The Yarn Side

Jester's are drying (video)

I love my iPhone and all of the creativity it allows. I love it even more since I realized the iPhone 3G has an iVideo app that lets me do things like this, where I get to share something in progress (tip: follow me on Twitter so  you can get updates like these as they happen; I'm "TheYarnSide"!).

And if that link doesn't work for you, try the following...

Tips to Fluff Up that Fiber!

I originally mistyped the title as "Tips to flubb up that fiber!" You have no idea how fitting that original title really was, as 3-4 hours ago I was braiding some roving and nearly pre-drafted a section into two pieces. Oh, the horror! This had me thinking, however, of other horror stories that some people have mentioned to me, either on Ravelry, during a chat, or at the yarn shop. This brings me to...

Tips to Fluff Up that Fiber!

Problem #1
Compressed Roving

So, you've accumulated a healthy amount of roving, more than you can spin if you're honest with yourself, so a lot of it has been stowed away. You likely have it in buckets, drawers, closets, space bags, grocery bags, anywhere that seems fitting. One day you happen to be browsing Etsy for some roving, when you get the hair-brained idea to spin from your stash. Okay, hair-brained is harsh, so you take it back and tell yourself how awesome it'll be to rediscover amazing fiber in your own...[insert "home", "garage", "warehouse space" here]. And you find it! The colors are calling to you, the fiber blend is exactly what you were looking for, and you can't believe you forgot about it! Except, uh oh, what's happened? It's compressed, stiff and lifeless! Where's its bounce? Where's its luster?

Solutions

1. Unravel the braid, and hang it up so that it can breathe and decompress
2. Unravel the braid, then place one end in the palm of your hand, and begin to wrap it underneath your bent elbow, up and over your hand, back down under your elbow, and so on. Once it's all coiled up, grab it in the middle and slap one side of the loop on the top of the table. Repeat for the other side of the loop, changing sides until the fiber has opened a bit more for you.
3. Unravel the brain, and then slightly pre-draft the fiber. You can pull off a bit of fiber from the tip to gauge the staple length, then pre-draft at that length. Make sure not to turn this into a workout or you'll have many piles of staple-length fiber bunnies all over the place.

Problem #2
Matted/Felted Roving

Same scenario as Problem #1 has occurred, except oh no--the fiber is clumpy and/or slightly felted! What could you possibly do?

Solutions

1. Unravel the braid, the best that you can. Go ahead and salvage any of the fiber that's not matted or felted and put it to the side, or place it in a container or bag where it cannot be further damaged.
   Once you've completed that, see if some pre-drafting will help loosen up any clumpy areas.
2. If you have mostly felt, then do your best to unravel the braid. Grab your paddle hand carders. If you don't have any, a clean dog or cat brush with the wire teeth works pretty well too! Gently try and run some of the fiber through with the carding instrument. You may need to spend some time working at it with your fingers to open up some of the felted areas. Once you do that, slowly work your way through the piece. If you're diligent, you should be able to recover some of that fiber.*

note: there are, sometimes, when you should just beat the crap out of the fiber and then choose to do something else with it. For example, felt it even further, cut it and make purse handles!

So, what about you? Have you experienced some fiber horrors with roving, or even yarn(!), that you learned a valuable lesson or tip from? Maybe you learned to turn it into something else. Care to share?

Restless - Or what Brianna does at 2 in the morning

I'm sitting here, a quarter to two in the morning, still wearing my dyeing apron. I'm keeping an ear out for the washer to slow its whirl, letting me know the fiber is done having excess water being spun out. Mostly, I'm in the middle of a moment where I'm content. Day 2 of my 5 day vacation from the real world has ended, and so far I've taken the dog to the vet, picked her up post-surgery, watched her come down from the sedatives, ran some tests on a new fiber (more on that in a bit) and a new yarn, and am preparing for a day trip to the local-ish yarn store, She Sells Yarn.

Several pounds of fiber arrived today, as well as a possible replacement for Glorificus, the previously released MCN base. Sometimes I think "Glorificus" is such a ridiculous name, but then I'm reminded of its connection to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I can't help but chuckle. Still, it's entirely possible that, after some testing, I'll be replacing the current Glorificus with a new Glorificus. I'm half-tempted to call it "Ben" instead. (And this is the part where all those in-the-know either moan from humiliation at my attempt at humor or chuckle along.) In truth, I am 65% certain that I am changing bases, as this new one has a bit of a tighter twist and feels...more. I don't know how else to put it.

While I love MCN bases, I can't help but feel that my Lorelai's beat them, hands down in the "I would totally have sex with that yarn, were it a person" contest. Not that there's really a contest like that. Not that I would ever have any knowledge of that. Back to my point--the Lorelai's are amazing, and I'm proud to be introducing a proper fingering weight version soon. This means I will be offering a Lace, Sock, and Sport version of the Baby Alpaca, Silk, and Cashmere blend. It will be like Heh-vahhhn (to be said in the voice of Shawn from USA's Psych series) in here when everything arrives. Bless me, for there may be a lot of sinning up in these parts.

Ahh, 2-AM humor, you never fail me.

This new fiber that arrived today is just more luxury. I proclaimed to my girlfriend that I would very much like to lay all of this fiber across the bed and just roll. It's an 80% Superfine, Superwash Merino (we're talking a 19 micron count fiiiiine) and 20% Cashmere blend. This is just too much for me to handle lately, but I am definitely ordering more of this so that my body can explode from sensory overload in the future. Just you wait, as soon as I list some bundles of this fiber, and you get a taste of it, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

Cutting this shorter than I imagined, as I no longer hear the washer. Time to hang some fiber to dry...

Yarnography - January Installment Launched and Received!

I can barely believe it myself, and if I hadn't packaged, taped, labeled and shipped everything myself, I wouldn't believe that the January installment had been unleashed to the masses. Did you read that? UNLEASHED. They're out there, and if USPS Tracking is to be trusted, all but one has been received. Since that one is international, it'll likely be another week before it's in the hands of its owner.

Truthfully, I want everyone to take photos of their SQUEE faces with everything around them. Ha! I will settle for shared experiences at the Ravelry forum. So much excitement in me!

This all just means that I'm super stoked about getting the March box underway. I've already lined up some delightful items, and once registration closes (March 1st), I'll be notifying the extras suppliers how many I need. I want to tease and taunt everyone, but all I'll say is that one of the items is being provided by someone well known in the podcast world. Guesses are welcome, but my lips are sealed from this moment on.

If you want to sign up for the March installment, but aren't sure you'll be able to register before the spots fill up, click the "contact" link and we can discuss reserving a spot for you. :)

Interested in taking a dip into dyeing yarn?

I'm so anxious. Having to wait for my own purchases to appear, so that I can create my own inventory, is frustrating. I am not, by nature, an incredibly patient person. When I want to do something I want to do it as soon as possible.

Another thing I want to do and have to wait on? The club! I'm trying to get some things together, track down some potential extras, get some artwork made up, and so on. It all needs to figure itself out, and be complete, now. If any time needs to be taken, it should be taken while I'm sleeping. Just a forewarning to any other potential ideas that may pop into my brain in the future. You've been forewarned, ideas!

While I have this open, and I'm just blathering, let me say that I love what I do. I may have too many plates spinning in the air, but dyeing is so much fun, and so rewarding, that I don't mind one bit. No knickers in a twist here, I promise. Because I enjoy what I do so much, I've thought about maybe working out some kind of how-to, or "this is how I dye" such-and-such, when I next dye a batch up for the shop. Is that something you might like to see?

A lot of independent dyers tend to keep their dyeing techniques close to the chest, as though they're secreting away some long family secret. We probably have all read the same books, practiced certain techniques, tested others and discarded them, played and fiddled, splattered and smothered, dipped and painted, soaked and steamed--you get the idea. I would wager that there are more differences in our work stations and studios than in our dyeing techniques. I would love if the dyers I knew shared one of their "secrets", just one, so that I could talk shop. Have you ever had something you've loved to do and didn't have anyone to talk with--about the details, about the frustrations, with specific questions?  I understand, though, the fear and sense of need to protect their work, their style.

Where does that leave me? Well, I don't do anything so out of the ordinary at the moment that would cause me to stuff the only written account of my dyeing methods into my bra. Not that my bra is the most high-tech of methods to securing such information.

I gather, then, that a photo-tutorial may be of interest to some people who would like to dip into dyeing (pun intended). If this is the case, definitely let me know and I'll set it up. I may have to wrangle working out the step-photography myself, or sweet-talk my dearest into becoming a minion to The Yarn Side.