Dyeing, Fiber Prep, What Next?

I recently had a birthday, a landmark one, the kind with a zero in it.  DH likes to buy me toys, and this one is special.  A really landmark toy.  A Strauch finest double wide motorized drum carder (whew, that’s a mouthful, too).

Just this week he gave me the perfect accessory for it.  Sears.com sells a Bosch “gravity-rise wheeled table saw stand” that happens to be the perfect size for my extremely cool birthday present.  This gives me some very appreciated capabilities.  1) I can use the drum carder while seated.  No hunching over, reaching, wearing my back out.  2) I can move the drum carder from place to place myself.  3) Smaller footprint when folded, taking up less precious space.  It’s getting crowded around here, what with all the stash and toys.  I am NOT complaining about that!

folded for travel:

and set up for work:

The drum carder is cleverly attached to the table by heavy duty cable ties, cheap, very effective, and won’t leave any marks on the wood.

I thought it appropriate that DH should have my first handblended on the new carder (with fiber I hand dyed) and also my first handspun FO, modeled here by a young friend, not DH:

Can you see the fuzzy little bit of halo?  There’s colonial top, corriedale, fawn alpaca, tussah silk and a wee bit of angora (halo).  It has a nice soft hand and should be very warm.

It’s a little bit more than 4 oz. total and looked like this before carding:

and like this after carding:

and then pulled into a roving:

and like this after spinning:

Here’s another batt which consists of 1) corriedale dyed in the crockpot along with 2) some tussah silk, and 3) a hint of green/blue firestar.  I pulled the dyed roving apart and sorted by color, then did the three color sections separately.  I think it will be a 2-ply yarn, with the colors sequential, not mixed.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  I’m still so new to all this stuff!  And so obsessed.  And having so much fun.  I wonder if I would enjoy weaving?  Would the structure of my family unit survive yet another fiber craft?  I’d better not even think about it.  Forget I even brought it up.  No, really.

ooooh, pretty . . . . . . vivid!

My first bobbin of the polwarth/silk roving:

I had no idea the magenta would so dominate it.  I’m adjusting.  I’m getting much smoother at doing this, which is a good thing, because DH would like me to do other things from time to time.

I love my Sonata

A shoebox lazy kate and . . . .

My first ply! Same Corriedale, spun finer but still inconsistent, could have used a little more twist on the ply, but I think it’s great! 2.9oz, 82g, 204yd.

Happy New Year to all.

I must have been VERY good this year.

Here’s what Santa baby put under the tree –it’s a Kromski Sonata! I would so much rather have sat down to play than fix a Christmas dinner, but that had to wait until today.

Here’s my very first skein —

Made today. Okay, it’s a big mess, inconsistent and overspun, but it’s my mess, and I’m very proud of it!

Arthur the endlessly curious bottomless pit poodle eyes my new obsession goofilly —

and has so far found discretion the better part of valour, i.e. has not yet eaten it, and therefore lives unbruised.

Girls in their momknit hats:

and a good day was had by all. Even Arthur.

I’m off hopefully to enjoy happily revolving dream bobbins full of dream-perfect luscious hand-painted exotic fiber yarns.

And to all a good night.