The Difficulty of Naming Yarns

A few days ago, I came across some colourful ribbons with white dots, which I just couldn't pass. They looked perfect for spinning into yarns, and I had to keep myself from buying more than two different colours. I decided on light blue and vivid red, and I had to use them immediately (well, as soon as there was time, anyway). I spun two quite similar yarns, one white and light blue, and one white and bright red, both containing facetted glass beads in matching colours, and, of course, the ribbons. I love them both, but I just can't think of a name for either of them. Usually I come up with names quickly, but these are difficult. My husband has also tried to come up with something, but (as usual when he tries that) he came up with names and ideas for new yarns instead *g* That's why I spun a white and turquoise yarn with black beads today - more on which will hopefull follow soon ;-)
The picture you see here was taken last friday (my photo day), when I piled up all the yarns to be photographed and/or wpi-counted. I like photo day, somehow it feels like getting a lot done when photographing a whole week's worth of my handspun :-)

Bringing Two Hobbies Together

I'm talking about archery and spinning, of course ;-)
As mentioned before, both Twisted and I took a bow making class last weekend. Though my bow is not yet finished, I'd very much like to make some arrows, and I've already bought most of the materials I'll need. Twisted has even already started cresting her arrow shafts, which looks fantastic. I, on the other hand, have been thinking about yarn for the wrappings I'll need above and below the feathers. I'm still trying to learn the English archery vocabulary, and I don't want to bore you with the details anyway (I don't know how many of you are interested in archery, as this is a spinning and knitting blog), so I'll skip straight to the yarn part of this ;-)

The thing is, I thought about buying waxed linen yarn, but I thought it was way too expensive, so I started thinking. I do have soft beeswax which I got for my bow string last year, and I thought, well, why not give it a try? Twisted and I thought about what fibre types to use, and kind of settled on "black" (carbonized) bamboo, ramie, and linen.
I tried them all!

 (click to enlarge, I mean REALLY enlarge ;-))

I spun a small amount of each on a smallish drop spindle, drafting with the right hand and turning the spindle with the left, and waxing thumb, index finger and middle finger of my left hand each time after winding a length of yarn onto the spindle. I think this might not be enough wax, though, I'll have to experiment on that.

Now, I haven't tried wrapping arrow shafts with any of these, I only put them on the cardboard pieces and admired them ;-) I like the bamboo best, the ramie seems also satisfactory, but the linen is kind of bumpy. Usually, I love yarns with texture (who would have guessed?), but in this case I want a smooth and even yarn. I'll let them sit for a while since I still need some equipment and some peoples' help to make the arrows, but I hope it won't be too long until I can try them :-)

Oh - the spindle was a total mess afterwards, by the way. But thankfully the wax came off with alcohol and my spindle is as good as new.

This was real fun!

Just a Quick Peek: The Green Lady and the Yet Unnamed ;-)

The Green Lady

 containing merino wool, bluefaced leicester wool, mulberry silk, freshwater pearls, moss agate and prenite beads, and lace fabric.199 m / 86 g.

The Yarn Which Must Yet Be Named

containing lambs wool, bamboo top, bamboo flakes, merino wool, angelina, seashells and many many facetted glass beads. Oh - and beautiful organza ribbons, too. 116 m / 75 g

...and now for something completely different

I think I might have mentioned that I took archery lessons last year, and so did Twisted, by the way. We have been practicing since then, though rather irregularly since it got colder, since I for one don't like the sports hall we're using for pratice during the winter. I am really looking forward to taking my bow outside again!

Last weekend we took a bow making class, which was exhausting and absolutely fantastic! I have to admit I always used to hate working with wood. You see, I went to Waldorf school and was forced to do all sorts of crafting and handicrafts - and I just didn't like some of them. It's different when there's the promise of a bow at the end, though *grin* I kind of liked it, though wood working will never be my favourite hobby.
The sad thing is, I didn't manage to finsish my bow. I chose yew wood, which is quite hard and difficult to work with. Don't ask why I chose it - I love yew, but first I settled for hickory because I knew yew would be much more challenging, but then there were no suitable staves for the model I wanted to make (a Viking Bow) and I kind of cracked ;-) So, I will have to finish my now-stick/later-bow in May, when there will be another bow making class with Michel Bombardier of Bombix. Since my husband was ill on the second day of the class, he will come with me and hopefully we'll both finish our bows. Twisted, on the other hand, is done and has made the most beautiful bow from osage orange, a naturally bright yellow wood.

Funky St. Patrick

Luckily, someone on the Unofficial Etsy Forums reminded me in time that St. Patrick's Day is around the corner. I often think of holidays and themes too late for spinning and listing yarns in time - but not this time! I carded some batts yesterday, and already spun one into a funky green yarn, containing golden glitter (something like tinsel), and shamrock glass beads. I'm looking forward to spinning up the other batts, I already started with a white, green and orange one and then there is a green and white one which will contain white lace strips. And now I am off to uni.

Find your Pirate in the Dark!

Last year, I spun many glow in the dark art yarns. Then I stopped because there wasn't much of the gorgeous glow in the dark thread left and it was impossible to find more of it. But last week I thought, well, what's the use of keeping the rest on a shelf instead of spinning it in - and I started again. So, here is my latest creation, fresh from the bobbin:

I spun it from a gorgeous, soft and shiny blend of merino wool and tussah silk (black and red), glossy black mulberry silk, a bit of red sari silk which shows here and there, black lace strips, and strips of red tulle with polka dots. I plied it with said glow in the dark thread and added bone skull beads during the process. It was very time-consuming and elaborate work, but so well worth the effort!

As you can see, I have secured the skulls with tight coils, which add extra texture. I am very happy with how this yarn turned out :-) There's 138 m / 96 g of it, and it will be listed sometime next week.

As for the glow in the dark effect, it is just like the effect of the yarn this picture was taken of:

Aaaah, I love glow in the dark stuff :-)

WIP - Divaesque Art Yarn Project

I've already blogged about the scarf I wanted to knit for a trade with the talented soap sorceress Goodgirl.
(as I have no idea how all that wellness stuff is made, I am most impressed and it does seem like magic to me - and I do like the alliteration ;-))

I started knitting when we went to Prague (here's the blog post about it), and I also worked on it during the Christmas holidays. Then I was ill, and then I wasn't sure whether the scarf was already long enough. I wanted to take pictures to show to Goodgirl, so she could decide whether she wanted it to be longer - but I never managed. So, this is still a UFO (unfinished object), but I finally wrote a message about it to my patient trade partner and hope to finish it sometime soon. It's been fun knitting so far - I absolutely love knitting with art yarn, as you might have guessed ;-) It's fascinating how even the simplest pattern is transfigured by the yarn. Just a bit like magic, too!