Can you say 'boucle'?

My latest challenge has been trying to figure out how to spin a boucle yarn to my liking. I've spun some super coiled boucle that works but I've been unable to spin a simple boucle that I like. That is until this week!

Boucle means to buckle or curl and a good yarn does just that. Boucle is a yarn that has a core yarn or thread, a wrapping yarn and a fine binder. My results before now were loose and uneven. I've come to discover that when creating the spiral yarn with the core and the wrapping yarn you need to add a great deal of additional twist to create the boucle look I'm going for. Here's some pictures of the boucle yarn.

I've also spun up a skein of the tencel roving I dyed. I spun a thicker single and it turned out quite nice. I'm surprised how heavy the yarn is. It has a nice drape and lots of shine!

Hope you have fun discovering all the different ways to spin yarn like I do.

And there I spin....

Well, I haven't spun the bamboo or tencel roving yet... to be honest I'm a little intimidated... and they are so nice to look at. So, I've been spinning thick and thin novelty yarn instead.

I had thought I would post more regularly than this. It's amazing how time flies. The garden has come on and we've been putting up for the winter. Now the grapes are ready and need attention.

We've had out county fair and I entered some handspun just to see what the judges would think and what do you know I took best in show! That was nice surprise. I entered two singles, one navajo ply yarn and one coiled corespun yarn. My favorite of the bunch was the coiled corespun(the green yarn). The picture doesn't do it justice. It's really neat to look at and has a slinky feel.

The latest novelty yarn I've spun has turned out quite well. One set is Romney wool hand dyed then spun thick and thin and plied around a metallic nylon thread. It's rich with color, orange, brown, plum, pumkin, and almost black.

Another set is a merino roving I dyed lightly and then spun thick and thin. I plied it with three threads, one gold, one pink/red, and one green/blue, all at the same time. It's very soft to touch.

Two of my daughters commented on how nice it turned out. That's unusual, normally I get 'that's different'. Maybe I'm headed in the right direction after all.

I'm hoping to get back to the dyepots soon. I have some custom orders to do and yarn, fleece and roving that need color!

See ya next post...

'Playing' with Reactive Dyes

I've been wanting to try using reactive dyes for a while now. Currently, I've only used acid dyes because I've only dyed wool, mohair and some silk, all protein fibers. I have a lot of fun with acid dyes. I love color and creating different color combinations is always exciting.
So I'm quite ready to try reactive dyes...... I purchased some bamboo top and some tencel top to try with the reactive dye. They are so beautiful undyed, lots of luster and shine. That's one of the reasons we raise Romney and Cotswold sheep and Angora Goats. Their fleeces have lots of luster. Yummy!

I've read up on reactive dyes and the different procedures depending on the effect you want to achieve. So I'm starting with the low water immersion method because I want to use several colors at a time. Obviously, you have to follow all the safety rules... masks when mixing the dyes and gloves when handling the dye.


Here are some pics of the process:

This is after I poured the colors and before I added the fixer.
















This is after I poured the fixer and before I applied a plastic cover.













Here's a shot of a batch with the plastic on and I'm waiting for the reaction time to pass.















And finally shots of the finished rinsed roving - the colors are gorgeous! I love it!















I can't wait to spin them! I know it will be different than spinning wool. I'll fluff the fiber and probably predraft a little to loosen everything up. I'll post pics when I spin some up!