Some new yarns, finally!

I managed to get some new yarns listed tonight! Four new single plys. Three are spun from wonderful merino wool/bamboo blend dyed by Cloudlover, and the other is Falkland from the Yarn Wench.

Here is a mosaic of the new skeins, all listed now in my etsy shop -

Here are direct links and more information -

Kitty Singles - A Clockwork Orange - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn (Falkland Wool) 126 yards, worsted weight

Kitty Singles - Blackberry Sea - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn (merino wool/bamboo) 152 yards, DK weight

Kitty Singles - Peppermint Twist - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn (merino wool/bamboo) 162 yards, DK weight

Kitty Singles - Not so Fiendish - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn (merino wool/bamboo) 126 yards, worsted weight

I know i've been quiet lately, but I'm working on a big custom request, along with having some other distractions at the moment that have been keeping me from my wheel. I hope to have more yarns to list at the end of the week, though, probably on Saturday.

Also - just a note about my shipping charges - I am no longer offering free shipping in my etsy shop, and my international rates have gone up for those outside the USA and Canada, but if you'd like free or discounted shipping EVERY month, please check out my mailing list - you can sign up in the sidebar of this blog, or at the bottom of this page!

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More new yarns - merino wool and silk today!

I am really trying to stick to a heavy spinning schedule this week as I prepare for the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair. My plan is to alternate between "bamboo days" and "wool days". Yesterday was a "wool day", so I spun up some merino wool and merino wool and silk blends. I've listed all of these skeins in my etsy shop - here is a mosaic of the new ones - (below you'll find direct links to the listings)

Kitty Singles - Ivy League - Hand Spun Merino Wool - 132 yards - worsted, thick n thin
Navajo 3-ply - Ivy League - Hand Spun Merino Wool and Silk blend - 90 yards - heavy worsted/bulky
Navajo 3-ply - Mahogany Peacock - Hand Spun Merino Wool and Silk Blend - 58 yards - heavy worsted/bulky
Squish-tastic! - Mahogany Peacock - Hand Spun Merino Wool and Merino/Silk - 88 yards - super bulky
Squish-tastic! - Mahogany Peacock - Hand Spun Merino Wool and Merino/Silk - 28 yards - super bulky (mini skein)

Some new single ply yarns

I've been a bit distracted lately, but I have been spinning. I've finished some single plys that were custom requests so they never quite made it to etsy. Yesterday, though, I spun four more single ply skeins, all from some different blends of fiber. Two of them are spun from Optim fiber - Optim fiber is made by stretching fine merino wool to reduce the fiber diameter and lengthen the staple, resulting in wonderful loft and softness - making it feel similar to cashmere. It doesn't have quite the elasticity/memory of wool but isn't quite the same as bamboo. I like how the skeins feel! Very soft and smooth. The other two skeins are merino/silk blends. I usually spin the merino/silk as Navajo 3-plys, but they take me SO long that I was looking for something that would take me a little less time, hence the single plys. Now I've got to decide if I'm going to do more of the merino/silk singles or go back to the 3plys . . . I guess I'll wait and see how I feel.

Here is a mosaic of the new skeins -

From the top left corner to the bottom right corner -

Wine Garden - 130 yards, merino wool and silk, Worsted weight
Rocker Grrl - 130 yards, merino wool and silk, DK weight
Peach Crush - 110 yards, optim fiber, Worsted weight
Captivate - 100 yards, optim fiber, DK weight

I'm not doing so well on the trying-to-blog-regularly, but maybe I will get back into the routine soon. I HAVE been doing pretty good with the exercising, though, which is what I've got to go do right now . . .

This weekend's art yarn challenge

I'll be spinning art yarns again this weekend - here is a shot of the fiber that (hopefully) will be spun into art yarns by Monday night!

All merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench - colors are "Elizabeth", "Atomic Yuletide", "Crabapple", and "Dark Shadows".

I also just listed a new single ply, thick n thin merino yarn -

AND, I am having a pretty good weekend sale for all those who have signed up for my NEW NEWSLETTER! To sign up and get in on the weekend special - please check out the bottom of this page - http://kittygrrlz.com.

Off to spin now!

This week's new yarns - single plys!

So it seems this week I was on a kick of spinning more simple single ply yarns. I received some super soft merino wool from FreckleFaceFibers and wanted to spin them up right away but wanted to do something "quick and simple" with them - so they became slightly thick n thin worsted weight single ply skeins -

Candy Corn Tonight (from fiber called Jack O' Lantern)


Raspberry Truffle (from fiber called Sangria)

I put "quick and easy" in quotes because even a simple single ply yarn isn't always easy - while merino wool is my favorite as far as softness goes, it isn't as easy to spin as, say, Falkland. Merino is very squishy and likes to "stick" together. Falkland is just a bit more smooth, and slips apart when drafting just a little bit easier. So, I also did spin a single ply this week -

Raking Leaves - spun from hand dyed Falkland wool from the Yarn Wench.

Finally, last night, I decided to take two really soft Spontaneous Spinning batts from LOOP and spin them into Corespun single ply yarns. Corespun yarns are spun by spinning the wool around a core thread. In this case, I used a crochet cotton thread. Here are the skeins (one of which has already sold - yay and thank you!)

Mint Enchanted -


Emerald Enchanted - (sold)
So this is what I've been up to this week, along with some other custom orders. Tomorrow my ART YARN CHALLENGE begins and I will be spinning nothing but art yarns for the next 3 days (at least). I'll blog a bit more about that tomorrow, though . . .

I'm back!

And, my first "official" day as Kitty Grrlz full-time is now over . . .

I don't have pictures yet of what I did today, but I do have a couple of new yarns to share - this was the yarn I started the day of the Craftacular - which was a blast! I will miss the High Noon Saloon as the Craftacular venue but look forward to seeing the new location in December.

This yarn is a "Squish-tastic!" bulky 2ply with the coordinating mini-skein of Navajo 3-ply. It is spun from the popular Yarn Wench colorway, "Tropical Fish". In the 2ply, one strand is merino and the other is merino/silk. The 3ply is also spun from just the merino/silk.

This 2ply skein is a massive 5 oz! The mini skein is 90 yards and 3.1 oz -

I thought I would jump right in to spinning this past weekend (we returned in the early morning hours of July 4) but I was so tired! And, we did get together with family - Friday the 4th - after sleeping for a few hours - we went to my boyfriend's Mom's annual 4th of July party. Which was fun. Sunday, we went to MY Mom's house for a small gathering and the big news that day was - MY SISTER got engaged! :) In between, I slept a lot which seems to be the norm when we return from vacation. I was very worried about taking the vacation - but it was also really nice to just get away from everything for a little while. It also helped that I won a small progressive jackpot on a penny slot machine, which made me feel a lot less guilty about the money spent on the trip (and also means I came home with some money which may have to go towards a laptop - I have to return the one I am using soon). I have a couple of pictures from the trip that I may post, but I haven't yet edited/uploaded them.

This weekend, I also DID spin up a quick skein of bamboo -

But, for the most part, the weekend wasn't quite the working-weekend I expected it to be, and even today started off slowly. I got up early to mail out an order, but then went back to sleep! It was rainy and stormy which made it even easier to stay in bed . . . but, I have commissions that need to be done, so I did eventually get up and got to work! :) Worked on commissions most of the day but also spun up two single ply skeins from LOOP Spontaneous Spinning batts! They will be posted tomorrow afternoon, I hope.

I am going to try and post every day - and hopefully not late at night - I really want to get back to my "normal" work-day hours . . . this staying up until 2am really isn't good as I miss lots of good daylight by sleeping in! I love spinning in the sunlight . . .

That's all for now! Watch for lots of new yarns from me now that I will be spinning and knitting full-time.

In the Forest Pine . . .

One thing you may notice is the fact that there are some colors I return to over and over again . . . Pine Forest happens to be one of them. I first spun this colorway into two art yarns. Then, recently, into some single plys. And, now, here it is in yet another form -

This is a thick/thin super squishy 2ply! One ply is a thick/thin merino and the other is a thin merino/silk. I also have a mini skein of it, too -

And, since I always have extra of the thin merino/silk strand, I also have a small 85-yard skein of the merino/silk Navajo plied!

Last night, I did another of the bulky thick/thin 2plys in the "Meridian" colorway! I didn't get the Navajo 3ply done, but I did get a large 120 yard skein of the 2ply spun up - it should be listed later today!

Tonight, I finish the Navajo 3ply and then it is back to the bamboo! I have some more to spin for a possible buyer this weekend at the CRAFTACULAR (at the High Noon Saloon in Madison, Wisconsin - Saturday, June 28, 10am-4pm!) and then also wanted to get a couple more skeins spun up for the show in general.

In other news, I have 3 days left of my job . . . . . it's just . . . weird. But, I will definitely love having more time to spin!!

That's all from me for now!

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!

Chocolate Covered Cherries

Chocolate Covered Cherries is a wonderfully soft handdyed handspun novelty art yarn. The fiber is superwash merino wool and dyed by chickswithsticks aka sprouty25 on etsy! It was a dream to spin! I added in some novelty yarns for texture and plied with thread. I have two skeins available. Both are available on my website or etsy.

Here are some more pictures: