Category Archives: Fiber

Spinning, Spinning, Spinning!!!

Fiber, Handspun Yarn, Spinning

The fiber has been weighed, prepped, dyed, dried, and now at last it is time for Spinning, Spinning, Spinning!!!

Let’s start off with my absolute all time favorite picture of me spinning……  What could be better than Spinning, watching football, with a glass of homemade Mead, and a nice warm fire?!?!?!

Drowning in 14 pounds of fiber to be spun.
Drowning in 14 pounds of fiber to be spun.

This was my monthly shipment of 14 pounds of Crown Mountain Farms fiber.  Remember way back  when CMF first started selling their handspun Sock Hop Yarn?  That was me spinning up about 60 skeins of the stuff every month.  I did this for a few years along with creating singles for Tanglewood Fiber Creations, and spinning my own line of yarns.  When I decided to focus on  my own yarns and retired from CMF spinning it did give me a little ego boost when it took several spinners to replace me:)

Now days the picture of me spinning looks a little different.  Treadling away  8-18 hours a day for years took it’s toll on my body.  The tendons that connect my foot to ankle have so many tears and scars that even 5 minutes of treadling is impossible for me.  Months in braces and other contraptions couldn’t  get my legs back to treadling , I thought I was going to have to give up my favorite activity and walking……….

BUT this is me spinning now!

Cheryl Newhouse Spinning at Sock Summit 2011
Cheryl Newhouse Spinning at Sock Summit 2011

I now use Miss Mini for all my work.  I tried several electric spinners, burned up lots of them, hated others, then at last I found Hansen Craft Mini Spinner !  I will do a complete review on the mini spinner in a future post, but for now go check them out!

I have a few videos on youtube and hope to make some more soon.  I do 90% of my spinning by spinning across the top.  It saves me from having to split fiber or do any pre drafting.  These two videos are examples of  spinning across the top. Spinning across the top Baa Baa Huey and Spinning across the top Bunny Patch .

To say that I Love Spinning is an understatement. From the first minute of my first  lesson 18 + years ago I knew that this is what I was destined to do. The drive and need to spin has not diminished over the years, only grown stronger.  Now I just need to  work on making  a living at it!

My next fiber show  Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, is coming up soon.  I am busy with the dye pots,  and putting the final touches on the  New Hue & Newhouse  “Just Add Knitter” kits.  I hope to have some pictures of the completed kits in the next posting when I chat about plying.

until then,

Happy Spinning and Knitting!

Cheryl  <^..^>

 

Hand painting Spinning Fiber

Carbon Fiber Needles, Dyeing, Fiber, Knitting, Spinning

Hand painting  spinning fiber is the second step in making my yarn, and that is what this post is going to be about. BUT first I just have to share with you what has been consuming me this past week, and has made this post a few days later than I planned:)

Brick-a-Brack neck warmer
Brick-a-Brack neck warmer

I won’t go into details too much, but this is going to be a complete kit with our Newhouse Custom Carbon Fiber Circular Needles,  2 balls of handspun yarn, a stitch marker, the pattern, all in a little carry case……  The New Hue & Newhouse   “Just Add Knitter” kit!   will be making it’s first public appearance at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival September 28th & 29th.

Now that I have that out of my system, back to the subject at hand!

Dyeing  fiber can be done so many ways and every dyer has their favorite method.  I’ve tried a few different methods and eventually settled down with my favorite combinations.  First  I always start  by hand painting  spinning  fiber.  This gives me my best chance at controlling the colors and their blending.   Better control for me means more consistency when repeating colorways…..other say that I just have a control issue…lol.

Remember those fiber cinnamon rolls the last post?  well here they are rolled out waiting to be hand painted.  People have asked me many times why my packages of Bam Huey Spinning Fiber are of the unusual weight of 3 oz?  Here is the answer….. The length of my dining room table with all the extensions can only hold  the length of 3 oz.  I love that table, and I am not getting rid of it, so 3oz packages of Bam Huey fiber it is!

Bam Huey Fiber rolled out for Hand Painting

Across from Dining/Dying room Table is my little dye studio.  This is where I blend the colors,  first in my mind, then with the dyes.  I’ve enlarged this area, but it is such a mess right now I thought it better to share an older picture with you.

Were the Creations/mess:) Happens
Were the Creations/mess:) Happens

My inspiration for colorways comes from everything around me.  I almost always have my camera with me to snap a picture of colors that catch my eye.  Sky photos are my favorite to work with.  It isn’t about the focus, but the colors.  here is one of my favorites, how many layered shades of blue do you see!!!!

layers of blues
layers of blues

This one is destined to become a New Hue colorway!

Eventually I do get the dye onto the fiber

painted Bam Huey in the Sunflowers colorway

Last step is to wrap and roll up the fiber and steam away.  After a few hours the fruits of my labor are hanging to dry.

Drying Bam Huey Spinning FIber
Drying Bam Huey Spinning FIber

I’ll leave the fiber to drying for now, and when I come back next time it will be time for SPINNING!!!!  I will also give a little peak into what I am prepping  up for Oregon Flock and Fiber.

Until next time,

Happy Spinning….and knitting too!

Cheryl  <^..^>

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start At The Beginning

Fiber, Home Life, Spinning

I have dozens of ideas for blog subjects running around inside my head, and I was having a tough time deciding which one first……Finally the obvious answer surfaced to the top….START AT THE BEGINNING!  So I will be starting at the beginning, with both my story and the process of making yarn.

The first step to making yarn is to grow the fiber.  Living in city pretty much rules out raising sheep, but I did have 2 angora bunnies for a while. Let’s just say that not all bunnies are smart enough to be litter box trained…..and leave it at that…lol.  In the beginning I did buy fleece, lots and lots of fleece!  I did the washing then hand carded pound after pound of fleece until I bought  my Duncan Drum Carder.  It finally came to a point where I didn’t have the time to process the fiber and still have enough time to spin, so I  made the decision to purchase my fiber ready to dye.

These days I bring home big bags of fiber any where from 10-22 pounds at a time.  The first thing I have to do is weigh out the fiber and roll it into my  famous Cinnamon Rolls.  This is what the Dinning/Dyeing room table looks like on fiber delivery day

Bam Huey and Baa Baa Huey fiber prepping
Bam Huey and Baa Baa Huey fiber prepping

By the end of the work session there are full tubs and boxes of rolled fiber all over the house, tucked into any available  nook or cranny.

Baa Baa Huey weighed out fiber
Baa Baa Huey weighed out fiber

It’s a few hours of work and a wonderful workout for the arms.  I may be sore by the end of the day,  but I know I will never have to worry about flabby arms waving in the wind!

I love to just look at the fiber…..rolled up so pretty,  see what I mean?

Baa Baa Huey fiber prep
Baa Baa Huey fiber prep

The nicest part is having all the fiber ready to roll,  that way when the inspiration for a new colorway  erupts in my head I can get right to work painting  fiber.

My  love affair with fiber started with my first spinning lesson 18 years ago.  Before I ever got the first few inches of twisted fiber onto the wheel my fingers were addicted to the wonderful feel of fluffy fiber.  Many miles of yarn later I still love the feel of fiber flowing through my finger tips and rarely miss a day of spinning.

Next time around we will take a look at the dyeing process and what inspires my colorways.

Until then, Spin Happy,

Cheryl  <^..^>