so not fair

I'm in a time crunch.  Spinning is taking over my life.  So explain how the spinning fairy is doing anything other than howling in laughter at my efforts.  Last night, midnight, Emily is hollering because there is a spider on her wall.  How she could see the spider if her eyes were closed as they should have been at midnight, I don't know.  But I must slay said spider.  I bravely stalk it and with one massive swing, crush it onto the rolled up folder.  As I triumphantly head out the door, I reach out with my right had to flip off her light.  In my exuberance of slaying the dangerous spider, my right hand, instead of sliding down the light switch on the side of the wall, instead crashes straight into it.  HARD.  There was a loud snap.  I'm leaning against the wall, cradling my right hand, left hand still holding the rolled up folder with squished spider on it.  Emily leaped out of bed hearing the snap.  Momma, momma!  are you OK?  Not really I answered.  I tried to not cry.  I tried to move my fingers.  Slowly and carefully they all moved.  Albeit, with pain, but I could move all my fingers.  The most pain filled finger is my pinkie on my right hand.  But I figured as long as I could move it and bend it, it wasn't broken.  I got Emily back into bed, flushed the crushed spider down the drain.  And I realize in horror, this may impact my spinning.  Now I sit at a computer all day long at work.  I need to type a great deal of my day.  But what is the first thing that crosses my mind?  Can I still spin!  I went to bed trying to be careful of my achy finger.  And this morning I sat down at my wheel and tentatively started spinning.  While I need to be a bit careful, I'm thrilled to say, I can spin.  Thank heavens!  And as you can see, I can type.  My pinkie has a weird bruise encircling the first knuckle and the tip is swollen.  But I can spin.  Let the countdown continue.

ps - I finished four skeins last week.  I have two already done this week.  I'm approaching 65 completed skeins, with probably another 15+ sale yarns.  Add to that my mini skeins and I'm feeling better about my Yarnover booth.  Plus I should have about 25 braids of Fat Cat Knits roving for sale.  All is well.  But the spinning will continue for the next two weeks.  I'm hoping to have over 70 skeins at least.  May the spinning fairy's continue their very benevolent guidance in my life.

6 skeins down, how many to go?

I have 24 days to go until Yarnover.  I finished 6 skeins last week.  Just look at these....

This is Cool Madras...a soft plushy Merino yarn.  Blues and greens mixed with grays and creams.  Very Pretty...

Then there is this, meet Daisy Cakes.  This is Merino and Bamboo.  The shine is from the bamboo...I think this would be so pretty as a baby sweater. 

Finally there is Pomegranate   This is a very me color, I love the darker colors.  It is red with purples.  Can't beat that.

And finally I'm spinning some pink that is called Carnations, which fits but I also keep coming back to Cotton Candy...this is also merino and bamboo, so matching it up with DaisyCakes would be perfect.  Hopefully someone else will agree with that too.

So while the time is going to fly before Yarnover, I'm doing my level best to have a good selection for people.  If you are in the area and have the opportunity, don't let Yarnover slip thorugh your fingers.  It is a great event and fun to wander through the market place.  If for no other reason than you are surrounded not only by yarn but are around people who love the same things you do!

Check out Yarnology

I'm so happy to let you know that my handspun is now in another shop, Yarnology!  Gaby has a wonderful shop in Winona, it has such a nice homey atmosphere and now they also sell my yarn there!  Winona is about 2 1/2 hours south of Minneapolis, the drive down along the river is so pretty.  I forgot how big Lake Pepin is.  I taught school in Winona my first year out of college.  My cousin lives there so after meeting with Gaby and leaving her with a bunch of my yarn, my mom and the girls and I headed to my cousin's house.  Grilled brats, salads, laughter and shared memories capped a perfect Saturday.

Anna had her cheerleading banquet last night.  My girl is beautiful and it was a nice evening, watching her receive her letter as well as a certificate due to her scholastic achievement as well had this momma's heart near to bursting with pride.  She was so happy and it was just a nice evening.

I am in a frantic race with the clock, can you hear it tick tick tick...never stopping or slowing...there are 30 days until Yarnover.  I have a table there to sell my handspun.  Normally I'd have tons of yarn to load up my space, hoping to entice knitters to stop and decide they can't possibly leave the area without that one (or two or three) certain skein in their bag.  Well I had such a wonderful experience at both Yarn Harbor in Duluth and now Yarnology in Winona, that my stock is a wee bit low.  Now if you remember, you know I have nine POUNDS of fiber singing its siren song to me, just waiting for me to spin it up.  And in a moment of desperation, I may have ordered another four pounds of fiber, which should arrive in the next week or so.  So that should translate into no worries for Yarnover right?  Ummm, did I mention I have 30 days until Yarnover?  Ya, 30.  Oh and there is the pesky problem of working 8 hours per day at a company that does not think spinning in my cube is a very productive use of my time.  (I know!  Really?)  So that leaves me about 3-4 hours per week day to spin.  Possibly 8 or so on Sat. or Sunday.  But even so, that is not much time to transform 13 pounds of stunning fiber into 50 skeins of finished yarn!  So what is a spinner to do?  Well, I should be able to finish 20+ skeins in time for Yarnover.  And the rest of the fiber?  I'm bringing that along, I will sell the fiber to spinners and also offer it for sale with the additional cost of spinning if someone falls in love with the fiber but doesn't spin.  So please stop at my booth at Yarnover, I'm sure I will have something that you will love...something maybe like this?

Meet DaisyCakes...a merino/bamboo blend that is so very soft and squishy...I think it is screaming to be made into a baby sweater/hat...what do you think?

Fiberland

Isn't that just the best way to start a new post?  I got my order from Ginny at Fat Cat Knits and it took my breathe away.  I had it delivered to me at work and I literally clapped my hands in glee when the mail room folks brought it up to me.  I left the box open all day so I could look over at all the wonderful fluff all day long.  So many people stopped and asked questions.  My co-workers have little to no knowledge of spinning or knitting and to see this amount of roving just really puzzled them.  But all of them had to touch and were so suprised at how soft it all was.

I can't wait to start spinning it.  I believe I'm going to start with these two.

They are Carnation and Daisy Cakes.  Both are Merino Bamboo mix.  I plan on spinning each color separately and then I'm going to ply a single of each together.  Should give a nice complimentary set of yarn. 

I also have plans for this one...it is DragonFly, it is a Polwarth base. 
I think I'll start by pulling the colored bits apart and then spinning from purple to blue to green.  Won't that be pretty?

I think these would work together as well.   They are called Curry and Tangerine - both in BFL.  Add to the mix this one called Chestnut and the combinations seem endless. 

I'm frantically trying to spin as much as this as possible for the upcoming fiber festival, Yarnover.  It is on April 28 at the Hopkins Highschool in Minneapolis.  I've been selling quite a bit of my handspun in the last month, so I'm really trying to work at building my stock back up.  I'm also going to bring along any of the above fiber I haven't spun up and have that for sale as well, so if you are a spinner and want to try some fabulous fibers, look me up.  If you want your yarn ready to go, check out my spot.  I can't wait!  I haven't even covered all the fiber I have in the main post, so stay tuned.  I'll follow up and when it is spun I'll add more pictures.

No more boring lunches

My youngest daughter has a new job.  She is packing my lunch 2-3 times a week.  This will add some money to her monthly allowance.  It also helps me to not spend as much money at work in the cafeteria.  But I didn't bank on the food that she would pack.  I buy certain things to make it easy for her (and also so I'm sure at least I will LIKE my lunches).  But I've been happily surprised by her inventiveness.  She packs both breakfast and lunch.  It is enough to laugh out loud sometimes.  Yogurt, breakfast bars, steam-able lunches, cookies, fruit, and sometimes the best thing?  A note.  Much like the notes I used to tuck into her school lunches.  Short little declarations of love and happiness.   The combinations are not always what I would have selected, but the notes?  Best part of all. 

Well that took a while

Sorry about being off the grid for a MONTH?  sigh...sometimes life just kinda smacks you around a bit and all you can do is hang on tight!  Last time we talked I said I would show you pictures of the other roving I got from Detta's...so as promised here we go...

This beauty is called Jamaica.  And it is the softest most shimmery fiber I've played with in a while...it is Merino and Tussah silk.  I've already spun up half of it, and it turned out to a heavy lace weight.  I think it almost looks like dragonfly wings...not sure if I will keep it's name as Jamaica or change it. 

This one is called Snapdragon and that is exactly how it turned out.  I finished this as well.  It is a soft pastel with hints of greens, pinks and blues.  I think it would look so nice in a baby blanket or sweater...hmmm my niece is pregnant with a little girl...just might have to think about it.  smile..


While the last month has been a bit trying there have been some moments to treasure too, one is Emily's eighth gotcha day.  It is so amazing to me that I've had Emily home for eight years now.  We've come a long way in that time.  She has had 5 surgeries and come through beautifully.  She has blossomed so much in the last year, at school and at church.  Hearing her and Anna laugh each night is the best music I could hope for.  I've said it before, I just wish I could let both her foster family and birth family know how well she is doing and how grateful I am they helped keep her safe and loved until I could come for her. 

Another really exciting thing for me is my handspun is now in TWO shops in Minnesota.  Yesterday the shop Yarn Harbor bought my yarn to sell in their shop.  Kathy bought a LOT of my yarn!  So if you are in the area please stop in at Yarn Harbor and ask for my yarn.  Her shop is warm and inviting and chock full of a wide variety of yarns, now including MINE!  It was a good weekend in my household.  We got to drive up to the glorious area of Lake Superior and I got to sell yarn!

And for those people in the Twin Cities, I'll be vending again this year at Yarn Over.  This is the year knitting event put on by the Minnesota Knitter's Guild.  It will be on April 28 at the Hopkins High school.  The classes are amazing with nationally known instructors including Nancy Bush, Anne Hanson, Romi Hill, Amy Singer and Annie Modesitt to name a few.  Even if you can't take classes, there will be a smashing marketplace for anyone to attend.  Please stop over at my table and introduce yourself, I'd love to meet people who read the blog.  It would be fun!

Here is hoping it won't be another month before I'm back!

Who needs Disneyland!

Instead of Disneyland, this weekend, I went to Detta's land!  Detta's is a treasure trove of spinning supplies, from wheels (new and antique), roving (plain and dyed), and miscellaneous supplies.  It is like my version of a theme park.  There really should be some type of fiber theme park.  Instead of a corn field maze, there could be a spinning wheel maze, weaving in and out of hundreds of wheels, stopping to try this one before jumping over to that one.  Instead of winning stuffed animals at the carnival rides, you would win roving!  Boy oh boy, now that would be a fun time!

I happily started digging through the overflowing boxes at Detta's, I was looking for mostly solid colors in light colors.  I have plenty of mixed yarns in dark reds, browns, grays.  It was time for something bright and light.  So check these out!  First is a teal blue/green...

 Next is a soft violet

now a spring green, like baby lettuce before it matures...


Then a robins egg blue...

These solids are a beautiful merino.  Soft and lovely...I've already filled two bobbins of lemon drop yellow and this is how it looks on the wheel as I'm plying...

Tomorrow I'll post the pictures of the mixed color rovings I picked out as well.  If you are interested, check out Detta's, I love the on site experience of picking through her over flowing boxes and shelves of roving, but you can also shop online.  Either way, if you are craving a fiber fix, this is one way to ease that itch!