Thick and thin yarns, and new silk

A new shade of very high quality pure mulberry silk roving (combed top) is now available in my etsy store. It´s a rich and beautiful dark chocolate brown and gorgeously soft with great sheen. Perfect for silky doll hair, handspinning and adding to felting projects.

and the light powder pink shade is back in stock! Yippieh!

 

I finished a new batch of my handspun merino thick and thin yarn “Jungle”

The thick and thin yarns are available in 60yd skeins but also in mini skeins of 4.5yds (4m) per colourway. These small quantities are very suitable for embellishing and felting projects or for dreads/hairfalls and doll hair, where less yardage is required. Here´s a crochet slouchy hat that I finished last week. It includes 3yds of the thick and thin yarn “Savannah”:

 

For this wet felted scarf 2.5yds of  “Hogmanay” were incorporated

 

 

and 2x12yds of “Element” and “Hogmanay” were used for this lovely little doll:

 

 

The full range of 18 different colourways can be found in my etsy store:

 

 

Everyone, have a very lovely spring season! :o)

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Get a discount :o)

Here comes a little treat for my blog readers. Buy 2 items from my etsy store and get a 10% discount. Please enter coupon code TENOFF42 at the etsy checkout. This offer will run all spring 2018.  :o)

December treats

Towards the end of the year I have painted a last December batch of 50/50 merino/silk rovings that are now displayed in my etsy store and a new crochet slouchy hat has come to life from my handpainted extra soft merino yarn “Amber Forest”. I have also sorted several bags of natural grey and handpainted wensleydale curls, 4 lots of drum carded merino/silk batts, also available on etsy  ,

 

 

Okay, that´s all for the rest of the year :o) Let me get back into my kitchen and try a new round of handmade Christmas cake….the first one exploded in the oven….nice….the second lot never rose….and the third one better be a well behaved and well baked cake, or else! I will also prepare a chestnut-chocolate mousse for 3.Advent Sunday, that should be an easy task…I think. Though I can´t promise that it will indeed make it to the family table, it is ever so delicious!! :o)

Everyone have a peaceful Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year!

 

September colours

Here are my first batches of handpainted bluefaced leicester and shetland wool rovings in wonderful heathered autumn colours, a total of 3 lbs. They are displayed in my etsy store :

 

 

There will be more batches of heathered colourways, and handpainted super soft merino roving will be coming up soon.

Everyone have a colourful autumn season!

 

 

wool rovings delight

Here comes my roving update before the end of the month, 2.2lbs of hand painted eco friendly wool beauties, mulesing free merino wool (21 micron) and 50/50 merino/silk rovings, now available in my etsy store and my Dawanda store:

 

Plus, all 49 colours of my 24 micron merino roving fiber are now back in stock and available through etsy :

 

Everyone, have a very good Summer season! :o)

Handspun merino and felt beauties

It´s been a pretty hot summer so far, not my favourite season really. I prefer to keep the doors and windows open all day, but when the air is simmering and you are having trouble breathing O2 off that “hairdryer” atmosphere, you best close the shutters….and think of something cool. I then like sitting behind my spinning wheel creating a beautiful yarn, or two, or three…well, until it´s turning cooler again. These are my latest super soft 18 micron handspun merino yarns, mulesing free of course, and available through my etsy store:

Last Saturday I didn´t feel like pedalling, it was so hot outside…again….but I didn´t want to put up my feet and do absolutely nothing either, that´s just not me. So what type of project could I do when I really didn´t want to leave the house and get roasted out there? Try a wet felting project, YES! Continuously sprinkling water over the fibers and working the wet wool is such a delight, trust me, it is awesome! I used my 20 micron merino rovings, handpainted bluefaced leicester curly fleece, and a touch of silk fiber, and voila:

All the fibers I used for my wet felting project are available in my etsy store.
The weather finally turned in the evening, the most promising thunderstorm ever rumbled towards us, bringing enormous dark clouds, heavy rain and a healthy fresh breeze. That´s when I put up my feet and enjoyed watching the cloud drama:

 

Everyone, have a beautiful summer season, and keep cool! :o)

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 ebay listing on ebayUK:

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 handspun merino and wensleydale yarns that are listed in my etsy store ,and handspun thick and thin merino yarn which can be found on ebayUK.

 

 

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.

 

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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 and available on ebayUK, 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 on ebayUK:

 

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.