I have arranged my bagged fiber on the shelves by vendor and color, mostly. The bottom wooden shelf is nothing but fiber from Allons-Y! Fiber Arts and I have two more partially spun bags off to the right of this photo also from Bethanne. Most of her braids are at least five ounces and a little over so I when I was ordering I’d get three braids if possible for close to a full pound of fiber. I unchain the braids and let them relax, then put them in large plastic bags for storage. Without actually weighing it all I estimate I have close to ten pounds of fiber just from Bethanne.
The top wooden shelf: On the right half is odds and ends of fiber, mostly by the pound, that I’ve picked up at various places like DFW Fiberfest or something I ordered online from a supplier that was recommended by someone I know.
On the left half of the top shelf is fiber ordered from the vendor I mentioned before who went woke and stepped off the deep end of the pier. I’m not putting any more money in her pocket and I had to toss a couple of pounds of her dyed fiber (not because the dye wasn’t awesome but because the fiber she used wasn’t properly blended at the mill). It was nice fiber, too. But when you’re spinning and running into clumps of entire locks of uncarded/blended wool and silk there’s no point in wasting time trying to spin it. I don’t do felting projects but I dropped off all that fiber at a charity for someone else to use for felting. The lady I handed it off to said she had someone to call to come get it, a home-school mom who would love it.
The next step is to pull the table out from the wire shelving and take down each bag, weigh it and photograph it. I’ll note the weight on the bag before I get a photo and start a page in One Note for each fiber entry to keep track of each spinning project and what I do with the finished yarn. I’ll take down one bag at a time and then put it back in place to keep from having to redo the whole shelf again.
There are also four large plastic bins full of fiber out of sight on shelving to the left in this photo, and the wire shelving unit on the left, directly under the wooden shelf has fiber on the bottom two shelves under the drum carder, some in baskets, all sealed in plastic bags to keep it safe from any m-ths that might visit. All of it needs to be inventoried and photographed. I’m tired of ‘discovering’ things when I go through the bins and baskets. It’s easy to see what’s on the shelves on the wall, but I need a note of fiber content and weight.
A lot of those fibers could be spun separately into 2-ply fingering weight yarn and then combined for several weaving projects on the floor loom. And I’m talking double-width throws at this point! With a four harness loom I can only do plain weave with a fold but with all of the variegated and semi-solids I have to work with plain weave would probably work fine. I could also weave single widths in twill weave and do a decorative seam to join them for a wider throw.
We let the time get away from us and it’s already past 2 pm and we haven’t had lunch yet. The medication Brad is taking has his digestion a little messed up and the last thing he needs right now is green salad which is what I had planned. He just left to get burgers. We’ll have chicken and veggies for dinner later. I’ve got the last little bit of BBQ chicken thawed and we have new potatoes and frozen corn on the cob to go with it. The BBQ sauce is mild and shouldn’t bother his tummy.
I’ve been busy in the studio and haven’t done any knitting today so I’ll take a break and work on the socks for a bit until after lunch, then I’ll get back in the studio and see if I can get through the bottom shelf of fiber. Once I get everything photographed I can upload the photos and start working on the One Note pages this evening.
It’s overcast outside and humid today, in the low 50’s, but I don’t think we have any rain in the forecast. I’m content to keep busy indoors and get my exercise in the house. Have a blessed Saturday, ya’ll.
Rural Texas Knitter 