Collected Yarn Labels. :: Knitting.

Winding Skeins :: Knitting.

Mum unearthed this great wool winder from somewhere deep in her craft room. It was made by a sister of a dear friend of ours from California (Humbolt County- Near the Oregon coast). She's a wiz at woodwork (we have several of her plates and a sweet little acorn box), and this was a real pleasant surprise. I was wondering how I was going to roll all these white balls into Skeins for dying them! (much easier than on the back of a chair or someone's hands!)


It's quite a mesmerizing and magical process. The reason for winding them into skeins is that it gives the yarn a more relaxed tension for dying the wool, which insures that the dye reaches all the length evenly.
Here is a little demonstration of the magical twisting.

A Skein. from Kim Smith on Vimeo

I've adopted this wool winder (which collapses to no bigger than a tripod) for the meantime. I'm excited to get some coloured yarns onto it!

WOOL ARCHIVE- EBAY 07. :: KNITTING

These don't really need a before and after picture, as they are cones. [: These were actually two lots, but from the same lady. Some of this wool is incredibly soft, and surprisingly I think they might be 100% Acryllic... but I'm not sure as the labels on the insides of the cones don't say- they just give me a 'dye lot' number. It's always a treat to get a variegated cone in a lot, as they are generally more expensive. (just FYI... buying a cone like this new, they go for anywhere between £8 and £16 each. I've been getting them for less than £2 each. It's hard to pass that up! These worked out to about £1 each (shipping included!). Recycle, Reuse, Restyle, SAVE.)
p.s. I need to take an after picture of lot 6.
p.p.s. I've stopped actually buying more wool on ebay now (I gave myself a budget). haha. Just documenting them as they come in. [:
p.p.s. If the light is good tomorrow, I'll take some photos of the colour organizing I've been doing and my swatches.
p.p.p.s. Can't remember if I said this, but the reason I'm collecting all these different types/colours of wool is not only to learn about how they work/knit/come but to build up a big colour library so I can successfully make big (what I'm calling) 'knitted illustrations' or at least get better at Colour Knitting- and using my own designs. As Kaffe Fasset says: "When in doubt- add another twenty colours!"

WOOL ARCHIVE- EBAY 03. 04.& 05. :: KNITTING

Ebay 03. Before :: After.

Ebay 04. Before :: After.


Ebay 05. Before :: After.

WOOL ARCHIVE- EBAY 02. :: KNITTING

Before :: After
Collecting. Gathering. Rearranging. Organizing. Arranging. Ordering. Documenting. Archived. Making. Liking

WOOL ARCHIVE- EBAY 01. :: KNITTING

Before :: After.


Starting to document what supplies I buy and how I organize them.
(I like to roll the balls neater, and I like moving them around my flat- re arranging them. colour. thickness. projects. left over balls. Thought it'd be good to photograph it. Afterall, sometimes it's while I'm doing this that I get my ideas. I like to see how different textures and colours work together.)
Been getting good ebay deals. Lots of ideas and plans coming together. Don't want to give too much away yet.