Gift Certificate Special, Yarn Clubs, Ruffle Scarves and More!

It has been a busy couple of months! Thanks to all who came out to the DIY Trunk Show and Art vs Craft! They were both amazing and it was so wonderful to see so many people out and supporting hand made!

I am beginning to catch up a bit but still am rebuilding inventory in my yarn shop. I've got new yarns coming soon, though - new art yarns, new bamboo, and more. I'll also have some new blended fiber batts come January.

If you are still looking for that perfect gift for the knitter, crocheter or fiber artist in your life, I've got a couple of great solutions for you!

First, I am running a gift card special. Purchase a gift card from my Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarns shop and get an extra $10 added on to the value! Buy a $60 gift card and get an extra $20 added on! Redeemable in either my yarn shop, or my knits shop.

Second, I have got a few Yarn Clubs available which is a great way to give a gift that will keep giving into the new year. My art yarn club is already sold out, but I've got a Bamboo Yarn of the Month Club, a "Surprise" Yarn of the Month Club 3 month or 2 month option, and a Single Ply Yarn of the Month Club. You can find them all in Yarn of the Month Club section in my etsy shop.

Finally, I am also slowly trying to add new hand knits to my Kitty Grrlz Knits shop on etsy. I will be adding more Endless Ruffle Infinity Scarves and also more items knit with hand spun yarn. I already have a couple of hand knit art yarn cowls listed that are knit with my handspun FunctionArt Art Yarn and a couple of soft scarves knit with gorgeous hand spun Sqoosh Monster thicknthins spun by Naomi of Knotty Handspuns. Look for more new items throughout December and into the new year.

Here are the Ruffle Scarves -



And the Cowls -



And the scarves and also a shawl knit with my hand spun yarn

New Yarns and a new scarf!

I've got lots of new yarns to show off, but first . . .

Since I've returned from Sheep in the City, I just haven't felt like spinning! I don't know why, though I suspect is has something to do with my wheel. It needs a bit of "maintenance" and I finally got what I needed for that today. Anyways, last night I decided I really wanted to knit. So, I knit up a scarf using a skein of single ply yarn that I spun using Phydeaux's "Soft Acorns" scarf pattern. You can find her pattern on etsy here or on Ravelry here. The yarn I used is this skein - a hand spun single ply worsted weight slightly thicknthin skein spun from a merino/bamboo
blend.


The skein was 114 yards, so I wasn't sure if it would be enough. I used size 11 needles as the pattern called for, and even though the wraps per inch on the yarn made it more worsted than bulky, I think it worked out okay. The scarf is 4 inches wide and 65 inches long so i think a little less wide than the pattern called for. Pictures aren't very good since I took them a little late today and don't have a good light set-up for larger items.

Pattern was totally fun - perfect level for me as it was more than basic but not super difficult. By the end I was definitely used to the pattern and didn't have to keep checking to see where I was.

I did end up only repeating the main part 20 times as opposed to 22 as the pattern called for since I was near the end of the yarn! Still think I got a decent length from it!

I can't wait to try more of Brenda's patterns!

And, now onto some of the new yarns I've listed lately, all of which can be found in my etsy hand spun yarn shop!

Kitty Mixers - Violet Night - Hand Spun 2ply Yarn, merino wool, 164 yards and 146 yards
Navajo 3ply - Winter Berry - Hand Spun 3ply Yarn, merino wool/silk/bamboo blend, 90 yards
Squish-tastic! - Winter Berry - Hand Spun Bulky 2ply Yarn, Rambouillet wool and merino/silk/bamboo blend, 70 yards and 33 yards
Squish-tastic! - Sugar Plum - Hand Spun Bulky 2ply Yarn, Rambouillet woo, and merino/tencel blend, 62 yards and 44 yards
Navajo 3ply - Autumn Gypsy - Hand Spun 3ply Yarn, merino wool/silk blend, 40 yards
Beautiful Bamboo - Plum Paradise - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn, 162 yards

Now I'm off to get some new single plys spun, and maybe do some more knitting!

ART VS CRAFT - Saturday, November 29 in Milwaukee

Tomorrow, I will be at ART VS CRAFT in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Like the DIY Trunk Show in Chicago, and the Craftacular in Madison - this is a great indie craft show with wonderful artists and crafters who make all sorts of items that would make great gifts!

Please come and check it out!

Saturday, November 29, 2008
10am - 7pm
Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center
790 N. Van Buren Street in downtown Milwaukee

I don't have many pictures to show of my new items, but I will have 4 new hand knit cowls/neckwarmers knit with hand spun art yarn, some new scarves, and lots of yarn - though I wasn't able to get as much spun this week as I had hoped. Here is a mosaic of some of the things I should have there -

BLACK FRIDAY SALE going on now!

I am having a special BLACK FRIDAY SALE in my etsy shops!

In my Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarn shop on etsy, I have discounted 21 yarns by taking $5-10 off of their regular price! These special prices last only until 12noon CentralStandardTime.

You can find the sale yarns HERE.

Also, I am still offering FREE SHIPPING in the USA and Half Price International shipping through the weekend! This special is going on in both shops -

Kitty Grrlz Hand Knits on etsy
Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarns on etsy

Plus, I have discounted several hand knits in my knits shop. You can find those items HERE.

Happy shopping!!

New Hand Knits ready for the DIY Trunk Show

Well, I am all done for the night. Last minute yarns have been spun, labels have been made and attached, everything (except for the last minute yarns which are still drying) is packed away and ready to go tomorrow morning.

Here is a quick look at some of the new hand knits items I'll have tomorrow at the DIY Trunk Show in Chicago!

Website, Newsletter and Gift Cards!

Today I want to mention some new things and remind of some old - that now have a new twist!

First, a couple of weeks ago I started having problems with my website. Instead of continuing to maintain a separate shop catalog site (and all the time, stress, and hassle that seems to entail), for now I am going to be selling on ETSY only. In the future I may revisit having my own site for sales, but the truth is - most of my sales come from Etsy and shows. My website was more of a time-sucker than anything else. So, I hereby surrender to etsy! :)

You can find my HAND SPUN YARNS on Etsy HERE.
and
my HAND KNIT ITEMS on etsy HERE.

Kittygrrlz.com has NOT gone away, though! As a matter of fact - if you are looking to bookmark just ONE page to find Kitty Grrlz - that is the one! It now has links to my most recent blog posts, an upcoming shows/events listing, AND a NEW way to subscribe to my Newsletter . .

which brings me to my second point - my newsletter. I can no longer manage it the way I had been, so am now using bravenet.com and their free newsletter/mailing list service. I'm hoping to upgrade eventually to a pro/paid account, but for now I am hoping their free version will be enough to get my monthly newsletter out.

WHAT is my monthly newsletter, you ask? Well, at the beginning of each month, I email ONE message out to all subscribers. This message includes news, upcoming show information, AND, most importantly - specials and discounts for NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS only! They can vary from month to month and I will say that TOMORROW I will be having one of my best 1-day newsletter sales ever! I also plan to have some good specials in December. There is at least one special or discount *every* month, though.

If you are interested in signing up - please go to kittygrrlz.com and scroll down - near the bottom is a box for you to enter your name and email address. After entering your information, click "GO". On the next screen you will need to enter the letters/numbers shown in the box, click again, and then you should get the first confirmation page. At this point an email will be sent to you. Since it is a "double opt-in" list you need to open that email and click on the link to confirm your subscription. You should then receive a welcome email and will be all set for the next newsletter. IF for some reason *you do not receive the confirmation email* right away, please try again. When testing it out, I noticed that sometimes that email didn't seem to get "triggered", but upon trying again it worked fine.

Finally, I wanted to post about the fact that I am now offering GIFT CERTIFICATES! These are online versions of my Kitty Grrlz Cash Gift Cards that I now also have available in person at shows. Online, I am offering values of $25, $30, $50 and $60 - but if you would like a different denomination, all you have to do is email me and I can set up a special listing for you. Want to buy yarn for someone but not sure what kind they would like? What colors or fibers they like to work with? A Kitty Grrlz Gift Certificate is the perfect solution! And, in person keychain gift cards come with a 5-20 yard sample of yarn! This option is also available online but would incur a shipping cost. Please check out the listings here for more information.

Please keep in mind that if you ever need to contact me, or would prefer to order/purchase directly through me, you can email me at any time!

This week . . .

I will be knitting ALOT. This means I may not have many new yarns listed. I am preparing for the MUSKY JAMBOREE in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, which is Sunday, August 10. I really need to have more of a balance between knits and yarn, so I will be knitting lots of shawls, scarves, and wristwarmers this week. (and, hopefully some hats if there is time.)

Before I started the knitting yesterday, I did get some new yarns spun!

Plum Divine - yes, I am back at spinning this colorway. I broke down and asked for a pound of it to be dyed for me by Lynn (aka the Yarn Wench) which means I should have new yarns in this color over the next few weeks. So far, I've spun up one 4 oz batch. One skein I knit up into this scarf -
for a customer. And, the other skein, at least for now, is available on etsy -

I say "for now" because if this doesn't sell quickly there is a very good chance I will be knitting it into a hat or maybe a scarf for my upcoming show.

I also spun up a bunch of Novel-Ply yarns - these are yarns that are spun with one strand of hand spun merino wool and then plied with a novelty or specialty yarn. Here are the newest ones -

Hot Stuff -


Ocean Splash -

Autumn Sizzle -

Red Maple Buds -

Turquoise Sands Surprise -

So, that is all from me today - I may not be posting for the rest of the week, but I may try and sneak in a few pictures here and there. But, I will be knitting knitting knitting up a storm this week and hopefully will be back to spinning next week!

(oh, and just an update - my email is back to normal now! yay!)

New yarns from the weekend . . .

So, I didn't get quite as much spun this weekend as I was hoping to as I just wanted to laze around instead! But, I did get a TON of pictures taken for all of the hand knits that I need to add to my Kitty Grrlz Knits shop and also did get some yarns spun.

First, here are a couple shots of the hand knits. I will slowly be adding more shawls, scarves, and wristwarmers throughout the week. I'm editing the pictures slowly as even though I re-did my set-up, I'm still not getting the quality I want - but, for now, this is the best I can do.

Mocha Swirl Hand Knit Scarf - knit with a nylon/tactel yarn (Gedifra India)

Earth Mother Hand Knit Triangle Shawl - knit with Gedifra Poesie yarn (nylon/polyester/microfiber)

Then, there are the yarns! The first ones I have to show are a second round of the "Spring Break" colorway - this is actually the "Hot Tropics" color hand dyed by the Yarn Wench. This was my second batch (the previous two yarns have sold). Even though I thought this was the lighter batch, I actually think it is darker. I spun in a TON of green, purple, and yellow angelina for sparkle in these, along with novelty yarns in green, purple, and yellow. Then, I plied it with purple thread. Here they are:

106 yard skein:
108 yard skein:
The next batch I did was the "Cherry Peacock" colorway, also dyed by the Yarn Wench. This was Falkland wool and I absolutely loved this color and wished I had more! Very difficult to get the true colors, but here is a shot of the one available skein (the other is reserved):

I also spun up this yarn, it was a "test" for a custom spin I am doing. This one has a few colors/yarns in it that won't be in the "final" yarn, which also means this one should be listed and available later today. It was spun from the "Forest" fiber batts from FeltStudioUK.etsy.com I didn't spin in the sequins as they will be used in the second skein. This is a small skein of about 62 yards, with lots of novelty yarns in shades of green and black spun in, and plied with metallic green thread.

I also spun up two Spontaneous Spinning batts from Loop yesterday! I will wait to show those as I'd like to get better pictures. They will both be listed later today, though. One is "Purple Progression" and the other is "Creamsicle" (though my yarn names will probably be different. They were great to spin - lots of different fibers like wools, bamboo, alpaca, silk, and more! Look for pictures of them tomorrow!

It's been too long . . .

and I have so much I could post but no time!

I've been spinning up bamboo fiber and will continue to do so this month, but here are a couple of shots of what I did this past weekend:



And, here are some other new yarns that are now listed:

As you can see, I haven't been doing many of the art yarns lately - I WANT to, but feel I need to expand my variety a little, plus I am preparing for upcoming shows, which means - knitting shawls!!



The shawls are really becoming a priority as I will be doing a show at the Hilldale Mall in Madison, Wisconsin on May 3 and 4 called "Artistic Accessories" and I really want to have the shawls in as many colors as possible.

I also am trying to spin up the rest of the bamboo fiber I have - it is on special this month for my newsletter subscribers - and I think it will be good to have some non-wool yarns for these warmer-weather shows (well, if it IS warmer by April 12 and May 3/4!).

Oh! One more thing (well, two) . . . here is another new yarn. It is one of my "Rocky Roads" yarns which is a bulky single plied with thread with occasional coils/beehives along the way . .
And, I also just checked, and I don't think I posted this new art yarn! "Compendium" is merino wool spun up with lots of novelty yarns snippets and plied with thread. I plan on making more in this colorway, too, just haven't gotten to it yet:


I've also listed some new hand spun single ply yarns, too! (They are also on special this month for newsletter subscribers only - if you'd like to be on my newsletter list and receive ONE email a month with specials and updates, please EMAIL ME ) Check it out at kittygrrlz.com or my shop on etsy!

New yarns and more . . .

So, today I want to first take a moment to share some totally awesome scarves that were knit with my yarn! The first ones are from Brenda of Phydeaux Designs. She has used several of my art yarns to make her gorgeous hand knit scarves. Here are just a couple (you can click on the picture to go to the etsy listing!)


Then, there is my fiber friend Naomi - she spins some wonderful yarns herself and you can find her etsy shop HERE. Here is a wonderful scarf she knit for her Mom with my "Martha's Midnight Trellis" boucle yarn. She takes some great pictures so I'm including two shots.


And, just in case you thought the only thing you could make with my yarns are scarves, here is a wonderful art doll made by Lisa. You can find her wonderful Nymphlings on etsy HERE.
This is "Veruca the Grape Vine Nymph"! Her HAIR was made with one of my Plum Lime/Plum Grove skeins! You can see more pictures of Veruca HERE. At this time Veruca is not for sale, but she also has a really wonderful bunny in her shop now, "Rosebud Bunny".
Finally, before I have to go, I will share pictures of a couple new yarns. These were shown yesterday, but now I have much better pictures and they are officially available on etsy and kittygrrlz.com.

Blu-Mocha Cherry Hand Spun Art Yarns - two skeins, 100 yards (plied with pink thread) and 92 yards (plied with blue thread). Both have 15 different novelty yarns spun in (3 hand dyed by the Yarn Wench!) which is more than usual for one of my art yarns. I also spaced them much closer, so overall there is MORE spun into the skeins! Here they are!
Then, there is what I spun last night! First, I gathered together the novelty yarns I wanted to spin into the fiber:
Then, I spun up the single:

And, finally, ta-da! Two new skeins of art yarn! These pics aren't the greatest, but I'll be taking better ones this afternoon and then listing them both.


Till tomorrow . . .

Wow . .

has it really been a week since I last posted???? Shame, shame!

But, I've been busy. I had a show on Saturday so of course spent last week getting ready for it, which basically meant forcing myself to KNIT! I don't know why it is so difficult for me to get working on a knitting project - once I complete them I'm always happy - but once again it was down to the wire as I tried to get two Triangle Shawls done . . . and it paid off as one of them sold! Here is the other one . . . they are *really* difficult to photograph. I realized this time that the problem is the only open/bright/white background space I have is by our window - which doesn't work too well when you are trying to take pictures having the light *behind* just isn't conducive to getting a good picture. So, I will have to work on trying to find another space. Right now I'm thinking I need to find a white sheet or something that i could drape over the TV or something, then I could use that as the background . . . but, I digress. Here are a couple of shots of the shawl - but they are much better in person!

I also took pictures of two more scarves that I knit from hand dyed yarn - this yarn is Austerman Samoa nylon microfiber yarn that was hand dyed by Lynn aka the Yarn Wench, special for me. Both of these scarves are listed on my WEBSITE and also my hand knits etsy shop, Kitty Grrlz Knits. (The shawl will be listed later today.)

CopperBurnt Sky:

Ruby Sky:
And, of course, there has been lots of spinning! I spun up some bamboo recently, but the first one I did on Friday and it just didn't turn out well - I mean, I like it, especially the color, but it was spun much too unevenly and, well, here it is so you can see for yourself:
I guess it just turned out thicker and more over-twisted than I like. For comparison, here is another bamboo skein that I spun up on Sunday. It is much thinner, and more even (though I still get Wraps Per Inch varying between Sport and Fine weight), but to me, it just looks much more "professional":

This one should be listed later today. I'm still not sure if I'm going to list the other one. I may use it for my knitting experiment, we'll see.

I also spun up two Navajo 3-ply Yarns this weekend! Mostly done at my show. They are both available on my website or on etsy. If you click the pics below it will take you to the etsy listings.

This is "Sabrina's Garden" and is 160 yards. Merino wool.

This is "Fuchsia Cocoa Citrine", 116 yards, merino and silk blend hand dyed by the Yarn Wench.

Both are priced a little less than normal as they were mostly spun while at my show. Which, by the way, was an okay show. I sold a few yarns and the shawl, made my fee and gas money back with even a little to spare! Yay! Now, I don't have a show until April 12, and the main thing I want to have done by then are MORE SHAWLS, and more bamboo yarns.

Finally, I just have to say WOOHOO! I was on the front page of etsy on Sunday night! Here is a screen shot of part of the treasury that was curated by SteppingStones. Thank you for including me and yay for it making the front page!


Oops, ONE more thing, then I must get to work. Here is a sneak peek at a new yarn I spun last night. It is merino wool hand dyed by the Yarn Wench, with lots of specialty yarns spun in, and plied with rayon thread. 114 yards and 4.1 oz! AND, I still have more of the fiber so will be spinning a matching skein (will probably be smaller, though) tonight. This one, though, should be listed later today, once I get a chance to take some better pictures!