Which spindle/project bag suits you?

This past year, I purchased several antique Japanese obi's...the long elegant sashes used on kimono. I have made spindle/project/evening bags from them! Each bag is unique and will hold a sock project or several spindles and roving or you evening necessities! I think I have either 6 or 8 different fabrics so far. Check them out at:

Yarnover or Shepherd's Harvest

FIRESTAR!

Firestar is HOT! Or, at least the colors are! Firestar is a form of nylon that reflects and refracts light for sparkle almost as bright as glitter! While it can be spun alone, it is usually spun carded with wool to add sparkle and strength. It is a fun way to add strength to a sock yarn. Don't worry, though, Firestar is skin soft.

see it at Yarnover or Shepherd's Harvest.

Not so old goats

In addition to the hand dyed wool roving, I have lots of dyed mohair this year...from goats. I found a reasonable source for young adult mohair, yearling, in combed top. It is sleek & shiny...like fine jewelry!

It is great to spin very fine for lace or for making boucle's. Spun thick, by itself, it will be heavy and probably last nearly forever. Mohair is strong. It is wonderful added to a batt of wool to increase the luster or used as a single ply with plies of different fiber.

See it at Shepherd's Harvest and Yarnover

Yarnover is coming soon!

Yarnover, April 30, 7:45am-5pm, Hopkins High School, 2400 Lindberg Dr., Minnetonka, MN

Yarnover is the incredible annual event of the Minnesota Knnitters Guild. They get in famous teachers from all over!

I will be a vendor there with my handspun yarn and hand dyed fibers.

I think of my yarns as coming in 2 major classifications: knitting yarn and art yarn.

Now, both classes can be knit, crocheted, woven...but... The art yarn is more of an accent yarn, having add-ins, beads, flowers. The art yarns often express an idea, such as the landscape of Australia, or my memory of tailoring my own clothing as a young woman.

The yarn I think of as "knitting" yarn, is generally 2 or 3 ply, fingering to worsted weight. The yardage runs from 60-400 yards...With these yarns you get to experiment with different breeds of sheep, handspun cotton, wild mohair boucle's, hand dyed, handspun silk.

Different breeds of sheep and alpacas grow fiber that has a different hand. Alpaca, as you know, tends to be sleek and soft to the skin...if it is pure alpaca it drapes so "well" that some say it stretches. It is not very elastic to knit with.

Down breed sheep, like a Dorset, on the other hand, are so elastic that you would have a hard time convincing someone that you had not snuck in some latex!

And then there are the blends! OOO they are nice! Sometimes I blend on the carder, making heathery, tweedy yarns. SOmetimes I blend by plying totally different fibers together. Recently, I plied a turquoise cotton, a rust merino and a deep brown alpaca mix. I have plied silk, merino and cashmere...as well as mystery fibers and recycled sweater yarn.

So, come by and see the yarn! I'll be in booth #25, spinning away on things...