yarn

How Much Yardage to Expect with Handspun Yarns

By Stephanie

A customer recently wrote to ask me how much handspun yarn she could expect get from a braid of my hand-dyed fiber and, to be honest, I was at a bit of a loss.  How much yarn you’ll get varies from spinning style to spinning style  …and from spinner to spinner.  The thicker the yarn, the less yardage; the thinner it’s spun, the more yardage.  Beyond that, it’s a very hard question to answer.

Hand-dyed BFL Combed Top, in Garden in Spring

And especially for me, because I hardly ever calculate the yardage on my handspun.  I have no idea why — I just never do!

So I turned to my friend Natalie who is a more experienced (and excellent) handspinner and posed my customer’s question to her.  She replied, “It’s usually 20 – 30 % less yardage than you’d get from the same amount (grams/ounces) of commercially spun yarn of the same weight (worsted, dk, fingering etc) because handspun tends to be denser. From 4oz, I’d expect 300-400 yards fingering; probably 200-300 of a dk/worsted range.” A much more technical and useful answer than mine!

The yarn spun by my friend from the Garden In Spring BFL

And then she added, “Hard to judge though… It’s all very variable.” Which made me feel a bit better!

Dyeing Disasters and Silver Linings

By Stephanie

When I’m dyeing, I always go into my studio with a fixed idea of the colours I’m hoping to create.  I see them in my mind and that’s what I’m aiming for as I mix up the dyes.  And most of the time, I hit pretty close to the mark.  But sometimes…  sometimes what I pull out of the dyepot is nothing like what I was expecting.

And I’m always so disappointed, because I really wanted the colours I saw in my head.  But then I realise that even though the result wasn’t what I was expecting, it’s alright, because for someone else, it will be exactly what they were looking for.

Vineyard Stain was exactly that kind of dyeing disaster.  I was aiming for something else entirely, and couldn’t believe what came out of the dyepot.  And then I looked at it and realised it was lovely, with all the complexity and depth of a beautiful red wine.  When that skein sold, I was almost disappointed to not get to keep it myself!  And, because the colour had been a complete fluke, I wasn’t really sure I could reproduce it.

But I’d kept very careful notes as I dyed it and so, when I tried to create the same colourway again, I was relieved to see that what came out of the dyepot, though slightly more intense, was most definitely Vineyard Stain.  Maybe even better the second time around.

Into The Deep, on the other hand, was a completely different type of dyeing disaster.  What came out of the dyepot actually was what I’d been visualising in my mind but, in real life, it just didn’t look good.  Not at all.  I quickly tried a few different things to remedy the situation — a little more of this dye, a quick dip in that one — and I didn’t write any of them down.  And then I realised what shade this yarn really needed to make it alright, and I mixed it up and quickly submerged the skeins.  And what came out of the pot thirty minutes later was just breathtaking!  The silver lining to my dyeing disaster.

But I hadn’t written any of it down.  And I know — to my deep regret — I will never be able to produce Into The Deep again.

A Quick Peek at the Prizes

By Stephanie

I posted the prizes off to the winners of the Giveaway today and, before I slipped them into the envelopes, I just couldn’t resist taking a few pictures just so I could share them with you.

The two runners-up got 2oz each of this BFL fiber.

When I dyed this, I was going for a fiber version of Plumberry, the colourway of the newest yarn in the shop*.  But, although I mixed the dyes up correctly, I did the dyeing in slightly the wrong order and the blue took on an amazing silver-grey tint.  It doesn’t look like Plumberry to me but, let me tell you, it is really quite stunning!  I might dye more like this, but I am undecided as to whether it deserves its own name, because dyeing is a dynamic process — even if I gave it a new name and tried to dye it this way again, it might come out of the dyepot with more blue and looking more like the original Plumberry…   Hmmmm…   Maybe the nature of Plumberry will be that it’s sometimes got this grey, sometimes got more blue.  We’ll have to see.

Anyway, I do hope the runners up enjoy the lovely colours of their new fiber!

*You never saw the Plumberry yarn?  That’s because both skeins sold in two hours!  But I’ve dyed some more that will go in later this week.

————————————-

And for our winner, I’ve chosen a skein of Garden In Spring sock yarn.  This is the first colourway I ever dyed for the shop and it is absolutely one of my favourites.  It’s so bright and cheerful and just so darned happy, and I think that’s the very essence of how winning a giveaway ought to make a person feel!

Congratulations again to the winners, and I hope you enjoy using your yarn and fiber!  And to everyone else, there will be more giveaways in the future, so keep your eyes open for those.

Tallying Up…

By Stephanie

The May Giveaway has come to a close and I am just overjoyed at the response — so many people subscribing, tweeting, friending, and commenting about my yarn and fiber.  It’s such a help to me to hear everyone’s thoughts and feedback.  Thank you all so much!   I now have to tie up all the extra entries with the subscriptions and I am presently fighting off a very nasty cold and fever, so it will take me a few days.  You can expect the winners to be announced near the end of the week.

In the meantime, let me share with you what I pulled out of the dyepot yesterday.  The colours are so rich and delicious that I just want to fall into it headfirst.  I simply could not get the camera to really capture the tones of this yarn but, here, have a look…

Fingering Weight Yarn in Superwash Merino, in Vineyard Stain

When the grapes have been harvested and gathered into great piles at the end of each row, and the piles have been collected and taken to the winery, what is left in their place is a ruby-red mark where the sheer weight of the bounty crushed the succulent grapes and the dark juice escaped and ran down, leaving that beautiful, telltale stain — deep as burgundy in some places, soft as a rose in others — against the yellow-brown of the dry, sun-baked earth.

Each skein is over 100g of Superwash Merino in a wonderfully soft 3-ply, fingering weight yarn. Two skeins available, sold separately.

Fiber Content: 100% Superwash Merino
Weight: Approximately 3.7oz / 105g (approximately 490 yards per 100g)
Colourway: Vineyard Stain, 100530-001
Care Instructions for the final item: Hand or Machine wash, Lay flat to dry.

Each item is individually hand-dyed by the SpaceCadet, using professional grade acid dyes, using professional grade acid dyes which are mixed by hand from primaries. Please be sure to buy enough for your project as the colours may not be able to be reproduced exactly.
SpaceCadet Creations is a smoke-free, pet-free environment.
Please remember that the colours in pictures may vary depending on your computer monitor. The colours in the photos are as accurate as possible.

Last Chance to Enter the Giveaway!

By Stephanie

It’s the last few days to enter the giveaway to win a skein of SpaceCadet Creation’s hand-dyed Sock Yarn or two 2oz braids of hand-dyed fiber!  The giveaway will come to a close at the end of Monday (11.59pm on May 31st to be exact) so, if you’re not entered, make sure you get entered before the end of the holiday weekend!

All you have to do is put your email address in the subscription box over there on the right, just above the SpaceCadet’s head.  And, once you’ve done that, there are six ways to earn extra entries — for all the details, click here.

But remember, those extra entries will count only if you’ve subscribed to the blog using the subscription box right over there at the top of the right-hand column.  While I am sincerely grateful for all my followers, I can’t see the people who subscribe through other feed aggrigators (such as Google Reader, Bloglines, etc) and so I’m afraid those subscriptions can’t count as entries.  If you prefer to follow me through another feed aggrigator, please go ahead and do that, but also subscribe through the blog just for a few days, so your entry can be counted for the giveaway.

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed and entered so far.  It’s been so exciting to “meet” all of you!  Now go out there and tweet, post, follow, and friend your way to extra entries.  And GOOD LUCK!

On the Wheel: Heathered Silk

By Stephanie

Beautiful sunshine and a lovely warm day, I sat in the dappled shade of the trees and spun silk into heathered shades of blue, green, and purple.

Just before I finished and came in, the wind picked up and the skies transformed from blazing and blue to an angry dark grey.  A summer thunderstorm rolled in, and then ended as quickly as it started, leaving everything drenched but fresh again.  Perfect!