Seabreeze Spinners

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Used Gaywool Dye to dye hand spun 2 ply wool. Dyed natural wool hand spun yellow & pumpkin but then over-dyed grey hand spun for rich tones of chocolate , blue and cinnamon. Attempted to hand paint grey roving but didn’t like the results. Colors didn’t work. Over-dyed hand painted roving with purple and magenta with less success; it matted. But after going through the hand carder several times and adding a little bling … the roving was lovely and spun up beautifully.

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(double click on photos for larger image) I took Spin-In magazine’s challenge to recycle outdated knitted items from your closet or thrift store finds. The sweater I choose was a closet find … “What was I thinking” … shoulder pads and all. The sweater was a wool, mohair, nylon blend. I’m thinking sock yarn. First, look for a sweater that has chain stitch holding the seams; the type seams that seal potato sacks and dog food bags. Once the seams were separated, I unraveled the knit and balled up the yarn. You’ll notice in the photo a mix of beads. I threaded one stand of fiber with mixed beads which would later be spun into the yarn. I’m thinking a little bit a beads on the sock tops. Then I spun a two ply yarn on my Timbertops chair wheel. The first yarn was skeined onto a sample niddy noddy. The first spun will be mailed off to Spin-In in answer to the challenge, the rest, socks ….

Found a detailed tutorial on-line HERE at craftsylish blog.

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I’ve had inquires regarding my homespun yarn so I’ve begun listing it on Etsy HERE along with Rick Reeves orifice hooks/threaders.

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Recently traveled from Florida to Dallas for a holiday visit and some “picking”. I brought with me my recent Craig’s List find, a Norwegian Princess Spinning Wheel, and along the way, in south-east Texas, I picked up an eBay pick-up only auction win, a Rick Reeves frame wheel.

I traveled light, a small bag with clothes and a large tote with spinning accessories, niddy noddy etc. and a large box of fiber … plus of course the two wheels. I picked up my daughter from school. The large college parking lot was resplendent with older white four door cars and as she scurried ahead of me, I said “look for the white car with two spinning wheels in the back seat.” She didn’t bat an eye, just gave me a knowing smile … who doesn’t travel cross country with two full size spinning wheels.

Found a sighting in Paula Simmons book, Spinning and Weaving with Wool, on page 68 a picture of the Norwegian Princess (much better shape), which apparently were imported and sold by Robin and Russ Handweavers, McMinnville, Oregon. The wheels were reported made of Beech with a lacquer finish. Originally the wheel came with 4 bobbins and had flyer ratios of 1.33 and 1.66. A very fast wheel. My wheel came with a new flyer and several new bobbins.

The Rick Reeves was in need of a major cleaning. The Norwegian was in less need of cleaning but it’s leg came off and it appeared there had been an old super glue repair. Super glue doesn’t work on everything, but Elmer’s? … Used white glue to repair the leg, and all was well. She spins beautifully. More regarding the Rick Reeves Frame Wheel in previous post.

I had forgotten my lazy kate and don’t tend to like on board kates so I improvised; who doesn’t carry knitting needles on trips, just in case?

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Find Seabreeze Spinners on Facebook HERE You can also follow us on Twitter @Sea_Breezee. We’ll be developing an email list on Facebook and will be posting deals and new offerings. Or follow us on Twitter for the latest updates.

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When planning my trip to Dallas over the holidays, a Rick Reeves hand turned chair wheel appeared on eBay, “pick up only”. I won the auction, adjusted my itinerary and made a swing through southeast Texas to pick up the wheel. I was already traveling with a “Norwegian Princess Wheel” snagged from Craig’s List and delivered by FedEx days before I left.

The Rick Reeves wheel was made in 2000 but had never even had a drive band on her. The purchaser had planned to learn to spin but health issues arose that kept her from learning. The wheel sat untouched. And I mean “untouched”; it had better than a decade of dust, kitchen oil residue and roach droppings layered in a thick coat of grime.

I used a Mr. Clean Magic sponges, 3M green scrubbers, denatured alcohol and degreaser to scrub her ’til all of the grime and most of the Danish Oil Finish were gone. Rather than run the risk of reassembling the wheel and having parts freeze, she rode home “naked”. Once home, I disassembled everything that easily removed and coated the various pieces with several light coats of Datco Danish Oil. After leaving the disassembled pieces several days to cure (the wheel was dry the first day but the additional curing time made sure the finish was hard and the parts wouldn’t stick after being reassembled), I coated the pieces with Goodies Wood Beams, a vegetable, lemon, cedar wax concoction which smells wonderful and makes the wood gleam.

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The Rick Reeves Norwegian Spinning Wheel had sold and has arrived at it’s new home in Washington State … quite the trip from Florida. The wheel had to be partially disassembled for the trip but was loveingly waxed and reassembled.

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This is the logo for the new Ravelry Group, Seabreeze Spinners.

The new group takes a fresh look at spinning, knitting and weaving with a tropical twist. We’ll explore exotic and classic fibers which lend themselves to warmer climes . . . bamboo, silk, llama, linen, and cotton. Our focus is hand spinning, and hand knitting and weaving on small looms. (You need to do something with all that yarn.) Novice and experienced spinner alike are welcome whether planning to buy a wheel or looking for ideas for your next project.

Individuals who wish to sell off any of their personal stash or yarn, needles, magazines, books are encouraged to list it here. This is not a group for business owners to sell same or for selling stuff you make, but for individuals to sell their used stuff. You may post links to Ebay if you are selling your stash stuff there.

All who have an interest in fiber are welcome to join. This is a drama free zone. No adult content. “Disagree” is for “I disgree with someone’s stated opinion”. “Disagree” is not for expressing “I think they’re asking too much for their item”. Advice and suggestions are always welcome, but please, keep it positive and helpful. Please stay on topic. This is a place to chat and share with others who share your obsession with fiber.

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“Marmalade” is 100% wool, spun from “printed” Louet rooving. The printing process for “northern lights” rooving very closely resembles hand painted rooving. The finger rooving is easy to spin and plying two singles, creates beautiful, complex yarn.

The second skein was handspun from hand painted fiber purchased at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair, SAFF. The locks were sewn in after the yarn was spun and before it was fulled. The finished yarn was soaked in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes without stirring which caused the locks to be felted permanently into place.

On this blog, there are other examples of faux hand painted yarns.

Visit us again here at Seabreezespinners.com We’ll be posting a demo of various ways to add locks to handspun yarn.

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New items For Sale … Lamp Work glass bead frog earrings seen here are available for sale on Etsy HERE.

Have also listed Rick Reeves handturned hardwood spinning wheel orifice hooks … lovely.

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