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.

Poor man's silk?

All that glows is not silk. Bamboo Rayon is so shiny and soft that you want to roll around in it. It can be spun as is...slippery though it is. It is reputed to be antimicrobial. I don't know if that is true, but it's neat to think about. It is not strong like silk, so I would not knit socks with it. But for a drapey scarf? yummy! I like carding it in with other fibers to add luster and drape to otherwise springy fabric.

What's a Fibershed?

Fibershed?

About Fibershed

I was blown away today when I received a post from Joybilee Farm on one of my Yahoo Groups. She wrote about sustainable clothing, locally sourced no more than 150 miles away. What would this mean?

"The Fibershed project is inspired by the need to swing the pendulum of our production- and our consumption to a more balanced state, that supports the health of all humans and the greater ecological system of which we are apart; through the re-integration of organic fibers, natural dyes, and a regional base that supports local communities and economies."

I was led to the originator blog of the Fibershed project and read

"The fibershed challenge is to live for one year, in clothes made from fibers that are solely sourced within a geographical region no larger than 150 miles from my front door; this includes the natural dye colors as well!"

What would it mean to create bioregional clothing in Minneapolis? What are our native fibers, our native dyes, our climactic needs?

Many are talking about the Transition Town movement that aims to create a more sustainable lifestyle with a small carbon footprint and far less reliance on oil. By local-sourcing our clothing, we can contribute to this.

I don't know that I have the will or the knowledge to do this, local source all my clothing within 150 miles, for a year. But it bears thinking about. It bears talking about.

What do you think?

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

Dyeing Day Fun

I spun this dorset down with nylon for socks a couple of years ago. Finally, I dyed it. It is SO SPRINGY! It will make wonderful socks.
In the past year I have been periodically experimenting with rare wools. Usually I have just spun small samples. But when I got out the Teeswater (orange) and the Devon (green) I could not stop spinning! They were such a delight to work with.
The teeswater is surprisingly springy. I wasn't expecting that from a long wool. It it outer wear soft, maybe sock soft if you are not terribly sensitive. The Devon (greens) is very fine, spun worsted, and would make a superb weaving yarn. It is quite prickly, has a luminosity just short of mohair. It would be superb for tapestry or crewel work.
Last spring, when I was in New York City, I purchased some cones of silk: one is a ribbon, one is a fine boucle, on is a gleaming single. They were a joy to dye!

Sometimes an artist visits& goes batty

In the run up to Yarnover and Shepherd's Harvest, I sometimes invite another artist in to dye with me. I find it mixes up, in a good way, my eye for color. This year I had my friend Dale Kennedy come dye and "batt" with me. He batted up some beautiful subtle blends of colors, all with a bit of bamboo for hand and a bit of firestar or angelina for fun.

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...