Behind . . .

I know i haven't been updating as regularly lately, and I don't see it getting better anytime soon . . . school starts next week which means work will be busier and i'm spending all my extra time spinning and knitting for all of the upcoming fall shows I have. My next one is this Sunday!

Here are a few pictures, though, of what I've been doing!

Handspun bamboo yarn, spun from handdyed bamboo fiber from hollyeqq.com

Handspun single ply and boucle spun from Sparklefluff "Cloud City" from maryjanesattic.net


And, here is a yarn spun from some handdyed wools from the Yarn Wench. This was a little different as it was spun from the locks, or fleece, not roving or carded batts:

And, here is the second skein of "Night Falls" navajo plied yarn.
I've also been knitting shawls, but have been selling them almost immediately at shows. Some of the things I knit with commercial yarns won't be on etsy or my site during the fall months since these go to shows with me and usually sell pretty quickly. I may try to get pictures of some of them, though, and will add them if I have time.

Well, that's my quickie update for now!

What I did today . . .

After a less-than-successful show yesterday (and one where I didn't bring my wheel), and lots of knitting done during the week . . . I missed my wheel and finally got to spin today!

I had this gorgeous merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench, a colorway she calls "Night Falls". I wanted the skeins to match, so I prepped all of the fiber (8.6 oz!) and then alternated taking one "pile" from each batch while spinning. I got a bobbin full, about half way through the fiber, and just had to see it plied up. So, I Navajo plied it right away. Here is a shot of the fiber and yarn, and one of just the yarn. It is 158 yards and I should be able to get another bobbin of about the same size from the remaining fiber.

From fiber to yarn to hat!

I love seeing the process of getting to a "finished" item. So, here is a mosaic created with fd'sflickrtoys that shows the fiber, the single ply, the finished yarn, and the hat I knit from it! :)

You can see more pictures at my flickr here, and the hat should be listed on my site tonight! (I'm working on a matching scarf, too!)

Tons of new yarns!

This will be very photo-heavy as I've got a ton of new yarns that I've spun up over the past four days! I'm going to try to post only one photo per yarn but if you want to see more, please check out my flickr account here! I'll be going backwards--most recently done to older ones done at the end of last week.

This is another Navajo 3-ply yarn, from handdyed merino wool from the Yarn Wench in a colorway she called "Amethyst-Topaz":


Then, there is my absolute favorite yarn of late and probably my BEST Navajo ply yarn, Undertow, from handdyed Falkland wool from the Yarn Wench:

Then, here is "Sunburnt Sky" handspun art yarns, spun from handdyed merino wool from the Yarn Wench.

I also spun up two different types of wool in colorway "Poodleskirt" (also from the Yarn Wench). The first is domestic wool, plied with Dazzle by Estelle novelty yarn:

Then, there is the two skeins of merino. The first is plied with handdyed nylon novelty yarn (dyed by the Yarn Wench) and the second is plied with thread. Both have some black novelty yarns spun in and lots of angelina for sparkle!

Another two skeins of art yarn spun from handdyed Falkland wool from the Yarn Wench:

I also finished up a two-ply spun from handdyed Falkland Yarn Wench wool before I left:

And, a thicknthin single ply from merino:

I think that's it for now! Some of them are already up on my website and/or Etsy! If they aren't up yet, they should be soon!

So behind . . .

in posting! I am back to work today -- ended up taking all last week off. The shows were pretty good (more on them later) and when I did return I went on a 4-day spinning and knitting spree!

Quickly . . .

My booth at Musky Fest:

Musky Jamboree 2007 booth

Musky Jamboree 2007 booth

This show was pretty good. The weather was *perfect*, seriously. Sunny but not too warm so people weren't afraid to try things on. I sold a little bit of everything--yarn, shawls, and even a hat and scarf set. This was on Sunday, August 12 in Boulder Junction, WI.

On Wednesday, August 15 I was in Eagle River at the Paul Bunyan Festival. It wasn't quite as good as Musky Fest, but I still did okay. After a morning that looked a little dicey as far as weather goes, it cleared up and was pretty nice (though windy). I sold a bit--mostly shawls, but not as good as Musky Fest. Seemed like at Musky Fest people weren't put off by my prices, whereas in Eagle River, they were. I could tell -- someone would love an item . . . until they looked at the price tag. Oh well. I know my items will not be for everyone!

On that note, these were the first two shows I was able to accept credit cards at, and I did make two sales at each show using my new account. I called them in after the show, but it went really smoothly and the fees are similar to paypal. I use propay.com.

I did bring my wheel to the shows and was able to spin this yarn while there:

Kindred Spirit 3ply Handspun Yarns

I absolutely love it!! It is from handdyed domestic wool from the Yarn Wench that I've actually had for quite awhile. It Navajo plied perfectly!! (okay, the plying isn't quite *perfect* but the colorway lent itself very well to this technique as it kept the gorgeous colors more solid!) It is on my website or etsy.

I was very homesick while up north, and I was *so happy* to get back late on Wednesday night. I was very beat, though, after a long drive, and ended up taking Thursday off from work. I went on a knitting rampage that day! I knit two hats and three scarves! Here are a couple of pics:

Mandarin Sky Hand Knit Scarf

Sailors Warning Hand Knit Keyhole Scarf

Sailors Warning Hand Knit Hat

Raspberry Floozie Hand Knit Scarf

Raspberry Floozie Hand Knit Hat (with pompom) (on)

Okay, I will write a separate post for the new yarns, as there is ALOT of them! :)

Leaving soon . . .

I'll be leaving soon to head up to northern Wisconsin for my two craft shows this week. The first is the Musky Jamboree tomorrow in Boulder Junction and the second is the Paul Bunyan Festival in Eagle River on Wednesday. This is also a family visit as my Dad and Grandma also live up in this area. Since I don't know when I'll be online next (though I am hoping to use my laptop up there--WIFI at the library, so I'm told), I thought I would leave with some pictures of what I did this week:


And, a cat shot or two:


And, just a few more yarn shots from this past week:


The above two yarns are my first full skeins of Navajo 3-ply yarns! I finally did it! With much help from the tutorial on the Yarn Wench's site HERE. I can't wait to do more! The bright skein is BlueFacedLeicester wool and the bottom one is Falkland wool. Those black and pink yarns above are handdyed merino wool, also from the Yarn Wench, of course. I spun in some novelty yarns, lots of angelina, and plied one skein with black thread and the other with handdyed nylon novelty yarn (also dyed by the Yarn Wench.)

Okay, I think I've got to finish packing now!

Busy busy busy

So far this week is actually going according to plan! It's a miracle!

At work, I am working on a shifting project, and I should have it done today! If I do complete it today, I think I'm going to take tomorrow off for extra time to pack and get ready for my shows/family visit!

Last night, I spun 12 oz of fiber! That is a record for me during a week night. Granted, they were "easy" yarns--two simple boucles and a single ply, but nonetheless, it is fiber spun up! Woohoo!

Two of them were dyed Corriedale from Flawful Fibers. These are going to be used for the keychain "mini" skeins. The single ply was merino from the Yarn Wench. So soft!

I also prepped several fibers and think I will do more spinning tonight. I still have two scarves and a shawl to finish but I'm starting to think I can knit the shawl while up north (in between the two shows--on Monday or Tuesday). The scarves should be easy to finish tomorrow or even Saturday. Of course, by Saturday I need to be packed up and ready to go! I also need to label all my new items, only about 30 this time compared to 100 last time so it shouldn't take too much time!

Okay, just wanted to pop in with this update!

Belated weekend recap . . .

So, the stress of the upcoming shows is really hitting. I will be in Boulder Junction, WI on Sunday, August 12 and Eagle River on August 15. I'll also be visiting my Dad and Grandma, and it sounds like my sister will also be up there on the weekend. But, that's the upcoming weekend, let me briefly update on this PAST weekend! :)

I did some knitting--finished two light weight accessory scarves on Friday & Saturday from super soft nylon microfiber yarn. They were popular at Art vs Craft, so I wanted to have a few more. (I will eventually have pictures up just haven't edited them yet.) Saturday I took a break and we went to a Brewer's baseball game. (They won!) Then, on Sunday, my main "work" day I ended up not spinning or knitting, but instead made 200 bookmarks! They are my "yarn p0rn" bookmarks--made from pictures I took of my yarn, printed out on high gloss paper, then cut/cropped and laminated. I also have two sayings that I put on the back, the one I thought was fairly clever, though I don't know, maybe it's a little too dorky--"There's always time for another good Yarn." I also did a few with pics of Bug (my cat) and the one of her through my spinning wheel turned out to be my favorite, I think. I will eventually be posting pics of these, too, but just haven't had time. If they sell at the shows, I may eventually get them up on my site or on etsy.

Tonight, I started and completed another summery Triangle Shawl (I also finished one up last night so that leaves only ONE more i want to finish before the shows). I finally figured out a much easier way to do the fringe, so now I don't dread knitting them!

Tomorrow, I plan on spinning up Russet Tealberry, more gorgeous wool from the Yarn Wench. I'll also spin up some odds and ends for yarn to use on my keychains. Wednesday I will knit that last triangle shawl, and Thursday finish up the odds and ends I have and maybe spin another yarn. We'll see.

I have no idea if I'll have internet access while up north. I know I won't have any access on Sunday and Wednesday, but I'm hoping to take my laptop and use the WIFI at the library (from what my sister says) on Monday and Tuesday so I can update inventory on my sites, etc.

I will still be online this week but probably not spending alot of time blogging or on etsy. No new items will be added until I return from the shows. I will of course keep an eye on the Yarn Wench site for an update, though! :)

Now, it's off to bed . . .

More Harry Potter yarns

Was off sick yesterday, so have lots of work to do, but wanted to quick post some pics of the other harry potter yarns finished this week. All of these were spun by me from handdyed Falkland wool from the Yarn Wench (who just did another big update last night!) in colorways inspired by the Houses of Hogwarts. You can see more pics on flickr HERE.

Ravenclaw

Gryffindor

Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor


Slytherin (still need to get better pics of these)

Okay, I think that's it! Should have better pics of Slytherin tonight.

AND, I will be participating in the "HAPPY HOUR" Friday sales thread on etsy today! My sale will be:

16% off you ENTIRE order, including shipping!
Offer good from 3pm-10pm Central Standard Time
To get the discount, put "Happy Hour" in Notes to Seller section and wait for updated invoice, or pay and I will refund the difference.
Due to shows this month, today will be the ONLY SALE I will be having in the month of August!
CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT I'VE GOT IN MY SHOP!

A few things . . .

First, the other day I "reorganized" my Yarn Wench fiber stash (I do this every now and then--lay them all out and sort by color!). I really do have too much. Here is a picture:

You can see more pictures IN THIS SET on flickr!

According to my spreadsheet, I have 94 days of fiber! This includes the Yarn Wench fiber, but also other fiber I have! And to think a few short weeks ago I had it down to 78 days worth! (this is figured with and average of spinning 4 oz/day!) I guess that's what two really huge Yarn Wench updates will do!

Second, in the last Yarn Wench update I got several Harry Potter-inspired colorways. These are what I'm working on this week:

So far, I have the "Hufflepuff" colorway finished and spun up into 164 yards of two ply:

Last night I also got the Ravenclaw singles done and will ply that tonight. I was going to do all two plys, but for some reason I think Gryffindor may end up as a single. We'll see as that is the next one I'll be working on tonight. I'm saving Slytherin for last because it's my favorite--the colors are just amazing! Plus, I have more of it than the others.

And, finally, I am starting to freak out about my August shows! I've got three of them, but I'm most worried about the ones up in Northern Wisconsin as it will entail traveling and using my EZ Up tent for the first time! AND, I still have lots to finish knitting before then and the first one is only 11 days away! Yikes! I've got at least two, hopefully three, shawls to finish by then and I'm also hoping to whip up a couple of light weight scarves. Oh well. We'll see!