This is the fibre I chose for the year. I picked out an assortment of fibre - some that I have had for a while, others that I thought would be a challenge and some that I just love to spin. There are a few rules, but basically you pick out at least twelve fibre bundles of at least 2oz to spin during the year. I also joined the 'Use It or Lose It' club, so that if fibre doesn't get spun it becomes a prize for someone that spun their whole bin (a good motivator to get everything spun).
This is all my fibre in it's bin (having a photo of the fibre in a bin gets me a free pass to exchange one of the fibres, otherwise if I take a fibre out I have to replace it with two bundles).
Here is what I have spun so far -
Tussah silk. This is the first time I have spun pure silk (it was much easier than I thought it would be, I think because it is Tussah silk it is easier than other silks to spin).
The finished skein - about 55g of fingering weight yarn.
I dyed it after spinning because I didn't know how it would be to spin if I dyed it first.
50/50 Merino and Silk. This is one that I had previously dyed.
Finished skein - about 50g of fingering weight yarn.
35/65 Silk and Superwash Merino that I had previously dyed (twice because it was too pale the first time).
The finished skeins - about 225g of sport weight yarn, enough for a short sleeve sweater.
This is an assortment of two types of silk and merino that I put together when I was getting the bin together, but I decided to add to it to spin enough for another sweater.
I also added this white flax that was already in the bin,
and added some more fibre to make a 'kitchen sink spin' (another spin along happening on Ravelry).
I dyed about half of the fibre,
divided it into two and drum carded it to make rolags (two different colours for each of the plies) - something 'new-to-me' too).
This is the yellow/green/blue fibre on the drum carder - I 'painted' the fibre on the main drum (again something 'new-to-me'). When I was dyeing I chose the colours to compliment the already dyed fibre (blue wool, black silk and blue Tencel).
The finished skeins - 429g, about 820yds of DK weight yarn,
plus a small skein made by plying with a rayon sewing thread (something else that I tried for the first time).
All the finished skeins together. I am half way through the bin, and hope to have it finished before the start of Tour de Fleece in the summer. Here is a link to my Spin the Bin on Ravelry where I go into more details.
I have been sewing too -
A few new mug rugs (more on these later in the year).
I added to my Welcome Home Mystery quilt - from Kathleen Tracy.
I have also started quilting my Westering Women quilt. I have done all the stitching in the ditch and FMQ'ed the border, now I have to decide what to quilt on the blocks.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!♥︎
