half done spinning

Once again, I have a pile of unwashed and not yet set yarn in my basket.  But I still took pictures of my latest spins.  This is one strand of Ginny's Harlequin and one strand of natural BFL.  The BFL softened the reds and creams.  I think it will knit up soft and marled.  Some striping, but probably subtle.

Harlequin on its own turned out like this as a two ply.   See how the colors are deeper and more saturated, the sliver grey of the natural BLF really muted and softened the colors.  I wonder how these two would work together. 

 

I loved spinning up the Farmer Phil singles I did last month as a custom spin. So this time, I did a two ply. I just love how it turned out. This is also fiber from Ginny.

For the upcoming Yarnover event in April, I'm thinking of doing some sale yarns.  I need to move out some of my older yarns, so there just may be a big basket of discounted yarns.  Might be fun to do that.  All of it is so pretty, I think people who haven't knit with handspun are really missing out on something special.  Not just my yarn, although I'm are pretty proud of it.  Even though I love to spin, I'm really surprised to find myself turning more and more to my own  yarn.  And buying less and less commercial yarn.  I just may have to do a big ol' destash of my commercial yarns in the future.  I have some really nice stuff too.  But the limited knitting time I actually have is making it easier for me to use just my own yarn. Sounds like I'm making a big sacrifice doesn't it.  Not really.  But if you haven't tried handpun yet, seek it out.  You may be really surprised in the difference you feel.

Weird search

OK, this is brief.  But someone found my blog by searching "people with missing teeth"  Really?  Wonder what they thought when they found a knitting blog? 

Proof of Spinning

I know I've been quiet this month, but one thing remains true, I've been spinning.

This armload of unwashed/unset yarn shows a few weeks of spinning.  About 20 ounces of some Julie Spins "Pastel Jungle", 8 ounces of Fat Cat Knits roving as well as some plain but absolutely lovely BFL from a local place, Della's.  They have all been washed and are in neatly organized skeins in my yarn cubbie.  I still need to print out new labels for them and get them all set.  Because I just applied for a spot at this year's Yarnover.  Last year, Yarnover was my first real exposure selling my handspun.  I sold the most I had ever sold as well as being approached by Lila's & Cladine to sell my handspun in their store.  That has been just a great experience for me.  I can't wait to see what happens this year at Yarnover!

Emily is practicing her photo skills so set up this lovely shot.  smile...I love my girls!

So just in case you were wondering, I am spinning, every day.  It has truly become my source for calming myself.  And I'm so grateful I fell into the rabbit hole of spinning.

Sepia filled world

Winter has truly set in finally in Minnesota.  It is gray and gloomy and with the new snow yesterday it all blurs in various shades of gray, white, and black.  Hard to tell where the sky stops and the snow blanketed ground starts.  So instead I dig through my fiber basket filled with oranges, reds, and golds.  Teals sprinkled in with greys and creams.  Yarn is a true blending of colors and that is what I do each day.  Watch as the fiber slips through my fingers, sometimes soft, sometimes scratchy, yet blending into a soft yet surprisingly strong piece of yarn.  That once it is knit up will yet again transform itself, both colorwise and looks.  That is the beauty of spinning and knitting, what you start with is transformed into something even better.  This is a short post, one to let you know I'm still here, still spinning, still dreaming...

The new year beckons

The last few weeks have been filled to the brim with life.  Holiday get togethers, family gatherings, and the joy of spending time with my girls.  It also brought mind numbing tiredness.  So I gave.  I kept moving, doing the things I needed to, but that was as good as I could get.  Toss in a wicked hard cold that I'm still struggling to get on the other side and you can see where I've been for the last 3 weeks.

However, I did manage to carve out slivers of time for myself.  I learned to spin singles through some trial and error.   First results so so, but now I'm pretty comfortable with how it looks and feels...

I also received my next order from Fat Cat Knits, I "only" ordered 5 pounds of roving this time...see how much fun is coming my way?

So tonight, before the onslaught of our crazy weekend jammed packed days, I'm going to sit, slowly pre-draft some fiber and let the soothing whoosh whoosh of my wheel take me to a calm place.

I'm stressed and tired.  Can't think of a better way to calm myself.

Hockey Time

With Anna officially a Hockey cheerleader, you can imagine where I'm spending two nights a week for the next several months.  Yup, an icy finger numbing ice rink.  I get to watch this...

and  this...

All the while I'm working on various knitting projects.  I keep forgetting to wear my own fingerless mitts to keep my hands warm.  Crazy!  I'm knitting Anna's fingerless mitts.  At this rate, I should have the second pair done in before the first of the year.  Check out what I bring to the games...

I have Anna's mitts on top.  Underneath them you can see my own mittens, I've worn them for two years and they are clearly my favoriets.  In the knitting bag on the left, you can just see a second sock that is waiting for the foot to be finished.  So once that mitt is done, look out, the sock will be next.  And I broke down this weekend and got a pair of sturdy warm boots to wear at the games.  I just couldn't keep my feet warm enough, even wearing hand knit socks.  So now I will be set, my feet will be warm in my new boots and if i can only remember to bring my own fingerless mitts I'll be fine!

Look who else was having fun at the game...might have been knowing that hot chocolate was near on the horizon!

Shocking Spinning Knitting Content

I know, this is supposed to be primarily a knitting/spinning blog. Well life happens, and while I'd love to spin and knit full time, unless i win the lottery, that isn't going to happen. And having two girls, a job, and my mom living with us, sometimes my crafting takes more of a back seat than I would like. But onward...I give you proof that I am still spinning....and knitting....

Isn't this basket of fluff just lovely? It is a beautiful tealy blue green with just hints of purple sprinkled throughout. It is Polwarth and spinning up nicely. When I was predrafting I wondered if may have felted just a bit, but once I started spinning it, everything worked out well.

This is the first full bobbin of the blue/green fiber, nestled in a bed of the softest squishiest cream yarn. I think the cream would be a nice base for some stranded work. I'm thinking of coming up with another hat to make up kits for, maybe this would be a good start for it.

I finished these yarns last week, moving from the left, I have two skeins of this, I call it Storm Lake, I can not take a good picture of this, it has much more blue than green in real life. The red is one of three nice size skeins of a Tuscany red colorway. It is Lorna Laces and I bought this roving on vacation in Colorado this summer. Next to it I have 2 skeins of Kodiak. I spun it before and loved how it turned out. And finally I have one skein of a beautiful St. Patrick green wool silk blend that I think is yummy.

I've also been knitting. This is a present for my cousin who is marvelous. She watches my girls when I need some help and is generally the kindest and most loving person I know. So Heidi is going to be the recipient of one of my few knitted Christmas gifts this year. This is the Advent Scarf from 2010. It was done on Ravelry as a KAL last year. A pattern per day was released for the month of December, resulting in a large and beautiful scarf/shawl. I knew I couldn't manage to knit a pattern a day, so started working on the 2010 scarf in November. Even with that, I'm only on the 9th day of the pattern. From the results I read on Ravelry, I know this is a very large scarf/shawl and so I'm planning on knitting about 18 days of the patterns, maybe 20.  So I'm hopeful this will be finished before I meet Heidi to celebrate.

And finally, what every photographer needs, is a good assistant or two.  Emily decided she could take better pictures than me (probably can).  Anna helped stretch out the knitting as needed.  And while Emily was taking her pictures, I took one of her.  So hopefully this confirms that I'm still spinning and knitting.  Let me know what you are working on...or even what you would like to see that I'm doing...always interesting to hear from readers.