Fresh Yarn and Fiber :)

Well, May flew right on by with barely a shop update. I've made up for it this month. Over 20 pounds of fresh yarn and fibers have hit the shop. Most of the new yarn is limited edition colorways. I hope to develop some new colorways as I decide which of the "regulars" to tag for discontinuing.

The latter portion of this week, I will be at TNNA :) Not to show, but to hunt down some new lines and products to add. I'm still undecided as to whether the computer will be making the trip with me, and also trying to figure out what knitting project to bring.

This weekend I made good progress on the Koigu sweater - so much so, that I might have it to wear to TNNA. We'll see. It is, after all, fine gauge knitting, and it can be deceiving how much is left to go - photos soon :D

A visit up the Hill

While folks out east were enjoying Maryland Sheep and Wool, I was getting a fiber fix of my own - Up at Knit 1 Bead 2 in Jerome, Arizona!

The store is arranged differently than many other knitting stores I've been to - it's actually arranged by hue - and is quite the sight to behold! Erica, the owner of the shop, is very friendly and helpful. Jerome is a lovely town to visit - best to go early to get parking - you can grab breakfast at one of several little cafes - we opted for the Red Rooster. I had a fantastic time wandering town and looking in the various galleries...

...and of course I did a wee bit of stash enhancement while I was at it. This is my first self-purchased Koigu. Erika (blogless, I'm afraid - the same one who I dyed that iceland inspired yarn for) had gifted me with some Koigu for my last birthday. This Koigu is destined for a saddle shouldered (or perhaps hybrid) sweater...it's kind of a knit along (though I am woefully behind as I have yet to ball and swatch any of it yet!) with Kiki, Erika and Illanna. Perhaps they will knit another while I get started on my first! So, what do you think, US3s or US4s? I must be crazy. Fine gauge wool sweater knitting. And not just one, but two (don't forget, I have venezia on the needles!)

Precious and Purple

Not from Maryland or from the trip to Jerome this weekend (yes, I did add to my stash), this lovely skein is from Cayli. It's handdyed (by Cayli) zephyr - mmmm wool and silk. Laceweight. Enough for a gorgeous shawl. I won it in her drawing by being a donor to her breast cancer 3-day fund. While her drawing is done, she still needs to raise just a bit more to reach her goal (just click the link in her sidebar).

Glowing Spheres

I love bowls. And yarn balls (or cakes, I like em both ;) ) I was surprised at how luminous this particular skein looked happily nesting in its bowl. Unfortunately, that glowing sphere that is also known as our Sun also seems to be gearing up for an early summer - temps are rumored to possibly hit 100 this week. *sigh* so much for wool weather!

Fresh Yarn and Fiber

The Shop has been updated with new goodies :) Yarn & Fiber and More :)

Stash Enhancement!

In Colors befitting Project Spectrum, no less! Rare indeed is the occasion these days when I actually enhance the stash - I've a hard enough time putting up limited editions for sale!

Once in a while though, I feel the urge to acquire...behold: the ever elusive Wollmeise yarn, featuring super saturated dark fiery colors (that would be brombeer in Twin and Laceweight yarns) - they were fantastic for the Fire element....unfortunately, all I have done with them so far is eye them and evaluate their potential in various projects.


On the top is a skein of Franz, mostly blue and green, and suitable (I think) for the new Project Spectrum colors.

Sadly, for the Fire Element, I completed only 1 finished object though I suppose I might be able to count the hat experiments too. I still have 3 very red projects on the needles, and in line with my need to have multitudes of projects on the needles, I also happen to have 2 projects cast on in green...dare I hope that at least one of them comes off the needles during the Earth Element months?

Icelandic Dreams

A friend of mine had a chance to go visit Iceland a while back, and of course had tons and tons of photos to share...


...this same (blogless, I'm afraid) friend is also an avid knitter, and what better gift for a knitter than some yarn? :) I took the opportunity to let loose with the dyes and see what I could manage to match based on the photos from her album. I was especially drawn to some of the stark images from Iceland's interior. Of course, it's probably not nice to admit that I personally covet this yarn and it nearly didn't make it into the hands of its intended recipient.

As for those of you who are wondering why I don't just make another...well, I didn't take notes. It was one of those "experiments" that just happened to have everything come together just perfectly. Further examples of my experimenting can be found in my Limited Editions - each of these skeins are created freehand adding color at will until the skein looks "done."

I continue to be intrigued as I eye other dyers' works as it seems no two dyers dye alike - we each apply our dyes with different eyes and hands. Given a set palette, I'll bet each dyer would still come up with something completely different in the application of those colors to the yarn or fabric. I find it simply fascinating - I think the fact that all the colors are essentially some combination of 3 base colors + black has me equally enchanted. Even after 2+ years of dyeing, I'm still learning and excited to be doing so :) Now if I could just have some recollection of how *some* of those limited editions were made, I'd be one happy woman with a slightly bigger stash!

Cali for the Cure

One of the fine folks I've met via the internet is planning on participating in her local Breast Cancer 3-day...and she's needing some help raising her funds. To make things interesting, she's offering up a contest with wonderful fibery prizes. (speaking of contests, don't forget - if you want in on the Little Cakes drawing, you need to email me! I'll be closing up the contest at the end of this week)

As the donations rise, Cayli is planning on adding more skeins to the mix - and if she manages to get to the $500 point, she'll be adding her Secret of the Stole ii to the heap!

Incidentally, this Cayli is the same one that one of my new colorways is named after - she had put in a request for a colorway, and voila, here it is:

On that field of green lace, it reminds me of fresh spring flowers. Speaking of Spring, it's finally here down in the desert - the hillsides are covered in wildflowers :) I love spring in the desert - the days are warm, and the nights are still cool enough for knits.

It's a new month....

you know what that means, right?


It means a whole whack of fresh yarn and a wee bit of fiber has hit the shop :)

Incidentally, I was able to do a mini "trunk" show for my knitting group - but since I don't travel with trunks, I used a gigantic IKEA bag instead...

that would be three and a half grocery bags full of yarn (the ziploc has one of my current projects in it) - and that's only a portion of what hit the shop this weekend!

As for the accounting, it's going slowly - I'm still trying to decide just what I think of quickbooks... after working on it a goodly chunk of the weekend, I still haven't gotten very far!

New Colors...

...and some other goodies are now at the shop :)

the Wheel goes round and round

After a very long hiatus, I finally had some time to sit down with my spinning wheel...

I find it amazing how different lighting brings out different colors in yarn - this is actually the same skein - the top photo was under incandescent lights and I was unable to get a satisfactory white balance off of it...but I liked the colors it showed, so I decided to keep it for future inspiration :D

The yarn is called Tumbling Tides and it can be yours....it's over in the shop. Incidentally, there are some other things in the shop too - the Unscented SOAK finally arrived in both small and large bottles, and I also just got a restock of Persephone Socks Patterns along with some more Oceanwind Knits Yarns. Incidentally, I'm working on getting the new limited editions photographed, so those will be hitting the shop soon too :)

A Little Look

Into my world. :)


Well, you just saw a corner of one of the rooms that I keep finished batts in...

And you've seen what the foyer can look like when I get a shipment of yarn in...

In the past, I've given you a glimpse of my Solar Dyeing experiments, and my blending workspace when it isn't being used for order fulfillment.

Most of my dyestocks are kept stacked up in an upstairs bathroom that I reserve for rinsing yarn (and drying in inclement weather). I tend to mix dye stocks outdoors, wearing a mask though I'm now in the market for a respirator because I find the mask uncomfortable and am often tempted to not use it. I admit to doing all my dye application indoors, though like any good dyer, I segregate all my pots and utensils for dyework from any sort of food/eating application.

In order to set the dye, I have toyed with microwave setting, as well as the previously mentioned solar experiments. While I do kettle dye my semi-solid colorways, I tend to steam set most of my yarns and fibers. You can see the 2 pots I keep for these occasions below, though I'm looking to expand and am shopping for steamer racks now while trying to decide if I can set steamer racks on top of my existing big dye pot...


Over the holidays, I took advantage of the additional time to experiment with natural dyes - you can see some of the results collaged in that photo. While natural dyes produce gorgeous earthy colors (I'm particularly fond of the Madder and Cochineal), I don't think they will become a regular part of my shop, though I may offer some of these up as limited editions. One thing that absolutely amazed me was the change in color of the madder root from a flash-flood muddy brown color to that stunning red - and the by looking at the cochineal extract (boiling bugs, by the way, do not smell very appetizing), I wouldn't have expected the vibrant fuschia hue - I would have expected more of a reddish color.

Incidentally, I also took some time to dye up a bunch of yarn and fiber just before the New Year (a pile of limited editions due to hit the shop for February!) Turns out I underestimated how much space the roving would take on the drying racks (and the experimental natural dyed yarn was taking forever to dry) that I ran out of drying space - I do all my initial drying outdoors as I was getting tired of the scent of vinegary wet sheep invading the house - LOL. Anyhow, I took the rest of the yarn and fiber in and set it in a box to await final rinse - turns out the cat approved of the warm steam-heated perch:


Incidentally, if you haven't cruised over already, the fiber (blended and/or dyed) was updated into the shop :)

You can call me Miss January...

If you happen to have the Stitch 'N Bitch 2008 Page-A-Day Calendar, you might have noticed that Spritely Goods was featured as the very first fave fiber for the year! How awesome is that? I was honored to be included in the calendar - and hope to have even more handspuns for the shop this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To speed you on your way to holiday shopping, the Shop has been updated :) better yet, through the end of this month, you can get 10% off by using the coupon code GobbleGobble07 at checkout :) Happy holidays! Hope you eat well, drink well, nap well and are merry :D

Yarnfall...

a "waterfall" of yarn on my stairs while I do inventory
Whenever I get a box of yarn in, I always unpack the box - first, so I can do inventory, and second, so I can move the yarn to the Storage Room (or wherever else I'm going to squirrel it away until it's ready to be dyed). Often times, this results in cascades of yarn flowing down my stairs.


One of the yarns I'm all stocked up on is a new base that I worked with a mill to design. It's a three-ply fat fingering yarn, and it's gorgeous once dyed and fluffed up (and it's not too bad plain either ;) ) It's name is Sidhe - and it is available for purchase in its naked and natural state at the shop!

Goodies.

The months have just rolled over....and there are new goodies in the Shop. Since I'm on a lace kick, I've stocked the shop with Malabrigo Lace weight in several colors (mmm supersoft, spun from baby merino wool!), in addition to adding a vibrant red semi-solid in my own line of yarns.

In honor of Spin Out (have you donated yet? It's not too late!) the shop has loaded up on luxury fibers and a slew of new handpainted rovings...head on over and have a browse around!

Choices Choices...

As I continue procrastinating working on Avast (the zipper arrived the other day...I really need to get working on fixing down the hems so I can take the sweater to a tailor to have the zipper installed - before the cool weather hits! (though considering how the summer is going, there's no end in sight!)) ...Anyhow, as I was saying before I got distracted, I've been procrastinating...by selecting yarn. The problem is I can't decide which yarn to use....

The specifications: 1200+ yards lace weight yarn plus beads for the Secret of the Stole knit along (there's still time to sign up if you haven't already!)

My current options (yes, I know I went a bit overboard with the two middle bags of beads, and no, I haven't a clue what to do with all the extras since I tried spinning beads onto yarn and I've decided that while it is pretty, it is definitely not practical):


various Spritely Goods laceweight yarns - click on the photo to go to Flickr for more details (and a bigger pic!)
I can't decide - I've got the choice of merino or alpaca....and then luster or iridescent beads (well, for the blue anyway)...

...course, never one to follow instructions, I also became entranced with some other beads that would match my CoffeePot Rock colorway quite nicely. Course, this would mean the stole would be knit in fingering weight yarn....


Spritely Goods Fey in CoffeePot Rock
Course, the decision if I opt for this yarn is whether to use just the luster beads or the iridescent or both...

I really can't decide. Anyone have guidance? :)

September Shop Update!

A variety of goodies have made an appearance at the shop - cruise over and check it out!

Quality Time

I finally had some quality time with my spinning wheel this weekend - First I churned off some merino singles for the shop.

Desert Daybreak singles - merino & firestar
I keep meaning to increase the stock on hand of handspun singles in my own blended colorways, but somehow I keep getting distracted. It seems it doesn't take much to distract me these days - or ever for that matter :P I don't think I'd ever lack things to keep me entertained if I was able to retire from my day job immediately!

After spinning for the shop, I spent some more quality time with the wheel to churn off some fine merino angora singles for my Spun Stitches project.

The 2nd skein of yarn is now finished to join the first :) I now have 6.8 ounces of yarn, approximately 950 yards with which I plan to cast on for the Wing o the Moth. You can just see the sparkle of angelina fiber in the photo - it's terribly difficult to capture, I'm hoping I manage to capture it in the finished work. The difference you see in the yarns is due to the fact that the smaller skein is spun from a carded batt, while the larger skein was spun from the exact same fibers handblended at the wheel. The plan is to knit the beginning of the shawl with the more uniform skein, leaving the more variegated skein for the rest of the shawl where the color runs will hopefully not detract from the lace.

A small glimpse...

...into what my home looks like when I've been doing shop-work:


cat included for scale :) (and yes, that is some new fiber that will go up next month :) )

Typically, I don't have drying racks occupying what little free space I normally have in my kitchen - however, I had to bring the fully loaded racks inside due to an impending dust storm (we can't have all that freshly dyed yarn getting all dirty and dusty!)

No news (or little news) to be reported on the knitting and/or spinning front - I'm ever-so-slowly filling my second bobbin so I can knit the Wing o the Moth, and I'm making slow, steady progress on some stealth knitting. Avast, has alas, been set aside due to my aversion of "finishing" pieces - yet when I sit and think about it, there really isn't *that* much left to be done - I need to turn in all the bands/hems and have someone install the zipper for me! And voila! It would be done!