20 days until Stitches Midwest...

Hurray for Friday!  But, not so happy that there are only 20 days left until Stitches Midwest!  I have so much spinning to do...

This is the latest art yarn color I'm working on...two skeins done, two to go...

While I was working the other night, I didn't know where Bug was!  Then, I found her under the hutch...here she says, "Stop stalking me with the camera already!"

This weekend I'll be doing some final fiber prep... and then it is nothing but spinning until Stitches!!

22 days and counting...

Last night I spun up two skeins of art yarn.  I'm not sure what I'm calling this one yet, probably something related to Spike and Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Or .... I don't know.  Something.  It is spun from hand dyed merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench in her colorway "Crashenburn"... shades of fuchsia, red, black, gray, purplish gray and more!

Here it is on the bobbin, before plying with thread:

And here, almost finished, just needs to have the twist set (basically soaking in hot water, rinse in cold, hang to dry!)...

 And where was Bug?  She was under the cart I have next to my wheel...sleeping, of course!

Tonight, I spin up two more skeins of this art yarn colorway, and maybe start on a little prep of another color!

New yarns and only 3 weeks until Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair!

I have listed some new yarns recently, but am not sure how many new ones will be listed over the next three weeks since Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair is coming sooner than I think! I'll be working hard on spinning lots of new yarns for that event, AND carding lots of batts for it, too! I'm sharing a booth with Cloudlover, and we're also working on some kits for spinners . . . so please mark your calendars if you are in the area!

The JULY Art Yarn of the Month WILL be mailed out before the show, I expect to have it in the mail July 6th. Still haven't purchased your FunctionArt ART YARN OF THE MONTH subscription? Well, there are two left, and the listing will only be available until June 30. Please check it out on etsy here - the June yarn will be shipped to you immediately.

Finally, here are the newest listings in my etsy shop - a little bit of everything . . .

Beautiful Bamboo - Summer Shades - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn, 128 yards and 126 yards
Beautiful Bamboo - Spring Garden - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn, 128 yards and 122 yards
FunctionArt - Spruce Berry - Hand Spun Art Yarn, 70 yards and 60 yards
FunctionArt - Rose Plum Mocha - Hand Spun Art Yarn, 67 yards and 60 yards
Beautiful Bamboo - DragonStorm - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn, 146 yards and 128 yards
FunctionArt - Forest Snake - Hand Spun Art Yarn, 76 yards and 72 yards
Kitty Singles - Holiday Party - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn, 112 yards
FunctionArt - Aqua Lime - Hand Spun Art Yarn, 76 yards and 71 yards

Now I better get some spinning done!

New hand spun yarns listed today!

Just finished listing a ton of yarns in my etsy hand spun yarn shop! Plus, the listing for the Art Yarn of the Month club is now up, too. Here is the listing for the Yarn of the Month Club, and below the mosaic are direct links to all of the new skeins!

FunctionArt - Boho Dark - Hand Spun Art Yarn - Merino wool, 71 yards
FunctionArt - Boho Dark - Hand Spun Art Yarn - Merino wool, 74 yards
FunctionArt - Marchengarten - Hand Spun Art Yarn - Merino wool, 60 yards
FunctionArt - Marchengarten - Hand Spun Art Yarn - Merino wool, 67 yards
Novel-Ply - Mahogany Peacock - Hand Spun Bulky Yarn, merino wool, 71 yards
Novel-Ply - Mahogany Peacock - Hand Spun Bulky Yarn, merino wool, 38 yards
Novel-Ply - Red Maple Buds - Hand Spun Bulky Yarn, merino wool, 71 yards
Novel-Ply - Red Maple Buds - Hand Spun Bulky Yarn, merino wool, 33 yards
Batt-tacular!/Thread-Ply - Rain Forest - Hand Spun Bulky Yarn, spun from a blended fiber batt that I carded! - 71 yards
Batt-tacular!/Thread-Ply - Mulberry Clouds - Hand Spun Bulky Yarn, spun from a blended fiber batt that I carded! - 90 yards

Now I've got to take a break and then hopefully card some batts tonight!

Art Yarn of the month club coming tomorrow!

Tomorrow, June 1, I will be launching the first Kitty Grrlz Yarn of the Month club! The first club option will be limited to 4 spots and will be for FunctionArt Art Yarn Skeins.

One spot is already taken, so the three remaining spots will be listed in my etsy shop on Tuesday, June 1. What will you get? You will receive one FunctionArt art yarn skein per month for June, July and August, PLUS a bonus skein delivered in December. The cost will be $105, plus $15 shipping for USA buyers. ($30 shipping for Canadian orders, $36 shipping for all other countries).

The skeins will be mailed by the 15th of each month, via Priority Mail.
They will be spun from hand dyed merino wool and be at least 60 yards.

If this works out, I will do another club listing for the art yarns in September that will be for September, October, and November.

I also plan on launching a bamboo club, too, but I'm not sure when that will start.

Here are just a small sampling of some of the art yarns I've spun in the past - but yarn club members will get NEVER BEFORE SPUN colors!

New Yarns and YARN FEST this weekend!

I've listed some new art yarns this week in my etsy shop!

Two skeins each and all spun from hand dyed merino wool - Taos Sunset, Plum Honey, Lizard King, and Citrus Dreams

Today and tomorrow I'll be spinning lots of bamboo skeins but won't be listing them because I'm getting ready for . . .

The Beverly Hills YARN FEST, which is THIS SUNDAY, April 11 at the Beverly Art Center - 2407 W. 111th St Chicago, IL - from 11am - 5pm. I'll have lots of hand spun yarns and also bamboo fiber for spinning.

Any new yarns spun and not sold will be listed on Monday!

The art yarns are coming, the art yarns are coming!

;) Okay, I've been saying that to myself all week because I've been determined to get back to my art yarn spinning. I've been spending so much time trying to build up inventory of my other types of yarns, that I've been neglecting my favorite yarns to spin - my FunctionArt art yarns. But, I've spun up 6 new skeins this week, have some more fiber prepped and ready to go, and even MORE fiber TO prep for even more skeins! With a show coming up, I do want to have a nice selection of colors - some will be old favorites and others will be brand new!

Two of the old favorites would have to be Plum Divine and Mahogany Midnight Moon. Both of these colors are from merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench, and I've been spinning them as art yarns for awhile. This is my fifth time spinning "Mahogany Peacock" into two skeins of "Mahogany Midnight Moon" - both 82 yards and on etsy now - here and here.

And, of course, there is Plum Divine. I've actually lost track of how many times I've spun this one, and each time it still turns out just a little bit different, mostly because I keep running out of yarns to use and have to find a new one to replace the ones I run out of! Here are the two latest skeins spun - 80 yards and 70 yards


This week, I've also been spinning some that are more solidly-colored. I have a blue one planned to spin today, and the other day I spun this one - Madeira - this was spun from hand dyed superwash merino wool dyed by Cloudlover in her new Madeira colorway. I spun in lots of orangey yarns and plied with orange thread. It's not only orange, though, it has gold and bit of brown in there, too, though orange definitely dominates. I have two skeins - 62 yards and 66 yards.


I'll still be sneaking in some other types of yarns over the next two weeks, but you'll also definitely be seeing more art yarns coming! :)

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NEW Hand Spun yarns!

I've got lots of new yarns listed in my etsy shop, and am continuing to try and list new ones daily. Here are some of the latest ones -

Bronze Field - Squish-tastic! Bulky 2ply

Some new bamboo - one is a lighter shade of "Plum Paradise" - this is Plum Paradise Light -

And, some more of the Taos Sunset Art Yarn colorway, and also another NEW art yarn color, Holiday Whispers -

And, finally, some new single ply yarns -

Top
Blackberry Sea Hand Spun Single Ply Falkland Wool Yarn 200 yards
Christmas Wrapping Hand Spun Single Ply BFL Wool Yarn 130 yards
Bottom
Cinnamon Clay Hand Spun Single Ply Falkland Wool Yarn 140 yards
SerpentSong Hand Spun Single Ply Falkland Wool Yarn 140 yards

This week I hope to spin some merino wool two-plys and I'll also be knitting lots of scarves for my show this weekend - ART VS CRAFT in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! I'll also have a couple more art yarns before the week is done.

Now, it's off to get some of this work DONE!

Two totally new hand spun art yarns!

Oops, so much for posting again regularly! I HAVE been listing new yarns every day in my etsy shop but there's too many to post here right now. But, I do want to post pictures of two BRAND NEW FunctionArt Art yarn colors!!

The first is spun from hand dyed merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench in color "Taos". When I first saw this color on her site recently, I liked it and it definitely popped out as being a bit different than what I'd been spinning lately. But, I wasn't sure I was going to spin it into an art yarn. At the time, I mostly just bought it because it was "different".

Then, this past weekend when I was going through one of my organizing/pre-prep routines of finding yarns to go with fibers for other art yarns, I came across some yarns that were PERFECT for this batch of fiber. So, I started accumulating them as I went through my boxes of yarns, and by the end had a very large collection of yarns that would be good to use to spin in with the wool. Instead of spinning the others I had meant to spin first, I decided heck with it and spun up TAOS as the first new art yarn for the week - I have two skeins, 80 yards and 84 yards and both are in my etsy shop here and here. Here are the skeins -

80 yards 84 yards

Then, since I already seemed to be more on the bright colors/new blends kick, I spun up this one - also merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench in color "Sundapple". Again, liked the different colors and combination than what I've been spinning recently. I also have two skeins of this one, 65 yards and 67 yards and they are in my etsy shop here and here. Here are the two skeins -

65 yards


67 yards
I have a lot of other new yarns listed, too. You can check them all out in my etsy shop!

This week I'll be getting ready for the DIY Trunk Show which is Saturday, November 21. I have lots of scarves to knit, yarns to spin and much more. This means I may not be posting many new items on etsy, though I WILL be listing at least ONE new yarn every day. Others may not get listed until after my show.

But, now I better get to work! SO much to do!!

It's been awhile . . . but here are some new yarns!

I am so bad at keeping up with the blogging thing. I try, really, I do. I spin and think of the things I want to write, but then when I sit down to write them, they are gone, or don't seem important enough to post. Oh well. Here is one of my usual new-yarn posts . . .

First, is a new art yarn, another in what I'm calling my "Masquerade" series, this one, simply "Masquerade II", spun from hand dyed merino wool, dyed by the Yarn Wench. I have two skeins listed in my etsy shop, an 86 yard skein and a 76 yard skein -

And, another one, spun from merino wool hand dyed by Cloudlover - this one is called Telltale Heart and I also have two skeins - 88 yards and 84 yards -


And, finally, here are two of my all-time favorite colorways, merino wool and merino/silk hand dyed by the Yarn Wench in "Andromeda" and "Mahogany Peacock". These are all listed in my etsy shop as well (direct links below the picture) -

Navajo 3-ply - Mahogany Peacock - 100 yards
Squish-tastic - Mahogany Peacock - 70 yards
Squish-tastic - Mahogany Peacock - 25 yards
Navajo 3-ply - Andromeda - 100 yards
Squish-tastic - Andromeda - 105 yards

And, one more, this one spun from merino wool and silk blend also dyed by Cloudlover - a Navajo 3ply - 190 yards - in color Peppermint Twist -


That's all for now! Time to get back to spinning! :)

Lots of new yarns, Etsy Voter - Hand Spun!, and Wisconsin Sheep & Wool

I've listed a bunch of new yarns this past week! These will be the last new ones until after the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival, which is THIS coming weekend!

In other news, my FunctionArt - Summer Mountain Morning yarn is featured in this week's Etsy Voter - please show your support by voting - you can find the voting HERE.

Here are some mosaics of the new yarns, but for all the details, please check them out in my etsy shop!

Fall Collection 2009 - all spun from LOOP Spontaneous Spinning batts -

Then, there are the blues and purples, also spun from LOOP batts -

And, one more, this set spun from Yarn Wench merino wool -

A few new yarns . . .

I've listed a few new yarns recently . . . two art yarn skeins today and 2 bamboo skeins yesterday. Very opposite yarns - the art yarn is very bright and cheery in shades of bright pink and peachy coral, and the bamboo is the most gorgeous deep plum/purple! Here is a mosaic of them, and you can find them in my etsy shop HERE.

I also finally spun a two-ply recently! I do like how the twoplys turn out, but since they take me so much longer than all of my other yarns, I don't spin them very often. But, I had this custom-color dyed by the Yarn Wench in merino wool, and thought it'd look good as 2ply. The colors were hard to capture, but here are the two skeins -

You can find them in my etsy shop HERE and HERE.

I'm getting ready for Wisconsin Sheep & Wool, which is in a couple of weeks, so I may not be listing much or posting here, but I AM spinning and will have new yarns available there and then will list what doesn't sell after the show. Lots going on right now and one of these days I'll blog about it all . . .

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Two days in a row - more new yarns!

Just a quickie post - here are a few more new yarns, listed today in my etsy shop HERE!

Two skeins of "Summer Mountain Morning" art yarn, and two single plys in luscious BFL wool, "Marchengarten" and "Absinthe". The art yarns are spun with Yarn Wench merino and the singles are from Cloudlover.

Holiday Spice in summer!

I know this may be more of a fall/holiday colored yarn, but I couldn't resist getting this one spun up as it's been waiting for me to spin it for awhile. It is similar to last fall's "Holiday Spice", so even though it was spun from a different Yarn Wench colorway this time, I've kept the Holiday Spice name. I have two skeins, both 100 yards, and both a little more bulky as opposed to super bulky. Here is a mosaic of the skeins, which you can find on etsy HERE and HERE.

Not sure if I'll get to spinning today. We received free tickets to the NASCAR Nationwide Series race tonight, so we'll be going at some point. This afternoon I hope to prep some Falkland fiber for single plys, but not sure if I'll get to spinning them or not. I WILL be spinning lots of Falkland and bamboo singles over the next couple of days. I *think* I may take a break from the art yarns until the beginning of July, but who knows. I still have quite a few that are waiting and pretty much ready to go. I'll also be working on a couple of custom orders these next few days, too.

But, now, it's time to do some fiber prep!

Plum Divine - finally!

I have finally spun up my latest "Plum Divine" skeins! I stayed up until 5am to do it, but they are done! (and, really, I was only up so late because I ended up getting such a late start on spinning yesterday!). I've got four, 3 are basically the same, but the 4th one is a little different in that it has 19 different novelty/specialty yarns spun in (as opposed to the 12 the others have.) This last skein has a bit more burgundy and yellow in it than the other 3. Here is a mosaic of the skeins, and below are links to the individual skeins in my etsy shop -


FunctionArt - Plum Divine - Hand Spun Art Yarn - 94 yards (1)
FunctionArt - Plum Divine - Hand Spun Art Yarn - 94 yards (2)
FunctionArt - Plum Divine - Hand Spun Art Yarn - 78 yards
FunctionArt - Plum Wine & Sunshine Divine - Hand Spun Art Yarn - 88 yards

Now it's time to get to work! I'm either going to be spinning two art yarn skeins tonight, or 4 Falkland single plys. It will depend on how I feel after exercising and an early dinner!

A "Haunting" new art yarn!

Well, as promised, I spun a totally new art yarn color yesterday and have the two skeins now listed in my etsy shop. As soon as I saw this hand dyed merino wool roving on the Yarn Wench site, I knew it would make a great art yarn. Called "Haunting", it's a very autumnal/fall color combination of dark blue and plum, with orange, gold, and rust in there, too. I spun two similar skeins, though one is plied with dark blue thread and the other is plied with orange/rust thread. You can find "Autumn Haunting" HERE and "October NightSong' HERE.

I also had time for one single ply - Brass Petals - spun from great Falkland dyed by Cloudlover. I have 6 more great colors ready to spin, and am hoping to have them all spun by the weekend, if I'm lucky.

Today, I hope to spin two more of the Falkland single plys and at least two skeins of Plum Divine art yarn. Tomorrow, more Falkland, and another NEW color of art yarn. I may have to slip some bamboo in here somewhere, too!

But, now I must get to spinning. To end, here is a mosaic of the new yarns:

New Art Yarns!

I wanted to wait until I was able to retake pictures of these skeins before posting here, but it was another gray day today. So, here is a mosaic of two new colors that I listed in my etsy shop yesterday -

The top one is "Sangria Garden Rose", spun from hand dyed merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench. I really love this color and do have another batch of it. Not sure if it will become two more art yarn skeins, or something else.

The bottom one is also Yarn Wench merino, in color "Adriatic". Gorgeous shades of blues, greens and purple in this one, with lots of fun novelty yarns spun in!

These will probably be the last art yarns I spin for a week or so, but we'll see. I do have a box full of brighter fibers ready to spin into art yarns, but I just don't think they are "ready" to be spun yet!?!? I'm just not "feeling" them right now. I know that's odd, but art yarns aren't something I can "force" - usually they have to simmer or percolate a bit before finally being ready. When they (or *I*) are ready, though, I'll have a nice bright batch!

Right now, I've got lots of bamboo colors ready to spin (including a couple for some custom orders), and also 4 new batches of Falkland from Cloudlover. Since I'm getting ready for a show this Saturday, I'm also knitting. I am hoping to finish three shawls before Saturday. If I have time, I'll be spinning the bamboo and Falkland in between knitting!

I will be listing two colors of bamboo tomorrow - more "Bluebonnet Belle" and a new one, "Mocha Bliss".

Now, it's back to knitting this shawl . . .

Midnight Magenta - new art yarn

Yesterday, I spun up four skeins of art yarn! It always feels good to spin the art yarns, and these were both fun colors to try and spin. I also brought out the sparkle for these, though it is difficult to show in the pictures. One of the colors I spun is for a potential custom order, and the other has been listed in my shop on etsy. That one is "Midnight Magenta" - spun from hand dyed merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench in color "Gemini". I have two skeins available.

I'm not sure I'll be listing anything new tomorrow, but I should have some bamboo ready for Thursday, and maybe some others, too. I admit I've been a little distracted with some things, one of which is trying to get back into an exercise routine! So far, I've actually been doing pretty well - I'm on my second week - and it is helping.

But now, I am going to try and get a little work done. I want to at least get some fiber prepped tonight, even if I don't get a chance to spin it.

Surf's Up! - new yarns!

I listed a couple of yarns on etsy today, along with a bamboo color yesterday. The art yarn is "Surf's Up" and I think I may be spinning more of it soon. It was really difficult to capture the colors accurately, but I tried my best - it is shades of blues and greens. I also spun up "Futomaki" - a color of Falkland from cloudlover. I haven't yet spun anything today, but I'm hoping to get at least two single plys spun for listing tomorrow. In the queue for this coming week? Some merino/silk 3plys, I think, along with some bulky 2ply "Squish-tastics". I also still have some art yarns ready to go but I'm doing them slowly, alternating them with some other types.

In other news, it is now official - I will be at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair again this summer! It is held at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, Illinois in July - July 17, 18, and 19th specifically. I'll be there with lots of new yarns! As of right now, it is my next show and might be my only show this summer.

Now, here is the mosaic of the new yarns, and I better get to spinning!

Turquoise Parrot Blues

Awhile ago I spun up some merino wool hand dyed by the Yarn Wench in color "Turquoise Parrot". I focused on the teal/peacock colors in that one, along with the oranges and yellows. Well, I've spun this color again, but this time focused on the dark blue shades instead. The resulting skeins are a bit darker and bluer than the previous two. Here are "Turquoise Parrot Blues" -


They are both on etsy now.

Yesterday I also received my Falkland wool from Natalie (cloudlover) so will be spinning single plys today. If I stay motivated, I should have 7 new skeins for tomorrow! Then, I will return to the art yarns.

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