Month: August 2014

Handspun adventures 7/16/2014 Scrapbox Edition Water Lily

Namaste Farms ‘scrapbox’ edition posts will be seen, more than once,in different themes as my collection is growing….
These are such a treat…

So far, I have Scrapboxes in themes, California Goldrush, Woodstock, Coral Reef, Perfect, Tiffany Renessaince, Shanghai, and more coming….

So, bringin it back to the Namaste Farms Scrapbox in Lily.
Now, the “Scrapbox” name was actually inspired by, her adorable rescued dog Scrappy, and his cute face is pictured as part of the logo.

What comes in these scrapboxes is just that, very generous portions of scraps. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. Each scrapbox has it’s own personality and we get a teaser photo of colors, showing some of what one might find in these boxes.

Having more than a few of these, I’ve never been disappointed. This was the 1st one I spun up. I chose to start with the
Water lily inspired scrapbox.

It came with several different fibers, locks, rovings, beads, thread, novelty yarns, nepps, sparkle (both Angelina sparkle and firestar) and more. I used everything but the beads and didn’t use all of a pink pencil roving. Each box has different fibers, different add ins, and tons of inspiration.

These scrapboxes are like being given your cool friends stash for one hell of a deal. Because, in fact… They are being made from Namaste Farm, (Natalies) stash, which includes, the late, brilliant, Janice Rosemas, stash.
Both ladies, made high end yarns for personal use and sale.

I love other people’s stash, hee hee, and the stash that’s being shared here, is exceptional, and special. Truly, I have lots and lots of stash, no shame here, I love my stash, and I won’t apologize for any wool piggery, should I be accused. Having recently moved, my cleverly stashed away stash and it’s abundant size was more clearly revealed to me. It was contained and had a place, but I will say I hauled a lot of wool to the new pad.
When it comes to the scrapbox, it’s not like buying a braid or a batt. Though a scrapbox may contain scraps of each of those.
In terms of value, these boxes can’t be weighed in ounces (although the due to the variety of fibers, the add ins, that range from fancy feathers, to lamp work beads, long locks, etc etc)
I cant really list what is in each scrapbox as, it’s never the same, and feels more like a surprise, almost as if one was in a club. Opening the box, is sooooo fun. Everytime I get a new one, it’s like my birthday… Sure, I know the color theme I ordered, but what else comes, are extra surprises and plenty new to me, things to try.
If I collected each of these items in just one box separately…. I’d easily be a few hundred $$ in, and the boxes allow one, such as myself, to sample a hefty skein amount of different items. Scrapboxes currently seem to run in the $30-$40 range generally, this includes shipping in United States. Shipping to Canada is an extra fee.
I did purchase one in the $40 range(California Goldrush), that box had high end fibers, like cashmere, angora bunny, etc and addins like vintage beads and gold. Yes, real gold. Which, I never would have even thought to try, but gold leaf actually sticks to the fiber and just meshes in, wrapping around fibers perfectly….. Ok I’m getting off track, that’s another box for another handspun adventure… It just amazes me how creative people are when it comes to handspun! Ok, Back to talking the water lily scrapbox.

Seeing what others are doing with their scrapboxes and fibers have inspired me. I’m getting more fun out of spinning artisan yarns. At the very least I wanted a fun, fluffy spin. Because the fibers are dyed and ready to go, I decided to card them together, in a way so that it might create color stripes.

The lily scrapbox color theme had lots of color.
Different shades of pink, peaches, oranges, whites, deep golden rods to bright yellows,water lily pad leaf greens, a lighter pink novelty yarn, dark pink thread, pieces of a pink handspun made of something silky, different types and colors of sparkle that matched the wool.

I honestly could not say all the varieties of fiber included in the box, as there were many different types, some softer than others, some pencil roving, some lock form, some fine wools, medium and luster wools. There were beads that I decided not to use this time, and I added in with the Tiffany scrapbox to use later.

With lily, I decided to make a batt, and then turn that into a roving with most of the fiber. Each color in its special place, sparkles, nepps, Angelina, silks…. Etc I made specialty fiber addin in woolsandwiches, lastly, I painted on the carder with the locks to keep the curl, straight to the large drum, instead of at the licker in drum. Once that was finished, I took the batt off, the outside was beautiful, I peeled back a layer and inside it hid more treats of color for me.

I decided to strip the batt, just started at the top and split straight down, then gently drafted the batt strip into a roving exposing what the batt was hiding inside.
Once finished drafting my strip,I rolled it into tidy nests, ready to spin.

I used my Matchless spinning wheel, with the jumbo head and bobbin, to allow for more fluff to pass through the orifice. I tried a new to me method, pulling fiber left and right, keeping my best to stay at a 90° angle (aka, coreless core spinning). In the very beginning, I was slow with my hands and quick with my feet, overspinning, getting some unwanted kinks. I slowed my treadling, made some adjustments, and settled into the motions my hands were making.

This was my first ever try spinning nepps. These little felted wool balls, like cupcake sprinkles, except for a fibery treat, to my surprise… didn’t always stick. Some of them actually shot out like bee bees. As I spun, nepps, softly shot at my pups napping beside me…I didn’t expect that, and neither did they. After a few misfired nepps, the dogs got up to lay, safely, elsewhere hee hee.
As far as the nepps go, when they do stay in, they look really neat, especially, the nepps being in a different color then I was currently spinning. Nepps are going to take me some practice getting use to, but fun nonetheless. I wonder if my homemade nepps will be different since they aren’t yet the hard wool balls, but rather, the tiny soft curls.

Once plying, I started with the novelty yarn, wound in the ball. It literally had texture, that looked like a brain to me. That one ball of brain yarn was in the teaser photo for this scrapbox, as seen above, and I had to have it. Come on, brain yarn, everyone?! You have to understand my intrigue.

Once the brain yarn did it’s job, I switched to, the bright dark pink thread. Which landed in lighter parts of the single I was plying, making it really pop. I love thread plying. I love the way it looks, the way it makes the other single look more puffy, and how it can stack next to each other making a faux bead, plying with thread gives handspun a completely different look, that I love. I switched next, to another thread, that was pastels in pink blue and green, all the colors in my scrapbox. Until I reached the end of my plying.
I looked at my bobbin, and I wasn’t quite sure. Had I done the fiber justice? Was it a good yarn? Was it pretty? If one were to look under my ravelry.com account (trishys)
They would see, mostly two or three ply yarns, that I’ve tried my hardest to be consistent WPI. The whole artisan yarn, tailspun, lock spun, add ins, has always intrigued me, and in fact what started my spinning to begin with. Seeing yarns that were, more than yarn, it was art! Just gorgeous and fun and showed off the fiber. I wanted to do that. Learning to spin these years, handspun is an art form itself, and I have so much still to learn and experiment and try. I do consider myself a spinner, a real spinner, and a good spinner at that. Spinning a yarn like this… is very new to me and I am loving it.

I still love my regular (more commercial looking)handspun. It’s easy for me to make now or more natural. It’s relaxing, I can do it without thinking. But I needed to try the luster packed locks, those beautiful curls that flow exactly the way they do on the animal. Exactly, like they do on the dancing rock star, sporting some fringe!
So, I am not shy about the fact my yarns that tend to be more on the artsy side, may not be as up to par as I would like them to be….BUT
considering I’m on a new wheel, my matchless with the jumbo bobbin, and new mediums from nepps to gold to true long, and I mean long, teeswater locks, I’m giving myself a little break from the perfection I’d strived for making yarn those first years.
Truth be told, my first ever handspun, looked like art yarn only because it was so overspun, it coiled onto itself and even soaking, thwacking and weighting it while drying did NOTHING TO HELP STRAIGHTEN IT. I’m not sure I’ll ever use it, mainly due to how good it feels to see how far I’ve come.

In any case, my lily scrapbox handspun…

 

 I always compare my handspun to others, I love other peoples handspun, no two the same. Some, simple, and new, some with purpose for a project, while others just spin with nothing in mind but letting the fiber decide what it’s going to do, some better then others, as it’s just intuitive, while others have to really work at it. I consider handspun to be a true art. Much easier to make with excellent fiber, but it’s all awesome.

I decided to let my finished yarn rest on the bobbin for a day, and when I took it off…..
I must say I was pretty dang pleased with myself. It was well balanced, it was light, airy, fluffy, and I can’t wait to spin the next scrapbox.

It’s so hard to choose what comes next, since I have a feeling that with each spin I’ll get better and I want to save the special favs for the last.
The other problem with that is…. Each scrapbox is a favorite.
I’m also right in the middle of a major move, guess what was the last thing packed, and the first unpacked… Of course, my fibery goodness, how else is one to keep there sanity.

If you do get a chance, I highly highly recommend picking your favorite color and making the purchase if you haven’t already.
Scrapboxes can be purchased here
http://namastefarms.com/purchase-scrapboxes/

A little about why you see so much of namaste farms…?
Plain and simple.
She knows good fiber, she doesn’t mess around with anything that is going to cause frustration, like excessive vegetable matter, felting (that wasn’t meant to be felting)cotting, she is honest to a fault, about her wares and she stands behind her product. If it doesn’t meet her standards, she refuses to sell it, taking the loss. She sets the bar high when it comes to fiber. There is a reason she sells out so quickly and has such a following who love her fiber!!

If someone is unhappy, then she takes it back, no problem. She is definitely a fiber favorite of mine, that’s no secret,
I have several other favorites, you will hear of them too.

I have the stash to prove it
lots of fiber vendors, dyers, and artists, I want to share. These scrapboxes are just so inspiring…
Happy spinning