Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
There's a lot of competition here at the farm for Best Spinner and Best Weaver. Despite my undaunted efforts, I don't think I'm winning.
I'm planning to weave an Autumn shawl from handspun, so my wheel is busy spinning the fibers for the project. The yarn needs to be something that when woven will create a lightweight fabric that is airy, yet stable, and has a soft drape.
I chose Romney wool to fit the above wish-list of yarn qualities for my shawl. Read on and see what you think about my choice of this fiber.
I'm currently in the midst of The Tour de Fleece. What is that you ask?
You'll just have to visit the blog to find out!!
I'm intrigued by Scandinavian woven textiles. I like their bright colors, their motifs and patterns, the intricacies of their weaving with frequent color changes.
I also love the charming names of their weaving techniques - dukagång (an inlay technque), krokbragd (a bound weave pattern), halvdrall (a Swedish block weave), krabba (another inlay technique), and rya (a pile weave).
This is Part 2 of a two part series on Shibori dyeing.
Shibori is a Japanese dyeing technique that creates dye-resists in the cloth by folding, pleating, and/or bunching the fabric. These folds are then bound with thread, clamps or rubber bands, preventing the dye from penetrating.
In woven shibori, instead of rubber bands or clamps to create the resist, various stitching methods are applied.
This is Part 1 of a 2 part series on dyeing fabric using Shibori techniques.
Shibori is a Japanese dyeing technique that creates dye-resists in the cloth by folding, pleating, and/or bunching the fabric. These folds are then bound with stitching, clamps or rubber bands, preventing the dye from penetrating. Any fabric that is exposed and not compressed by the resist will be dyed while the resist area will remain white (or the color of the underlying cloth).
The next spin in the 'Let's Spin . . . ' series is Lincoln, sometimes called Lincoln Longwool. The Longwool family includes many of the fiber world's favorite breeds. We have already met another of the longwools, Bluefaced Leicester.
Longwools are a category of sheep, which as the name implies, have a longer staple length, generally greater than 4 inches (10 cm).
This is the next installment in the 'Let's Weave . . . ' series. For a previous post see here. Today's weave structure is waffle weave. Waffle weave is made up of warp and weft floats of varying lengths arranged around a plain-weave center. When the fabric is taken off the loom and washed, these floats contract and form a texture that looks like a waffle. This weave structure is popular for towels, both because of its absorbency and appearance.
Just a quick post. I've been doing more natural dyeing with Marigold and overdyeing with Saxon Blue.
Saxon Blue is a dye made from a solution of indigo in sulfuric acid.
It's such a beautiful day in May, I thought I'd do a walk around and give you a glimpse of what's going on at the farm.
My first and only spinning wheel is a Louet S-17. As a novice spinner, the reason I chose this particular wheel was I wanted a quality, yet inexpensive basic wheel and the S-17 more than fit that criteria. Yes, there are fancier and prettier wheels, but I love the simplicity of my S-17!
Most spinning wheels have a lacquered finish, while some are intricately carved from beautiful oak and cherry woods. Not my S-17, it's unfinished, laminated hardwood that has been sanded satiny smooth. Now some might find this unattractive, but I see it as a pristine palette calling me to create something uniquely mine. And so that is just what I did.
Blue Faced Leicester, or more commonly referred to as BFL, is a favorite fiber of handspinners, as well as knitters, crocheters, and other yarn lovers. Because of its popularity, BFL fiber is fairly easy to find. It's also one of the most readily available breed-specific commercial yarns.
Since childhood, I've heard "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?". I'm not sure that I can definitively answer that age old debate, but I can tell you how chicks came to Green Pastures Farm. . .
Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to teach three natural dyeing workshops at the SC Jamboree hosted by the Lexington County Master Gardeners. This year's theme was 'Let's Go Native', so I fit right in with my presentation of 'A Rainbow in Your Garden-Natural Dyes'.
Just like the previous posts for Let's Weave . . . and Let's Spin . . . , this is the start of the Let's Dye . . . series featuring my forays into Natural Dyeing.
There are several reasons I chose to begin this series with Marigolds
