Shetland fiber, a bit of Cheviot, and Phouka yarn!

As always the shop is here

More blogging soon. Things are a bit hectic here as suppliers and such are changing.

~The Gnome

The Shop

There’s an update to the shop up. Long, lustrous wensleydale! Several colorways even have two braids if you want more than 4oz.

Will post about NH Sheep and Wool in a bit, and such. I’m preparing for an interview early next week so I’m a bit all over right now.

And a new Phouka colorway

That’s all for now. See you soon!

~The Gnome

Like I said, here’s an update. Any orders made by Saturday mid-day I should be able to get out. Orders made after that will go out Saturday of next week.

We’re in the middle of getting my paper out for review, so the descriptions will be sparer than normal.

New fiber: Finn, SW Merino, Tencel/Merino, Wensleydale, BL, and Undyed BL

The summer is warm and dry when the storm rolls in. The lightning strikes the dry ground and thunder rolls… soon, all that’s left is smoke and ash, leaving the way open for new growth and new life.

Smoke and Ashes – 4oz – Combed Wensleydale Top

Long fronds sway in the “wind” of the current, hiding fish, urchin, and mystery in their shadowed fronds…

Soft Seaweed – 4oz – Combed Wensleydale Top

Soft iridescent feathers glowing with warm browns reds and golds… I struggled with this photo. This top is quite luminescent and warm, it almost glows. Could not get it right. It’s one of my all time favorites.

Pheasant – 4oz – Combed Wensleydale Top

Deepest blue sapphires buried in glinting white quartz, waiting to be discovered. Not normally a fan of SW, but this is a nice non-squeaky prep of it.

Sapphire Surprise – 4oz – Superwash Merino

Shadows and play across you, tinted green from the leaves, weaving patterns of light over the world as you slip into the Greenwood…

Into the Green – 4oz – 50/50 Merino/Tencel (not superwash)

The fires burn low, leaving the air thick with the smell and sight of ash, figures littering the ground in the aftermath…

Blood and Ashes – 4oz – Combed Finn Top

And finally, my fiber is starting to come back from the mills. This batch is pin-drafted which is a little tricky to work with for dyeing…

The rain falls and water rushes down the mountain in a torrent, pouring over rocks and earth…

Water on the Mountain – 4oz – Pin Drafted Border Liecester

And undyed… naturally heathered pin-drafted roving. Expertly prepped at a small local mill without stripping out all the lanolin, leaving the fiber with a lovely luster and crimp. A gorgeous prep. Border Leicester, a longwool with a great lustre, and a wonderful handle. This batch is similar in softness to a romney, but with longer staple length and more shine.
This is a pin-drafted roving, which means it’s a thinner, more open roving than the “ropes” you may be used to. Easy to draft.

Granite – 4oz (or other) – Pin Drafted Border Leicester Roving

Whee! Ok, back to finishing off edits and helping boss with the bibliography (I use some fairly obscure sources to the field).

Oh, and tomorrow I’m picking up another rather interesting fleece. Hush, I totally don’t have enough fiber. Really. Yeah. Ignoring the fact my 40lbs are coming back in the next few weeks…

Paper.

~The Gnome

An actual shop update! Which will push aside my report on the (nice) weekend I had, for now.

And… I’ll have some gorgeous, soft, lustrous natural heathered border leicester to put up soon. Just have to measure it out and braid it. It’s pin drafted, so working with it without pulling it apart is a little harder for me.

In other news, I have some new fiber coming for the shop, am picking up another fleece, and if I can scrape together a little more money, a line on some rather interesting fibers.

And in further other news, I’m thinking about making some small dyed fiber samplers. Something like 4 samples of 2oz each. Suggestions so far lean towards them being dyed the same colorway (giving a total of 8oz) or possible in coordinated colors.

Possible samplers include:
Rarer Breed Sampler
Longwools
Downs wools
Fine wools
Luxury fibers

Comments? Suggestions?

And now, the fiber.

New shop fiber

And a long standing trade, finally done and boxed up

A softer version of a colorway I’ve done once before, in a lofty downs wool. Fronds sway in the “wind” of the current, hiding fish, urchin, and mystery in their shadowed fronds…

Soft Seaweed: 4oz – Combed Clun Forest Roving

Bright, primary colors, what could be better when you’re five? Or when you *wish* you were five? Another in a lofty downs wool. Sproingy!

Fingerpaints: 4oz – Combed Dorset Roving

Mm soft, lovely finn, how I love thee!

Water swirls, a sharp fin cuts through the froth, better swim faster…

Blood in the Water: 4oz – Combed Finn Top

Deepest purple, and full rich gold, two of my favorite flower colors to put next to each other. Deep lupins and warm coreopsis, in a super soft and lofty finn. Mmm. This one’s actually a space dye, so if spun straight will make a self-striping yarn. If the colors are deliberately offset during plying, it will spin a purple and gold tweedy yarn.

Lupins and Coreopsis: 4oz – Combed Finn Top

Not a fiber I deal in much, but I found a better blended than normal batch and thought I’d play with some. I have to admit I like the shine and delicate colors it lends itself to.

Soft and delicate, so clear and precise it seems almost fabricated, floating on the dark water that is its backdrop…

Water Lily: 4oz – Combed Merino/Tencel Top

That’s it for new stuff at the moment, more soon. And soon I can tell you about the great fleece adventure part II!

Now, back to editing my paper.

~The Gnome

Lab continues to eat my brain, but it’s also progressing, albeit slowly.

And, of course, as per usual, it’s made me way behind on keeping things updated.

First, I got another shipment of fiber. Mmm fiber. Finn, Wensleydale, and Corriedale combed top, and Romney roving. Yummy. Douglas (though, he’s an alpaca, maybe he’s really Diego?) is using it as a bed.

The finn and wensleydale are weighed out for dyeing.

Sent out a bunch of fiber last week, including a larger order, which as I mentioned before gets an added bonus. The order has arrived, so I can post them now. The order was pink, so I provided a pair of orphan stitch markers, in pink. These are orphan from the stars and moons beads, which I got a while ago from a place that no longer exists.

Rhodonite – Metal – Sodalite

Let’s see, what else? Well, I’ve actually got almost enough photos to finally open the Gnomespun in the Wild gallery. Just need permission from one person to post a photo.

Oh right, dyeing.

Been doing quite a bit. Two, sadly, I didn’t get photos of. But my friends at knit night seemed to enjoy them. A Soft Corundum and a new colorway, Lavender Fields, disappeared. Not that I’m complaining, as the money went into a project I’m working on.

Before the new stuff, here’s the Brick I mentioned earlier, actually braided up.

9.5 oz of Border Liecester, carded roving. In a MONSTER BRAID OF DOOOOOOM.

Ahem. Yay.

More of the alpaca/merino/silk fiber. Oh the semi-solids are such fun in this fiber! Spring colors!

First, early in spring, bloom the daylillies. Orange bursts of sunshine and green in a world still waking up from winter.

Daylillies. 6oz of Alpaca/Merino/Silk 50/30/20 Combed Top

As summer bursts upon the scene, so do the poppies. I didn’t manage to catch the soft shine of this fiber well. It really does remind me of the slight gleam of a poppy petal in both shade and shine.

Poppies. 8oz Alpaca/Merino/Silk 50/30/20 Combed Top

Finally, later in the summer, the Rose of Sharon blooms. Softly variegated roses with a tinge of blue (unless you have more basic soil, when they’ll be bluer).

Rose of Sharon. 4oz BFL Combed Top

And there’s nothing like watching the summer sun set, late in the warm evenings…

As the Sun Sets. 3oz BFL Combed Top

And two colorways which aren’t new.

Soft Corundum, a slightly less intense version of Corundum. 6oz Alpaca/Merino/Silk 50/30/20 Combed Top.

And Amethyst Dreams, which didn’t make it to the shop last time. 8oz Alpaca/Merino/Silk 50/30/20 Combed Top.

Also a small blob of unnamed blending silk.

Mmmm… fiber. Essentially out of this fiber for now. But plenty of others on the way.

Currently have a big bunch of New Mown Hay in the dyepot for a friend.

Ok, time for bed. Past, in fact, by over an hour.

Night everyone. I’ll get these up on the shop tomorrow or Monday.

~The Gnome