Soay Fleece!

ETA: Um, wow. Less than an hour after posting this, all the regular fleeces are sold! Thank you so, so much. What a boost for this farmer, and for this very special breed! I do still have second cuts available by the ounce, so scroll to the bottom if you're interested in those.

I finally finished skirting the sheep fleeces this weekend! I've decided to keep Kilda's fleece for myself this year, and Lilith hasn't been rooed yet. So here's the breakdown:

Jasmine's fleece comes in at .7 pounds. It is very clean, but has quite a few guard hairs and shorter staples. 

 

$50

SOLD, thank you!

Daisy's fleece weighs .6 pounds and is also very clean. 

 $45  
SOLD, thank you!

Dorrie's fleece is .8 pounds. It has the longest staples, being two years' worth of growth, but it also has more VM that won't come out without a good wash due to the stickiness of the lanolin. Dorrie's fleece is probably not the most fun/best place to start if you're new to spinning soay.

 $40
SOLD, thank you!

Dawn has the lightest fleece, at .4 pounds. Her blanket is the most intact of all of them, but it is also the stickiest. This one may need extra soaks/washes.

 $30
SOLD, thank you! 

I also have 1.5 pounds of mixed seconds. These are the bits that weren't directly attached to anyone's blanket, belly or neck hair, bits that came off with a second pass of rooing, shorter staples, that sort of thing. It'd be great for needle-felting projects or for carding and blending with other wool. You can buy this by the ounce for $2 an ounce.

Please note that all fleeces are unwashed. They have been skirted and I've picked out as much of the VM as possible. But, my sheep live happy lives on pasture, so you will still find small bits as you spin!

I have never used these PayPal buttons before, so fingers crossed this all works out smoothly. I will refund any shipping overages if they occur.

And for the non-spinners, don't worry, I will process some of this lovely fluff into yarn at some point! The alpaca fleeces are still being skirted, but will be ready for sale in another week or so.

2014 in Knits

2014 was probably my best year ever for knits. I managed to knit 11 sweaters, 3 dresses, 4 stjärna ornaments, 1 pair of fingerless mitts, 1 hedgehog, and 2 top-secret items that can't be shared until the pattern is published this coming spring.

I became a test and sample knitter in 2014, testing 7 patterns and making 4 samples. I learned a lot of new skills, like Latvian and Estonian braids, tubular and i-cord cast-ons, and a few different ways to work short rows. Sweater construction became a lot more intuitive, my knitting math improved tremendously, and I now have a very firm handle on what does and doesn't work for my measurements and body shape, and how to modify patterns accordingly. I also feel like I can fairly confidently call myself an advanced knitter now. Next step: pattern designing. Hopefully. Maybe.

Here's a quick peek at all my knits this year. You can click the links in the captions to go to each project's Ravelry page, where you can read my notes and see more photos. All of these should be public links, so no need to have a Ravelry account to view them! A few of these still need a proper photo shoot, but I wanted to get them logged in 2014 to track my accomplishments.

Top row (left to right): Earl Grey, Django's Hedgie, Polar Vortex.
Bottom row (left to right): Hermit's Rest, Neapolitan Blooms, Tamarack and Pine.

Top row (left to right): Anamnesis, Ambrosia, Namaste Pullover.
Bottom row (left to right): Peppermint Stick, Poseidon's Hounds, Brigantine.

Top row (left to right): Little Boxes, Blueberry Season.
Bottom row (left to right): Stjärna, Cotton Candy, Trip Trap.

Almost every new thing I finished this year became my favorite. I'm especially proud of my Anamnesis dress and Poseidon's Hounds sweater. They both fit like a glove! And they're in my favorite yarn in my favorite colors. Another standout for me is the Little Boxes cardigan. The pattern was so fun and addicting; I kept telling myself "just one more square" the whole time I was working on it. I'd like to make another one, but with a zipper instead of buttons, and maybe hidden side pockets.

In 2015, I will try for 15 sweaters! This may be unreasonable as this will be my first spring shearing and then having my own fiber to process, but it's good to set goals! I'd also like to try my hand at designing. I've had some sweater designs in my brain for ages, and I think I just may finally have the skills to make them real. We'll see!

What were your favorite knits (or spins!) of 2014?

Making an All-American Yarn: An Interview with Swans Island Yarn

I have a very special treat for all of you today! Jackie Ottino Graf, one of the amazing dyers at Swans Island Company, graciously agreed to chat with me about the company's All-American yarn line that I reviewed last month. So grab a cup of tea and read on for the process and inspiration behind the yarn!

Where did the idea for your rustic yarn line come from? 
Our All American line was actually born from some handspun yarn that the rest of the yarn team fell in love with.  It was a thick and thin 2-ply in a local merino, that embodied softness and rustic sophistication. From that we tossed around different fiber blends, twists and weights, playing with handspun samples until we found one we liked. Why was it important that it be 100 percent American? I'm really passionate about fiber, and even more passionate about knowing where things come from. Much of the yarn that American knitters are using is either synthetic, or made in China, or both. Akin to the slow food movement is the slow clothing movement, which is something that we all feel strongly about. We could have chosen a commodity base yarn, or bought fiber from abroad to make our yarn, but we wanted to see if we could do it all ourselves with materials grown in the USA.

What's special about the source ranch? How did you choose them? 
The Erk ranch in South Dakota raises rambouillet sheep, a breed that grows wool that is both fine and soft and sturdy and resilient. They are large enough to supply the amounts of fiber we need to produce a years supply of yarn, and are accessible and wonderful to work with. Plus, we really want to go on a field trip to South Dakota!

© Swans Island Company

Why rambouillet? Why blend with alpaca?

That's a good question, and it speaks a little to the mill we chose to work with on this project. So, there are basically two styles of yarn spinning out there, worsted and woolen. Worsted spun yarn is made from highly processed fibers that have been cleaned, carded and combed into a tidy parallel presentation. When they are spun, the resulting yarn is smooth and drapey. Our flagship yarn, Organic Merino Natural Colors Collection, is a worsted spun yarn. 

Woolen spun yarn is spun from fibers that have also been cleaned and carded but are left in a carded presentation prior to spinning. The fibers are tidy, but may be going in all different directions. When spun, woolen yarn tend to be loftier and fuzzier with pockets of air trapped within.

The mill we wanted to spin our yarn is an antique mill in New England. It is the oldest continuously operating mill in the country, opening it's doors as a sawmill in the 17th century (!!). When we went to visit, we knew it was the place. Their mill equipment consists of carders and spinners, and they make a woolen yarn. Also, their equipment has limits as to how fine a fiber they can pass through it. Our first run was with a fiber a tad finer than the rambouillet we settled on, and it was a disaster. Turns out, rambouillet is the perfect fit, micron wise and we couldn't be happier.  

We also chose alpaca as an ingredient because alpaca is also readily available in the US, and creates an even softer yarn than wool alone. We use black alpaca as the coloring agent in the yarn to result in a grey base.

It's super interesting you're using black alpaca fibers. Most dyers seem to want a white base to start from, but you guys are intentionally creating a grey base. Why did you decide to start on grey?

We think the grey looks awesome overdyed! We may do a white base at some point, but for now, we are really loving the heathered look.
 

The color palette seems very rooted in place, specifically, Swans Island itself. Looking at the colors, I can practically see a forested path leading to a rocky shoreline. Can you tell me a little more about the dye process? Is it tricky to get the exact colors you envision from only natural dyes? How much trial and error is there before you have a good "recipe"?

Thank you! Tony Vinci and I are the two dyers here at Swans Island, and we are both passionate about color and origin. We work with about 12 natural dye substances that have good reputations as being fast, both to light and wash. Whenever we create a new color, we test it by setting one skein in ambient light, and one skein in a box.  After a couple of months, we compare them and look for fading. Anything substantial gets modified, or culled altogether, and we go from there. Some yarn collections are dyed using professional acid dyes, which are much easier to use. They are also standardized, meaning that each batch of dye is the same as the last. We use these dyes on some yarns to increase our production, and also to offer a lower price point yarn to our customer.

Natural dyes, in comparison, are always different from batch to batch, as growing conditions can vary. We need to test each dye every time we get a new shipment, and often modify the recipe as needed.

Whichever dye we are using, we try to create a palette that is full of rich, natural looking colors that indeed reflect our beautiful coastal area.

© Swans Island Company

How do you ensure consistency of product that comes from mill, especially since your alpaca comes from more than one farm?

Well, this speaks a little to micron count, and fiber grading. The micron count is a method of grading the fineness of a certain fiber, and applies to both wool and alpaca. We choose only fibers that fall into a certain micron count, which ensures that the final yarn is pretty consistent from lot to lot. We use a certain percentage of wool to alpaca, and of black to white, so we get the same shade of grey each time.  

Thank you, Jackie, for a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at this fantastic yarn line! 

Back In the Spin of Things

Though my love affair with fiber began with knitting, I also enjoy handspinning. Sadly, I don't make as much time for it as I should. But I have some extra incentive this month, as I decided to participate in a wildcard team for Tour de Fleece over on Ravelry. This is an annual spin-along with the Tour de France. You're supposed to spin something every day the Tour rides, if possible.

I didn't manage to spin on the first day, but today I did spin about 4 ounces of this pretty Finn:

There was already 4 ounces of this spun in my bag, which my notes say was spun almost exactly one year ago. Ooops! Poor spinning wheel.

I'm slowly working my way through a considerable fiber stash acquired in 2008, when I first learned how to spin. To get experience with different types of fibers, I joined a few fiber clubs that sent out a random fiber every month. I knew that if left to my own devices, I'd just buy the same types of fiber in the same colors over and over.

The clubs worked out great. So far, I've gotten to spin wensleydale, corriedale, shetland, blue-faced leicester, camel/silk, merino, merino-silk and, of course, alpaca. I'm not sure what is left in my stash, but I plan to go stash diving tomorrow to choose what else to spin this month. The Tour runs until July 27!

Any of you participating in the Tour? I'd love to see links and hear about your favorite spinning fibers!