A few more yarns listed...

I want to share what I purchased at Stitches Midwest but haven't taken pictures yet!  Instead, here is a quick rundown of the new yarns I listed yesterday in my Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarn Shop!

More Dragon Wing Bamboo!  I have four skeins spun from the same fiber batches - this is important because this colorway varies more than any other, so if you need more than one skein, it's always good to get them together when I list in larger batches.  This one is very striking, with more orangey copper and gold in it.

 And, another Hello Kitty Grrlz art yarn!  This is Hello Kitty Grrlz Blues, - two hand spun skeins spun from hand dyed merino wool (dyed by the Yarn Wench) in shades of blue with touches of pink.  I spun in coordinating novelty and specialty yarn snippets in blues and light pink.  I plied with blue cotton crochet thread which was strung with pink and blue Hello Kitty face beads.  The skeins are 74 and 72 yards.

I have a few more new yarns I should be listing tonight!

Use the coupon code FREESHIPUSA for Free Shipping in the USA!   You can use this code on everything in my shop, including Yarn of the Month Clubs!

Tomorrow, I hope to share the goodies I came home from Stitches with! :)

A productive day . . sortof

Yesterday did turn out to be a pretty productive day! I finished up a scarf I'd had on the needles for a few weeks, and knit two more, and started a 4th! yay! I also spun up another art yarn - pictures of that one tomorrow. I also listed the 3 yarns spun on Sunday. Had some trouble with taking pictures of the first two skeins - those blues and purples give me such trouble - but here they are -

Arctic Princess - spun from hand dyed merino wool, with novelty yarns spun in and plied with shiny metallic thread - 98 yards. Colors are dark but bright blue, light ice blue, and light pink -

Then there is the matching Hello Kitty Grrlz skein! This one is similar, but is plied with 3 colors of thread strung with Hello Kitty face beads in 3 colors - pink, blue, and purple. There are over 60 beads!
And, finally, here is "RiddleBox" - spun from a Spontaneous Spinning Batt from Loop - in shades of dark purple and plum and shades of green -


That's it from me for today - I want it to be another productive day so want to get started right away, and I'm already up a bit later than yesterday . . .

More new yarns, of course!

Of course I have more new yarn pictures for you today! (maybe some rambling later, too, but for now - pictures!)

First, are two yarns spun from hand dyed merino wool, dyed by the Yarn Wench in color "Arcadia". I realized when listing these yesterday that this seems to be another one of my favorite color combinations. These two are a little different than the similar ones I have already spun (Cherry Peacock is much darker, and Blu-Mocha Cherry is much brighter). Here they are -

CoilySpun - Teal Mocha Rose

FunctionArt - Teal Mocha Rose
And, the other two are almost totally opposite! These two are also spun from merino wool hand dyed by Lynn, but this is color "Citrus" again. The first is a different twist on my Novel-Ply yarns. In this one, the yarn I plied with has 60 Hello Kitty face beads strung on it - so when plying they get interspersed throughout the skein! The yarn I used for plying is Schoeller & Stahl "Tahiti". The other is a FunctionArt skein in bright yellows, oranges, and pinks!

Novel-Ply - Pink Lemonade Kitty
FunctionArt - Summer Citrus Sun

Last night, I spun up a bulky Squooshy! Two-Ply in the Pine Forest colorway. It is one thin strand of merino/silk plied with a thicker strand of just merino. So soft & squishilicious! I should have that listed later this afternoon. I also have a smaller skein of just the merino/silk Navajo plied. I *love* how that came out. The greens in it are so vivid!

Today, I may do another similar yarn or I may work on spinning up more bamboo. I have a show this weekend (THE CRAFTACULAR at the HIGH NOON SALOON in Madison, WI!) so am trying to get a few things done for that - which means I will probably be knitting by the end of the week, too!

Some Wednesday randomness . . .

First - I think there were two dead rock stars turning over in their graves last night as Randy Jackson compared an American Idol contestant (who had just sung "Light My Fire") to Michael Hutchence. Oh my. What would Jim think? Of course, I really don't even consider that one of "his" songs, but rather the lame top-40 hit by Robby Krieger . . . to say nothing of what Michael Hutchence would think being compared to just another wannabe rockstar. (Okay, I will admit that they guy wasn't *that bad*, but he was *definitely* NO Jim OR Michael!)

Second - I listed three yarns yesterday! Click on the pictures to go to their listing on etsy, or go to my website.

Hello Princess Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Art Yarn (94 yards)

Hello Easter Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Art Yarn (88 yards)
Easter, baby Hand Spun Art Yarn (78 yards)
Third - I spun *three* yarns last night! Woohoo! I don't have pictures because I didn't take the time to take them before setting the twists/washing, so I will have pictures of them this afternoon, and they will be listed then, too. There are a little less "exciting" than these art yarns, but I needed to spin something that was a little less time-consuming - I love the kitty yarns, but spinning in the novelty yarns and the plying with beads all take extra time. The plying, especially, has been taking longer because of how many beads I am now using! Anyways, the new yarns are two new boucle-style art yarns - pretty batts spun into a single ply and then plied with thread. The third yarn is a pretty single ply in lavender, greens, and other spring colors.

Fourth - I have a confession to make. One of the reasons I have been "slacking" is . . . I have become a little obsessed with the STAR WARS Lego game!?!?!? This is very much not like me. But, the story goes - I bought the PS3 for my boyfriend for Christmas/his birthday . . . since he was spending so much time playing by himself, he suggested we get the Star Wars Lego game so we could play something together. Well, at first I didn't think I would want to play . . . but I did . . . Unfortunately, he didn't like playing with me! I was too slow and just had a different overall way of playing that was driving him crazy. So, I ended up playing through the game by myself. But, now that we've "finished" it, we are both going back and re-playing the levels to find all the "stuff". This means that I've been playing at night and on the weekends when I really should be working. There, I admitted it!

One cool aside about the game - there was a trailer for an Indiana Jones game!! I am excited! I think it will be very cool and fun. It comes out this summer. Need to have the Star Wars game "done" by then! ;) It also got me thinking - you know what would make a TOTALLY KICK ASS Lego game????? BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER! :) Like Star Wars, you have so many characters and character variations you could play as! And, like, Buffy could have different skills/powers than Willow, and the vampires would have their powers - you could play as Angel or Angelous . . . or Spike with or without a soul . . or crazy Drusilla . . . just an endless amount of possibilities there!

ANYways . . . I think that is it, but even if not it is once again all I have time for!

It's my birthday . . .

today! I feel old. Sort of. I used to make such a big deal about my birthday, but I guess I am finally getting to the point where I would like to stop counting so it doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore . . .

In honor of my birthday (ha!) I took yesterday off from work. I shouldn't have because it was the last of my personal/comp/sick time . . . but, I felt I needed a sort of "mental health day", or rather a "get motivated, damnit!" day! I have been really slacking lately and didn't get much accomplished last week at all, and even though I stayed home from my show this weekend, I didn't get much done then, either. (Well, okay, I did vacuum and do laundry, both of which were sorely overdue!) But, I haven't done many new yarns so really wanted to get back into the "spin of things"!

So . . . I did. I spun up 3 new yarns. Two new Hello Kitty yarns, and one other one. I also got a few others ready to go so that I should be able to get back to my 1-2 a night schedule, with more getting done on the weekend.

Here are the 3 new yarns from yesterday - these pics aren't the best because they were taken later yesterday, but I should have better ones this afternoon. I plan on listing all 3 on my website later today, and the first two will be on etsy as well.

Hello Easter Kitty & Easter Baby yarns - both of these were spun from hand dyed Falkland wool (dyed by the Yarn Wench), with novelty yarns spun in. The kitty yarn is plied with a Lang yarns nylon yarn, which is strung with 60 Hello Kitty beads in yellow, pink, and purple, as well as 34 other beads. The other skein is plied with three threads - pale pink, pale yellow, and pale light purple.


Then, there is Hello Princess Kitty - a typical girly yarn in perfect Hello Kitty colors of pink, purple, and white. It was spun from a batt called "Candy Hearts" from TerraBellaSpun. It has lots of novelty yarns, AND ribbon, spun in and then is plied with two variegated threads (pink/white and purple/white) strung with 62 Hello Kitty face beads (31 each of pink and purple). Definitely prettier in person:
So, that was the work from yesterday! Yay! And, most importantly, I definitely feel back to normal and think I will get a lot of new yarns done this week!

And, now, for a few kitty pictures . . . the first is of Bug deciding to sleep right by the cooler that is on our couch which is catching the water that was leaking from the ceiling yesterday. I really don't know why she has to be right in the middle of messes! The second is here snoozing with my niddy noddy - which can't make a comfortable pillow!


Oh! One more picture - this yarn was a special request from one of my best customers ever - She wanted a yarn in the orange/yellow colors of a California Poppy. She sent me a picture, and I tried and this is what I came up with:
It has 6 novelty yarns spun in - but instead of alternating the orange and yellow colors, I spun in the oranges in a row, then the yellows in a row, to try and show the way the flower went from being darker orange on the bottom to yellow near the top. I wasn't so sure about this one at first, but it has grown on me so much, I might do one similar - I have some fiber that is sort of the same (not exact) and I have run out of one of the yarns I used - but I am thinking of using the eyelash yarns to spin in, but then plying with the other novelty yarns I spun into this one. We'll see. It's about 4th on my most immediate "to spin" list . . .

Okay, I think that's it, and if not, too bad, because it's all I have time for! :)

Friday already . . . .

and I really don't have much to show for the week! Very sad. I have just been so tired . . . and the weather is just killing me . . .

speaking of . . . we are expecting another snow storm on Sunday. Given the frigid temperatures, the fact I may be getting sick yet again, and the predicted snow . . . I will most likely NOT be at the show I was supposed to be at this weekend. I just don't feel it is worth the extra driving risk PLUS the potential of me getting sick yet again. I hate this. I hate having to bail out on something I agreed to . . . but . . . gah. I still have about 5 hours to decide for sure . . .

I knit another pair of wristwarmers last night, but once again no spinning! If I do skip the show this weekend, I will have lots of time to spin, I hope! I'll also get a chance to take pictures of the knit items I've finished this week . . .

Otherwise, I don't have much to say today! But, since I can't have a post without any pictures, here are a couple yarns (all of which are still available) . . .

Here is one that is about to expire on etsy - It is the most yardage I've gotten for a Navajo 3-ply, and is in the very popular colorway "Andromeda" from Lynn aka the Yarn Wench. This was the *first* batch of this color that has since been repeated but *never* quite the same!
And, here is the only two-ply yarn I currently have (even though I guess it could *technically* be called a 3-ply, since it has two strands of handspun wool and one strand of metallic thread plied together!


And, finally, here are the 3 Hello Kitty Grrlz yarns I currently have available. Another one is on the horizon soon - this one in pretty purples, pinks, and yellows - which I'm hoping to have done this weekend.

Hello Fuchsia Sunshine Kitty
Hello Sweet Kitty
Hello I love you Kitty
If there is a Hello Kitty Grrlz yarn color combination you would like to see, please let me know!

Okay, now I better get back to work!

Monday morning . . .

and, I've got tons of new yarns to share!

The first set were spun from hand dyed merino wool (dyed by the Yarn Wench), a color called "DoveSong". The first skein was spun into a thicker single, then plied with Joanns Sensations Angel Hair yarn - which is just so soft and heavenly! The second was plied with thread with lots of coils and beehives!

Angel Hair and Dove Songs:


Angel Wings and Dove Songs:
Then, there are the yarns spun from the "Rocketman" color from the Yarn Wench, also merino wool. These colors are very Red-Hat-ish, so I tried to make a fun Red Hat art yarn:


Then, I decided to just do a fun coils & beehives yarn with the remaining fiber:
And, my last Valentine yarns of the season! The first is an art yarn with novelty yarns and plied with thread, spun from merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench. The second is pretty much the same as the first, except it is plied with 3 threads that are strung with *60* Hello Kitty face beads!

Buffy's Valentine:

Hello, I Love You Valentine Kitty:
And, finally, here are two yarns spun from carded batts from TerraBellaSpun.

Cordelia's Wish

So named because this blue reminds me of the color of Cordelia's dress in "The Wish" episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer!

Anya's Charm

Okay, that's all I have time for! I'm hoping to post again later, though . . .

A little of this, a little of that . . .

So today I have a few things . .

First, I'd like to mention one of the sellers I featured last week . . . again. CharteChic crocheted a couple more wonderful items (perfect for Valentine's Day!) with my yarns. The first is from "Chocolate Cherry Valentine" . . . a super soft skein of superwash merino wool . . . here is what she created with it:

Make sure to click through to the listing to see all of the cool ways it can be worn!
Then, there is "My Punk Love" convertable cowl - my "Punk Rock Valentine" yarn is just one of the great yarns used in this creation:
So, if you are looking for something to keep you warm this Valentine's Day make sure to check out CharteChic on etsy!

Second, I was featured on Stella's "Laundry" blog! You can check it out HERE. Oh, and while you're there, check out all of the great shops and items she has featured. I especially like the LEGO SOAP! :)

Third . . . I've got more new yarns! I have been trying to keep up as it really has been an amazing month (THANK YOU to all of my wonderful customers!) but I feel like I am starting to slow down a bit . . . it doesn't help that I'm getting sick (again! I spent most of December sick! blah!) and that I received a whole bunch of Gedifra Poesie yarn yesterday . . . that all has to be knit up into shawls for spring and summer shows!?! I need more time! But, I am going to cut back on my shows just a little so I have time to spin more and get this knitting done . . .

BUT, anyways . . . here are the new yarns!

A new Hello Kitty Grrlz yarn! This one is bright and cheerful, in pinks, yellows, and oranges. It also has a coordinating skein without the Hello Kitty face beads. Both skeins are 82 yards. Here is "Hello Sunrise Kitty"

And, the coordinating skein, "Sunrise"
Then, there is the second skein of "Plum Copper Surprise" . . . the first skein has sold, and it had a lot more coiling and beehives in it, but this skein is similar - spun from merino wool with lots of novelty yarns and plied with metallic copper thread - 110 yards:
I also have two new single ply yarns. Both are spun from merino wool hand dyed by the Yarn Wench. And, both match Navajo 3-plys I also have available.

Sunset Canyon

Felicity's Garden

Oh! I've got two more - both "Valentine" yarns, both spun from the same fiber from TerraBellaSpun. One is plied with OnLine Linie SMASH yarn and the other has Joanns Sensations Peacock yarn spun in and then plied with thread.

Drusilla's Valentine
Willow's Valentine

Coming soon . . . Cordelia's WISH yarn!

Well, I think that is it! Time to get to work!

Happy Tuesday! :)

Busy new year!

Well, I guess I haven't been very good about sticking to the blog-regularly resolution, but it has actually been a really busy start to the new year!

I have been spinning and working on several custom requests, as well as a couple new Hello Kitty Grrlz yarns! And, now this week I am going to try and get a few more things knit up for my first show of the year -- The Flake Out Festival in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin - this weekend January 19-20. So, I am just going to quick post some pictures of some of the new yarns today!

Two new Kitty Yarns:

Hello Sweet Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Art yarn is hand spun merino wool, with tons of novelty yarns and angelina for sparkle spun in, and plied with two threads strung with 36 Hello Kitty face beads. It is on etsy HERE or on kittygrrlz.com.

Then, there is Hello Fuchsia Sunshine Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun art yarn and matching "regular" art yarn. Both are spun from Falkland wool, have lots of novelty yarns and angelina for sparkle spun in, and plied with thread. The Kitty yarn is plied with two threads strung with 46 Hello Kitty Face beads and the regular skein is plied with the same two threads, but no beads. The Kitty yarn is HERE on etsy and the regular skein is HERE.

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I wanted because there were some other things that got in the way . . . like watching the Packers stomp on the Seahawks! . . . but I did finish up a special request yarn on Friday. It is one that I will probably be doing a second skein of, since I do have more of the fiber. The second skein, however, will be slightly different--it won't have the wool locks spun in, mainly, but I might also change the thread and yarns I spun in, I'll see what happens! :) But, here is the special order skein:

I also did some custom spinning with fiber provided by the customer. I spun two skeins of single ply . . . here is a picture though it was really difficult to capture the color of the fiber - it is actually a little more purple-ish than this picture shows:

And, the final sort-of-custom-order I had was this yarn that I finished last night! It is spun from merino wool and it does have other yarns spun in (just not as noticeable since I didn't use any eyelash yarns--just other wools, textured yarns and a ribbon yarn) and plied with thread. This *might* be a custom order, otherwise is will be listed on etsy and my website soon!

This skein is 124 yards and I also have a small mini skein of 34 yards. Speaking of mini skeins, since I have several colors of remaining fiber from recently-spun yarns, I do plan on spinning up some mini skeins with this fiber . . . so hopefully I will have some small skeins or lots to list soon!

Well, I think that's it! Hopefully I can get into the habit of posting more than once a week!

It's the end of the year . . . almost!

So, I have officially survived my "show season", but just barely! Last week, I was sick . . . I'm pretty sure with the flu. The 24 hours before my FINAL show of the year . . . I was in bed. I really wanted to have new things for Art vs Craft, but I just couldn't . . . I had to rest and pretty much just hoped that by Saturday morning I was well enough to do the show . . . miraculously, I was okay enough and my final show of the year went pretty well. Though, I am going to publicly admit that I like the MSOE location better (much more functional--bigger spaces, easier to navigate, and better lighting) and also the November date better (just seems that the closer to Christmas it gets, the less-good I do at shows!) . . . but, all in all, I'd have to say it was another successful show and a good way to end the year. I have to thank the wonderful buyers who came out and also the great sellers next to me who helped me out in ways that definitely made it easier to get through, given the fact I really wasn't 100% healthy. (they were Tall Poppies Jewelry and Dee Dee Jewelry (website coming soon).

So now my energies will be focused on my etsy store and own website. I have added a TON of new items to the SALE SECTION on my website, and on etsy have created a new Sale Priced Hand Knits section to go with the Sale Priced Yarn section. These sale sections will only be around until December 31! I will probably be adding a few more items up until then, as well.

But, one item I probably will not be discounting is my new Hello Kitty Grrlz Yarn! I plan on doing a lot more of these, but for now here is a picture of the latest, Pink Mint Kitty Yarn


This yarn was really hard to photograph--it is shades of light pink and mint green, with some darker almost-olive green sections, and it is spun from super soft merino wool. It has tons of novelty yarns and fibers spun in, along with lots of sparkling angelina. It is plied with two threads (pink and mint green) strung with 32 Hello Kitty Face beads and 33 Swarovski crystals in Rose and Peridot. It is 92 yards and might just be enough to squeeze a hat and scarflette or neckwarmer out of--or just a thicker scarf.

Now that my shows are over for the year, I will be busy planning my shows for next year, and also coming up with new items! Along with the Hello Kitty Grrlz yarns, I am hoping to have some new hand knits (with the bamboo yarn I've been spinning!) and also hope to get the Summer Triangle shawls online this year--last year they were hot sellers at shows, but I never really got them online (except for one that sold right away!). I'm also hoping to offer smaller mini-skeins for those who may use yarn for other art projects, free form crochet, scrapbooking, etc. These will be small skeins of between 10-30 yards and may be offered individually or in lots.

And, finally, in the new year I am hoping to become a more regular blogger! I was doing well for awhile, but then the shows started happening and I really started slacking on the blog front. So, hopefully, I will be a more regular poster now and in the new year!

But, for now, work is calling!

More new yarns!

So, it was definitely a weekend of spinning! Besides going out for a late lunch/early dinner on Saturday, I spent most of the weekend spinning. I already posted what I finished on Friday and Saturday, so here is what I did on Sunday. All of these pictures were taken before "setting the twist" . .

Tangled Up In Blue handspun yarn--this one was spun from a carded batt from the Yarn Wench! I plied it with blue thread. It is my favorite of the weekend, I think:

Then, I spun up the 8 oz of handdyed wool I had from The ArtsAtEaglesFind, colorway called Tequila Sunrise. The first 4 oz were split and spun into two art yarns, including one new Hello Kitty skein!


And, the second 4 oz were spun into a "two ply with flair", meaning a two ply with tons of handdyed Romney and Cotsworld locks spun in! The locks were dyed by the Yarn Wench.


I feel alot better, now, that I've got some spinning done! I've got some plans for specific yarns this week (once I get my box of fiber from the Yarn Wench--she did another huge update on Friday and of course I couldn't resist. I tried, really, but ended up with lots of new fiber and a couple of them are going to be spun up right away!). I'll also be doing some knitting (still have to finish that shawl as spinning definitely took over the weekend!).