Dye-o-Rama!

I have to say thanks to Susie - who turns out is my Dye-o-Rama Buddy. She sent me some goodies with the sock yarn - some little sticky note pads and a small stack of silk hankies...the kind to spin with :) whoo hoo! I've been meaning to give those a try - just hadn't gotten around to it yet, what with all the other fiber goings on...

Mmmm sock yarn. Isn't it lovely? I have no idea what they will become...but I'm sure they will become something beautiful.

As for my dying for my recipient, I was hoping to get that underway this weekend, but the box o yarn has yet to arrive...I sure hope it makes an appearance soon!

More Knitting!

Have you been to visit PureKnits yet? The SpritelyGoods section has been updated with a bunch of my batts :D You can kinda see em in the photo - unfortunately I had to tilt the screen funny on the laptop so I wouldn't get a horrid bounce from the flash. I usually don't shoot photos with a flash, but I was having absolutely no luck fixing the color balance when I didn't shoot with the flash...Anyhow, you can see one of the current projects laying happily on the keyboard - they are a pair of Jaywalkers...but knit in the Toe-Up fashion (big thanks to Natalia for revising the pattern!) Of course, I didn't check gauge while I was knitting, and had to make a correction around the ball of the foot because they looked dreadfully loose (and I was too lazy to want to rip them back, though that might have been the wiser thing to do)...I think they'll turn out okay. I'm at the gussets now, and will hopefully be headed into the heel turn soon :)

Meme-o-Rama

Quite possibly, this may be too late for my Dye-o-Rama Buddy as she's (assuming here - as the odds are in that favor) been incredibly productive and already has my yarn dyed up and quite possibly in the mail already!

Anyhow, if you're not my Dye-o-Rama buddy, feel free to ignore ;) or read on to learn more about my yarn preferences.

Questions specific to this swap:
Your favorite colors?
Blues - denimy colors - though lately I seem drawn to brighter colors. People tell me this is normal. I'm finding it rather strange. Periwinkle is about the only pastel I'll do...

Preferred yarn weight (Fingering, Sport, DK, maybe even Worsted)?
Depends on the project, for socks, Fingering & Sport :) for a felted bag? Worsted, bulky or superbulky!

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
Also depends on the project - for lace, I like a nice solid or a gentle variegation...I've never knit with a self patterning yarn yet, though it certainly seems fun - I enjoy variegated yarns and self striping yarns, and prefer that odd pooling doesn't occur - but again, this is something that can usually be resolved by changing the project it seems ;)

If your buddy is able to do so, would you like a variegated, self-striping, or self-patterning yarn?
Honestly, since I signed up for the WTF group, I'm happy with any wash-fast, light-fast, nicely colored yarn :)

Would you be interested in a wool blend sock yarn (nylon, tencel, silk, acrylic, alpaca, etc.)?
X-nay on the Acrylic or high nylon content....

Imagine the perfect colorway. What would you name it?
*sigh* I have serious mind block right now...and naming colorways has never been my forte...

What was the biggest appeal to you for joining this dye-along?
It was a great chance to learn more about dying (which I have been meaning to do) and also a great opportunity for Fun Mail - we all know how I like my Fun Mail :D

General yarn/fiber questions:
Have you dyed yarn/fiber before?
Why yes, yes I have :) Both yarn and fiber!

If so, what's your favorite dye and method?
Handpainting - because it's fun to squirt the dye around :D

Do you spin?
Definitely :) and it's all Raquel's fault! Though I'm pretty sure she didn't mean for it to turn into an obsession...

Have you knit socks before?
Yes - I've done 2 pair...one from the toe up, the other cuff down. I'm much preferring toe up as I greatly dislike the anxiety of possibly running out of yarn at the toe if I misjudge things...I also knit them both at the same time to prevent second sock syndrome or wonky gauge syndrome...

Do you use sock yarn for just socks or in other patterns too?
Sock yarn is definitely not just for socks

What are some of your favorite yarns?
Honestly, it's hard to say - I'm dreadfully fickle...this is probably why I have such a ridiculous stash.

What yarn do you totally covet?
Well...I have a pair of skeins of Classic Elite Sinful Cashmere. They are the most extravagant yarns I have ever bought...and because my hands are usually rough, I have yet to knit them up!

Favorite patterns?
Fickle here too - I have books of patterns and a ginormous three ring binder full of patterns to try...

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
Hard to say - I love knitting lace, but I never wear it...there was some fancy snowflake shawl I was looking at - it looks incredible to knit, but I would never wear it...

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?
Mmmm...addi turbo and addi natura circulars :)

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
Hmm. I'd probably be some sort of blend - easy care, easy going, but wonderfully versatile ;)

Nothing to do with knitting/yarn/fiber in any way but seemed kinda fun:
Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
I love chocolate - but it's the wrong time of year to be mailing chocolate anything this way...unless it's non-meltable--like Brownies ;)

What's your favorite animal?
Cats, because they really know how to relax and they don't care what anyone else thinks!

Do you have pets?
A pair of kittys

What are their species/names/ages?
Domestic Short and Medium hair - one is mostly British Blue, the other is a Dilute Calico mixed breed, I can't win on the fur - since one is dark and the other is predominantly white....they're middle aged - but I'm unsure of exact age as they were both adopted.

Do you have a wishlist?
Yes :) I've an Amazon Wishlist...and a fiber wishlist - the fiber one is on the sidebar of my Finished objects Blog...and the Amazon one is here

Anything else you'd like to share with the group today?
No - but does anyone have a favorite full spectrum sunblock to recommend? I've been told I'm supposed to be hunting for sunblock with micronized zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.

Sheep & Wool

While many people were having fun at Maryland Sheep & Wool (I love their logo) I was having my own little mini Sheep & Wool - or Wool anyhow, courtesy of Marie :D You'll have to settle for a pictureless post tho - mostly because I'm too lazy to round things back up after filing them away nicely - but also because I don't have good light for the photos. Anyhow, I'm loving the things she sent - some stuff for plying and some stuff for spinning - and some lovely fiber that she handpainted - it's more or less in fat pencil roving form so it's ready to go on the wheel with no prep at all :D

In other news, rumor has it that my Dye-o-Rama buddy has been ridiculously productive and has already dyed my yarn...as for me, I'm still waiting on my yarn order to come in!

Mmm...Cake!

Who doesn't love cake?

Delicious swirls of chocolate combined with tasty vanilla cake in this lovely Chocolate Marble Cake. It makes plenty, so pack it up and share it...or hoard it for your own ;) I promise not to tell anyone!

Read on here to find the recipe!

Feeling Bookish

For better or for worse, my entrepreneurial spirit has gotten me neck deep in fiber...I've discovered that I adore playing with fiber, working with color and creating new yarns - what a departure from what I'm officially trained to be (I'm an Enginerd!). Anyhow, I'm rapidly outpacing the capabilities of my little blogshop and I figure I really need to get my official store launched at some point, sooner rather than later. Since I know nothing about PHP, and my selected cart is an open source venture with not so good documentation, I had to go shopping to find myself a book so I could get this show on the road...apparently Zen Cart: Building an Online Store the Zen Way is the only Zen Cart book out there right now, but it is targeted towards Beginners, and I figure, hey! that's me! With some luck, this will get me to where I need to be, with minimal fuss. Though I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment, I'm sure - either that or I'll be pestering the forums for assistance.


...of course, I took the opportunity to save on shipping and picked up a couple impulse purchases...

Knitting Without Tears - Because *everyone* tells me it is a fantastic resource - especially if you're like me and you don't like to follow patterns exactly :)

Wendy Knits: My Never-Ending Adventures in Yarn - WendyKnits was one of the first blogs I started reading when I stumbled into knit blogs. Her ability to crank off fancy patterned sweaters in very little time astound me.

Knitting Rules! : The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks - I had to finally get a Yarn Harlot book - her blog makes me laugh :) Even better, she might be making an appearance where I can actually see her and one of the ubiquitous socks in progress!

A French Jacques!

Look! It's the 2nd Jacques that I didn't crochet that I am actually aware of...the first is Shelly who was made by Pam who graciously volunteered to test crochet my pattern for me. Anyhow, this Jacques hails all the way from France! Incidentally there were several non-English French speakers who wished to have the pattern translated, and as I do not speak French, Peggy has completed the translation and it is available here :) If you are reading, and you have indeed completed a Jacques of your own, please feel free to email me your photos or even better, post them direct to the Flickr Gallery!

A Clue For My Dye-o-Rama Buddy

hello Dye-o-Rama buddy :) and everyone else too ;)

The secret email this is not too challenging - I'm sure the Dye-o-Rama Mamas can provide some assistance :)

Anyhow, my favorite colors have historically been shades of blue - the closest I seem to come to pastel anything is Periwinkle...somehow, a switch got flipped recently - I don't know if it's the knitting, the spinning or the dying (or the influence of some of my more colorful friends) that has turned on the brighter colors - I now carry a red handbag, and as you can see my recent bout of dying and blending brought out the pink and pinky orangy hues...the best guidance is probably to tell you that I am not a fan of yellow...and I'm sure I'll love knitting with whatever color yarn you dye for me. Perhaps some of my friends care to comment...

A Busy Weekend Indeed!

After an initial run with the Beast (who really does need another name...), I discovered that he really likes to fling fiber as he processes....unfortunately I was processing Fairy Duster batts and managed to completely coat my husband's briefcase in pink fuzz. To his mortification, the poor guy was brushing pink fuzz off himself all day....anyhow, the decision was made to move the carder into the Den, which now acts as my "place of business" - well, except for the spinning and dying activities - those are still in other locations in the house.

The weekend was kicked off by delivering the little Ashford to his new home - he's acquired the nickname "Munch" and has already been put to good use. This was followed by a wave of organization...thank goodness for the Joann's Daffodil Dash sale - all plastic organizers were 50% off. I got the huge boxes (something like 30 gallon size) elsewhere...


Voila! Much better - everything all nice and tidily stored :) and I nearly got it all into boxes too...unfortunately none of my Mill End fibers fit into the boxes, so those are living under the table on top of one of the big boxes - you might be able to make out one of the bags if you look closely.



I've also got a much nicer storage setup for the shop inventory, along with a bunch of stuff for my forays into dyeworks...

Speaking of Dyeworks, the reward to myself for catching back up on inventory was to break out some dyes and play. First, I did an immersion bath for some mill end rovings...

The lesson being that I do need to stir the pot or be happy with slightly blotchy results...


Then I did up a bunch of stock solutions for handpainting...mmm merino :) The lesson here is when they say to add "a little water to form a paste" it *really is* a very *little bit* of water - I was a bit heavy handed with the first dye I mixed up and spent what seemed like an hour stirring to get the dye un-clotted and dissolved....happily, all the other dye mixing went smoothly and I managed to not turn my fingers or counters fuschia or orange :D


Believe it or not, everything does indeed fluff back up nicely once its dry - I certainly had my doubts. I need to tweak the concentrations a bit - I was not aiming for quite such a vibrant pink...the merino balls are the orange-yellow-pink one (it was supposed to be less intense so I could call it Globe Mallow, but I'll call it citrus berry sorbet instead ;) ) and the smaller pink & brownish ones on the right (the pink was supposed to be more pastel-y so I could call it Manzanita - unfortunately I'm not sure *what* to call it now) . The large vat dyed ones are the mill ends - and that colorway will be called Raspberry Truffle...I have yet to decide if I'll spin them as they are or if they will take a trip on the drum carder!

Funmail Makes my Mailbox Happy

...well, perhaps not the Mailbox, but it certainly makes *me* happy, anyhow :) Especially when it has original illustrations on it! This box came from Myra as a surprise thank you for participating in a little social experiment. Sadly, I don't draw as well as Myra, so I'm not sharing my pitiful little stick figure drawings.

Inside the fun box were some wonderful things indeed - a lovely postcard from Hawaii (still on my list of places to visit *sigh*), Some tasty Mentos (citrus mango flavor!), a nice little notebook and a fun pen with ink that smells like cola (both put to use already), a handy white out tape for any mistakes I should make with the fun pen, and the best thing of all?

A DIY Pompom kit! I've been rescued from my cardboard templates! Hooray! Thank you so much, Myra, I love it all :D

Now then...do you think my husband would be offended if I smacked a pompom on top of that pirate hat? ;)

Dye-o-rama!

Definitely *not* to be confused with diorama - though those can be fun in their own way...

I've joined the Dye-o-Rama to give myself the kick that I seem to need to launch SpritelyGoods happily into the world of handpainted yarns and rovings...of course, I know the basics from experimenting with Kool Aid Dying - but this time I'm planning on getting myself into some Acid dyes...if I get some spare time before the official matchups are done, I'll do a test run on some roving - I've got piles and piles of undyed roving that need some color :)

Be careful feeding the Beast...

Or it might decide you're tasty and take your finger...

I have a new addition to add to my herd...and it positively dwarfs my little Ashford...Please say "hello" to my new Patrick Green Supercard - 60 lbs (or so) of purring bliss (thank goodness the cats stay away when it's running!) Creating handblended Batts for SpritelyGoods was turning into a full-time-part-time job, if you know what I mean, so a little Capitol investment was required. Having had to pass up an awesome deal on a cottage industry carder (it was as big as my car), my mind was hooked on having a motorized carder at my fingertips, I did some poking around and settled on this one. Sadly, this does mean that the little Ashford is looking for a new home. I prefer it go to someone local, as the shipping is going to be tricky - I don't want to risk smooshing the drums.

*the Ashford has found a new home and has acquired a nickname ;) stay tuned for details :D

I *do* still knit...

I do, indeed, still knit...I just get preoccupied with the spinning sometimes ;)

To my husbands delight (or perhaps dismay due to the timing) I finally finished this second pirate hat...more photos and details are available for your reading pleasure here.

This one actually fits an adult, unlike the first - unfortunately it flares out a little bit much on the bottom...I'm now trying to figure out how to fix that, and the only thing coming to mind is to sew some elastic in to make sure that it keeps ears warm when worn. Either that or I can knit *another* hat that is plain stockinette on the top and have a scull themed brim that folds up on the *outside*. Oy. All I wanted to do was knit something nice for my husband!

Now available...

...through PureKnits! Spritelygoods is growing - and is now available thorough another online retailer - go check them out - they have some pretty yummy stuff :D

Stay tuned - knitting content planned for tomorrow!

Mmmmm Cookies...

Sometimes I simply luck out in stumbling across books - I don't own this one, but I saw that someone had purchased it via one of my "In association with Amazon" Links - and of course, with a title like BigFatCookies, how could any self respecting cookie-holic resist a peek??

Unfortunately for me, my latest Amazon order is already full-up and this one will have to go onto the wishlist.

In other cookie news, if you've run out of frozen cookie dough to pop into the oven or you're trying to not eat cookies that have a bazillion calories inside, I recommend Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chunk with Almond Cookies - they are small in size, but big on flavor, yet kind to the waistline - munch three for 140 calories :D

Yarn P*rn

I've taken to putting all my handspun yarns into a gallery - that way, should they go to new homes, I can still look at them all fondly :)

The slideshow version can be viewed here. If you want to ogle at the two newest additions, you can pop over to the finished objects blog which seems to have been taken over, of late, by spinning posts (fear not! I actually picked up my knitting again recently).

In fiber news, new blends are bouncing in my head - I've got some luxury fibers in to play with - including mohair, silk and alpaca!

Blak is Blech

I'm fairly adventurous when it comes to food and trying new things...sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes its not so good.

Meet Blak - Coke's new "Fusion" Beverage - I was curious to try it, with only 45 calories to the bottle, it doesn't do as much damage as a regular soda.

Sadly, I'm not so fond of Blak. I thought it was kinda blech. Coke & coffee - with the two flavors battling it out and no one really winning - definitely a strange flavor combination.

I think I'll be sticking to my Black Cherry Vanilla Coke - now *that* is a flavor combination I can go for!

She likes to help

Here she is, helping me check out my yarn arrangement. For a photo sans cat, have a peek here. Marble has taken to sitting with me when I work on my computer, and she's always been good about following me around the house and keeping the balls of yarn in order when I knit - every now and again she insists on helping me ply - usually when I'm working with sparkly plying threads. Right now it seems she's trying to help me add to my fiber stash - she's blowing her coat. It seems her fur is nearly as fine and fly-away as angora - at least it sure seems that way based on the way it seems to float around the house and land on my nose!

Happy Tax Day

A little something to cheer you up this tax day....well, they cheer me up, anyhow :D

I've got new colors in the shop! As you can see the food inspiration continues - with the introduction of Pink Guava and Wild Blueberry....

Loving the Single Life

I'm partial to plied yarns, I admit it - at least in my own handspun. Though sadly, it takes so much more time to make a plied yarn than it does to make a single - especially if I'm plying handspun with more handspun! I'm trying to teach myself to love singles as well as slubs...I'm slowly getting there...

see? These are all spun from Mill End fibers - from the Brown Sheep Mill no less...The mill ends (because they *are* mill ends) vary in quality - with some drafting easily straight from the bag and others requiring considerable amounts of fiber preparation. Color range is also very limited, though the Sheep Shed Studio (the place that carries the Mill Ends) has recently started carrying first quality rovings from Brown Sheep in limited quantities, so if color is a must and you want to spin your own Burly Spun, now you can :)

In case you're wondering, these yarns aren't named after the desert - they were actually inspired by food. While the desert is a very colorful place, some of my yarns are inspired more by dessert ;) have a look over here to see what inspired this batch, and also to see them in their unskeined glory.

Not Traumatizing at All

It's been ages since I've had to speak in front of a group - work stuff doesn't count...I have to say thanks to any of you who made the trek to Tempe Yarn & Fiber to watch me talk and demonstrate the fine art of feeding a drum carder! It was fun, and I'm glad there was some fiber that needed "straightening" available - I had brought some fiber with me to send through the carder, but it was boring colored compared to the stuff in the "play" basket! And of course there were bits of stuff I haven't had a chance to play with yet on my own - like silk and recycled silk! I think the most rewarding part was after the demo seeing samples being spun up from the batts created during the talk. It always amazes me how different the yarns look depending on who spins em!

Oh, and just so you don't think I'm leaving you with yet another photoless entry, go have a look at the finished objects blog. There's a pair of buns over there :)

Mmmm. Crispy Goodness.

Yum. Normally, I'm all for full fat food, but only in moderation - mostly because I can rarely find a suitable low fat substitute. I do tweak my fair share of recipes, but often I'm hunting for snacks that fill my snacking needs between meals...and quite frankly, there are times when fruits and veggies just don't cut it.

I stumbled across these at the grocery store the other day, and unlike most baked chips, these are actual slices of potato! They're fantastic - and they come in three flavors! Hooray!

Curious about Carding?

Well, if you're local, you're lucky - because you can come and ask me questions to your heart's content. Me and my drum carder will be at Tempe Yarn and Fiber this Wednesday evening. Come say hello and meet me in person :P

Crunch & Snap!

Two noises that you do *not* want to hear when you are attempting to spin on your spinning wheel....

Seriously. First the Right Treadle did it, and then the Left one followed suit in less than 10 minutes! Just what am I talking about? The leather cords connecting my footmen to the treadles had broken - let me tell you - the first time (heck, both times!) it happened, I was seriously afraid I had somehow broken my wheel. Not a good thing, especially when in the midst of a spinning project. Luckily for me, I was able to salvage the remainder of the leather straps to re-attach the footmen accordingly. If it happens again, I'll be replacing them with hemp cord - I have LOTS of that. Anyhow, the new yarn is drying, so stay tuned for pics in the future :)

Published!

And I have this little guy to thank for it :) His name is Jacques and he can be found here!

For those that make a Jacques of their own, I have created a Flickr group to share photos :)

I did complete that spinning...

If you don't read my finished objects blog, I did indeed finish that five ply that the cats were so entranced with :) A photo is over here (scroll to the bottom of the entry)...and you can make it your own over here!

In other news, I'll be doing a carding demo at Tempe Yarn and Fiber in about a week - hopefully whatever bug I'm currently battling will leave me alone by then. I've got a box of mill end rovings in that need to be carded - I've gotten dreadfully spoiled since I have been spinning primarily from batts these days - no predrafting required :)

Since I can't concentrate on knitting anything other than stockinette stitch and I'm not energetic enough to tackle that box o wool, so I've picked back up the kitty pi bed and finished the knitting portion (hooray, stockinette!).

The cats seem to like it just fine the way it is:

Unfortunately they like it enough to kick each other out of it...See Troy in the background?

And here he is looking innocent - but note the flicking tail! He's just forced his sister out so he can have his turn in the kitty bed!

Luckily I have more of this wool, and I'll be making catbed #2 so they can each have their own - once they are both knitted up, I'll be pitching them in the wash for felting.

Meanwhile, the poor husband is asking after his hat....

Spike!

How strange, I was checking on my site traffic, and noticed a very strange and mostly unaccounted for traffic spike. The engineer in me turned to data analysis...and low and behold, I discovered that Carat had garnered a mention on MAKE! Tell me, how cool is that? I'm so proud :D

Mmmm Cheese.

With the spring here, and warmer weather, a transition back to shorts and more fitted clothing is in order....much to my dismay, things are not fitting quite like they were before the winter season set in. This might just be the jolt to remind myself that I wanted to work on my overall health and fitness this year...

So I've buckled back down, gotten out the measuring spoons and scoops and dusted the fiber off the scale (I have been using my kitchen scale to weigh fiber lately ;) )

I kicked off my renewed "diet" with Fondue for lunch - that's right - cheese. For lunch. On a diet. Yes, it is possible. I have never believed anything should be "off limits" while trying to pare down poundage...I also have never believed that butter, cheese or ice cream should be traded in for their "lite" counterparts.

Anyhow, back to the fondue - it was rather tasty, if I do say so myself. I steamed a bunch of vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, a small potato and asparagus, if you must know) and then nuked up the fondue - it was quick and easy to prepare, and consisted of a smidge of flour, chicken broth, a touch of mustard powder and pepper and cheese of course - 2 ounces worth. It was more than enough to keep me happy thru to dinner time. And for you Weight Watchers out there, it was well worth the 8 points ;)

Matcha Madness

It must be a sign of spring and summer...

First I got a little promo thingie for the stuff on the left (which, by the way, I can't find at my local grocery stores at all :( )

But while I was hunting for it, I decided to ask the Starbucks Guy if he knows if they might carry it since Starbucks and Tazo seem to be paired. He didn't know anything about the Matcha Latte concentrate, but he did let me know that the Matcha Green Tea Frappuccino is coming back!

Set your calendars - they are due to be available Monday April 3rd!

Batt'r Up!

Thanks to the late season bugs making their rounds, the weekend was dedicated to creating inventory for the local yarn shop in addition to my own store. I'm all batted out I think. A weekends worth of hand carding has me surrounded by batts.

I did spend some quality time with my wheel...the cats were plenty happy to let me spin peacefully when I was just spinning the plain wool...but the plying was a different story altogether. That's what I get for trying a five ply (what cat could possibly resist all that string waving about?!) and it certainly didn't help that 2 of the plys were rather shiny - especially the one with beads and sequins all over it! Stay tuned, that skein is in the finishing process now.

Troy may look all innocent, but really, he's quite the little hellion. I think at one point I was stuck behind my wheel, one cat was batting at the beaded thread and the other had managed to grab hold of one of the other plies and was dragging it away.

Here he is, resting up and saving energy for the next spinning section. And don't buy that "who, me?" look of his. He's got it perfected after all the mischief he's raised :)

Stash Reduction

Alright, I'm going through my stash and am trying to find new homes for some of my yarn - you can see the list (now updated with photos) here. A bonus, it's on its very own blog - so if you are inclined, you can subscribe to its feed :) The list is also linked in the sidebar, so if you don't want to go with the feed, you can opt to click over there any time ;)

Kitchen Lab

My poor kitchen is just not turning anything interesting out lately - I'm not feeling motivated or inspired to cook....

However, this seems like something right up my alley. Perhaps I should suggest it to my cohorts back at my alma mater...

Kitchen Aid *check*
Tasty Ice Cream Base *check*
LN2 *drat* unfortunately, my stock of LN2 is running a bit low. *sigh*

Happy Spring!

Vernal (spring) equinox is today :)
While my favorite season is the autumn, I also love the spring - it's usually marked with a spurt of wildflowers and the hills all bedecked in color, but this year we've been having a bit of a shortage of rain.

Sadly, today is a photoless post.

For those who are crocheting patterns by me, I have created flickr groups for each of them...
Right now, I think they only have photos posted by me...If you have made any of the little creatures, feel free to join the Flickr Groups:
Little Lambkins
Ilion the Cat
Carat with Carrots

Stay tuned for new batt colors - I've been giving the drum carder quite the workout and I'm quite pleased with the new color combinations :)

Some favorite things....

Amongst the things I seem to adore, bowls are one of them. I really like this bowl - first, because it has a cute kitty that looks an awful lot like my kitty (along with some mice) playing with a ball of yarn....

Second, because it's the perfect size for a serving of ice cream or other tasty things that should be indulged in with moderation...like pudding or custard....or molten cake.

...or sweetly handspun yarn ;) (thank you Illanna!)

Finally, you can see the third reason I love this bowl - it clearly proclaims the contents as "mine" :D

I'm adoring the yarn, I love it when people bring me gifts I can learn from! I plan on studying it closely so I can create more beaded yarns for the shop! (yeah, I know I said that would not likely happen again anytime soon...but soon after I was gifted with this ball, I somehow stumbled into Beads Galore and wound up leaving with a pile of beads that I think will go quite nicely with some handblends I've got bouncing around in my head. Unfortunately now I have to see if they will fit through the orifice of my spinning wheel. Stay tuned ;)

Forced into the kitchen

Apparently, Peanut Brittle is considered a seasonal item. I was hunting high and low for it the other day, to supplement the hiking food pantry (with the amount of hiking that is done around here, it is safe to say that the regular gorp and beef jerky were long ago tired of). Anyhow, as there was no peanut brittle to be had at the store, I figured I'd try my hand at making my own. Yeah, the color is off...but I figure the next time, I'll get it right.

Recipe and comments can be found here.

Springtime Buns

With the lack of rain, all kinds of little creatures are wending their way down into the residential areas. Each morning and evening I could watch cottontails browsing the grass in nearby parks and greenbelts, and they provided the inspiration for this little guy.

His name is Carat :) Don't you just want to reach out and give him a hug?

Luckily the record breaking lack of precipitation was finally broken over the weekend, giving me an opportunity to actually finalize the pattern for Carat.

Should you wish to make a Carat for your own, his pattern is available at the shop now :)

a little bit of this...

...and a little bit of that.

Twas an exciting weekend, actually *seeing* my yarn and some of my batts at the LYS gave me a little jolt of surprise and pleasure :) At the same time, it also made me realize my personal store is near to empty, and that I better get spinnin'! Hoping for a little rain to perk the wild flowers down this way, I spun up another skein of Desert Globe Mallow - this time with more Mallow ;)

I did somehow find myself sucked into a bead store, so while I did vow to not do beaded yarns again, I'm going to have to give it another go...This time, I think I'll be going with beads on the plying thread rather than beading the singles as I spin.

In addition to pondering and designing yarns, I sat myself down to think a bit about some other design submissions...my friend Alison is launching a new e-magazine: For the Love of Yarn - go check it out :) She's accepting design submissions in both Knit and Crochet in addition to articles...so if ever you've been wanting to be published, here's an opportunity :)

Glorious Sunsets

This photo (I love the desert - we have such spectacular sunsets!) led to this:

A bowlful of wonderfully colored merino...yeah, I admit to using a huge mixing bowl for my fiber prep activities :) May as well make my kitchen multi-purpose - it is, after all, where my drum carder lives!

Speaking of drum carders...that big bowl was turned into this:

Isn't it lovely? In case you're wondering what the batt looks like rolled, have a peek at the shop! That's right, I'm now offering batts for sale, in addition to handspun!

Busy and Exciting

Last weekend was a busy one indeed, what with the redesigning of the sweater and the subsequent ripping and reknitting. Before I went and got that wild and crazy idea of redesigning my knitwear, I had spent the day carding and spinning.

Since I was wanting to test out my CD Spindles, I spun up another skein of Nighttime Sky. I'm pleased to announce the spindles seem to spin beautifully and are certainly not lacking in capacity! I fit the entire 4 oz skein quite happily onto my CD spindle. In case you're wondering, I decided to do away with the binder clips, as I was afraid they would snag my precious handspun - the weight of 2 CDs seemed to be fine for plying purposes.

In addition to playing with my new spindles, I finally got around to executing on a yarn that's been floating around in my brain for a while - a closeup and more info can be found here.

And now for the exciting news: my yarns and some handblended batts will be available for purchase at a newly opening local yarn store (in addition to my online store, tho it is rather depleted for now)! You locals should have a peek at Tempe Yarn and Fiber - their Birthday and "Grand Opening" is this weekend!

Olympics Redone

Imagine my husband's horror when he found me surrounded by pieces of graph paper...and my Olympic Sweater no longer in one piece...

The day of the closing ceremonies found me knitting frantically, straight from the detached top of the original sweater onto the body of my even more modified sweater....with a new goal of completing the re-knitting of the body of the sweater by the time the flame went out. What triggered this madness? It was the debut wearing of the Leaf Lace pullover - it kept buckling across the top of my chest, and the neckline was slumping in a most unattractive manner. Did I make it? Yes, yes I did. And the new design is much improved over the first, I think :)

Have a look here and tell me if you do or don't agree :D

And not a moment too soon.

Sigh. I guess it's fair to say I finished that sweater not a moment too soon!

Work seems to have exploded into a crazed beast, and I'm doing my best at containment. Hardly any knitting has happened since Sunday's finishing fiesta!

Anyhow, things are slowly coming back under control, and I hope to have more knitting/spinning goodness to display....in the meantime, I recommend heading over to Cute Overload to make your day a little brighter :)

Olympic Update - Days 8, 9 & 10!

First I want to say thanks to those of you who have inquired after my poor fingers. The good news is they are well on their way to recovery, though for my own sanity, when I'm working with fiber, I wear a bandage over the cut on the middle finger. It really probably looked a lot worse to me when it happened simply because it didn't seem to want to stop bleeding. A day under a bandaid and it's well on the way to recovery :)

Day 8 was a slow day, with not much more than the bottom ribbing being complete. That twisted ribbing goes even slower than regular ribbing does...and of course, things were even slower with the bandaged finger!

Day 9 flew by with speedy progress with PBS cooking shows and a mid afternoon nap to boost energy, I completed the bottom of the body (adding some length and a tiny bit of waist shaping) and began on the grafting! The grafting was going even slower than the twisted rib, but at least I seem to have managed to memorize how to graft properly. By midnight, I had only managed to complete half the grafting before having to put things away so I could get some sleep!

Day 10 - a day of accomplishment! I actually managed to finish the sweater - in record time! The remainder of the grafting was completed in the evening, with a little bit of difficulty in the last couple of stitches (I had a little bit of finagling to do to get the end of the grafting to join with the beginning bits). I managed to cobble it together by doing something akin to duplicate stitching. Anyhow, a photo of the finished sweater can be found over here!

Eeek! Knitter Down!

In a freak accident and a run-in with ridiculous sharp cutlery (I strongly believe in ridiculously sharp cutlery, and the ensuing accident was purely the fault of the user) and an apple, I've managed to sustain injury to my index and middle fingers!

Let me tell you that running up and down stairs while bleeding like a stuck pig with a pair of cats hot on ones heels is not recommended. I'm pleased to report that with some firm pressure and elevation, the bleeding was contained and the knitting should be safe.

Generally, an injury to my left hand wouldn't cause me much distress, but I both knit and draft with my left hand...and boy, have I got knitting to do! I'm on a mission to finish the sweater early so I can attempt to take a swing at another Pirate Hat...

Oh, in case you're wondering, that *is* indeed a piece of cake being used as a stitchmarker. It's an official Amyville Creation :) - it's in the Blue Moon Cafe collection.

Olympic Update Day 7 - Detour!

When we left off yesterday, I was pondering the possibility of having to rip out the entire top portion of the sweater for a massive redesign. Faced with an evening of mattress stitch, kitchnering and other seaming delights, it was safe to say that chocolate was in order. Thank goodness for brownies.

Behold. The fruits of my labor (and I'm not kidding here folks, I don't know why I didn't knit the darn sleeves in the round, but it would have saved me a fair bit of mattress stitching - I hate mattress stitching). Ignore the blurriness and the smears on the mirror. It was past midnight. This is what happens when I don't get to start my knitting/seaming until close to 9pm. Once I mattress stitched the sleeves, I set to kitchnering them onto the shoulders. All I can say is I'm going to be needing a lot of fortitude when I get to kitchnering the bottom to the top of the sweater....I suppose I ought to be thankful the darn seem won't fall right across the midline of my bust! And in case you're wondering, the reason it took so many hours to seam, is because I had to do each set in sleeve twice. *sigh* I hadn't pulled the seam together tight enough the first time and it looked sloppy.

Things are looking much better now, if I do say so myself. the shoulder seam actually goes over to my shoulder. I'm thinking with the added weight, the collar should settle (I'm holding onto the bottom of the sweater in the photo to the left). The button also seems to help tame it's unruly behavior. Don't mind the wrinkle in the fabric - that's simply due to my arm being elevated to take the photo!

And just because I'm so much more pleased with how it's looking, here's a closeup of the collar detail and the button. I couldn't decide on a round button or an oblong one, and I'm not yet opposed to going shopping for anther one. This particular button is made of wood and has some neat design on the lower portion of it. It does tend to stand out though...perhaps a more unobtrusive one is in order. I am fond of the organic look of that button though - what say you?

Grommet anyone?

*sigh* in another distraction, I decided to make a couple CD spindles to aid in my plying. Turns out there is no jumbo flyer/bobbin assembly for the Kromski Minstrel....so in order to allow myself to ply the entire bobbin without having to cut the yarn, I'm going to have to result to spindle plying for some yarns. Unfortunately, the majority of my spindles have smallish whorls - the largest(I think) is about 3 inches in diameter.

Anyhow, CDs in hand, I was able to find cup hooks and hardwood dowels at the local home improvement store. The washer/grommet/gasket, however, was a royal pain in the you know what, and I have yet to find a suitable alternative. I wound up settling for some cone washers, but they do not hold the CDs securely, and require supplemental adhesive (also known as glue or epoxy) to keep things where they aught to be.

Some googling later, I've discovered I can either purchase small packets of multi sized grommets (of which I only need one size) or I can purchase a ridiculous quantity of grommets (all the correct size) which would keep me, all my friends and untold number of acquaintances in CD spindles for quite some time. *sigh* Turns out what I'm looking for is typically used for wire management, and not plumbing, which is why I was unable to find the little bugger at the hardware store. (update - I did find a pack of all the same size grommet, qty 5 at my local hardware store! hooray! tho the bargain shopper in me keeps telling me I would have gotten a better deal by buying the big bag from the online source ;) )

Of course, I could probably engineer something to work, but it probably won't look anywhere near as clean as a grommet, and may well involve duct tape...but seeing as I've already made the cone washers work (mostly, with modification) I guess I'll start expending energy on how to make the spindle spin faster ;) click here to see the finished goods.