All Of My Fun Yarn Adventures Lately

Here are some of my latest yarns I have spun in video form!

Have you ever found joy and relaxation in the art of spinning yarns? Well, I certainly have over the years, and I am thrilled to share some of my recent creations with you! In the past few weeks.

These are a collection of single ply, two ply and some fiber blending.

The Perfect Winter Comfort Food:
Buffalo chicken stuffed sweet potatoes offer a delightful twist on traditional winter comfort foods. The combination of tender chicken, tangy hot sauce, and savory spices creates an explosion of flavors that will warm you up from the inside out. The creamy sour cream and cheddar cheese topping adds richness to the dish, while the crispy bacon bits and green onions provide a delightful crunch and freshness. But what truly sets this recipe apart is the choice to stuff the filling into sweet potatoes, which elevates the dish to a whole new level of deliciousness.

Introduction

Welcome to the world of Polwarth wool! This breed is known for its soft, smooth texture. It's a great option for spinning yarn because of its easy hand feel and draft-ability. Polwarth wool is one of the most popular wool types in Australia, where it's grown. It's used to make everything from fine fabrics to heavy-duty rugs. Polwarth wool is a perfect choice for knitting and weaving. It has great stitch definition, and it's highly durable! This breed is known for its soft, smooth texture. It's a great option for spinning yarn because of its easy hand feel and draft-ability.

The Importance of Recycled Wool

The First time I heard of using recycled yarn was from my friend Dawn who owns Twice Sheared Sheep. You are probably falmilur with this brand because I love to collaborate with her for our yarn kits and bundles. Like most of us she started her business out in one direction and then it has grown and changed since then but I know that one of her main focus when she started was “recycled" or “ reclaimed yarn” You can hear more about that directly from Dawn here

Here at CHY I’m not so much up cylicing yarn but rather enjoying using reclaimed wool in our products. In our case that is where wheel the fleeces are processed into clean and useable wool for our batts or custom rovings we are able to work with boutique mills that will save and reuse some of the wool that didn’t make it though the first pass. If you’ve ever used a drum carder yourself you know all about how a good bit of lovely wool and fiber can be stuck on the machine while hand blending. Where in many cases larger mills would end up not saving this wool we love that we can reduce it and give it another life. I had fun using some myself for some incredibly soft Merino Batts I was dividing up. You've also proababy seen it in our work in the way of reclaimed Sari silk and “ wool neps “ for a tweed texture.

Heidi and I were at Convergence in Knoxville last year when we befriended a mill from NC who introduced us to this lovely fiber blend. It was described to us a very well cared for breed whose wool is a combination of Merino and Rambouillet! We thought it was absolutely dreamy and I have so enjoyed using this roving in some of our spinning fiber subscriptions from time to time and more recently these fun “ tweed” style rovings. We also think it’s a dream to spin and have enjoyed using this tweed roving ourselves for the handspun yarn subscription. This has quickly become a favorite of my moms to spin which is why I wanted to look more into it.

Rambouillet wool, also known as the French Merino, is a popular fiber that is known for its softness, elasticity, and durability. Mohair wool, on the other hand, comes from the hair of the Angora goat and is known for its luster, strength, and warmth. When these two wools are combined to create yarn, the result is a blend that produces a unique and high-quality product.

It’s ok not to fit in. I myself and too “traditional “ for some folks and too “ offensive” for others. I used to try to hide these things about myself first just in my life and then later in my business. I named my silly little crafting business which I was never planning to grow this larger “ Crafty Housewife Yarns” kind of as a joke because I was tired of being treated like having an interest in these sorts of things and having kids and prioritizing my family time was somehow making me less than. Really owning that joke really helped me put a name to a stigma that pissed me off. Then as business grew I found myself once agian trying to people please but now it was though branding. I was trying to make myself and this brand be the crunchy, perfect, flowly , feel good vibe that everyone in the fiber arts seemed to respond to.

wool processing tips- washing raw wool- how to clean wool for spinning

In this blog post, we will discuss some helpful tips for processing raw wool. Processing wool is a vital step in turning this natural fiber into yarn or other textile products. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced wool enthusiast, these tips will guide you through the process:

Sheep Breeds with Long Wool

Sheep Breeds Best for Medium Wool