Monday, May 26, 2008

Loden!

Last month or so, I've decided to spin the fiber I've dyed myself, before I dig into my other fiber stash. Last year, around this time, I've dyed fiber for the first time. It was 16 ounces of Corriedale, in four different colorways. The first one was my nature socks as I called them, a green colorway, but different. The socks are still going strong. The color did not wash out, and there's only a little felting on the sole.

The next colorway was the blue one, where I had only 2 ounces left, after the over twist disaster. Made these socks with it.

So here's another green, which I call "Loden". When I saw the finished yarn, it reminded me of an old coat I had, a long time ago.
My creation

I was surprised that the fiber was easy to spin. I kind of expected it to be sticky in parts, but it was easy to draft and spin. I LOVE the different greens in this skein.
It's 307yds navajo plied. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've started to do navajo plying a little different, and it turned out so much softer. It's hard to explain how I do it, you'd have to see it. I'm glad I experimented with it.

Here you can see a bowl full of drafted fiber. Sam's hard at work guarding it. It was a nice sunny day, when I took this picture. Late afternoon, since the sun was coming in as it is. I was knitting something (can't remember what), and the dogs were snoozing peacefully, very nice scenario, and relaxing too.

31 comments:

Tracy Purtscher said...

Loden is stunning! Just stunning, of course I'm just a tad partial to greens but dang Woman that is beautiful!

Dreams of Yarn said...

absolutely luscious yarn! I love greens.

Angelika said...

I remember those coats and was never really crazy about them, especially when you have to wear them as a kid. But the yarn is gorgeous. I love it and your spinning and plying is great. Makes me wish I could pick spinning up as another hobby. But I think I'm busy enough knitting it up and leave the spinning to the pros like you.

Anonymous said...

... wunderbares Garn - so in schönes Grün !! Und dieser Hund ist einfach eine Wonne :-) !

Viel Spaß beim Verstricken.

Liebe Grüsse;
Anja (myblog.de/Sockenanja)

Päivi, Lankakomero said...

You are not alone, I also love your green yarn. Lovely!

Kelley said...

That yarn is amazing. I can't wait to see it knit up!

The Kelly Green Rogue said...

oooh soooooo yummy! Love the greens!

Jody said...

Your hand spun is fabulous! I haven't been able to master Navajo plying... I always end up getting all tangled!

The green is just gorgeous too!

Beverly said...

The colorplay of lights and darks is wonderful.

carla said...

I *love* that green yarn. Makes me want to fire up the dye pot.

Cloudberry said...

That is a very beautiful yarn!

Anonymous said...

This yarn is beautiful. I like the color!!

Nice pictures also of the dogs. The look very relaxed.

Kris B said...

I love the rich green colors in Loden, very nice. I also enjoyed seeing the picture of Sam the yarn gaurd dog and what a nice spinning spot you have there.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful green!

Your sheps always look so peaceful compared to my barking pack ;)

sgeddes said...

Beautiful!I love the name and all those greens are wonderful.

And I must agree that your 'sheep" are always on their best behaviour. When are you goign to start spinning their"fleece"?

shannon said...

i LOVE loden!

the dogs are such good guard dogs. :) just like josie.

what a lovely window you get to be buy when spinning.

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

What a great spinning room - it's so light and has great windows! The green yarn is really lovely and rich in tone.

Anonymous said...

Just gorgeous!!! And it is so safe LoL. I hope with practice I get as good as you . . .

My dorkdog has actually barked at my kntting ::: sigh ::: Not the smartest dog in the world.

dina in kc, mo

lexa said...

I absolutely adore that yarn!! That is my color! :)

nuttnbunny said...

Ahhh....

and: Can you video your navajo technique? I'm so curious!

Anonymous said...

Herrlich, Monika!

Ich spiele SO mit dem Gedanken, auch ein Spinnrad zu kaufen - jetzt, wo ich Deine Fotos gesehen habe, noch mehr!

Liebe Grüße!
TAnja

Anonymous said...

Und noch jemand, der mich mit dem Spinnvirus anstecken könnte. Musst Du denn auch so ein tolles Garn spinnen? :). So dunkles grün gefällt mir normalerweise gar nicht, aber dieses hier würde ich am liebsten einstecken.

LG Susi

Viktoria said...

That green is gorgeous! (cute dog too!)

picperfic said...

oooh I love the loden! what a deliciously squidgy looking skein of yarn. I want to spin!!

GoldenTracks said...

Loden is gorgeous. Such a luscious green. I love it.

T-Mom said...

Beautiful yarn--and I love the dog pics. Sam looks great in green. :)

hakucho said...

LOVE the color green of our handspun yarn! The shading is awesome :)

Anonymous said...

Oh could Life be any better?? Beautiful green wool, so lovely and warm sleepy dogs!!! Happy days indeed!!!

Gloria Patre said...

Such a rich vibrant color!! It makes me weak in the knees! Now if I could just figure out how to replicate it for my next dyeing project ... hmmm....
Your spinning with it is awesome! any ideas on what it will knit up into?

Anonymous said...

This yarn is absolutely wonderful!!! I was given a spinning wheel last month, any chance of some classes. I would love to go to Canada!!! ;-)

Violiknit said...

Wow! That is such a deep green! Lovely! Lucky you have Sam to guard your fiber :)