More new yarns!

I really want to post more than pictures, but I'm still not totally back on the schedule I want which means I'm sleeping more than I should be, and when I am awake am spending all of that time listing items and spinning! So, what gets set aside for "later when I have more time"? Blogging! But, I do like to post new yarn pictures, so here are the latest!

From top to bottom -
Razzleberry Bamboo (4 skeins)
Ice Princess bamboo (2 skeins)
Be My Valentine Art Yarn (2 skeins, one has sold)
Valentine Frost (both sold, but I'll be spinning two similar skeins today)

The ones that haven't sold are listed in my etsy shop!

Now, it's off to spin!

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New Hand Spun Yarns this week!

I really have to get spinning for today, but here is a mosaic of the new yarns I have listed this week. You can find them all in my etsy shop - HERE!

When Monday is actually the BEST day of the week . . .

Well, sort of. At least I was actually happy for Monday to arrive this week since this past weekend was just . . . bad. I was sick most of the weekend and on Saturday my desktop crashed. Thankfully, I have a laptop that I have been using, and even though I use the desktop for important things like editing pictures, uploading them to flickr, and doing my etsy listings, I have worked it out so that I can (sort of) do everything on the laptop for now. We took the computer in today and now it's just a wait-and-see thing.

Due to the computer issues, I'm using GIMP (instead of PhotoShop) to edit my most recent photos. AND, I'm editing them on the laptop which makes everything look darker, so I hope they still look okay on other screens. I think, so far, all is okay, but it's weird having to change up my processes.

Late last night, I finally felt better, or at least well enough to spin. I spun up this new variation of the bamboo color "Black Gold". This color is different every time, and this batch is just amazing . . . I think it is definitely my favorite variation that I have spun. I have four skeins listed on etsy now, and enough fiber to spin 8 more. I'm not sure if it will look the same the next time I order it, though! But, for now, here is "DragonSong" . . .

I'm only including one picture in this post today, but you can find all the skeins on etsy and a few more pictures on flickr.

And, now it's back to work - spinning wool single plys tonight and should have 4-5 new skeins to list tomorrow!

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A couple of new art yarns . . .

Before I went back to spinning bamboo yesterday, I spun up two new art yarn colorways on Monday. Both were spun from merino wool hand dyed by the Yarn Wench. The one was a surprise - I actually bought the fiber for a totally different style of yarn, but when I realized it wouldn't work for what I wanted, I decided to try an art yarn. Here is a mosaic of the 4 new skeins -

Here are the links to the individual skeins on etsy -
Red Maple Buds - skein 1 and skein 2
Mahogany Teal 90 yards
Mahogany Teal 74 yards

In other news, I'm not doing so well on the whole blog-more-often-and-about-more-than-yarn front. Often times, when I'm spinning, I think of things to write about, but then when I sit down I just don't have the focus or energy or desire to post!?! I think it's my whole weird feelings towards blogging itself. Even though I am one who wrote in a diary, journal, or just a plain "notebook" for years - well into and after college - the idea of writing my thoughts in a blog just seems . . . weird to me. I'm just not comfortable with it. So, I end up posting about what I am most comfortable with - my yarns and spinning and fiber! :) Which isn't probably that exciting for most people. But, this IS my life, especially now that I'm doing this full-time, it really does consume me.

But, in an effort to mix it up a bit, and try and expand the topics of my blog, I am going to start doing "Randoms" postings which will be about something OTHER than yarn or fiber. I'd also like to post now and then about the full-time-business-aspect.

Of course, we'll see how this goes. I'd like to start now, but I must get to work! The bamboo is calling!

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Plum Divine 2009!

Back in December, I bought several batches of hand dyed wool from the Yarn Wench in one of my all-time favorite colors - Plumgrove. I use the plumgrove color to spin my FunctionArt Plum Divine Yarns. I have spun quite a few batches of this color in various fibers and styles of yarn. You can see all of them here in this flickr set. The most recent batches I bought were supposed to be spun in December, and my plan was to "retire" this color in 2009. But, I just can't stay away! (Plus, I never had time to get them spun last year!). So, I've decided I will continue to spin it as it arises - meaning, if Lynn dyes it and I happen to purchase it, I'll spin it, but I am not going to take custom requests for it this year.

Anyways, I finally managed to spin the two batches of merino that I had - these seemed a bit darker and deep in color, so it was a good thing that I had to find new yarns to spin in since I'd run out of some of the "staples" I had used in previous versions. There are still a couple of the same yarns from previous batches, but these new skeins have some new ones added in, too. I am still plying with the same color of thread, though.

Here is a mosaic of the 4 most recent skeins.

You can find them on etsy -
Plum Divine 2009 1A - 84 yards
Plum Divine 2009 1B - 76 yards
Plum Divine 2009 2A - 88 yards
Plum Divine 2009 2B - 80 yards

Now, the decision is what to do with the other fiber batches I have! I have 8-12 ounces of this color in a merino/silk blend, and 16 ounces in a Falkland that feels almost like a Falkland/Merino cross. The merino/silk will most likely become a 3ply, but I'm not sure about the Falkland - singles? 2ply? more art yarns? For now, I'm going to spin other things, but this will be in the back of my mind.

And, now, I must get to work spinning some new colors!

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Lots of new yarns!

Seems I finally got motivated the past couple of days and actually spun some new yarns! Mostly, they are single plys, spun from carded batts of fiber from FeltStudioUK and TerraBellaSpun, but there is also a new two-ply and a new 3ply spun from hand dyed merino wool and silk blend from the Yarn Wench. Here they are -

From top to bottom -
Broken Heart - merino/silk - 2ply - 82 yards
Broken Heart - merino/silk - 2ply - 130 yards
Wild Hearts - blended fibers - single ply - 96 yards
Tainted Love - merino/silk - 3ply - 140 yards
FairyTale Ending - blended fibers - single ply - 110 yards
English Rose - blended fibers - single ply - 100 yards
Wild Berries - blended fibers - single ply - 100 yards
Spike's Moonlight - blended fibers - plied with thread - 100 yards

Not sure if I'll have anything new tomorrow, BUT, I am finally going to be spinning more Plum Divine on Sunday!! Hopefully, I'll have 4 skeins to list on Monday - Plum Divine 2009!!

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Tainted Love & the end of Free Shipping

So, yesterday I managed to list a new art yarn. Well, sort of new at least. Tainted Love is spun from the colorway Black Cherry, and I have spun it twice before. I love it! This fiber batch was a bit darker, and I used several new yarns to spin in, so it is a bit different than previous versions. I have two skeins available -



Later today I'll be listing a skein of Navajo 3-ply spun from the same color in a merino/silk blend. The merino and merino/silk "Black Cherry" fibers were both dyed by the Yarn Wench. I also spun up two single ply yarns yesterday, too! Those two skeins were spun from batts from FeltStudioUK. Should be listing those later as well.

Today, I think I'll be spinning a 2-ply from a merino/silk blend as well. This one is called "Broken Heart", hand dyed by the Yarn Wench.

Finally, this weekend is the last weekend to take advantage of my FREE SHIPPING in the USA and Half Price International Shipping offer! Starting Monday, my shipping will go back to normal - $5 per order in the USA and $10 per order international. I always ship via Priority Mail and am NOT raising my prices even though rates are going up soon. You can check out all of my yarns HERE.

I was even featured in this weekend's Etsy "Weekend Deals" article & email! Yay!

But, now it's off to have lunch - spaghetti . . . mmm . . .

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My favorite bamboo color . . .

well, my favorite THIS week at least - is Stormy Night! I forget how wonderful this blend is until I spin it again, and this last batch was extra wonderful! I have 3 skeins of it listed on etsy now - and another pound of it to spin (though 3 of those skeins are already spoken for, I believe)



Today, I finally got back to some art yarn spinning and spun two of my favorite colorways - Mahogany Peacock aka Mahogany Midnight Moon and Black Cherry aka Tainted Love. Tainted Love will be listed tomorrow for sure, and Mahogany Midnight Moon might be (it may be spoken for already, but if not, it will be listed.)

Tomorrow, I am going to spin a Navajo 3ply from a merino/silk blend in the Black Cherry/Tainted Love color and also a 2ply or 3ply from a pretty shade of merino/silk called Broken Heart. These two, along with the Tainted Love art yarn, are probably going to be the extent of any "Valentine" yarns I do this year. I just don't have a lot of pink/red fiber in my stash at the moment!?!?

Ah well, that's all for now - hopefully I'll have some good art yarn pictures tomorrow!

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My Spoiled Kitty Grrl

I forgot to add some kitty pics to my last post! The other night, I came into the living room and Bug was all curled up amongst her toys and I just had to snap some pictures! Here they are!

The Blues - new art yarns

These yarns were supposed to be spun in December, but I just didn't get to them until now. They are both blues-based and both are spun from hand dyed merino wool from etsy sellers. The top two are "Blue Lagoon" - spun from fiber dyed by Cloudlover - colorway named "Lagoon" and the bottom two are "Smoke on the Water" spun from fiber from FreckleFaceFibers - colorway called "Grecian Blue". You can click on the mosaic and it will take you to my etsy shop where these have been listed for sale.

In other news, I still am really not 100% back on track. My sleep schedule is still pretty messed up, but I'm managing to still get yarns spun - just at odd times of the day! Today I've got to get back to the bamboo for a bit - the first half of my fiber order arrived on Friday! But, I'm also hoping to get to some other yarns this week, too - more Tainted Love art yarn AND Navajo 3ply, another Squish-tastic!, and yes, finally, the LAST of the PLUM DIVINE art yarns! I really meant to get the Plum Divine skeins spun BEFORE the end of 2008, but since I wasn't able to, I guess my plan to "retire" that colorway isn't going to happen. I've got two batches of the "Plumgrove" colorway in merino wool, and *4* batches in a soft Falkland! I don't think they will ALL become art yarns, but I know some of them will. So, I definitely have lots of new yarns planned and coming, just need to spin them! :)

Which means I better get back to work!

(Oh, and I've been "tagged" again, and I really am going to try and do a post for that, but just not sure when or what to say . . .)

Plum Honey Yarns

For those who are familiar with my yarns, you probably know that I get about 99% of my hand dyed fiber from Lynn aka The Yarn Wench. She has an amazing eye for color and I feel her colors truly are the best and give my yarns that something extra . . . at shows people often comment on my colors and most of the time I owe those compliments to Lynn. There are some that I continue to go back to every time she dyes them - Plum Grove, Pine Forest, Mahogany Peacock are just a few of the ones that I spin often.

There has been one color, though, that is another one of the colors she dyes often, in many variations and all fiber types. But, this one color, I have NEVER SPUN until NOW! This color is "Plum Honey".

So, finally a few weeks ago, I broke down and bought a batch of merino in this colorway, and then a week or so later, bought a batch of it in merino/silk. My plan was to spin one of my "Squish-tastic" bulky 2ply yarns. And, well, I *finally* got around to spinning this color and it is AMAZING. I can now see why it has been so popular and I'm still not sure why I've never bought and spun it before! Anyways, here is a mosaic of the yarns I spun - there are 4 pictures but only 3 skeins. You can find the large Squish-tastic skein HERE, the small mini skein HERE, and the Navajo 3-ply mini skein in the merino/silk HERE - if you are interested.



that's all from me for today - i've got to get spinning!

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New Yarns for yesterday

Here is a quickie post just showing the yarns I listed yesterday - I've got a new Squish-tastic! to list in a little while and will hopefully have pictures of that one later on. Here are yesterday's newbies, though -


The first picture is "A Clockwork Orange" Kitty Single wool single ply, the next 3 are "Summer Carnival" bamboo, and the last 2 are "Marmalade Pine bamboo."

Not sure what I'll be spinning today, but I know I've got some more of the "Clockwork Orange" color to spin, one more bamboo color to spin before my big order arrives, and a couple of art yarns ready to go, too.

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Starting out the new year . . .

Well, it is the 6th day of the New Year and this is my first blog post. What does this mean? It means I have failed miserably at my "resolution" to blog more!?!?! Oh well. Things just started off a little badly and I think the past few months finally caught up to me and I just SLEPT almost all day New Year's Day which just put me behind on everything and out of sorts. But, I think I'm back on track and ready for the new year!!

Oddly enough, it is starting out the same way 2008 ended - with spinning yet MORE bamboo yarns!! I really wanted to be spinning art yarns by now, but the bamboo has been selling and I hate to have so few colors in my shop - so I decided to spin up some of the remaining colors I had. I've got three listed today - more Springtime in Paris, Serenity, and Very Berry Blues. These are all colors that I probably won't have again until February or March. Why? Because even though I just ordered over 25 pounds of bamboo fiber, these colors are not on the order. They'll be on the next one. BUT, this does mean I'll have lots of good colors coming soon!! Here is a mosaic of the three colors I just listed (you can click on it to take you to my etsy shop bamboo listings)-

Today, I plan on spinning some more Summer Carnival and Marmalade Pine, along with at least one single ply WOOL yarn. Then, TOMORROW, I believe I will get back to the wool and spin either an art yarn or two, maybe a Squish-tastic, or maybe a two-ply. I've gotten some gorgeous fiber colors from the Yarn Wench lately and they are just screaming to be spun!!

Last week, I did spin a few yarns, and one of them was the "Green Man" colorway I've done before. Both sets I spun were for special requests, so never made it to my shop - but here is a mosaic of the 4 skeins anyways -

I do have one more small batch of this fiber color (Pine Forest) but have run out of a couple of the yarns used in these, so if I do another skein it will be slightly different.

I also have some LLAMA roving to spin!!! My MOM got it for me for Christmas - almost 9 ounces in a nice natural brown color. It is from Windridge Farms in Colgate, Wisconsin. I have to admit that I was surprised at how SOFT it is and am really looking forward to spinning it. But, since I'm not sure if I will sell the resulting yarn or not, it's got to be put aside until I get some new yarns into my shop. I know for some having 50+ items is alot, but for me, I feel like my shop is bare, so really need to get spinning!

Which is exactly what I'm going to go do right now!

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