Twisted Fiber

Contest!

2009-12-12T21:23:00.001-05:00

I'm running a little contest over on ravelry - a bit of a guessing game. Prizes to be announced later! feel free to join in.

Drum Carders

2009-12-01T23:11:00.002-05:00

Strauch has announced that as of Jan 1, they will no longer sell their drum carders without the brush attachment.

Sale Week

2009-11-29T23:41:00.001-05:00

There's a sale going on this week, until Friday.

Use 'specDisc' for 15% off everything that can be discounted. Yarn, Needles, Fiber, Dye, etc. (Strauch products not included.)

so much for posting more often...

2009-11-23T09:07:00.007-05:00

Lots of things have happened in the last few months.

Lets see....

my sister got married, we went to denver, we got back from denver and immediately prepped for the NJ woolfest (Garden State Sheep Breeders Fair) in which i came home with about 3 fleeces, finished with that and then the whole family either got the H1N1 or something remarkably like it, recovered, got the same thing again, and I have finally stopped the constant coughing. Now all of that in and of itself is exhausting, but add into the mix that I'm expecting in April (!) things are moving really slow. I seem to need a lot of sleep (evidenced by sleeping for almost 24 hours over the weekend) and it doesn't seem to make things any better.

SO. Some new fibery things. There is now a Rav group for fans of Twisted Fiber. There's also a knit-a-long happening, we'll be doing a norwegian style stranded hat, for which the Jaggerspun yarn is spot on for gauge. Not that you're needing to use that yarn, feel free to join with any yarn you like.

In which I try to post more often...

2009-09-09T21:14:00.004-05:00

I think one of my favorite shopping excursions is to thrift stores. You can find the best things. Most recently, I came across a vintage pattern book, entirely made up of men's sweaters. Cardigans, vests, pullovers... argyle, cabled, textured, slip stitch patterns.

Items such as these.

Now, how could I not snap these up???

2009-09-07T19:29:00.002-05:00

This Saturday and Sunday (the 12th and 13th) we'll be at the Garden State Sheep Breeders Fair at the Hunterdon County Fairgrounds.

2009-07-26T12:35:00.005-05:00

note: I started this post over a month ago - in july, took pictures, but things got insanely busy and the two never made it together.
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I haven't had a good post in a while. It's been pretty crazy here. On top of the things like having an exploding printer, an almost 5 year old, and a part time job... My sister is getting married next month (!) so we've had dress fittings, invitation production lines, favor shopping, showers, etc. Crazy doesn't describe it accurately enough! As we're done with the showers (thankfully) and there's no fiber fests that I can attend until September, I find myself with the briefest of breaks (at least until I have my next dress fitting...) so I can spend a few minutes here.

I signed up for the Tour de Fleece again this year. my goal, as it was last year was to work down the stash a bit. i have at least 10 fleeces that i need to process, and a large volume of top, roving and other fluff i've accumulated since i started spinning. I probably would be doing better with my goal, if people weren't trying to SABOTAGE me (and i mean that in the nicest way - how can i really be mad at people who give me fiber?) one friend was given 8 garbage bags full of alpaca instead of the 8 lbs she was expecting, and passed some on to me. another friend in her travels picked up some mill end top from a shop and gave me some.

Back to my tour goal. The first couple of days we were out of town, so I took my spindle and got some silk bells spun up. It's 120 yds of lace weight, and i have no idea what i'm going to do with it. i'm thinking that i will spin up some more at some point so i can do something more than a skinny scarf.

then i started in on processing some of the fleeces i have. (of which there are many.)

I'm trying out a new process i'd read about. You let the fleece sit in plain water until it ferments itself. the result is quite possibly one of the foulest smelling things i have ever encounterd, except for raw sewage. maybe. it's been a while since i've been around the leaky sewer in Georgetown so it's hard to compare. so, while that was fermenting, i spun up the mill end top from my friend. it's overall a dark charcoal, but on closer examination there's browns, blacks, and white (we suspect the white is mohair and the rest is wool) and that's spun up to a 2 ply worsted/heavy worsted. I think there's around 8 oz, but that's just because i filled up 2 bobbins. I haven't weighed or measured it at all. (it's spun, and that's what counts!)

next up, is plying the romney i started long ago. it is the first yarn i did mostly worsted as opposed to semi-woolen. it's a nice pale grey, a bit rough, but i'm hoping that some of that is remedied when it's re-washed. there was a lot of lanolin left in the wool, and after sitting.. it's a bit stiff. Laceweight. again, no stats yet. this may wind up as lace bookmarks or something of the decoration kind if the washing doesn't remedy the scratchyness.

on the bobbin now:
some alpaca silk in black. i've got a lb of black and 1/2 lb of brown. originally i had planned on blending this with some charcoal bamboo, but i was too impatient and started. it's a sport weight single, spun from the fold, and will be 2 plied.

the fermented wool has been drained, rinsed, rained on, and dried. it came out pretty good, no soap, no hot water... i'm pretty happy with the results, and plan on doing it again with some of the other fleeces i have.

2009-07-08T12:38:00.003-05:00

This coming Sunday the 12th, from Noon to 4 pm, I'll be doing a spinning demonstration and have a table of fibery goods over at Kirby's Mill in Medford NJ. Need directions? Googlemap.

9" Circs

2009-06-13T23:52:00.002-05:00

9" circs are back in stock! Now, up to size US 9.

9" Circs

2009-06-07T12:29:00.000-05:00

Due to the interest in the 9" circs, I'm almost out of them. I do have them on order from Hiya Hiya, so hopefully more will be in later this week.

New Fibers

2009-06-01T23:21:00.003-05:00

Some new fibers:

with more colors of each on their way.

Along with the new fibers is new fiber packaging.

Fiber is now available in 100g or 1 oz packages. (Those are all Superwash Merino Top.)

2009-05-23T21:46:00.001-05:00

Spent most of the day processing some superwash top. About 15 lbs I think.

enough squares for a tank cosy.

2009-05-17T22:11:00.003-05:00

I have a very good friend who does an AMAZING job getting afghans donated to a children's charity.
She collects squares (or occasionally a full afghan) gets them all seamed together, and then drives them down to donate to the Victory Junction Gang camp, where each kid that attends in the summer gets to take home an afghan. Last year, she managed to get an incredible 60 afghans together - contributions came from all over. (That was one heck of a pile of squares, let me tell you!)

Driving from Philadelphia to North Carolina is no small thing, so she's put together an Etsy shop that will help cover the costs of making the trip this fall. At the moment, all of the yarn up is from Twisted Fiber. All of the profit from the yarn goes to help fund the trip.

Interested in donating some squares? Find all the info in the VJAC/P Ravelry group.

2009-04-21T21:58:00.000-05:00

When 3 miles of yarn gets tangled, it is a nightmare.

New shop stuff!

2009-03-21T20:53:00.002-05:00

Hiya Hiya has gotten a bunch of new things!

Interchangeable sets! I've ordered some of their stainless steel interchangeables. I'll be getting them as soon as they're back in stock. I'll be ordering the bamboo sets as soon as they're available.
Crochet hooks! Multi colored aluminum, and the smaller steels.
11" circs! Stainless steel, the tips are bent.
12" circs! Also stainless, with bent tips.

We've now got in stock the some of the 6" stainless DPNs, and a wider range of the 9" and 60" steel circs.

2009-03-03T13:37:00.001-05:00

Several months ago, some wonderful person gave me a 4 harness floor loom. After lots of reading, I jumped in with both feet:

That warp is cotton, natural and hand dyed, in the process of being made into tea towels. Even the kid loves it:

I think he loves it a little *too* much. He's 4, and described to me in great detail the treadle pattern and color bobbins he was using. When I suggested that perhaps he could have my inkle loom all to himself for a project, he immediately asked me when he would be able to use "the big one" again.

The first towel off:

I put enough warp on the loom to do four towels. let me tell you, I was super tired of the pattern by the end of the fourth. I still have to finish the other three. Now to warp up some scarves.

Birthday Sale!

2009-02-07T00:44:00.004-05:00

Because it's my birthday, and I haven't had a chance to post at all recently (thanks to the freezing pipe, the exploding freezing pipe, and the collapsing furnace flue...)

25% off all Cherry Tree Hill yarns, and 10% off all needles today! (2/7)

Check back for more Feb sales daily!

2008-11-01T00:22:00.003-05:00

For ages, I swore up and down that I had no interest in weaving. Obviously, that's been totally blown out of the water, as I now have an adjustable rectangle loom (same concept as the tri-looms, only... rectangular.)

I now am in the process of making an oak inkle loom. It's nearly done, all that's left is to drill the holes for the dowels, but the 3/4" drill bit we have has decided to run off and hide somewhere. Oh, and to erase all of the marks for the hole placement. Not sure, but I don't think I'll use any finish on it, the oak is nice as it is. Maybe some linseed or tung oil.

2008-10-29T17:08:00.003-05:00

My needle supplier just sent out their newsletter, and they're adding both crochet hooks and interchangeables soon. (The interchangeables will be in both steel and bamboo!)

Sheepies.

2008-10-04T18:31:00.002-05:00

Am home after day one of the garden state sheep breeders festival. is much fun, but very tiring. hopefully tomorrow is slightly warmer.

2008-10-04T01:28:00.002-05:00

Things have been super crazy. Today and tomorrow (4th/5th) I'll be at the Garden State Sheep Breeders Festival.

First barn, by the back door. Hope to see you there!

Endless Mountain Festival

2008-09-04T15:05:00.003-05:00

I'll be at the Endless Mountain Fiber Festival this weekend. I decided that camping would be the way to go, as we all love it, it's cheap, and my son's favorite thing about it is marshmallows. (Can't go camping without smores.)
We've been checking the weather religiously, as this Saturday morning is also when Hurricane Hanna is supposed to make landfall in the Carolinas. Depending on which way it decides to go, we could wind up in the middle of a campground with some lovely rain and high winds. Exciting!

So, here's hoping that Hanna continues to keep going out towards the ocean, and does not pass directly over the Scranton area.

2008-09-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure why, but this:

still surprises my family.

2008-08-22T16:28:00.002-05:00

September 6-7, we'll be at the Endless Mountains Fiber Festival. Come by and check us out if you're going!

We'll be in spot #62!

2008-07-29T13:30:00.002-05:00

The Knitting Scout badges come for all sorts of things. This one happens to be for stabbing myself in the foot with an aluminum US3 DPN; had the resulting gash been much larger, I would have gotten the level II for having stitches.

I can't believe I forgot about the alpaca that I was spinning during the tour while my fleeces were being prepped! As soon as I process the 52 lbs of yarn that was delivered to me this morning, I'll be posting pictures of all my tour work.