Funny Farm

A fearsome foray into my fiber follies. I talk about weaving, knitting, spinning and dyeing. Some chatter about the sheep, goats, pigs and chickens.

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Location: North-east PA, United States

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Busy Bee

Yup, I'm part of the MS3 Lemming Gang. I happened upon this when there were under 800 participants. I'm amazed that it's now over 7000. I'm about 10 rows into clue 3. Not bad considering I've had company off and on for the past 4 weeks. More coming tomorrow and again next week, then I think we're done. For awhile. Then I'll catch up. Maybe.


I'm using Mondial, a fine Merino wool. It is a two ply,
2/25. The stole is being knit using a size 3 needle. Beads are size 6. Size 8 would have been better but I used what I had on hand, including the yarn. I bought the yarn years ago at Knitter's Day Out, maybe 8 years ago. I suppose the color is teal, not my favorite, but it was the most appropriate yarn for this project that was available in my stash of yarn.







A silk sarong for my daughter. I used both string and plastic bags as resist. It was dyed with Sabracron F, navy, 4% DOS.
I have another silk and a cotton to dye. I'm noodling some new ideas for resists. Perhaps not original ideas, but new techniques for me.
Andy's Blanket
all warped up!
Panel One on the cloth beam.
Slaving over panel 2
I finally twisted the fringe and I think I'll keep this shawl for me.
I had hoped Andy's blanket would have looked more like this. I have only painted one other wool warp which I've yet to use. I had debated what sett to use for the blanket and feared that if set too close it would become upholstery fabric. I think I'm correct in this case, using this particular wool. Next time I'll go finer. And softer.
In other, animal news, we just got 50 broiler chicks. I was going to take pictures but it's raining out and I don't want to melt like the Wicked Witch of the West. The other chicks, now teenagers in chick speak, have been moved to a new pen (with the two wee turkeys) and are much happier there since they can now venture into the outside world.
Big Dog has had his fur buzzed off and is feeling very summery now. He's even smiling these days, poor 'ol man.
And that is what is new at The Funny Farm.

6 Comments:

Blogger Charleen said...

Andy's blanket is great! It's hard to see the hand of the cloth but the colors are gorgeous. What sett did you use?

What I've noticed about dyeing and painting wool is that it's not going to full as much since it's been washed, etc. so I generally have to use a closer sett. I bet it will be perfect!

9:20 AM  
Blogger Leigh said...

My but you've been busy. No wonder you haven't been posting! The blanket is gorgeous, very inspiring. What size/weight yarn and what sett did you use?

7:56 PM  
Blogger Sharon said...

How do you get the ikat effect? Do you wind small bouts and then rainbow dye all of them to get color harmonies? Spill your secrets woman!!! As for chickens, check out a blog I've been reading at http://teleknitter.blogspot.com/ and read her entry for July 17th to see her chickens. What a hoot!

8:44 PM  
Blogger Marie said...

Leigh asked about the weight and sett for the blanket. I bought the coned yarn off ebay and the only info was dk weight, 900ypp. I set it at 8. I used the same yarn as weft. I didn't have finer yarn in white to dye, so by default used the same wt yarn. Yes, a balanced weave, however the painted warp isn't as dramatic.

6:34 AM  
Blogger Marie said...

Sharon, I have both ikat (subtle) and painted warp chains. I try not to use more than 3 colors but I think in this case I used 5. I plot out my plan on graph paper and wind bouts accordingly. I then paint 1-3 bouts at a time. With the ikat in this case, I wound the bouts, tied with plastic bags to resist, dyed, rinsed, then removed the resists and over-dyed.

6:39 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Marie,
I love the t-shirt hung up like a whacky chandelier or pinata. Is this for you to wear? Hafta come see you this fall. dalis

12:41 PM  

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