Survived Stitches Midwest...

and am already thinking about next year!

Here is a picture of our booth...

It was *very* exhausting which is why I haven't posted the past few days...I am totally recovering from 4 days of fiber and yarn madness!

I've updated my handspun yarn shop to include some of the remaining yarns, including two skeins of my favorite merino/tencel blend colorway, Summer Tropics!

but some of the art yarns are going to Art Yarn of the Month Club members, and the rest will soon be on their way to Willow Mist Boutique in Latrobe, Pennsylvania!    I'll also be sending some hand spun single ply skeins, too!  If you are in this area I hope you will support this new shop featuring handmade artisanal goods made by the artists themselves.  (And if you are a spinner, make sure to check out the handdyed fiber there from the Yarn Wench!)

24 hours from now...

we will be checked in and setting up BOOTH 725 at Stitches Midwest!  I've got to label all of my yarn this afternoon and pack everything up!   What will you find in BOOTH 725 at Stitches Midwest?

Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarns!

Cloudlover Yarn & Fiber!

 

 Patterns by Phydeaux Designs!

Hope to see you tomorrow!!

But...for those who can't make it, just a couple of notes about my shop online....

ALL ready to ship yarns will be deactivated and unavailable as of Thursday morning!  If there's something that you'd like, now is a good time to grab it before it goes to Stitches.  You can use the COUPON CODE  FREESHIPUSA for Free Shipping in the USA at Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun yarns on etsy...PLUS you can also use that code on YARN of the MONTH Clubs which will stay active through the show!

Code will stay active all month, and yarns not sold at Stitches will be listed, hopefully, Monday morning!

TWO days, really? Stitches Midwest here we come....

Yes, I think it is officially time to start *really* freaking out about Stitches Midwest!  Only two more days...I can't even believe it!

Today I just wanted to do a quick post about the Kitty Grrlz FunctionArt Hand Spun Art Yarns I'll have in BOOTH 725 at Stitches.  They are my favorite yarns to spin.  Most are spun from gorgeous hand dyed merino wool dyed by The Yarn Wench.  I love her colorways and they lend themselves really well to this style of yarn.  The yarn itself is usually bulky, sometimes super bulky, and knits up easily into quick and simple...but beautiful and unique....projects.  I tend to do cowls because they only take one skein, and I make them a bit smaller with a looser knit and end up wearing them inside all winter long!  Here is an example of one in the Electric Wave colorway I'll have available in BOOTH 725 at Stitches Midwest!  (By the way, for more on knitting with hand spun art yarns, check out this blog post from a few years ago - Knitting with hand spun art yarn!)

 Don't knit or crochet?  Heck, you can just wrap the skein around like an infinity scarf or large cowl without even knitting it at all!

Here are a some other art yarn colors I'll have available:

Hope to see you in BOOTH 725 at Stitches Midwest this weekend, August 8-11!!

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!

23 days until Stitches Midwest....

There are 23 days until Stitches Midwest!  I'm very tired today...I was up until about 1am prepping 10 pounds of bamboo fiber!  Well, I started this on Sunday, but finished 4 more pounds last night...here it all is, ready to spin!  Each pile will become one skein of yarn - approximately 4 ounces each...there are 40 piles here!

And, some close-up shots (colors prepped:  Summer Shades (3 pounds), Coral Tide (1 pound), New Southwest (2 pounds), DragonWing (2 pounds) and Plum Paradise (2 pounds).  (Please excuse the photos, they were taken with a flash after midnight and bamboo really doesn't photograph well with a flash.)

Some may ask, why do you prep the fiber before spinning it, especially if it takes so much time?  That's a good question, but I prep, or "pre-draft" as it's usually called, ALL of my fiber before spinning.  I feel it helps loosen the fibers and makes them easier to spin and also makes it easier to control the thickness of the finished yarn.  Since the bamboo is best spun thin, this prep work is especially important!

What did Bug do while I worked all night?  She hung out in the Fiber Room, since I had taken over her living room floor!