The Hollyhock Blog

The last couple weeks, I’ve been working on creating a new felting kit.  I chose a cute little bunny in a flower pot from the designs selected by my partners at Twisted Suri Alpacas.  After dyeing and stamping and all that, I got to needle felt the design.  This is the fun part!  And I am ‘required’ to do every design so I have an example to take the pictures for the packaging. 

Bunny #1

I asked for opinions and 3 out of 3 (4 of 4 if I include my own opinion!) were not thrilled with the bunny’s color.  So…..

Bunny #1 removed

I had carded white and black fiber together for the gray and thought I had a really nice gray roving!  I’m considering attempting to combine a bunch more and even try spinning it.  Gray yarn is so popular, but gray alpacas are rare.  (It is a bonus when good still comes out of an experiment gone awry!)  But a gray bunny was not to be.  So I tried again.

Bunny #2

This is the finished picture!   Already in our Etsy shop.   Cute and fun to make.

I’m starting a new alpaca felting kit  design and have started dyeing roving in the new colors needed for this design.  I decided to try acid dyeing in aluminum pans heated over water in my big roaster. 

After soaking the roving in soapy water for about a half hour, I put it in the tins over a couple inches of water in the roaster.   I added the citric acid directly to the dye, which I mixed up in a little glass jar and sucked up in a big syringe.  I squirted the dye onto the roving and squished it around with chopsticks.  I added a little more water as needed to get better coverage.   Then I cranked up the heat and let it cook!

Cooking over the roaster pan

I have an ounce each of 2 shades of what I was hoping to be a rusty red roving.  In the smaller pan I have 1 ounce of roving divided into 2 shades of green.

Since the roving is not directly in contact with the hot roaster pan, I could use higher heat.   The roving got more steamed than boiled. 

This is the result.

New colors of roving

The purple was done in a dye pot on the stove.  The 2 reds are more red than the brick color I wanted and I didn’t get solid coverage of the color.   Neither of these really matter for the felting design.  That is why I chose this project for my experimentation.  The green also has some lighter areas that didn’t get much dye, but grass and leaves can be that way!   Now I know – I need a little more liquid to get the dye to reach all the roving in the tin pans.   The citric acid in the dye makes the dye stick to where it is squirted faster than when in a big pot of water.  Good lessons to learn.

I’ve a few more colors to dye before I can felt the new design, but I’m hoping to to get it done this week!

I must praise Dharma Trading.   I bought my dyes from them.  When faced with the question of forgetting the citric acid, I emailed them.  Within hours, I got a reply.   They suggested I wash the yarn in the hottest tap water and detergent.  If the dye stays, it is good!  So I washed and the dye stayed.  

Ready to go

The skeins re-wound to properly mix the colors.

On Saturday, I dyed this. 

My favorite colors

It is the last of my imported 100% alpaca bulky yarn.  My goal is to dye all my imported yarn before I get my Wisconsin grown yarn back from Rach-Al-Paca.   I have a cone (about 2 pounds) of 80% alpaca / 20% silk lace weight and over a cone of 100% alpaca sport weight to dye!   I got some dyeing tips from the Wool Princess  and I’ll be trying these out soon and sharing the results with you.

I’ll be consigning my yarn and a few finished items at a new shop – Art Reflections near here.  I’m very excited to see how my things will do there.  And Delightful Day Boutique has had requests for yarn.  So I’ll be bringing in some yarn to join the felting kits  already there.

That’s what I keep thinking every time I look at a calendar.  I can’t believe Christmas is nearly here.  I’m not at all ready!  No gifts bought, no cards or letter ready to send out, no decorations.   It’s not that I don’t want to do all those things, but I really would rather knit and weave and spin!  And so I have been.  

I’ve got hats nearly done for a brother and sister – custom ordered by their mom.  The young girl chose her style and colors – light green and violet.  I think I may steal the combo and try dyeing some yarn in those colors.  The son’s hat is blue and gray.  I hope to finish both week.

I also have a shawl on the loom – again, to be finished this week and mailed in time for Christmas.   It is coming along nicely.   I have yarn dyed for a pair of gray men’s mittens – to be picked up on Saturday! 

Can I do it?  I think so.  Darryl has plans tonight after work – which includes someone else feeding him!  (Yay – no cooking!)  And tomorrow he will come home for supper and then head off to a meeting. 

I also want to tell you about a new boutique in town.  Delightful Day Boutique  just opened in Becker.  If you are ever in the area, you need to check it out.  Local artists and  crafters have things for sale there, as well as gently used kids and maternity clothes.  New things are still being added.  Get a sneak peak on the website.  You can find our felting kits  there and I’m proud to have them there.  It is always nice to  have new place to shop and support the local folks. 

And a confession – I have nearly killed my desktop computer.  It has so much STUFF on it, that it can barely move!  The worst is my pictures.  But that is also where I have the software that I use to crop and compress my images, so for at a while, I’ll try blogging from my laptop and not including many pictures.   My New Year’s Resolution is to remove the bad photos (fuzzy, repeats, etc) and then move some to another storage place.    So hang in there – I’m taking the pictures and will get them on some day! 

December what?  16th?  No way!  I gotta get a move on!

Our second alpaca felting kit is now available in our Etsy shop.  It is a cute bear on a hot air balloon ride.

Go for a ride

If you are close and would like to stop by either Hollyhock Farm or Twisted Suri Ranch, we have the kits available and ON SALE!  The kits are $15 (regular price is $20).   The refill kits are available too – on sale for $10 (regular price is $15).

I’m going to make you bit longer for the funny story – it deserves a post of its own.  Just a hint – Honie is the star!