cobalt & indigo

So, the end results of my experiments with the Icelandic Lamb Fleece came together nicely with some help from a couple of my favorite web resources.

I wanted to weave some samples with the yarn I had spun up, but I found out halfway through the warping of my 4″ Weave-it loom that I wasn’t going to have enough to make a complete square. Fortunately, I had just read this fun post on eLoomanator (the blog of Jana, of eLoomanation fame) on weaving rectangles on regular Weave-it looms.

I wove each sample into a small rectangle, then proceeded to wash them gently in warm soapy water and lay them onto a hand towel that I rolled up and squeezed gently to remove extra water. The next morning, when they were dry, I scanned them into my computer.

The final result?

From left to right, we have tog, combined tog and thel, and thel.  There is a lot more detail in the scan, click here to visit the original full-size scan on Flickr.

My conclusions?  I absolutely adore the way that the thel spun up.  It’s lacy with a substantial drape and it would be a perfect addition for my freeform shawl that I’m working on making out of naturally colored fibers.  The tog is also gorgeous, but in a more rustic way.  I’m thinking that it would lend a nice strength and body to a sock batt.

And I must admit I really liked the way that the woven samples turned out.  Maybe a project with Weave-it squares is in my future.

In conclusion, please feel free to visit my Links page to see a variety of resources that I found useful in this exploration.

Tags: , icelandic, Spinning, weave-it

I promise I will get to the conclusion of my tests with the Icelandic lamb’s fleece in my next post. I do have some other news to share with you first, though.

I’m very excited to announce that I will soon have a computer all my own, with a separate desk and organizational area as well. This should really help me out with organizing my thoughts and posts, as well as increase the frequency of my postings!

Up until now, I’ve been sharing with Jesse, but as he has been working on building his blog and tweaking his photography in Photoshop my time on the computer has been harder to get. One of my co-workers has offered me a free computer that he and his partner are no longer using. I got a used desk from a thrift store and replaced the drawer handles, and it’s looking great. I’m still waiting on the computer, but should be all set up within a week.

I also have been working on organizing my fiber area inside our small (18′x28′) but adorable little house in the rolling hills of southwestern Wisconsin. Since everything is open and there aren’t really any walls to divide the space into rooms, we have had to become a lot more creative about making areas into functional spaces. The lack of square footage has really forced me to become much more efficient about using space, too.

So here’s the latest version of Molly’s Fiber Area.

This is where I store frequently used prepared fibers, yarns, my carders, combs, and spindles, and knitting and crochet supplies. I have my wheels downstairs, conveniently located near the TV, and my drum carder and most of my wool stash out in the studio. And of course, the rabbits are outside too.

I’m particularly proud of the spindle storage I devised.

It allows me to see all of the projects I have in progress, and to admire the beautiful spindles as well. I store the fiber for the projects in progress directly beneath, in the top latching storage container.

The rest of the clear storage containers are for specific fibers. One is just for silk, one is for cotton, one for exotics, and so on.

In the adjacent corner, I have my old dresser and some rubbermaid containers.

This is the storage for all of my yarns and completed projects.

That’s all I have time to share for now.  As always, I would love to hear your comments on my thoughts!

Molly