A new type of art yarn . . .

I am getting ready for Sheep in the City this weekend, so decided to spin up something I've been meaning to spin up since last fall. It is one type of a new style of art yarn that I plan to promote more this year.

It started last fall when I had a request to spin a school colors art yarn in dark navy and gold. I spun that yarn and then had another request for a evergreen and gold art yarn. I also spun that one. It got me thinking that I should try to spin more of these types of yarns . . .

So, I'm going to have three different types available of my new FunctionArt - Team Colors art yarns. The first is the same as those first requests - two colors of wool alternated and novelty and specialty yarn snippets in the two colors spun in. That's also what I spun up yesterday - in the Ever Green and Gold colorway - (these skeins are on etsy here and here)

The other two types will be:

White+ - this type will be white or undyed wool along with one color of dyed wool and the yarns spun in would be white plus the other team color (for teams with white as one of their colors).
White only - this type will be spun with undyed wool and then have the team or school color represented by the yarn snippets spun in. This one can be done one of two ways - have the white color represented by the fiber and then the spin-ins represent the other color, OR have the white as the fiber and then the spin ins would be white AND the other color. (again, for teams with white as one of their colors).

I hope to have examples of these other types soon.

Now, it's back to preparing for Sheep in the City!

The art yarns are coming, the art yarns are coming!

;) Okay, I've been saying that to myself all week because I've been determined to get back to my art yarn spinning. I've been spending so much time trying to build up inventory of my other types of yarns, that I've been neglecting my favorite yarns to spin - my FunctionArt art yarns. But, I've spun up 6 new skeins this week, have some more fiber prepped and ready to go, and even MORE fiber TO prep for even more skeins! With a show coming up, I do want to have a nice selection of colors - some will be old favorites and others will be brand new!

Two of the old favorites would have to be Plum Divine and Mahogany Midnight Moon. Both of these colors are from merino wool dyed by the Yarn Wench, and I've been spinning them as art yarns for awhile. This is my fifth time spinning "Mahogany Peacock" into two skeins of "Mahogany Midnight Moon" - both 82 yards and on etsy now - here and here.

And, of course, there is Plum Divine. I've actually lost track of how many times I've spun this one, and each time it still turns out just a little bit different, mostly because I keep running out of yarns to use and have to find a new one to replace the ones I run out of! Here are the two latest skeins spun - 80 yards and 70 yards


This week, I've also been spinning some that are more solidly-colored. I have a blue one planned to spin today, and the other day I spun this one - Madeira - this was spun from hand dyed superwash merino wool dyed by Cloudlover in her new Madeira colorway. I spun in lots of orangey yarns and plied with orange thread. It's not only orange, though, it has gold and bit of brown in there, too, though orange definitely dominates. I have two skeins - 62 yards and 66 yards.


I'll still be sneaking in some other types of yarns over the next two weeks, but you'll also definitely be seeing more art yarns coming! :)

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Plum Gold - new Squish-tastic! yarn (and more!)

Recently, I received some fiber from the Yarn Wench in a new colorway - Plumgold. All I can say is, it is awesome! At first, I thought I'd try spinning it as an art yarn, but since I had both merino and a merino/silk blend, I decided to spin a Squish-tastic! instead. Since I had two batches of the merino, I was able to spin 4 skeins (2 larger and 2 smaller) and even had enough merino/silk left over for a small skein of Navajo 3ply. Here is a mosaic of the skeins, all of which can be found in my etsy shop in the Squish-tastic! section. I also have this color in Falkland, but I'm not sure yet how I'll be spinning it.

The last skein is a bamboo skein - Prairie Autumn Gold, and along with this skein, is the last I'll have in this color. (oh, and the Navajo 3ply skein can be found on etsy here.)

I also spun up a couple of single plys recently, both from Cloudlover fiber. The first is hand dyed merino/silk blend in her "Port au Prince" colorway - all proceeds from the sale of this fiber are being donated to Haiti Relief. As I did with the art yarns recently, I'll also be donating a part of the proceeds from the sale of the yarn.

Kitty Singles - Port au Prince - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn, 148 yards

The other single ply is spun from Falkland wool -

Kitty Singles - November Garden - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn - 132 yards

Now I'm off to get some fiber prepped for some new art yarns!

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Something wonderful I found that was made from my yarn!

I happened upon this beautiful brooch on etsy the other day! It is made with my Ice Princess bamboo - one of my favorite colors. This was made by Foxaz, and you can find their shop on etsy here! Here is a picture of the brooch, from their etsy listing which you can find HERE. So pretty!!!

This is an example of the yarn used -

Which you can find in my etsy shop here, here, here and here!

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Super Bowl Shipping Special & New Yarns!

Today I am offering FREE SHIPPING in the USA and $5 International shipping in my etsy shop as my SUPER BOWL SPECIAL! I also may be offering individual yarn specials throughout the day (maybe). To know when or what those specials are, become a fan of my Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarn page on Facebook here!

In other news, I have been spinning this week. A couple of new art yarn skeins, some single plys, and of course, some bamboo. Here are some pictures of some of the latest yarns, all of which you can find in my etsy shop.

More Plum Divine! Two new skeins of my favorite art yarn colorway - Plum Divine - spun from merino wool hand dyed by the Yarn Wench. I have two skeins available - 70 yards and 80 yards.

Some new single plys, spun from merino wool blends dyed by Cloudlover.


Top two skeins - Kitty Singles - Ocean Blues - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn, merino wool and tencel blend - 150 yards and 158 yards

Bottom left - Kitty Singles - Ocean Frost - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn, merino wool, silk, and bamboo blend - 150 yards

Bottom right - Kitty Singles - Woodsy Wine - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn, merino wool and silk - 140 yards

A new Squish-tastic! - spun from superwash merino wool and a merino/silk/bamboo blend dyed by Cloudlover - I have two skeins - 35 yards and 64 yards.

And, of course, some new bamboo -
Beautiful Bamboo - Summer Shades - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn - 114 yards, 138 yards, and a double-sized 238 yard skein!

Beautiful Bamboo - Ice Princess - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn - 130 yards, 112 yards, 122 yards, and 124 yards

Beautiful Bamboo - Seashells by the Seashore - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn - 146 yards, 126 yards, 148 yards, and 154 yards

That's it for me for today - I've got to get some spinning done!

Catching up - new art yarn for Haiti Relief, Facebook, and more!

Well, the truth is I am not doing so well on my new years resolutions, one of which was to blog more often! I don't think I posted at all in January! But, the month was spent getting back into a routine after the chaos of moving and getting used to a new place. (I know, excuses, excuses!) But, as February begins, so beings my "new year" and I resolve to blog more often AND also utilize my Facebook page more often, too. Oh, and I'll be twittering by the end of the month! Too much? We'll see, though I expect to be focusing most of my efforts on Facebook.

I've been spinning, as always, and yesterday I listed a new art yarn. This art yarn was spun from hand dyed fiber from Coudlover that was a special colorway she dyed and all proceeds from the sale of the fiber were donated to the Red Cross for Haiti Relief. While I honestly can't afford to donate the full amount, I will be donating *at least* $10 per art yarn skein that I spun. I had four of them, but one has sold already. I plan to donate at the end of the month, and hopefully they will all have sold by then. Depending on if I have rent money or not, will depend on if I increase the donation per yarn (the $10 is guaranteed, though, but I'm hoping to be able to double that). Here is a picture of one of the skeins -

You can find the skeins listed in my etsy shop - HERE, HERE, and HERE.

I'm also really excited for the season premiere of LOST tonight, and the three new yarns I listed today show that as I've named them all "Lost" :)
Top yarn is - Navajo 3ply - 80 yards spun from merino wool/silk/bamboo blend and the other two rows are two skeins of my Squish-tastic! style spun from superwash merino and plied with the merino/silk/bamboo blend. The two skeins are 64 yards and 35 yards.

I also have lots of other yarns that i've listed over the past few weeks, but I won't show them all here - you can check them all out in my etsy shop or on flickr!

Finally, starting this month I am going to be using my Kitty Grrlz Hand Spun Yarns Facebook page to post links to new listings, sneak previews of upcoming yarns and colors, AND specials that may only be posted on Facebook. You can check out this page and become a fan HERE. I will still be sending out my once-per-month newsletter to newsletter subscribers, but often times throughout the month I may want to have special short sales or discounts and from now on these will be posted on the Facebook page. I'd also love to hear your suggestions for types of yarns, colorways, and fiber blends over there, too!

I think that is all for now as I better get to work - I will NOT be spinning while Lost is on tonight and that's usually my peak production time!

Am I there yet? (moving and new yarns)

I think I may have mentioned that we were moving this month. Well, we are sort of moved. I am here in our new apartment with Bug (our cat) and my laptop. And the printer. And a box of fiber ready to spin. And my wheel. And a few other things that made it down here with me on Sunday. BUT, almost all of our other stuff? Still 3 hours away waiting to get down here. I'm hoping it will all arrive today and then I'll feel a little more "settled". For now, I still feel like I'm just visiting or staying in a hotel. At least I've got the laptop, the TV, and Bug! :)

Here she is, as a matter of fact, as Queen of the Boxes - these are boxes we brought down a few weeks ago - mostly non-essentials - stuff like our collectible toys/figures, books, and a few miscellaneous things that are non-necessities.

For perspective, here is the full-length shot of the closet -
That is the closet in what will probably be "my" room - I'll have my fiber in there, and probably a desk/computer, etc. My bookcases will also be in there. As the queen of clutter we are trying something NEW with this apartment and that is trying to keep the living room area look really clean and OPEN. NO clutter! My wheel will still be in there, because I'll still be spinning in that room since it has GREAT lighting. But, all the other fiber WILL be confined to this one room. Maybe I'll take more pictures later . . .

In fibery news - I was hoping to have new yarns spun the past couple of days but I've been feeling sort of in limbo without all of my stuff. I DO have fiber to work on, and hope to get to some of that today, but I DO have some new yarns from BEFORE the holidays - ones I don't think I ever posted here, so here they are! :)
From top to bottom -
The last batches of Plum Divine for 2009! One skein has already sold, but the other skein is still available here in my etsy shop!

Kitty Singles - Candy Colored Clown - Hand Spun Merino Wool Yarn - 134 yards
Beautiful Bamboo - Spring Garden - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn - 224 yards
Novel-Ply - New Year's Twilight - Hand Spun Super Bulky Yarn - 70 yards and a small 20 yard skein
Thread-Ply - Spumoni Sparkle - Hand Spun Thread-Ply Yarn, thicknthin with a few coils and beehives, too - great sparkle! - 60 yards and 30 yards

Here are a couple of others, too -

Kitty Singles - Rose Mocha - Hand Spun Single Ply Rambouillet Wool Yarn - 155 yards

Kitty Mixers - Adirondack Autumn - Hand Spun Two-Ply Merino Wool Yarn - 150 yards

Kitty Singles - November Garden - Hand Spun Single Ply Falkland Wool Yarn - 168 yards

Wow, I am even more behind than I thought in posting current yarns! Here is another mosaic with even MORE recent hand spun yarns! All of these yarns can be found in my etsy shop HERE!
Beautiful Bamboo - Sand and Sea - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn
Beautiful Bamboo - Chocolate Berry Shine - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn
Kitty Singles - Sabrina - Hand Spun Single Ply BFL Wool Yarn
Kitty Singles - Sweet - Hand Spun Single Ply BFL Wool Yarn
Squish-tastic - Twilight Dreams - Hand Spun Bulky Thick/Thin 2ply Yarn
Navajo 3-ply - Twilight Dreams - Hand Spun 3ply Yarn - merino wool and silk
Kitty Singles - Holiday Memories - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn
Kitty Singles - Orchid CinderWood - Hand Spun Single Ply Yarn

Okay, I think that is all! I better get offline now and try and get something spun. I've got some Rambouillet wool ready to spin into a single ply, a few more batches of bamboo (I'm almost completely out of bamboo, though! I need to order more!), and some merino and merino/silk ready for some Squish-tastics! and Navajo 3plys. Alright, definitely better get to work!