Again, more Yarn...

Right to business, April 15, more spindling. For those who don't know, this is an Ashford Turkish spindle, and it weighs somewhere around 2 ounces. It is by no means a work of art, but it gets the job done. And the nifty part is that when you are done spinning, the yarn can be removed in a center pull ball.

April 16, 17, and 18, I spun only the minimum 20 minutes each day, on the spindle

April 19, I used some Brown Sheep Mill Ends to practice spinning thicker singles. this is the thickest I have ever spun, about DK singles, I think.

I also did some more bamboo (the second bobbin)

April 20, I started spinning some mixed breed Fiber from the Whorling Tides Naked Fiber Club. It is really very clean, and the locks were in good shape, so I am spinning straight from the lock and just fluffing it out. I highly recommend this shop. Beth is great.

April 21, I forgot to take pictures before continuing to spin yesterday. Bad me.

April 22, more mixed breed wool

So, I think that brings us up to date. Tomorrow, the Monkeys.

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More Yarn Every Day... Again

Alright, we're back to business!

Here is the latest of the Yarn Everyday series:

April 10th, More Bamboo:

April 11th, Finished the first bobbin of bamboo and plyed my perendale:

April 12th, Finished spinning and Plied the Pink Chocolate Batts from The Good Sheep. These were to die for, by the way. This yarn is currently up for sale at The Indie Dyers Coop.

April 13, Dyed some pretty Yarns and Fibers. Also My friend finished her first skein of wheelspun yarn. The yarns shown (mine, not my friend's) are also available for sale at the IDC.

April 14, Taught my mom to spin, while she was doing that, my secondary wheel had a piece break, so she learned on the ladybug. So I spindled.

Mom's First Yarn:

Ok, wow, we are a little pic heavy today. I'll continue with April 15th tomorrow, and perhaps the monkey socks the next day... they are almost done now, you know... just missing the toes, now.

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More Yarn Everyday Challenge; and My Monkey Socks Progress.

I've been busy. Really. And not just with yarn. Beeba 1 has his birthday party tommorrow. He turned 3 on Monday. But I have managed to keep up with the yarn everyday challenge, and here are a few more days worth of it:

April 7th, More of the pink Chocolate BFL:

April 8th, More Pink Chocolate and some Perendale (the perendale I carded up for the Blog here-- expect a video of this sometime in the near future, but probably not till after next week)

April 9th, I started on some Bamboo.

I haven't spun for today yet, but thats ok... its only just past 10:30 am.

Then, as for the monkey socks, they have been feeling neglected. So the last couple days, I got to work on them. I have officially finished the legs of them, and am about halfway done making the heel flaps. The pattern was not writing for 2 at a time, so I had to play with the needles a bit, and of course, I have no stitch holders, so lucky me, I used some little safety pins to hold the stitches... I think I used 10 of them, lol. But they are now looking really cool.

With that, I bid farewell for probably the weekend. With the Party tommorrow, as well as the family Seder dinner at my FIL's house (yes, I know it is not the first day, they do it when it is convenient to get the most people to come) and My mom is driving in today, so we will be very busy the next few days.

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Easter, and Happy Passover!

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Yarn Everyday Challenge

On one of my message boards, I am participating in a "yarn everyday for 30 days" challenge. Every day, I am spinning, dyeing, or prepping fiber to spin, for a minimum of 20 minutes. Then posting pictures in the forum. Its a fun challenge, and has several hidden benefits, which can be reaped by both me and by my customers.

Benefit 1, more yarn and fiber available to be bought. That is always a good thing.

Benefit 2, My skill level increases with steady and regular practice. This is true of any fiber artists, at any level. The more you do, the better you do it.

Benefit 3, its super fun, and means I am taking more photos of my work.

With that in mind, some pics of the previous days' works?

April 1st- Merino Fiber, spun at about a 36 wpi

April 2nd- Lots of dyeing happened... about 22 ounces. Plus spun more of the merino

April 3rd- More merino

April 4th- Plying



April 5th- spun silk at 40wpi and plied to some 40 wpi alpaca -




I probably won't post a pic everyday here on the blog, but I'll update every few days anyway. Hope you enjoyed the pics!

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The Bug made it home!

That's right, ladies and gentlefolk, My new wheel is here.

The UPS man came to my door yesterday afternoon and brought with him a great big box of loveliness. And I can surely tell you, this will now and always be the only bug ever allowed in my home.

The Box itself is stated as being the best and safest way to ship or pack the wheel, and it is highly recommended that you do not lose or dispose of it. Schacht sells replacement boxes for $25 each. Definitely not the cheapest Box I've ever seen.

When I opened it, I was not surprised at the small amount of padding in the box... but only because of reviews I have read prior to buying. The wheel is in pristine condition, though.

And The cute little mascot is in a very cool spot. It is visible when I am spinning, right between the treadles on the back leg of the wheel.



I started spinning on it right away. well, as soon as Beeba 2 let me. I decided to start off in Scotch tension, since the wheel came set up that way, and its easiest to just leave it that way for now.

I have some lovely batts from The Good Sheep to spin, but I was afraid that the first time spinning with a new wheel I might mess it up, and I really want to do these justice, so I ent stash diving for something small to play with.

Despite knowing that Alpaca can be tricky (especially when it is the first time spinning alpaca) I found some small alpaca batts (lovely soft stuff, but less than an ounce) in my stash and chose that for my practice fiber.



I have to say, the singles aren't perfect, but they are really pretty... and the wheel spins like butter. I haven't measured WPI, but they are pretty fine.


Interestingly enough, with the same effort of treadling, I am spinning as swiftly and finely on the 9:1 ration of the medium whorl as I did on the 13:1 ration on my old wheel. That gives me a lot more space to grow, with 2 whorls faster (4 higher ratios) and 1 whorl lower (3 lower ratios).


I think eventually, I will want additional accessories. I can see myself wanting the new Bulky Flyer and bobbins when they are released, if only for plying. I think I might only buy 1 or 2 of those bobbins, though. I do see myself wanting more regular high speed bobbins down the line, especially if, as I anticipate, I wind up preferring Double drive. I also think that despite mixed reviews, I will be wanting the built in lazy kate eventually. it would be great for storing bobbins and traveling with them, whether it is great for plying from or not.


For those with young kids, I also find this is a breeze to spin on even with some "help" treadling. I have much more control, even if I relinquish control of one treadle to my almost 3 year old big boy.


And I found out today that on this wheel, I can spin with a sleeping baby in lap. I could ot do that with the old wheel. It was too loud and distracting, and the treadle is not at a great angle for me to have her on my lap... she would slide off. The Ladybug treadles are a little higher, making for a more comfortable spinning position overall. I even spun reclined in a chair!

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What I'm working on...

Kind of. Alright, so its one thing I AM working on, and one thing I just finished.

So, what I am working on, aside from my socks, and a million other projects, this is my newest project:

Yes, Its just yarn atm. I cast on, but with a 3 stitch cast on, it doesn't look like much. this is the yarn for my Blue Jeans Lace Leaf Shawl. it is very fine, and I think maybe I am crazy, xause even for lace, this is LACE. it is as fine as my very finest handspun, only I can't seem tom make handspun in this qualntity in this fineness... I get bored way too fast. hence buying the yarn this time. Plus it was on sale.

And the project I finished, My Jenny Bag. I love this pattern. and best yet, the designer is a friend from one of my message boards. Can't beat supporting your friends and getting something cool too.



Ok, so the fabric is very bright. But it matches my Mei Tei, and I really love it right now. I know, I'll probably get tired of the print eventually, but that's the great thing about making things... you can always make another! I also made a matching wallet, from another of the same designer's patterns, and am debating making the sunglass case that comes with this pattern. I have the leftover fabric, and I might. I also added ties to the purse so that I can close it. it is reversable, by the way, so if I want somethign a little less loud, I can also have a plain black purse at the spur of the moment. cool, huh?

Too many Crafties!

So really, I should be finishing things up here, right? I should definitely NOT be starting new projects.

But What do I do... I go ahead and start new projects.

Today, I cast on for the Blue Jeans Lace Leaf Shawl. I have not finished my basket, and I have lots of yarn to spin. I need to dye more fiber in the next few weeks, I'd like to have a whole bunch of nice variety done up to stock in my next stocking on the Indie Dyers Coop.

And, I just got my Batts that I bought from Berritt of The Good Sheep, who is another member of the Coop. (I really have to say, they look just Yum! She called them Pink Chocolate and they look good enough to eat!)

Oh, and did I mention, that my new LADYBUG spinning wheel is en route? well, it is en route to my dealer, and from there it will come to me, but really... yay!!!

Plus then there is a little matter of a spinning swap I am participating in. My partner (the sender) will send fiber to me (the spinner) to spin up. half the fiber goes back to her as yarn, the rest is for me to keep. My impression is that most people will be doing 4-8 ounce batches. My partner and I agreed to do 12-16 ounces for each of us (because really, what spinner can turn down more Fiber??) its more craftiness for me to do, but fun fun...

Oh, and My monkey socks... they have progress, but they are still not done. that will take time. And sadly for them, they are not the highest priority right now. Then again, neither is my lace shawl, and I was silly enough to cast that on...

Oh well... the nice part about the shawl (aside from how pretty it is) is that the cast on is 3 stitches. I only have about 7 rows in, with 11 or so stitches at this point. yeah, I know, not much of a cast on. but, I only got a few minutes to spend on it. And, it took almost an hour just to wind the yarn into a ball!

Ok, I have my crafty projects lined up... now lets see how I do.

The Indie Dyers Cooperative is a success!

We had a great Grand Opening Day yesterday, with over 70 people in our shop at one point!

Lots of Items were sold by our members, but don't worry, there is still more to grab. Don't wait too long though, because you never know when that perfect yarn or gorgeous fiber will sell out to someone else.

There are still a few FFS (that's Free for Shipping, so a great deal) Lotteries up, so don't miss your chance at those either.

Also, I am taking suggestions for colors you'd like to see in Rovings, Rolags, and Yarns. No purchase necessary to just give an opinion. My plan is to spend some time this weekend dyeing, so feel free to share your ideas! If I use your color choice, I'll credit you in the listing!

Oh, and on a side note, though we all wound up feeling ill (we caught what the baby had), we are also all feeling much better now, so I'd like to thank everyone for their thoughts.

Indie Dyers Coop Opens Today!

That's right! Our grand Opening is today at 3, so don't miss it! Check out our stuff Today, before its all gone!

There is lots of great stuff stocked, from fibers to yarns to accessories, and even a few sample boxes too! Don't miss your chance to snag some fibery goodness!

I had High Aspirations...

to write some really great blog posts. And they'll come. But, Alas, Life keeps me busy, as do my 2 Beebas. But here are a few more previews for the New Congo.

"Joshua" on Cascade:


And "On the Sweet Side", a handspun wool/mohair blend:

Coming soon!

Yarns! and Fibers! Wee!

I can now make the announcement that On March 3, a new Congo on Hyenacart will be having its Grand Opening.

And I am a member of this Congo. You can find my Hand Spun and dyed yarns, and hand carded rolags, as well as the occasional accessory, at Crystal City Fibers. Yay for new Business ventures.

Here are some preveiws of my items: