April 6, 2008
· Filed under Clubs, Spinning, Yarn · Tagged handspindle, handspinning, handspun, merino, spindle, Spinning, wool, Yarn
I’m still spinning and still loving it! I’ve spun up a bunch of mini-skeins since I started but never got around to posting them here. They’re solid, natural colored and just…meh. But here’s my first “real” skein I started yesterday and finished up just now.
It’s merino from the Spunky Eclectic fiber club. Yes, I joined another club. This one is awesome…you pay by the month, not all at once, and just cancel when you want the fiber to stop coming. And Amy is so great to work with. There was a problem with my shipment and she got right on it and I had my fiber in no time.
The yarn is bulky/superbulky, about 75 yards. I thought merino was supposed to be a non-beginner-friendly fiber but I didn’t have any more trouble with it than usual, and it didn’t come out any more uneven than usual! I enjoyed the spongy-ness. Now…what to do with it…
March 13, 2008
· Filed under Clubs, Spinning, Yarn · Tagged roving, sock, sock club, Spinning, wool, Yarn
Yippee!
First, I got the second installment of the Neighborhood Fiber Co. sock club. This month’s yarn was inspired by the photography of Mika Ninagawa, featuring flowers in rich, saturated colors. Karida named this colorway “Hypercolor!” which made me picture something neon. I was very pleasantly surprised to find this:
Whew! I love it. She also included a lace sock pattern and some chocolates, which are not pictured. Because they were promptly eaten. Oink.
Next, I got some soft and fluffy white BFL from Spunky Eclectic. This stuff is heaven compared to the fiber I’ve worked with so far. You may never see Corriedale on this blog again! Remember that metric crap-ton of Corrie roving that came with my learn to spin kit? Behold: TWO metric crap-tons.
I fully expect to be a spinning expert by the time I get through all this.
February 23, 2008
· Filed under Swaps, Yarn · Tagged BFL, camel, cancer, chocolate, stitch marker, swap, tea, Yarn, zodiac
I highly recommend doing swaps this time of year. It’s a great cure for the Februaries.
This swap is for the Crabby Crafters board on Ravelry. It’s a group for people born under the Cancer zodiac sign. The idea behind this swap was that February is a crummy time of year, and everyone’s half-birthday falls around this time so it’s a perfect time for getting presents. Anyway…here’s what I got from my totally awesome Crabby February swap partner, Arie:
Note the pretty wrapping and sheep notecards…hee!
Zodiac themed chocolates (yum!) three skeins of yarn–Posh Yarns Camel DK, Camel Handspun and Zen String Lotus Toes BFL sock yarn, some samples of Soak wool wash, zodiac tea that blooms into a flower (not sure how that works but I’m excited to find out!) and the best part, handmade stitch markers.
The crabby ones are from an etsy shop, and the others were made by the fabulous Arie herself. There are two for our lucky numbers–3 and 7. The other markers she made include three for the colors of our sign–sea green, silver, and violet, one for our ruling planet, the moon, a ruby one for the month of July, and the last two are pearl and moonstone which are also associated with our sign. I am blown away, people! These are amazing.
The yarn is so nice too! I have never felt camel yarn before, it is heavenly soft. And the BFL is super twisty and sproingy, just how I like my sock yarn. And the colors! Oh, the colors…
Excuse me while I go squeeze and sniff my new yarn.
P.S. THANK YOU so much Arie!!!
February 14, 2008
· Filed under Bunnies, Olive, Yarn · Tagged bunny, knitting, rabbit, raisin, swap, valentine's day, Yarn
Sorry for the pun folks. Just wanted to give a quick THANKS to my wonderful VDay swap partner Tonya.
She sent me four skeins of sock yarn and a pattern (all from my loopy ewe wishlist…yea!), lots of candy, a little stuffed bunny and she even got a big bag of raisins for Olive. I’m not sure how she even knew that Olive likes raisins. That’s how awesome Tonya is.
Here’s Olive (aka “Miss Piggy”) tearing into her VDay gift:
By the way, the technical term for raisins is “bunny crack.” In case you didn’t know.
January 26, 2008
· Filed under Yarn · Tagged knitting, nieghborhood fiber co, sock, sock club, Yarn
Today I received my first sock club package. It’s from Karida of Neighborhood Fiber Co. fame. I have to admit, I have been compulsively checking the mailbox all week for this and even whining a little on ravelry when it wasn’t here yet.
Obviously, I am totally new to blogging and this is my very first sock club, so I don’t know what the etiquette is. But I am giving you fair warning if you are in this sock club: don’t peek! If I am making some kind of sock-yarn-club-blogging faux pas, someone call me out.
Ok here’s what I got.
The yarn is Watershed 70% Merino/30% Seacell. The colorway is “Impressionists By The Sea” and was inspired by an exhibit of the same name at the Phillips Collection of Art in Washington, D.C. It’s gorgeous, don’t you think? Blue is a color I rarely knit with. Not because I don’t like it, I just tend to get into color ruts and blue hasn’t had a turn yet. So hopefully this will get me to branch out from my usual brown and green.
There’s also a little notebook and pen from the Phillips Collection, and a stitch marker from Storm Moon Knits. I really appreciate the notebook, since I am constantly making lists–to-do, shopping, etc. The stitch marker is great too–I cast on for a sock yesterday and thought about how I really need one of those wee little markers. Did I mention this is the first ever installment of the Neighborhood Fiber Co. sock club? I feel special. And Karida should be so proud.
So, who wants to go to the Phillips Collection with me?
January 19, 2008
· Filed under Yarn · Tagged cashmere, colourmart, Yarn
Well, kind of.
I got this
from Colourmart yesterday. It’s 50% cashmere 50% wool DK weight. It still has spinning oil on it so it looks much lighter weight and doesn’t feel very nice at all. At first I panic a little because it looks like I paid $40 for a bunch of string. And I’m starting to have second thoughts about my color choice. Green. I just cast on for a green sweater last night. While wearing a green sweater. Oh, and there’s another green sweater on the needles. Hmmm…could there be a pattern here?
Anyway…
Winding the cones into skeins before washing. Note the high-tech winding setup.
In the sink with some hot water and detergent. This step made me nervous enough since from my experience, wool + hot water = bad. But get this, the directions say the next step is putting the yarn in THE DRYER.
Ummmm…
Ok, I guess Colourmart knows what they’re talking about, right? So in the dryer it went. Here’s what came out:
Success! Soft and fluffy cashmere goodness.
