Psychedelia with no drugs

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Robin

I am going to teach a class called Color on the Loom and a friend brought me a useful tool. This is a teleidoscope and when you look through it whatever you see is changed into shapes and patterns. We thought that it might be an interesting way to look at yarns when selecting colors. In fact when looking up teleidoscope on Google here is what one reference said about how to use it: “1. Yarn … It’s hard to get a good idea of how the colors will blend until you have started your piece. Holding up balls of yarn next to each other in the store is good, but we like this method even better. …view the yarns together through your [teleidoscope]. You’ll get a much better idea of how the colors blend. Not only cool, but practical! Quilters love teleidoscopes and often use them as a tool to look at fabrics selected and see how they will look multiplied out as seen through a teleidoscope.”

In looking up the definition of a teleidoscope, “a kind of kaleidoscope, with a lens and an open view, so it can be used to form kaleidoscopic patterns from objects outside the instrument” I found a link to iPhone and iPad apps! What fun!! Look at what I saw:

Should I tell you what these things are or let you guess? My computer screen.

A ribbon from the fair.

Grass in the pasture.

A yarn chart.

The new cotton yarns I just got in the shop.

More yarn.

The barn roof.

Sheep in the pasture. I must say that some views are a little creepy–for instance when it’s a bunch of disembodied sheep noses.

Map of the U.S.Balls of yarn. Those above are all from the iPhone. With that app you can see all these cool designs but you have to take a screen shot to save them. I also got an app for the iPad and it’s a little different. There is a button in the app to take a photo. There are also a couple of sliders to change the effect you see. The following photos are the same view but with the slider moved from one end to the other.

Another great way to waste time when using technology! But it’s better for you than drugs. The iPad app is called Kaleio and the iPhone one is Teleidoscope.

Close to Home…Post #11 – Herding-4-Ewe

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Robin

Sometimes I wind a warp using a lot of different yarns and then realize that I don’t have enough of any one yarn for weft. This usually happens when I’m making a mixed warp to use up odds and ends of yarn that I have around. That happened with a couple of the pieces for Close to Home and I found some yarn left over from other projects that worked just fine. These blankets are not in the show but they use yarn that I had made from Herding-4-Ewe’s wool. I happen to still have some on the shelves. Story: Herding-4-Ewe is just around the corner from my farm. Debbie Pollard keeps a flock of mixed breed sheep to use in training dogs (and, just as important, dog owners) the art of herding. My Border Collie, Rusty, and I took lessons from Debbie for a few years.

Now most of the sheep Debbie uses are hair sheep, but at the time I was there she had many more woolly sheep and I acquired some of the fleeces. I skirted and washed the wool and had it spun at Yolo Wool Mill in Woodland. I have woven many blankets from this yarn (including one for Debbie in which I incorporated yarn I spun from the hair of her favorite dog) but have some of it left.

Here are a couple of the projects in which I needed to find some other yarn.This blanket uses my Mom’s yarn in the warp and Herding-Ewe’s yarn, dyed with black walnut, in the weft.This is a CVM shawl using the same yarn as above for weft.

I don’t have any photos taken while herding at Debbie’s but here is one of Rusty working at home:

Close to Home…Post #6 – Anderson Ranch wool

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Robin

Last March I watched some of the shearing on a large sheep ranch in southern Solano County and I brought home fleeces. Here is the blog post from that day. Rio Vista shearing In September I got the yarn back from the mill and used it for pieces in my show at the Artery.

Story that is part of the show: Margaret and Ian Anderson farm land that Ian’s great grandfather settled in the late 19th century. While Ian’s great grandfather raised only sheep and grain the modern ranch is a diversified farming operation growing hay, grain, and cattle as well as sheep. The original sheep on the ranch were mostly Corriedale but today’s 3000 breeding ewes are a blend of Corriedale, Polypay, and Rambouillet breeding. The ewes are bred to Suffolk and Rambouillet rams to produce each year’s lambs. The lambs are raised in adherence to the strict animal handling and environmental sustainability protocols of Niman Ranch, where most of the lambs are marketed. Local sources of Anderson Ranch Lambs are Nature’s Bounty near Vacaville and Chuck’s Custom Slaughter in Dixon.

As in many U.S. sheep operations the Anderson Ranch wool is handled as a by-product and is usually baled and sold in bulk. Last spring I watched some of the shearing and brought home about a dozen fleeces. I sorted and pre-washed the wool and shipped 90 pounds to Zeilinger Wool Company in Michigan, one of the few mills in the U.S. that can adequately process fine wools in small quantities. The wool was spun into 54 pounds of 2-ply-sport weight yarn. The fiber averages 20.4 microns. Feel how soft it is for yourself!

This yarn, like the yarn from the Timm Ranch and processed at Zeilinger’s, changes dramatically from it’s coned form to skeined yarn or finished piece. I will do another blog post about that because it’s so cool to see the changes. This would make a great knitting yarn as well (although I’d skein and wash it first) and it is on my website for sale now. This blanket and the one above it are woven with the same weave structure, but they look different because one has dyed weft. The browns are dyed with black walnut. This blanket has weft dyed with osage orange that grows across the road.I also wove some scarves. This is beautiful yarn, very soft and would make great knitted scarves or caps. I look forward to weaving more projects with it. Maybe I’ll even be enticed to get out the knitting needles.

Close to Home…Post #2

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Robin

I explained the concept behind my Artery show in the last post. Here are some more photos. I’ll start as you walk in the gallery. I have a photo and a story for each ranch whose yarn I used.Columbia sheep at the Imperial Stock Ranch in Oregon.

The story: The Imperial Stock Ranch is located on 32,000 acres in Oregon’s high desert and is owned and operated by the Carver family, who raise sheep and cattle and produce grain and hay.

In the late 1990’s the U.S. processing and manufacturing industry drastically declined (moving overseas) and the ranch, like thousands of others, was unable to sell their wool through traditional commodity channels. If the Carvers were going to continue to raise the Columbia sheep that had grazed the ranch for a century they needed to find a way to market the wool. Jeanne Carver’s response was to create and sell premium wool yarns and the Imperial Yarn Company was born.

The Carvers were thrilled to find out that their home-grown “Erin” yarn was chosen by Ralph Lauren for the 2014 Olympics Opening Ceremony sweaters. I saw this yarn at a trade show and was awed by the rich colors. I knew I had to use this for a Stars and Stripes series of blankets.

The Columbia sheep was developed by the U.S.D.A. in the early 1900’s to create a true-breeding large ewe that would yield more pounds of lamb and wool than the randomly crossbred range sheep. The Columbia is a result of crossing Lincoln rams and Rambouillet ewes and is a very large breed that produces 10-16 pound fleeces that measure 24-31 microns.

Here are some of the blankets that I wove. In another post I’ll explain the process of weaving these blankets. Also look for a later post of shawls using a fine wool yarn from the Imperial Yarn Company.The first blankets that I wove were in blue and white. All of these blankets except the mostly blue ones at the bottom are woven using “color and weave”. The weave structure is the same throughout the blanket but it is the color order of the threads (8 blue/8 white) in the warp and the weft that allow the pattern to show. Where there are solid areas of white or blue in warp and/or weft you don’t see the star pattern. For a true Stars and Stripes theme I needed to use some red. These are the same weave structures as above but with 8 white/8 red/8 blue threads in the pattern area. Artery 2014 In the first two red, white, and blue blankets I repeated the 8-thread sequence throughout. Blanket 885 In the next two I designed blocks, sort of plaid like, where the star pattern would show up. Then I decided that there should be something in this collection that was more restful for the eye. I thought about solid colors but had to throw in a bit of design.In addition to being colorful this yarn is very soft and wonderful to work with for weaving or for knitting. I sell it at my shop and on the website. Next up: Yarn from the Barinaga sheep dairy in Marin County.

Road Trip – 2nd half of Day 8 – Oregon

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Robin

After touring Pendleton Woolen Mill we got on the road again. Just as we were getting on the freeway to head west we saw this scene:Herding cattle next to the freeway and across lawn? Look again. These are beautifully made full-size sculptures.Not far from Pendleton Highway 84 meets up with and then follows the Columbia River. We followed the Columbia River. This is the John Day Lock and Dam. In some places we saw windsurfers on the river, but elsewhere there were huge barges. I don’t have photos but we also saw several bighorn sheep on the rocky cliffs just south of the highway in this area. We turned south onto Highway 97 which would take us all the way to California. More stunning landscape, sky and wide, open spaces. Rolling hills of wheat. Isolated ranches and distant mountains.

We passed the town of Shaniko (population of 36 at 2010 census) which was known in 1900 as the Wool Capitol of the World. The largest landowner at the time was R.R. Hinton who had first homesteaded in the 1870’s and continued to purchase land until his Imperial Stock Ranch became the largest individually owned ranch in Oregon. The Imperial Stock Ranch eventually ran 35,000 head of sheep in 12-14 bands that would winter on the home ranch and be trailed to summer range on Forest Service land. Hinton was involved in breeding programs that led to the one of the first sheep breeds developed in the U.S., the large-framed, fine-wooled Columbia sheep, originating from Lincoln and Rambouillet ancestors. The newly formed town of Shaniko (built as the railroad reached the area) was less than 15 miles from the Imperial Stock Ranch’s headquarters, and its wool warehouse shipped 4 million pounds of wool by rail in 1901.Imperial Stock Ranch is now owned by Dan and Jeannie Carver and they have developed the Imperial Yarn Company using Columbia wool produced on the ranch and elsewhere in the state. This is some of my favorite yarn in the shop and I have recently been using it to weave blankets. Since we were going to be driving through this part of Oregon I had asked if we could visit the ranch. The photo above is the road into the headquarters.

Keelia, lives on the ranch and was there to show us around the headquarters. This is the house built by R.R. Hinton, now headquarters of the Yarn Company.The headquarters complex has been entered into the National Register of Historic Places and the history of the buildings and the Hinton family are available for review.

The grain silo. See the detail of the construction below. This is one sturdy building. We also saw the shearing shed and other buildings that are still in use.A few bottle lambs hand out under the house to greet visitors. As we left the ranch headquarters some of the sheep were near enough the road to get some photographs of them in this majestic setting.Back on the road on the last leg of the trip.

Next post: California’s scenery isn’t too shabby either. Mt. Shasta and home.

Robin Goes Shopping

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Robin

I am not a shopper. I once told the guys at Higby’s, my favorite feed store (that carries some clothing), that if either they or Ace Hardware carried underwear then I’d never have to shop anywhere else.

Shopping for yarn and fiber related toys is another story. That’s what the TNNA trade show is all about. It is where shop owners go to find all the products they want in their shops for the coming year. Every year I meet up with my friend, Irene, of Cotton Clouds and we spend the weekend shopping and working on weaving ideas and solving life problems.

This year’s show was in San Diego, but the show was in the Convention Center so no scenic outdoor photos. You don’t get to buy things in the main trade show hall because its set up to place orders for items to be carried in stores. However, the first night they have Sample It, where vendors can sell one or two of their new items and us hungry shoppers can go away with yarn and other goodies. This is the line to get into Sample It. This is the Yarn Wall where you can fill pages with samples of all the distributors newest yarns.The Spinning and Weaving market segment now has it’s own group under the umbrella of TNNA. Spinzilla was a very successful promotion that began in 2013 to raise funds to bring the spinning craft into the Needle Arts Mentoring program. Meridian Jacobs hosted a team last year and will do so again in 2014.There are also opportunities to take classes. I took a class to learn about making felfs. Wouldn’t these be nice in Jacob yarn with a horn button? cardboard sheep

I found sheep without even going outside……in all colors……and styles……and things in colors of sheep. Some will be arriving in my shop soon!Yarn is presented in a variety of ways.Hungry?This one reminds me of gummy worms but I don’t think that is the intent.Unusual colors were inspired by a yarn enthusiast who is involved in cat rescue.But the best thing about going to TNNA is getting together with friends… …during the show… …and after.

Field Trip Season

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Robin

I found a new Season. Field Trip Season. I’ve had 4 field trips here in the last couple of weeks. I don’t get very good photos during field trips because I’m the one who is leading the field trip, but I’ll use a few. Today I’ll share yesterday’s field trip because I got to be a participant (as opposed to leader) of part of it.Fibershed sponsored a field trip for representatives of Smartwool, Northface, Lucy (and maybe others) to learn about our end of textile production. Many (most?) people who purchase and use fabric, individually or commercially, don’t necessarily have a sense of where it comes from. The goal of this trip was to expand the awareness of fiber production–the animals, the farmers, the soil and plants–and the importance of supporting sustainable local farms, and the idea that there is plenty of wool grown in N. CA but not the infrastructure to turn it into cloth. That is a primary goal of Fibershed–to set in motion the creation of that infrastructure and to create thriving businesses that support farmers, designers, fiber processers, and consumers. Whew! Pretty lofty goals? I am always amazed at what Rebecca (creator of Fibershed) has coming up next. I really hope that you’ll spend some time on the Fibershed website because I think it’s one of the most important non-profit groups you’ll find.

On to the field trip. I expected 5-6 people. There was a busload! First stop for us was the pasture. The sheep performed admirably. I had waited to move the fence for the day’s grazing until the field trip was here. The sheep rushed to the fresh pasture just like they always do. This is the group in the pasture. We spent a lot of time discussing pasture management, irrigation, choice of breed, wool types, etc. Friend, Dona, brought this board over, getting ready for Meet the Sheep on Saturday. Some of the braver visitors tried it out.

The second part of the tour was a trip to Mary Pettis-Sarley’s ranch in the hills west of Napa. Mary has a variety of sheep, cattle, and alpacas who live in a beautiful setting. She creates Twirl yarn using unique blends of the fibers she grows. The yarns are all natural colored or dyed with natural dyes from plants that grow on the ranch. The “I” in these labels indicates that the dyeplants are invasive species. A major challenge of raising livestock in the hills is the predator problem. Mary has 17 dogs, most of whom are various breeds of livestock guardian dogs (LGD). They can be intimidating when you drive onto the property, but aren’t so scary once they know you’re on the approved list (or maybe that you’re not a 4-legged hungry visitor). Mary let out the bottle babies… …and I think her part of the field trip won the Cuteness Factor award. We were accompanied by two of the pets on the way to Mary’s wool washing station.Now I’m jealous, not only of the property, but of this. Maybe I’d wash more of my own fleeces if I could figure out a set-up like this. Here is where the fleeces are dried. Mary had several fleeces spread out so that the visitors could handle them and feel the characteristics that we’d been talking about all day. A couple of scarves knit with Mary’s yarn. As I drove way I saw some of Mary’s cows. As it happens, these cows are the daughters and granddaughters of Jennie, a Brown Swiss cow that Mary got from us when we left our dairy life in 1998. Talk about happy CA cows. These truly have a happy life.Look at their view of the Napa Valley if they choose to look up from all that grass. (Alpacas in this photo–they were right next to the cows.)

Where’s Robin?

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Robin

TNNA is The National Needle Arts Association. I have just been at the winter trade show in Phoenix. This is where wholesalers show their newest lines of yarns, accessories, and gadgets and retailers make selections while trying not to max out their credit cards.

Sunrise over Phoenix from the 6th floor of the Hilton. I stayed with my good friend, Irene, owner of Cotton Clouds.

This is the inside of the Hilton looking down from the 6th floor. I reminded me of the space-age Jetson’s. (I know this dates me.) The Hilton was a nice hotel, but the internet was down for the last night we were there. That was frustrating as I wanted to work on my new newsletter (stay tuned) and the blog. But there were other things to keep us entertained.

Inside the Phoenix Convention Center.

I took a class on Thursday afternoon and in the evening went to Sample It where retailers can purchase selected items from the vendors so that they have something to take home. Look at what I got!

The show opened on Friday with an Apache blessing.

This is the first show since the Spinning & Weaving Group became a part of TNNA. Their debut was marked by some fun garments in the fashion show…

…and a beautiful blanket.

Irene and I spent time discussing new weaving projects and choosing items for both of our stores.

Someone who will remain nameless pretending that she is not in a booth full of wool.

Irene and I have been friends for 31 years. We had a great time together and I am grateful to her for helping me with things relating to my business. (I’m also grateful that she had a car in Phoenix and is willing to ship all my clothes home to me because I couldn’t take them and my new books and fun samples home on the plane.)

Using Yarn

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Robin

There is a photoshoot next week for the Fibershed Marketplace and I have wanted to get some new items ready for it. I have boxes of yarn that I have intended to use and have just never got to. Now is the time. In fact, my goal is to use up all of these boxes by the end of the year.

First box–Single ply Jacob yarn spun years ago at Yolo Wool Mill.

Three scarves in a plaited twill. They feel nice, but have a few issues. They curl at the edges because this is an unbalanced twill–warp emphasis on one side and weft emphasis on the other. Besides that the center stripe turned out to be something else. It probably has some llama fiber in it–it has less elasticity than the rest so it puckers. Are these design features? It serves me right for keeping yarn for so long that I don’t remember what it is.

Second box. Full of funky, slubby, heavy handspun yarn, mostly spun by my mom–that means it was many years ago. It will make wonderful throws.

Here it is going on to the loom.

I wove two blankets using the handspun as warp and the finer singles yarn from the first box for weft. Handspun yarn has such a nice feel to it–I don’t think you can duplicate that with millspun yarn.

Third box–heavy 2-ply mill-spun Jacob yarn.

On the loom.

I was going to make ponchos, but I took this off the loom and decided that it was a great shawl (and if it was a shawl it was finished–no cutting and sewing). It is very soft with wonderful drape.

Three boxes started. I haven’t counted how many more to go.

Let there be light…of the right color

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Robin

One of the things on my Christmas list was a light reflector for helping with photography. This is a big round disc with changeable covers to give reflect light in different ways. After figuring out how to get better product photos by using manual settings on my camera, I was still limited by being able to direct light in the best way. I still have a lot to learn, but this is a start.

These photos are of a beautiful Targhee yarn that I just got back from the mill.

The photo above was taken using my camera on automatic. Yuck.

The yarn is in the same place but I have the gold cover on the disc. I also changed the camera to using manual settings for aperture and shutter speed, but I kept those the same for all the following photos.

This is the photo using the gold. It’s a pretty photo, but probably doesn’t show the true color of the yarn.

This is the cover that is not reflective, but diffuses light as it shines through.

Here is the yarn using that diffuse light. Not bad.

Here is a white reflective cover…

and the yarn. The yarn looks ok but there is more of a blue background.

How about the silver reflective cover?

This is the photo using the silver cover.

There are other variables of course–especially how my computer monitor displays the color and how your monitor displays the color. Those may be two different things.

And while I’m at it, here is a photo of felt that I got back from the mill last month. This is incredibly soft.

Look at the back side of that felt. Isn’t that cool? I think this will inspire something interesting.

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