The crocheted felting experiment

So I´ve tried a crocheted felting project. I never tried one before. I have been doing loads of wet and nuno felting, and many needle felting projects too. But crocheted felting? Okay, to keep this story short, I handspun a heavy worsted (aran) single yarn (2×3.5oz/110yds) from my 24 micron merino rovings, that can be found in my etsy store – I used several colours from my 9oz 20 colour mix, I picked the colours quite randomly really. I crocheted a pair of XXXL slippers, using an 8mm hook, and washed the slippers at 60 degrees Celsius for one cycle in my washing machine (the washing cycle took around 1 1/1 hours). And, ta taa……

I am wearing these lovely babies almost every day, they are wonderfully dense, strong and yet soft, I am quite surprised. I love them. :o)

I have increased my stock of handspun thick and thin merino yarns and added 3 new colours, vibrant orange, pansy purple, and opal blue, they can be found in my ebayUK store

And 2 new handspun yarns have made it into my etsy store, with great colour combinations, one perfect for knitted felting, and the second one an extra soft merino yarn, here they are:

 

Everyone, have a wonderful and creative summer season! Keep safe. :o)

Dear Spring, WELCOME!

Here comes my April/May update of fresh fibers and yarns that are listed in my etsy store and ebayUK store:
A handspun self striping merino yarn has come to life, with beautiful vibrant spring colours, and 2 skeins of handspun wensleydale yarn “Curly Tales” in natural white have made it off the bobbins.

 

A new batch of super soft hand painted merino rovings in rich and vibrant rainbow colours in single segments so the strands can be handspun into a self striping yarn very easily without having to sort the colours first. The rovings are also perfect for nuno, wet and needle felting projects.

All 25 shades of my super soft 20 micron merino wool rovings are restocked in 3.5oz (100g) braids, including leaf green, berry red, and pitch black.

 

I drum carded 1lb of super fine 18 micron merino batts in pitch black, blended with stunning bronze mulberry silk….gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

All standard colourways of my handspun and handpainted merino thick and thin yarns are also restocked, including “Element”, “Reds” and “Savannah”. I made tons of these babies this month…I think I will take a serious thick and thin break for a while. :o)

Fleece wise I sorted several 1oz bags of lovely clean natural white long wensleydale curls, and hand painted long wensleydale curls in rich auburn-mahogany. The curls will make beautiful long dolls hair. They can also be tailspun, or incorporated into any felting project for extra texture.

 

Last but not least, 2 new shades of pure mulberry silk roving are listed in my etsy store, a light pink and a golden brown, both shades are stunning! The average staple length of my silk fiber is 6 inches (15cm), which makes it most suitable not just for handspinning and adding to felting material, but also for ultra soft and fine straight dolls hair.

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

That´s all folks. Have a very good spring season and Happy Fiber Crafting!

Gradient colourway and spring greetings

Jean Aycock of FoxtrotFibers is a very lovely customer of mine. She purchased one of my handpainted merino rovings, handspun it into a plied yarn with a gradient colourway and used it for a weaving project. Have a look, the shifting colours are fantastic:

A space painted roving, like Jean´s lot, can be spun in many different ways, resulting in either a variegated, self striping or colour shifting (gradient) colourway, there really are no limits.
For example, the roving can be split lengthwise into as many thin and very long strands as necessary and then worsted spun that way, creating e.g. a single self striping yarn, or a variegated plied yarn (plied with 2 separate threads), or a self striping navajo plied yarn (3-plied) where the colours shift in short sequences.
For a controlled gradient colourway the roving can be pulled apart into short single colour chunks and then spun using the inch worm technique. This is a technique I personally prefer if I want certain colours to meet for a greater length within the yarn, once it has been plied. I usually place the colour chunks for two single threads in line next to each other and then wool spin them one by one, holding the short strand horizontally. Wool spinning makes the yarn fluffier and bouncier than worsted spinning. I like gradient yarns very much, though they require a bit more fiber preparation and a balanced spinning technique for a plied version. But they are so worth it and great fun indeed!!

Okay, since last month (sorry, no February blog due to a very bad cold…) I have been restocking my wool curls, thick and thin yarns and drum carded batts. There is also a new yarn and a new merino-silk batt available in my etsy store – I can´t resist the combination of purples and greens, they are perfect “fairy” colours. I just have to do them on a regular basis. ;o)

 

Speaking of fairies, Easter is drawing nearer, and there is no Easter without a spring fairy soap made of pure natural plant oils, cocoa butter, and a perfect scent of honey and spring blossoms:

These soap babies are currently curing but will be ready towards the end of the month.
Everybody have a wonderful and creative spring season!

Happy snow days and happy colours

The new year has started well with plenty of snow and very cold and crisp days, presenting a beautiful blue sky and lots of winter sunshine. On those days I even enjoy walking through the snowy winter forest up to the post office with my “Santa Bag” full of parcels and enveleopes that need to get on their way so people can start with their fiber projects. While Kitty loves accompanying me she enjoys the snow season only with her winter suit on – mind you, the little sweetheart comes from Spain and has next to zero undercoat.

 

Okay, let´s see what´s new in store, fiber and yarn wise: I have painted a new batch of extra soft british bluefaced leicester curly fleece (1st clip) including 3 lots of separated curls. My handspun merino thick and thin yarns “Hogmanay”, “Happy Hour”, “Fairyland” and “Jungle” have been restocked. Plus a new batch of hand painted merino rovings and a set of drum carded super fine 18 micron merino-silk batts are out and displayed, all available in my etsy store

 

 

 

 

The space dyed wool roving in fire red/yellow/brick is finally (!!) back in my ebayUK store, and so are the 24 micron merino wool rovings in deep raspberry pink, sky blue, deep red, bright yellow, and aubergine purple!

All 48 colours of the soft 24 micron mulesing free merino roving can be found in both my etsy store and my ebayUK store:

 

As to the current custom orders: All deadlines for January will be met guys! :o)
That´s all for now. Everyone enjoy the winter season and HAPPY FIBER CRAFTING.

Christmas season

The year is almost over…again….man, time flies, the older you get the faster things move. Or is it just me? I don´t like this fast pace one bit, it seems that my mind is so busy with all that sorting and planning through the days and months that, if I can get a moment of blissful nil in my head, I suddently find myself a good three seasons further on, and I wonder what I did in between!?
That is why I love the Christmas season so much. Many years ago my family decided that we would spend every Advent weekend together, enjoying lunch and teatime, strolling over the Christmas markets, walking through the fields and forests, having a lot of good laughs and just spending time together. And next thing you know time moves at a very different pace, allowing me to take things in and to clearly be aware of them. Yes, I can actually grab a thought and hold it! Yay!

So here comes my last blog for 2016, just a few updates, aaaaand a new handspun crochet slouchy beanie….ooh I just had to! I made it with 190yds of my handspun single merino yarn “Fairyland”. Have a look, the colourway is beautiful!

Plus all 48 colours of my 24 micron mulesing free merino roving are fully in stock, and can also be found in my etsy store, I sell them in 1oz lots, so you can choose your own mix of colours in one bag:

The undyed natural black and grey wensleydale curls are also sorted and stocked up:

 

Wanna see what I felted with my handspun thick and thin yarn “Hogmanay” and the rainbow merino roving in magenta and purple shades?

This felt scarf came out so beautifully, it is gorgeously soft, and the colours are very rich and vibrant indeed. I used 3.5oz of the rainbow roving and 5 yds of “Hogmanay”.

I also handspun a slightly thick and thin single merino yarn and knitted a pair of fingerless gloves for my little nephew in his favourite colours, yellow, red and blue, he asked for the gloves as a Christmas gift. I hope he will like the way I have placed the colours within the gloves. Aunty Heike thinks they look pretty funky. :o)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Okay, time for the Christmas market! Everyone, have a very happy and peaceful third Advent weekend, and Happy Holidays!

July fibers, dolls hair and more

My goodness, time flies, I know I keep saying that but it´s so true. The month is almost over, and new fibers and yarns have made it out of the dyepot and off the bobbins, here are some of them:

These pretty babies have been distributed in my etsy store, ebayUK store and DaWanda store. There will be more undyed wensleydale curly fleece in natural black and single curls for dolls hair, felting and handspinning in various colours very soon.

I painted, carded and spun a very soft and lovely bluefaced leicester/merino yarn which will be part of a new crocheting project – no, not another beanie hat :o)

 

But, one new slouchy beanie is ready for display though, yay! :o)  I handspun a pure merino single yarn for it:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

That´s all for now. Everyone have a beautiful, creative and safe summer! Take care.

Summer goodies

New yarns, rovings and fleeces have made it out of the dyepot and off the bobbin: my super fine merino/silk yarn, super soft baby alpaca yarn, very soft single and plied merino yarn and art yarn, wensleydale premium locks, bluefaced leicester and english leicester curly fleece. The new batches are distributed in my etsy store and ebayUK store (ebay prices are shown in US$ an GBP sterling).

 

 

  

  

  

  

  

 

Everyone have a great summer, and Happy Fiber Crafting!

 

49 colours to choose from

All 49 colours of my 24/6 micron soft merino wool rovings (combed tops) are back in stock. I have created a new listing of 20g balls (0.7oz) for my felters, handspinners, dreadmakers and dollmakers, with just one basic shipping charge and no additional shipping fees, no matter how much wool of that listing is ordered. Feel free to have a look in my ebayUK store – the link will allow you to view all prices in both currencies, US $ and GBP £.

 

Everyone, HAPPY FIBER CRAFTING! :o)

Fleece, yarn and a grand sunset

We have had the worst storm for the past 3 days, I thought I would loose my mind with all the rattling noise and howling wind around the house, day and night with no break. When the weather finally settled yesterday evening we were granted one of the most beautiful post storm sunsets I have ever seen up here in the mountains, it was breathtaking, I hope it comes across a little in the photo:

 

 

Now that the storm is over,  just for a change we are now getting tons of snow, it´s snowing, and snowing….and snowing. The snow is actually quite lovely when you don´t need to get in the car and plough your way through it. Kitty is having a ball, digging for poor little mice (she ain´t getting them anyway, they are too clever).

Today I am staying indoors, I am working on 2 custom orders of handpainted BFL fleece and handspun thick and thin yarns. I have been restocking my extra soft handspun thick and thin merino yarns in my ebayUK store (prices are viewable in US $ and British £ through this link) and the super soft 20 micron single colour and rainbow merino wool rovings in my etsy store:

 

 

and my pitch black is also in stock :o)

 

 

Fleece wise there is more of the extra long wensleydale white curls available on etsy, and a new hand painted batch of english leicester curly fleece in rusty brown-cinnamon-apricot is now displayed in my ebay store.

That´s all for now.

Everyone, have a lovely and creative winter season. Keep warm and healthy, and take regular breaks from the fast pace of life.

 

 

Giant crocheting….on a smaller scale

I have created a good luck yarn for 2016, something lovely to start the new year with, something with very happy and rich colours – here it is, my new handspun merino thick and thin yarn “Hogmanay”, a very soft and yummy yarn, perfect for quick knit projects including giant knitting or crocheting, felting projects, embellishing, dolls hair and beautiful ready made dreads. It is displayed in my ebayUK store:

 

 

 

For a dense knit (e.g. for baby hats) you can start with needle size 10mm (US15), and for a giant knit or crochet project I personally use needle size 20mm (US 40) and crochet hook size T or U (22+25mm/US44+50).

I just recently finished a wonderful boho crochet scarf, very lush and very soft indeed. I used my handspun merino (20 micron) thick and thin yarn (I also call it slub yarn) and a crochet hook size U. It contains several colours from my 24 colour range, 160yds (145m) of yarn, that´s about 280g (9.9oz), including the fringes:

 

 

The yarn size is the same as for all my slub yarns in my ebayUK store.

My handspun  Jumbo thick and thin yarns in my etsy store are a good third thicker and double super bulky. They should be knitted/crocheted with needle size 20-25mm (US40-50) and crochet hook size U-X (25-30mm).

Giant knitting and giant crocheting is great fun, whether you use very large yarn or thick unspun wool roving. It creates the warmest garments and a project can be finished in no time. However, some people may find using unspun thick roving too hard on their hands and joints, as I too had to experience when I started a giant knit project with wool roving. My wrists began to ache after only a few rows (yep, I am not getting any younger…) of using broomstick size needles and moving and shifting the heavy rows along, even though I had rested my hands and most of the roving yarn in my lap while knitting – I switched to a 40mm crochet hook so I would just have to move one stitch at a time but that did not keep my wrists from aching, the whole lot was getting too heavy. I was very frustrated and had to give up on the thick roving strand project. However, I was determined to create something lovely and snug with my roving, quick knit…well, in this case quick crochet style, so I went and divided the unspun wool into 4 strands to get them to a more comfortable yarn size, yet still thick enough for my large needles and hook. And it worked for me so much better! So here it is, my small scale giant crochet scarf, crocheted with a crochet hook size 25mm (US U), using 250g (8.9oz) of 20 micron super soft merino wool roving in orange, baby pink and raspberry pink:

 

Splitting the roving twice lengthwise into 4 thinner strands is very easy. As the roving is an unspun thick strand of fibre it has natural slight splits through the commercial carding and combing process. Just follow these splits, and the wool separates into smaller strands almost on its own. When the split comes nearer the roving end I don´t separate the wool all the way through but leave about 10cm (4 inches) unsplitted so I can crochet the roving in a continuous strand without any knots . The giant crochet scarf is also displayed in my online exhibition, where I have added more details. Feel free to have a look. :o)

Everyone have a very happy, healthy and creative year 2016!!