Diamond in the Rough

A few months ago my friend Monica asked on Ravelry if anyone was interested in Rambouillet fleece. It turns out that she got herself a couple hundred pounds of the stuff! So, what does any fiber obsessed friend do?

I ordered 10lbs of it.... yes 10 pounds.

When I opened the box I have to say that I was pretty nervous about this commercial flock. I'd bought it sight unseen - well she did show a picture of the sheep grazing and she did wash up a tuft and show everyone. When I opened the box? It was full of sandy fine DIRT... and I mean dirt. Did I mention it was dirty?

I separated a few locks and decided to do a wash test... What was I thinking buying 10lbs!!!

Shown here is a sample of of the separated locks that weighs 3oz

I carefully place the locks into a very hot water bath with a few squirts of Power Scour and waited 30 min... I did not touch them... I was afraid that the fiber would felt. After the bath, I gently placed the fiber in my colander and rinsed with very hot water using my sprayer thing-y.

When it was dry... Oh dear friends... when it was dry?

Washed, the sample weighed 1 3/4 oz.... that's a lot of heavy dirt!

Look at the beautiful WHITE fiber!!! It is so light and squishy and it is going to make next to the skin soft beautiful yarn.....a true diamond in the rough.

I can't believe I only ordered 10lbs!

April is getting busy!!

Let's just forget that I totally blew off January, February and March... K?

In November I ordered one of these:

It is a rigid heddle loom and I love it! I have been playing with it for a while and I am really enjoying yet another way of making fabric. My favorite thing I have made so far is a shawl that I gave to our Niece for her bridal shower..

It is a taupe silk from England and after a few mis-starts (is that a word?) we became great friends and I completed the shawl in 3 days.... yes, 3 days... Can I get a Whoot for a quick beautiful project?!

I found this wonderful contraption on Etsy (love that place) made by a fellow rigid-header.... it is genius! It allows for easier weft passage of your yarn for wider width projects AND you fill the bobbin like a boat shuttle. I love it!

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

Christmas festivities are in full force here at the McAlindin's!! I am frantically knitting/crocheting and we are having a lot of family time. Here are our trees:

This is the train tree. It is an everlasting tree and it sits in my knitting room and can be seen from the street as you drive past our house. I never decorate this tree, but I love to have the lights on all day.

This is our Family tree it is a real tree and this is where Santa leaves the gifts for everyone. This tree is in our family room and is so nice to smell… Otis really digs the water… blech!

This is the candy cane favor tree and it is in the formal living room.

Last but not least is another everlasting tree in our entrance foyer… it is a new tree this year and I love it! I collect snowflakes and this is the first year I was able to display them all!

Giving Thanks

I am reposting one of my favorite blog posts from 2008 for 2 reasons:

1. My super-duper camera is broken and is in the shop (don't ask)

2. I will be baking these this afternoon with Marin.

Go Here for the post!

Veterans Day

Giving a shout out to the Navy Men in my life:

Thank you Dad for your service.

The Perfect Procrastinator

As a designer, this is my busy season. I seem to have a bunch of designs due mid November which causes me to panic mid September. Everything seems to be put on the back burner except the designs - laundry, decorating my house, basic cleanliness, etc. Every year I say to myself, Kimberly, don't wait until the last minute with these deadlines, get your fanny in gear and write those patterns.

Obviously, I don't listen to myself! This weekend is no exception. I have 1 and 1/3 of a sample to design and knit and what did I do this weekend????

I learned a new spinning technique on my spinning wheel.... Yep! Here are the photos.

I bought this fleece in September: I washed and dyed the fiber (I tried my hand with dying something brown, and I wasn't that successful - so I thought I would practice with this part of the fleece, no harm done if I don't like what I was going to do)

Here is the fleece washed and dyed (see how compacted it is)

I hand picked the fleece apart and made it fluffy:

The fluffy fleece went into the drum carder (my birthday present this year from Mr. Fantastic) and I made a batt:

The batt was split in two and then I stretched it to make the fibers nice a loosey-goosey:

Using a large knitting needle I wrapped the stretched batt around the needle and when it was wrapped once around the needle I broke it off from the batt... I rolled the section around the needle .... And

Viola! A rolag made from a batt.

I really can't describe how much fun I had during this entire process - makes me look like a real fiber geek, but I was giddy with this whole process. The entire basket took me.... ready? 2 days!

On Sunday afternoon I was feeling very clever and sat at my wheel to begin learning the English long draw method of spinning fiber. Long draw creates a lot of air in the yarn as you are spinning and you end up with a really squishy yarn....

EPIC FAIL..... total frustration (a few bad words), thrown rolags, and a shot of Captn' Morgan later...

I sat down to finish my designs that are due....

Halloween 2011

We had a wonderful Halloween at the Mac house:

There was a beautiful southern belle (with her real hair that took forever to curl)

There was 'Graham n Em'

And.... a teenager who didn't trick or treat... or dress up (and didn't want his picture taken)