More Harry Potter yarns

Was off sick yesterday, so have lots of work to do, but wanted to quick post some pics of the other harry potter yarns finished this week. All of these were spun by me from handdyed Falkland wool from the Yarn Wench (who just did another big update last night!) in colorways inspired by the Houses of Hogwarts. You can see more pics on flickr HERE.

Ravenclaw

Gryffindor

Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor


Slytherin (still need to get better pics of these)

Okay, I think that's it! Should have better pics of Slytherin tonight.

AND, I will be participating in the "HAPPY HOUR" Friday sales thread on etsy today! My sale will be:

16% off you ENTIRE order, including shipping!
Offer good from 3pm-10pm Central Standard Time
To get the discount, put "Happy Hour" in Notes to Seller section and wait for updated invoice, or pay and I will refund the difference.
Due to shows this month, today will be the ONLY SALE I will be having in the month of August!
CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT I'VE GOT IN MY SHOP!

A few things . . .

First, the other day I "reorganized" my Yarn Wench fiber stash (I do this every now and then--lay them all out and sort by color!). I really do have too much. Here is a picture:

You can see more pictures IN THIS SET on flickr!

According to my spreadsheet, I have 94 days of fiber! This includes the Yarn Wench fiber, but also other fiber I have! And to think a few short weeks ago I had it down to 78 days worth! (this is figured with and average of spinning 4 oz/day!) I guess that's what two really huge Yarn Wench updates will do!

Second, in the last Yarn Wench update I got several Harry Potter-inspired colorways. These are what I'm working on this week:

So far, I have the "Hufflepuff" colorway finished and spun up into 164 yards of two ply:

Last night I also got the Ravenclaw singles done and will ply that tonight. I was going to do all two plys, but for some reason I think Gryffindor may end up as a single. We'll see as that is the next one I'll be working on tonight. I'm saving Slytherin for last because it's my favorite--the colors are just amazing! Plus, I have more of it than the others.

And, finally, I am starting to freak out about my August shows! I've got three of them, but I'm most worried about the ones up in Northern Wisconsin as it will entail traveling and using my EZ Up tent for the first time! AND, I still have lots to finish knitting before then and the first one is only 11 days away! Yikes! I've got at least two, hopefully three, shawls to finish by then and I'm also hoping to whip up a couple of light weight scarves. Oh well. We'll see!

Quickie . . .

I don't have much time, but wanted to at least . . .

1. Mention that there will be a YARN WENCH UPDATE today! And, she's hinting of another sale?! I spent way too much last time and have spent alot of $$ this week on other business-related expenses, so not sure I'll be able to partake in this one . . . but . . . that doesn't mean YOU shouldn't! Check it out HERE probably this afternoon!

2. Post a pic of the yarn I was working on this week. I'm not very happy with the pictures and will be taking more today when I get home from work. But, for now, here it is:

It is handdyed Falkland wool from the Yarn Wench--a colorway she called "Cruiseline", though I am thinking about naming the yarn "Mermaid's Cove", though I'm not quite sure it fits now that the yarn is done. The two skeins are probably about DK/Worsted weight yarn, though I haven't done the WPI yet. Two skeins, one 338 yards, the other 176 yards! Similar to my "Patience" yarn!

I also started knitting a hat last night out of this yarn from the Yarn Wench. I didn't get very far, though, as I went to lie down on the couch by my kitty . . . and promptly fell asleep! So much for getting more done last night! But, it's Friday and we have no plans this weekend (well, except for reading Harry Potter!) so I should get some more spinning and knitting done . . .

but now it's off to work!

Art vs Craft & New Yarns

Art vs Craft was pretty good. I went in with low expectations simply because it is the middle of summer and I sell handspun yarn and hand knits. Other things were also stacked against me--it was seriously the hottest weekend of the year so far, and my spot was in the very back corner. So, the fact that I sold anything at all is VERY cool and made me VERY happy. I just secretly wish it would have been as good as the one in November, as I would have loved to have enough $$ to go on another fiber binge!

Here are a few shots of my set up:

This was my table on the second day. Here is a closeup of my "fancy yarns" basket:

And, here is the view of the other half of my "booth", the clothes racks for the shawls and scarves:

And, the whole corner:
The highlights of the show were meeting lots of people from etsy! I met Jen from Minefull
(she actually started my sales "rush" on Saturday by buying two of my yarns! Woohoo!), ChristinaWard, Kathy from YenForYarn, FeralFeminine, Persimmonsgal, and Lauren from etsy's Mom! :) I also talked to many wonderful people about spinning and mesmerized many kids with the spinning of the wheel. It was a lot of fun to demonstrate for people and also to talk about the process. I am definitely going to try and bring the wheel to future shows . . .

Especially since having it made the weekend *very* productive! I spun up *3* yarns while at the show!

Saturday, I spun up some handdyed domestic wool from the Yarn Wench called "Island Girl". I first spun it into a single, but had that done by 4pm and there were still 3-1/2 hours left! So, I decided to wrap the single around my water bottle and create a center-pull ball from which I could ply--I usually do not do it this way. I usually have two bobbins of singles and ply from them, but since I had only brought 2 bobbins and didn't bring the lazy kate, I figured I'd try the center-pull ball technique. It was . . . a challenge, especially at first as the single was pretty twisted, so I definitely had some issues with it . . . here you can see it once I had gotten it under control!

And, here is the finished yarn which I am calling "The Isle of Art vs Craft". It is available on etsy HERE, for a special price!

Then, on Sunday, it was a lot less busy, so I spun up this yarn and plied it with Moda Dea Chi Chi yarn (the fiber is also domestic wool from the Yarn Wench):
Last night I knit the larger skein of 72 yards into a scarf! Should have pictures of that tomorrow!

And, since that didn't take very long, on Sunday I also spun up this gorgeous handdyed Romney wool from the Yarn Wench. Here is a view of the single, which was done at the show:

And, here is the finished yarn, plied once I got home from the show, in the horrid heat of our apartment:
It is available on etsy here!

So, I think that is it! I thought I would have more to say but now that I'm pretty much recovered my brain is already focusing on getting ready for the next show!

Weekend *quick* recap!

I survived the heat and art vs craft! I wanted to post with pictures, but it was too hot in the computer room last night to upload them. Will do that tonight and have a much better post about the weekend later today or tomorrow!

But, I can share two new two-ply yarns that were spun up before the show:

Cinder Berry Spice (on etsy HERE):

And, it's darker counterpart, Smoke n Ash (on etsy HERE):

They were both spun up from handdyed domestic wool from the Yarn Wench!

That's it for now! :)

Tiptoe through the Tulips . . .

(that totally reminds me of my Grandpa, and also Whitnall Park and all the flowers!)

anyways . . . last night I didn't exercise. But it's *okay* I didn't as I really needed to take a day off--my muscles were aching! I feel much better today and will definitely tonight . . .

but, that meant i had more time for spinning. even though it was hot. and i wasn't feeling well. and i was really tired. somehow, i managed to spin up all 7.9 oz of the Spunky Eclectic's Fiber of the Month for June, "Tulip". Here are some shots of the halfway point with half the fiber spun up and half as a single on the bobbin, and a couple of not-so-great shots of the finished yarn. I wanted to call it "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" but that doesn't seem to fit. When plying it kind of reminded me of the Circus World Museum for some reason so I was going to call it "Circus World". But, when I looked at it this morning that doesn't really seem to fit either!?! So, I have no idea what it will finally be called, but here are the pics:



The fiber is Blue Faced Leicester and was my first time spinning it! It was a lot softer than I thought it would be, and the luster is wonderful! I'm hoping to get some better pics of the yarn tonight! I ended up with 150 and 65 yards of probably a worsted or heavey worsted weight two-ply.

And, don't forget to check out MY TREASURY on etsy! I'm switching in some new items this morning!

AND!! There is going to be a HUGE YARN WENCH UPDATE TODAY!!! (or TOMORROW!) I'm really hoping it is today! Check it out! She will have 41 new fibers and 2 new yarns!!

From fiber to Yarn

This is one of the yarns I spun up on Sunday. It is spun from handdyed Falkland wool and Romney locks from the Yarn Wench. This mosaic was created with fd's flickr toys
It was dreary yesterday when I took the photos so didn't quite get the boldness of the colors . . . am hoping to have better pics soon. The pictures show the fiber ready to be spun, the spun singles, and then the spun two-ply!

NightShade & Neapolitan!

Friday night I finished spinning up the May Fiber of the Month from Spunky Eclectic's Spunky Club. I have two skeins of single ply . . .

They are both on my website at kittygrrlz.com

I also finished this wonderfully soft yarn that I spun from superwash merino wool roving dyed by ChicksWithSticks! I commissioned the color to match some Bernat Cool Crochet yarn/thread that I bought on sale at Joanns last week. It worked out exactly how I hoped! This yarn is available on my website.

Today, I spun up some super soft merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench
I decided to make it another "two ply with flair" so also spun in some soft Cotswold Lamb locks that matched perfectly! (they were also dyed by the Yarn Wench.) This is a preliminary picture taken before setting the twist (it is drying right now!):

I've got some fibers prepped for tomorrow as I plan to spin most of the day! Woohoo! :) Gotta love the weekend!

Patience

So, I plan on doing separate entries for all the new yarns, one per day, so here goes . . .

"Patience" is a handspun two-ply Merino DK weight yarn. It was spun from the February Fiber of the Month from Spunky Eclectic, called "Forecast". I am calling the finished yarn "Patience" because that is exactly what it took for me to get through spinning it! I much prefer spinning bulky yarns--I know I can finish one in the same amount of time as a hockey, baseball, or football game! (Okay, it may not be good to admit, but this IS usually the type of thing on the TV when I spin.) On the other hand, this two-ply yarn took MANY nights to spin! I finally managed to finish it up on Friday evening. I was so happy once it was done, not to mention amazed at the amount of yardage I got from the near-8 oz of fiber! One skein is 288 yards and the other is 240! This yarn is on etsy here! Here are a few more pictures:

Busy Spinning Weekend!

Well, I finally got a chance to SPIN SPIN SPIN! Here is a glimpse of the new yarns (they are all available on my WEBSITE.)