A New Spin On My Favorite Yarn (by Sandy Ryan)

This week found me with a spinning wheel malfunction. I am by no means good at changing my ways so the prospect of adapting to a new wheel was not my idea of fun.

My favorite is our ‘flagship’ lash yarn. I tailspin a lot of it and have used the same spinning wheel forever.  It is a Bulky Babe electric spinner. I cannot recommend the wheel highly enough and I adore Nels (owner/inventor of Babe’s Fiber Garden).

The BB gives my crooked back a break from treadling, allows charms, beads, locks and more to be spun into the yarn with out having to hand wind the yarn onto the bobbin. The wheel is also wonderful for plying, especially if you are working through a large order. Personally, plying day is a long one for me since I really like designing the single ply more.

I replaced my trusty BB a few weeks ago after it decided so many years had earned it a permanent vacation. The new wheel is basically the same, with a few changes to improve the ability to spin majorly bulky yarn.

This is completely a ‘me’ issue, I miss my familiar wheel. The need to immediately spin a custom lash yarn order forced me to try something new. You heard correctly. I, Sandyrella, got the push to try spinning the lash yarn on my Rio Grande wheel.

The Rio wheel came to me via a good friend in Taos, New Mexico. She already had one so I was lucky enough to buy this barely used wheel. It is huge, beautiful-and fast. I rarely allow myself time to do any serious spinning with the Rio, so good in another way too.

It was really good. Once I remembered to relax, treadle slooowly and sit up straight- we were off. It is actually easy to tailspin with this wheel too. No threading the yarn through hooks or loops since it is very much like a Great Wheel, with a spindle that allows you to spin off the point and a treadle.

My stable includes antique wheels, a Kromski Symphony, the BB and the Rio. It would be impossible for me to name a favorite but if you have a chance to try the BB or Rio- give it a whorl. 

The BB will always be my bulky yarn spinning pal but the Rio is going to see more time with me now. Stretching boundaries and spinning outside the box- it does a spinner good!

Weaving is fun! (by Pamela Kelly)

Start by tying a slip knot in the end of a skein of yarn and secure it to the corner nail on the left side of the top rail.  Then carry the yarn under the nails to the right corner of the frame.  This horizontal line of yarn is the first or top warp.

At the corner nail on the right, make one counter clockwise turn around the nail,  carry the yarn down and under the first nail on the right side rail and head back over to the left side.  This is the second horizontal line of yarn and the second warp.

Back at the left side of the loom the yarn is brought up and around the second nail on the left side rail and brought up and over the first warp.  The line of yarn going straight up leads back to the skein.

The loom is now primed for weaving.

Simple or plain triangular loom weaving consists of snaking a crochet needle over and under the horizontal warps, snagging the loose line of yarn going back to the skein, pulling it down to create a loop of yarn, dragging this loop through the warps, hooking one side of the loop on the next nail down the side on which you are working, widening the loop by dragging ti to the other side letting yarn pull from the skein as you do so, and hooking the second side of the loop on the next nail down on the far side of the loom.

Here is what it looks like in pictures:

Reaching up through the warps to snag the loose yarn

Hooking the right side of the loop on the next nail down on the right side of  the loom.

Pulling the yarn down to create a loop and dragging this loop through the warps

Pulling the loop forward to the other side, drawing yarn from the skein to widen the loop.

Hooking the left side of the loop on the next nail down on the left side.

Notice in the last picture that the loose end of the yarn is again going up and out of the picture.  For the next weaving, the same process is repeated except this time the loop is started on the right side.  Weaving is simply a matter of repeating the process of dragging loops down from one side, hooking them on a nail, widening the loop as it is dragged sideways across the warps, and hooking it on the next nail down on the opposite side.

Instead of plucking at the warps one at a time to weave the wefts through several of them at once, hook the loop , than draw it down.  Make sure the weaving hook went over the warps that the previous weft pushed up and under the warps it pushed down.

All that is needed to do now is continue weaving loops down through the warps until the triangle is full.

Once your triangle of woven cloth is complete, remove it from the triangle loom.  The ends that remain can be woven back into the edge or converted into fringe.

To create a project, simply create several triangles of woven cloth and stitch them together into various shapes as desired.

A basic shawl pattern might include triangles arranged like this.

A Sheep Runs Through It …(by Sandy Ryan)

Before our sheep grow up to be the wonderful sheep they are today, many arrive as orphans or bottle lambs. There is truly nothing sweeter than a baby lamb. Our lives are filled with endless entertainment, love- and silliness- as they run through our lives. We highly recommend them!

The sound of little feet galloping all around the house is my favorite melody. Changing diapers involves a routine chase around tables and chairs. A spirited game to out wiggle my efforts immediately ensues but I eventually win out, turning them loose in a cute diaper decorated with farm animals- of course.

The wild scampering makes it easy to keep track of them, when it is quiet mischief is afoot. OR a good old lamb pile nap snuggled up on their baby blankets in a sunny window that always makes me want to join them.

Our first lamb was Hope- we were her last hope, crooked jaw and all.

Gracie ran through, gleefully hopping about until her diapers fell off. Gracie knew when bottles were served, showing up in the kitchen every time the microwave beeped. Even if she found people lunch was the only disappointing choice on the menu.

Piper decided I was ‘his’ and followed me everywhere from day one. He sorted fleeces with me and slept under my loom. Keebler slept under my spinning wheel and loved to sleep on my lap-no matter what I was trying to accomplish. Sonny insisted on napping on the living room recliner.

We have many, many stories and our happy memories will continue to grow with future lambs needing shelter from cold weather, lots of good food and love. They eventually learn how easily they can outrun me on our walks outside. They learn that life in warmer weather is more fun outside making friends. Speeding around with the other sheep and playing endless games of tag.

The day comes when they are convinced they don’t ‘need’ me anymore and stay outside, just out of my reach for a few days. They come back looking for bottles when they need reassurance and as they grow, look to me for hugs. And Fruit Loops. Treasure, Baker and Rudy still think anything I bring out (even medicine) is a bottle even though they are now grown up elegant sheep.

I always cry when my babies move out to the barn. I miss their sweet selves barreling around the house, following my every move. Stealing my knitting or yarn I am trying to knit. Most of all I miss rocking them to sleep in front of the fireplace, snuggling them up to read a bedtime story.

A wise friend consoles me each time the lambs out grow me, reminding me “you’ve done your job, you did a good job and they are now good sheep.”

Got Tri-loom? (by Pamela Kelly)

Start by getting a loom and some of your extra yarn because next month we will start weaving!  If you don’t have a loom and decide to purchase one you can do so by going to www.sunflowerfibers.com along with sending me an email ( sunflowerfibers@gmail.com )  and I’ll make sure you get a 10% discount on the purchase of your very own tri-loom.

So now you’re asking what can I do with a bunch of woven triangles?  You can do a lot of things with a two foot triangle.  For example, putting 8 together you can make the “8 Piece Woven Wrap”  which is pictured on the right .  You can also purchase the pattern for this wrap at www.sunflowerfibers.com. 

To get started designing with triangles, make yourself some paper triangles and laminate them.  Than just put those triangles together and see what you come up with.  Use your imagination.  You’ll have a blast!  It is also great fun to mix woven triangles with woven squares. 

I would like you to start thinking about what you can make with a bunch of woven triangles.  Next month I will be teaching you how to weave on a triangle loom.  Also in the coming weeks I will post complete triangle weaving instructions on my website - www.sunflowerfibers.com.  I’m also working on instructions for weaving on the  square loom. 

If you have any ideas, any questions or just need a little help contact me.  Thanks for reading.  Now, Got Tri-loom?

Don’t you kill the bunny? (by Jennifer Green)

…and other angora questions

We just got back from our County Fair. It’s a week of fun and time spent with my children. It is a time for us to share what we’ve been working on, show off the livestock and home economics projects and to share some knowledge with people who haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy the lifestyle we have.

We answer many questions about the animals during the week. Some people want to know each animal’s name, what their breed is and what that animal’s job is. Sometimes, we have an opportunity to educate people about some of the myths and misconceptions that abound about livestock and how they are raised.

We fielded many questions about rabbits this year. In particular, we answered questions about the Angora rabbits my kids had on display. We are raising German Angora rabbits and the kids are head over heels in love with them, as am I. The German Angora rabbit is a fascinating animal. Bred to be one of the largest Angoras, the German’s job is to provide a quantity of quality wool with low maintenance and upkeep requirements. They are sweet and friendly, hardy, excellent mothers and the workhorse of their kind.

One of the questions we hear most often, and one that is very surprising when you first hear it, is, “Don’t you have to kill the rabbit to get the wool?” The first time the kids got asked that question, they were so astounded that they looked at each other and then at me for guidance. No, we do not have to kill the rabbits to harvest the fiber. Depending upon the breed of Angora, the fiber is harvested, on a schedule, by either shearing or plucking the rabbit.

German Angoras are shorn every 90 days. They can produce between 60 and 75 ounces of wool per year with some animals far overreaching that average. These rabbits do not typically shed their coats, and so must be shorn rather than plucked. We remove the coat on the rabbits for two reasons. One is to harvest the fiber for use in the creation of textiles and yarn. The second is for the rabbit’s health. As I mentioned, these rabbits don’t shed their coat on their own. It is up to us, who bred them for this purpose, to periodically remove the fiber.

In so doing we cool the rabbit down in warm weather, offer an opportunity for the rabbit to grow new fiber, remove the environment for pests to live and grow, and take the time to inspect each rabbit for injury or disease that might otherwise be hidden by all that fluff. Another benefit to removing the fiber is that the animal is less tempted to groom themselves. When an Angora rabbit is forced to groom their own coat, they wind up ingesting a certain amount of fiber. This wool tends to bind up in their digestive system and cause a serious, and often painfully fatal, condition called Wool Block.

Other breeds of Angora do shed their coats periodically and for those breeds, many raisers choose to pluck the wool. Plucking (also called rooing) is not painful or mean. It is gentle and quiet and the rabbits learn to enjoy the time with their people. They are, after all, the center of attention and who doesn’t love that? Generally, the handler will place the rabbit in their lap and will gently comb through the rabbit’s coat with their fingers looking for loose clumps of fiber. Any loose bits are simply taken off with the handler’s fingers. No pulling. No injury. Just a quiet time of grooming and loving on the rabbit.

Again, it is important for the rabbit to receive this attention to prevent them from ingesting this fiber. Removing the loose fiber cuts down on matting which can harbor pests and filth, thus helping the rabbit to maintain a healthy condition. It is time the raiser can use to inspect the rabbit for condition issues and time spent in bonding with these sweet and loving creatures.

We have found our time with the rabbits to be so rewarding and memorable. The kids have learned about responsibility, love, goals, rabbit care, record keeping, showmanship and sales. I have spent priceless moments with them in support and love that will be mine to treasure forever. We continue to look forward to sharing what we have learned with those who come to see us, whether it be at the farm or at the fair. We welcome the questions that come from excited visitors and now look forward to showing folks how wonderful and rewarding these creatures are. We are no longer shocked to be asked about killing the rabbits, but rather welcome the question as an opportunity to educate and share.

Weaving on a Tri-loom can be FUN! (by Pamela Kelly)

You do not need a whole lot of equipment to make a beautiful piece of woven fabric.  You do not need years of experience or training.  You only need a little patience and a Tri-loom Weaving Kit which you can purchase at Sunflower Fibers.

Weaving on a Tri-Loom is different from traditional weaving in that it uses a continuous warp and the warp is also the weft!  What is the warp and weft? In traditional weaving the warp is the thread that have the tension on them in the weaving process and they run from top to bottom. The weft is generally looser and runs left to right.  With a Tri-Loom, a continuous piece of yarn is both the warp and the weft.

This makes the weaving process faster and easier than traditional weaving. With Tri-Loom weaving, you will need a weaving hook, the Tri-Loom, and some yarn. That is all!  Sounds like fun so let’s get started weaving!  So how much yarn do I need to weave a shawl?  Good question.

To Calculate Yardage

1. Set up loom to size you are going to weave
2. Measure across top of loom (e.g. 7’)
3. Count the number of nails (e.g 170 nails)
4. 7’ x 170 = 1190 / 3 = 397 yards OR 7’ = 2 ⅓ yards x 158 nails = 397 yards
5. Decide the length of the fringe.  Fringe is folded in half.  A 9 inch fringe = 18” or ½ yard.  ½ yard x 340 (number of nails on each side) = 170 yards for fringe
6. Yardage for 7 foot shawl = 577 yards  (397 yards from #4 + 170 yards from #5 + 10 yards fudge = 577 yards for 7 Foot Shaw
7.  If using a decorative edge along the top, add 4x the top measurement – 7 x 4 = 28 yards
8. Every path the yarn makes (down from the top to the bottom nail, across to the other side, up to the top nail) uses 7 ft of yarn (the top measurement of the loom)
9. To calculate color changes and to determine how much yardage you need for each color, you must remember:

• A complete pass is the yarn going from the nail on the LEFT SIDE (LS) top – down to nail on LS bottom – across to RIGHT SIDE (RS) bottom – to the RS top – than back down -  across and back up (14 feet).  
• You are going over 2 nails on each side for each pass (4 nails total).
• Calculate the doubled fringe (2 nails on each side (7 x 2 = 14 feet).  Fringe on each side: (9” doubled = (18” x 2) x 2 (each side) = 6 feet. 
•  So 14 feet + 6 feet = 20 feet / 3 = 7 yards for every nail used in the design.

NOTE: When buying yarn for a project, the tag might say the yarn is a certain length, they allow themselves to be off 10% either way.  So get a loom and your yarn because next month we will start weaving! 

If you decide to purchase a loom, go to www.sunflowerfibers.com and send me an email (info@sunflowerfibers.com) and you will receive 10% off your loom purchase.

A sheep unto its own (by Sandy Ryan)

Have you ever wondered where a wool path less traveled may lead you? What elusive fiber and fleece awaits? Today’s journey finds us heading to Scotland and a majestic, elegant sheep known as the Scottish Black Face.

A few years back I got know Graham & Margaret Phillipson who tend a beautiful flock of Scottish sheep. The sheep are well loved and spend their lives happily romping acres and acres of pasture in a secluded scenic valley. The Phillipsons travel to back home to Scotland and England each year, returning with genetics from long established native flocks. They are very dedicated to the preservation of the noble sheep included in their flock of North Country Cheviot, English Suffolk, Mule Sheep – and Scottish Black Face sheep.

I go out each spring to help on shearing day, scooping up beautiful fleeces while plotting my next projects and offerings for our Website. What a day! There is a lot to know about the ‘Scotties’ but I am going to concentrate on my own experiences with the sheep and the fiber they produce.

Scotties are a traditional breed raised in Scotland and much of Europe. They are known as very hardy sheep, resistant to disease and parasites. Their babies hop right up after birth and the mamas protect them like lions. Their fleeces have been used for centuries as the main wool in Europe’s famed weaving industry. Carpets, tweed fabric and any durable item a suitable match for such long strong locks.

The average fleece features locks from four-to-10 inches long, is dual coated, coarse in texture and even has a bit of shine to it. The sheep are sheared once a year and our own Scottie Devlyn’s fleece almost drags the ground by March. The locks have a very defined structure with a wavy crimp.

While you might wonder ‘why try’ this coarse wool, here is what I have found. The wool is very easy to wash, often I find a bit of silver threaded through the entire fleece, sometimes only spots. Locks are easily separated for use in doll hair, primitive Santa beards and embellishing. 

If you blend a small amount of fiber into softer wool it creates durable sock yarn for the entire sock, or just heels. They are comfy and you do not have to darn them often. Knitting or crochet projects may find the wool in hats, mittens and outerwear items. 

The fiber takes dye like a champ, but maintains a mind of its own, at times resulting in slightly secretive to very creative variegations in color. It is an adventure to rinse out the dye pots. It cards easily into batts or roving.

It is also an easy felting fiber. Again, durable, stylish when used for trim or entire projects. One of the first projects I created after meeting these lovely sheep was a knit then wet felted tote. The fiber felted quickly and I still carry the tote bag with knitting stashed inside- it looks like it was just felted last week. I have also enjoyed using this wool as a needle felting embellishment.

Weaving is another fantastic use, I have not tried it out yet but history indicates enough bounce in the wool to avoid path wear or wear under heavy furniture. I intend to try this out soon, maybe with a bulky bulky single ply- I cannot wait! (Just have to get that loom warped up- my patience needs more work!)

Customers who have tried this wool have given satisfied feedback for all uses mentioned above. They added that when spun into a fine yarn, it has many of the same characteristics of linen (flax) fiber and softens with use/wear.

Over the years part of the Phillipson flock has made its way to a very historical setting in nearby Milwaukee- roaming a golf course designed after the rugged terrain of Ireland. Whistling Straits will host the 2010 PGA Championship in August. You can be sure the Phillipson sheep will be wowing golfers and keeping tabs on their scores- from afar.

Maybe you will wait to try this fiber or file info away for a future time. Add it to your fiber bucket list, try something new and get to know a Scottish Black Face sheep.  For more extensive information about Scotties please visit our friends at http://littledalefarm.com and lots of info and pictures can be found at http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep

Read about the Kohler/Whistling Straights Scotties here    http://www.golfti.com/kohler/irish/

Our sheep offer a variety of Scottie fiber selections so hope you will stop on by http://www.homesteadwoolandgiftfarmcom or http://www.crazyquilthomestead.etsy.com