3A0FBM3N_UJEbIhoZujH5-HD1q5QUAf7LZGCjsV26HE5PVR0B_RwUizoeDnghS3Q54YJtJQjxTryJdAa9d_AD5W62XIvMWtOCgZ1t9KR1HQlOxWFLkb5mi0qVq3SBS/s640/06-P1070678.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Painting the back of her work is just one of those touches Kathi likes to add, and which I love. <br />The knot is just a reef knot so it's easy to untie if I ever need to.</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And just for fun, here are some other tapestries I made a few years ago. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was my first experiment with floating warps, where I incorporated a frame into the picture - taken pre-lightbox, unfortunately, so the colours are all bleached and the picture quality is kind of lousy. I gave the tapestry away so I can't re-photograph it...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQ0gfPly6nmGTERY5_W4piS60toadDLCndpb-By68YrlnsaiyLNzs_2KwxFx_GgbcHVPui0C3bqrZO7sa0C9lZxVhxB4nmHqSGb0HzBDq0H20-pVXpYVEzFX0xttzaVdclwSeONHoFXYv/s1600/1-1-DSCF4590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQ0gfPly6nmGTERY5_W4piS60toadDLCndpb-By68YrlnsaiyLNzs_2KwxFx_GgbcHVPui0C3bqrZO7sa0C9lZxVhxB4nmHqSGb0HzBDq0H20-pVXpYVEzFX0xttzaVdclwSeONHoFXYv/s640/1-1-DSCF4590.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Tapestry" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">The fish was woven with sari-silk yarn. <br />As I recollect, the piece measures about 25 cm x 25 cm (10" x 10")</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And a couple other weaving experiments, also photographed sans lightbox some time ago ...</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_KHrHiW3r1b8X6q6HmIWcYCwdY3tBFQQkUi3GpIDWtxyXCKpnhaVT3GAGz-mhZTjKF4SoOBVtlFhnswQEOWZJta-8H2Ktab6gx4BgkfD4OVeQzG53-t3RSPJB4u8E3qBBRI686p7xj3Bn/s1600/1-5-DSCF4594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_KHrHiW3r1b8X6q6HmIWcYCwdY3tBFQQkUi3GpIDWtxyXCKpnhaVT3GAGz-mhZTjKF4SoOBVtlFhnswQEOWZJta-8H2Ktab6gx4BgkfD4OVeQzG53-t3RSPJB4u8E3qBBRI686p7xj3Bn/s640/1-5-DSCF4594.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Tapestry" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Pilot whales frolicking around the Faroe Islands - this was 40 cm x 40 cm (14" x 14")<br />Again, playing with incorporating the frame into the piece.</b></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbMfgHgRLq8ed9QypsFmWuV3xyouZLJLH0SA30K61agnjzCPQUghYSpj1j-U0ZbcnbPqX5OFtQfmR0WHCiodlD-f3ZmXh2NgeZvkAC3TMURErniLEJI1ts38L_Mxzjam-w1UiUl9p-1ics/s1600/1-1-DSCF4631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbMfgHgRLq8ed9QypsFmWuV3xyouZLJLH0SA30K61agnjzCPQUghYSpj1j-U0ZbcnbPqX5OFtQfmR0WHCiodlD-f3ZmXh2NgeZvkAC3TMURErniLEJI1ts38L_Mxzjam-w1UiUl9p-1ics/s640/1-1-DSCF4631.JPG" title="Faroe Viking Tapestry" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fog creeping to a standing stone - the ground is sari-silk yarn, 40 cm x 15 cm (14" x 6")</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0canada47.279229002570816 -78.398437521.757194502570815 -119.7070315 72.801263502570819 -37.0898435tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-1327835891894794332013-07-13T08:52:00.000-04:002013-08-03T12:24:49.934-04:00Two More Art Yarns from One Batt<script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I was in the mood for a yarn that was plied, with regular little beehive-y type exclamations throughout. Something with lots of colours, and plied with something solid for nice contrast. Something like (actually exactly like) this:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QMBLdFhJUQm0K592JPAldDRM6LvAKxc7X8dVGEoF-BCGQG9MKBb2Sb2qPUk7e3NrT9sMaFzoYlkN9Ou4bq4sgR4ewO4CSsvMaTWtLZryYEvaSXyPGzLsNgUjy0_4Sj-cAT6aUYe5VQQr/s1600/1-P1070597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QMBLdFhJUQm0K592JPAldDRM6LvAKxc7X8dVGEoF-BCGQG9MKBb2Sb2qPUk7e3NrT9sMaFzoYlkN9Ou4bq4sgR4ewO4CSsvMaTWtLZryYEvaSXyPGzLsNgUjy0_4Sj-cAT6aUYe5VQQr/s640/1-P1070597.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But I also wanted to do something else, that would look completely different, with the same batt. Something that wound up looking exactly like this:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi50QXCnYa1X8ggkjthY4MD9Moy_Ny-nZGfbiht9A5Jz8jcx-vu6FrJIxku66NAxZXAKT_BKsgfh02YAtIFZ8RXQc8Nyh2C2KK6lRmYREor0E36Z2OAF2umXeLQfgit44moiiCtk20MFpY6/s1600/1-P1070580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi50QXCnYa1X8ggkjthY4MD9Moy_Ny-nZGfbiht9A5Jz8jcx-vu6FrJIxku66NAxZXAKT_BKsgfh02YAtIFZ8RXQc8Nyh2C2KK6lRmYREor0E36Z2OAF2umXeLQfgit44moiiCtk20MFpY6/s640/1-P1070580.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Still in my purple celebration, I made another selection of colours including much purple, but venturing into other colours freely, and wound up with these -- you can see I'm still using the natural greys as well:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoheqyNPf_PeYgMhVzsQYlsDF7coD_vFcgH4Oh97njIOc-pf-Er15LBrWoGU27qw9SadCqbxSxBIh3TwPCARQzMa2vqThC-_-x21g_R1EQzJ6uV6hO2pyGzdSKS68fbWN4aAuJMEnph1-T/s1600/1-P1070546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoheqyNPf_PeYgMhVzsQYlsDF7coD_vFcgH4Oh97njIOc-pf-Er15LBrWoGU27qw9SadCqbxSxBIh3TwPCARQzMa2vqThC-_-x21g_R1EQzJ6uV6hO2pyGzdSKS68fbWN4aAuJMEnph1-T/s640/1-P1070546.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most of these are my own hand combed or carded fibres, there's a little commercial top in there (which means a mill prepared the wool). It's all dyed by me. I just dye and dye what I feel like and maintain a stash of colours to spin from. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I carded four batts, two for each skein, which as always you can't really appreciate from so far away as your computer screen, but this is something like what they looked like:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWT2AYXMxs4fRnvzhopFCFYYOpIreoBZsAEnvKnEALiu8uAUbf0XlPGH9NO9Wp5IzNpDX2EkhRnKWQjKlzkGuhPWxnYSaCnxtvDQT4Epy5WDlhxra0X_PQm3g-ZkFTPEI32QxGGYpTekXb/s1600/1-P1070548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWT2AYXMxs4fRnvzhopFCFYYOpIreoBZsAEnvKnEALiu8uAUbf0XlPGH9NO9Wp5IzNpDX2EkhRnKWQjKlzkGuhPWxnYSaCnxtvDQT4Epy5WDlhxra0X_PQm3g-ZkFTPEI32QxGGYpTekXb/s640/1-P1070548.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So first up is the two-ply yarn. I spun the multicoloured single</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdF9QaVNPW9WpKEgwqX89Qt4lLohEvBdDcZSv8MN-DuwkzR0leblAkwR8BR1dqEU-abBrnsKkGrNVTXGy1GtNolhVw8O8Q4pPkrZPkLB4HrxnFVQWNV1Ca0Mp7HuFf4MnER7qtGvoXXtep/s1600/1-P1070552-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdF9QaVNPW9WpKEgwqX89Qt4lLohEvBdDcZSv8MN-DuwkzR0leblAkwR8BR1dqEU-abBrnsKkGrNVTXGy1GtNolhVw8O8Q4pPkrZPkLB4HrxnFVQWNV1Ca0Mp7HuFf4MnER7qtGvoXXtep/s640/1-P1070552-001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and I decided to use a bright fuchsia-red Wensleydale top I had dyed some time ago for the other ply. I thought it would look great with the colours in the batt, and really make the pinks stand out. This pic (at least on my monitor) has captured a bit of the textures of the different wools.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaQ7jfdnFidrBZK33lI50KEPRVOmxIau2VHHpza_3PzuZK9E5gXGOMwWj6B4JdN_WJtlQKwnFouMwMh3nh_kR_fvqer4hha4Pqfwosvxw0dZLXYoapb0vQCM8bbsEnnJw4IdLRNtMftNB/s1600/1-P1070554-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaQ7jfdnFidrBZK33lI50KEPRVOmxIau2VHHpza_3PzuZK9E5gXGOMwWj6B4JdN_WJtlQKwnFouMwMh3nh_kR_fvqer4hha4Pqfwosvxw0dZLXYoapb0vQCM8bbsEnnJw4IdLRNtMftNB/s640/1-P1070554-001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wensleydale is a long-stapled fibre and spins into a wonderfully smooth, thin single. Not especially soft, but lustrous. You can tell this top was mill spun, it's so tight and perfect. My top is looser (well, easier to spin from too) and I treat it more carefully so it doesn't fall apart before I'm ready for it. Commercial top can withstand a beating and it still holds together.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRptkKrw4kBC8Od_D4SzSZSY4ZO49YyptudIitc4cLmG36uxIuLN4cNzXkK4LN2KjhVYgUEcR9Df_0gtp3SmCxOu30Qwhv4qbMjiscIcPpNhIg-U1MimsVs5Sz71ZdpTW6_XNQcaxi7-Qb/s1600/1-P1070555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRptkKrw4kBC8Od_D4SzSZSY4ZO49YyptudIitc4cLmG36uxIuLN4cNzXkK4LN2KjhVYgUEcR9Df_0gtp3SmCxOu30Qwhv4qbMjiscIcPpNhIg-U1MimsVs5Sz71ZdpTW6_XNQcaxi7-Qb/s640/1-P1070555.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are my two lovelies, waiting to be married.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YYm8OVchh-o5gV5QajWaGYJVhYTEGqkh1JoZ2_5WPxHTTfypGNxYDo0EA4QYfyLyw3svHh53Vg3RqkXghtBb1dm_atJABVBuLx94mNx46xNlgf7XAHWA3Y4dy2gDVmAhCbwPXxn8Jphu/s1600/1-P1070558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YYm8OVchh-o5gV5QajWaGYJVhYTEGqkh1JoZ2_5WPxHTTfypGNxYDo0EA4QYfyLyw3svHh53Vg3RqkXghtBb1dm_atJABVBuLx94mNx46xNlgf7XAHWA3Y4dy2gDVmAhCbwPXxn8Jphu/s640/1-P1070558.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> So I plied them together ...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOiSfaCjqjsLfzVmEnNaMGYzZn8aYqGt4jnxya712ODwZutm_GWDYu9s-l4-JXq4ApNIvcGN2Dj6ixBS3Bax5RhQsAWN1Nb7w1ETsnFQi9-McSyjgwrswboAeStwJ6C7p5c14Td2TwD7Db/s1600/1-P1070560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOiSfaCjqjsLfzVmEnNaMGYzZn8aYqGt4jnxya712ODwZutm_GWDYu9s-l4-JXq4ApNIvcGN2Dj6ixBS3Bax5RhQsAWN1Nb7w1ETsnFQi9-McSyjgwrswboAeStwJ6C7p5c14Td2TwD7Db/s640/1-P1070560.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... and every here and there I put a little beehive, just pushing the multicoloured strand up and packing the coils together every 30 inches or so.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNLmTKcTOc3BiKh3elmJzZORqK3Kz5k9e_LPTP5qipLyngCzn3rVZWN8kxV4eJL01SdX3RMkC4bSSyvLs6FDkwVskic4MKrZLBLbSBu2EbXTQy6VLwx1jpDAp7UOSSQRuk4_O7KBZMDp5/s1600/1-P1070561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNLmTKcTOc3BiKh3elmJzZORqK3Kz5k9e_LPTP5qipLyngCzn3rVZWN8kxV4eJL01SdX3RMkC4bSSyvLs6FDkwVskic4MKrZLBLbSBu2EbXTQy6VLwx1jpDAp7UOSSQRuk4_O7KBZMDp5/s640/1-P1070561.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then all finished</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rVMG0C1P38hImboBqIIoQfrdAMMddfbwbamjLGABZ_tDdbLx4_oZDEEzRZ-JkCCdeSRS56UggT2EhjH5OU0L_hZICjB5hooSiaPaUpPQFdTXpAKnrsRJSnIwsUaJ-AEPb1nTVo6iDVZS/s1600/1-P1070591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rVMG0C1P38hImboBqIIoQfrdAMMddfbwbamjLGABZ_tDdbLx4_oZDEEzRZ-JkCCdeSRS56UggT2EhjH5OU0L_hZICjB5hooSiaPaUpPQFdTXpAKnrsRJSnIwsUaJ-AEPb1nTVo6iDVZS/s640/1-P1070591.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA85bEfGA7Syk0hMXOzhuY727LRbTb8dxaS-Kob6jtTakbNxOoPKDLOs9ZLKWB1HCwf4Or_4QmaIe7kRlpgyUNdGM1TcnasEjkXLDBk1cZRo5neHNECXGtRQ_DrChMeD4XskOERCkKjzwR/s1600/1-P1070583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA85bEfGA7Syk0hMXOzhuY727LRbTb8dxaS-Kob6jtTakbNxOoPKDLOs9ZLKWB1HCwf4Or_4QmaIe7kRlpgyUNdGM1TcnasEjkXLDBk1cZRo5neHNECXGtRQ_DrChMeD4XskOERCkKjzwR/s640/1-P1070583.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like these colours - very circussy. I like how the pink brings out the other colours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And now, having made this beautiful colour combination, I wanted to corespin something as well, just to enjoy the colours differently, without the interplay of the pink Wensleydale.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6uc_gZgAb_TNdN2NzyjtynygWqJVwO07l4kUsi3Vph6xLHjdoOzKihc-_wIxaQSFi6sVv7CPCdQsQc1UCywTilRJYjld4nkndP-6hasKuDCp2SC2WAtHZpWCbKPIfJ87MgyeKD2kNVwyi/s1600/1-P1070549.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6uc_gZgAb_TNdN2NzyjtynygWqJVwO07l4kUsi3Vph6xLHjdoOzKihc-_wIxaQSFi6sVv7CPCdQsQc1UCywTilRJYjld4nkndP-6hasKuDCp2SC2WAtHZpWCbKPIfJ87MgyeKD2kNVwyi/s640/1-P1070549.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So here I'm corespinning the wool, which is basically wrapping wool around a core, which in this case is no.10 crochet cotton. It wraps on at a sharp angle and shows the colours a bit differently than with regularly-spun yarn.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yqPEJCzozglZDi7QI1NzWYdkbNeWPKauhiDQkJTgXPj-48uWFalF_c8qohBTRiW3C_3432IzolY3REizUgasj9-SN5pB_ZkHk_Akddui16FIg2CRd3IcJOY1IL_kDC01-kT6g11P6Ltw/s1600/1-P1070551-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yqPEJCzozglZDi7QI1NzWYdkbNeWPKauhiDQkJTgXPj-48uWFalF_c8qohBTRiW3C_3432IzolY3REizUgasj9-SN5pB_ZkHk_Akddui16FIg2CRd3IcJOY1IL_kDC01-kT6g11P6Ltw/s640/1-P1070551-001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So in the end</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCvl3CN-tlTRYDpzMhe1RcFByVIrp7bPUwuWEb5pPQsz4_R7YNXzXFLDlkwQDVbX8_VeHWuONOM3H59aR9tTERFrm_E6yb93SQQ94z1NCpPflCb_E2JDm1MuVLed7fpEh3ru4nIfAswKui/s1600/1-P1070581.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCvl3CN-tlTRYDpzMhe1RcFByVIrp7bPUwuWEb5pPQsz4_R7YNXzXFLDlkwQDVbX8_VeHWuONOM3H59aR9tTERFrm_E6yb93SQQ94z1NCpPflCb_E2JDm1MuVLed7fpEh3ru4nIfAswKui/s640/1-P1070581.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It really looks different than the plied yarn, even though the batts they started as before spinning were pretty much the same. Here's a final look:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-3cAURDrhBHq7UUpRqSNGcz5zQLSR4qc6GXsB6HPEIk-FjTYgCPmeYOJzTsr9um8gFsg1OJ5RoHU8O7y55EDFhMov6wqTJ0DmxmBrUC672N3fnHbGKry8_hahZ66mqnTqzscE-DTceSGJ/s1600/1-P1070584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-3cAURDrhBHq7UUpRqSNGcz5zQLSR4qc6GXsB6HPEIk-FjTYgCPmeYOJzTsr9um8gFsg1OJ5RoHU8O7y55EDFhMov6wqTJ0DmxmBrUC672N3fnHbGKry8_hahZ66mqnTqzscE-DTceSGJ/s640/1-P1070584.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">A pretty hefty skein of yarn, weighing in at 235 g (8.3 oz) 112 m (123 yards) long and bulky at 5-6 wpi</span><br /><span style="color: #741b47;">You can see it in my shop </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/156053328/cij-art-yarn-plied-with-beehives?ref=shop_home_feat"><span style="color: orange;">HERE</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb6mcZOnu_U3J4rn-AzATYiHERtxMQ89D8_NiwKbaxrQS6FnAYyJjUYkMlZkDdTroeEB-dF61csWvSwEH4M-6HbB-EK6UYA2RrH-qPb0Ljbm9Lfol712MePJr2aHGQc3cABQXuQmAi13td/s1600/1-P1070576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb6mcZOnu_U3J4rn-AzATYiHERtxMQ89D8_NiwKbaxrQS6FnAYyJjUYkMlZkDdTroeEB-dF61csWvSwEH4M-6HbB-EK6UYA2RrH-qPb0Ljbm9Lfol712MePJr2aHGQc3cABQXuQmAi13td/s640/1-P1070576.JPG" width="590" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">This skein turned out a lot smaller than the other one, as I only used the two coloured batts </span><br /><span style="color: #741b47;">without the addition of the Wensleydale - 60 m (66 yards), 98 g (3.45 oz) and aran weight, wpi 8</span><br /><span style="color: #741b47;">You can see it in my shop </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/156051782/cij-art-yarn-corespun-multicolored?ref=shop_home_feat"><span style="color: orange;">HERE</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-71301806244166942392013-07-07T15:18:00.001-04:002013-08-03T12:25:02.620-04:00More on Navajo Plying and Musings on Handprocessing Fleece<script type="text/javascript">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczcdd3RofX3cAAYN5HbBNu2LgXE-n00NTpH8tPc4NUU08xM6hI7_cXGdlLW3eSzPgPMxK5WGPy2qrhCvoJYYY1su9BBwRj_t4meLjIe6LX2gWyYMZrKS0aCx1NKQMXjTS00tA4vp_O5bm/s1600/1-P1070232-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczcdd3RofX3cAAYN5HbBNu2LgXE-n00NTpH8tPc4NUU08xM6hI7_cXGdlLW3eSzPgPMxK5WGPy2qrhCvoJYYY1su9BBwRj_t4meLjIe6LX2gWyYMZrKS0aCx1NKQMXjTS00tA4vp_O5bm/s640/1-P1070232-001.JPG" width="426" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Still enjoying my purple fleeces - here they are drying out back, by the way, along with fabrics for sewing some summer clothes for my daughter (a project I finished WEEKS ago, yay!). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don't leave the fleeces to dry exposed that way, though -- I'm too worried about squirrels stealing some or leaves landing in it or someone next door mowing their lawn and the wind blowing the clippings over the fence into the wool - not to mention a bird flying overhead and having a terrible toilet accident or a gust of wind scattering the whole lot over the hedge and into the wide world. I feel like I don't want to add any more dirt into the wool to clean out than I already have to. So I lay another layer of gauze fabric over the top (like I have underneath to keep the wool from falling through the clothes rack) and pin it down with clothes pegs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The fact that there will be VM (vegetable matter, like seeds or bits of leaf and grass) that has to be combed or picked out from the fleece is one of the ways we pay for cleaning wool by hand rather than getting a mill to do it. But the thought of using chemicals to break down the VM as they do in mills bothers me on many levels. Not only the addition of these chemicals to our environment, but also the wool suffers and loses some of its softness, some of its bounce and luster. I know some mills are better than others, and I also use mill-prepared wool for spinning on some projects. But one thing I love about the many types of wool that there are is each wool's own particular qualities of texture, softness, lustre, sproinginess, how it takes dye ... and I love yarn that combines a bunch of these different fibres and mixes them into a lovely melange where they each promote and display each other's beauty. So more and more I prefer to prepare my own fibres by hand, simply picking apart the fleece by the handful and allowing the bits of VM to fall out, or if there's more than the occasional twig or leaf, combing it all out. I guess it makes me feel connected to my yarn. But time consuming? Yes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A short entry today, after all that environmental musing. My batt building blocks are once again based in purple with additions of whatever struck me as I sat pondering alone in my craft room, dishes done, children on their way to bed, while the old CD player entertained me with murder mysteries borrowed from the public library. Ahh, libraries. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4O-mE-2Gepj9bzxHeHF7A4XJXPlpT9K0j0BEWGDdHGyOlFD34AG-TQT1MGqJVNdFvm4vhF6gumlOf_AiaYlBveHiNWLz6EHZ-qEa4OGAb7Xp2IhAIwA9JtBUfxsh9XnWEU9UufyJIdqNE/s1600/1-P1070488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4O-mE-2Gepj9bzxHeHF7A4XJXPlpT9K0j0BEWGDdHGyOlFD34AG-TQT1MGqJVNdFvm4vhF6gumlOf_AiaYlBveHiNWLz6EHZ-qEa4OGAb7Xp2IhAIwA9JtBUfxsh9XnWEU9UufyJIdqNE/s640/1-P1070488.JPG" title="Before the Batt - Faroe Viking" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>You should be able to recognize most of these purples from what's drying on my rack in the <br />first picture, plus I added some of that lovely grey from the other day, fuchsia and blue - <br />altogether including the following fleeces: Corriedale, Border Leicester x Bluefaced Leicester, <br />Romney x Merino, Bluefaced Leicester x Romney/Cotswold, and Bluefaced Leicester x Shetland</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I always have trouble photographing batts - the pictures just don't do justice to reality. I guess I should experiment more with the rolling and twisting up that Etsy sellers do to try to get across to us how lovely their creations are. The problem is the DEPTH of the batt, and the amount of colour and fibre that gets hidden inside. So here's the top of the batt:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHox8FduNm9lZFZ9v0DfTFFJD8VI-7lbxCvicwZyYm6al1YydY01B4KlutC4qi5j84btAQW9KydnzB6CuAXoGloJQo-GBU1GGDxeQ_XPf4-UpmHbn1ZgtiZZef8alKDJK4j0Hc9yChw1Z/s1600/1-P1070496-003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHox8FduNm9lZFZ9v0DfTFFJD8VI-7lbxCvicwZyYm6al1YydY01B4KlutC4qi5j84btAQW9KydnzB6CuAXoGloJQo-GBU1GGDxeQ_XPf4-UpmHbn1ZgtiZZef8alKDJK4j0Hc9yChw1Z/s640/1-P1070496-003.JPG" title="Wool Batt Faroe Viking" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Wool batt lying flat - you can see some of the colours and shimmery shine from the BLxBFL locks</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then here is the same batt, pulled in half along the grain, and each half flipped 90 degrees to show a cross-view of the layers of colour:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6raL89cPAfjKjkuv4O0nfkFOfr2vTKql7xRzEwbpiME0weBGfgsj_FebmreujkYJvZw97STQOzRmAfhyphenhyphen8iCwGHzrob5OvEEvFNYVZh8pHnnRYvRGfN_Cnru9Zqx8OOc4ike31ysZf-y2/s1600/1-P1070498-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6raL89cPAfjKjkuv4O0nfkFOfr2vTKql7xRzEwbpiME0weBGfgsj_FebmreujkYJvZw97STQOzRmAfhyphenhyphen8iCwGHzrob5OvEEvFNYVZh8pHnnRYvRGfN_Cnru9Zqx8OOc4ike31ysZf-y2/s640/1-P1070498-002.JPG" title="Wool Batt, cross section Faroe Viking" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It really puffs out thick when you take it off the carder -- consider that this is probably about 1/2 inch thick on the carder -- here each half is a good 8-10 inches thick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then spinning the initial single from the batt:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MeWVquAZCm-lYfHOYxAA7JBvoWEY0jLMhs9k-0FLNOEqIPG0zqcjH20ddI0f2v6nhAapfnf_SbIpH306yY33zIywlj58fLoO1mpe36pRBX0UHhCQOypzJ9U1_6mbJ2PML0HfUsnOEpAP/s1600/1-P1070500-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MeWVquAZCm-lYfHOYxAA7JBvoWEY0jLMhs9k-0FLNOEqIPG0zqcjH20ddI0f2v6nhAapfnf_SbIpH306yY33zIywlj58fLoO1mpe36pRBX0UHhCQOypzJ9U1_6mbJ2PML0HfUsnOEpAP/s640/1-P1070500-002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although I only carded this batt once together so the colours wouldn't mix too much and those purple locks would kind of stay together a bit, the different wools were already well combed or carded by hand, so that this batt is spinning very easily and I don't have to do any pre-drafting to get a nice even ply. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Drafting is when you kind of pull the wool out and feed it into the wheel (I guess that's one way of putting it). Pre-drafting is when you do some initial drawing out of the wool to loosen it up a bit, almost into a thick pre-yarn, before you actually draft and spin. This allows for a more even thickness to your yarn and more control for the spinner, especially when you're in the early stages of your spinning life. Really experienced spinners (which I do not consider myself to be) seem to do very little if any pre-drafting no matter what they're spinning from. They just have the most amazing control over their wool. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For a really lumpy bumpy yarn, you often don't want to do any pre-drafting, because the unevenness of the fibre as it comes off your batt is part of the random beauty of the yarn. But for this yarn, I wanted to spin something more even (but not completely even -- I always like some small variations in my yarns). </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7y7AUjQMPue84IRUbOLojjDYv7Gk-rjcScgwscO62IN_bsHdNOwmMPFMxiIzgilKXlIFk3squeUYQhz1QbH0SlHrtGP0JISbg2Cv9h7t2Wd-uXH7sQXidxJoFtz66edvZV2Pgdw0QGgV5/s1600/1-P1070501-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7y7AUjQMPue84IRUbOLojjDYv7Gk-rjcScgwscO62IN_bsHdNOwmMPFMxiIzgilKXlIFk3squeUYQhz1QbH0SlHrtGP0JISbg2Cv9h7t2Wd-uXH7sQXidxJoFtz66edvZV2Pgdw0QGgV5/s640/1-P1070501-002.JPG" title="Beginning to Navajo Ply Faroe Viking" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My spindle full of spun single yarn, with a strand of plied yarn over top</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because plying yarn untwists the fibres a bit, the colours open up and soften, the wool gets a bit squishier as the twist is released. You can see the stripes of colour in the plied strand run parallel because the twist has been released, while in the single they're twisted diagonal. Navajo plying, which is three-strand plying, produces a nicely rounded yarn. Some day I'll remember to photograph the process...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8QbC8ZyZiGD0vTqBTTVgAygDLRWCeZlMlDu8e4fkvWwqYT5UjRP_8SZGu1fhK-vZtLmYsoTL0PXlFoc5FgJIpQNBTPcn8kx8usUjw09Ax6yBw6t4O9VJ79KCacdHY9OaryD_Df54N3hU/s1600/1-P1070503-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8QbC8ZyZiGD0vTqBTTVgAygDLRWCeZlMlDu8e4fkvWwqYT5UjRP_8SZGu1fhK-vZtLmYsoTL0PXlFoc5FgJIpQNBTPcn8kx8usUjw09Ax6yBw6t4O9VJ79KCacdHY9OaryD_Df54N3hU/s640/1-P1070503-002.JPG" title="Navajo Plying Faroe Viking" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two spindles - on the left the spun single, on the right the plied yarn feeding in.</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here it is finished:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkk0y5kYFuLyRJ4LttktE3mm34kyBX4Nh-gOP3aua9-GtnvdimxTeLNMlXk9NxSpcmqHutc41PtS6OfIekzTK5S2uB63F0FSDfjZFJNT9PA5glq84WxnrBjc4QUV9nWG02i-2LqtMFrRJ7/s1600/1-P1070524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="556" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkk0y5kYFuLyRJ4LttktE3mm34kyBX4Nh-gOP3aua9-GtnvdimxTeLNMlXk9NxSpcmqHutc41PtS6OfIekzTK5S2uB63F0FSDfjZFJNT9PA5glq84WxnrBjc4QUV9nWG02i-2LqtMFrRJ7/s640/1-P1070524.JPG" title="Navajo Plied Yarn Faroe Viking" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">Quite a hefty skein at 216 g (7.6 oz) measuring 70 m (77 yards) and bulky at wpi 4-5</span><br /><span style="color: #741b47;">You can see it in my shop</span><span style="color: orange;"> HERE</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And a few other Navajo-plied yarns I just added to my shop:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7oucc71ynuEjn2B6h_w_dFpoX68RLMiCrGaD1GMm8R7MXC5hmtRc-eSYF8sDGUqFpOqNc4e30GKPIN6dbSakMhj8Trtqx7GCK1lJ_2xVIrnp0ZHSi7fJrKh53NU4qvQY719S4AdpMjL0/s1600/1-P1070601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7oucc71ynuEjn2B6h_w_dFpoX68RLMiCrGaD1GMm8R7MXC5hmtRc-eSYF8sDGUqFpOqNc4e30GKPIN6dbSakMhj8Trtqx7GCK1lJ_2xVIrnp0ZHSi7fJrKh53NU4qvQY719S4AdpMjL0/s640/1-P1070601.JPG" title="Navajo-Plied yarn Faroe Viking" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">A mix of Bluefaced Leicester x, Romney x Merino, and Lincoln Longwool in many greens</span><br /><span style="color: #741b47;">This is available in my shop </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/156055302/cij-handspun-green-yarn-navajo-plied?ref=shop_home_feat"><span style="color: orange;">HERE</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3v31g0o4fsga8tpnxAcwaBDj8mASj9FkffYrT-0trTBCw8GBmelNWVNdD2KG4svDXuo1b1h97fP-fl5Ges2L91x7Jcj8IK6CZz7dVfR7LiZMMU7G4HjQPfU8RdD2ncWI01kT7cit24a2M/s1600/1-P1070618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3v31g0o4fsga8tpnxAcwaBDj8mASj9FkffYrT-0trTBCw8GBmelNWVNdD2KG4svDXuo1b1h97fP-fl5Ges2L91x7Jcj8IK6CZz7dVfR7LiZMMU7G4HjQPfU8RdD2ncWI01kT7cit24a2M/s640/1-P1070618.JPG" title="Navajo Plied Yarn Faroe Viking" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">I spun this from start to finish at Upper Canada Village during a spinning demonstration <br />for the Ottawa Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild - many pinks, a touch of blue, <br />and the shiny curl of Mohair - You can find it in my shop </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/156056682/cij-pink-handspun-yarn-bulky-navajo?ref=v1_other_1"><span style="color: orange;">HERE</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-34821750709857645572013-06-24T21:31:00.000-04:002013-08-03T12:25:12.372-04:00What Went Into That Batt - Two Art Yarns<script type="text/javascript">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/154946919/art-yarn-purple-bulky-two-ply-gorgeous" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bulky Two-Ply Yarn HERE</b></span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lML-Y_e9B1U4JzFwHOAVsrlMq0FRccPNmBrC8E-jLY9Meas2GkNomw-XZUbv_cT_qaihmy_4vN8zbKrOEbzkIfSu8RdDlmXsGVEEKnz0rT-fKy2mZDdNkZEsXiSNCVfx4piOSwpoU-Xd/s1600/1-P1070515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lML-Y_e9B1U4JzFwHOAVsrlMq0FRccPNmBrC8E-jLY9Meas2GkNomw-XZUbv_cT_qaihmy_4vN8zbKrOEbzkIfSu8RdDlmXsGVEEKnz0rT-fKy2mZDdNkZEsXiSNCVfx4piOSwpoU-Xd/s400/1-P1070515.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/154942878/corespun-art-yarn-purple-multicolored" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: magenta;">Corespun Yarn HERE on Etsy</span></b></a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I've been a bit less than productive recently for various reasons, and thus have fallen a bit behind in both spinning and blogging. Life can get complicated, as we all know. I'm always appreciative of the calming influence spinning lends to my mental knots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These two yarns have been sitting in my ready box for awhile. You can tell they came from the same family, can't you? But a different feel, a different heft, different use, and all in the way they were spun. The fellow up above was plied and one to the right corespun. One day soon I'll do a little entry on corespinning but this blog is all about putting together the batts they came from.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was dreaming about some purple yarn, and wanted to use these lovely fleeces, being as they were colours I couldn't resist. My idea was not to card them, or hardly at all, just run them through the carder along with a bunch of other wool and hopefully keep some of the curl and lock integrity.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Border Leicester/<br />Bluefaced Leicester Cross</b></span></td></tr>
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So for me, designing a batt for yarn involves my starting colour idea (in this case purple) and unloading all my bits of this and that in purple that I've dyed and put away, digging through it all and seeing what I like and what will work and what I feel like using. Sometimes my idea changes as I find fleeces I'd forgot I had that overpower my initial impulse. One bag of lovely I found in this exercise had some lovely purple dyed locks that had done me the wonderful favour of fracturing (I do believe that's what happened), which is when the dye kind of splits up into its composite colours. Aren't they great?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHJ0OKenGsyPxg-92EWLgCB6yy8-ZxMYfKPSf2Ta09KlcdGpfoMuWjuLKsI3m0huyxBxqwapzfn0JIUZMbZ7FsxHotNDclgW4792yxHAShC6_s5vKMbRGadwMx8Snwgfv32eZIbuRoWwzN/s1600/1-P1070424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHJ0OKenGsyPxg-92EWLgCB6yy8-ZxMYfKPSf2Ta09KlcdGpfoMuWjuLKsI3m0huyxBxqwapzfn0JIUZMbZ7FsxHotNDclgW4792yxHAShC6_s5vKMbRGadwMx8Snwgfv32eZIbuRoWwzN/s640/1-P1070424.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>These locks were dyed in the same pot, but because I don't stir almost at all during the dying process, they came out very differently from different corners of the pot. As for the fracturing, that's from the amount of citric acid I used, or the heat, or some chemical issue or other ... dyeing is still a brave new world of adventure for me - I love it! Taking some of the lighter and some of the darker and combing it all together produced the combed top up above.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After I collecting some purples, I cast about for some other colours I felt like adding, and came across some lovely Cotswold I got from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/woolywoolofthewest" target="_blank">Wooly Wool of the West</a> and dyed this fabulous golden yellow. And there's no coming across something like that in your stash and putting it back again, so into the pile it went.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj67sR67-AkhwEmb-2jzyjpY3-zCx12inLhoifMUnWOwU7VjcB3dkOBsxGucTG_EQsvg1vCkhOC55JReQ1NkDmav34ULEoSz0bvKVFVNOqWhllJi7kgSCnHcuG6dpjo6ZLMb-dzAAqHGmjv/s1600/1-P1070428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj67sR67-AkhwEmb-2jzyjpY3-zCx12inLhoifMUnWOwU7VjcB3dkOBsxGucTG_EQsvg1vCkhOC55JReQ1NkDmav34ULEoSz0bvKVFVNOqWhllJi7kgSCnHcuG6dpjo6ZLMb-dzAAqHGmjv/s640/1-P1070428.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It's combed into top on the left, and in its curly glory on the right</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then all of a sudden I was hit by grey fever, and absolutely needed some grey - natural grey, the kind sheep grow all by themselves, instead of those rendered grey by me through the magic of Jacquard acid dyes. In fact, my grey fever was such that I'm going to have to make some grey yarns pretty soon -- all grey with this and that here and there. But in this particular purple creation, grey will be a condiment. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgLKLkCd3Nzw_phPtN2TNIagYEu0vm-8QoDgwBxLV6tDiOm5Yss4m4zv5xq_SNcAqNN8kbfLZ3Rh5fcXPTP9hHvMRQ_op5dhwPui1L7-_2tvoe3FcjPLz1pmVV6FUiqh0wfIwoeQ0jtJL/s1600/1-P1070426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgLKLkCd3Nzw_phPtN2TNIagYEu0vm-8QoDgwBxLV6tDiOm5Yss4m4zv5xq_SNcAqNN8kbfLZ3Rh5fcXPTP9hHvMRQ_op5dhwPui1L7-_2tvoe3FcjPLz1pmVV6FUiqh0wfIwoeQ0jtJL/s400/1-P1070426.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shorter stapled (the staple is the length of each <br />individual strand of wool), super kinky (that's the crimp)<br />and oh so soft</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqdcC29na6CMDZdCQwdDe3LXg4TSoqJ8-WSTwVrhEFc26dmBhOFLZfh5KJQlTM46JYN7FpTGo55T9A8eqXCB1vLTvosMPsVKgtSe8cDg0-QT4TnAD2UIS4XRXuaMH-mJHfhULSbkXet-i/s1600/1-P1070435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqdcC29na6CMDZdCQwdDe3LXg4TSoqJ8-WSTwVrhEFc26dmBhOFLZfh5KJQlTM46JYN7FpTGo55T9A8eqXCB1vLTvosMPsVKgtSe8cDg0-QT4TnAD2UIS4XRXuaMH-mJHfhULSbkXet-i/s400/1-P1070435.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Longer staple, more lustrous, soft but not as soft <br />as the darker fleece</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are both BFL (Bluefaced Leicester)--Shetland cross fleeces from <a href="http://littlesmokyblues.blogspot.ca/p/fleeces-for-sale.html" target="_blank">Jody's Little Smoky Blues</a>. So for those of my friends who are kind enough to read this and don't understand what I'm talking about when I say things like that, a crossed fleece is the result of different breeds of sheep having offspring. Their wool can have aspects of one or both of the parents to varying degrees. Look at these very artistic comparisons:</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Uncombed locks - quite a difference, even though they're both BFLxShetland</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9ShAl7NAvI0Jgh0NQ8qUC8Qj7DX9N3sAykE1G5fV0gBY-rPGor2QXDKMkwg8bKE0JOsvZgraz0ajebYrH3hbfTFyS3TwjmWPsbqpwxb40NTkd65F2S7g-scAxLMUvY8dEi-6_3dsS-Yt/s1600/1-P1070440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9ShAl7NAvI0Jgh0NQ8qUC8Qj7DX9N3sAykE1G5fV0gBY-rPGor2QXDKMkwg8bKE0JOsvZgraz0ajebYrH3hbfTFyS3TwjmWPsbqpwxb40NTkd65F2S7g-scAxLMUvY8dEi-6_3dsS-Yt/s400/1-P1070440.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Woolen Fiddleheads - you can tell which combed top<br />came from which fleece - they're both soft and wonderful to spin,<br />but the left is more lustrous, and the right is softer</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But oh my, because now your eyes have seen so much grey it's hard to remember what we're aiming for. Maybe it will come back if you see all the combed and carded fibre ready to be put together into a lovely batt -- and a batt is made when you card (kind of like brushing) together wool so it more or less is kind of all running in the same sort of direction. Not perfectly, but more or less. You can do these with locks of wool to help open them up and make them easier to spin (like brushing your hair makes it easier to get a job, maybe) or with wool that's already carded or combed to mix together colours and amalgamate it all together.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PzMAIvvK2YQIc4hkNkC0Dg_s13drUD66VH5ygv6OD_IyVszIRGA1H7130usBinvUC3HUCRaojj3UhyCtL41b6fuP71e8MEVSTOCWZ50Czq31Yrdwdsj-wT76mYrZ9Q2zaxboiHvTxK6i/s1600/1-P1070442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PzMAIvvK2YQIc4hkNkC0Dg_s13drUD66VH5ygv6OD_IyVszIRGA1H7130usBinvUC3HUCRaojj3UhyCtL41b6fuP71e8MEVSTOCWZ50Czq31Yrdwdsj-wT76mYrZ9Q2zaxboiHvTxK6i/s640/1-P1070442.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Lovely purples nestled in amongst my golden Cotswold, some red Romney lamb locks and golden-orange Border Leicester x BFL (and now you know what the X means), my purple locks that started it all, and my grey-fever greys, which also includes some uncarded locks there on the left</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiosGLFv66M_Y2hDeLAd9eYnRiKCQA3t1GjEY2mTl2zMsKx9llIXC5RiLC4lA0iB-YVjU5PARxFSrSXOpUgPRCYDhcscjiDDWi4ulz09F0nrAHgy3zfP6-kqiSZV-btJRwy9kXl5AFAb9lR/s1600/1-P1070479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiosGLFv66M_Y2hDeLAd9eYnRiKCQA3t1GjEY2mTl2zMsKx9llIXC5RiLC4lA0iB-YVjU5PARxFSrSXOpUgPRCYDhcscjiDDWi4ulz09F0nrAHgy3zfP6-kqiSZV-btJRwy9kXl5AFAb9lR/s400/1-P1070479.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This went only once through the carder<br />to maintain texture and colour integrity<br />to a certain extent</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now for carding fun - I wish batts were easier to see in photographs -- you can never see very much of a batt in one shot PLUS for me, I just have to touch everything so just looking can be very frustrating... At any rate, I got a lovely mix of purples for depth and subtle shifts in purpleness, plus kapows of other colours all throughout.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwr1HSYBtvwDceMJ7nAaG_4r889v_PwYuOQGNvLXCX3AhkuMnv_NlxXgfj8UO5nUw1XChULHlDkUo3ANbSXSovmNRAqkWF7fRVYAKCorUepk3GTg0x0tVmAzy610vIGK-X7BcVme4i4AT/s1600/1-P1070477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwr1HSYBtvwDceMJ7nAaG_4r889v_PwYuOQGNvLXCX3AhkuMnv_NlxXgfj8UO5nUw1XChULHlDkUo3ANbSXSovmNRAqkWF7fRVYAKCorUepk3GTg0x0tVmAzy610vIGK-X7BcVme4i4AT/s640/1-P1070477.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now it's time to spin. For my plied yarn, I spun one ply -- a thicker one -- from the batts I made here:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5jGIlxFjgxGmOZR1I1QOf9HmPO2X3xs4cGL_bqOA9jK5kBZrBxLZyunOpfwt_ZcbitwvfylLs3_1xX8tH0E_DLoIP8O42RGjvAhvaT3JTsP79U7X5E0DLr9_9fSGsM5_2ED4Vq6Hf07n/s1600/1-P1070483+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5jGIlxFjgxGmOZR1I1QOf9HmPO2X3xs4cGL_bqOA9jK5kBZrBxLZyunOpfwt_ZcbitwvfylLs3_1xX8tH0E_DLoIP8O42RGjvAhvaT3JTsP79U7X5E0DLr9_9fSGsM5_2ED4Vq6Hf07n/s640/1-P1070483+-+Copy.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a strip from the batt (I just pulled away a strip of wool straight through the </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">thickness of the batt) alongside my yarn still being spun on the spindle</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7QqwPaYUn7aTY1T-Dne9WqrDNvDp0AAI35Q9ECjVaDSp0CCVbgJFt8GFtbNyA4WQVQ1P9T7GWjrUZBeqiZORriaAZWyuiB_DvPp7X2LRMpKrk1ucshvwoSVuq9BUsRoGOJKUv53AOyDk/s1600/1-P1070486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7QqwPaYUn7aTY1T-Dne9WqrDNvDp0AAI35Q9ECjVaDSp0CCVbgJFt8GFtbNyA4WQVQ1P9T7GWjrUZBeqiZORriaAZWyuiB_DvPp7X2LRMpKrk1ucshvwoSVuq9BUsRoGOJKUv53AOyDk/s640/1-P1070486.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second batt, and the wools that went into it - I carded this twice, to blend the colours more. The dark burgundy in the middle is actually a blend of BFL and silk - the only mill-carded wool I used</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then I needed a second strand of yarn to ply (twist together with) the first. I wanted it thinner and less poppingly colourful, so I carded together the wools on the right to get the batt here on the left, and here it is below on my wheel being spun:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAN_0bziWrhgzjjjIlnvEMdDzadg5o6RGppyRN4qVZV-G7HAFqcrPHSFODgQ7mx5w2eckFSkY9a0E87HbIhCGIAE4eXmnMznPX7YabkSUhZDrwinZzzp7Q58eNzaX7joBXKP8DakSCN_EK/s1600/1-P1070485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAN_0bziWrhgzjjjIlnvEMdDzadg5o6RGppyRN4qVZV-G7HAFqcrPHSFODgQ7mx5w2eckFSkY9a0E87HbIhCGIAE4eXmnMznPX7YabkSUhZDrwinZzzp7Q58eNzaX7joBXKP8DakSCN_EK/s640/1-P1070485.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Plied (or twisted) (or spun) together:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSCkfyZOV6BgQxjnLCibYHr1KtTPHqqq_BKKxHI93iRMtaK9JABexn7X-X01wNGeWOUuC8ol_Hvsc7YhSHRcjaMPkhYwgpbk2zLpXsvSzBGeBrKn1uK03KmgJYoHJZ3JXM0_ckpawT2V_/s1600/1-P1070487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSCkfyZOV6BgQxjnLCibYHr1KtTPHqqq_BKKxHI93iRMtaK9JABexn7X-X01wNGeWOUuC8ol_Hvsc7YhSHRcjaMPkhYwgpbk2zLpXsvSzBGeBrKn1uK03KmgJYoHJZ3JXM0_ckpawT2V_/s640/1-P1070487.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fibres include Romney x Merino, Corriedale, Cotswold, Romney lamb, Border Leicester x Bluefaced Leicester, Bluefaced Leicester, Bluefaced Leicester x Shetland, Silk</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here below is the corespun yarn, a blog entry about this method of spinning is in my future. Very quickly, in spinning this kind of yarn, the wool is wrapped around a central yarn (or core) of some type, so the angle of wrapped fibres is different than the twist of regular yarn, the colours show up differently and the yarn hangs and works differently. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDeJBwyzfTaLUrQkqAkEu9nWgOEEhx24RWFzF8x_hMZp9hoVo32srMBIHM9cD0DzIAiQ8mkYp2slMw2SXQjND3Vkjatuo1cYp9JTMMpOKePFZANqnaZcJAAqz6qr7XCBgozBN9g30zen5/s1600/1-P1070480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDeJBwyzfTaLUrQkqAkEu9nWgOEEhx24RWFzF8x_hMZp9hoVo32srMBIHM9cD0DzIAiQ8mkYp2slMw2SXQjND3Vkjatuo1cYp9JTMMpOKePFZANqnaZcJAAqz6qr7XCBgozBN9g30zen5/s640/1-P1070480.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that you've seen where they came from, here are my yarns again, washed and dried and ready to go:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BBJZjdNoEzSQ4VlHidGqVvLrv1IHaQdVV8icogK0CfaAhZaEt9fuT0M66ros2rCQmme5-zUPGCAGG6sYUMPJ_ImF9glYRIOxoIEL5LINe1LoZg9UdEZ1puQ4w5IAA3UbG7gwgdb8wuNX/s1600/1-P1070505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BBJZjdNoEzSQ4VlHidGqVvLrv1IHaQdVV8icogK0CfaAhZaEt9fuT0M66ros2rCQmme5-zUPGCAGG6sYUMPJ_ImF9glYRIOxoIEL5LINe1LoZg9UdEZ1puQ4w5IAA3UbG7gwgdb8wuNX/s640/1-P1070505.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/154946919/art-yarn-purple-bulky-two-ply-gorgeous" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Plied Yarn available from my Etsy shop</span></a><span style="color: #a64d79;"> - a 47-yard skein, super bulky at 3-4 wpi</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTm8xjG3Mq2fj2vdFJPmVqHxFovUHRKXX61CXutuiqliAoZCKLJ7-feA-1xHe8tMULIsD5eeamaARJA4Ax97G2TyK1-c-gby946qia2q3MuJFVKYrKiAGasNcIT68-xQyh6sTMQ1zh52z/s1600/1-P1070511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTm8xjG3Mq2fj2vdFJPmVqHxFovUHRKXX61CXutuiqliAoZCKLJ7-feA-1xHe8tMULIsD5eeamaARJA4Ax97G2TyK1-c-gby946qia2q3MuJFVKYrKiAGasNcIT68-xQyh6sTMQ1zh52z/s640/1-P1070511.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Super bulky, as you can see!</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGxZJQl-HrRPBLIDtnaxEBzXtrG2ZdmMkdUVra9idr3-BrWbjPanqTjUxrItTbzl4Cr91Xp-zXMCe7isK4r-uPvH56nKxA8HRdL9qF-zM4X8YtJIMe0U1HHZgj0F3IoE3WknzdnxyeZGPX/s1600/1-P1070512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGxZJQl-HrRPBLIDtnaxEBzXtrG2ZdmMkdUVra9idr3-BrWbjPanqTjUxrItTbzl4Cr91Xp-zXMCe7isK4r-uPvH56nKxA8HRdL9qF-zM4X8YtJIMe0U1HHZgj0F3IoE3WknzdnxyeZGPX/s640/1-P1070512.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79;">And here's the corespun with bright zinging colours - </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/154942878/corespun-art-yarn-purple-multicolored" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">also in my Etsy shop</span></a></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>this one is 60 yards long, and chunky weight (5-6 wpi)</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-34357627424300746392013-05-30T18:19:00.000-04:002013-08-03T12:25:22.539-04:00One Batt, Two Art Yarns -- And Washing a Fleece<script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was still lots of blue fleece left from my recent <a href="http://faroeviking.blogspot.ca/2013/05/experiment-navajo-ply-with-inclusions.html" target="_blank">art yarn post</a> and I remained possessed by a yearning to do more blue-themed yarn before moving on to another colour.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was about to embark on a batt-a-thon when I was interrupted by a gloriously sunny day, one that demanded to be taken advantage of through the drying of a newly-washed fleece. Being only an in-between-time fibre artist -- having work, children, husband, household affairs, friends, family, and a recent fabric sale that led to extravagant purchases on my part accompanied by lavish promises of summer fashions for my daughter -- I have to grab my fleece-drying days as I can. If it means putting off other fibre-related fun, alas, so it must be. And don't get me wrong; I love washing fleece. I love transforming the richly-scented bags of wonderful that the perplexed postal carrier lugs up to my door into ready-to-use ooh-la-la. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As it is shearing time, and as I have a few newly purchased raw fleeces I can't wait to dig into, it was easy to comply.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The chosen one was a beautiful 6.5-lb Corriedale from <a href="http://www.ruppertscorriedales.com/wool.html" target="_blank">Rupperts</a>. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRs_r-NyeT7g8Ls514nDnQufbZpmWX-cuUJvAzmrZ2Qi1plqzc-rIw7NoDzzcQWCKi-7CkHx6weaSPTrUV6Ejr2J1_F4aPbVaEa0Q6A-_WgtvE6wjBEMk3rCejRG8l1EVls4RNbzphW4H/s1600/1-P1070234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRs_r-NyeT7g8Ls514nDnQufbZpmWX-cuUJvAzmrZ2Qi1plqzc-rIw7NoDzzcQWCKi-7CkHx6weaSPTrUV6Ejr2J1_F4aPbVaEa0Q6A-_WgtvE6wjBEMk3rCejRG8l1EVls4RNbzphW4H/s640/1-P1070234.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>No VM in this lovely covered fleece with amazing staple length. Some of the raw wool almost</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are so many excellent online instructions on how to wash raw fleece, I won't go into my whole process as it is like many others (super-hot water, blue Dawn, vinegar, no don't agitate whatever you do...). I will show you my nifty set-up, though. I was lucky to be able to get giant, used food-grade plastic containers online. I use them both for washing and storing fleece. After the initial soapy soak, I find the fleece (which is divided amongst several laundry bags) wants to float and fight its way out of the water, and I have to keep struggling to keep it submerged until pretty much the final rinse. To solve this problem, I set a colander into the top of the big container, gently forcing the fleece down, and weight it with a bucket of water (which goes to clean-up or garden-watering afterwards).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7livhlGdh70k-ad2lPGIn3HjAM5lRHUxeiik8QYwplXQQQ9_TfArtplitUPAHUybdM-eJ2A3XwKmZJWAHZvRcWN38A8Tk8-dfCQw5ilGYAKPvt9Ri3xb8DmOgy1N8d5A9-GQ31qQXvka/s1600/1-P1070241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7livhlGdh70k-ad2lPGIn3HjAM5lRHUxeiik8QYwplXQQQ9_TfArtplitUPAHUybdM-eJ2A3XwKmZJWAHZvRcWN38A8Tk8-dfCQw5ilGYAKPvt9Ri3xb8DmOgy1N8d5A9-GQ31qQXvka/s400/1-P1070241.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">colander pushes the fleece below water-leve</span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">l</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnE1XgRXYA6u7vkGI1k01VQhwRSEHOpNkaXSPpTVo2lKMYFswAEb4h-GM3Wvh7gewofUx_SYKTCIDLjPD8rAJ7JSZ1WaB2QVB7wh483t5-g9Qb9zPHTjVKcnEvSFHzDvZ7BtikB4LVxK-/s1600/1-P1070240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnE1XgRXYA6u7vkGI1k01VQhwRSEHOpNkaXSPpTVo2lKMYFswAEb4h-GM3Wvh7gewofUx_SYKTCIDLjPD8rAJ7JSZ1WaB2QVB7wh483t5-g9Qb9zPHTjVKcnEvSFHzDvZ7BtikB4LVxK-/s640/1-P1070240.JPG" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>That's 6.5 lb of raw fleece soaking away</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know, what's with the waist-high bathtub? The people who owned our house before us ran a dog-grooming business. This tub is perfect for washing fleece and yarn and making felt -- any kind of big wet job your sink can be too small for -- although first-time visitors tend to be taken aback on seeing the heavy chainlinks embedded in the walls at either end . . . really, it's not that hard to get my kids to have a bath! And don't worry; we do have a normal bathroom upstairs!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Raw, unwashed lock</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJj44Oy3FjQ-Kj_ecI6cMgMci_nkdI86rKWhhrSRoLATNciasKyv29Tkg5OpdHA0FK6o-3apcLoFcyKhy2jnTeLNaBC06XKVn4rQFxPN-EdcSOjp3YCZAxS6ABavketLUrICmm5AeFiIG/s1600/1-P1070245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJj44Oy3FjQ-Kj_ecI6cMgMci_nkdI86rKWhhrSRoLATNciasKyv29Tkg5OpdHA0FK6o-3apcLoFcyKhy2jnTeLNaBC06XKVn4rQFxPN-EdcSOjp3YCZAxS6ABavketLUrICmm5AeFiIG/s400/1-P1070245.JPG" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>pure white, washed lock of Corriedale</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you can see, the fleece cleaned beautifully and combed into the most marvellous top -- how could I resist using it immediately?!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivj5COiUAxzCetKUKeGwwlAuNgcvVWVydB7Nsaw3AEhpe5QRxGoh_x42MxGdiwdQ5ASKWZhNnls1WV-CAxA9ZWOGCG63SsVGnOtlWm2JP-Lc9gNFoBYLVMe5rUcMJUgoiSRRzzbHyUy6n4/s1600/1-P1070249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="433" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivj5COiUAxzCetKUKeGwwlAuNgcvVWVydB7Nsaw3AEhpe5QRxGoh_x42MxGdiwdQ5ASKWZhNnls1WV-CAxA9ZWOGCG63SsVGnOtlWm2JP-Lc9gNFoBYLVMe5rUcMJUgoiSRRzzbHyUy6n4/s640/1-P1070249.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Having washed another fleece and put the sunny, hot day to good use, it was time to get back to my blue batts. To that end, I combed and carded some of each of my blues above, plus some more blue fleece I had, and added a few colours I couldn't resist. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>My crafting table, ready to start carding the batts - see my little white nest of Corriedale? </b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This assortment includes Romney x Merino, Corriedale, Cotswold, Romney lamb, Cormo, Merino, Lincoln Longwool, Bluefaced Leicester x Corriedale, Bluefaced Leicester x Romney/Cotswold, Border Leicester x Bluefaced Leicester, Bluefaced Leicester cross (can't remember what it was crossed with...), representing sheep from <a href="http://littlesmokyblues.blogspot.ca/p/fleeces-for-sale.html" target="_blank">Little Smoky Blues</a>, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/woolywoolofthewest?ref=ss_profile" target="_blank">Wooly Wool of the West</a>, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/AyeSeaEwe?ref=search_shop_redirect" target="_blank">Aye Sea Ewe</a>, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/MMFWOOL?ref=ss_profile" target="_blank">MMF Wool</a>, <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/aspengrovefarm/" target="_blank">Aspen Grove Farm</a> and Rupperts, mentioned above.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I carded them using the "sandwich" method as described <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlX4jipDrzM" target="_blank">here</a> by Ashley Martineau of Neauveau Fiber Arts. I like the way this method randomly blends parts of the colours and leaves other parts standing alone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had enough wool for four batts, which would make two skeins of wool on my wheel. Two I wanted to use for a two-ply, teardrop-plied yarn, using the batts for one heavier ply, and some gorgeously lustrous BL/BFL for the other, which I would spin much thinner to create that nice teardrop ply. Here they are, tempting me to spin them:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJupu6Gvp7nSMT3K9iYbm3ZQJSgpeoTNR5EcCJFLM4uRFjlslZIXKFGlnmBWrLPp5pdMsLzr6Fn6p9dBEI-VauPWDpLOZw4hMQe_S_xA1NEpkPDD6NI2ZkD5zgGrmlqkPdYvfjquyGRXjS/s1600/1-P1070260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJupu6Gvp7nSMT3K9iYbm3ZQJSgpeoTNR5EcCJFLM4uRFjlslZIXKFGlnmBWrLPp5pdMsLzr6Fn6p9dBEI-VauPWDpLOZw4hMQe_S_xA1NEpkPDD6NI2ZkD5zgGrmlqkPdYvfjquyGRXjS/s640/1-P1070260.JPG" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white;">Resistance, as they say, is futile</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the single from the batt:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGa_6KSGnr9i9VXYDTEefv_5o7_qGM90M8cVuxIVbIB6uGcKeG14OBx_bOrXaU7DZAs-nkEmSgcvzstJGyIIGWV4Et4JqI_5yMnWa7SRuuM0eduyJKm1C0SIjjXFA55jn2E3B65vyhjkXs/s1600/1-P1070261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGa_6KSGnr9i9VXYDTEefv_5o7_qGM90M8cVuxIVbIB6uGcKeG14OBx_bOrXaU7DZAs-nkEmSgcvzstJGyIIGWV4Et4JqI_5yMnWa7SRuuM0eduyJKm1C0SIjjXFA55jn2E3B65vyhjkXs/s640/1-P1070261.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the finished yarn:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOr6DIRgXOdVRh5gqvBtQzllZ9YpKRdEqbOTMNZRZISyVuEU6VmpJfv6zfDggCpq_sBwOkq7RZ0PD-Dp_wKY8ewVDL7aHNu83XR0aUMquvEE0xoRW3_bZiJWKLju-ZU9v3iojApSOBozU/s1600/1-P1070271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOr6DIRgXOdVRh5gqvBtQzllZ9YpKRdEqbOTMNZRZISyVuEU6VmpJfv6zfDggCpq_sBwOkq7RZ0PD-Dp_wKY8ewVDL7aHNu83XR0aUMquvEE0xoRW3_bZiJWKLju-ZU9v3iojApSOBozU/s640/1-P1070271.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #351c75;">A good 55 yards (51 m) long, and very bulky at 4 wpi. You can find it in my shop </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/152387513/handspun-art-yarn-blue-two-ply?" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">HERE</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided to spin a supercoil yarn with the other two batts, because I was in the mood, and I wanted to see how the colours compared after plying.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First the long single from the batts:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkVQoXJt2fmKdmeGYGPO-1hF5gRLrUMpm4S0JJueGdznqbtmgim6iFBiG6xLhl5Fn-b7tS0GU2ouV8ypMdyyppSQtkhNvP8uemUbXrzz91I-ROt4SI3xY8G9s-WMMtb_G4vGiUxlo67K0/s1600/1-P1070310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkVQoXJt2fmKdmeGYGPO-1hF5gRLrUMpm4S0JJueGdznqbtmgim6iFBiG6xLhl5Fn-b7tS0GU2ouV8ypMdyyppSQtkhNvP8uemUbXrzz91I-ROt4SI3xY8G9s-WMMtb_G4vGiUxlo67K0/s640/1-P1070310.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>You can see this is a lot thinner than the other one</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Supercoiled yarn is spun by coiling a single like the one above around a core yarn. Sometimes I use 8/4 cotton warp, but this time I used a wool-nylon mill-spun purple yarn. Wool hangs and handles differently than cotton, of course, so using a different core will allow you to manipulate the finished yarn a bit differently. I used wool for this skein because I felt like it (so often my reason for doing so many things...).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here I am spinning it:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHJK8FcCmxdggZu9DVJsKqWvo2ZiQH5NX1HGsHwGFTZzHS9cv7KA1WIMnZViQja_tr8OG6EpQarsbHFXwdyATuNY_mBX79HrQelHd-uSc2gir-DUWRK6MulwxA5iDYjgnkAC4TJDeBNOn/s1600/1-P1070311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHJK8FcCmxdggZu9DVJsKqWvo2ZiQH5NX1HGsHwGFTZzHS9cv7KA1WIMnZViQja_tr8OG6EpQarsbHFXwdyATuNY_mBX79HrQelHd-uSc2gir-DUWRK6MulwxA5iDYjgnkAC4TJDeBNOn/s640/1-P1070311.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>There's lots of extra twist in the singles so it holds together okay as a coil</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like to measure off the yarn I need for the core ahead of time, wind it into a butterfly, and let it hang down as I spin. I know a spindle full of yarn is going to spin me about 25-30 metres of supercoiled yarn, so I measure it off approximately and if I run out I can always tie on more. With the butterfly dangling below, I can allow the extra twist that builds up in the core to unwind as I spin. Every so often I stop and let the unspinning dangling core catch up with me. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJi9gI1BFNHOJjB8AfHw4no3YljczrsyNMf80VWs13NLsCtDJPDUWSAh13dK0PRVUj8ZuqMDnBF5LcXepBT-TFOdQmVzokL9arRwHZLt4BjlIdrffLU0JSWQH0hyYIb823xYMcOYFA0uUr/s1600/1-P1070313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJi9gI1BFNHOJjB8AfHw4no3YljczrsyNMf80VWs13NLsCtDJPDUWSAh13dK0PRVUj8ZuqMDnBF5LcXepBT-TFOdQmVzokL9arRwHZLt4BjlIdrffLU0JSWQH0hyYIb823xYMcOYFA0uUr/s640/1-P1070313.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>My dangling butterfly of inner core yarn, which I help untwist<br />with my left hand as I'm spinning, and <br />the kinky outer yarn angling in from the lazy Kate</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I do this because I really don't like the way supercoil yarn cores overtwist when I spin them. And even if I run the core yarn through the wheel in the opposite direction ahead of time to make up for the fact that I'm going to be adding twist to an already twisted yarn, it still overtwists, plus I'm now trying to manage two overtwisted yarns and the whole drama starts to drive me crazy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the finished yarn:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6iy7pAO76dBDo2ahoFTGgURBImC8rC4ObcCp1nk8mSb9yil8nAjVLYhAYKPDDBOwbXupQm4D8TV13PMG1q6OsoCBo2CgYmRPGzuwNG_k_m1iKMOmnUbsTENWZIfGIQG-KYfYaCdn05Ux/s1600/1-P1070326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6iy7pAO76dBDo2ahoFTGgURBImC8rC4ObcCp1nk8mSb9yil8nAjVLYhAYKPDDBOwbXupQm4D8TV13PMG1q6OsoCBo2CgYmRPGzuwNG_k_m1iKMOmnUbsTENWZIfGIQG-KYfYaCdn05Ux/s640/1-P1070326.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The colours came out more purplish than the other skein - it's about 36 yards/33 m long</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJUOqZVnOIKaqpBXGIxRHI0DLRFe7muotuDtPNIMvUHqkI2m4umLp6Ekj_ysfZAiLCXINyK5Td1KCxomFUu51SH5QWyt0VCZfgp_v3pMpJxjoSuvyII05z79CA6fiHrjqbmxhUrV7gW6e/s1600/1-P1070328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJUOqZVnOIKaqpBXGIxRHI0DLRFe7muotuDtPNIMvUHqkI2m4umLp6Ekj_ysfZAiLCXINyK5Td1KCxomFUu51SH5QWyt0VCZfgp_v3pMpJxjoSuvyII05z79CA6fiHrjqbmxhUrV7gW6e/s640/1-P1070328.JPG" width="604" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #351c75;">And here it is in my </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/152382344/handspun-art-yarn-blue-coiled-yarn-blue?ref=v1_other_2" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">SHOP</span></a></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well that was fun. Now on to other colourways...</span></div>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-70530514053792108722013-05-16T15:25:00.000-04:002013-08-03T12:25:34.994-04:00Joys of Accidental Felting OR No Such Thing as a Ruined Fleece<script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Washing raw fleece isn't the most challenging aspect of spinning, but doing it right isn't always easy and in my case it took a fair bit of learning from a lot of sources. (Thank you, all you fibre artists out there, for sharing your expertise, especially those who give free advice.) Now that I've washed many fleeces, I can safely say that while I'm better at it than I used to be, I still have a ways to go. So many types of fleece, each with its own personality. It's actually a process I really enjoy. But that's another topic for another day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today the topic is a sad event in my fleece-washing history. Luckily, the world being what it is, sometimes these little sadnesses that seem so heartbreaking in the moment can become happy accidents when seen in the right light.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the first whole raw fleeces I bought was from a beautiful Romney ewe from <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/aspengrovefarm/small-hobby-farm-for-sale" target="_blank">Aspen Grove Farm</a> in Nova Scotia. It was early in my spinning days. I had made the natural progression of many spinners from buying dyed wool top to dyeing the top myself, and then on to processing wool from raw fleece. Because while spinning commercial top offers the charm of ease and speed and a certain quality of texture unrecreatable at home, there's nothing like rolling your own, as they say.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, blah blah through the early stages of this raw fleece experiment and fast forward to getting home from Nova Scotia with my beautiful Romney fleece. It was big. I</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> washed the whole thing at once and through the magic and mystery of the alchemy of wool, hot water, and soap, managed to pretty much felt the whole darn thing despite feeling sure I hadn't done anything wrong. Bits here and there were okay for spinning, but most of it I couldn't work with. Lesson learned, right. I packed it away at the back of my workroom and tried not to think about it. Onwards and upwards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But its presence was impossible to ignore because my workroom is TINY and PACKED FULL with yarn and fleece and dye and a sewing machine and craft books and fabric and two looms and a spinning wheel and a drum carder and ... you know how it is. So even packed away, it was never far and remained buzzing around in my mind, this lovely fleece just waiting there for the next stage of its life -- because it was still lustrous, curly, wonderfully long locks, they were just all stuck fast together at the cut ends. I had to do something <i>visible</i> with it. This fleece could not wind up as stuffing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then one day an Etsy friend who was packing up to move sent me a box of felting roving in several colours. Very kind. And the blues and greens got me thinking of the ocean, deep waters and slowly grazing fish. Now it so happens that -- coming from Nova Scotia (which is right on the ocean) and living in Ontario (which is a two-day drive away from Nova Scotia) -- the ocean and subjects sea-related are on my mind much of the time. I really miss living out there and I miss those things that you take for granted when the shore is only 20 minutes away. So getting this shipment of roving with its water colours put in my head an idea for a big felting project of an underwater scene. Suddenly all that lovely Romney fleece calling out to me from its Rubbermaid prison was tangled seaweed waiting for a place to call home.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdg-Xva786Lh7oo3zBs-fzBO3gTHdoUqgoYAyFLnyOHH8fX9kEFbYbaRrJ3mkPLc-6Uty9iXECkvBkzXn_jrvloFk5i0UlElSIZ4D3sLPnSj9vBBZLP6sg9uhNFmrykReZulk9KpgbpNJP/s1600/1-P1070189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdg-Xva786Lh7oo3zBs-fzBO3gTHdoUqgoYAyFLnyOHH8fX9kEFbYbaRrJ3mkPLc-6Uty9iXECkvBkzXn_jrvloFk5i0UlElSIZ4D3sLPnSj9vBBZLP6sg9uhNFmrykReZulk9KpgbpNJP/s640/1-P1070189.JPG" title="Jellyfish Tapestry by Faroe Viking" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Jellyfish - total size 50" x 72"</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I used every piece of bubble wrap I could find in the house for this, and found a bamboo roll-up blind on sale just big enough to roll up the whole thing. I did the wet felting on the floor of the laundry room, either kneeling on my gardening mat firming up the surface of the felt, or sitting on a chair, rolling the bundle with my feet. When it was dry, I needle-felted the rest.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2O-gZ6FljHW6qM0TmgtlK8x9p4Z386MaEICbtKZdd51u4quNuPbcKhjRulfh2nzb61BvYzbqB64ksiGy3LHc_UJfQq167FebCWwJw8qRptVCfOLS_OeVs2pIfmAOnuSqs8eeTyorkkeB/s1600/1-P1070208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2O-gZ6FljHW6qM0TmgtlK8x9p4Z386MaEICbtKZdd51u4quNuPbcKhjRulfh2nzb61BvYzbqB64ksiGy3LHc_UJfQq167FebCWwJw8qRptVCfOLS_OeVs2pIfmAOnuSqs8eeTyorkkeB/s640/1-P1070208.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>(top left)</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I didn't spend much time planning the layout. I began adding seaweed and just let myself go. It was really, really fun. I also got out all the bits of dyed fleece I had leftover from various yarns I've spun, and some bits that have come in fibre packs I've bought from Etsy, such as the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/thebitterpeacock?ref=search_shop_redirect" target="_blank">Bitter Peacock</a> and <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/UpCycledArt" target="_blank">UpCycled Art</a>. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6e4_89w9WKbJSjKeY2Bc5kJAUotP9mnzw6-I9IieUEdp6vpXLlYBhQE9Ttrq2K50lRrpHD084RapQG_NPSz-D7UCTiyDL-IswPp-KZytieA3lUy3xqWs4HqaHndOZt-1WtNYJqNefTfRF/s1600/1-P1070209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6e4_89w9WKbJSjKeY2Bc5kJAUotP9mnzw6-I9IieUEdp6vpXLlYBhQE9Ttrq2K50lRrpHD084RapQG_NPSz-D7UCTiyDL-IswPp-KZytieA3lUy3xqWs4HqaHndOZt-1WtNYJqNefTfRF/s640/1-P1070209.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>top right)</b></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbG35fi2jEIeI5UI70RPM4OA33HSd95FyDb_Y4lsj-jKTpAl5IKFSpU0IlBeok2mDqbqBtyN6_nrOC-sdCC7njQDu5lLvrAtkjB5VYhQALsOhXQ684fShJK4dZe9jGF_wLy7VjXr46ZEHP/s1600/1-P1070218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbG35fi2jEIeI5UI70RPM4OA33HSd95FyDb_Y4lsj-jKTpAl5IKFSpU0IlBeok2mDqbqBtyN6_nrOC-sdCC7njQDu5lLvrAtkjB5VYhQALsOhXQ684fShJK4dZe9jGF_wLy7VjXr46ZEHP/s320/1-P1070218.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wanted the fleece to be what the piece was all about, so while I did add some fish -- because I love fish; I like the simplistic shape that suggests "fish" - they're not detailed in themselves except that they're made from pieces of handmade felt that I really like.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmywmFN9dSmuvHPfmWbrJAqLUk5928L4RjKCHfTLuzr_4NQtb9uh5A7_wLjONt26hOFRld8ngKEqhJZe_Feu2wfmuHo8gWqXkjMmJjL1-00wHEuHwz-TmNNjMNaO_QEhC-VJiGh7d1CH8Z/s1600/1-P1070206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmywmFN9dSmuvHPfmWbrJAqLUk5928L4RjKCHfTLuzr_4NQtb9uh5A7_wLjONt26hOFRld8ngKEqhJZe_Feu2wfmuHo8gWqXkjMmJjL1-00wHEuHwz-TmNNjMNaO_QEhC-VJiGh7d1CH8Z/s640/1-P1070206.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>(bottom left)</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I really like the 3-D effect of the curly Romney fleece as well. I would go on to say that it's reminiscent of the floating, reaching fronds of seaweed in the Atlantic but it really isn't. I would do a lot more snorkelling, otherwise. In fact I find actual North Atlantic seaweed kind of scary and threatening and do my best to avoid it in the water. Funny that I was inspired to felt an entire tapestry featuring it. Maybe it's a sign that I've simply misunderstood it all these years and seaweed and I are heading for a future of mutual respect...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #351c75; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(bottom right)</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvPHkMfxazvErt4EjlsOHOo6Al6fNy-l3rHbJBST46dgY7IcHXRHLE9AW_GfMVogqoSSZ89Y7yYKgxy45gXIbMVsYLgTgZ-cTmXFHp-hWlJdJtbF5wHxiE3SEkpgWpwLL61zdQ3XiGHjY/s1600/1-P1070198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvPHkMfxazvErt4EjlsOHOo6Al6fNy-l3rHbJBST46dgY7IcHXRHLE9AW_GfMVogqoSSZ89Y7yYKgxy45gXIbMVsYLgTgZ-cTmXFHp-hWlJdJtbF5wHxiE3SEkpgWpwLL61zdQ3XiGHjY/s400/1-P1070198.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My favourite, though, is this guy. He really became the focus of the piece, even though he's small relative to the overall size of the wallhanging. The legs are some crazy alpaca boucle hand-dyed by the <a href="http://fleeceartist.com/" target="_blank">Fleece Artist</a> that I had leftover from a scarf I wove years ago for my daughter. I only had a bit of it left, but I couldn't part with it because the colours and texture are so lovely. Again, as with the seaweed, I'm not a huge lover of jellyfish. Not actual ones when they're swimming in the water with me, at least. On TV documentaries they can be very beautiful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">I loved making this piece. I was so happy to have all that lovely Romney fleece to dye whatever colours I felt like, and needle-felting it all together with wild abandon was very fulfilling. I felt rich.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">To hang it -- this is always the hard part for me, and I always forget just how hard until I find myself in the midst of trying to hang something again -- I first mounted the felt. I made a backer with a piece of red upholstery fabric -- I'd been going for purple, actually, or bluish-purple -- something ocean-like -- but this red caught my eye and after much humming and hawing in the fabric store I went with it. I like how it plays with the other colours in the tapestry. I sewed a heavy cotton lining onto the back for strength, and invisibly sewed the felt directly onto this backer. The top is folded over to make a long pocket for a hanging rod. I used one of those metal wall brackets that are perforated with holes for hanging shelf brackets. I cut and hemmed five openings along the pocket to expose holes in the rod, and voila -- after an endless afternoon of arguing with my husband about the best placement for the five hooks on the living room wall (these things can be hard on a relationship!) -- we got it hung and this baby's not coming down!</span></span><br />
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<br />FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0Canada51.835777520452481 -85.429687526.313743020452481 -126.7382815 77.357812020452485 -44.1210935tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-60900092061400352682013-05-14T13:24:00.001-04:002013-08-03T12:25:53.296-04:00Paper, Felting, and the Wish Fish<script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've always liked the story of the Wish Fish. It's the fairy tale of the poor fisherman who hasn't caught anything in days. Starving, he casts his net one last time and catches a beautiful fish that begs the fisherman to spare his life in exchange for a wish. The fisherman's wish is that he and his wife not be poor anymore and he lets the fish go. Arriving home, his shack has been transformed into a nice little cottage and he and his wife have enough to live comfortably. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stop. That's as far as I like the story. It continues on, perhaps predictably, with the wife saying her husband should have wished for more, and she keeps sending the poor fisherman (still poor, but in a new sense now) back to the sea to call the Wish Fish and up the wish. In the end, the wife goes too far (she wants to be God) and as punishment for their individual shortcomings they both lose everything and go back to being poor. Bla bla, it's always the wife who's super nasty in these fairy tales, isn't it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the initial bit, the event of coming across an unexpected opportunity in an unlikely place in a moment of great need -- the recognizing of a chance to change your direction and make things different or better or greater -- this I really like. Because living life, we all come across these opportunities, but we never know where they may lie in wait. To make it all more complicated, they're often hard to recognize and can require a great deal of courage to take advantage of. This is what I like about the Wish Fish. The wise voice saying, Yes, it's me. Here I am. Take a chance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes I think about opportunities I should have grabbed when I had the chance. But not too much. I'm busy enjoying the ones I did grab. Like spinning, for example, which I came upon at a time in my life when I was very stressed and needing a creative outlet that wasn't too taxing in certain ways, but allowed me to really express myself in others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another Wish Fish in my life was paper making, which I learned in Brazil some years ago (another story for another post). But it began a relationship with handmade papers that I just can't get enough of -- the look, the texture, the weight. At some point, I decided I wanted to come up with a paper project featuring a Wish Fish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In an early exploration of this idea, when I was learning wet felting in a class a few years ago, I created this hanging -- not an image of the fairy tale, but someone waiting to find their way.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Wish Fish, wet felting, needle felting, beads, sewn onto paper-covered foam board, 22"x26"</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>My first attempt at making felt</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I continued to let the idea simmer in my head for a few years, feeding it with some really nice handmade papers on Etsy from </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/cotaproducts?section_id=6645611" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">CotaProducts</span></a> and <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/bonfires" target="_blank">Bonfires</a>. My original idea had been to embroider the paper, but the red papers tore too easily, and when I layered them on backing paper, it was difficult to sew because of the glue. The large sheets from CotaProducts are handmade in Africa from recycled cotton and would have been great for sewing, but they happened to be all background papers and not part of what I wanted to sew. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I did some initial stitching on the tail with a bundle of four metallic threads, then changed direction and used paper cuttings for detail instead. </b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The shell beads on the fish's face and in the water came in a fibre pack from </span><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/thebitterpeacock" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TheBitterPeacock</span></a> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">on Etsy. All the papers used in the piece were handmade.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRFO-Ua5LA7QN5B6gnAPi9AmwFN2N0zOLvh7sA8nYA9ZAkRxkOKewP4u766N3uaM8pg-5Iwj9xIDh-ya4_mLdquSaN_kcrkjnY4JWv49gfQELlFLwzddvXIIB7TvK1Ip4zwfc8x9KdpYW/s1600/1-P1060950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRFO-Ua5LA7QN5B6gnAPi9AmwFN2N0zOLvh7sA8nYA9ZAkRxkOKewP4u766N3uaM8pg-5Iwj9xIDh-ya4_mLdquSaN_kcrkjnY4JWv49gfQELlFLwzddvXIIB7TvK1Ip4zwfc8x9KdpYW/s640/1-P1060950.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the end, I decided to incorporate felting with the paper, and wet-felted a frame. It's four long strips of felt that I needle-felted together and hid the seams with more roving. Most of the roving is from my own hand-dyed fleece, but there is some commercial roving I got from a friendly and generous customer. Then I needle-felted on commercial top to make the patterned edge. The extra-thick handspun yarn around the edge of the picture was brought back to me from Brazil by my husband.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Wish Fish - total size with frame is 41" x 34"</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The patterns for the needle-felted border are copied from Viking carvings. I got some books on Viking art from the library and sketched out decorative patterns from wood and stone carvings found in archaeological sites. I like the element of my family heritage that they add to the piece. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Ec18MCxh8lqNJdapEiStdpHoiEQiWXVcYcBKI1GdUJlHvOn5-uk7RtuvpWpCVQZ5iNfVSmtbvVFIUnsObnEZBuEuXO_g4oibceNvxcLqWH1etPAXpqTg2D9EtSxtkw9f_Fjymk9yYL2K/s1600/1-P1060949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Ec18MCxh8lqNJdapEiStdpHoiEQiWXVcYcBKI1GdUJlHvOn5-uk7RtuvpWpCVQZ5iNfVSmtbvVFIUnsObnEZBuEuXO_g4oibceNvxcLqWH1etPAXpqTg2D9EtSxtkw9f_Fjymk9yYL2K/s320/1-P1060949.JPG" width="169" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XpXBNd94hRFH4Ptf8GDrV1jj6UL_0K_sdUDsrhhjODoF4ncUQXk96TT0LBBC1Mr64Anv_HkeHvkr2w9ewzLrkBSsarZm0srNaexIdr5rL4ycyHlLgSphzUBy_eqACuR68ZlX7OaFtjiA/s1600/P1060953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XpXBNd94hRFH4Ptf8GDrV1jj6UL_0K_sdUDsrhhjODoF4ncUQXk96TT0LBBC1Mr64Anv_HkeHvkr2w9ewzLrkBSsarZm0srNaexIdr5rL4ycyHlLgSphzUBy_eqACuR68ZlX7OaFtjiA/s400/P1060953.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's hard to make out the moon. I wrapped shiny silk yarn around batting mounted on a crescent of heavy paper, then glued it onto a cream-coloured circle. The crescent stands about 1/2" high off the paper. </span>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0Canada53.540307391500221 -69.60937528.018272891500221 -110.917969 79.062341891500225 -28.300781tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4932153278040196978.post-87498018238753766902013-05-12T21:11:00.000-04:002013-08-03T12:26:04.764-04:00Experiment - Navajo Ply with inclusions, Plied Twice. Plus ME trying out blogging.<script type="text/javascript">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's spring, so sheep are getting sheared and people like me who love new fleece are enjoying their Laughing Place. I've been doing a fair bit of washing lately -- which I love to do, believe me, not just because of what's waiting when it's all done, but the whole process just feels good somehow -- but it's hard to resist taking a break to play. And why resist, after all? The dirty fleeces still waiting aren't going anywheres.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was in the mood for BLUES, and now that my husband found me a second slow cooker sitting out on someone's curb the day after a neighbourhood yard sale (thank you everyone for not buying it), I can dye twice as much at a time. I like slow cooker dyeing because the fleece doesn't get disturbed in the dye bath and doesn't felt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There they are drying:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTW_hAWJhFQZqomaN0-pGdgyjWJftJBtyfEhGv8TIrObh20eXJPWjXGsj_i71qjzY5_hJyGvoXrG3OvEkbPFuK0IS7sXkVLqPPVz-G3N8t58yzFb7AUIRWkAdW8kDpzdA0XVu3Lv2AJnu/s1600/1-P1070100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTW_hAWJhFQZqomaN0-pGdgyjWJftJBtyfEhGv8TIrObh20eXJPWjXGsj_i71qjzY5_hJyGvoXrG3OvEkbPFuK0IS7sXkVLqPPVz-G3N8t58yzFb7AUIRWkAdW8kDpzdA0XVu3Lv2AJnu/s640/1-P1070100.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From top left clockwise: Romney x Merino, Cormo,<br />Border Leicester x BFL, BFL x Romney/Cotswold</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISsBgrflzB_b946iGpQjEC-5xk4v2L_XV_2CqZ_pSRZYDM32iT1oC4TkLJVtI2AwU7heh_56I4Q70DluudAolLSszw1-x_6ddl8f8M-C2X8roUylvJO4KiWm-BLSBwBt3tZ4BW1_hVbIJ/s1600/1-P1070101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISsBgrflzB_b946iGpQjEC-5xk4v2L_XV_2CqZ_pSRZYDM32iT1oC4TkLJVtI2AwU7heh_56I4Q70DluudAolLSszw1-x_6ddl8f8M-C2X8roUylvJO4KiWm-BLSBwBt3tZ4BW1_hVbIJ/s640/1-P1070101.JPG" title="Drying Fleece" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From top left clockwise: Cormo, Lincoln Longwool,<br />Romney x BFL, Border Leicester x BFL</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can't resist showing off the lock loveliness -- don't you just want to do something fabulous with all this gorgeous blue?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xKLZcFFqB5ElNAgqEIQLrGBTkAKHs15WYGUUYBTcY_wEj4A7NKG2DPOwtGRR1q_QMF3xAoRTk8S5lJ6Fx58t1QN3EKsX4Pj47XpigpzGKThVSpiKrXp3uqZ0BawfqTsSY1PPkIdfYchn/s1600/1-P1070123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xKLZcFFqB5ElNAgqEIQLrGBTkAKHs15WYGUUYBTcY_wEj4A7NKG2DPOwtGRR1q_QMF3xAoRTk8S5lJ6Fx58t1QN3EKsX4Pj47XpigpzGKThVSpiKrXp3uqZ0BawfqTsSY1PPkIdfYchn/s640/1-P1070123.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RomneyxBFL, Cormo, Lincoln Longwool, BFLxRomney/Cotswold, BLxBFL, RomneyxMerino, RomneyxMerino</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I recently watched a few YouTube ads for an Ashford Country Spinner (my dream wheel) featuring <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhs20Mp57qo" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange;">Steph Gorin from Loop</span></a> doing cool things (I love it when people share their ideas and give tutorials for free -- so generous with their talent!). In this particular video, she Navajo plies corespun yarn, inserting locks and various other items, then teardrop plies the whole thing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sounds fun. Seeing as my wheel is significantly smaller than a Country Spinner (I have an Ashford Traditional with a jumbo flyer) I thought I'd try something of what she did, but <span style="font-size: x-small;">smaller. </span>Also, no non-wool insertions; I'm going to stick with locks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been getting really into combing. It's so luxurious. I even comb first when I'm going to card batts. I just love the wool top when you pull it off. The locks weren't all the same length, but close enough. I don't think things necessarily have to be perfect in this department. They carded beautifully and soon I was spinning my corespun.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLbD4rYhCQI2VQvqNo65tOjvMaRn42e6cq29J7Ds4spESSd563GItcHf0yIo97N95UkagthJHV0HhCHbbAGbXAB_HgluZOkjQBAnhytxts35LC-qk_sa3bqtOt35yCOyHzAr_KsKNO3gmq/s1600/1-P1070127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLbD4rYhCQI2VQvqNo65tOjvMaRn42e6cq29J7Ds4spESSd563GItcHf0yIo97N95UkagthJHV0HhCHbbAGbXAB_HgluZOkjQBAnhytxts35LC-qk_sa3bqtOt35yCOyHzAr_KsKNO3gmq/s400/1-P1070127.JPG" width="260" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After two passes with the combs:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwsYH1002TtDjX-r_V9DeuMl-SJMkpa49IkqRXyaAzSURWnWxGp8FYDkNykvBIYYIK_OPwa6GHbIyRlNyTZi3Xz-LteS7_dJpPj3PXWSiGXqT4wkPkv8NQkx26xG1GRIS3ZqM4RyEYqzx/s1600/1-P1070129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwsYH1002TtDjX-r_V9DeuMl-SJMkpa49IkqRXyaAzSURWnWxGp8FYDkNykvBIYYIK_OPwa6GHbIyRlNyTZi3Xz-LteS7_dJpPj3PXWSiGXqT4wkPkv8NQkx26xG1GRIS3ZqM4RyEYqzx/s400/1-P1070129.JPG" width="303" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And pulled off in top:</span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-F0bJLiIQqBjXOG5hJWiy0tBrlJBINSr2s4GXQh61la6cpXDOrpt051Rzub_U_ktuqS5zh-xspS9klganGMO0R0_NTegIQBJ-x0jyc6e0NkgH_AatD_JlFC2D7LobHKOo7Ht9dFNsIiw/s1600/1-P1070130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-F0bJLiIQqBjXOG5hJWiy0tBrlJBINSr2s4GXQh61la6cpXDOrpt051Rzub_U_ktuqS5zh-xspS9klganGMO0R0_NTegIQBJ-x0jyc6e0NkgH_AatD_JlFC2D7LobHKOo7Ht9dFNsIiw/s400/1-P1070130.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love love love the blues, and decided for a nice pow of colour to use some green locks to ply in -- these are all BFL-cross fleeces, except the far left, which is Cotswold. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7OHIgOJC2IztTAcYuOoqqPpq4H_ax9rKvYNVFUugO4zoolsYFDCzGekWxepIzjeNTkVhytYVn3HXidRoMB6Vvpag6JHT_9gEfQ9FiosQj1gANDXrCdp1dmndTV-pDHDCjOpynPrr7O2lg/s1600/1-P1070155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7OHIgOJC2IztTAcYuOoqqPpq4H_ax9rKvYNVFUugO4zoolsYFDCzGekWxepIzjeNTkVhytYVn3HXidRoMB6Vvpag6JHT_9gEfQ9FiosQj1gANDXrCdp1dmndTV-pDHDCjOpynPrr7O2lg/s640/1-P1070155.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First catch the locks into the loops of your yarn as you Navajo-ply it ...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUU1zRVzCyVBapJCJN_EbM6vwrHKs3N5pJIInEYKRbCM3-v7aQBJyk3zTQs5t5P4ErrA_EAxnBwes51ErZMeEaLaDU6zUH0IX8G30AEPVS01roAHwF9Ty3TwERkZUH2dwCODPf_Kfm0DWY/s1600/1-P1070136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUU1zRVzCyVBapJCJN_EbM6vwrHKs3N5pJIInEYKRbCM3-v7aQBJyk3zTQs5t5P4ErrA_EAxnBwes51ErZMeEaLaDU6zUH0IX8G30AEPVS01roAHwF9Ty3TwERkZUH2dwCODPf_Kfm0DWY/s640/1-P1070136.JPG" width="454" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then ply the whole shebang - this is plied on a bright blue mill-spun wool yarn with silver and purple metallic thread autowrapped. It hasn't been washed yet in this pic, it's straight off the wheel.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbDJj7kfUQmXdVY5-P2v5cSWnfPh-pQjiefdc7NjIuiNAjxKsUDFBV9T6q_LeXFel28qIUnvHYxOlhu5Kz8LWH1qX_wcmmxY95EiWMfsBzEZDf0BlqCyL-sF7j-xgJzuGmmcjdWIsLeYX_/s1600/1-P1070159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbDJj7kfUQmXdVY5-P2v5cSWnfPh-pQjiefdc7NjIuiNAjxKsUDFBV9T6q_LeXFel28qIUnvHYxOlhu5Kz8LWH1qX_wcmmxY95EiWMfsBzEZDf0BlqCyL-sF7j-xgJzuGmmcjdWIsLeYX_/s640/1-P1070159.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A great weekend project, I think, very enjoyable accompaniment to the murder mysteries I usually listen to whilst spinning. I'm not quite done -- either the skein or the mystery -- and it looks like this is going to fill my spindle twice over once it's all plied together. But I like the yarn, very chunky and textured and I love the colours and what the locks do after the second ply. Still thinking of blues, though. I think I'll be delving into these fleeces again for my next skein.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(LATER)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the yarn, washed and set - as you can see in the second photo, it's super bulky (2-3 wpi) and all told about 19 yards long.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWsEt68xeWaHFiq4DlF1hp4tmV6Rek4vtMQmHl2Y8s809vOZ5wS8eF4GOrRjF_kFonOlziA8JjeESHqUMEsZ8bUKNnamTQTFGFonwmNHt5c3TICdjwl8gVZD4kljOeuQGk3QfEyK35GhB2/s1600/1-P1070274-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWsEt68xeWaHFiq4DlF1hp4tmV6Rek4vtMQmHl2Y8s809vOZ5wS8eF4GOrRjF_kFonOlziA8JjeESHqUMEsZ8bUKNnamTQTFGFonwmNHt5c3TICdjwl8gVZD4kljOeuQGk3QfEyK35GhB2/s640/1-P1070274-001.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/151605933/art-yarn-super-bulky-handspun-yarn-blue" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: #351c75;">You can see it in my shop </span><span style="color: orange;">here</span></b></span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiytZgDfAl_u0H_YAF6ccIvSXs-sg_30FAmpd38XBbJeg8d26zLfaO91NuJQXUq6JOBkvFVdBL-78Z7FJraSoeqejpxaQU3F1zXPDFbRGxZKCCCD9nR_G6Bdb89GW8jejoA2HGuzMt0K6J/s1600/1-P1070280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiytZgDfAl_u0H_YAF6ccIvSXs-sg_30FAmpd38XBbJeg8d26zLfaO91NuJQXUq6JOBkvFVdBL-78Z7FJraSoeqejpxaQU3F1zXPDFbRGxZKCCCD9nR_G6Bdb89GW8jejoA2HGuzMt0K6J/s640/1-P1070280.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/151605933/art-yarn-super-bulky-handspun-yarn-blue" target="_blank"><span style="color: orange; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>In my Etsy shop</b></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>FaroeVikinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586444871569624065noreply@blogger.com0Canada53.9560855309879 -103.35937528.4340510309879 -144.667969 79.4781200309879 -62.050781