I searched through my stash looking for something wonderful to spin on my new Jenkins spindle. Silk seemed the perfect start. I found one braided hank of a luscious orangy dark red that I bought at a small booth at Rhinebeck a couple seasons ago. It even went with the wood…. oh my. Everything was perfect, the spindle was a pleasure, the fiber, it worked into the Saturday spin-in and Wanda’s new The Weekend Whirls blog. LOVELY. I spun, I plied. I could have spun a lot more on the spindle but I was anxious to see it plied and washed. The first 2 ply skein yielded 58 yds. But when I put it into the warm water…
I changed the water a dozen times and still it ran. Finally, in disgust, I rinsed it in icy cold water, as only water from a 400 ft. well in winter can produce. Then, it held… barely. I’m not fooled into thinking it’s all over, but it is controllable. I won’t buy anymore silk from that vendor. I have another couple colors in the bag, I’ll check it before I start.
Wanda mentioned that she liked a heavier spindle for silk. I’d heard from many people that they work with a light weight, so I wanted to see for myself. I liked it. The tag said this one is 2.1 ounces. Just right. Even though the color hadn’t changed as badly as I’d feared, it soured me on that silk. I changed tack and found something else in my stash, a wonderful 60% cormo 40% alpaca. Completely different and I’m loving it just the same.
Comments
10 responses to “the weekend whirl”
Your Cormo Alpaca looks beautiful and soft.
That silk is a lovely colour, too bad it bleeds so much. Did you try setting it like you set your dyed colours? It seems to work on all the stuff I’ve had bleed on me.
Sorry to see your skein bled to death in your sink. I can see how you’d feel “bleh” about the fiber after that experience. Nice Cormo/alpaca blend- like how it looks on the spindle. Note to self- buy a Turkish spindle in the near future.
I thought you were posting a picture of dyeing you were doing and then I read that it bled and bled and bled. How frustrating!
Red! Why does red always bleed! Ugh. It’s very pretty, regardless.
….better in the sink than on your hands…
I recently had that experience with some silk that came from Rhinebeck too…i wonder?
cormo/alpaca…yummy!
Popped in from Wanda’s Weekend Whorls blog to say Hi and read more about your ‘bleeding’ yarn !!. Lucky you in winning the spindle I so want one of these and I also entered 🙁 I had been thinking about buying one but was hesitant in case I wouldn’t be able to use it but it sounds as if the guide explains all, so that will be on my ‘want’ list now. Your spinning looks fab using it . Look forward to getting to know you 🙂
i’ve had that same experience with silk from interlacements and it was SO disappointing; the final color after bleeding did not resemble the original at all, but was a pale shadow of the intense color it had once been. sometimes fiber bleeds but does not change the yarn color that much (as if the dye was just excess). but when it changes a lot, it’s a bummer.
Ugh! Too bad about the crappy dye job – how disappointing! (Would you mind emailing me privately and telling me who it is?)
I’ve had bad experiences like that before. Once, I complained to a fiber seller about how her product turned my hands green and bled a lot, even in cold water, and her reply essentially was, “Yeah, I couldn’t get the green to exhaust, so I just had it made into roving.” WTF?!
Me too. Please email me the vendor. I’m all into the silk these recent days, and don’t want to bleed at home as well as watch the bleeding at work.
ooh, I have some cormo/alpaca somewhere. I should spin that.
Sorry the bleeding soured you on it – the YARN is lovely. But I know that feeling – the magic has been exhausted. Unlike the dye.