Thank you, Chicago!

Once again, the DIY Trunk Show was wonderful!! I am so grateful to the wonderful organizers for allowing me to be a part of it for the past 4 years, AND so appreciative of the fantastic people that come, chat, and buy wonderful handmade goodies! This year was even better than last year for me, so THANK YOU, CHICAGO - YOU ROCK! And, a special thanks to those who have now come and bought from me each year - ALL customers are wonderful but knowing there are those who come back again and again really makes my day - so, thank you!

I do have a few of the new hand knits that did not sell, though the cowls/neckwarmers both sold (and I will be knitting lots more of them for my next two shows!). But, you can find the following new knit items in my Kitty Grrlz Knits shop on etsy!




I also have a few bamboo skeins listed in my Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarn Shop on etsy, too.

This week I'll be working on more bamboo yarns, more art yarns, and more Navajo 3ply yarns. I'll be knitting some more cowls with my art yarns and also some more scarves with "regular" yarn, all in preparation for ART vs CRAFT - the second in the "Indie Craft Show Midwest Trifecta" as I call it. Art vs Craft will be Saturday, November 29 in downtown Milwaukee.

New Hand Knits ready for the DIY Trunk Show

Well, I am all done for the night. Last minute yarns have been spun, labels have been made and attached, everything (except for the last minute yarns which are still drying) is packed away and ready to go tomorrow morning.

Here is a quick look at some of the new hand knits items I'll have tomorrow at the DIY Trunk Show in Chicago!

Knitting with Hand Spun Art Yarn

For the past week, I have been wanting to post something about knitting with hand spun art yarns. I know for some they are a little intimidating, but if you can break through that fear or uncertainty of "what do i do with it?", knitting with art yarns can be amazing! This post is a collection of some of the tips and suggestions I give when people ask me questions about knitting with my art yarns, and some examples.

My first advice is always to NOT BE AFRAID of the yarn! Don't let it intimidate you! I do know this feeling - when I first started knitting with hand spun yarns from The Yarn Wench, I was always afraid of "not doing the yarn justice", or not knowing what to do with smaller skeins. This fear would paralyze me and all that pretty yarn just sat there . . . waiting.

But finally I just started knitting with it! For some, it may seem "boring" to "just knit a scarf", but with an art yarn - even a plain scarf becomes an adventure. And, a unique adventure since each yarn is different! Here are some examples of skeins to scarves -

This is an art yarn Called "From RocketMan to Red Hat", a 98-yard, 3.4 oz skein
I took this skein and knit it into this scarf -
I used size 15 needles and cast on maybe 10-12 stitches (I know I should keep better track but each yarn is slightly different). I use a "drop stitch" pattern to help show off the yarn AND get a little more length from the yardage. For the drop stitch pattern this is what I do -
1. Knit 2 rows
2. On the third row, when knitting the stitch, I wrap the yarn around the needle TWICE. This means that you actually have twice as many loops on your needle at the end of the row, but they are coupled together.
3. On the fourth row, when knitting, put your needle only through the first loop of the two-loop stitch and as you pull the stitch off the needle, let that extra loop drop. So, in effect, you are knitting the first loop but the second loop drops. After doing that across the row, you are back to the same amount of loops/stitches on your needle as when you started.
4. Knit 2 rows.

Sometimes, if I want extra length I may wrap the yarn around 3 times! Also, I tried to find a video but wasn't able to come up with anything in a quick search, but did find these instructions, which may be better than mine.

Here is another -
I took a similar skein to this one -

And knit this scarf -

This one was a similarly sized skein at 98 yards, but I cast on fewer stitches, and in the blocking process tried to elongate it even more, so it is a longer, skinnier scarf.

Unblocked -

Blocked -

These pictures show how blocking can help even out your art yarn project. Sometimes, I actually like the look of the unblocked scarf, but have started to block them for a more "professional" look. For this one, I even *hung* it to dry so that it stretched out a little bit more.

There are other small projects you can knit with one skein of art yarn, too! Here is a hat that was knit with only a small 68-yard skein - and I didn't even use it all! I like to use size 10-1/2s or 11s when I knit hats with the art yarns.


And, these wristwarmers were knit with only about 40 yards of art yarn! I used size 11 needles for these, but maybe could have gone down to 10-1/2's
Cowls are another *great* item to knit with art yarns! You don't need that much - one skein should be enough - and you can knit them in the round fairly quickly. Here are a couple of cowls knit by Naomi of Ryono Creations - you can find her on ETSY HERE! These pictures are courtesy of her - you can see all of her pictures on flickr here!


and, one more -

These are just a few examples of the beautiful and unique items you can knit (or crochet!) with hand spun art yarns. Don't be afraid to "think outside the box" or "pattern" and you can create a wonderful, one of a kind piece of fiber art!

Update 5-5-2012 - While I plan on doing a complete update to this post, I am editing it to include some links to some other places you can get ideas of what to make with art yarn!  Here is one of my Pinterest boards that shows things made with Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun yarn , some of them the art yarns.  Here is my Kitty Grrlz Knits shop which includes cowls knit with the handspun yarn as well!

Lots of new yarns!

So, this will be another picture-heavy post as I've been busy spinning away!

First, though, here are two pairs of hand knit wristwarmers that I knit last week from my own hand spun Navajo 3-ply yarn. They are listed in my new shop just for my hand knits: Kitty Grrlz Knits as well as on my website.

Fallen Petals:


Earthly Treasures:

Then, there are the yarns!

Two new Navajo 3-plys - Forest Gold and Sea Story Blues.

Then, there have been the coils & beehives art yarns! I just "learned" how to do these recently and now it is difficult to not put them in every yarn! But, here are two where the coils are plentiful:

Jokers Wild, spun from a carded batt from TerraBellaSpun.

And, Spike's Heart, also from a carded batt from TerraBellaSpun:

Then, there were a few art yarns. The first one sold at my show last weekend. The second is now listed, and the last two are brand new. One is a custom order and the other will be listed soon!

Turquoise Dusk - sold

Plum Copper Surprise - one of my favorites! Now available.


And, PlumLime v.3 - this is a custom order.

And, it's sister, sort of, spun from the same fiber batch of hand dyed merino wool, but this one has more yellow and burgundy yarns spun into it! This one should be listed later today. I am calling it "Lemon Sangria Twist"

And, finally, here is a hand spun thick n thin single ply spun by me from BlueFaced Leicester wool hand dyed by the Yarn Wench.

And! one last art yarn with coils & beehives! "Crazy Like A Gallant Fox" was spun from a carded batt called "Gallant Fox" from TerraBellaSpun and it has a fun novelty yarn spun in and is plied with rayon plying thread.

Quickie yarn post!

So, I have been working on knitting things for shows (which I don't always take pictures of) and of course spinning! It was rainy yesterday so I wasn't able to get better shots, but I really wanted to share the latest yarns. So, here are some pics! Hopefully I'll have better ones today and be listing these new yarns on my site and/or on etsy.

This one is Navajo plied from handdyed Falkland wool from the Yarn Wench. I wanted to spin it for EtsyFAST's September Challenge, with a theme of apples/apple colors. The colors are a little darker than I wanted, so I'm calling it "In the Orchard at Midnight". 118 yards

This is one skein of two that I spun from handdyed merino wool from knitspin on etsy. I spun in lots of novelty yarns and plied with rayon thread in variegated orange/green color. This one is 134 yards, soft and perfect for fall. I'm calling it "Autumn Wish".

It's partner, Pumpkin Patch, is 98 yards and plied with burnt orange thread. Very similar as the same novelty yarns were spun in and it is spun from the same batch of handdyed merino wool from knitspin.

Both of those are much better in person--I really need to get better pics in better lighting. These were taken at night with just our regular living room light.

On Saturday (Sept. 8) I did another show. Once again it wasn't great, but I got alot of spinning done. I finished one skein of the two below, and managed to spin most of the single for the second skein. Then, I finished plying it at home on Sunday. Both are Navajo plied from handdyed merino wool from the Yarn Wench. Her colorway was called "Sabrina" but I'm calling these yarns "Vintage Rose"

I have lots more pictures of these skeins at flickr. It is my current favorite and it is a possibility that I'll be knitting it for myself. Of course, I don't know when I'll have time, so by then it might have sold. Should be on my site or etsy later today!

I also knit up another pair of wristwarmers from yarn that I spun! These I did get up on etsy yesterday, HERE. I'm going to try and get a couple more pairs done for this weekend--I have a big show in Cedarburg, WI. I am *really* hoping it goes better than the last 3! (the last 3 have been kinda bleah. I've made enough to cover my fees plus a little extra but definitely not enough for the time/effort of getting to them and sitting there all day. Thankfully I brought my spinning wheel to the last 2 so have least been productive!)

Anyways, that's all for now!