Yarns I've Spun
I knit, so most of my yarns are intended to be suitable for knitting. I love wool. And silk. And mohair. And alpaca. And....well, mostly natural fibers. I like to spin thick yarns. I like to spin skinny yarns.
Yarns on the Lake
I spun all of these yarns in 2004. They are shown on some tree branches that were hanging over the shore of Silver Lake. From left, the yarns are: "Sorbet Grey" (Costwold lamb wool), "Wildflower Camouflage" (Romney wool), "Peach Flame" (Merino wool, Tencel), "Urban Cowboy" (mostly American bison), "Salsa Mole" (alpaca), "Rustic Marl" (Lincoln wool), "Pepe Le Pew" (Merino wool, Romney wool), "Blue Bayou" (Merino wool, kid mohair), "Autumn Maple" (unspecified wool).
Yarns: The Next Year
These Yarns were spun in 2005. From Left: "Blueberry Fields Forever" (unspecified wool, mohair), "Fuschia Flame" (unspecified wool), "Teal for Two" (RomneyXColumbia wool), "Arialla!" (alpaca), "Sea Glass" (Merino wool, Tencel).
Spin a Grand Strand, Convergence 2006
I submitted three yarns to the "Spin a Grand Strand" exhibit at Convergence 2006 (the biennial conference that is sponsored by the Handweavers Guild of America). The conference that year was held in Grand Rapids. Two of my yarns received awards: "Terrarium" (on the bottom) is a 4-ply cabled yarn in which 3 of the plies are bombyx silk and one ply is Optim -- a streched out, super soft version of Merino wool. It won First Place. "S'Mores" (on the top) is a 3-ply marl yarn with one ply Merino wool (the marshmallow color), one ply alpaca (the graham cracker color), and one ply American bison down (the chocolate color). It received "Honorable Mention".
Romney from Kansas
In 2006, I got a lovely Romney fleece from my friend, Tina Ulbrick (www.ewephoria.net). This particular fleece was very strong, not as soft as some Romney wool, but it became some fabulous bulky weight yarns. Then, I asked my friend, Carol S, to dye the yarns. I love the results she got. In the picture on the left, the yarns are (from the left): "Popsicle", "Fiesta"( with knitted swatch), and "Moonshadow". In the picture on the right, the yarn is "Solstice Sky" (with knitted swatch).
Marvelous Marl!
Marl yarns are often defined as plied yarns in which the plies are of different colors or different fibers. They are loads of fun to make! I spun most of these yarns in 2008. From the left: "Dark Shadows" (from a sheep named Lacy who was Border LeicesterXRomneyXCorriedale), "S'Mores" (one ply Merino wool, one ply alpaca, one ply American bison down), "Electric Cool" (Romney wool, Bluefaced Leicester wool, pygora), "Strawberry Margarita with Salt" (unspecified wool), unnamed 3-ply marl yarn (Merino wool), "Painted Barnwood" (Corriedale wool).
3 X 3 = 10
More on marl! If you have 3 colors of fiber, and you want to make 3-ply yarns, there are 10 possible combinations of colors you can ply. The yarns below were spun from Cormo wool (white) and "Cormo-like" wool (MerinoXCorriedale wool; medium grey and brown). I've been knitting a shawl out of these 10 yarns. It's almost done.
Babes is Beautiful
I got a gorgeous light moorit Merino fleece from Tina Ulbrick (www.ewephoria.net). The sheep's name is "Babes". I washed it, and then hand combed the fibers. The yarns below are three different thicknesses of yarn from Babes. Leftmost is approximately 49 yards per ounce; the center yarn is approximately 84 yards per ounce, and the rightmost yarn is approximately 150 yards per ounce. My plan is to knit some fingerless gloves from these three yarns.