I sort of “got started” the other day by pulling my fiber and yarn stash out of its closet and taking a general inventory. To put it bluntly, I sat on the floor next to the giant pile with a quivering lip and sincere doubts as to my ever using it all – not to mention all the other kinds of crafts that I haven’t even reviewed yet.

Suffice it to say, things are going to be either crazy, or very very accomplished. Anyone have suggestions for places to donate or giveaway finished knitted or crochet items? Preferably ones that will take wool based yarns, because that’s what I have most of.

As for me, well, I’m up to my elbows in a pile of spinning projects. Lovely projects, for lovely people, but there seem to be tons of them.

First off, I’ve been working on spinning up some Aussie fur for a good friend. (Yes, dog fur.) It’s really soft and fluffy, and has been washed. Definite bonus. I’m spinning it on a spiffy new gadget I’ll have to tell you all about in a future blog post.

Theoretically this yarn will end up as a two-ply fingering weight, although there will be some DK weight bits in there, given the nature of the fiber. I carded the fur into batts, but it’s so fine that it spins more like a cloud, which results in a lot of difficulty keeping things even. And there seems to be different lengths of fur in there, which also makes things interesting.

All in all, it’s spinning up to be an interesting taupe color. Almost like sand.

Another fiber project I’m working away on is some more indigo merino. Remember the indigo merino from last year? This is more of that. Thankfully it’s going much quicker this time, although it’s having to share space on the wheel with a different project.

It’s been audio book city around here as I work away on all this. Nothing like a good audio book to make spinning go faster! Or at least, to keep me sitting there longer.

The third project, and the biggest, is some wool that I’m washing and spinning for a lovely new friend. Her parents have some Corriedale sheep, and she and I worked out a swap where I would wash and spin a portion of their fleeces for her, and then I could keep the rest of the fleece for myself. And, given how it’s behaving, I’m really excited. The fleece is gorgeous. But you don’t just have to take my word for that, you can see it.

It washes up really white, and has a great feel to it.

It also cards into beautiful, fluffy batts. I’ve already spun one and a half of those little fellas into the first skein of probably eight or nine at least. A nice two-ply light worsted.

I’m happy to report that the fleece is well worth any hassle to work with. Including the somewhat amusing event that occurred on my hour’s drive to pick up the raw fleeces.

Picture me in my father’s little blue Honda, trucking happily down the highway with my Google Map printout. No cell phone, but I had directions, so who cared? I followed the map step by step, turned off the highway, and started along a nice little country road. Then a sign loomed up.

Pavement Ends.

The last thing I wanted to do was drive my dad’s car down a little one-lane gravel road, but there was no obvious alternative. I drove along, watching the mailboxes for the right number and keeping an eye out for any enormous pick-up trucks who might want to pass me.

Then the road got narrower. And suddenly it ceased to be a road and became a grand canyon with a rushing river in the bottom of it.

Okay, so it was more like a normal creek bed, but the road tilted down into the water, then emerged on the other side in a somewhat muddy slope.
I am not a country driver. I am a city girl. And I am a city girl who knows better than to take her father’s car through water, thank you very much.

Hope springing eternal, I turned the car around and headed back up the road to see if I had missed the number. Turns out I hadn’t, but the road continued on the other side of where I got on it, so I crossed the pavement road and checked out the other side. The numbers decided to go the wrong direction. And then that road T’d with another road and hope was squelched.

I had no cell phone. I had no map. (Well, I had a map, but I was off the edge of it.) There was nothing for it but to turn back around and pray I could survive.

Now, thank God, the second time I showed up at the creek there was a very nice lady in her four-wheeler who assured me that the water was not as deep as it looked, and that as long as I “stayed far away from that big rock there” I’d be okay. (There were three big rocks sticking out the water, and I never did figure out which one she meant.) So, with a deep breath, more prayer, and a trembling accelerator, I splashed in. And across. And up the other side. (You may sing the “Hallelujah Chorus” here.)

Wet, muddy, and gravel-dusted, I set off along the still-unpaved road to find the farm. The road went on for a bit, then suddenly dead-ended at a nice, paved road, and the sign informed me that the road I wanted continued to the left. Through lovely suburbia. And easy roads. And a little way down that road, there was the farm!

If my web map had routed me one more road down the main highway and come at the farm from the other side, I would have had completely normal driving the whole way.

As I said before, though, the whole trip was worth the wool and getting to make a new friend. And maybe God decided I needed off-pavement driving practice, who knows? I do think next time, however, I will make sure I have a cell phone.

I realize that Spring begins in March. But personally, I don’t really count it as Spring until it feels Spring-ish. And yesterday I went on a picnic lunch in a lovely park, and now realize that Spring is fully Spring-ish. So, happy Spring!

I guess the biggest news I have to share is that I’m expanding into the wholesale realm. A local yarn store is going to be carrying six special colorways of my merino/silk laceweight. (Including Dawn Treader!) If you’re in the Athens, GA area, stop by and visit Main Street Yarns to take a peek. It’s a lovely store with all sorts of goodies. (I have to be very strict with my wallet when I’m there.) I just sent off a lovely lineup of twelve skeins, but completely forgot to take a picture of them before they left! Gack!
There’s a chance that I’ll be visiting the yarn store next week, so I’ll have to take my camera and attempt to get a shot of the yarns hanging up on the wall.

Along the same line of “business,” I’m looking into giving my laceweight yarn bases some names. So, instead of calling it “70/30 merino silk” I would call it “Hawthorn Lace” or something like that. I’ve seen this done in various stores and supposedly it helps people remember the yarns. I’m all for it, except that I have to come up with the names. No pressure, right? It just reflects on me and my business if I choose poorly. Yeeks. Some top ideas now are naming them after various vines, or floral/botanical type things.

I have been dyeing tons lately for my April/May inventory. At least three large dye runs in one week. Here are a couple goodies from that for you to see. I decided to attempt dyeing an entire pound of fiber in the same colorway, so I chose Dawn Treader. (Of course, I mean, it’s gorgeous!) I’m very grateful that the story ended happily ever after, and I ended up with a full pound of Bluefaced Leicester in Dawn Treader. In fact, one of the 4 oz. braids sold within a day or two of my listing them on Etsy. Yay!

And below is seven and a half ounces of Corriedale in a one-of-a-kind colorway. (I doubt I could repeat it if I tried.) I’ve decided (with some naming help) to call it “Mountain Orchard.” It makes me think of sunshine on apples and leaves and mountain streams.

And I’ve been spinning up a storm, too! Take a look at these gorgeous little beauties. They’re the yarn for my aunt’s shawl, all spun up and ready to go. (Except for a quick twist-setting dunk.) Eight skeins, and I still need to calculate the yardage. As far as I know, we won’t run short. But I don’t know very far, and knitting patterns can be tricky.

This yarn is some of the most delicious stuff I have ever had my hands on. It’s light and springy like the Bluefaced Leicester in it, but it has a touch of baby alpaca for added softness and smoosh, and a bit of mohair halo. It looks like I won’t be dyeing it after all, and that it will remain happy in its natural color when my knitting sister takes it into her skillful hands.

The shawl was supposed to be my dear aunt’s Christmas and birthday present, however both of those dates have passed, so I decided I’d better get hopping. The last thing I want to do is end up like I did with my last two “birthday gift” yarns and not deliver on them until after the next year’s birthday.

Before I got started on the shawl yarn I had to reel off the cinnamon alpaca that was already on my favorite spinning wheel. (This photo only strengthens my mental connection between brown alpaca and herringbone. For some odd reason I think they were made for each other.)

Once I got all that reeled off the bobbin, I went ahead and started spinning up samples. This was a little more difficult than I bargained for, as the original pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn made of llama. Llama is rather heavy and drapey, but my batts are not. They are wonderfully springy and fluff up like you wouldn’t believe. So it took me a good four or five tries to nail a proper sort of worsted weight. (More of the fiber being used!)

I’m hoping against hope that I have enough of these batts to finish out the shawl. There are all these abstract variables floating about.

After getting the right weight (or so I hoped), I gave the little piece of sample yarn to my sister, who will be doing the actual knitting of shawl, and she knit up a tiny swatch. Thankfully it was bang on with blocking. Hurrah for gauges that actually work!

I’ve got a half of a bobbin of this lovely stuff at the moment, and I intend to add to it pretty soon. The shawl calls for 820 yards of worsted weight, and I have twelve(ish) ounces of batt. This is going to be close. If all else fails, I can get a few ounces of something else and spin one of the yarn plies with it, then stick it in with two of the batt plies.

Oh, and to make things even better, somehow, someway I ended up knitting one sock on size ones, and the other on size twos. No, I’m not ripping it back and starting over. They both stay on my feet, and the difference isn’t too huge unless you notice that one is an inch or so shorter than the other. A good reason to not repeat the “it takes a year to finish these” method.

About the same time I finished those up, I finished spinning the singles for my “Violet, You’re Turning Violet.” Hurrah! A lovely bluefaced leicester and silk blend. I’m thinking it will turn out as a DK or light worsted weight. Two ply.

While I was photographing the singles, I started playing around with a clock key and wound up with this photo. (No pun intended.) The colors are slightly off, but I like the feel of the picture.

On the flip side, I have been working on some of those batts I mentioned in the last post. I’ve got one almost completely spun, and it’s looking quite snazzy. Now before you go pointing out any little neps and slubs in the yarn let me say that I did intend for those to be there. It is all part of a grand, super-secret experiment. (Cue the dramatic music.)

In the midst off all this, I’m beginning to hear the call of the crochet hook again. I haven’t used them for an actual project for some time (and during that time I managed to accidently stab a tiny one into my heel) and I’m beginning to miss it. Miss crocheting, not stabbing my heel. That hurt.

I’ve got this crazy idea involving crochet hooks and un-spun silk. I have a silk hanky laying around. I just have to decide if that’s what I want to use it for. I think it would make a lovely, airy shawl or wrap. Probably rectangular, as silk makes hair static, and I wouldn’t want it right up by my neck.

But, I have made some rather good progress on my second alpaca sock, and I have found the secret to finishing a never-ending pair of extra-tall socks! The key is to go and stay in a rather chilly house for a few days. Take the sock knitting, and just barely enough pairs of regular-height socks. By the middle of the first day you’ll find yourself huddled on the couch watching old, instant-stream TV shows off of Netflix and knitting for your life in the hopes of warmer toes.

Unfortunately this knitting streak didn’t cross over to the other pair of unfinished socks I brought along, or the Emily Dickinson shawl that I had hoped to start again. However, I did have a lovely time resting, reading (three whole books!), and movie-watching.

If I’d been thinking I would have taken along the Fall Shawl and a large needle for “weaving in the ends” purposes. Oh well. It’ll get done eventually.
As you may be able to see, I didn’t quite finish the pattern. Due to my scandalous “departing of the text” and “altering,” the final project was smaller than I thought. So, I stopped knitting a ways from the end of the neck and left myself a handy little notch out of the middle. That way it actually stays on for the most part. I think a really interesting shawl pin or button will be in order for this. The best way to wear it is with the two edges meeting in the front like the front of a cardigan. It keeps my shoulders and neck warm and doesn’t look half bad—once you learn to ignore the gazillion and three little bits of yarn dangling off of it.

Yes, I think a button and loop would be the best way to keep it on in the front. I know of some rather fun buttons at JoAnn Etc. They’re wooden, and not quite square. Or I could purchase some from this interesting shop - We shall see what comes.

Speaking of buttons, I still don’t have them for the Sky Pirate gloves! They shall have to languish under my desk a while longer.

But, on the bright side, here’s one of my more recent yarn creations. It sold right away, but I will definitely be making the colorway again.

When I first made it, I didn’t keep track of how I did the colors, so I thought it was non-reproducible. Then a good friend asked me to pretty-please try again for her sake, and I tried, and (praise God!) it worked! So, it is now fully reproducible. Allow me to introduce, the Dawn Treader yarn!

Shortly after I recreated that, my friend with the drum carder came for a visit. We had to cut things short, due to the threat of impending snow, (Yes, snow here in the Southeast. Lots of it.) but we still got ten batts of the Iowa fleece all carded up. I have some interesting plans for these. Hopefully it will work out.

And, as a fun note to end the post on, my knitting sister (who is also my amazing yarn photographer for the Etsy sites) put together a collage of all the products I made and listed last year. Quite a few, eh?

Believe it not, I haven’t forgotten about my knitting projects. I just pulled this sock project back out from the closet and started back in. Since then I’ve turned the heel and gotten a ways into the foot part. This is the “Hedgerow” pattern, and I rather like it. I ran into some trouble on the heel flap, but that was probably an operator error as opposed to a glitch in the knitting pattern.

The yarn is knitting up really nicely too. All these deep grays and blues. Lovely!

And I’ve got another pattern begging to be made. I’ve never really been big into fingerless gloves.
I mean, they’re neat articles of clothing and all, but they didn’t do much for me personally. Then I saw this pattern. And my non-glovey self said, “Self, if you were to wear fingerless gloves, those would be them. So you might as well buy the pattern.”

Ta-da! “The Last of The Sky Pirates” fingerless gloves. Cool, no? I’m particularly fond of the little buttons down the side. (I borrowed the photo from the Etsy listing.) The construction looks pretty unique. At least as far as my experience goes. You use straights and DPNs.

Once I got the pattern I wasn’t sure what yarn I’d want to use for it, and then I dyed this.

Oh yeah. Thankfully it was a two-skein batch, so I’m keeping one of “Beryl,” and the other goes in the store. I’ll be taking this project along on a trip to Missouri. And I have extra incentive to finish it while I’m gone, as I’m borrowing the needles from my knitting sister, and she’ll want them back as soon as we return. No pressure! Thankfully my knitting time includes the lengthy car ride.

At this point in my post I would like to show you photos of the progress I’ve made on my Fall Shawl. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find it to take photos. I know it’s around here somewhere. And I managed to find the extra “not in-use” skeins of yarn for it. But somehow it’s vanished. I sincerely hope it’s not in the depths of my closet somewhere. This may call for a full-out closet reorganization. With new storage facilities.

I may as well admit it. My closet is a mess again. A jungle of fiber and yarn. I’m seriously considering doing another New Year’s Dash spin-a-thon this year, but with a catch. The yarns I’m spinning have to be spun with a final project in mind. Otherwise they’ll just increase my yarn stash and I won’t be any better off. Time to start finding projects for smaller batches of thick yarn!

And, to complicate the issue, I did just buy more fiber. I know! I know. But wait until you see it. I mean, you can’t pass this up, can you? Four ounces of art batts with glitter and beads and neps and absolutely amazing stuff in them. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous.

No clue what I’ll do with them. But gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. These are from PrancingPixel, and she is one of the nicest people ever. Look what she gave me as a bonus gift!
This is a kit from her “Spin a Steampunk Necklace” contest. It’s a lovely little batt, and I can’t wait to do something with it. Probably not a necklace, as I’m not a big “spun necklace” person, but I think I might turn it into a coffee mug cozy. Particularly as it comes with these adorable little charms and beads. Coolest mug cozy ever? I think so.

Actually, it would be a hot chocolate and tea mug cozy. Still can’t get into coffee. I tried again the other day and could barely finish half the cup. Too bitter! I need my sweet.

All that to say, look at the lovely new baskets I have to store my dyeing equipment in! Thanks to Mom and Aunt Debbie, I don’t have to dig my stuff out from the top shelf of my closet anymore. Hurrah! Life is suddenly so much easier, and less clutter-filled. I’ve toyed with the idea of changing out the fabric liners seasonally, but that might be a bit over-the-top.

And, thanks to an early Christmas present, I have a large collection of new dye powders on hand. Which, of course, happened to arrive when I had undyed items on hand. The heart beats faster.

One of these days I’ll need to invest in some new stock-sized pots for kettle dyeing. The ones I have are starting to show their age, and the last thing I want is for one to spring a leak while it’s on the stovetop. That would be downright nasty.

And here is a little sneak preview of the project I’m creating from the Phat Fiber September samples. Curious yet?

My aunt is visiting, and that, as usual, translates into oodles and oodles of fibery fun. For instance, I have just a few yarns to dye during the two weeks she’s here. (Slight irony implied on the “few” part.)

It’s somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty-plus skeins. Seven of which are for my two stores. I’m hoping to dye those this evening. (Six of mine, that is.) I’ve got an idea for an Apple Cider colorway, and I want to try to dye some “manly” colorways on two of the skeins. There are gentleman knitters out there who would probably appreciate a less-feminine yarn supply. And I’m also hoping to try an interesting new method of dyeing, which may or may not result in color-gradation stripes. Stay tuned.

Knitting time is up a lot more now, since there’s an aunt to knit with, and I’ve made good progress on the fall shawl.
I’m really, really liking the Crow Waltz pattern, and I want to try it again someday the way it’s supposed to be done – with only two colors of similar yarn. I’ve got one eye on the KnitPicks City Tweed for that. Whenever I get to start new projects. Eventually. Along with the seven or eight sweater patterns I’ve been hoarding.

And, while this could be considered non-knitting related, while at the mall today I stopped by this wonderful store called Teavana and picked out one of their gourmet teas to try.

A lovely black tea called Masala Chai. It has cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, and I think some ginger in it. Yum. Yum. Yum. (I also got some eyeliner and two new shirts, but that’s definitely non-knitting related.)

The Turquoise Hat of Floopyness is done except for weaving in the ends, with three skeins left over. Rats. It was supposed to use them all up. But! My aunt happens to really like that yarn, so she’s going to get a present that looks very much like the three extra skeins.
She’s also going to get this new thick and thin wool/llama yarn I spun. (She nabbed it before I could put it on Etsy.) I don’t have pictures of the Floopy hat yet, due to not having posed for pictures in it, but that should happen in the near future.