New Vegan Handspun Yarns

Midnightsky Fibers New Vegan and Recycled Soda Bottle Yarns


Whew we are setting record temperatures for Seattle this week, but the dye pots are still going!
New this week at Midnightsky Fibers:
Cloche Hat Kits are finally in stock- reminisce about the 1920’s flappers with these handspun knitting hat kits.

Vegan Yarns- the VEGAN section is back! It includes all (hopefully!) the vegan handspun yarns and fibers currently available at Midnightsky Fibers- including organic cotton and recycled soda bottle fibers
Recycled Soda Bottle Fiber Yarns- These are some of my favorite yarns for the update! I even dyed it with natural dyes! Spun with organic cotton, natural unbleached soysilks, and much more- there are boucles, corespun, plied, and more!

Also new: local cashmere dyed with cochineal, more Space Hats Kits, and naturally dyed mohair. Shop at Midnightsky Fibers!

9 Quick Knitting or Crochet Projects for Handspun

Ok, what do you do with that perfect bulky weight handspun yarn you just spun up/got in the mail/found at a fair? You want to make sure it is something special and that none of it goes to waste. Small handspun yarn projects are the perfect quick project- unique, small enough to take to the beach in the summer, lightweight enough to not be hot while working on it, and a great looking finished project.

Before you choose your project consider:
-Crochet will take up more yarn than knitting usually.
-If you worry about cutting it close, start at the top of the project (like for a hat), you can always finish the bottom edge in another yarn and call it trim.
-The type of yarn- really thick yarns or yarns that change texture will not make the best socks or slippers but will make a great neck warmer. Likewise, a really fuzzy handspun angora yarn will not fare well on high wear areas like the palms of gloves.
-I am assuming here you are working with a bulky weight handspun with some texture- thick and thin, boucle, coils, items spun in, etc. Pretty much any of the bulky weight yarns in my shop fit the bill.

Less than 50 yards of yarn:

1 Drop stitch scarf knit over 5-6 stitches- the drop stitches are made using yarn overs. The drop stitch shows off the handspun yarn and stretches the yardage.
2 Loosely knit beanie
3 Neck Warmer
4 Ipod, or cellphone cover- use smaller needles than you would for a scarf.
5 Belt or sash- you can thread a button directly on to the yarn on one end to eliminate the need to sew it in place, just add it in as you knit or crochet.

Less than 100 yards of yarn:

1 Wristlets with thumb opennings
2 Loosely crocheted hat
3 Scarflett- even in plain knitting or crochet it will look lovely. If knit on really big needles you can pull one end through the other like a keyhole scarf without needing to knit in the keyhole!
4 Small purse or Kindle cozy- use smaller needles than you would for a scarf.

Favorite Breakfast: Dutch Baby

Ok, this is probably a terrible idea for anywhere who lives without AC and for Seattle as we enter the heat wave (which is like 80* for us, but remember we don't have AC here really!) since you have to turn on the oven. But I am obsessed. I LOVE dutch babies, which are very similar to Yorkshire Pudding and Popovers (which are Yorkshire pudding baked in small cups or muffin tins). I eat mine plain mostly, but it is good with lemon + powdered sugar or with egg or potato salad for dinner.

I'll fully admit that when I bake these I don't follow the directions I see most places- most recipes have you turn down the over half way through, but usually by that time mine are done. I also use a lot less butter- enough to coat the pan and make it not stick and give it a nice crust, but not much more. Make sure there is 4-5+ inches above the pan since the dutch baby will rise quite high.

Dutch Baby
3/4 cup milk (I use 1/4 cup dried milk + water as only have soy milk)
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs
dash of salt
3 tbsp butter

Heat oven to 450.
Stick butter in a 8x8 pan or round pan (a round cake pan makes a prettier one, but I can always find my 8x8 pans first) in the oven while it heats.

If using dried milk powder mix it with water first then combine with the eggs. Add salt and mix thoroughly. Add flour and mix just until it is all combined and there are not lumps. Remove hot pan from over swirl butter to make sure bottom is coated. Pour in batter- it should be thinner than pancake batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Try not to open the oven, as the steam in the Dutch Baby is what makes it rise so high. It is done when the top is browned. Best served immediately.

Updates

IMG_1102
Originally uploaded by midnightskyfibers

Getting ready to edit photos...

...Only to realize I didn't take them on Macro setting.
Again.
Guess this is a sign I am meant to be going taxes and not updating the site just yet. Argh.

Shooting on Westlake

Three people were shot about a block from my apartment. There was police tape everywhere last night! News article here. Ugh. Most go drink 10 cups of coffee to wake up enough to do state taxes.

Free Things to Do in Seattle

Summer is a great time to be in Seattle- it's not raining (mostly), not too hot, and there are lots of great free things to do in Seattle! My top 5:

5. Walk around Pike's Plac Markete- better yet, walk to Pike's Place Market! If you have a bit more time and don’t mind the walk, wander over to the Space Needle and marvel and the absurdity of the EMP (Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum Hall of Fame) too. Free to wander around, great people watching, and lots of shops nearby to wander through as well. Try and go on a day that is not as busy if possible. Make sure to catch the fish throwing and watch the artists at work!

4. Visit the Fremont Troll- Fremont, aka Center of the Universe is home to many quirky statues- even one of Lenin! While in Fremont walk down to the park and watch the bridge go up to let the sailboats through. Don't forget to check out the statue "Waiting for the Interurban" near the Fremont bridge to see what crazy costumes people have put on it this week!

3. Many museums in Seattle have a free admissions day once a month- usually the first Thursday of every month. Participating museums include: Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asia Art Museum, Fry Art Museum, EMP (Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum Hall of Fame , and the Museum of Flight.

2. Almost every part of Seattle has good parks, many near the water. Try Gasworks, Discovery Park, or Golden Gardens for lounging or Greenlake for walking or jogging. Bring your bike or kayak or rent one nearby- near Fremont you can even rent electric boats!

1. Markets: Check out the Farmer’s markets popping up all over Seattle. From the quirky Fremont Sunday Market to the long running University District Farmers Market, they offer excellent food and a chance to chat with the farmers. Some like the Fremont and Ballard markets have a combination of food and goods- from junk sellers, bakers and local artists to performance musicians.

Green Web Hosting

Midnightsky Fibers is powered by Dreamhost, which in addition to being on of the bigger web hosts out there, is also a green webhost. They do this by using carbon offsets and renewable energy credits in addition to cutting down on the actual energy used.

While green webhosting is hardly new or unusual these days, it is nice to see the big companies like Dreamhost also making the effort.

Portland!

I think I am officially in love with Portland! Don't get me wrong, I love Seattle too, but Portland seems like such a nice city that still has all the amenities of a place like Seattle but the vibe is more laid back.

We left midday last Wednesday as soon as J was able to get all the signatures needed to turn in his thesis- finally! Our schedules have been so crazy these last months that I haven't been able to ever go down to Portland with J before- but now he is living back in Oregon until he finds a job, so I see more trips there in the near future!

We had a great time in Portland. We:
-Saw the new Harry Potter movie- we made sure to go when there would be minimal kids. Good, but not as good as some of the others.
-Climbed a mountain. We had intended to go camping and had all the camping stuff in backpacks and were halfway up a realllllly steep trail before realizing that there was no way we would make it up in time since we left later in the day than intended. Hiking reminds me how little muscle I have- J was not even tired out and I was just dying.
-Climbed sand dunes.
-Drove down the Oregon coast (to go to a brew pub!)
-Ate crayfish(well, I didn't being vegetarian) and tons of other good foods.

Of course, I checked me email only once and did NO work while I was down there, so now it is time to buckle down. I have a huge site update coming up!

Hankies continued- natural dyeing

After mordanting the handkerchiefs are dyed after more rinsing to make sure mordant isn't left in- that makes the dye not stick as well. While I am using a small pot here, usually I use a giant canning pot. I started by dyeing the hankies with madder- which looks rusty and brown/orange before the color takes. But makes a red-orange like this:


From left to right: brown alpaca, white mohair, white wool all dyed in the pot together with madder (alum mordant of course).

After more rinsing the hankies are dyed again in logwood and allowed to sit overnight to absorb color better.

And here they are:


You can see that the colors of the two are different, as is the color for the lace- but it is much more pronounced on the one.



The darker one happens to be a bit thicker that the other. No idea of the fabric content, the main sections both feel like cotton, but I wasn't about to do a burm test on them!

Dyeing Hankercheifs

The Fremont Sunday Market always has an interesting selection of used and vintage goods- so imagine my excitement at finding vintage hankies for about $1 each- usually around here they run $4 and up, even for the plain ones! Now since I am actually using these, I select mine more for the thin fabric so they fit nicely in to pockets.



I decided to dye these to test a kit I am planning to put together- I want to offer a kit for people who want to try their own natural dyeing for yarns and fibers, but it will work on fabrics, clothes, etc too. Anyways!



I dyed just two hankies, just ones with separate lace borders since I wanted to see how the lace parts would dye up differently.

I started by scouring the hankies with soap to make sure there was no oil or other stuff on them that would prevent good dyeing, then let them soak.



After soaking (and no, I don't know why this turned out pink in the photo, as they are white) the hankies are mordanted, which allows them to absorb dye better and makes them more lightfast.

Faux Hawk!

I have a faux hawk!



I am really quite amused by it. Can still go in to a "normal" style if I need...or a swoop...but really, it is all about the faux hawk! I swear it is really not icky-spikey like that, I was trying to take pics with way too much flash when my hair was still wet.

White Raglan Handspun Sweater

The yarn is all done! Finally, whew! I thought it would never end- while very fun to spin, the plying too forever since I was plying it tight and it is about a dk weight- almost a worsted. The yoke colors are the skeins (not all shown since some of them are packed away) that have much more hand shredded yellow silks in them. The main body will be the plainer white- which still has sparkle and silks in it!

The sweater will be a simple raglan, probably with shorter sleeves. I will save some of the yoke color for the bottom hems.

Pillowcase Hack

Remember the dress form?> The shirt on it is one I made from an old pillowcase and thrifted fabric, the same I am using to make hexagons with.


I made it wider at the bottom, used straps from the shirt I made shorts out of last week, and attached the straps at the center back to help keep them in place.

Weaving in Public!

This is what I wanted to do with my loom (can't fit it in the car, even folded, and darn it he beat me to it anyways!). Check out the weaving in action projects by Travis Meinolf. So fun. I guess I will just have to settle for carrying my spinning wheel around and spinning. Though in Fremont people don't look at you *too* strangely for odd art projects- we are quirky like that!

Medium is the Message Sweater

Just waiting for the ends to be woven in, and maybe some buttons to be added. It is a bit too big for me- that's what I get for not really trying it on, but is super cute. Nice and long body, shaped waist and bust darts, etc. I actually could have not done the bust darts and been just fine for this sweater.

As you can see in the picture, I spun up the batts solid, varigated, and then kept some of the batts relatively uncarded so I would get chunks of fiber- big orange stripes, poufs of angelina green sparklies, etc.

Bamboo Bike

Bamboo Bikes I wonder how well these would hold up? Love the idea. I am still waiting for my bike to be finished.