Hot off the Drum Carder - New Custom Fiber Blend Batts!

I've been busy today! I have had all of these fiber blends in mind for weeks but haven't been able to get them carded up. Today was finally the day. First is my Bountiful Harvest (above) made from wool, tussah silk, mohair top and alpaca - the wool, silk and mohair I dyed in different colors and the alpaca is a natural red/brown. I like how it turned out - it reminds me of harvest time, for sure!


Next is a blend from Superwash Wool top and Cultivated Mulberry Silk - in a base of jet black with blue, teal, burgundy, purple and copper as accents. I named this one Galaxy (above) because it reminds me of pictures I've seen of space and galaxies, stars, planets, etc..

And, last but not least, comes Cotton Candy in blues, pinks and white - just like cotton candy at the County Fair!! This one is also Superwash Wool but also has some coral bamboo carded in.

Because the last two blends are superwash wools, they would be perfect for spinning into sock yarns - you can then machine wash them!

If you like any of these but don't spin, I also offer spinning services. Just leave me a note in the comments section and I'll get back to you.

Today I also sat and watched a movie and spun up the second half of my BFL superwash roving and plyed it. Tomorrow I will get it off the wheel, steamed to set the twist and hopefully get photos taken (unless it is rainy like the forecast says it is going to be, in which case I'll probably wait to take photos.) My indoor photos leave a lot to be desired - all the photos in this post were taken indoors today with natural light from the skylight and some incandescent lighting. I don't like how they turned out but the wind was howling today so if I would have put these on the deck, they'd be in Kansas by now!

Thank you for stopping by!

Handspun Yarn - Mischief Merino

This is a handspun yarn from a Merino roving handdyed by Ginny at Fat Cat Knits in her Mischief colorway. I purchased the roving from her etsy store.

Two ply - 3.7 oz and 220 yards. Next to the skin soft.

I do not have this yarn listed in my etsy store. If you are interested in purchasing this yarn, please contact me and I can list it for you.

Handspun Yarn - Sunrise Merino

This is handspun yarn from a Merino roving handdyed by Ginny at Fat Cat Knits in her Sunrise colorway. I purchased the roving from her etsy store.

Two-ply - 2.5 oz and 200 yards

Next to the skin soft.

I do not have this yarn listed in my etsy store. If you are interested in purchasing this yarn, please contact me and I can list it for you.

Handspun Yarn - Hot Tamale Merino/Bamboo

This is Merino/Bamboo (80/20) roving handdyed by Ginny of Fat Cat Knits in her Hot Tamale colorway. I purchased the roving from her etsy store.

4.2 oz and 220 yards.

Fabulous color, luster and drape to this yarn! Next to the skin soft.

I do not have this yarn listed in my etsy store. If you are interested in purchasing this yarn, please let me know and I can list it for you.

Gorgeous Eyelash Novelty Yarn - Stunning!

Fruit Salad Eyelash Novelty Yarn - HandDyed and HandSpun!

Today I finally put the Jumbo Flyer on my Ashford Traveller spinning wheel and handspun some absolutely stunning eyelash novelty yarn. First I handdyed 100% domestic 56s wool roving in golds, burgundy and oranges. Then I kettle dyed some beautiful Border Leicester locks in the same colors. I listed these items in both my eBay and my etsy stores. When everything didn't sell, I pulled one roving and the remainder of the BL locks from inventory and decided to try my hand at spinning up an eyelash novelty yarn. First, I pulled the roving into long strips ready for spinning. Then, I hand picked the border leicester locks - some of them I hand picked completely open, some of them I hand picked into intact locks. I separated each of these types of locks into a different stack. Then I spun the roving into a singles and left it on the bobbin. Next, I spun the opened BL locks into a thick and thin, lumpy, bumpy singles and left it on the bobbin. Then I put the Jumbo Flyer onto the spinning wheel and started to ply the two singles. While plying them, I added the intact BL locks at an angle and let the ends flip and curl as they were encased into the plyed yarn. Then I wound off a 10 yard skein of this yarn and had an 11 yard skein remaining, which I skeined off, too. I'm posting photos of the resulting eyelash novelty yarn, along with photos of the roving and border leicesters locks in my Fruit Salad colorway. These two skeins of yarn are listed in my etsy store. I have plenty more fibers that I will ply and encase more locks to make additional 10 yard skeins of this gorgeous eyelash novelty yarn.

Making this yarn was an absolute blast!!! I am going to do more eyelash novelty yarns in the future. These yarns would be perfect for that special touch on a hand knitted or crocheted garment - Trim on a pair of gloves, a hat band for a felted wool hat (add buttons, shells, leather, beads, etc. for additional texture and interest), a neck band on a sweater, etc.

Let me know what you think of it!