This week has been filled with dyeing, spinning, and weaving–as well as preparing for tomorrow’s Alabama Honey Festival in Owens Cross Roads, Alabama, where I’ll have a tent set up if it doesn’t rain us out.
Off the loom: Merino/Silk/Cashmere Autumn Plaid Scarf.
Off the wheel: “Carpo’s Sunset” custom colorway I’ve dyed for the upcoming North Alabama Yarn Skip (Oct 8-16th). Carpo was the goddess of Autumn, hence, the name. This is a Peruvian Highland wool roving dyed with professional acid fast dyes. It will be available in limited quantities at Hook a Frog Fiber & Fun during the event. This sample was spun from half of the 100g braid, so not much of the blue showed up in the finished 2-ply yarn.
On September 16th, I received a Scottish Blackface lamb fleece from McKinney Sheep Ranch that I ordered from a FB raw wool group. I’ve wanted to try Scottish Blackface wool for a while now, but had trouble finding it in the U.S. Ashley McKinney also sent me a handmade soy candle and a bar of goat milk soap along with the fleece. I’ve washed a small sample of the fleece, but it’s currently on my backlog.
After buying the Scottish Blackface fleece, I found some Dorset Horn (or Horned Dorset–however you like to say it) from New Hampshire, so I ordered three pounds of it –mostly because I loved the small bit of Dorset Horn I processed during the Tour de Fleece. I haven’t started processing it yet, but it looks amazing, so I can’t wait to get some of it washed and processed.
Then, after saying I would stop buying more raw fleeces because I have more than enough, I bought two Shetland fleeces, “Tim” and “Miel Rouge” from Ballyhoo Fiber Emporium–because, why not? I’m already in over my head at this point, so I figure I’ll just go for broke.
Two scarves have come off the loom since last week. The first was from some handpainted + handspun BFL in purples and oranges from Claire Cabe of Lucca Dot Yarn–used for both warp and weft.
The second scarf was woven from a merino/silk/cashmere blend in three different colors. I wasn’t pleased with the pattern and had something totally different in mind when I warped the loom, but the scarf sold almost immediately, so I can’t complain too much.
A few weekends ago, I bought some handspun wool/alpaca yarn from Thread in Florence, AL. The spinner wasn’t listed on the tag, but I’m assuming it was a local who spun the yarn. I had just enough yarn to weave a scarf from the handspun and I’m pleased with the results.
The week before last, I finished a “raw fleece to finished object” knitting project using some of the raw fleece from Akoya the Icelandic ram (Ballyhoo Fiber Emporium, Kentucky). The project started as a traditional Icelandic shawl, but it seemed to be taking too long, so I made a neck warmer/shawlett instead since it was a triangle shawl pattern.
This might be too itchy for some people, since I spun the tog and thel together, but it’s fine for me since I’m not super sensitive to wools in the 30+ micron count range.
I only thought I was finished buying raw fleeces for 2021…
I’ve added at least a dozen more since the last time I posted about my raw fleece stash, mostly CVM, CVM/Merino, Icelandic, and Gulf Coast Native fleeces–but I also have at least one more on the way (an impulse buy off FB marketplace).
So, my fiber room is full–along with half of my storage shed (which houses the fleeces that need more skirting). I’m seriously considering sending some of it to a mill, but I haven’t decided which one yet.
I will be offering some of it for sale at a Worldwide Spin in Public Day event at Hook A Frog Fiber & Fun (Madison, AL) on Sat., Sept. 18th.
Raw fleeces, June 20213/4 of Raw fleeces acquired in 2021 (as of August 20, 2021)
Gulf Coast Native fleeces from Alchemy Farms
6 pounds of Weatherwax, Icelandic ram, from Ballyhoo Fiber Emporium
The last couple of weeks have been a bit wild, but now that I’m on the other side, I can post my latest finished projects + latest yarn additions to my stash. If you’d like more details on any of my projects, check out my portfolio on Ravelry. My username is ‘southernemma’.
Yesterday’s natural dyeing project: I decided to dye my ‘Raw Fleece to Finished Object’ Dorset Horn woven scarf using an avocado pit and onion skins (both red + yellow skins). The result is a peachy-pink color. All of the pictures were taken in natural light, but one looks darker because it was taken in a different part of the house.
Original, undyed scarf
August 10 weaving project: Cotton/Merino Scarf in Neutral Colors
August 6 weaving project: Noro Wool/Silk/Mohair blend in autumnal colors
August 6 knitting project:Juno Jumper for Chloe using Brown Sheep Lanaloft (100% wool)
I visited Thread in Florence, Alabama–a fabric/yarn shop–on August 13th and picked up some local handspun yarns (one of which contains dog hair in the blend), along with my favorite hand lotion bar from Love + Leche (cedarwood scent).
I also ordered some solar dyed Osage yarn from an emerging indie dyer/ hand spinner from Salt Lake City, Utah, Flamingmeatloaf Fibers. She has her own blend of Merino/CVM/Wensleydale yarns from Colorado sheep that she has milled locally. It arrived on Saturday (with a free mini-skein) and I’m anxious to get it on my loom.
I also picked up 6 more Gulf Coast Native raw fleeces on Friday from Alchemy Farms since I’ll be selling some of the GCN fiber I already have at the upcoming events I’m participating in.
This week’s weaving project used a merino/cashmere/silk blend tweedy yarn in autumnal colors. I was going to weave a solid color for warp/weft, but after getting it on the loom, I decided a second color was needed. I used the same yarn blend for the second yarn, but it was a different weight.
I also sampled some raw fleece I received from Ballyhoo Fiber Emporium with the purchase of new hand combs. The pound of fleece I received was from “Weatherwax” an Icelandic ram. After processing about 6 ounces of it and spinning a sample, I decided to purchase the rest of the fleece (about 6 pounds) and it arrived today.
I also decided to purchase a new drop spindle from Greensleeves Spindles after seeing them on The Soulful Spinner‘s Youtube channel. It arrived last week, but I haven’t devoted a great deal of time to it yet. It’s very light compared to my other drop spindles, so I’m nervous about dropping it. It’s handmade from Australian Red Gum/Birdseye Maple for the whorl and Mahogany for the shaft.
Handspun raw fleece sample from “Olwen” Icelandic/Balwen Welsh Mountain cross from Ballyhoo Fiber Emporium (Kentucky). 47g; 82 yards of worsted/Aran 2-ply yarn. 🐑
This yarn is next-to-skin soft—something I wouldn’t have expected from an Icelandic cross fleece, but that just goes to show how different each fleece can be from the next.
Olwen is the daughter of Icelandic ram, Akoya, whose fleece I also bought from Ballyhoo Fiber Emporium this year. Her mother was a Balwen Welsh Mountain ewe, a breed I hadn’t worked with before. (I have worked with Black Welsh Mountain before and didn’t enjoy it at all).)
Diary of a Yarnophile 