Cleite Shawl

This one was fast, fun, and I love the way it turned out.
Details on blog posts here, here, here, and here.

Chocalpaca

Details about spinning and starting the shawl on my blog, here and here.

Mmmmm, Chocolate

I mean lovely chocolatey alpaca. It's beautiful! We got a sneak preview of the scarf pattern on Mim's blog the other day, so I had been looking forwarding to getting our package. Now I'll confess I haven't even touched the spinning wheel since about October, so the Pygora is sitting on my work table waiting patiently. But, the alpaca may have just moved to the top of the spinning queue.

I've just registered for a class on Spinning Lavish Luxury Yarns at the John C. Campbell Folk School in early January. I'll really be able to do the exotic fibers justice after that!

More fiber?

Hello all!

Sorry I haven't posted about the recent fiber supply and there won't be any pictures of the finished yarn here either. I've kinda fallen into a lull as far as blogging goes, but my fiber activities are still going very strong! I plan to knit up some snowflake socks for my grandma, using the white cormo as the snowflake and the grey rambo as the main part of the sock. I'll try to take some pictures of the finished product, but I'm not sure when that will be!

Also, does anybody know when the next fiber shipment will be?

Cormo DK

Hi All,
Here's my skein of Cormo, 2-ply. I decided to spin it a bit heavier than for the mitts pattern and practice my long draw spinning. Details on my blog HERE.

Cormo woolen-spun 2-ply DK

Cormo Subscription #2

Hey, ya'll - I haven't even touched the first Subscription that went out to us (Rambouilet) and my wheel was in a great place to start this last night. So, I am no where near done, but I thought you might enjoy a picture or two of what I have so far:


I really don't know how to figure out how to spin my singles to get to 15wpi, plied, I do know how to spin at 15wpi per single, tho. I am not sure what the wpi is with this, but without changing all my settings this is what I am getting!

I am not entirely sure I am a fine wool spinner! I really do, oh so much better, with medium and long wools! So, this is entirely out of my box right now, but the fluff is just so lovely isn't it?

Fiber Kit #2

Just a quick note to let y'all know that I've started shipping the fiber club installment #2 packages out today (about a third went out to the UK and east coast), with the other two-thirds shipping tomorrow and Friday.

This time we are highlighting cormo wool, and Mim did up a fantastic fun little pattern to accompany the kit this time around. There is enough roving to knit her pattern, and I also threw in a little extra (an ounce of a cormo blend), so you can either spin the cormo by itself to her pattern specs, or maybe try a 3-ply with the plain cormo and the cormo blend, or just try the blend by itself.

Please give me a holler if you have any questions when the packages arrive (which should be sometime early next week for the folks in the U.S., maybe a few extra days to the UK).

Thanks!
:) Anne

Happy July!

Hi again everyone:

Just a quick update to remind those of you who are pay-as-you-go'ers to check your in-boxes (and/or spam box) for the invoice I sent out this weekend for installment kit #2.

The next spinning fiber is going to be Cormo and I've got the fiber bagged up and ready to ship out on the 15th as soon as I finish up the information/tips/pattern sheet.

If you think you should have gotten an invoice and didn't, please email me and I can resend it.

Thanks!
Anne

Late June/Early July Update

Hi everyone:

Sounds like y'all have been enjoying the rambouillet. I've enjoyed seeing the finished spinning pictures, and reading about your likes and dislikes of this fiber.

Next up is cormo wool from my friend, Sue's, farm in California. For those of you who are on the pay-as-you-go plan, please look for your invoice from me this weekend. Shipments of the roving with accompanying information, pattern, contact info, etc., will go out the weekend of July 14th/15th. (Anyone else just realize we have a Friday the 13th in July?)

As always, please give me a shout if you have any questions, problems, queries.

Happy spinning!
Anne

Phew!!

I have to admit...I had my doubts! After spinning the singles of rambouillet, I worried that they might be a bit inconsistent. But, I am now a fiber convert! Ignoring the fact that I didn't skein it all that well, the yarn came out very nicely.





It is super-soft, springy and, with the magic of plying, came out quite even. I'm really pleased! Thanks for introducing me to my new love, Anne! I see a long and happy future for us. I'm not sure if I'll take the name of Rambouillet, though.

I may hyphenate or something...

Sheepish Annie

Spinning rambouillet

I am part-way into the second ball of roving. I am really enjoying spinning this and am happy to read such great reports from others! It was a rough start for me though! I almost threw everything, wheel included, out the window when I first started spinning it. My wheel just dragged terribly and the yarn kept breaking. I oiled everything to no avail. Just when I was ready to trash it all, I noticed I had not snapped the spindle down into the uprights! (sheepish grin) Once I stopped being stuck on stupid, I have greatly enjoyed spinning this. Thanks so much Anne! Kate/Massachusetts

Finished Skein

So, I finished plying up the rambouillet and I must say I am very pleased with the results. While the singles weren't all that even, the plyed yarn appears to be quite uniform and produces nice, even stitches. If you'd like to see some pictures just head on over to my blog!

Lacy Rib Swatch

Hi All,
Some of you already know me as a pretty new spinner. I decided, with some encouragement from Margene and Anne, to just jump in with both feet and give the exotic fibers a try. Here's my first attempt with the Rambouillet.

I spun up just a little bit, maybe a quarter ounce, aiming for the 13wpi 2-ply noted in the pattern, gave it a bath and swatched the Lacy Rib. Here's my result.

Rambo first swatch

I neglected to note my yardage after plying, and sure wish I'd taken a photo, but I did end up with a very puffy soft 13wpi, knit it up, and am getting a nice fabric at the 5spi gauge.

The last two fibers I've spun were BFL and Corriedale, so the difference in fiber texture and shorter staple length were quite noticeable to me. At first I found it challenging to get going without breaking the single, but finally settled into a shorter draw that worked better. Anne's notes were absolutely correct it's easier to spin it thinner than thicker if you want to avoid lumps and bumps.

Spun and plied with a moderate twist, the yarn was a little uneven in the skein, though a lot of that could be my newbie spinning [vbg]. I finally understand the description I've read about fiber being chalky, and would describe the plied yarn as soft though not smooth. Knit up the fabric is bouncy and squooshy, and again soft but not smooth, with slightly blurred stitch definition.

So, my question for the experienced spinners is, can the rambouillet be spun smoother, or is it in the nature of the fiber to keep its peach-fuzz feel?

I've been spinnin'

As soon as I got home from my interview on Tuesday I set to spinning up that gorgeous new fiber! It sure spins up like a dream! I've been using a worsted/woolen spinning technique. I really tried to get worsted to work for me but I kept having trouble getting enough fibers out from between my pinched fingers and the yarn would snap. Anyway, I've already spun up quite a bit and you can bet your sheep I'll be spinning up some more! I've got a little more information on my blog if you want to wander over and take a peek.

First Subscription Packages Going Out!

Howdy everyone:

The first of the packages are going out via USPS tomorrow. I'm trying to get the ones that have to travel the farthest in the mail first, so everyone receives them at about the same time. (Jeni in the UK - I actually sent yours out on Friday, but considering how the USPS works its.....ahem... magic or lack thereof, it may arrive in Cardiff before things hit the east coast of the States. Whatever.).

A couple of notes:

1. Be sure to give the fibers a bit of a fluff and predraft. The roving has some lanolin in it and I tried to get as much air out of the bag as I could for shipping, so they will be a bit compacted, but should spring back okay once you air them out a bit.

2. The information packet is actually 2 pages, double sided. They are in protective plastic sleeves, so don't miss all the information that's hidden inside.

Hopefully I have included enough to give everyone a good jumping-off point. There are 4 ounces in this kit and that should be plenty to do some sampling and play around a bit with the wool. If you run into any questions, problems, queries, etc., feel free to post them here and we can round-table discuss them. You don't have to be limited to comments. I think I have everyone set up appropriately they can post to the blog just like it was their very own.

AND, in other news..... I have the cormo already back from the mill for subscription #2. Miriam is busy thinking up some other brilliant little design for that roving. The alpaca is already here and it is very soft and lovely, a pretty, rich cinnamon color. I finally finished washing the pygora (both colors - this will be a 2-color pattern) and just need to get that blended with a bit of wool to help with the spinning and then off to the mill that'll go. (Assuming Emma the cat will allow me to leave the house with it. She has developed an unholy attachment to the goat smell that the unwashed fiber had and kept attempted to beat down the door to the laundry room where the fleece was stored before washing so she could roll around in it.)

I think that's it! Let me know if you have any questions.

Happy spinning!
A

Welcome!

Hello everyone and welcome to the Wooly Wonka Fibers spinning club blog.

Rather than send out group emails, this blog will be available for me to post updates about the club, answer questions, and allow a forum where y'all can discuss anything about the club subscriptions, as well as post pictures of finished spinning or projects.

I am in the process of setting everyone up as an "author" through Blogger so you can log in to this blog and post, just as if it were your own. (And it's free!).

Just to get everyone up-to-date: The rambouillet is here and I'm in the process of getting it weighed and packaged up for shipping to everyone on or before May 15th. It is from a small flock in Idaho and is very nicely processed. The pattern I've worked up for it is for a lacy ribbed neck gaiter. The pattern only uses about 1.5 ounces and the subscription kits will have 4 ounces of roving, so you may choose to knit up a couple of these for quick and easy holiday gifts, do a lot of extra sampling, or spin the entire 4 ounces for something completely different of your own choosing.

I'll be posting another update when the subscriptions are ready for shipping.

Thanks everyone!