Milk protein fibre? :-O! Hybrid beads? :-O! Does it sound like sci-fi?

I love spinning milk protein. Now, if you are not spinner or picky knitter you might not know what I am talking about...
Milk protein fibre is really made of milk! Now the process is very complex, of course, but yes, you can do it. And no, I have not heard of fibre made from gin and tonic yet, sorry....

And what are hybrid beads? Well they call them hybrid as they are made in combination of technologies of two bead nations. One classic one- my homeland Czech Republic, and one very modern one- Japan. Together they have created a new type of bead and call it hybrid. It is made by TOHO in Japan and the beads in question are just.. just... well amazing!

Now in my shop !

coming soon to Longnosed Yarn on Etsy!

Here are yarns I have cued up to upload to my shop.

New, new, new Year is comming

Soon we will be in 2012, I just only the other day managed to write "11" at the end of the year on dates and it is changing again.
There are some great new possibilities open for me next year as my favourite fibre seller added some more sheep fibres into their shop and also I was very lucky and met Liz, a weaver from UK with whom I hope to cooperate a wee in making some items, me spinning some yarn for her and her making those amazing  shawls and scarfs she does.
The package with 7,5kg of Shetland got lost somewhere which is very sad for me as I was so exited about spinning up some of that superfine for some nice victorian lace shawl.
I have had a chance however to do more work on my only so far planned project and spun another half kilo of Icelanding sheep to hopefully become one day an original afgan throw.
And as if I didn´t have had enough with my last patchwork blanket, I started to plan a new one. Fabric- check, threads- check, design-uncertain but with hopes.
I also made some further designs for future dog toys for the charity auctions. I just might get them right for all those pupz out there.
I do love peacefull Christmas when The only thing which needs to be done really is to eat a bit more chocolate, to walk the puppies to places we usually do not get to and to spin some yarn while watching fairytales and all those old black and white Czech movies...

I hope and wish that you all have Great Year 2012, that some of those dreamy projects and all those hopes will finally come true. But most, most of all! Stay safe, healthy and never alone.

Eva

Puppies and Christmas...

Puppies do love Christmas. It is easy to see, since opening hills of treats is something what they see as their due at any time of the year! Now they have to wait all the way to Birthday and how unfair is that?
Therefore, it is most important to make as much mess as possible!

Christmas make crafter busy...

haven´t been about my blog for ages. I know. I was busy you see? This Christmas last minute finishing of everything is my every year problem. It always seem in September that I have so much time left, I ignore October for some reason and in the middle of November I start to run about like headless chicken and panic.
This year however, in the nick of time I managed to finally finish an all important blanket for Dag´s mum.
It is made of 8976 pieces all together. Didn´t believe it when I did the calculation in the end, so I counted it again and again, then asked Dag to do so too... Well, that is correct number :-O!
And here it is, size 205x205cm

Beads... beads...

I was in my homeland. For very swift visit. To sort some paperwork and visit a doctor. To meet a lawyer. And to get some BEADS!
I order beads from Czech bead shop here and they do offer not only to send it to me all the way to Germany, but also an option to pick the treasure at one of their shops in Prague. I did choose the latter and pre-ordered a hill of seed beads. So, if you are one of my customers of Longnosed Yarn, you will soon see bead yarn back. To ensure I have enough of everything, I have fibre on the way as well, so I am hopping to spend a weekend in blissful dyeing of fibre.

Why doesn´t Eva spin 100% angora...

I got a question via my Etsy shop yesterday. Lady in question was asking me if I do just angora, since I do spin angora with silk a lot. Now for those of you who are not experienced with Angora as fibre or yarn, here is the answer.
Angora rabbit, which is the "giver" of this super light and fluffy fibre is an amazing animal. The hair is harvested by just brushing out or by shaving. Now this is important for the bunny, since the poor animal could suffocate on its own hair as well as get intestinal blockage by it. So by shaving it and brushing it, it has safe life. The hair this special bunny has is amazing. It can be a wee ticklish when used by itself, but it sheds even when spun into yarn- it is just so fine!. Therefore other fibres are added to keep it in place. The mix with silk is a classic. Angora hair is and always was considered a luxury fibre.

So, next time you are buying angora yarn in shop, you might buy just those 200g needed for sweater if it is 100% angora, but you will be covered in the hair all the time. You could however get a 70/30 or 50/50 mix in which case you will follow the yardage for the sweater you want to make in needle size recommended and be fluff free.
So, there. My reason for spinning angora mixes.

Angora/angora/angora...
There are angora cats.
Angora rabbits...
and angora goats...
There are people out there who spin angora cat hair and make it into clothing, bags, accesories etc.
Angora rabbit produces Angora fibre.
Angora goat produces Mohair fibre.

Many Thanks to Betty who fixed a mistake I made in this post originally, regarding goats and their fibre!