Tag Archives: yarn

Brown Sheep

Posted on November 24, 2012 | 12 Comments

Or:

How I fell in love with yarn

I started working with yarn in childhood. My mom taught me how to crochet when I was maybe 6 or 8. She tried teaching me to knit, but I struggled with it. I tried several times to teach myself before I finally figured it out. But that’s not what this story is about.

See, I was working with yarn before I fell in love with it. Maybe this is because I grew up in the 1980s, when practically all you could find was acrylic. I knew there was yarn beyond Red Heart Super Saver, but I didn’t know much. And what I knew was still acrylic, I believe.

My involvement in fiber arts ebbed and flowed over the years. I picked it back up in earnest in college.

And then, after getting married, we happened upon a small yarn shop. I went in and was inexorably drawn to the wall of luscious color. That wall contained Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride yarns. Skeins of worsted and bulky weight singles that were incredibly soft to the touch and with a lovely halo. Wool, with a bit of mohair. So soft! So warm.

Yarn from Brown Sheep

Part of my stash of Brown Sheep yarn.

That was it. I was in love.

I bought a few skeins, made a scarf or two. And then three and four and more.

I didn’t hurt that this yarn is milled right here in Nebraska, purchased from shepherds, mostly in the United States. They even reuse 70-90 percent of their daily waste water (dyeing is a water-intensive endeavor).

As I’ve spent more time knitting and crocheting, I’ve come to love the Brown Sheep yarns even more. I’m a huge fan of Lanaloft (the same type of singles yarn but without the mohair) and Nature Spun (which is 100 percent wool, plied yarn).

Brown Sheep yarns are reliable and soft, yes. I also really love the luminous quality of the dyeing, too. The yarn has life, vitality. They make other yarn look flat, dull and boring.

Some day I’ll get out to Mitchell and tour the mill.

Have you worked with Brown Sheep yarn and fiber? Do you have a local-to-you yarn company?

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Back to spinning

Posted on October 29, 2012 | 5 Comments

bluepurple sparkle singles close

Word Lily spinsNext time, if you notice it’s been a while since I’ve posted about my spinning? Bug me. Because, Why, why, why do I go so long without doing something I so love? Spinning this was … blissful. The process brought tears to my eyes, it was so splendid. I do love the yarn, but the experience of spinning, having my hands literally in color, is even more worthwhile to me. I know this, and yet, it had been more than a year since I’d pulled my spinning wheel out of its cubbyhole. Shameful.

This photo is truer, color-wise:
skein of bluepurple sparkle singles

It’s soo fluffy and squishy and soft and cozy! I have no idea what I’m going to make with it yet, I just had to make.

Stats on the yarn: 60.4 grams, 122 yards (pre-bath, so it’ll likely shrink/puff a bit) from a batt I made at Yarn School, the last of those. I don’t remember what all I put in on the carder, but obviously quite a bit of sparkle. I have the details somewhere, but I wanted to post, not hunt for details, this morning.

Do you ever find yourself avoiding things you love?

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New studio

Posted on March 4, 2012 | 13 Comments

With the impending birth of the little one, my yarn room had to move. What used to be the yarn room is now (in process of being) set up as the nursery, and what was the home office has now all but disappeared and been replaced by my studio. It’s not perfectly organized, not neat and orderly, but it’s mostly reached the point where I can find things, which took awhile.

Wanna see?

Basement studio north

The north wall of the new studio space, what you see from the doorway.

Basement studio east

The east wall of the studio, to the right of the entry way.

It does get a decent amount of daylight, especially for a basement. It was a bit difficult to get photos, actually, because the windows were completely blowing out!

On the west wall is a couch, which serves double duty as a guest bed.

Oh, I almost forgot: A bookshelf in the next room, right next to my usual knitting spot, has my reference books and patterns.

It’s not perfect, but it’s functional, which is better than perfect. I’m so thankful for all the hours Paul put in getting it all moved, the floor painted, and helping me get it semi-organized. And it’s *done enough* that we’ve been able to focus on other things the past few weeks, which has been a necessity.

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Fiber Arts fun day

Posted on September 21, 2011 | 3 Comments

Yesterday we (Maisie and all) traveled to Clearwater, NE, to spend some time with MareLee at Prairie Threads. We’d visited once before, and had a blast, but this time we were more intentional with planning our time, and it was even more fun!

First of all, this shop? In a cute house in a little town, Prairie Threads is full of quality yarn, spinning fiber and tools. But the real star is MareLee herself. She’s been doing fiber arts for decades, and she’s had an answer for every question I’ve thrown at her so far. [I'm already plotting more occasions to pepper her with queries.]

Since it’s such a long drive (2 hours one way), we’ve thus far made it a habit to call ahead when we’re planning to visit. And this time, we did more than that; we asked for some instructional time. I was able to dye with her, experimenting with several different methods and tools than I’ve used in the past, and Paul finally got to try his hand at felting.

Picture time?

I dyed three items, 2 skeins of yarn and a length of combed top:

The yarn I dyed (this and the green) is fingering weight sock yarn, 50 percent superwash merino, 25 percent bamboo and 25 percent nylon. It has 459 yards in each 100 gram skein.

Look, it is green!

Mmm, wool.

None of the things I dyed came out exactly like I wanted them, but I had fun and I learned quite a bit, too. So all in all, a success.

I also came home with some other, ahem, stash enhancement. I’ll just show you a couple of the new additions:

This is hand painted by MareLee, 100 percent wool, single ply, and such great color!

I had never seen Brown Sheep's lace weight yarn before. This skein is huge! Its 170 grams provide 1500 yards of 75 percent wool, 25 percent nylon. The color, Deep Plum, is gorgeous, too.

I just love playing with color, it’s so vital to me! I hope I can get back to Clearwater soon. Do you like taking day trips?

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Fiber Arts Friday: Green

Posted on June 17, 2011 | 7 Comments

Word Lily knits and crochets

Greens

Stack of WIPs

green yarn

And more to come!

The Project Spectrum color for June is green. In addition to finishing my Citron (Rav link), I’m hoping to really dive in and make significant progress on this collection of designs.

Those I’ve started, above, aren’t the only patterns I’ve got planned for this collection. :)

Happy Friday!

Where are you seeing green today?

Fiber Arts Friday

Also, see the Fiber Arts Friday roundup at Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see what other people are crafting this week.

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Fiber Arts Friday: Project Spectrum, week 1

Posted on May 6, 2011 | 16 Comments

Word Lily spins

I’ve been really enjoying Project Spectrum this first week. Red isn’t exactly a color I gravitate toward, but the project is certainly making me more mindful of it, so far. Not all my Project Spectrum endeavors are fiber-related; I started a Tumblr as a sort of homebase for my Project Spectrum — although I may end up posting other things there as well, who knows?

RED that’s been through my hands

handspun

Remember those two batts I posted two weeks ago? I finally got them skeined and photographed. They’re both composed of the same mix of fibers and colors, but the more homogeneous was carded twice and the yarn with more distinct colors was carded once.

handspun from my hand dyed, hand carded, wool
50.2 grams of fiber yielded 114 yards, pre-bath.


55.6 grams of fiber yielded 100 yards of thick and thin, pre-bath.

I also spun up 4 ounces of a wool/silk blend fiber:

handspun wool-silk blend

Plying this is on the agenda for today.

Planning ahead

I think I’ll also be ordering beads today, for my first-ever beaded knitting project, the large-size Aeolian Shawl (Ravelry). I’m looking at these beads, to go with the Jaggerspun Zephyr wool/silk in mahogany I already have. I certainly won’t finish this within the month, but I’m looking forward to the challenge, regardless.

Where are you noticing red today?


Have you crafted a finished object this week? Check out the roundup of other people’s finished objects for the week at Tami’s Amis.

Fiber Arts Friday
Also, see the Fiber Arts Friday roundup at Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see what other people are crafting this week.

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Knit, knit, knit

Posted on April 29, 2011 | 17 Comments

What I’m not posting about today

• I could post about the yarn I spun, from the batts I posted last week — except the yarn is still on the bobbins.
• The project I’ve been spending most of the week on is still not quite ready for its close-up, either.
• I didn’t knit the royal wedding. And I didn’t even wake up early to watch it.
• Yarn School is underway, and I’m kind of sad I’m not there, experiencing it again.
• I’m tentatively gearing up for Project Spectrum, which starts May 1, but I’m not sure how avid I’ll be, considering my other commitments. Still, I bet it’ll be fun to stretch myself and how I look at and think about color; join us?

Word Lily knits

Instead, I guess I’ll share a couple finished knits.

I finished the short socks I talked about a few weeks ago.

Pink handknit socks

Ravelry project page
Not sure who the end user of these will be yet. But, making them set my brain a-whirling! Hopefully this brainstorm won’t fizzle, and I’ll have more to share on the subject.

I also wrapped up the hat I mentioned in that same post.

black hat for Paul

Ravelry project page
Again, just a basic hat (the whole cobbler’s children situation, now somewhat remedied), but I think that’s what he wanted.

I also finished a couple other socks, but no, they’re not a pair!

two socks do not make a pair

Sunrise Socks

sunrise sock

sunrise sock detail

Ravelry project page

This yarn is super squooshy.

I tried several different needle sizes and sock sizes before settling on this combination. These should fit my husband.

Rivercat Socks

Rivercat sock

Rivercat sock detail

Ravelry project page
Rivercat Sock pattern

These socks (I cast on for the second sock last night) are for a much delayed swap with a friend.

They seem super-skinny, but I think that’s mostly because of the ribbed nature of the pattern.

I seem to be falling down a sock-knitting hole this year, after taking 2010 mostly off from that particular obsession. I can’t get enough! :D

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!


Have you crafted a finished object this week? Check out the roundup of other people’s finished objects for the week at Tami’s Amis.

Fiber Arts Friday
Also, see the Fiber Arts Friday roundup at Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see what other people are crafting this week.

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Spinning my wheel

Posted on April 22, 2011 | 21 Comments

Instead of spending a lot of time telling you what I’ve been doing fiber-wise, I’m going to spend that time actually pursuing my fibery pursuits today. :D

drum-carded batts

These batts are both made from the same mix of fiber and color, but one was carded twice and the other was carded once. I plan to make a two-ply yarn.

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