perfect stash or almost perfect?

Secret Pal Question #3

What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?

I had to give credit where credit is due, Mary Lynn had a great answer to this question. When you can go to your stash and start a new project without having to go to the LYS for more yarn. Mrs Twisted added; when you can do the next 5 sweaters in your cue and enough sock yarn and lace weight for many years to come.

I see the stash almost as a living being. It changes as my or in this case OUR knitting wants or needs change. When you see new yarn in the magazines it inspires new projects or when you see someone knitting at your local S&B you may secretly covet that new fiber or at least project that yarn into a future pattern. The stash has now taken on more importance because the fiber that will become "future stash" in yarn terms. But it in itself is stash. Most of us grow in in our fiber knowledge and capabilities as we knit or spin. As we grow our needs change, when we knit new things, hopefully it inspires us continue this process. I digressed a bit... My perfect stash? When no matter what the situation, you have the right fiber in the right color that inspires you to knit any project that comes your way. The ability to spin and dye various fibers helps to supplement the stash and fill the voids when store bought yarns seem to fall short. The perfect stash is a moving target that's more of state of mind. Not having a finite quantity of yarn but knowing you can knit what you want with what you have.

The fiber dye fest was a little less than we had hoped for. Some of the people organizing had some family issues to deal with and I hope everyone is ok for all involved. We were looking forward to the workshops planned but it turned into free form dyeing free for all. Multiple people said "oh come on, just wing it." We have wung it or winged it on our own but I don't just do things willy nilly. I do like to experiment but I still want to document what we do so if it's good it can be replicated. If it doesn't meet our expectations the parameters can be altered with controls in place. The many guild members were very welcoming, the home where this occurred was just amazing. A few blocks from Hollywood and Vine, they had a large craftsman style home where they host this annual guild event.

A few pics of the guild members enjoying the day.

hand spun lace first

Just a little post to share some hand dyed, hand spun yarn in a little sample swatch.

This is a little less than half ounce from the first Cormo fleece. A little acid dye and the new steamer gave us results better than expected. You know we're a little snobby when it comes to yarn and we both love the results.

It went from this ....

to this......


and finally to this



It feels as soft as Malabrigo lace weight. Just a little taste of things to come and all we can say is oh my!! Great hand and dreamy softness. The Mrs is now asking for enough for a top. This was almost lace weight but I think doing a three ply will give it the right thickness.

Off to bed so we can get up early for the dye fest.....

Dyefest preperation

Many things on the horizon. A week from Saturday is the dye fest held by our spinning guild. In preparation for the dye-fest I gathered some bare roving to play with and experiment under the tutelage of Janel Laidman, spinner, fiber artist, scientist and renowned author. What is all this? Well, I wanted to sort out some fiber to bring and the more I contemplated this the more involved it became. I pulled out all the undyed fiber and sorted through it. I measured five ounces of each and divided that into one ounce hanks ready for dying. Eight different fibers, BFL, Targhee, Rambouillet, Optim, Seacel, Cormo, Australian Merino, & Falkland.

Why five ounces? I was hoping to dye each package the same, and maybe if they turn out ok, I'll spin them into sock yarn. I'm being optimistic here so wish me luck. I'll post lots of pictures as I always do so all of you can come with us in spirit.

Wednesday I spoke to Paula Simmons on the phone ( it was really exciting to me) about the proper drum carder for the type of fiber I want to use. I learned that the problems that most people have with neps, is caused by the front drum ratio being too high. Fibers with lots of crimp and fine to extra fine need slow speed and a slower licker drum ratio. She said the Supercarder was the best choice because the licker drum is independent from the large drum besides I don't have $2,600 set aside for a drum carder. I've decided on the "Pat Green Beverly" at least for this week. :P I was all set to get something else but why buy a drum carder that I can't use on the fibers I want to spin or already have.

A little post script here... Ariadne or Stevie left me a comment about wanting to spin. We meet every Tuesday night from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Yarn Lady. Please e-mail me @ e1jerryt@sbcglobal.net if you want to meet up for more spinning. There are multiple spin groups in the area if you like.