Autumn Mountain Morning

Every now and then I spin a yarn that I truly truly love and think is the *best* *yarn* *ever*. I mean, I love all of my yarns, but sometimes . . . well, sometimes everything (the fiber, the novelty yarns, the locks, the glitz, whatever) all comes together so perfectly . . . that it's like a dream. Well, this week I spun one of those yarns. First, I'll recall the last yarn I felt this way about--

Tequila Sunrise Handspun Art Yarn (unfortunately I didn't have my cool new camera so this pic isn't very good!)

Oh, and I also thought this one worked out really well, too:

Now, here is the most recent, Autumn Mountain Morning. This is two skeins of art yarn spun from handdyed merino wool from the Yarn Wench, in colors I absolutely love! Then, I spun in a variety of novelty yarns, lots of angelina, Cotswold and Romney locks, and plied it with thread. Here are shots of both skeins.
For more pictures, you can check out my flickr pages. Both skeins are on etsy HERE and HERE. I simply love it!

Now, I am taking a break from spinning the art yarns and am working on a Navajo ply again. Should have at least one colorway (two skeins) done by the weekend and may even have another colorway done before my vacation.

Spinning frenzy!

So, I have been on a spinning frenzy the past couple of days! After knitting 4 pairs of wristwarmers and a couple of scarves last week in preparation for my show on Saturday, I am finally getting back to the spinning!

Saturday, at the Apple Harvest Festival, I spun up the single for this Navajo plied yarn. (It was plied on Sunday.) It is spun from handdyed merino wool from the Yarn Wench, of course. Colorway called "Shadow Dance". Shadow Dance is on etsy HERE.

Then, I spun up two quick singles from some beautiful merino wool from copperpot.etsy.com
And, I also finished spinning the second half of the Burning Down the House Falkland roving from the Yarn Wench, into Autumn Harvest. This one is on etsy now!

Then, on Sunday night, I also spun up "Club Med 2", handdyed merino wool from the Yarn Wench. Two skeins--one plied with Moda Dea Cheri yarn and the other plied with thread. Both have novelty yarns and Cotswold locks spun in!

That was all done on Sunday! What a day of spinning! This is what I wish I could do *every* day!

Then, yesterday, didn't have as much time, but did spin up another set of art yarns from more handdyed merino wool from the Yarn Wench. This colorway was "Coneflower 2", and I am calling these two yarns "Autumn Mountain Morning". They both have novelty yarns, Cotswold and Romney locks, and angelina spun in and are plied with thread!

Most of these will be on my site later today and may be on etsy later this week. I won't have anything new next week as I'll be on vacation in Las Vegas, but when I return I hope to get some more yarns done for YarnCon which is October 13! I am done with outdoor shows for the season (woohoo!) but still have 7 indoor shows before the end of the year.

New Yarn - Autumn Song

Just a quickie post this morning to show the new yarn I spun up last night. It will be on etsy later today.

Autumn Song was spun from handdyed Falkland wool (dyed by the Yarn Wench, colorway called "Burning Down the House") with lots of novelty yarns spun in and plied with variegated thread in orange/green/red. First, here is a shot of the fiber I actually have left over for the second skein, and some of the remaining novelty yarns:

Here is the single ply on the bobbin:
And, here is the final yarn:


And, a shot with the remaining fiber, novelty yarns, and finished yarn:
The finished skein is 120 yards! I should be able to get a skein of about the same size from the remaining fiber, though I am thinking about doing it a little differently--maybe plying with one of the novelty yarns instead of thread. We'll see. I may not even get to it tonight, since I am also working on some knitting for the weekend. I've got one pair of wristwarmers done and want to get at least 3 more done by Saturday! I also have a scarf and hat started and should try and finish those, too! Anyways, that's all for now! :)

YARN CON!

I'm in! YARN CON! In Chicago, IL on October 13! Woohoo! For more info please check out their web page HERE. For anyone in the area who loves yarn, fiber, knitting, etc., please mark you calendars! It will be FABULOUS! :)

And, just so I don't have a picture-less post, here is another picture of the 3ply yarn finished on Monday, and also a picture of a yarn I finished last night!

Success!

So, after 3 "bad" shows in a row (by bad I mean, making only a little over the cost of going, though I still did make "something" at each one), I admit to not really looking forward to this past weekend when I was a vendor at the Fall Harvest/Wine Festival in Cedarburg. I was secretly hoping this one would be good given the size and what I had heard from others, but you never know, and I admit I was dreading it.

Well, it was FABULOUS!!!!! It was SO worth the fee and the stress! I had a couple of return customers from a previous show which was great! I also had a woman (she is part of this group, the Crafty Angels) buy an armful of yarn for knitting holiday gifts! Her purchase alone made Saturday worth it! I actually sold more yarn than knits, though I did sell all 4 pairs of wristwarmers I had and both remaining shawls.

I had a perfect spot, in my opinion. I was in a high traffic area but not near some of the *really* crowded areas (like by the food). I was next to Amy's Candy with the Chocolate Factory on the other side of them. I had a small space on my other side, then another vendor. My spot was in perfect proximity to a side street where I could park all day. I also brought my spinning wheel, and on Saturday, I spun this yarn:

Pumpkin Patch Handspun Navajo 3-Ply Yarn

My friend came by on Saturday, but I was on my own on Sunday. This always stresses me out a little, but the people in the booth next to me were very cool and kept an eye on my wheel while I ran for a cookie & hot chocolate in the AM before it started. See, I usually get to shows right at the set-up time, even though it only takes me about an hour to set up. I do this, though, so I can get a good parking spot, and also so I'm not rushing around at the last minute. I also noticed that at this particular festival, which officially started at 10am, there were alot of people starting to look at 9am. Oh! And, I also met a fellow etsian, SaraLibbey! Yay for putting a face to a name!

And, the WEATHER! It was PERFECT!! A bit chilly on Saturday morning, but the cooler temperatures probably helped my sales in that it got people thinking about winter, knits, wool, etc! Sunday was a little warmer and a little less crowded, but it still seemed to be a hopping event! I definitely am hoping to do it again next year!

On Sunday, I also spun, and this is the result, another Navajo 3ply, this one probably DK weight or thinner (haven't checked the WPI yet):

Andromeda 1 Handspun Navajo 3ply Yarn

Andromeda 1 Handspun Navajo 3ply Yarn

I'll also quick show this yarn--it was done on Friday, sold on Saturday! i have more of the fiber so plan on spinning another one similar to this one:

Tropical Fish HandSpun Art Yarn

I have a show this weekend but I should have enough to get me through, though I do plan on doing some knitting and spinning this week so I have some new things. THEN, I will need to really get productive again as I have some really big shows in November and December (and, hopefully October). I'm just so happy this show went well and I'm so thankful for all of the wonderful customers that came through my booth!

Another quickie . . .

What I spun yesterday:

Pinesap handdyed merino wool from the Yarn Wench, Navajo plied, of course:

Olive Branch handdyed domestic wool from the Yarn Wench, quickie single ply in gorgeous colors for Fall:

And, finally, Candy Girl single ply (to match a boucle already spun awhile ago) spun from Sparklefluff batts from maryjanesattic.net

They should be up on my site and/or etsy tonight. Speaking of, yesterday was (I think) my BEST ETSY DAY EVER!! I sold *5* yarns! I am SO happy!! Thank you to my wonderful customers!! (And, isn't this just perfect, since now I have $$ in my paypal account . . . and there is a rumor of a Yarn Wench update AND sale today! ;)

Quickie yarn post!

So, I have been working on knitting things for shows (which I don't always take pictures of) and of course spinning! It was rainy yesterday so I wasn't able to get better shots, but I really wanted to share the latest yarns. So, here are some pics! Hopefully I'll have better ones today and be listing these new yarns on my site and/or on etsy.

This one is Navajo plied from handdyed Falkland wool from the Yarn Wench. I wanted to spin it for EtsyFAST's September Challenge, with a theme of apples/apple colors. The colors are a little darker than I wanted, so I'm calling it "In the Orchard at Midnight". 118 yards

This is one skein of two that I spun from handdyed merino wool from knitspin on etsy. I spun in lots of novelty yarns and plied with rayon thread in variegated orange/green color. This one is 134 yards, soft and perfect for fall. I'm calling it "Autumn Wish".

It's partner, Pumpkin Patch, is 98 yards and plied with burnt orange thread. Very similar as the same novelty yarns were spun in and it is spun from the same batch of handdyed merino wool from knitspin.

Both of those are much better in person--I really need to get better pics in better lighting. These were taken at night with just our regular living room light.

On Saturday (Sept. 8) I did another show. Once again it wasn't great, but I got alot of spinning done. I finished one skein of the two below, and managed to spin most of the single for the second skein. Then, I finished plying it at home on Sunday. Both are Navajo plied from handdyed merino wool from the Yarn Wench. Her colorway was called "Sabrina" but I'm calling these yarns "Vintage Rose"

I have lots more pictures of these skeins at flickr. It is my current favorite and it is a possibility that I'll be knitting it for myself. Of course, I don't know when I'll have time, so by then it might have sold. Should be on my site or etsy later today!

I also knit up another pair of wristwarmers from yarn that I spun! These I did get up on etsy yesterday, HERE. I'm going to try and get a couple more pairs done for this weekend--I have a big show in Cedarburg, WI. I am *really* hoping it goes better than the last 3! (the last 3 have been kinda bleah. I've made enough to cover my fees plus a little extra but definitely not enough for the time/effort of getting to them and sitting there all day. Thankfully I brought my spinning wheel to the last 2 so have least been productive!)

Anyways, that's all for now!

New yarns & knits!

I know I haven't been posting here like I should, but here are some new things I've been working on. First, I have to admit I LOVE Navajo Plying! I love it because it keeps the colors of the fabulous Yarn Wench colorways much more "together" which I feel shows them off more! I also feel like the end product is a stronger, more durable yarn. Here are some of the latest Navajo plied yarns I've spun:

Sun Scarab, spun while at a craft show on Sunday, September 2:

Jinx's Woods, named in part for my kitty Jinx (RIP), the original color was called "Feral" by the Yarn Wench:

And, here is Purple Rain, spun from handdyed bamboo fiber from hollyeqq.com:

I also spun up this two-ply from handdyed merino wool from the Yarn Wench. It is two separate colorways (Rust Never Sleeps & Tradebeads Variation) spun into thin singles, then plied together. Not sure I like how it turned out, but that's probably because I feel like *everything* should be Navajo plied now! :)

Then, there are the knit projects I've been whipping up! I have knit a couple of hats with my OWN handspun yarn, and also a neckwarmer that I think I'll be keeping for myself!

Orchid Sky Hand knit hat with handspun yarn I spun (merino wool, romney locks, novelty yarns all spun up and plied with thread):

And, the matching mini-neckwarmer:

And, finally, here is a hand knit hat from "Turquoise Shadows" yarn I spun and plied with Moda Dea Frivolous. This is so soft and warm! This is also the yarn that was on etsy's front page last week! I still have one skein in my shop, but will be removing it tonight as I plan on knitting a matching scarf for this hat!

Well, I think that's it for a pretty picture update! :) I have a show this Saturday (again) and am hoping for the best. The past two shows haven't been very good, though the one on Sunday (Sept. 2) ended up not being too bad, PLUS I spun a yarn while there!