Some new yarns for Fall

I haven't been spinning as much as I should due to aches and pains, but I've managed to spin up a few new handspun yarns in perfect Autumn/Fall/Halloween colors!

First, there is more Coral Snake.  This is one of my favorite art yarn colors so it's no surprise that I've spun more.  This time the skeins are a little different - only coral, golden yellow and black yarns spun in so if you've seen previous skeins, there are no deep purple yarns spun in this time.  I have two skeins available at the moment and will have two more listed soon.  You can find Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun FunctionArt Art Yarn - Coral Snake in my etsy shop here!

Second, is what I think is a great Halloween color....I started spinning a bit of this color at Fiber in the Park last week, so when I got home, I spun up the rest of the fiber.  I ended up with a 3 oz skein of about 117 yards of thicker worsted weight Navajo 3ply yarn in awesome shades of orange, green and black.  This is spun from Falkland wool - not as soft as merino, but would still be great for a pair of wristwarmers or maybe a treat bag!  You can find Tricky Tricky HandSpun Navajo 3ply yarn in my etsy shop here.

Fall Show schedule is pretty much set!

I've got my fall show lineup complete!  Just got word today that I was accepted into the Ninth Annual Holiday Craftacular which was the last show I was waiting to hear about.

You'll be able to find Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarn and Knits at five events starting in September.  I'll kick off the autumn show season slowly with a small fiber event called Fiber in the Park in Earlville, Illinois.  This is a really nice, small, local fiber-focused event.  It is held at Shabbona Park - 4165 E. 16th Road in Earlville, Illinois (zip:  60518).  I will have my handspun yarns at this show, but will also have a lot of other fiber and yarn items.  I won't have many finished hand knits, however.  EDITED to note that the Facebook page for this event has listed the address as 4178 Co. Hwy. 22 which might help!  Check out the Fiber in the Park website for more information!

Next, I'll be at the Handmade Market at the Empty Bottle in Chicago, Illinois on October 12.  This show will be the debut of one of my new fall finished knit items...and I'm not going to say more until then!  I'll have lots of hand spun yarns here, hand knit scarves and more.

In November, I've got the trilogy of awesome indie craft shows!

I'll start off on November 16, 2013 at Craft'za in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This is the FIRST time Kitty Grrlz will be in Minneapolis!  I'm really excited and hope this will be a great way to start off three weeks of indie craft awesomeness.  I'll have all of my regular items here - hand spun yarns of all types (art yarns, bamboo, single plys and more!), plus a full stock of hand knit items - scarves, shawls and hats.  Plus my new hand knit accessory (more details will come later.)  This event is being held at the Grain Belt Bottling House Atrium.

Next up will be the Holiday Craftacular in Madison, Wisconsin.  I haven't done a Craftacular in a few years so am excited to be back in Madison.  I'll have my mix of  hand spun yarns and hand knit items.  This will be held at the Madison Masonic Center in downtown Madison.

I'll end the season on what I hope will be a very high (but sad) note - the grand finale of ART VS CRAFT in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  I love this show and the past few years it has been my best event of the year, and this will be the FINAL event.  I'm already planning something special for this show and it will be the only November show where I will have blended fiber batts for spinning and felting.  It is held at the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee.

There is ONE more place you'll be able to find Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarns this fall and that is at the Willow Mist Boutique - 1107 Ligonier Street in Latrobe, Pennsylvania!  Right now I've got an assortment of Kitty Grrlz HandSpun FunctionArt art yarns there, along with some perfect-for-Autumn single ply skeins!  Their GRAND OPENING is September 14, 2013!

I'll post more about each event as it gets closer, but this is where Kitty Grrlz will be this fall!  Now, I better get working ... I've got lots to knit and spin over the next few months!

18 days to Stitches Midwest!

Since I missed posting yesterday, as of today there are 18 days until Stitches Midwest!  I prepped a ton more fiber yesterday - this time, merino wool for art yarns and Polworth wool that will probably be spun into single ply skeins. 

The majority of yarns I will have at Stitches Midwest will be either bamboo single ply skeins, or my FunctionArt Art Yarns.  But, I WILL have some other yarns and today I have pictures of two of these!

First, I will have quite a few skeins of handspun merino wool and tencel blend single ply skeins.  These work great for shawls and scarves and I specifically spin this blend alot because of the sheen the tencel provides.  One of the colors I'll have is dyed by Cloudlover Yarn & Fiber, her colorway "Haunted Vineyard"....

Here is an example of a shawl I knit from yarn I spun from another of her colorways.  This shawl was knit with about 1-1/2 skeins...

Second, I will have a few skeins of handspun two-ply yarns, mostly in superwash merino wool.  Here is one of the colors I'll have...again, a color dyed by Cloudlover Yarn & Fiber...she calls it North by Northwest...but I have called my skeins "Woodland Holiday".....

Now I'm off to spin more art yarns!

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!!

21 days until Stitches Midwest!

As of today there are 21 days until Stitches Midwest...and as I type that I realize...that's only THREE WEEKS!!!  In 3 short weeks it will be here!  I have so much to do before then!?

Today I received two important packages in the mail, both will be necessary at Stitches Midwest, yet they were not fiber....

First, I received my brand new MOO Business Cards (if you click the link through my blog, you'll get a discount on your order!) ...

They have a yarn photo on the front (that I grabbed from my Flickr account) and my usual purple and orange logo, name and information on the back.  I have 50 different variations and a total of 600!?!?  I haven't had that many business cards done up ever...I usually print them myself on card stock and cut them with scissors....these are much nicer, I think.

Second, I received my SQUARE card reader.  I have been accepting credit cards at shows for awhile, but I was doing it the old-fashioned way of using a knucklebuster to take an imprint of the card, and then entering it online AFTER the show.  Well, I guess it's time I join this decade and use the reader that I can just plug right into my phone - I'll be able to swipe cards easily and quickly!

24 days until Stitches Midwest!

As of today, there are 24 days until Stitches Midwest!  What is Stitches Midwest?  Stitches Midwest is a huge, extended weekend event that includes classes, a market and other happenings...all centered around YARN and the things you can do with it!  This year's show takes place from August 8 though August 11, 2013, in Schaumburg, Illinois.

I've wanted to be a vendor at Stitches Midwest for years.  But it is a very expensive and time-consuming show, so it just never worked out....until this year!

A few months ago, Natalie of Cloudlover Yarn & Fiber asked what I thought about doing Stitches Midwest.  For some reason, instead of making excuses as in previous years, I said, "YES!".  It is all thanks to her that I'll be there - she took care of all the administrative work - applying, ordering the things we'll need, and all the stuff that just doesn't happen automatically when you apply for such a huge event.  It is totally awesome that she's letting me share her booth with her!

But, wait, WHAT was I thinking?  This all came about just as I was moving!?  When was I going to have time to SPIN any yarns for this show??   I had to deal with the moving first, but started making plans to get some major spinning done once that was all done....I've been working at it for a month or so, but now I'm really getting down to it....I will have many long days of spinning ahead....

What I plan on doing here on my blog is posting daily updates from now until the show.  Pictures of the process, where I'm at, and of course, NEW yarns that will be available in our booth...oh, wait, how could I not have given our BOOTH NUMBER!!!

Cloudlover Yarn & Fiber and Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarns will be in BOOTH 725!!!!!

So, for my first actual "this is what I'm doing" post...here is a picture of what I started working on yesterday .... prepping pounds and pounds of bamboo fiber for spinning...

Tonight, I will finish and will post a picture tomorrow of what it all looks like when it is "prepped"!

As I was doing that, my cat Bug just lounged around...here she is watching from the bed as I got everything ready....

 And, finally, this isn't the best picture, but here is a preview of the colors in the next art yarn I'll be spinning!

That's my update for today!  Hopefully by doing this it will help keep me on task so that I will have many new yarns to share in BOOTH 725 at Stitches Midwest.