Fiber Dyeing: The Process

Here's the promised fiber dyeing process photos! :)

Celeste removing excess vinegar from fiber braids (the vinegar allows the dye to absorb into the fiber)

Mixing up new colors: The most popular color of the day was light blue. I think we each used about two to three bottles over the day. What can I say, it was a great base!

Working on my samples:

Celeste working a few of her braids:

As I worked on my two braids, I realized I used much of the same color combination. The main thing I changed was the amount of each color used/blended. My first braid was predominately pink, with minimal blending and fairly saturated (though still pastel-like) colors.

I also added brown to my first braid:

Finished product:

With my next braid I chose to color nearly all the fiber with the light blue dye and then add in medium blue, light green, and light pink, being careful to really blend them into the blue. Not all of the colors got wholly mixed, but I love the way it looks now.

After I braided my fiber up I was even happier with the way the colors looked. There's just something about braiding that makes the colors so pretty.

This was such a fun experiment. There's one thing I definitely learned, I LOVE colorful fiber. I came home very excited to spin, when previously I'd been a little "meh" about it, even though I have many beautiful (but neutral colored) fibers in my stash. I think in the end I'd probably prefer the neutral yarns for knitting, but during the spinning process I much prefer the colors! Conundrum? Probably :)

Make sure to check out Celeste's finished braids too, so so gorgeous!

Fiber Dyeing

Celeste was dyeing more fiber this past Saturday and invited me to have a try as well. We had quite a bit of fun playing around with the dyes.

Celeste started me off with a a few ounces of fiber separated into four chunks to give me a chance to experiment. I quickly learned several things I didn't like in the finished product, so I'm really glad I started off with samples!

(four samples from far left: 1. pink, brown, white; 2. green, blue, yellow, white; 3. yellow, pink; 4. brown, blue, white)

I learned that white areas, while cool, don't necessarily look great with most color combinations.

My pink and brown sample (far left) actually has a white tip and I like that one, but the white with darker colors didn't look as nice. Actually, most of the white spots are hidden in this photo!

I also learned the yellow dye was quite bright! We dubbed it "highlighter yellow". However, after Celeste played around with a bit, we ended up with a nice banana tone. Much better.

Oh, and blue and brown? It could work in the right context, but somehow as I look at this fiber now, all I can see is a bruise colorway. ;P

After the samples, it was time for a larger braid. I was a little nervous, but took my time deciding how I wanted to dye the skein and I'm really happy with the way it came out.

I started with pink, then added a bit of brown and green and finished up with blue. I love how the blue blended with the pink looks (the purple areas in the above photo).

Next up, I dyed this braid.

By this time, I was ready to hit my home base, so this fiber predominately my favorite color, blue. :)

I decided to start with a light blue base and blend pink, light green, and dark blue into it. I love this one. I wish the photos were more accurate, but my camera isn't photographing blue and green very well lately so this is the best I could do!

It's a bit lighter than this photo, but here you can see the color variations better than in the top photo:

While we were dyeing, I took quite a few process photos, so those will probably be making an appearance on one of our blogs soon! :)

Shepherd's Harvest-Fiber!

1. Morning Sun-Merino, Alpaca, and Silk, 2. Morning Sun-Rom&BL, 3. Winterwind-Gray CVM, 4. Morning Sun-Wool, Pygora, Mohair, and Silk, 5. Spinning, 6. Winterwind-Romeledale, 7. Three Rivers-Wool Roving, 8. Briar Rose Fibers-Wool, 9. Riverwinds-Cormo&Alpaca

I love each of these purchases. As you can see, I began spinning the blend of wool, pygora, mohair, silk. It's a roving and pretty easy to spin. A bonus was that it was only $2 an ounce. It's spinning up as maybe a worsted or DK weight and I'm not quite sure what I'll knit with it when I finish.

I purchased about 11oz of some wool fiber Celeste and I ran across after buying from the Winterwind Farms booth. The fiber was only $1.13 per ounce and super soft. It has a lot of vegetable matter in it and the sheep breed was unnamed, but I decided to go for it anyway. I'm planning on spinning it up fairly fine (fingering weight or sport) for a sweater project.

I think my favorite purchase is the BFL top from Briar Rose Fibers. Their booth was one of the first we looked at and I knew I really wanted to purchase something from them. Their prices are fairly high so I ended up deciding to wait until I'd made some other purchases, but at the end I came back and got this roving. I'm very excited to spin this one!

Shepherd's Harvest 2010

This is the 2nd year I've gone to the Shepherd's Harvest Fiber Festival and it certainly won't be the last!

I got to go up with Celeste and we had so much fun fiber shopping and exploring the rest of the festival. Her post is here. :)

I still have yet to photograph my newly acquired stash...but let me assure you, it is quite extensive.

After we'd worked on exhausting our fiber budgets we headed over to watch some sheep herding.

This is an Old English Sheepdog:

Can't really see the dog in this shot, but I just find it funny to watch the sheep running right past the pen...oops:


Stampede! Er, sortof ;)


Celeste:

We also checked out the animal barns.

This little guy was so cute!

"Cute" doesn't really describe this guy, but still, look at that fiber!

Of course, I still have yet to share the fiber purchases, but if I can get my camera to cooperate I should have some details (as well as a new spinning WIP I may have started the evening after the festival) later this weekend. :)

Treasures from the Fiber Festival

Over the weekend I went to my first fiber festival.

I loved everything about this experience (Except freezing to the bone. At a fiber festival. Oh the irony.)

There were three buildings of vendors, so I started at the one closest to me and took it slowly. I saw some things I thought I might come back for and made a few mental notes. There was so much beautiful fiber, and some gorgeous skeins of yarn. At first I was a little overwhelmed and didn't know how I'd manage to choose anything. I took a deep breath and then decided to focus in on the fiber.

My first real stop was at the Little Gidding Farm Suri Alpacas booth, where I saw some beautiful alpaca yarn. Very, very soft. At the booth, I talked with one of the ladies for a few minutes (forgot which one, but the names are on the website) and as I was leaving she pulled out a small sample for me to take home. Then, upon learning that I was a spinner she also brought out some of the "really nice stuff" and added it to my bag. So nice!

Coming out of the first barn, I saw a lady spinning with an antique (she said around 18th century) spinning wheel and talked with her a little. She was selling some beautiful bamboo fiber, one of the things I wish I would have come back for. It was soft and silky and I had a really hard time believing that 100% bamboo felt like that!

I think one of my favourite parts of the festival was watching everyone spinning. I really enjoy using the drop spindle, but since I know I eventually want a wheel I'm beginning the long process of saving up for one.

Next barn, I let myself go a little and purchased these two little beauties from the Morning Sun Fiber Barn. Soft and yummy. Good prices too. They are both merino and the blue/green was $3.75 for 1.5oz and the purple (it is purple by the way, more of a light grape, than the pink it looks like here) was $5 for 2oz.

Plans for these? Not quite sure yet, I know I want to experiment with thick singles (think Malabrigo), so maybe I could do singles with the blue/green and a light 2 ply with the purple?

From the same booth I also found this Alpaca/Silk blend (90/10). There were several baskets of lovely fiber, but once I felt this blend I was sold. Amazing stuff, so silky smooth. I came away with 2 oz and am wishing I would have bought more.

I couldn't resist spinning a little yesterday to see how it would spin up, and I found that it spins like a dream! This is destined to be a 2ply laceweight (or light fingering) and depending on the final yield, a knitted cowl or scarf.

Last barn, I saw the Pack River Yaks booth, and knew I was buying something there. I saw more bamboo, some soysilk, and a few other interesting fibers. But what really caught my eye was this beautiful Camel/Merino blend. I don't know what I thought I'd do with it, but I knew I had to have it. It was $5 an oz, so I just bought 1 oz to sample it. It's very soft and I'm excited to spin it up!

Next up after the vendors was observing the sheep shearing. It was interesting to see how it's done. Over here Celeste and I met up briefly and showed each other our purchases, then it was on to the animal barns.

The sheep were super adorable. I recall in one of Stephanie Pearl Mcphee's books, she voiced a plea for "patio sheep", sheep bred to be the size of a small dog. I officially sympathize with that request and join the plea for "patio sheep", because I could hardly walk away from these little cuties! ;)

After briefly walking through the goat barn, it was off to the Llama Magic barn. It was filled with llamas (several for sale), alpacas, and some angora rabbits.

When I saw the rabbits for sale, I melted. I pictured myself, rabbit in hand, gently harvesting the glorious fiber, blending it with a soft wool, and then spinning it into a yarn to be proud of. But sadly, my life does not have room for a rabbit. Even if said rabbit would produce fiber. :(

After evaluting my purchases, I feel like I really could have bought a little more, but since I'm saving up for the wheel and I have some sweater yarn in mind I'm pretty happy with how I did.

And so, that is my fiber festival experience. I eagerly await next year!