Another missed Monday . . .

So, once again I missed Monday! I had every intention of posting something, but time just slipped away . . . of course now that means I have even more to show/post today!

First, new yarns! Here is one that was finished on Sunday. It is spun from merino wool with novelty yarns spun in (4 of them hand dyed!) and plied with thread. This one also has tons of angelina spun in for sparkle! Available on etsy and my site.

I also finished the second "Violet Blues" skein on Saturday. Here it is:
I also had some coily-spun yarns but they sold yesterday! Yay!

Last night, I worked on "Blu-Mocha Cherry 2" - that is the name of the fiber (hand dyed by the Yarn Wench, of course). First, I found 15! novelty and specialty yarns that I wanted to spin in. I cut them up and set them up:

The color isn't quite right as the ones that are blue look a little purple in this picture. Then, I spun these into the fiber. Here is a bobbin shot of one of the finished single plys, before plying.

Then, I plied with thread. One skein was plied with pink thread, and the other with blue. This is a preliminary picture which isn't quite perfect, but it will give you an idea (these should both be listed with better pics later today):

While I was spinning, Bug, my cat, was sleeping under my chair:

so, this is what she looked like when I was done:

What a mess! She still loves to sleep there, though, even though many times she is really really close to my moving feet! Oh well. Here is one more shot of her through the wheel (please excuse the dust):
I don't really want to post them here, but if you are interested in seeing my "stash" photos, my "workspace" and the mess that WAS my living room, you can check out my PICS on FLICKR. I did some organizing and cleaning this weekend so that THIS and THIS became THIS and THIS. I also did some "organizing" of fiber and matching yarns so that I am ready to SPIN SPIN SPIN this week! I started out good last night by getting my two skeins done, and hope to do the same tonight. This picture shows some of the ones in the queue for this week!

Okay, I think that's all I have time for this morning, but should be back tomorrow with some more great items from some of my favorite etsy sellers! :)

Woolee Winder!

So, I have recently been contemplating buying another wheel that would give me greater bobbin capacity. I love my Minstrel, but getting 4 oz on the bobbin is tough . . .

Then there became the real possibility that we'll be buying a house next year (maybe) . . .

so I realized that another wheel really would be out of the question . . . BUT . . .

when someone posted a Woolee Winder for sale on a spinning list I'm on . . .

I thought, well, they say the bobbins of the Woolee Winder have a little more capacity . . .

and, it would maybe speed up some of my spinning . . .

and, it is $200-300 cheaper than a new wheel . . .

SO, I bought it! I got it yesterday and I LOVE IT!! I can fit 4 oz OR MORE single ply and even plied I was able to get a full 4 oz on it and I still had a little room!! AND it DOES help me spin faster because I'm not stopping/starting to move the yarn . . . It won't be perfect for all types of spinning, but it sure worked like a dream last night spinning up this Neapolitan II yarn!

Here are some pics!

4 oz single ply! And look at all that room!
4 oz, plied! A little bit of room left, but certainly more than when I squeeze it onto my regular bobbins!

And, sometimes it really IS the little things! I bought some purple hemp cord for my wheel this weekend! I did buy some sturdier natural colored as well, but this was on .25! And I LOVE purple, so . .

And, here is the finished yarn:
So, yes, I am a Woolee Winder convert now!

Weekend Recap!

Wow, this weekend seemed to fly by! Friday night I got home from work, ate, and fell asleep . . . by 6pm!?!?! I guess I must have been tired, or something, as I didn't wake up until Saturday morning! That was kind of bad because it meant no spinning! :(

Since I had fallen asleep at such a ridiculously early time, I did wake up early on Saturday, and actually got some spinning in before the Family Reunion. So, I spun this up early Saturday:

Then, about 12noon, it was off to Pike Lake State Park in the Kettle Moraine in Wisconsin for the Pike Family Reunion! This isn't technically *my* family, but my boyfriend's on his Mom's side. It was pretty nice--overcast so not too hot and the rain held off and the sun actually came out a bit near evening. He saw a lot of his cousins that were his "summer brothers and sisters" and his Mom got to partake in Southern Comfort without having to worry about driving (we drove).

Got home and watched the NASCAR race, or, rather, I fell asleep to the race! :)

Sunday! Spinning day! Woohoo!! I know all I ever talk about is spinning, yarn, knitting (and of course my cat!) but that is my life! :) Almost all my "free" time is spent spinning or knitting! I have alot of shows planned for the fall and really want to have a large stock so I'm not scrambling around trying to get everything done in the fall! Anyways . . .

Sunday, I got to spin! I spun up some gorgeous Yarn Wench fiber. I don't have pics of the "Tiger Eye" yarn yet but I do have pics of the "Violet Song" yarn. "Violet Song" is my entry into the Wisconsin Street Team's June contest--the theme is the Wood Violet or Violet colors--and so I spun this:

You can see more pictures in my flickr account here! (they are also on my website here and of course on etsy here and here)

I really liked spinning this one--the novelty yarn was dyed special for me by the Yarn Wench
and I strung the flowers right onto that yarn and plied away! I am looking forward to using the other colors she did for me!

Before using the flowers, I had them out, and my cat, Bug, decided she needed to be in the middle of them!


And, here she is looking up from the ones I ended up using in the yarn:

And, here is one more shot, of Bug through my spinning wheel (she loves to sit on my chair! if i get up even for a second she hops up and makes herself comfortable!)

Well, I think that's it for now! Must get to work!