Dog Days

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine gave me some samples of Longwool Leicester (I'm never sure of the order of the words for this breed) and some chiengora (dog hair + wool) to try out.  The LL was not at all enjoyable to spin.  It was a woolen preparation which, with such a long staple, made it extremely hard to spin.  If it had been in a combed top preparation, it would have been much, much easier to spin but you would still have the fact that it's a coarse wool that can't be used for anything that might be in touch with your skin.  It would be find for a rug or placemats if they were woven or even for a tapestry but it would not have been very nice to knit.  I'll bet it would take dye wonderfully, though.

But the chiengora (chien is French for dog and this is the name that many people use for yarn made from dog hair/fur) was a dream.  It's 25% Samoyed and 75% wool and it's the nicest, non-doggiest feeling chiengora I've ever spun.  Not sure what the wool is but the mixture is spinning into a nice, soft yarn. 

I'm not trying to get a superfine yarn, just a nice little fingering weight 2-ply.  My off-the-spindle sample is laying across the flyer there.  You can see the halo already starting and it should become much more pronounced once the yarn has been washed.  For those who care about these things, I'm spinning it on my Minstrel on 8.5 ratio whorl.  The singles are z so the plying will be s.

Have a look here for more information about chiengora.  You can also have your dog hair processed into yarn from these folks.  I have no experience with them and don't endorse them.  I'm simply providing the link for informational purposes.  Here's another link with some info.  And here.

Fantasy Yarn Shop

Several years ago my friends and I had a whole fantasy yarn shop developed.  We even found the building we would put it in.  So here's how it went.  There's a building in downtown Springfield with a candy store in the bottom floor and 3 completely empty floors above. 

So the first floor would be all things yarn for knitters and crocheters.  There are tons of windows so there would be displays all around with lovely daylight to see exactly what the color of the yarn is.  There would be samples hanging everywhere and the samples would be changed out fairly regularly to keep our customers entralled and inspired.

The next floor would be all things fiber and spinning with spinning wheel stations set up where you could try out a dime bag of fiber and, now that I'm thinking of it, a carder so you could blend your own fibers.  Again, there would be samples of the fibers everywhere and all the tools one needs to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind yarn.  We might even have our own line of handspun yarns that we would sell on the first floor.

The top floor would be classroom areas so we could have classes in all the fiber arts and room to hang out without being in the way of shoppers.

Of course, all of these things came from our favorite things about yarn stores we've been to and some of the things we've experienced that weren't so pleasant that we would change if we were in charge of this world of fiber.  We used to talk about this a lot but we haven't really visited it in a long time.

Along this line, I found another building not too far away where I would have a fiber-based art gallery with the beautiful things made by Illinois fiber artists and more in-depth classes.

All of this came flooding back the other day when I was reading the Yarn Harlot's blog post about the rookie mistake of not feeling like she'd taken enough yarn with her on her long trip.  Everyone knows you can't buy yarn at the airport.  What I want to know is, why not?  What better shop could there be for travellers?  Needles and other paraphenalia for knitters/crocheters who've broken or lost a needle; stitch markers to replace the ones that rolled down the isle of the plane and you were too afraid to go after them (it's hard enough to explain to people what we do without crawling around on the floor of a plane looking for a little black ring used to help you keep count of your stitches); yarn for those who run out or who need a new project to work on.

So, here's what I would do.

I would open a yarn store in DFW airport.  It's the 7th busiest airport in the world with the largest airport train system, it's own zip code, it's own post office and millions of travelers through from every part of the world.  Plus my parents live not too far away, I'd be back in Texas and it's my fantasy yarn shop so I can pick anywhere I want.

It would have display windows along the outside with handknits available for sale.  Only high class stuff.  Colorwork mittens, shawls, lace of various kinds, etc.  Much of the store would be stocked with kits I would make up myself and mostly of things that would be perfect for travelers to pick up and work on like socks and pretty scarves with handspun yarn.  The kits would include needles, pattern, yarn and any other things needed to complete the pattern (maybe a few beads, a cable needle, hey, maybe even a feather or two).  There would also be some kits for larger projects such as a cardigan or a shawl.  And then there would be yarn.  Loverly soft scrumptious pet yarn.  You know what I mean.  The yarn that's not meant to become anything, it's perfect just the way it is.  The kind of yarn you're just happy to pet and snuggle up to.  (I'm not getting too personal, am I?)  I'll move on.

There one might also find a spindle or two and some inviting fiber, a book or two and some patterns.  There would be room for my little Hitchhiker Spinning Wheel (which is a fabulous conversation piece) and I could spin and knit to my heart's content and meet and talk to people from all over the world.

And I would have classes.  Come in and learn on your way to your connection.  Make the trip all worth it.  Jump in the water's fine.  Need help with a pattern?  No probs.  Didn't buy the yarn from me, I'm not surprised because I'm in an airport.  No worries.

And finally, I would have a monitor inside my little airport yarn shop that would play non-stop old movies.  Pre-1950's movies, black and white, film noir, slapstick comedies, silent shorts. 

That, my good friends, would be heaven. 

Rabbit Trails

I was so looking forward to this weekend since it's the first one in a long time when I had nothing planned.  No meetings.  No trips.  Just a chance to work on the things I want to.

I had a list of things that I wanted to work on.  A lace project, finish my weaving project, spinning project, start a new bobbin lace project, etc.

What I actually did, however, was spangle 48 bobbins:

Stain 48 bobbins:

And varnish 48 bobbins.

What that started was something I hadn't planned on.  While I searched out the supplies to spangle my bobbins, I found a number of jewelry beading projects that had been sitting there for who knows how long.  Sooooo...

and

Plus another necklace and bracelet I don't have a photo of.  A whole new jewelry wardrobe, if spring ever does come.

The 2 necklaces at the botton of the last photo are special.  I know they look like plain beads but they were my Grannie's beads that I've restrung.  I used some of them for my bobbins and the rest I restrung.  The strings were falling apart and I was afraid to wear it for fear of losing the beads.  Now they're back into shape to be worn.

The Fascinating Mysterious World of Bobbin Lace

As you may know, I've been learning a little about bobbin lace.  It fascinates me to no end.  Not sure why.  It's not something I've always dreamed of doing or something that I really knew anything at all about.  It kind of snuck up on me and bonked me over the head with the "kit from hell." (Not my term for it.  It's how it's known in the lace making world.)

At a fiber festival last October, I saw a beginner bobbin lace kit from a company whose name starts with L.  Like I said, I didn't know the first thing about bobbin lace but it promised that it had everything one needed to begin and I believed them.

Unlike many other kits and whatnot, I actually opened the kit, got all the stuff out, read the directions, and boom!  Everything ground to a halt.  Worst Directions Ever for a Beginners Kit.  And the award goes to......

You guessed it.  This kit.  The supplies were fine but the instructions were horrid.  I did remember, though, that one of my volumes of Weldon's Practical Needlework (Vol 11) (published between about 1890 and 1910) had something on Torchon Lace so I dug it out and amazingly, it had better directions than the kit.  So I used the materials from the kit and the instructions from the Weldon's, I started out.  I later found a very good book at my local library (which they've now lost).

Now that I've been practicing a little, I've found some other books that give even better instruction and, best of all, I've found a group of lacemakers from whom I've learned more in 2 meetings with than I could have learned on my own in 5 years.  Because it's such an obscure craft, finding information without having those people around is really hard.  The L.A.C.E. group has been wonderful.

But, also because this is a bit obscure, I wanted to share what I've learned about the craft.

1. Lacemakers use pillows.  But the pillows tend to be made out of straw or a particularly forgiving type of styrofoam called Ethafoam.  And they're all different shapes.  Depending on the type of lace you're doing, you might use a cookie pillow or a bolster pillow or a roller pillow.  Click here to see a variety of pillows used.  As in other of the the tools, the type of pillow is closely tied to the type of lace being made and the region where that lace was perfected.
2. Lace is made with bobbins.  More correctly, lace is made with pairs of bobbins.  No matter which type of lace you're making, patterns will always use pairs of bobbins.  You only work with 2 pairs of bobbins at any one time, although the real lacemakers work so quickly, you might not realize that's what they're doing.  Here's an interesting video that shows the basic moves of the bobbins (you can work it "hands up" or "hands down" - who knew?).
3. But there's more to the bobbins than you might guess at first.  The look of the bobbin will indicate where the bobbin shape originated.  The 2 main categories (although there are tons of sub-categories) are English and Continental.  (Does that sound familiar to any of you knitters out there?)  Have a look at this website for the wide variety of bobbins.  Click here to see the Continental bobbins and here for the "Midlands" and "Honiton" bobbins.  And then click here for more of the English style bobbins.  These tend to be decorated with "spangles" on the end like this:
4. 
5. The different types of laces you might hear about are Torchon (what I'm learning and what seems to be an entry type of lace), Honiton, Brussels, Guipure (such as Saxony, Cluny, Maltese and Bohemian), Bucks Point, Tønder, and more.  They all have things that distinguish them but I'm not sure what all that is at this point.
6. The thread.  Some laces tend to be made out of ultra-fine thread such as 180/2, which is probably a bit finer than sewing thread, I would imagine.  But you usually wouldn't use anything much heavier that size 30 thread for traditional lace.  Maybe that was the hook.  You know I'm a sucker for anything with a fine thread, right?  (Those of you who just said I'm a sucker for anything with thread should just hush or I'm coming to see YOUR stash.)
7. Bobbin lace making was a staple money maker for lacemakers in England, France, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Italy and in the early history of the US.  It is still practiced in all those countries as well as in Australia.

It really is an abosorbing craft, not practiced by many.  But I would recommend looking out for lace makers in your area and see if you don't accept a serving your own self.

From an earlier post that never got posted:

I've crocheted doilies and I've knitted them and tatted them now I'm bobbin lacing them. This is my first attempt at something other than a straight line and, as usual, I've met with mixed sucess. But I'm enjoying it and that matters the most of everything.

What I'm doing here is Torchon lace on a round, flat cookie pillow (which is basically a type of styrofoam covered with cloth), and I'm using the beginning bobbins that came with my beginner kit.

The pricking (pattern) is copied from the Torchon Lace Workbook onto colored cardstock and then covered with clear plastic to keep the ink from rubbing off onto the thread. (By the way, this is one of the books that's highly recommended for starting and which helped me a lot but it's out of print.  If you keep your eye out, however, you can snag one for about $20.)  I'm using 10/2 cotton, aka bedspread weight cotton. It's not the usual thread used for lace making but I have plenty of it, it's a light color and it's a light enough weight to make the largest version of this pattern. So 10/2 it is.

As each stitch is made, a pin is inserted in the place marked on the pattern to keep it in place and to help make clear turnings when you're changing directions. This pattern uses a half stitch, a full stitch, a Torchon ground and a cloth stitch. The half stitch and the full stitch are used in the making of the ground and the cloth stitch.

The thread was really too heavy for this pattern but, once again, I learned so much that it was worth doing it first with this thread so I could figure out how to turn the corners and work my way around.  This one isn't really fit for anything other than learning but the next one will be better and I'll actually let you see the finished product!

Upcoming Classes

It's been a busy, busy year so far and the next couple of months will be no exception. 

Here are the classes I've got coming up.

First of all will be Three Sisters Folk Art School in Chillicothe, IL.  The classes during the weekend of April 15-17 will include a class on Knitting Lace.  This is going to be such a luxury to have the whole weekend to spend on knitting lace.  Classes will start Friday evening, go all day Saturday and to mid-day on Sunday.  All lace, all the time, baby.  There will be a number of other classes going on, too, so get a group and hit all of them!

Class List
Lace Knitting
Needle Sculpting an Art Doll
Pinhole Photography
Sewing and a Little More
Introduction to Lathe Work
Woodcarving
Fine Metal Clay & Jewelry Making Techniques
Traditional Rug Hooking

In May, a class on Spinning for Lace has just been confirmed for the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival.  They haven't posted the workshops yet but info will go up next week.  Keep an eye on the link above for registration to open.  By the way, there are going to be a boatload of vendors there with all things fiber.  Definitely worth a trip to Lexington, KY.  The other cool thing is that the Festival is tied to the Bluegrass Classic Stockdog Trial.  I had a ball there last year.  Here's the scoop on the class:


WORKSHOP: Spin for Lace


INSTRUCTOR: Dianna Smith

DATE: Saturday, May 21st 9:00 am – 12:00 Noon

DESCRIPTION OF WORKSHOP: Learn a few “tricks of the trade” that will help you spin a lighter gauge, and consistent yarn. Students will learn techniques for spinning different types of fibers and different types of fiber preparations to achieve the best yarn for knitting lace.
SKILL LEVEL: Students should have basic spinning skills.
WORKSHOP FEE: $ 45
MATERIAL FEE: $15
MATERIALS NEEDED: Spinning Wheel or Spindle, 3 Bobbins, Niddy Noddy

Just the Cutest Thing

Let me show you something...

No, I haven't bought a new spinning wheel but if I'd seen this for sale, it would have been really, really hard to pass up.  I don't know if it functions but it's the cutest thing I've ever seen and it weighs about an ounce.  Goodness me.

It's actually just passing through.  Evidently there's a little network out there that will get antique wheels from one end of the country to the other.  I believe this one came from Nevada and is heading to Michigan.  A friend of mine brought it here from Iowa and was supposed to meet someone who could take it to Chicago on the next leg.  Unfortunately, that link seems to have fallen through but since I was headed back to the Chicago area this weekend, I said I would take it.  And the person it's going to lives just a few minutes from where I'll be meeting with the LACE group.  Cool, n'est pas?

I feel honored just to have fostered this lovely little thing in my home.  Fair trip, little spinning wheel.

Overshot Weaving

We've just finished the workshop on Overshot Weaving with Vicki Tardy and what a weekend.  My brain is so full, it's overflowing.  What everyone said about her it true - great teacher, knows her subject back and forth and every which way.  She takes all the mystery our of it and makes it an adventure! 

I used a whig rose pattern and here are some of the samples I was able to get done:

The first one here is my regular pattern woven as drawn in with handspun Border Leicester, then with purple zephyr (wool and silk lace weight).

These are variations of the pattern using variations of the pattern and a variety of pattern threads.

This is the same pattern using a brocade variation (on the left) and 2 variations of the pattern woven "treadled as twill." 

It's all in the teacher, I assure you.  I can't wait to work the remaining warp.  Look, Ma, I'm weaving!