a dream, some handspun.

i had a dream about the new floor of the house again. this time, it was partially furnished and i was actively working on it and putting things in it. i was super excited about it, too, but it was cut short. too bad i slept like crap! i woke up multiple times in the middle of the night with an achey stomach, then finally settled in for a solid 4 hours of sleep after D left at 3am. i wish i could remember more about it!

i also often have dreams set in a kind of really nice high school/university setting (it changes). i was here a little bit as well, but since my sleep was so choppy i can't remember if i was in both places in the same dream, or if one was when i first went to bed and the other later on. i will keep on top of this one. it's so interesting!

okay, on to some stuff i have made this week.


first, we have some thick and thin 2ply, spun from my very own handpainted superwash merino called "man wool." i was pretty surprised to see how the finished yarn turned out, because the fiber had some really deep blacks and teal spots, but as it fluffed and stretched it lightened up and took on an overall pebbly tone. i like it much more spun up than i did in fiber form! it sat occupying two of my bobbins for over a year because once i started spinning up the singles, i felt very "meh." but once the plying began, i really started appreciating it.


THIS. "hnnnghhh" is how i feel about this. i made up 8 oz of these batts called "oh my goth!" like ... years ago. i sold 4oz of them almost immediately, and kept this other 4oz for myself with the idea that once i was very proficient at spinning thinly and plying navajo, i would spin it cobweb thin and navajo ply it. so, i started on this bobbin over a year ago, spinning it sewing thread thin easily 40wpi, hating absolutely every second of it. i only filled about a quarter of the bobbin before i was like, "F this, i'll return to it later" and then totally never did.
finally the other night i couldn't stand it anymore - i needed all of these bobbins for other things!! so i sat down with this, spinning it slightly thicker than the first time, and powered through it in two nights. i love it. i think it's beautiful! and totally worth it. but man i am so glad to be done with it. 
the batts were about 4.1oz of merino, mohair, silk, and angelina sparkle, and the finished yarn came out to be about 19-20wpi, 108 yards. 
and finally,

this amazing yarnwench merino! no photo has really been able to do justice to the luscious blend of colors. there are these spots where the fuchsia/berry color blends into the lighter green that are just magical. i can't wait to spin it, which is why i immediately got that other stuff off of my bobbins!  okay! now i'm off to make myself a nice cup of tea, find a delightful film on netflix, and start spinning :)

what's going on in my yarn life ...

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Originally uploaded by kittenlogic

i dyed a ton of fiber on sunday, then finished up the last batches last night. i like to do two of each, because if i dye something i love, i have a hard time putting it up for sale. this way, i know that there's at least one left for me :-)

i wish i had more time. i really want to spin, but i have so much school stuff to worry about that i'm having a hard time scheduling it in. i DO have a 3 day weekend this week, though, so i guess i'll take advantage of it.

anyway, those ridiculous pink/purple/orange batts are made from some of that fiber that holly sent me a while ago. 75% wool and 25% alpaca. i love love love the way it spins. so hairy and wonderful, like romney. the hard-to-see lime/purple/teal batts underneath those are 50/50 wool/alpaca. i'm excited to work on those!

i need a longer dayyyyyyyy. oh, and more money. because i don't have ANY.

aha!

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Originally uploaded by kittenlogic.

on a lighter note, here's the yarn that came from my dyed batts. there was absolutely no problem spinning them except for a few spots that weren't carded as smoothly as i'd liked, but other than that, this yarn came out fabulous. nice and super thin, and i haven't yet measured the yardage yet, but i know that it's at least 500 yards - probably a good 550.

the color isn't quite what i had expected, even though i still like it a lot. i expected it to be a lot lighter, but it was so thin that it darkened up quite a bit. also, since i was spinning from a batt, i tended to start spinning from the fold because it's quicker and easier and requires less concentration, but that made really weird color blends that weren't so great.

the third thing for next time is to make smaller skeins. this took forever from start to finish, just like pink elephant did. next time i'll either spin two smaller skeins or just sell one set of the batts, or something. i was literally in pain after finishing plying this beast. NEVER AGAIN!

the other photos are on flickr but there's no info yet. i'll do that later. sometime i'll post a little process post, because i know some people are interested in/curious about the whole batt dyeing thing.