Process-oriented

I cast on for the felted tote bag Monday night, after posting and while watching Studio 60.  (A good show, by the way.)  Here’s my progress thus far:

working on felted bag 

The nice thing about knitting things that are to be felted is that they grow quickly, since they’re knit at a loose gauge on large needles.  It doesn’t bear thinking about, though, that after the expanse of stockinette, this bag ends with a double row of applied I-cord.  And then you knit separate I-cord handles.  We all know how I feel about I-cord.  We won’t go there again. 

Step away from the knitting needles and no one needs to get hurt. 

I’ve also been combing a new fleece.  It’s a gorgeous brown color, and it’s from a double-coated breed, although I don’t know which breed it is.  It’s also really dirty and has lots of vegetable matter (vm) in it.

double-coated fleece 

Here’s a closeup:

double-coated fleece closeup 

The great thing about the 5-pitch combs is that they take out all that dirt and vm and all you’re left with is beautiful fiber to spin.

combed double-coated fleece 

I’m pulling out the guard hair (the longer, coarser coat of the two) as a separate roving, or at least as much of it as humanly possible.  Then I pull the shorter undercoat into another roving.  The guard hair roving is on the left in the picture above, with the undercoat on the right.  You can get a little bit of an idea of how different these two fibers are from the photo, but to get a true idea you have to feel them.  The guard hair is so much coarser than the undercoat, it’s amazing that they come from the same fleece.

I don’t have any notion at this point of how I’m going to spin this fiber.  Right now I’m just enjoying the process.

5 Responses to “Process-oriented”

  1. Melinda Says:

    And what combs specifically are these? Thanks! And damn it, I hate i-cord bindoffs too.

  2. Ellen Says:

    I cannot believe the transformation from the raw fleece (which looks like a wild and possibly dangerous animal has invaded your home) into the combed, ready-to-be-spun stuff!

    But I’m glad you are enjoying the process of, well, processing this fiber. It’s pretty amazing to see the results, so it must be fun to actually do, too!

  3. lorinda Says:

    The colors of the fiber are so amazingly different. What I love is that you can look at that filthy fleece and see the potential. It reminds me of Michelangelo and the marble. You are a true artist.

    And felted bags. Love them.

  4. MonicaPDX Says:

    Wowsa, that fleece is a *mess*. But man, are you doing a great job with it!

    Me, I hear ‘coarse’, I start thinking tapestry or rug yarn. Can you imagine the jewel tones you’d get when dyeing the pale gray? Ever have a yen to try knotted pile? [eg}

  5. debsnm Says:

    I *love* Studio 60!! I’m so glad to hear that someone else does, too! I keep saying I’m going to felt something, but the thought of knitting DAYS on a huge bag and shrinking it makes me heart flutter. Not brave enough yet.