Seabreeze Spinners

Fiber Space yesterday, Saturday, so I got to take my Bee for a ride. The canvas tote is great. It opens suitcase style. There’s room for bobbins in the interior zipper bag. The wheel quickly pops up ready to spin.

(click on photos to see larger image)

And what was I spinning ? … sock yarn … wool and nylon.

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I’ve accepted a teaching job for the month, teaching two sections of Psychology 101 AND 6 family members will be arriving from out-of-state Saturday to celebrate “spring break” with us. All this in additon to writing two grants due April 20 and maintaining my private practice. My world is insane and I fear that it will be the blog that suffers. Please suffer me infrequent entries until me life settles down. My stress reliever, clearly my fiber projects. I spun a bobbin of wool and nylon sock yarn last Saturday at Fiber Space. My plan is to spin another bobbin and dye the finished yarn “blog blue” and boganvia pink. My backstap loom is ordered and waiting for it’s arrival. I’m still playing with my paddle loom and during breaks at school, I braid silk on my kumihimo loom.

I’ve become a distributor for the Thread Gatherer, hand dyed silk threads & ribbons….more on that later. They have the most amazing color combination. More on that later; I’ll be adding thread to my etsy site.

Have to run…
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I’ve started and unraveled my llama scarf over and over. I had planned to knit a llama scarf from the llama yarn I spun HERE. I selected a pattern from an archived issue of Spin-Off. I’d get about two inches and my row would have more stiches than pattern, ugh! After several attempts, I searched for a different pattern. I found a pattern I liked from a sock pattern and gave that a go. Several attempts with several inches each later, same problem. I seem to be able to knit two or three pattern sequences then all of a sudden I end up with an “extra” stitch. I’m so used to plain knitting when I would just “absorb” the extra stitch, say with a knit together. I know with pattern knitting that to do so would likely put the whole pattern out of kilter (is that a word?)

Sooo… my plan is to set the yarn up on a loom and weave it. It may actually suit the yarn better as the yarn varies in color which would make stripes in the knitting and will blend lovily in weaving. How frustrating. My guess is I shouldn’t attempt pattern knitting at the end of the day after my brain has gone dead!

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It’s chilly (for Florida. . . in the 50′s), strawberries are blooming, brocolli is coming to a head, Lacy is enjoying the yard, my feet are toasty in my seaweed socks, and I’m still playing with Kumihimo braids… Life is Good! Thank you God.

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(Click on photos for larger images.)
I spun the Easter Egg Dye fiber and plied it with white wool/nylon (for strength).  The yarn was then hung with weight to dry.

I have wool and llama also drying:

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((Click on images for a larger picture.)

The thrift shop near my office had a sale (50 cents a box) on Easter Egg dye, so I loaded up. I first wet my fiber in a water bath with a little detergent and rinsed it with clear water. I filled custard cups with 3T each of white vinegar. (When I ran out of white, I used apple cider, amber, vinegar…seemed to work just fine.) I then added a dye tablet to each cutard cup (and a few Jack Daniels old fashioned glasses.) After the dye stopped fizzing, I added 1/2 cup of water and stirred. Then I plunged pieces of fiber into the various cups.

After the fiber had absorbed much of the dye, I started at one end lifting the fiber from the dye baths squeezing excess as I went. I scrolled the dyed fiber out on multi layers of paper toweling. I rolled the fiber up like a jelly roll and put it in the microwave. I “nuked” it on high for 1 minute, paused and repeated 2 times for a total of three minutes. I unrolled the paper toweling to reveal the finished fiber. I then rinsed the fiber and hung it to dry. Very little dye rinsed out; the microwave had set the dye. My plan is to spin the fiber once it dryes and knit it into socks, thus, the Hand Dyed Easter Socks … keep watching http//Seabreezespinners.com/ for more on this project. (The flowers are from my Valentine bouquet.)

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My sock machine was recently repaired where I had forced it and the old cast metal broke. It is up and running but not without a lot of frustration…not to mention a bottle of oil.

New meaning to “Tropical Twister”.

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I’ve abandoned the Ship’s Project project, for now. I’ve read updates and have learned that olive is not an acceptable color. I’ll get some red, white and blue and go at it again.

I have been busy. We have a batch of shawls ready for blessing next Sunday for the Shawl Ministry.

I’ve been carding llama to spin and then knit into a shawl/throw. The next two Saturdays, I’ll be demonstrating at the Manatee County Fair. I’ll load some photos of the crafts and the fair.

The results of my carding:

I plan to spin at the Fair. More soon.

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The Ships Project hat/cap was too loose and too big. I unraveled it and started over. This time I’m using two strands of llama/silk to give it more substance. Here we go again …

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I’ve just discovered a new to me organization. The Ships Project delivers hand knit hats and socks to our troups. You can get more information on their web site The Ships Project or visit the Yahoo Group The Ships Project
I’m knitting a llama/silk cap. No wild colors, no tassels, no roll-up brims…so I’m knitting a simple cap that will fit under a helmet. I’m using my husbands head as a model so it will be extra large; he assures me that it had to be extra large to hold all his brains. The llama/silk is soft and light but should be warm. I’ll add photos as the project goes on.

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