Shreddica…

The finished spinning batts

One of the reasons I’ve been wanting to dye large quantities of wool is so I can make nice big spinning batts with my drum carder. I love that thing so; so much so that it has a name: Shreddica. And it’s a wonderful beast. It takes a chaotic handful of fluff and blends it into something really grand for spinning. Before I got Shreddica I mostly used hand cards, which took a while, or just shredded things with my fingers. (I still do that quite a bit with locks where I want to keep their shape.) Sometimes I have friends over and make them crank Shreddica while I feed wool through it’s hungry mouth, yelling, “Crank faster, carding-slave!” Oddly enough, people obey. I’m guessing feeding them cake and booze first helps…

A handful of fluff
A handful of fluff

I couldn’t keep my greedy mitts off the plum Shetland I just dyed, so I fed some to Shreddica, along with fistfuls of white mohair, border leister, a little merino and some leftover angora…

The finished spinning batts
Plum Candy spinning batt

I also found some of my dark red had dried enough for me to play with, so into Shreddica it went, along with fistfuls of black merino and red-dyed “black” angora. I want to spin this one up myself, I think, instead of sticking it in the shop

Deep Red spinning batt
Deep Red spinning batt

Some fun with the dye pot…

Plum Garden handspun yarn

Recently I’ve been trying new things, like dyeing various wools to the shades I’ve always wanted. I love natural colors and I’m always happy to buy some pretty roving from a talented dyer, but sometimes there’s a color I just have to have in a wool and just can’t find. I’ve been having a great time with acid dyes I’d gotten from the local textile center, as well as a jaquard dye I bought at a spinner’s event. The results are here…

Black Cherry Wool

Plum Wool
Plum Wool
Plum Garden handspun yarn
This is the finished result from my first round of plum-dyed wool.

 

Welcome!

Welcome to the first posting for my new page! I’m so very glad to see you. For years and years I did my blogging on Livejournal, and as time went by I decided I needed something I could personalize a bit more. So with a great deal of help, fine tuning, last-minute tweaking and and my going, “Nono, more like this! No, wait, how about that? Oh dear, tech support guys again?” I am proud to present MsFledermaus’s Completely New and Extremely Fancy Blogging Experience…now with more pictures, videos, and yet still chock-full of Mausi-style spooky-stuff. Hurray!

I should mention, this blog will mostly be about making art-yarns, from start to finish. There will be wool-washing, dyeing, carding, spinning, knitting, and flouncing around covered in yarn…including the occasional tutorial. This may not be your thing. That’s okay.  And there will also be crazily-painted dollhouses, odd tea parties, odder art projects, and other amusing miscellany. Even if these things may not be your cup of tea, I hope to at least be entertaining…

Meanwhile, here’s a cheerful photo of Shamu the Bunny, because rabbits make blogging more fun. It’s a fact…

Shamu the Bunny