more roving and hand spun yarn

I dyed this multicolored yarn, trying to capture the fall colors before they fade away. Some inspiration for these colors came from the bright purple asters, yellow goldenrod, orange leaves, fading greens, browns, and blue sky. It's my favorite season and it seems to come and go so quickly!

Hand spun from merino wool plyed with bamboo thread.

 

Another hand spun merino yarn, dyed pastel baby boy colors.

Blue Faced Leicester roving.

Fiber animals, spinning wool, and making yarn - my dreaming and beginnings

Have been thinking about getting angora goats for my own supply of mohair for doll hair. Planning and researching for over a year now and I feel like I am ready, just need to save up the startup cost...which is quite a bit. I have the land space but nothing else, no barn, fence, etc. So I think it might be something I do when I retire ;)

For now I will try out buying raw mohair from other goat farms and process it into doll hair for my own supply, and maybe some extra to sell.  It is a long process from washing, separating locks, combing, dyeing, and ending up with beautiful soft locks that are perfect for art dolls.  Buying doll hair from others is expensive and when you try to do it yourself you can see why! Lots of time and work.

Then it got me thinking about the leftover mohair that I would have after processing it into doll hair...maybe I could use it in a wool mix and make yarn.  Kid mohair is very soft and makes a nice yarn, but adult might be a bit scratchy, and adult is what I use for doll hair.  Hmmm, so I could make yarn used for rugs, outerwear, bags, and things not next to the skin. Or mix it with a softer wool for hats, mitts, slippers - at least being able to use every last bit somehow.

So on I went learning about different sheep wool and micron count. Now from what I have read it seems like anything with a micron count of less than 25 is ok for next to skin, 20 microns being a very soft wool and not itchy.

examples I found:

merino sheep - 12-24microns
angora goat (kid to adult) - 20-45microns
shetland -20-25microns
targhee - 21-25microns
blue faced leicester - 22-25microns
alpaca - 13-30microns

and others that could be added in small amounts to add extra softness (angora rabbit, cashmere goat, yak, bison, musk ox)

So, dreaming, I am wondering how many of these fiber animals I could have living together in 1 flock. No idea about that one. I think sheep have some different mineral requirements than goats and I'm betting there are other complications. But I like to imagine having 1 or 2 of each fiber animal that I would like to use. Angora goats, cashmere goats, sheep, and alpaca all living happily together.

For now buying the fiber from farms that already have these animals seems a more realistic way of doing it for me.  The cost may be higher per ounce of raw fiber but I wouldn't have to put in the time for raising the animals, shearing, shoveling manure, hoof trimming, dealing with illness, and all that work. Although in a weird way I would love to do all that!


I went to a local fiber mill store and bought a 3.5oz bag of pink dyed roving. An unknown mix of wool, alpaca, mohair and maybe other stuff. Very soft and only a tiny tiny bit itchy. My skin is very sensitive to wool itchyness.
Made a drop spindle for instructions online with a wooden dowel, wooden toy car wheel, and a hook. Watched utube videos to learn to use the spindle and off I went! 
It worked! I was amazed.  I turned this beautiful fluffy soft roving into yarn!

Then I learned to knit and made a little bag. Now, my knitting is not so beautiful but still rewarding knowing I made it from scratch. Well, not straight from the animal, a step past carding it myself.

I needed more roving...like I need coffee in the morning. Seriously.

Bought some blue faced leicester (BFL) roving and merino roving and waited for them to arrive in the mail. I have the BFL now and made 2 batches.

The first one I hand painted-dyed in what I named 'wildflower rainbow'.  Spun a single strand on my drop spindle, then spun it into a 2ply yarn. Really interesting seeing how it looks and changes from roving to yarn to knit. This roving made 2 skeins of 1.5oz each. Total yards=66, wpi 9

The next yarn I dyed and spun is called "Autumn fog".  62yards, 8wpi

As I knit up the sample it started looking more like it should be called "zombie skin"...but the first one sounds more appealing.

These 2 yarns are for sale on etsy (kristarobertson5) 
http://www.etsy.com/shop/kristarobertson5?ref=pr_shop_more

paperclay posable art doll fairy

This 6" fairy art doll is made from paperclay with acrylic eyes. Hands, feet, head and upper body are sculpted, the rest is a wire armature and soft body. The paperclay is hand sculpted with no molds used, sanded and painted. A matte sealer protects the clay and gloss clearcoat gives a bit of shine to the lips and eyes.

She will be for sale on ebay this week.


website: www.kristarobertson.com
ebay auctions: www.myworld.ebay.ca/kristarobertson5
etsy store: www.etsy.com/people/kristarobertson5

Air dry clay posable dolls with acrylic eyes

Here are some 6" high dolls made with LaDoll air dry clay over a posable wire armature and soft lower body, arms and legs. Once I finish costuming and hair they will be for sale, either on ebay or etsy

 

hmmm, this is weird. I can't figure out how to turn this image right-way-up. It is saved the right way but uploading it does this with no way that I can see to turn it. Anyone know how to do this in Blogger?

Doll #510

doll #511

doll #513

doll #514

website: www.kristarobertson.com
ebay auctions: http://myworld.ebay.ca/kristarobertson5
etsy store: www.etsy.com/people/kristarobertson5

Paper Clay Art Doll - another new style trial

Trying out another new style, this one with a big head and big eyes. Arms and legs attached with ribbon. She is made from paper clay (Creative Paperclay brand) and painted with acrylics and chalk.

A little sketch of my idea before I started sculpting this doll...

Air Dry Clay Art Doll

I finally tried out an air dry clay for my dolls and I love it! I'm used to polymer clay so this stuff feels weird to work with but I love being able to add more clay after it dries, not worry about dust and bits sticking to it as it just gets sanded away...and no baking needed. It's a refreshing change to dabble in a new medium.

I bought a block of LaDoll clay in 2008 and it sat on the shelf until now, 2011. Once it is opened it needs to be used up fairly quickly or it could dry out. I am keeping it in a ziploc bag but still, one little air leak and it's all gone. I was scared to use it and have it go to waste, or mess up...so it sat, and sat...increasing the chance of it drying out in the package just from age! lol



Here are some pictures of this little 6" doll in the making...

 

The next air dry clay doll I made doesn't have acrylic eyes, they are hand painted. Also trying out a more simple way to make hands and feet, just stubs. This will help make the doll making process faster and I will be able to sell these dolls for a lower price than some of my other ones.

 

...and the next one

selling art dolls on etsy

Usually I sell my art doll sculptures on ebay but I have started listing some on etsy as well. You can see my etsy shop here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kristarobertson5


(Etsy has set prices while ebay uses bidding)

posable fairy art doll sculptures - Polymer Clay

My usual fairy art doll is a sculpture that cannot move its arms or legs but I have been testing out different ways to make poseable art dolls.
Made a few that have sculpted hands, feet, body and head over a wire armature. The wire is covered with yarn or cloth and is bendable. I really love having the ability to change the pose of the doll. Not really meant to be played with but with an occasional position change the wire should last a long time.

Today I tried out a different version, more of a movable sculpt rather than posable. This kind has arms and legs attached at one point with a wire going through the body. Hmmm, maybe that doesn't describe it very well, but you can see where they are attached in the picture below...