Memorial Day Spinning

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone got to enjoy a day off as much as I did! It was sooo gorgeous out... nice and warm.. and no clouds in the sky. I figured it would be a nice day to sit outside with my wheel and play with some of the new fibers from MA Sheep n Wool.

Of course, after 4 hours in the sun, with spf 30 sunscreen, I still ended up burning to a crispy red shade. Yay for being pasty. =(

I also somehow managed to get purple dye all over my hands and under my nails from the silk cap I was spinning. (I swear there wasn't even any purple in it!)

I started with the merino/cashmere from Spunky Eclectic in the mermaid colorway. I'm trying to spin it finer than i normally would. I love the bright hues of the green and blues. Not sure if I want to ply it back on itself or chain ply it. Will have to decide when I'm done.


And while I was working on that, I noticed I had a little visitor. I dub thee Charlotte. Checking out another spinner's work I see. Usually i would freak out and smush a spider. But we were outside and she wasnt' bothering me.. so I let her live. I mean, she was probably there for some inspiration right? Too bad she can't spin in such gorgeous colors.


I took a break from the merino/cashmere to try out a silk cap. It was calling to me, I swear. And look at the color difference in the sun! Yes this is the same dark colored cap I got from A Touch of Twist. (and do you see purple in there? I see blue, but no purple! I'm still trying to figure out how my hands got that color)

It was recommended to me to spin a cap from the end as opposed to peeling off layers like you would do to a hankie, so I attempted to do that. It drafted nicely but after a while I noticed no longer held a cap, I held a fluffy mas off fiber. I wondered if I was doing it correctly, but I figured I wasn't hurting anything if I wasn't and continued.


And just look at the colors that shone out! Ambers and brown and copper.. So pretty!!



While I was working on the cap, I heard voices behind me and a "what kind of animal did that come from anyways?" I peeked over my shoulder and saw both my parents in the window staring at me. "It's from a silkworm!" I replied, to which I got some confused looks. So of course I proceeded to inform my parents of how a silk cap is made. Haha. Shortly after my mother appeared in the yard wielding a disposable camera and began taking pictures. "What are you doing?" I asked. She said, "I want pictures! This is so different.. like in old times! And it looks relaxing..." I laughed at her and said "It is.. when there aren't cameras in my face!" I swear there's a spinner in her somewhere.. she looked too interested. lol

I finished spinning the cap.. it was only.. hmm.. well I'm not sure how much there was.. the label said "weight... 05" I dunno what that means? Its sitting on the bobbin waiting to be plied. I think I'm going to make a plying bracelet and ply it back on itself. I won't get much yardage out of it, but that's ok. Not sure what's going to happen to it yet either.

Now to apply more aloe to my poor shoulders and try and sleep!

MA Sheep & Wool ... part 2!

So. My day started off with work.. eh. Couldn't be helped. I didn't mind except it meant that I wouldn't be able to get to MA until 2 or 3 since it would be a 2 hour drive. I was hoping that Jenny and Deb would still be there by the time I got there, but I wasn't sure since I knew they would be there since early that morning.

I left with minimal directions and was hopign that I wouldn't get lost on the way. I passed at least two craft stores, several yarn shops, antique shops, and places that boasted maple syrup products. I wanted to stop sooo bad! Anyways. I didn't get lost and I got there areound 2:30. I couldn't get ahold of Jenny due to there being NO CELL SERVICE. Ugh. I wandered around for a while just taking in the sights, also trying to see if I knew anyone by chance. I watched a guy shear two lambs (boy did they seem pissed!) and I browsed all the vendor booths in and out of the barns. I think I walked around at LEAST 3 times before I purchased anything.

( I did get a decent amount of fibery goodness! Look!!!)


My first purchase of the day? 4 silk hankies and a silk cap from A Touch of Twist. Sooo pretty. I have been dying to buy more silk hankies since they are so much fun to spin and I love the shininess of the silk combined with the nubs. And I've been wanting to try silk caps and see what the difference is like.


Next I wandered over to Spinner's Hill and drooled (not literally) over all her gorgeous fibers, but I managed to walk away with only one silk cap in lovely red, oranges and pinks. Reminds me of a sunset. :)


Wandered around some more, ogled the baby angora bunnies (one day when I am better able to take care of such sweet animals, I will get one!) and bumped into Kim at the Enchanted Knoll booth. I wanted to buy waaaay more than I did, and I will be sure to procure more fiber from her in the future. I did purchase some tussah silk and a very lovely batt that was a sw merino/silk/cashmere/angelina mix. I can't wait to try the silk.



Wandered around some more with Kim and we bumped into AGuyThatKnitsinCT and then bumped into Jenny and Deb! Finally! I was so excited to see that I hadn't missed them! They went to browse something else int eh barn and I ran up to Spunky Eclectic to see if I could catch her before she closed. And I made it! Just in time to buy some SW Corriedale in two gorgeous colorways, a merino/cashmere blend in the Mermaid colorway, and a merino/tencel mix in the Black Cherries colorway. I was thrilled to meet Amy and to be able to purchase yet more fiber that I havent' tried yet.



We all left soon after Kim, Jenny, Deb and I stopped by a quaint little restaurant to get our grub on. We were all STARVING seeing as none of us had really eaten that day. Out waitress was uber funny and nice and the food was amazingly delicious and well priced. We're totally going to have to make a little tradition of that and get more people to come!

The car ride home was completely uneventful although I was sooo tired my vision was stating to go blurry.. lol I can't wait to go again next year. And to Rhinebeck this fall! <3

MA Sheep & Wool... Part 1

Just a quick post.. Look I haven't fallen off the earth!

Went to MA Sheep & Wool yesterday.. it was my first fiber festival experience! It was sooo much fun and I bought lots of lovely stash enhancing fibery things.. (which I am about to go take photos of).

I will post in more detail a little later.. Just wanted to sneak that in because I am still uber excited that I got to go! lol

Pics and details coming in a bit!

It's April Fool's!

Which means...

Happy Birthday to me! ((and no I'm not joking.. lol))

I got a shiny new Blackberry Curve in RED from my parents.. and my mom made me a delicious looking funfetti cake. Yum. Can't wait to dig in. Guess 26 isn't so bad.. lol

Going to see Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin and Seether tomorrow.. possibly going to the club on thursday, and best of all.. guild on saturday! I will have to treat myself to some yummy fibery goodness. Hee.

To everyone:
enjoy the day as much as I hope to and I'll cross my fingers you don't get pranked!

BUT
if you have any great ideas for a prank for my boss, that'd be nice of you to share. lol

Concord - A FO!

Whee!

I finished the spunky fiber I was working on... Isn't it lovely?


It's called Concord.. appx 315 yds! That's the most yardage I've gotten so far from anythign I've spun.. but then again.. it's the first time I've actually spun up the entire 4 oz without getting distracted and wanting to work on something else..




I've started in on some of the beautiful stuff I've gotten from The Painted Sheep. I love Kris' colorways.. so gorgeous! What I'm currently spinning is 4 oz of BFL in her Tiger Lily colorway. It's so bright and springy.. it's been perfect to work on during the cloudy, rainy weather we've been having. I'm trying to spin it thicker than I usually do. I want to navajo ply it and I'm aiming for a bulky weight.. but we'll see. I always seem to spin thinner than I mean to... Either way, it's going to be bright and pretty! This is also th efirst time I've worked with BFL.. and holy cow.. it's so soft and sproingy. It's like spinning from a cloud!



I also ordered yet more fiber... it's like an addiciton.. I just cant stop! I get paid.. and it's hey! money! let's go spend it on pretty stuff! lol I finally ordered from loop on etsy. I've been dying to order one of her batts for the longest time. I ordered a bamboo batt in a pretty rainbow of colors, and a sari silk and alpaca batt. I can't wait til they get here.. it's going to be so much fun to work with. :)

And here's a gratutitous shot of my lovely new turkish spindle I got at guild with some of hte alpaca fiber I'm spinning..


Aaand now I'm going back to watching The Waterboy and spinning more of that lovely Painted Sheep fiber. But shhhhh! I'm supposed to be cleaning. heehee

Spinning progress...

Don't have great pics.. I'm too sick to go outside and take advantage of the gorgeous sun I see streaming in through the window... actually I'm being lazy and I don't even want to go near the window to attempt to take proper pictures so the ones I have are just sad.. indoors with flash. Bleah. But I'm excited to show off my progress so far.. lol Especially sinc eI havent' had all that much to show recently.

Anyways.. I have been working on the lovely Corriedale fiber from Spunky Eclectic, in her Rocky Mountain High colorway. I've been spinning it bit by bit for a while now.. and I did get quite a bit done at guild. I split the 4oz of roving in half and spun half of it completely already.. and 'm maybe a little more than halfway done with the other half of it. I plan on plying it together when I'm finished.

Finished bobbin.

2nd bobbin in progress.


Remaining fiber.

I also couldn't wait to start in on some of the beautiful fibers I just got in the mail, so i selected one of the bags from copperpot and decided to break out my louet spindle and start spinning some of it up. I'm currently spinning her Sugar Plum Fairies colorway and omg is it delicious! So soft and fluffy.. and the sparkle in it is to die for. The richness of the purples are amazing together and I love the way it's spinning up so far. I can't decide if i want to ply it or leave it as a single, but I'm sure it'll tell me along the way what it wants to be. ;)




And since I'm still sick i have nothing to do to occupy my time other than tv and crafts, so this is perfect for me to catch up on some of the spinning I have been lacking... so it's back to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and my wheel for me!

lalalaaaaa

Ugh.
Again I foget to update my blog despite promising too... and despite visiting so I can view other blogs I like to read. Lazy lazy me.

I've finally caught the bug that's been going around so since I'm stuck home and feeling like crap, this seems to be a perfect opportunity to update the nothing that's been happening craft wise.. lol

I didn't even post about guild yet! omg.. I'm sooo behind. I went to my second meeting of the Nutmeg Spinner's Guild the 3 saturdays ago.. and it was soooo much fun. They did the yearly auction which was really fun to watch and participate in and I was amazed at the amount of money that was raised. I managed to score a book on crochet amigurumi which I will have to make for some random people and I also snagged as turkish spindle! I've been DYING to get one for the longest time.. they look fun and the fact that it makes a nice neat center pull ball when you're finished spinning just makes it all the more attractive. What I was bidding on was actually the turkish spindle, a heavier spindle which will probably be good for plying and a wicker shelf unit. I honestly didnt' even see the other two items, all my focus was on the turkish spindle.. which I won for only $22!! What a steal! It's beautiful and perfect and I love spinning with it. I was really confused when the person walked up and handed me a whole shelf with my spindle.. lol Talk about tunnel vision! I also nabbed more fiber from The Painted Sheep.. Kris is sooo sweet and I love her colorways... I bought her Tiger Lily BFL.. it's so bright and springy,
I can't wait to spin it up. I also nabbed some alpaca fiber to try which I am spinning on the turkish spindle and I can't believe how amazingly soft and yummy it is. i just want to snuggle in it! lol And Deb came with her new baby.. so cute! And i got to see Jenny's shiny new wheel... so pretty! I can't wait til the next meeting in April.

Since I'm on the lines of fiber.. I bought some lovely stuff from copperpot and Wooly Treasures on etsy this weekend and they all arrived today! I don't know why i keep buying all this gorgeous stuff when I dont' have the time to spin it! lol

Knitting-wise I haven't really been working on much lately.. just making some garterlac dishcloths for my new bf (who LOVES the fact that I knit and crochet!!) Other than that.. not doing too much.. I set aside the socks that i had started.. I think I'm going to frog thema nd try again.... maybe with a more interesting pattern instead of just a basic sock...we'll see.

Crochet-wise I've been workign on a pretty scarf done lengthwise.. in green, baby blue and royal blue.. striping it randomly.. I'm using a nice merino/alpaca yarn.. I don't rememeber the name of it right now.. but it's soooo soft. I have no idea what I'll do with it when I'm done either.. but it'll find a nice home somewhere.. lol

Not too much else to post about at the moment I suppose. .so I guess I'll get back to watching Project Runway!

Welcome to 2008

Hrm.
I am a little late.. but hurrah! 2008 is here! I'm hoping (and I say this yet again) to keep up with this poor, sad, neglected blog and actually post once in a while. One of my goals for the year is to post here at least once a week. Starting now, since I obviously already missed out on most of January. *sigh*

I am also hoping to actually finish some of my current projects and attempt to have less WIP's and UFO's lying about. Of course, I have to locate a good many of them and decide of they need to be frogged or if I should continue on with them. I also want to make mroe of an attempt to attend SnB on thursday nights.. or if the Cheshire one changesto a different night.. whenever that is. I've also FINALLY attended the Nutmeg Spinners Guild meeting.. I went in December and I had a blast. I spent more money than I should have.. and I defintiely wish I could have bought more. I'm still coveting those gorgeous turkish spindles.

Spinning is another thing I want to work on more in 2008. Not only learning new techniques, and improving my overall spinning, but I also want to try and spin more.. get in a few nights a week instead of once every week or so. I can't improve if I don't do it after all.. and there's lots of fiber hanging out in my closet just beggin to be spun. :)

No pics or anything interesting right now.. but I will ty my best to keep up here and actually update once a week minimum. After all, I do have plenty of time to do it! lol

I'm still here!

Really now. I come visit my blog every couple of days so I use the links to toher people's blogs to read theirs.. but can I post in my own? Apparently not.

Well, I havent' been doing all that much. Random fiber purchases, and I do have a few new handspun yans I'd like to show off.. but alas, I broke my camera. *cries* I was in the process fo cleaning a fleece I purchased at the Bethlehem Fair and the camera has a wee mishap and landed in the bucket of soapy water. O_o Awful. I love taking pictures and I spent so much on my camera.. and now I went and ruined it. I'm still mad at myself for that and it happened over a month ago!

Anyways.. not much going on here.. I missed out on the Nutmeg Spinner's Guild meeting I had wanted to attend.. to check it out and see what the deal was with that.. I went to Boston to visit my friend Ruby who moved there for school. I'm hoping to make it to the December meeting. It sounds like a lot of fun. I have to remember to save some money first though.. lol

Oh! I've been working on a halloween costume.. I decided to be a geisha this year.. I actually have a party to attend. Whee! I'm using Simplicity pattern 1080 and i have the most gorgeous brocade fabric for it.. I need the costume for this saturday and while I cut out most o the pieces, It's not sewn together yet. Better get cracking. Maybe I'll borrow my mom's camera so I can take some pics.

Uhh... I guess I don't really have anything els eI can blabber about right now. It's so much harder ot blog without pics! I hate this. :( Here's hoping I can get a new camera for xmas....

Dyeing Fun

Of course I forgot to post the pictures of all the lovely roving I dyed the other day... I had so much fun! :D

Most of it was dyed with kool-aid.. the rest was wiltons icing dyes and food coloring. Most of the roving was the superwash/nylon mill ends from the Sheep Shed, and the brown mill ends from the Sheep Shed. I also overdyed my hibiscus roving from Spunky Eclectic, and some black and white mill ends from ebay. I have no idea at this point how much I actually did that day.. but it sure was a lot!

I've never done a batch that big before.. and I wasn't sure what to expect from some of the rovings.. I was just keeping my fingers crossed that I wouldn't somehow felt some of it.. lol Some of the superwash kind of got stringy and fell apart.. I'll be keeping and spinning that up. And I'll be keeping some of the colors that I just love.. but the rest will probably be put up on my etsy. I do need a way to fund my fiber addiciton! XD

Sheep Shed order

I recieved my order from the sheep shed on friday.. which was super fast considering I placed my order on tuesday!

I'm in love. I can't wait to order more already but unfortunately I think I have to wait two weeks until my next paycheck. :(

I'm going to keep busy by dyeing most of what I ordered though. Should be fun. I bought a ton of kool-aid to play with and I think I want to try dyeing with the wilton's icing dyes.

And two pounds is a lot more than I thought it would be.. but I'm still trying to figure out how Carol stuffed it in that tiny box! lol And she threw in a little bag with nylon fibers! I don't now if I can just spin it as is or if I need to blend it with something...

There were quite a few long strips of roving mixed in as well as a whole bunch of shorter thinner strips, and some really thick ones in the superwash/nylon bag. I still can't get over all the fiber I have to play with! lol

I'm definitely going to try dyeing some of the brown roving as well as the superwash/nylon.. I'm wondering how the brown will take the dyes...

Roving orders.. and another finished yarn

EEEEE

I placed an order with the Sheep Shed today! ^^

1 lb of superwash/nylon sock roving and 1 lb of their brown tones rovings. All the roving are Brown Sheep Mill Ends.. I can't wait til it gets here. :D I'm a little nervous to see how much 2 lbs is though... when i order 4 oz it seems like a lot! lol

The sock stuff is all white though so I get to try dyeing. :D Squee. And depending on what the brown and white stuff looks like, I might dye some of that too...

ohhh.. I forgot to post.. here's the lovely rovings I got from Abby's Yarns... so soft and gorgeous! I've already started spinning the yellow and I looove the way it's looking. :D

Yellow - Lemon Spice 100% merino 2.7 oz

Green/Pink - Roses 100% merino 3 oz

Red/Purple - Raspberry 100% domestic wool 4 oz

I also spun up half of the Poison roving from Spunky Eclectic.. and I'll admit I was a bit disappointed with it. Not with the way it was spun.. but still with the colors..

I can't help it.. I ordered it expecting something bright blue and bright green.. and got something that was bright green, a weird purple, and a whole lot of white. *sigh* It is a pretty colorway.. but because it's not what I wanted, I don't like it. I thought that maybe whe I spun it up, I would like it more.. but I don't. Oh well.

GloStick 135 yds 12 wpi 2 ply

Yarn Harlot!

Man I am really bad at keeping this thing updated...

Anyways.. earlier last week or so, Jenny told me that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka the Yarn Harlot , was going to be at RJ Julia's bookstore in Madison for a signing. And did I want to go?

Of course! And I had just gotten her newest book in a swap recently.. so yay! Unfortunately, I failed to find it befor eI left my house friday evening, so I didn't have it readily avaiable to get it signed.. oh well. I got my mapquest directions and managed to find my way down to MAdison without getiing lost.

And I looked for Jenny when I got there but couldn't find her so I sat in a random avaiable seat and watched all the people around me knitting away. Which reminded me that I hadn't thought to bring any of my knitting with me. I was amazed though.. I had never seen that many knitters in the same room before. It was neat.

And it was rather exciting for me to actually be able to sit there and hear an author speak. Stephanie is very funny and witty and had lots of great stories... and some stories that made me want to hit people.. but it was a really fun evening. When she finished speaking and everyone got up t get in line for the signing, I saw Jenny and her hubby Matt across the room and went over to meet them. And I got to meet some of her friends.. and new people! I love meeting new people.. especially when they actually have similar interests.. lol

We hung around at the back of the line so that we could hopefully aske Stephanie to take her pictue with us.. and she did! Not only did she take a picture with us, she also came out to eat with is at a little pizza place down the street. Way cool. She's just a really awesome and funny person and I'm really glad we got to hang out with her for a bit. It pretty much made up for not getting my book signed. Hee.

Everyone pretty much filtered out and went home after we ate.. and I made it home around 11:30.. and what was the first thing I noticed when I went into my room? The book I had been searching for. Gnomes. I swear I have gnomes.....

First wheel spun yarns

I had so much fun trying to figure out my wheel.. I can't wait to tackle the rest of my roving. :D

I decided to use of the rest of the green roving I got from mainewoods yarn on etsy and spun up a bobbin full of that. I also spun up a bit of the white roving that came with my wheel and plied it with some of the green. The rest, I wound into a center pull ball and plied on itself. I was doing pretty well with the ball.. but maybe 3/4 of the way through, it tangled so badly I got frustrated and stopped where I was. I still have the rest of the ball sitting in a bin with my rovings.. eventually when I'm no longer mad at it (is it normal to be mad at a ball of wool?) I'll attempt to untangle it and see if I can do something with the rest of it.





Here's yarn #1... Starlight Mint. Appx 68 yds, 10 wpi.. worsted weight. green-100% wool white-80% wool, 20% mohair











and yarn #2... Frog's Breath. Appx 130 yds, 12 wpi... DK weight. 100% wool.

I got a spinning wheel!

It came in the mail on tuesday.. I've been too busy playing with it to blog about it.. lol

Here's the package!

And despite the fact there's a big 'ol sticker on it that says "fragile".. it was dented and had a hole in one side.. *sigh* And the inside wasn't packaged super well.. but it appeared to be pretty unscathed.

Here she is! My Babe Double Treadle Production Wheel!

Handspun silk hankies

I really have to get my hands on more of this stuff.. it's hard on my hands to draft.. but I'm in love with the way ot spins up. And it's shiny! :D

These were purchased from drivebyknitting on etsy.

Appx 64 yds, 20 wpi.