I'm back . . . with new yarns and more!

Wow, it has really been awhile since I posted. But, I AM BACK! I honestly don't know if I'll be able to post daily, but I'm at least hoping to post a little more regularly, especially with all that may be happening in the next couple of months. Here's my confession - since the middle of July I've been working a "day job" again. That is why I haven't been posting as many new yarns, why I haven't been blogging and in general just haven't been "around" as much. But, for many reasons I rather not go into right now, I have QUIT that job and now will be able to devote my full attention to getting ready for my November shows. This is the perfect time since I do have my two most-favorite shows of the year this month - DIY Trunk Show in Chicago and Art vs Craft in Milwaukee. I am determined to have lots of new yarns and new knits for both of these shows! This means I'll be spinning and knitting like crazy over the next few weeks and I will be listing at least ONE NEW YARN EVERY DAY in my etsy shop. Due to time constraints, I may not list *everything* I spin, but yarns not sold at the shows will all be listed by the end of the month.

The other news, which is NOT 100% quite yet, but about 99.99999999999% sure is that we are MOVING. Not just moving to a new apartment but to a NEW CITY. And a NEW STATE. This is going to be happening within the next few months, which is the main reason I quit the job. More on this as things progress . . . but I won't be TOO far away from where we are now, which means I'll still be able to do my "normal" shows in both Wisconsin and Illinois.

For now, it's back to my old (wonderful) routine of daily spinning and listing yarns. Today, I spun 9 new yarns! Some were for possible custom requests, but several will be listed tomorrow, including 3 new art yarn skeins. In the meantime, though, I wanted to catch up with the new yarns that I have listed lately - these are skeins spun in the past few weeks that are new and still available -

Here are direct links to each listing in my etsy shop -
Squish-tastic! - November Garden - Hand Spun Bulky 2ply Yarn
90 yards and 30 yards
Kitty Mixers - Brown Eyed Girl - Hand Spun Two Ply Yarn (merino wool)
140 yards and 120 yards
FunctionArt/Batt-tacular - Holly Hobbie Redux - Hand Spun Art Yarn - 120 yards, 5.4 oz
CoilySpun - Vampire Valentine - Hand Spun Coils & Beehives Yarn - 12 yards
Beautiful Bamboo - Marmalade Pine - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn
134 yards and 124 yards
Beautiful Bamboo - Kitty Grrlz Dark - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn
Kitty Singles - Marchengarten - Hand Spun Single Ply Wool Yarn
Kitty Singles - Berry Crush - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn
Kitty Singles - Italo - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn
Kitty Singles - Cormorant - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn

I think that's all for now, but should have more new yarns for Sunday!

Back and busy . . .

I have been back since Tuesday from the show up north and also visiting with my sister and dad. But, I've been busy spinning and with other life things . . . but i really just want to post some pictures today of the new stuff! :)

New Yarns -



All of the ones above have been listed and if you click on the picture it should take you to the etsy listing. The ones below haven't been listed yet, but should be later today -

Super coily CoilySpun -

Two corespun single plys -
I also have a few other yarns up on etsy - Novel Ply PoodleSkirt Plush and Mahogany Midnight Moon FunctionArt art yarn.

I'm not sure how much time I'll have over the next few weeks for blogging, but I'll try and check in here and there with new yarn pics and any updates on the life-stuff if and when things change . . . but for now, it's back to the wheel . . .

New yarns

It was another late night last night (or early morning, depending on how you look at it!) but I did get 5 yarns spun yesterday! Those should be listed later today . . .

This post will be for the yarns from Monday - two Batt-tacular! Singles spun from Spontaneous Spinning batts from LOOP. The first is "Dazzling Dusk" - 150 yards, 4.1 oz, DK weight -

And, the second is "Pretty in Pinkish" - 100 yards, 3.4 oz, more worsted weight and slightly thick n thin. I also have 10 yards of an art yarn for this one since that is what I was originally going to spin with the batt - but it has a lot of bamboo in it and I prefer not to spin bamboo into art yarns - anyways, here it is -

I also finished this two-ply spun from the Chocolate Liqueur bamboo batts (also from Loop). This one is for a custom spin -
And, also these coils, which I think will also be for a special request -

Today, I've got some more coils to do and I think I'll be spinning another "Squish-tastic!" 2ply, this time with a merino/tencel blend as the thin ply. I've got 5 yarns to photograph and list - all but one are "Batt-tacular!" yarns, plied with thread and spun from various batts from TerraBellaSpun and one from FeltStudioUK. The fifth yarn is a single ply of the Chocolate Liqueur batt!

I think that's all for now!

Kitty Singles! and more . . .

Once again I haven't had a chance to blog and now I've got a couple of things to get to today . . .

First, I'd like to mention that I'm being featured on this wonderful blog. And, not only that, but she is having a give-away drawing of a fun bag of goodies later in the month. If you win, one of the items you will receive is one of my mini-skeins of Navajo-plied yarn. Please check it out!

On the spinning front, after completing my first Alchemy request, I needed to spin up a few singles - partly because I sold a few at the beginning of the month, and partly because I needed something that was a little "quicker" of a spin than the art yarns. Here are the 3 newest:

Spring Peacock

Spring Sweets

Ocean Rainbow

Single ply yarns ARE one of my newsletter April specials, so if you are interested in receiving the discount, please EMAIL ME to be added to my newsletter list. I send out only one email a month and it usually includes at least 2 special offers that last throughout the month and are ONLY for newsletter subscribers.

I also spun up some more coils the other day! This is the second batch of fiber called "Headbanger" that was hand dyed by the Yarn Wench. The other 2 skeins have already sold, but these are now available:

58 yards (Bruised Heart 4)

34 yards (Bruised Heart 3)


And, finally, I am doing a show this weekend! I will have at least 5 shawls and lots of yarn! Here is the information:
A Fair to Remember
Washington County Fair Park
3000 Hwy PV
West Bend, Wisconsin
9am - 4pm

Please come by if you are in the area!

New yarns!

So, once again, no post on Monday. One of these weeks I'll post every day, really!

But, I don't have much to say/show today, but I do want to post my latest yarns . . .

oh, wait, before I do that - I have a Treasury on Etsy right now! Please CLICK HERE to check it out! It is "From Fiber to Yarn to Art" and includes some of my favorite fibers, yarns, and finished products. It will only be available until Thursday morning, though!

Okay, on to the yarns. First, here is some bamboo that I spun up on Saturday night. Very thinly spun! It isn't quite on etsy or my website yet, but should be later today, along with another skein of handspun bamboo that I spun up yesterday. This one is called "Marmalade Sky" and is spun from fiber dyed by the FiberLady.
Then, there are the CoilySpun skeins I spun on Saturday, too. They were spun from hand dyed domestic wool dyed by the Yarn Wench. They have both been listed on etsy (click on the picture to go to the listing) and kittygrrlz.com.



And, finally, here is what I spun on Sunday - more Andromeda! Andromeda has been a very popular colorway hand dyed by Lynn (aka the Yarn Wench). Each batch is slightly different and I've already spun up several of them. This time, I wanted to spin a thin single of merino/silk, a thick single of merino, and ply them together (similar to what I had done with the "Pucci" colorways). But, I didn't have any of the merino/silk Andromeda! So, thanks to Naomi, who was willing to do some swapping, I got the fiber I needed as she sent me her batch of the merino/silk. There is one large skein of the bulky two-ply (110 yards, 4.6 oz) and then a lot of 2 mini-skeins, including 50 yards of Navajo 3-ply spun from just the merino/silk blend.
And, the mini-skein lot:

Last night, I spun up some more bamboo and then some "Batt-tacular" yarns! Two single ply skeins and 1 bulky plied-with-thread skein, all spun from batts from TerraBellaSpun. They should be listed on my website tonight and a couple of them will probably be on etsy, too. Then, tonight, I have two more batts I hope to spin and then it will probably be back to the art yarns.

But, for now, I must get to work!

Finally Friday . . .

I'm so glad it's Friday. I need a weekend. And, thankfully, I don't have a show, so I can "relax" (of course this means spinning and knitting as much as I can, but also means maybe dinner out and some quality Lego Star-Wars-playing time!)

So, here are much better pictures of the yarn I "sneak-peek-ed" yesterday. I really think I have to stop taking pictures at night. I get such better results in the afternoons. Anyways, here is "Ocean Dreams" Both skeins are 56 yards, spun from hand dyed Falkland wool, with lots of novelty and specialty yarns spun in, and plied with coils and beehives around a matching thread.


Both are available at kittygrrlz.com or on etsy.

I also finished an art yarn last night that I should have listed this afternoon. It will also have a matching skein that I'll probably spin up tonight (depends on the dinner thing!) But, here is a sneak peek (again with the night-time picture, but it does give the general idea)**I have removed the original (bad) picture! Look for better pics in my next post!

It's actually one large skein of 82 yards and one mini-mini-skein of 12 yards. I think I will be listing them together since the mini skein is so small. But, we'll see.

On the wheel for the weekend - not sure. I have some pretty green merino/tencel I want to spin up, and maybe some more bamboo. I have so many art yarns I want to spin, but need to match up some novelty yarns to go along with them. So, we'll see. I'm also determined to finish another Triangle Shawl this weekend.

But, for now, must get to work!

Tuesday!

I actually don't have much to say this morning. It is snowing. Again. But, oh well.

I spun up another skein of the "PlumGrove Revisited" last night! It is 98 yards, here is a shot I took last night before setting the twist:

I am waiting to hear if this and/or the other skein are spoken for, but if not, they will be listed later today.

I DID decide to list the coily yarn I posted about yesterday. "All the Pretty Coils" is now available on etsy:
Even though I will be tempted to spin tonight (and I just might sneak in a little bit of it!) my plan is to knit. I have a show again this weekend (well, I'm *supposed* to have a show this weekend - but it will very much depend on the weather as I'm not going to make the 5+ hour drive if we are getting yet another snowstorm!) so really want to finish up a couple of knit things. I want to have at least one shawl, and finish the scarf I started the other night. Plus, I want at least one more pair of wristwarmers . . . so, it will most likely be more knitting for me tonight!

So, it's Monday . . .

and I really do want to blog. Really. I do. But I'm so cranky that I just feel like anything I write will be so negative . . . and I try to avoid that . . . really. I do! ;)

so . . .

The Valentine Craftacular was this past Saturday and as always it was fun! I had fewer sales this year compared to last year, but I'm just so grateful that it was better than the show I did in January. AND, even a slow day at the Craftacular ends up being fun because of the atmosphere, and of course the other great sellers!

This time, I bought a couple of things. I usually don't. Especially since I sort of need all of my sales money now . . . but, I broke down and bought a beautiful hand-dyed (tie-dyed!) scarf and a pair of bright orange/yellow/pink socks from HipKidsTyeDye! The colors are just so amazingly vibrant! And the scarf is just beautiful!

I was also, once again, next to Lulu from Lulu's Stabby Critters! It is amazing the fun critters she felts and she had some new creatures just for Valentine's Day! I was sad to hear she sold her "Princess Leia" though! (but, good for her, of course)

But. The weather. God I am so sick of the weather. So sick of snow and winter and wind chill advisories! My drive home from Madison was very stressful. It was snowing, which wasn't so totally bad, it was nothing like the foot we got last week - but, it was blowing and causing issues on the freeway, and of course other drivers. So, by the time I got home my neck/shoulders were one big knotted mess of stress!

AND! We were supposed to go out for a friend's birthday . . . we still did, actually, and I'm glad. Since I am usually ravenous when I get home from a show it worked out great - we had a really nice dinner and I was able to get a nice girly drink to relax just a little. Then we went bowling. Yes, bowling. Even though I actually once took a bowling class in college (I was basically looking for a cheap/easy class to take to retain my "student" status so I could keep my job at the library) I still kinda suck at it. I did score over 100, though, 2 out of 3 games and by the last game I was so tired that it was amazing I could even get the ball down the lane . . .

Now, I do want to say that I wouldn't have done any of this if I had had to drive far - but all of this fun happened within 5 minutes of home, so . . . low risk since by then it had stopped snowing. Still cold, of course!

Hmmm . . . so Sunday was supposed to be a spinning day! And . . . I did nothing! Okay, I actually spun one yarn:

why, yes, it may look familiar as it is another "version" of the Plum Grove/Plum Lime skeins that have been so popular. I actually love this color combination and this one, especially, seemed to turn out really . . . intense? The fiber (dyed for me by Lynn aka the Yarn Wench) was darker than previous batches, so I used that as an opportunity to go a little wild in the yarns I chose to spin in - I used more purple yarns this time as well as burgundy yarns, along with some new green ones as well. I believe this skein may be spoken for but I have 6 more oz and do plan on doing them similar to this one since I do like how it turned out.

I did do a little bit of knitting, but this skein is all I have to show for the weekend! :(

Oh, wait! I do have another yarn - this is a coily yarn that I spun while at the Craftacular on Saturday. I usually spin Navajo 3-ply yarns while at shows, but this time, I decided to do something a little different! I spun up one of the coily "beehive" yarns!

This is spun from "Getaway", a domestic wool also hand dyed by the Yarn Wench. Turned out different than what I expected but I do like it. This one *might* be listed tonight OR it *might* become my first "WIN THIS YARN" skein! Not sure yet.

And, just because I don't have a lot to show today, I thought I would post this picture of what is probably my current favorite yarn! "Violets Are Blue" art yarn with coils & beehives!

So, that's is it from me for today! And, I think I got through this post without 1. another rant about the weather 2. a rant about the fact i have no more sick time or vacation time so am not sure how i'm going to survive the next 4-1/2 months and 3. a rant about stupid drivers.

So, yay! ;)

Lots of new yarns!

So, this will be another picture-heavy post as I've been busy spinning away!

First, though, here are two pairs of hand knit wristwarmers that I knit last week from my own hand spun Navajo 3-ply yarn. They are listed in my new shop just for my hand knits: Kitty Grrlz Knits as well as on my website.

Fallen Petals:


Earthly Treasures:

Then, there are the yarns!

Two new Navajo 3-plys - Forest Gold and Sea Story Blues.

Then, there have been the coils & beehives art yarns! I just "learned" how to do these recently and now it is difficult to not put them in every yarn! But, here are two where the coils are plentiful:

Jokers Wild, spun from a carded batt from TerraBellaSpun.

And, Spike's Heart, also from a carded batt from TerraBellaSpun:

Then, there were a few art yarns. The first one sold at my show last weekend. The second is now listed, and the last two are brand new. One is a custom order and the other will be listed soon!

Turquoise Dusk - sold

Plum Copper Surprise - one of my favorites! Now available.


And, PlumLime v.3 - this is a custom order.

And, it's sister, sort of, spun from the same fiber batch of hand dyed merino wool, but this one has more yellow and burgundy yarns spun into it! This one should be listed later today. I am calling it "Lemon Sangria Twist"

And, finally, here is a hand spun thick n thin single ply spun by me from BlueFaced Leicester wool hand dyed by the Yarn Wench.

And! one last art yarn with coils & beehives! "Crazy Like A Gallant Fox" was spun from a carded batt called "Gallant Fox" from TerraBellaSpun and it has a fun novelty yarn spun in and is plied with rayon plying thread.