Category Archive

I joined the 2007 fiber club but never got underway with learning to spin until just recently.  Starting with the first fiber I received in May 2007 and using the Louet drop spindle included, I’ve been working on my technique and have finally achieved something that could be considered yarn. ;)  I’d like to say that Adrian’s guidelines on pre-drafting have made a big, big difference!

A little late.

I hope everyone waiting for me to ship the fiber club wasn’t as upset about the delay as I was. All of the packages winging their way to you.

Want to see? Want to see?

This is a fiber I’ve used for the club once before, but I have a new supplier and ooh, is it nice. I couldn’t resist. You’re getting a nice big 5 oz. chunk, as well. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Future Clubs:

I plan on taking a month, maybe two, off between the end of the current club and the start of the next one. We are planning a move to Western MA in the near future, and hoo boy, is that ever going to be an undertaking. Even if we don’t move during the break, I’ll be able to get a bit ahead of the fiber club so that I have something to ship during the move. This is all very good news for Hello Yarn, as I’ll finally be able to spread out and really do my thing in a big old house in the country. I can’t wait.

Thanks, everyone!

Adrian

I really enjoyed spinning this, it spun up very quickly. I spit the roving and did the first half within an hour.

It was so beautiful and easy, I figured it would be a great wool to teach my partner how to spin. Teaching him to spin, taught me a thing or two on how to teach as this is something I have never done. He did get the hang of it but occasionally would have big chunky bits. I plied our two together and it is more beautiful than I could have done on my own. I call it “Spun with love.”

Here’s another up close and personal!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

-Sister Chinook

I changed the blog theme to one that shows who’s posting. It’s nice to finally know!

September’s wool.

Octobers Baked Alaska! Yum!

- single ply, I 2-plied most of it but really liked this little bit!

All caught up on spinning. Here is Maldives from September plyed into 210 yards worsted weight lusciousness.

Just as the weather turns cool here I can dream of enchanted islands.

Very, very soft enchanted islands.

And…

Baked Alaska knit into Urchin.

More details on my blog.

- nuttnbunny

Hi, everyone! The September club shipped today. I hope you all enjoy it. It’s an old favorite, and quite different from last month’s. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

Just a note- I’ll be away all next week, including the weekend, at Yarn School, and won’t be answering emails or shipping orders received during that time until I return.

I started spinning Mollusk last night, and it was so easy, I got through my entire shiny lovely “cord” of it in one night! I’m about 1/4 of the way through plying it into an aran weight 2 ply, and it’s SO shiny. I’ll get pictures tonight if I get a chance.

I simply split the roving in half resulting in 2 long cords (which was way easier to do than usual due to the long staple) and spun up each on its own bobbin. The staple is so long in fact that this yarn almost felt like it was spinning itself, it tended to grab the next fibers without a problem and give me a pretty unform size for my single. Every once in a while I got a bit of a heavier “clump” but that was really me, not the fiber

I’ll take pictures tonight once it’s plied!

-Amber

EDIT: Got a picture!

Hi everyone, and welcome to round two of the fiber club! All of the packages have been mailed and you should have received your tracking emails. When I was finished packing the orders, I had a few thank you notes left over. If there wasn’t one in your box, then let me say “Thank you for joining and welcome to the club!”

This month’s fiber is a great, fun spin. If you’re not familiar with this breed, pull a bit out from the end and check out that staple length. As long as you keep that length in mind, you should have a pleasurable spinning experience.

I hope you love the colors! This one blew me away as it was hanging in the sunshine to dry. I can’t wait to see how you all spin this to preserve and accentuate that beauty.

Want to see? Can’t wait? Click here.

I’ll be back with some finished yarn photos as soon as I think everyone’s got their fiber.

Adrian
Hello Yarn

I couldn’t resist playing with the July fibre as soon as it landed on my doorstep Saturday morning and I may have accidentally bought some more from Adrian so this skein below (5 oz and around 150 yards) is soon to be joined by lots more.  I think I know what I’m going to knit it into as well, so excited!

Even before I had seen the gorgeous yarn from Frith below I had decided that I wanted to try and spin this fibre into long stripes of colour.  I had no idea how to really go about this (and still think there was probably a more correct way than the method I used)  so I separated the fibre into 2 piles, 1 mainly blues and purples and 1 mainly greens.  I weighed both piles and found that there was about twice as much purpley / blue as there was green. 

 I’m still spinning on my drop spindle most of the time so I decided to spin 3 spindles full of yarn, 1 green and 2purple and then spit splice them together and wind into one big skein.  I stuck to my comfort zone spinning of sightly thick and thin chunky weight yarn and ended up with 3 spindles full of yarn weighing around 35g and measuring around 40 / 45 yards each. 

 I then wound them into a skein on the swift, purple first, green in the middle and then finally the second purple spindle full.  The whole skein weighs around 100g and is a lovely 120 yards long.  I think it wants to be a cheery winter scarf, or maybe a hat when it grows up.

Thistle on the bobbin:

Thistle on the dog:

And is it soft? Oh, yes…

This is 4 oz., and it was 398 yards before a somewhat abusive fulling wash (certainly shorter now). It measures approx. 12 wpi, somewhere around a DK weight.

I just split the top in half the short way, predrafted a bit to loosen it up, and spun it worsted with a short backward draw. While I was sorely tempted to spin for a single, I absolutely loathe pills. So I went for a 2-ply with enough twist to (hopefully) avoid them.

To set the yarn, I roughed it up in very hot water with some Dawn, plunged it into cold water, then back to hot with more abuse, then cold, then warm with some Lavender Eucalan. I wrung it cruely, thwacked it a few times on the bathroom floor, then hung it to try.

This was the first time I have ever abused a skein so much, but after the wet-finishing article in the current Spin-Off and the advice from Abby’s Yarns, I gave it a go. It was really difficult to force myself to mistreat this poor, gentle fiber (if there were a yarn police, they certainly would have broken down my door). But I think it was a good move. The plies are well-integrated, and the yarn has bloomed well. Even so, I could have been rougher with it.

Thanks for another gorgeous fiber, Adrian. This was really fun to spin and a delight to touch. I’m thinking of using it in the yoke of a sweater, maybe paired with a light gray yarn.

-Frith, psso

I finally finished spinning my Cricket yarn. I split the entire top in half lengthwise then drafted and spun as it was. I’m really pleased with the effect.

Now I’m eagerly anticipating my June fibre…come on Mr. Mailman, don’t you know how impatient I can be?

Edit: I got the parcel the next day and it’s BEAUTIFUL!

Oops, I forgot to sign this…

-Adele

Its lovely to see how everyone else is spinning up their gorgeous Cricket fibre.  I am very much a beginner when it comes to spinning and decided to use my drop spindle to make some single ply chunky yarn.  It shows that I still need a lot of practice as some areas are thinner than others but I love the way the colours play together.

My 6 year old daugher has claimed the yarn as her own and is busy crocheting the longest chain ever with it.  I have no idea what it will end up being!  More pictures of the crocheting are on my blog.

I guess it’s safe to post pictures, so here’s mine. (My Mother’s Day gift was some child-free spinning time.) I so love the colors.

I spun it fine with lots of twist for durability. I’m planning knee-high socks. This is around 550 yards.

More pics and details on my blog.

-Frith

Welcome!

I’ll update here when the fiber club ships each month, and details about the next fiber club when the time comes.

As soon as the first month’s fibers are sent out at the beginning of May, expect to see posts from other members showing their creations.

— Adrian