Launching New Spinning-with-Locks Kits

Ok, I love, love to spin art yarns with a scrumptious roving as a base and then dye up kid mohair locks, mulberry silk, Firestar and Angelina for sparkle, and then maybe grab some milk fiber just to top off the mixture.  Next I put a mix of this stuff in my lap and start spinning.

 This Aquarius art yarn came from a merino batt I bought from Stonehedge Farm in Charlevoix, Michigan, last summer.  I added gorgeous kid mohair locks in aqua and green from Lisa Shell at Kai Ranch mixed with Angelina, of course.

Here is one of my own BFL hand-dyed rovings mixed with locks from my dye studio and angelina to create Tide Pool Art Yarn.  Yummy, huh?

Sooo, I thought, maybe others might like to have kits of this stuff all preselected.  Yesterday I listed the Strawberry Gelato BFL Spinning-with-Locks kit in my shop.

And, here is a preview of the next roll out: uber soft Polwarth in Fall Colors2.  Hint: the olive green dye did all kids of crazy good stuff on the locks, silk, and Angelina.  Yum.

 

 

Funky Handspuns

Wacky? Spontaneous? Distracted? Easily amused?   These are some things I have in common with these yarns I spun this month.  Above are three kinds of moss greens in merino left over from plying projects.  I plied them with some of the eternal (read huge) bump of corriedale/merino morrit-colored roving I bought at Kid N Ewe last November.  This stuff just won't go away.  I have dyed it as roving and now am spinning it uber finely  to use in these crazy  projects.

Below is the wackiest.

I took the huge bag of detritus left from the licker-in of my Fancy Kitty Carder and started just spinning it as it came from the bag.  I reached down and grabbed a fluff, so it is all kinds of thing;  merino, alpaca, silk noil bits, silk, BFL, random wools, and bits of sparkle from angelina and Firestar.  I have 3 big skeins of this stuff, or 396 yards of chunky, funky yarn.  I'm thinking funny hats this winter.

Testing New Photos of Hand-carded Batts

What do you think? Does this tempt you more than this?




How about this?
over this or both?

I like this one, but...

I like this one too. Feedback, please, people. I would love it.
Check them out at the shop also. These are soft, artsy batts full of luxury fibers like merino/silk, alpaca, Wensleydale locks, sari silk, tencel, bamboo, Firestar and bits of angelina.

Retreat reprise

Fiber, fiber, fiber has been my focus since the Fancy Fibers retreat in early February. Gosh, that was a month ago. I have finished spinning the Easter Basket superwash merino roving I dyed in Mary's dye class.

It's actually a big, big bouncy skein that I think I will knit into a Trinket shawl (more on that pattern later).

Below is the finished Mermaid yarn spun from a handpainted roving and then embellished as I spun, with mohair locks, angelina and whatever ended up in my lap.

I have two huge skeins of this to play with. Now I think I need to get out in the world and see what's going on. I hear the Academy Awards are on tonight. I want to see what everyone is wearing.

Pushing the Envelope re: Spinning Painted Rovings

I have loved spinning hand-painted rovings I buy, sometimes at fiber festivals or on Etsy. But, after I had so much fun spinning with the luscious mohair locks, spinning the rovings as-is seemed a bit dull.

Sooooo, I started with this merino roving I bought from My 8 Kids Mom in Charlevoix, Michigan at last summer's fiber festival.

Then I went snorkeling into my stash of dyed locks - mohair, Wensleydale, whatever. I grabbed some shades of angelina. After all, one has to have bling.

This is the first jumbo bobbin of this painted roving/dyed locks experiment for me. It is loads of fun with a whimsical, no-rules result.

I think I need a bit more of the gold in the locks but the enhancement of the roving is to my liking. I will ply it with some sort of glorious thread so all the texture remains the focus.