How To « Blonde Chicken Boutique

The wrap-stitch and bind-off how-to

By Tara, on July 16th, 2010%

Videos of the wrap-stitch and the bind-off. And an offer for a free shawl pattern. . . . → Read More: The wrap-stitch and bind-off how-to

Spinning a cup of tea

By Tara, on April 17th, 2009%

Now that I dyed with tea, it’s time to spin the actual teabags into the yarn. I spun a few yards and laid the end of the string into the unspun fiber so that the very tip would be encased in fiber:

I let the rest of the string spin with the fiber and pulled the tea bag out to the side, so it would flap like a flag:

As I let it feed onto the bobbin, it wanted to stick on the hooks, so I stopped and wound it on by hand:

The finished skein stripes between the two colors of tea-stained wool with a tea bag every 2 yards:

You can see more pictures (or buy it!) here.

Have you ever spun in something you recycled from everyday use?

Any questions about the spinning or dyeing? Please ask in the comments!

. . . → Read More: Spinning a cup of tea

Tea dyeing

By Tara, on April 16th, 2009%

Turning leftover tea leaves into beautiful tea-dyed yarn! . . . → Read More: Tea dyeing

6 tips for Spinning Cotton Roving

By Tara, on April 10th, 2009%

Spinning cotton isn’t hard! Check out these tips and you’ll be spinning in no time! . . . → Read More: 6 tips for Spinning Cotton Roving

Ask Tara is a weekly-ish feature in which I attempt to answer your questions about spinning, dyeing or making videos in a tiny apartment. If you have a question, ask it in the comments and I’ll answer it here with either a post or a video!

When I posted my first video, on dyeing with Easter Egg dyes in the microwave, quite a few people asked: Can you dye on the stovetop?

Short answer: Yes!

Long answer: Here’s how:

Warning #1: You might want to wear gloves. I never do with these non-toxic dyes, but I don’t mind blue fingernails.

Warning #2: You probably don’t even want to use your hands! Get yourself a long poking stick (like a chopstick) and some tongs (so you can flip the fiber)

Warning #3: Don’t agitate the fiber! Add the dye, submerge the fiber and walk away! Let it cool completely . . . → Read More: Stovetop Dyeing

Ask Tara – Getting the yarn to the bobbin

By Tara, on January 29th, 2009%

Ask Tara is a weekly-ish feature in which I attempt to answer your questions about spinning, dyeing or confusing knitting acronyms. If you have a question, ask it in the comments and I’ll answer it here with either a post or a video!

Sodalimegirl, a YouTube viewer, asks:

Could you show how you initially get your wool onto the wheel and how it gets all set up to spin. In your videos you already have spun wool on the wheel when you do your demos.

Excellent question! This is something so innate, I barely think about it. In preparing for this video, I realized I might do it completely different from someone else. How do you do it?

Here’s how I start each skein of yarn:

What do you think?

Is this how you get started? If not, how?

Have a spinning or . . . → Read More: Ask Tara – Getting the yarn to the bobbin