Yarn Bits

New Colour Combo

Don and I are getting very close to having our new, revamped website ready for public viewing.  All the new photos are organized, along with the explanatory text, and have been delivered to our web mistress.  At the same time I have been trying to design a new colour combination for all our yarns for the Fall season.  I will also dye some Tencel warps in the new mix.  I'm on my second try and Linda will be here tomorrow to try this colour selection on some 3/5 Tencel skeins and I will dye some of our "silk 'n wool" in the same combo on Wednesday.  Hopefully this will be a successful mix.  We would like to present our new yarn and the new colour mix together with the updated site appearance at the end of this month. 

I have found an extensive site to visit  www.fibreandclay.co.uk   It is a fine craft gallery in Britain with a knitting  shop above it.  The artists represented at the gallery all have links to their websites.  I haven't explored all the sites yet, but those I have taken the time to look at are pretty amazing.  Have fun!!

Procion MX Dyes on Wool

I've been busy experimenting with my good old trusty MX Procion dyes on our new wool/silk/nylon yarn.  I've tried both handpainting skeins and immersion dyeing.  Interesting!!  These dyes work well as long as you use an acidic bath.  I procured some citric acid crystals from a chemical place in Toronto, "Nymoc Ltd.".  They are at 24 McGee Street,  416-465-1929.  Murray was quite helpful and willing to answer any questions I had.  I have dealt with them before.  They seem to have any chemical you might need for the dye process and more.  I tried immersion dyeing this afternoon as I want to try to use this yarn with a tencel warp.  I found that you need to gently stir the yarn while in the pot on the stove which I should have known but didn't do, so the yarn is not evenly dyed.  Since it is an experiment all the way around it won't matter in this case, but lesson learned.  The immersion method with the citric acid crystals in the dye bath worked beautifully.  The water was clear in a very few minutes with absolutely no wash out, so unlike MX usually.  Further experimenting with the handpainting is ahead.  Check in later.

On a completely different note, Don and I have been busy planning a complete overhaul and new look for our Yarns Plus website  www.yarnsplus.com   I always forget all the work involved in getting new photos and then making the appropriate copy for the pictures.  We hope that we can introduce it very soon.  I'll be sure to let you know when the big day arrives.

New Process

As mentioned in earlier posts, Don and I had a chance to purchase some absolutely gorgeous yarn.  It is 50% wool, 30% silk and 20% nylon.  It is twisted for knitting and does knit up beautifully, and I also intend to sample weave it as well.  It definitely would work as weft in a handwoven project, but I'm unsure about whether or not it would take the stress of the warp.  Of course, dyeing wool and still using the MX Procion dyes which I have plenty of, means somewhat of a different dye process.  This yarn demands a little extra care.  I first presoak the skeins in Synthrapol and warm water for 30 minutes.  The wool component demands an acid soak also, so that follows and then I can handpaint with reasonable success using the same dyes I have in stock.  Hurrah!!  I have tried handpainting with the colours for our "Seascape" and with those for our "Wine Country" and I'm happy with the results of both.  Next week I'll try a couple more colour mixes.  We hope to be able to lau nch this new product with our next newsletter at the end of the month.

New Sample and Some Great Websites

Just finished knitting up a scarf as a sample using some new to us yarn imported from Italy.  It is 50% wool, 30% silk and 20% nylon.  It came to us undyed so I have been experimenting dyeing this new combination, new for me.  I have been using MX Procion dyes for years on cellulose yarns such as cotton, rayon, silk,  tencel and rayon chenille.  I would like to continue to use these dyes as they are cold/warm water dyes not requiring any heat.  So I don't need to enter the kitchen and use the stove.  I have tried using ProChem directions for dyeing wool and it seems to be working great.  I need to get more citric acid crystals as they give me an acid soak for the yarn before I try to dye it and then the colours are richer, still with a little heathery appearance, but that is because of the mixture of fibres and it really is quite appealing.  More info as I experiment further.

On a completely different note, here are a few gorgeous sites for wearable art--knit.  They are international. It's always interesting to see what is happening in other countries.    Enjoy!!

http://artknitsbyamal.com    Spain,  English

http://pays-de-jocerane.blogspot.com  France, beautiful images with some English translation

http://napmatka.hu/nyuzugen.html   Hungary, English translation

Web Visits

I received the latest issue of "selvedge" magazine last week and have just begun to go through it.  It is always an inspiring read.  I usually find many intriquing websites to visit through the magazine's ads.  This issue did not disappoint. I will report more sites later as soon as I get a chance to explore further, but here is one that leads to an endless list of textile artists and their websites.

www.hiddenartlondon.co.uk   When you check out this site go to the 'designer/makers' tab near the top of the homepage and then to 'textiles' and also try 'fashion and accessories'.  So far I followed these paths to Allison Mitchell Metals, akerkhoff, sharon walsh, chloe scrivener (hats) and gina foster (hats) and lizzie houghton (feltwork).  All of these women have amazing work.  Enjoy!!

Another Anniversary

Don and I attended the second in the speaker series that the Burlington Handweavers and Spinners Guild are presenting this year to celebrate their 50th anniversary.  The speaker today was William Hodge who was as entertaining as usual, but also quite thought provoking as he discussed the future path of textiles in general and weaving in particular.  He had several thoughts of how guilds could develop programs to encompass these trends. Other guilds might want to invite William to present this particular talk to their members. It has definitely made me think about experimenting with new and different yarns and to try more exciting surfacing techniques on my handwovens. The Burlington Guild also opened their 2008 juried exhibition this afternoon.  The theme was "In the Garden" which leant itself to glorious colour interpretations. There were various textile media represented; knitting, felting, beading, dyeing, printing, basketry, and weaving.  Don was  thrilled to present the Yarns Plus Award, an Honourable Mention, to Jennifer Earle for her "In an Octopus's Garden in the Shade" (with thanks to Ringo Starr). This is a truly beautiful exhibit and I would encourage you all to try and visit and enjoy "In the    Garden". I'm adding just a few photos from the exhibit to entice you to make a trip to Burlington. Remember you can enlarge these photos by simply clicking on them.

Freda Veitch         Lucy Slykerman      Laura Marotta

Happy Anniversary

Last night the Mississauga Handweavers and Spinners Guild celebrated their 30th anniversary.  Unfortunately I haven't been a regular member now for quite a few years, but I keep in touch with a lot of the weavers from the guild.  I did belong for about 20+ years and served two terms as president. There were some photos from the past and boy! were we all young and thin once! There were 3 of us there last night that had attended the first organizational meeting of the guild, Sue Smart, Margaret Pointing and myself. It was great fun to reminisce about past shows and exhibitions and experiences and to remember other original members who have moved away, several out of province. We all enjoyed a fabulous strawberry shortcake to top off the evening.

Happy Anniversary to the Mississauga Handweavers and Spinners!!

New Yarn

Don and I have been able to purchase a limited amount of some lovely yarn, undyed.  It is a blend of wool, silk and nylon, 50/30/20, which is a new adventure for us.  We just picked it up last week. It has an exceptionally soft hand. I have dyed one 125 gram skein in my usual manner using MX Procion fiber reactive dyes which resulted in rather muted, heathery colours, which are quite pleasant.  I plan to experiment more with dyeing this yarn following directions specifically for wool and see what happens. I am knitting up a scarf to find out just how far one skein will go. 

The knit pattern is quite simple; K2, yo, *K4, K2tog, K2 tog, K4, yo, K1, yo* repeat 'til 2 sts left, yo, K2; every other row is Purl.

I also knit up a swatch using 3.25 needles and the gauge was 24 sts. in 4" after washing and a light pressing.  I also plan to weave a sample or two using this yarn as weft.  It would not be suitable for warp because it has a soft twist like most knitting yarns, but should be very nice in a warp of tencel or cotton. Stay tuned. 

Inspiration

                                                   

Yesterday, Tuesday, was a glorious day and I visited the Royal Botanical Gardens with a few friends.  www.rbg.ca  If you ever want some colour inspiration this is the ideal spot to find it.  At the moment the tulips are showing their colours, but iris and lilac are soon coming into their own. There are always fabulous blooms somewhere in the gardens. The restaurant in the main building  has great offerings for a quiet lunch and there also is the tea house for lighter fare.                                        

                         

I have finished the woven table runners for Fawn Ceramics at the distillery.   www.fawnceramics.com  As soon as I have them pressed I'll get a picture and post it.  Meanwhile this is the profile draft I used for this set of runners.

Ongoing Projects

                                                    It seems I have several projects going on at the moment.  Some have been around for quite a while as various life interruptions seem to impede a lot of progress. I've returned to the lace knit sleeve which I am knitting on to a woven piece of fabric.  This is a test piece to see if the sleeve will actually hang well and to find the correct length of knit lace section and the correct length of the cuff. The current plan is that the cuff will be quite long and the lace section wide  and 'puffy', having an Elizabethan type of style.  The final decision is still up in the air, but I am getting closer to finishing this trial piece and making decisions.  At the same time I have begun to knit swatches from all our Tencel yarns to determine some approximate gauges with suggestions also for needle sizes. I have also knit a swatch using some silk noil yarn along with Tencel and love the result.  The Tencel added some weight and lustre to the knit fabric.  I went ahead and immersion dyed some of the silk noil and am planning a top for myself. Don't ask when it might happen, but at least all the materials are ready and waiting.  I'm also weaving some table runners for a shop at the Distillery District.  Weaving happens during the day and knitting happens in front of the television at the end of the day or at other times  when I can't get to the loom.

This Saturday Don and I will be at our last knitting show for the season.  This show is a local one which focuses on machine knitting, so that should acquaint us with another audience for Tencel.  Apparently the knitting community is just beginning to become curious about this great yarn. We have applied to the Knitters' Fair in the Fall in Kitchener, Ontario and have been put on a waiting list for now.  Stay tuned and we'll let you know if we are able to participate in that show.  It's a good one.