Shop update!

This week we have a couple new and interesting things because my latest fleece shipment came back from the carding mill! Perendale and polwarth.

Now I’ve had polwarth before, but always New Zealand polwarth in top form. This is domestic polwarth (zomg it’s softer than merino) in roving form. It’s like clouds. I want to roll in it.

And perendale! This is a new fiber to me, see my last post here or the information in the entries on the shop to see more detail about what I think of it. It’s a neat fiber. A mid-coarse downswool with lots of luster. And you know me, I’m a champion of the under-appreciated downs wools… ok, so I’m a champion of like every wool I’ve run into. This is also domestic fiber in roving form.

So this week, dorset, polwarth top (the last for a while), polwarth roving, and perendale roving.

Dorset Top:

Wolf: A low growl sounds, a howl, a bark, pups roll and tussle in the snow as the adults look on, laughing with canine tongues lolling. A dark muzzle turns to look at you, eyes flashing…

Bluegreen Algae: Microscopic prisms of chlorophyll form a hidden world of crystalline majesty… or a layer of sludge on the side of your fish tank, depending on your point of view.

Tide Pool: On the edges of the sea are windows into another world. Clear and blue, like magic mirrors into another world, waiting for your gaze…

Polwarth Top:

Make New Friends: Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold!

Open Sea: Across the open sea where strange creatures swim and storms rage what mysteries might dwell? What magical creations and amazing cultures wait to be discovered?

Polwarth Roving:

Barn Door: Warm deep weathered red, stands off in the field, a silent sentinel of warm summer days and cold winter nights…

The Princess’ Petticoats: Tiny feet skip through the halls of power in a swirl of rich pink and purple petticoats… “Off with his head?” she asks? “Off with his head” the queen confirms…

The Leopard’s Spots: Through the shadows of the jungle, the leopards stalks. He can no more change his spots than you can give up spinning fiber. He gives you a feline smile, why would he? Why would you?

Summer Clouds: Puffy clouds drift by on a clear summer day, tinged blue by the piercingly clear sky. What better way to spend the day than lying under the sky painting cloud pictures?

Perendale Roving:

A Midnight Meeting: Two shadowed figures meet, heads tipped towards each other. A meeting of clandestine lovers? A passing of secret information? Who knows what secrets might be passed in these deep shadows?

Shadows of the Butterfly Bush: Flowers bloom in dense sprays of purple, and in the shadows beneath rest swallowtails and fritillaries, ready to burst forth in an explosion of fluttering color!

The Lawn Needs Mowing: Summer is in full swing and the grass knows it! Springing up seemingly overnight, demanding mowing immediately when you want to relax in the hammock…

Coneflower: Pink flowers with golden cones in the center, filled all summer with butterflies and bees, and then brilliant goldfinches and sparrows as the flowers pass.

Gold Mine: A rich vein of shining metal runs next to the thin vein of quartzine, smudged by the brown of the mud you’ve been digging. You’ve finally struck gold!

That’s it for the moment. Back to the dyepots. Next update will have wensleydale top again, since several people have asked.

~The Gnome

So, as you may know, there has been a big competition across the pond where men in funny outfits kill themselves on two wheeled contraptions. It’s called the Tour de France.

Anyway, while those crazy people are doing their thing over there, we fiber people do our own crazy thing over here, the “Tour de Fleece.” It tends to be pretty free-form though some people get together for specific challenges and such. Last year my own TdF was more organized.

This year my main goals were to spin every day, even if only a tiny bit, and make progress on some standing projects.

In those generalized goals, I succeeded. One of my specific goals I didn’t make, I wanted to finish spinning the handprepped romney/mohair batts into sock yarn, a project that’s been kind of hanging over me for a long time. Oh well. I did get a lot done.

For one thing, right at the beginning of it I flew down to North Carolina for a family thing. I managed to keep up my spinning at least a yard or two every day, and got a lot of spinning done in the airports. On the plane I started a basic beanie hat with my own handspun.

The hat

And the handspun. Abby Franquemont batts. These are going to be weft for a woven twill weave scarf I’m working on.

Both spun up on my lovely Spindlewood top whorl.

Once I got back, I finished sleying the reed on the loom for the scarf project. I’ll post more photos of the weaving project progress start to finish once I get a few more steps along.

I also spun some cobweb weight from cormo handprepped by the Tsocktsarina.

Spinning it on my newest spindle, a zebrawood spindle called a Tiger by… Cascade bought from Spunky Eclectic as my one purchase at MA Sheep and Wool. Love it. Spins great, especially things like silk for superfine stuff.

Then, right near the end of the Tour, the first of my new roving came back from the mill. Very exciting. Domestic Perendale and Polwarth. Since I’m going to be putting some of the Perendale up in my next shop update, I thought I should spin some myself since it’s a new fiber to me. So I grabbed my Bosworth Midi spun some up longdraw and plied it, washed it, fulled it, and dried it. 3-ply on the left, 2-ply on the right.

3-ply close up

2-ply close up

It’s an interesting fiber. Spun this way it’s a fairly prickly fiber but makes a much softer yarn than you expect. So I went all the way and knit it up, washed it and blocked it. Well, as much as you can block a 1.5″ squarish.

And a closeup. You can see it’s got more luster than your average downs wool. It comes from the Romney in the bloodline. It’s VERY springy and lofty with a big halo. It’s not super soft, about what non-specified “wool” sweaters usually are. So good for anything a mid-level romney would be good for, sweaters, hats, mittens, heavy-duty socks, outerwear, etc.

And that’s about it for my TdF. Other than keeping Gnomespun running, and expanding things slightly and examining a few new possible paths.

TdF 2010

And now, back to the dye pots. Perendale and Polwarth roving. A couple new things coming up!

Until the next time!

~The Gnome

Shop link, for RSS convenience

Hallo! Sorry for the delay, lots of stuff going on. Computers dying, trips for family stuff, etc.

And so, I’m updating the shop in the middle of a thunderstorm. Whee! I can’t see much but blinding rain outside of the window.

Anyway, plenty of neat stuff in this update, but the biggest thing is Exmoor Horn. This is a threatened English breed. The entire population of this lovely downs wool lives in a 12.5km radius! It’s very soft and lustrous for a downs type wool. As sleek as a nice shetland and shinier. I’m thinking it would make a GREAT fiber for anything where you want both softness and the downs durability/spring. Socks, mittens, sweaters, etc. I didn’t want to sell it, but figured you guys deserved a shot at it. If people like it as much as I think they will, I’ll see about getting more.

Oh, and some more BFL/Silk…

So! The new fiber:

We have, in order… Rambouillet, BFL/Silk, Dorset, Wensleydale, and Exmoor Horn.

Colorways, in order are…

Rambouillet

A Tiger in the Shadows: In the gathered shadows of the forest, danger lurks. Unbridled power, stalks the shadows on silent paws, claws unfurled, and you… are prey.

Summer Garden: Balloon flower and bee balm bloom in the warm summer sun. Hummingbirds flit back and forth in the scarlet monarda while bumblebees buzz and light in the purple balloons…

Trumpet Vine: Delicate flowers dance to the beat of the hummingbird’s wing, trumpeting out the glory of the warm summer sun as they reach for the sky!

BFL/SILK

The Nightingale and the Rose: For the literary, something by Oscar Wilde. A drop of heartsblood, for true-love to turn a rose red…

The Tiger Stalks: Through the trees the tiger stalks, paws soft and silent, claws retracted until it scents its prey nearby…

Dorset

The Tide Turns: As the tide turns the waves roll back out, rushing back in a froth over the stones and sand, leaving tide pools stranded behind, mirrors into other worlds of impossible creatures.

Bryophyta: Warm rich muted greens carpet the floor of the forest, creeping up and hanging from the trees in this primordial wood.

Lapidary Wheel: Water flows on the wheel, washing the dust away for a wet polish to the shimmering gem clutched tightly in practiced and wrinkled fingers. Lifted to the light it shimmers and sparkles, perfectly faceted…

Dianthus at Dusk: Dusk falls and the scent of the dianthus flowers fills the yard, green leaves barely poking out from between the pinked petals as a tiger swallowtails drink their last nectar before evening falls…

Wensleydale

Soft Heart of the Fire: Brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows flicker and dance in the heart of the fire, where the heat is highest and the spirit of living things is released as energy to warm our souls…

Exmoor Horn

Deepest Wine: A deep and heady brew, rich with flavor and tannin, aged in the finest casks in the depths of the keep. It reeks of the halls of power where kings treat and lords walk…

Singing in the Rain: I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain! What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again. I’m laughing at clouds, so dark up above. The sun’s in my heart, I’m ready for love!

Spanish Shawl: Like a shawl in the breeze it glides across the reef, brilliant colors warning others of the nematocysts filling it’s shimmering fronds… This is a colorway I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.

California Dreamin’: All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey, I’ve been for a walk, on a winter’s day…

Annnnnd that’s all for this update folks. Coming up soon, a little more polwarth, some dorset, suffolk, and you’ll have to see what else! I also hope to have more bloggy blog up soon.

~The Gnome