Spinning the Whiteface Dartmoor blend

With the festive celebrations and everything else it has taken me around about a month to spin up the entirety of this blend that I put together myself back in June 2023, but then there is just over 450g of it.  I finished spinning the first skein on 16th December 2023 and the last skein on 10th January 2024.

As I was spinning I had to keep thinning out the various lumps and bumps of different fibres and I also tried to make sure that there were at least a few strands of the Whiteface Dartmoor throughout the entirety of the length of the yarn.

All of the skeins are sport weight and they are reasonably soft considering the fact that majority fibre in the blend is Whitefaced Dartmoor.  The fibre content is 67.5% Whiteface Dartmoor, 13.5% Merino, 5% Corriedale, 4% Tussah Silk, 3% Hemp, 3% Longwool breed, 3% Sari Silk, 1% Angelina.  Unfortunately the Angelina doesn't show up in the photos but it is there and under the right lighting conditions you can see little purple sparkles in the yarn.  In total there is 454g/859m.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 21

The Cycling: Stage 21 is 115km of a flat route that starts in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and ends on the Paris Champs-Elysees.

The Daily Challenge: As always - spin something yellow (and try to finish it)

Suggested Fibre: Destination

What I did

I finished spinning my own blend for the Yellow Jersey celebration.  It hasn't turned out light and fluffy like the fibre at all, it's actually spun up quite dense despite me trying to keep it thinned out and light and I think some of that is down to the Suri Alpaca element of the original main blend that I dyed yellow.

The finished yarn is 50% Merino, 21.5% Suri Alpaca, 7% Cellulose, 7% Bamboo, 4.5% Angelina, 3.5% Mulberry Silk, 3.5% Trilobal Nylon, 3% Sari Silk, fingering weight and 338m/125g.  I have named this braid after the winner of the yellow jersey, Jonas Vinegaard.

Tour de France/Tour de Fleece 2023 Stage 20

The Cycling: Stage 20 is 133km of a mountain route that starts in Belford and ends in Le Markstein-Fellering.

The Daily Challenge: Share something that you are immensely proud of.  It could be your achievements so far this tour or something completely unrelated.  Time to blow your own trumpet.

Suggested Fibre: Leo

What I did

I made a start on something that I am proud of and also it is something I created especially for tomorrow and the celebration of the Yellow Jersey.  There is enough of this to take more than one day to spin.

There is about 130g of fibre in this blend so I spun the first 65g, the first single and then made a start on the second single.

Making my own yellow blend for the last day of the TDF2023

I've been playing with my blending hackle again today and making a yellow fibre blend in preparation for the upcoming Tour de Fleece 2023.  There is always a "yellow jersey day", usually on the last day of The Tour.  I'm not buying any fibre for this event this year, I will make do with what I have because I have plenty that needs to be used up.

I have already dyed some fibre for this purpose just a few days ago and I have sorted out what else will be added to it to make it more interesting.

Top row: unknown cellulose/plant fibre and Trilobal Nylon both dyed a few days ago
Middle row: Angelina, Merino/Suri Alpaca blend I dyed a few days ago, Sari Silk in shade Honeycomb
Bottom row: Bamboo in shade Clara and Mulberry Silk Noil I dyed a few days ago

So the fibres I have picked out are all yellow but in different shades and textures and some are matt and some are shiny/lustrous.  In total 140g of fibre went through my blending hackle and I got 130g back out all nice and ready to spin in four bumps of fibre, which when paired up give me two x 65g lots.

Look how soft and fluffy this is.  It's gorgeous and I can't but help think of cute little ducklings.

The final fibre content is: 50% Merino wool, 21.5% Suri Alpaca, 7% Cellulose, 7% Bamboo, 4.5% Angelina, 3.5% Mulberry Silk, 3.5% Trilobal Nylon, 3% Sari Silk

Making a blend of the blue Whiteface Dartmoor

Back in September I dyed some Whiteface Dartmoor a blue-purple colour. I have now blended it with some other bits and pieces ready for spinning. I picked out a load of fibre but three of the bumps were close to what I wanted but not quite there.  After a little test I decided that if I blend the three together then it will give me the exact shade that I was looking for, as my intention is to only put the blend through the hackle once as I don't want it too well blended but these individual bumps needs to be well blended together first.  I blended them in roughly equal amounts so used all of the Merino and about half of the Corriedale.

Top right is Merino in shade Fuchsia, top left is Corriedale in shade Tanzanite, bottom left is Merino in shade Sapphire and bottom right is the finished blend of the three

A = 57g of blended Merino/Corriedale
B = 5g of Angelina in Ultraviolet
C = 20g of Tussah Silk in Lilac
D = 25g of Merino - WoW Northern Lights in shade Typhoon
E = 7g of Merino in Lavender
F = 15 of Hemp in Lilac
G = 14g of unknown white longwool
H = 13g of Sari Silk in Moon River
I = 324g of Whiteface Dartmoor wool

I had to loosen up the dyed Whiteface Dartmoor before I put it through the hackle because it had felted slightly in places during the dyeing process.  I lost 16g in the process, which is almost nothing.

The fibre content is: 67.5% Whiteface Dartmoor wool, 13.5% Merino wool, 5% Corriedale wool, 4% Tussah Silk, 3% Hemp, 3% Longwool breed, 3% Sari Silk and 1% Angelina.

This is another blend that probably won't be spun for the the TdF but hopefully it won't be too long before I get around to it.

Spinning the yellow Jacob Wool

I don't know why I have sat on this blended fibre for a couple of weeks before spinning it but I've spun it now and I'm really happy with the results.  The final fibre content figures are: 48% Jacob Wool, 41% Merino Wool, 6% Hemp, 4% Trilobal Nylon, 1% Angelina.  Adding the Merino has given it a much softer hand and its is gorgeously soft and shimmery, although my photography is struggling to show off the shimmers and glitters.  There is 147g of double knit weight yarn here but I've yet to decide what it will end up being knitted into exactly.

Blending again

A few days ago I combed some yellow Jacob wool and today I have finally made my choices using colour choice tools to help me make that decision and blended some extra bits and pieces into it.

Main photo is Jacob Wool with sunshine yellow merino, a blend of four greens merino and purple angelina underneath and then Elderberry merino, Saffron hemp and Caiprinha trilobal nylon (firestar) down the right hand side.

 I've not worked out the final fibre content just yet, would be pretty high on the Jacob and Merino though.  I didn't use all of the trilobal nylon in this as a little goes a long way and that is what is giving the fibre the shimmery glow.

Spinning the Aqua and Pink Falkland

I blended this fibre last week and now I have finished spinning it up.  I've got two skeins of double knit weight yarn and one smaller skein of worsted weight yarn from this.

The double knit yarns are 107g/308m and 106g/311m, lovely and soft and slightly sparkly and was spun short forward draw. The final fibre content worked out at 70% Falkland, 12% Other wool and fibres, 11.5% Merino, 3% Silk Noil, 2% Silk, 1.5% Angelina.  So now you're probably thinking "Other wool and fibres?", yes, there were some elements that went into the recipe that I didn't know for sure what fibres they included and that is one of the downfalls of buying bags of leftovers/oddments/botany lap waste from fibre producers/sellers but in my opinion the positives outweigh the negatives when you buy that stuff.

The worsted weight skein was spun using the blending hackle waste and I have 73g/153m.  I spun this semi-worsted/semi longdraw just as it come which has produced a slightly thick and thin slightly slubby yarn.  The fibre content is a little different on this one due to the fact that there is no silk noil in it but its not all that different at 70% Falkland, 15% Other wool and fibres, 11.5% Merino, 2% Silk, 1.5% Angelina.

Aqua and Pink Falkland

I've been playing with the blending hackle again.  This time I've been playing with 200g of aqua coloured Falkland fibre that I bought back in November 2013.  It doesn't seem that long ago but I'm glad that I chose to blend it rather than just spin it because it had started to compact slightly which would have made it a little tough to spin as it was.

Once again I have chosen a whole load of bits and pieces to put with this to give it a bit p'zazz, including Merino, Silk Noil and Angelina.

I first of all split everything equally into 4 lots and loaded the blending hackle up quite finely as I only wanted to do each quarter only once.  The wool fibres lay on top of each other really nicely but the Silk Noil had to be pulled apart into small pieces and just placed on top of the layers of fibre as putting it through the tines of the hackle would have meant that it stuck there and it would have been the same with the Angelina.  I dizzed each of the lots off the hackle and had 4 large bumps of fibre ready to spin.

I had a lot of waste stay at the back of the hackle with each lot that was blended so I removed this at the end of each lot and lay it to one side.  At the end of the blending I had 4 decent sized amounts of fibre to spin by another method if needs be.

Jacobs Gold

I am thrilled with how this has turned out and I am having trouble capturing the sparkles and shimmers that this yarn contains.  It positively glows in real life due to the Angelina and the Firestar (Trilobal Nylon) content in this yarn.

I blended it just a few days ago and now it is finished, soaked, snapped and dried.  I have 95g/246m of double knit weight yarn and its lovely and soft.  The final fibre content is: 75.5% Jacob Wool, 10.5% Trilobal Nylon, 5% Corriedale Wool, 5% Silk, 2% Merino, 2% Stellina/Angelina.

Blending some black Jacob fibres

Today I have got my blending hackle out and finally taken to task the small bag of Jacob fibre that I combed back in the first week of July last year.  It was from a fleece I got back in 2014.  This is the fleece it has come from, fleece 2 from Home Farm in Elford, Tamworth.  Its a lovely fleece but mostly white.  I am using the black fibres from this one.

I started out with 127g of black fleece last year but after it was combed this was reduced to just 77g of beautiful combed top.  I did forget to take any photos of the combed top but I have borrowed one from another Jacob fleece I prepared and spun a while ago to give an idea of what it looked like before I blended it with all the other bits and pieces, although the dark fibres from this fleece are less brown and more grey-black.

Top Row: Jacob, Yellow Silk, A sparkly white and gold blend
Bottom Row: Yellow Corriedale, Firestar (Tri-lobal Nylon), Bronze Angelina

 All the other bits and pieces have come from either one of the HilltopCloud Ingredients boxes that I've bought or from a big bag of lap waste that I got from World of Wool.

 I will be spinning this over the weekend and I can't wait to see the finished yarn as it is ever so slightly sparkly all over.

I've bought some more Ingredients Boxes

I really do like the Ingredients Boxes from my main fibre supplier and they're not always available but she has them back in stock and in a few colourways so I've bought four of them, yes four!

As always each pack contains: 20g each of three shades of Tussah Silk, 10g each of two shades of Silk Noil, 10g each of two shades of Hemp, 10g each of two shades of Firestar (Trilobal Nylon) and 1g each of two shades of Angelina (in the little bags)

I've created these little collages and in the spare box in the bottom corner I have put an image containing a representation of my interpretation of the colours in the box.

First, we have Hydrangea, so delicate and pretty

Then we have Still Life, quite the opposite in its vibrancy, its certainly not still, its more like a fiesta

Next up we have Threads, which is kind of like half-way between the previous two in terms of colours and vivacity

And finally we have Pear, which is more colour coordinated and calm.

This lot should keep me busy for a while.

Oh no, not another one! - Design F213 - Golden Carrot

Back in September I spun this yarn that I had dyed using plant dyed from the boiled up carrot tops from the homegrown carrots.  This will be the last shawl of this design that I make, for a while at least.

This is really sparkly and I used the same beads as last time, Toho size 6 in shade 83, Metallic Brown Iris.

My eldest daughter doing the modelling again and the shawl is certainly a one-of-a-kind.

Peppermint Sparkles

Back in September I had a play with my new blending hackle and I made this beautiful fibre and I have now had chance to sit and spin it.  I am in love.  This one is very delicately coloured and so sparkly.

The final fibre count is 89% Merino Wool, 5% Angelina, 3% BFL, 1.5% Shetland Wool, 1.5% Soy Bean Silk.  This is sport weight and 109g/320m.  I am very happy with how this turned out.

Pink Fizzy Sparkles

Last month I had a play with my new blending hackle and one of the fibres I blended was some pink and white plant based fibres.  I wasn't happy with the result but is that because of the disappointment with the fibres or more to do with my dislike of the colour pink.  Hmmmm, maybe both.

I have finally spun up the fibre that I made, not happy with this either but its done now.

I've called it Pink Fizzy Sparkles, its very heavy and dense, definitely not something I would do again.  I worked out the final fibre content, based on what I put in to begin with and its 45% Egyptian Cotton, 22% Bamboo, 22% Soy Bean Silk, 7% Linen, 4% Angelina.  Its a sport weight at 90g/182m.

Spinning the Golden Carrot

I've sat and spun up something special.  This is the original post about how I made the dye and what fibre I dyed.  I added more to it and blended it all together in this post.  Now I have gotten around to spinning it and I am thrilled with the results.

I have called it Golden Carrot and its a fingering weight yarn 92g/316m and is 49% Falkland Merino, 28% Alpaca, 7% Mulberry Silk, 6% Angelina, 5% BFL, 5% Sari Silk.  Well, you certainly can't buy that in the shops!

I've had some goodies arrive

Whilst I was working in the front garden today the postman bought me a nice parcel. One item is something that once spun will make a fabulous shawl and the other is so that I have small amounts of different fibre in different colours to use with my blending hackle to create my own interesting fibre blends for spinning.

This is another Ingredients Box from my regular fibre supplier and this colourway is called Leaf Kicker, very autumnal. The pack contains: 20g each of three shades of Tussah Silk, 10g each of two shades of Silk Noil, 10g each of two shades of Hemp, 10g each of two shades of Firestar (Trilobal Nylon) and 1g each of two shades of Angelina (in the little bags)

This is a gradient pack in shade Sea Shell and its 50% Merino wool, 25% Shetland wool, 25% Seacell.   There are 5 main shades in a gradient pack with smaller amounts of transition shades to produce a gradual shift in colour and not stripes.  All the colourways are limited edition and so quite unique.

Spinning the first of the Llanwenog

A couple of days ago I added some Angelina to the pale green Llanwenog and today I have finished making it to yarn.  Its very pretty and quite soft.  Its a sport weight yarn and 138g/376m.  I have some ideas about making a vegan yarn with some fibres that I have and also thinking about what I am going to do with the fibres that I dyed with the carrot tops.

I've bought some small amounts of fibre

I know that I want to buy myself a blending hackle so that I can start making my own interesting blends of fibre for spinning because trying to add sparkle or other bits and pieces as you go along is really difficult and its almost impossible to do it on my wool combs.  I'm in the middle of researching which one will be best for me so I've started buying packs of fibre specifically for this reason.  They are sold by most places that sell spinning fibre and are usually small amounts of left overs, lap waste or sometimes specifically put together and sold for this purpose.

The first is an Ingredients Box from my regular fibre supplier in colourway Forget-me-not: The pack contains: 20g each of three shades of Tussah Silk, 10g each of two shades of Silk Noil, 10g each of two shades of Hemp, 10g each of two shades of Firestar (Trilobal Nylon) and 1g each of two shades of Angelina (in the little bags)

The second pack are small amounts of blended fibre either from where she has been trialling blends or left overs from blends she's put together for the shop or fibre clubs.  You can't choose what colours you get, she just sells them from time to time as random bags containing a certain weight and this is good just to have lots of options in your stash.  The only draw back is that you don't know exactly what each one is or what fibres they contain but other than that its a fun purchase.

Shetland Top - Lilac sparkles

I have a large braid of Shetland combed top that appears to be compacted, that's another one from the same supplier that is compacted.  Its probably no surprise that they are no longer trading.  The only way to deal with this is to put it through my wool combs and make the best of a bad job.

It started out as 240g but after combing I have about 130g of hand combed top to use.  I decided to add some sparkle to this but I can't blend it in with the combs so will have to just add it as I spin it.

I now have a lovely skein of sparkly sport weight Shetland that is 91.5% Shetland wool, 8.5% Angelina (sparkles) and is 142g/302m.

I have one more braid from this supplier to work through at some point in the not too distant future.