Seabreeze Spinners » Hand Spun Yarn

Dying Hand Spun Yarn

Tropical Twister — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:45:17 +0000

(click on images for larger view)
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.

Tropical Twister

Recycled Thrift Store Yarn

Tropical Twister — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:14:11 +0000

(double click on photos for larger image) I took Spin-In magazine’s challenge to recycle outdated knitted items from your closet or thrift store finds.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.

Tropical Twister

Newly Stocked Etsy site

Tropical Twister — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:41:32 +0000

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

Tropical Twister

Launching Ravelry Seabreeze Spinners Group

Tropical Twister — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 21:59:22 +0000

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.

Tropical Twister

How to create the look of hand painted yarns:

Tropical Twister — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:14:08 +0000

“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.

Tropical Twister

Mountain spun yarn ….

Tropical Twister — Mon, 30 May 2011 20:14:19 +0000

This yarn was inspired by the Smoky Mountains … blue skies, brush stokes of white clouds and leaves every color of green. I spun Louet Karaoke Angelfish (50% wool / 50% soysilk) spun with a pinch of Angelina (Peacock Green).

Tropical Twister

Spinning Art Yarn

Tropical Twister — Sun, 09 May 2010 19:04:09 +0000

These two skeins were inspired by my recent Jacey Boggs Insubordknit art yarn workshop. While I favor tiddy, small circumference yarn because I actually want to knit with it, I was delighted to experiment with some of the techniques I learned and adapted them on a smaller scale. Both yarns are aproximately bulky weight but no where near the heft of “art yarn” thick and thins which may only have a few wraps per inch. The bright multi wraps 8+ wraps per inch and the green, blue, purple wraps 10+ wraps per inch.

I hung the finished skeins outside in the fresh air to dry after fulling the fiber by hand “washing” in Soak, agitating, and then rinsing in cold water.

Tropical Twister

Jacey Boggs Insubordiknit Art Yarn Workshop

Tropical Twister — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:11:02 +0000

To view larger images, click on photo then click on photo again after you are forwarded to the single image page. To return to the blog, back arrow two times.

Just spent the most amazing spinning weekend attending the Jacey Boggs Insubordiknit Art Yarn workshop on Anna Maria Island. A very pregnant Jacey Boggs challenged us by providing introduction to the technical aspects of Art Yarn. The fast paced two day workshop provided exposure to no fewer than a dozen techniques to create sturdy, outrageous yarn. The spinners included a novice with less than two days spinning experience, an eight year old and well seasoned fiber enthusiasts. Jacey’s warm, friendly teaching style engages the seasoned spinner and novice alike making the workshop just plain fun.

I may have been the only one at the workshop that didn’t know Jacey offers a video CD on her web site CLICK HERE and who hadn’t already purchased the CD and attempted the techniques before attending the workshop. While the video/CD is excellent, (of course I had to purchase and have already sneaked a peek), I would encourage the one-on-one experience of the workshop. A simple reminder to slow my treadling made all the difference when I was struggling with cacoons.

My yarns:

Mermaids, slippers, jewely and piles of fiber…

Jacey promises a new workshop for 2011 and her book is schedued for publication fall 2011 … I’ll be watching for both!

Tropical Twister

Free Range Knitting

Tropical Twister — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:25:21 +0000

I’ve been following Jane Thornton’s blog and have been inspired to engage in some “free range knitting”. I’ve a combination of space dyed cotton, blue mohair, blue-green tape and handspun blue purple wool. More as this project developes.

Tropical Twister

Reeves Spinning Wheel

Tropical Twister — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:10:58 +0000

To the fair and back. Four blue ribbons but no rosettes, I’m dissappointed but will be back next year.

Have been enjoying my new wheel, an original Reeves hand turned Oak Spinning Wheel.

Reeves on YouTube

Reeves on YouTube too

Tropial Twister