a visit to Webs

I went to visit a friend in western MA last weekend, and she kidnapped me and forced me to go to Webs. I fondled all the yarn and spent a lot of time mooning over the alpaca and cashmere fibers, but I resisted the urge to make any purchases....

Until I came across their display of Knitty's Citron and made the mistake of petting it. And then I was compelled to buy a hank of Malabrigo Lace Baby Merino. Seriously, it jumped off the shelf and into my hand and insisted on coming home with me.



How was I supposed to say no to that?

Mist

Hand dyed and handspun

Dawn - bfl, merino, cashmere, firestar fiber batt

Blended this morning from some hand dyed blue faced leicester, merino, firestar and cashmere in sky blue, pink, gunmetal, lavender, apricot, and burnt orange.

More carding and spinning

Mixed up this batt of fiber a few weeks ago. Mostly BFL with bits of other stuff. I'm calling it Haunted Pirate Ship:



At the last open studios I spun up My First Batt^tm and plied with some metallic thread:


And also spun up the Haunted Pirate Ship batt that day:


I have made up a few more batts this week, and feel like I am finally getting the hang of the drum carder. Or at least, I have stopped ripping my hands to shreds while using it. Progress. Yay!

Fire and Ice

Mixed up this fiber batt this morning. Mostly merino with a little bfl, cashmere and firestar.



Yes, I do like my new toy. Why do you ask?

Guess what I did

Mix of blue faced leicester, merino, cashmere, silk, firestar, angelina, and faux cashmere in shades of blue, grey, purple and black. Am looking forward to spinning this baby up!

After a very long delay, the drive band for my drum carder arrived in the mail yesterday. Woo-hoo! Off to the studio after work tonight to play.

Flair

Here's another use for all those little bits of yarn I always seem to have floating around. A while ago, I participated in a swap where I made a bunch of crocheted flowers from my handspun and hand dyed yarns, and then added some pin backs so they can be added as decorations to hats, scarves or headbands.

I started by making up a few new flowers:



And then I got it into my head to make some crocheted gears:


And then I made up this prototype for a key:


Fun to make and super cute!

Having a great weekend so far. Kicked off with Mario Kart and tequila shots on Friday night. Then headed to Open Studios on Sat. Was reasonably busy at the studio and I had a few sales which was nice. I also destashed some yarn to a friend, in return for which she is going to make me a hat and some socks! How awesome. I am very excited about this, since I almost never knit for myself, and although I love handknit socks, I HATE knitting them. Had to leave the studio early to meet up with people for dinner and a concert. Had so much fun. The opening band, Forro in the Dark, was really upbeat and fun. I always like watching bands that look like they are having a blast performing. This is probably my favorite of their songs: Nonsensical Gogol Bordello was amazing live. I've only been listening to them for a few months now, so I don't know all of the songs, but they had incredible energy and it was completely infectious. The whole audience was just bouncing around, having a great time. And how can you not dance around like a fool to this? Start Wearing Purple And now I am back at the studio for a little bit, finishing up some spinning and dyeing, and will be having some family time later today. Busy busy busy.

Fingerless mittens

Was running low on fingerless mittens, so I knitted up this pair from some Malabrigo I had around. So yummy.

ooh! shiny!

I have a few new yarns to share today. I was feeling like I haven't done anything sparkly recently, and clearly that needed to be remedied. Sadly, the pictures don't show the sparkle that well so you will have to take my word for it. Or, you know, come visit me and pet the yarn.

First is a fairly chunky wool yarn that has been plied with black metallic thread. I am calling it Stormy.




The next is an alpaca yarn with a little bit of sparkle. This is from some fiber I bought last year at the CT sheep & wool festival and it was delightful to spin, really soft and silky. This is called Into the Deep.



I have another yarn that is almost completed, and I'm thinking I may need to do a beaded yarn, since I haven't done one of those in a long time.

In other news, this coming weekend is Open Studios. I will be hanging out, doing my thing from noon until 4 or so. I'm going to see Gogol Bordello on Sat night. Should be an interesting show.

New Aprons

Here are a few new aprons that I've made this week. I guess insomnia is good for something after all.

Took a few days off work last week. I really needed the "me" time and it was nice to get up to the studio and play. Since we are heading out of "scarf and hat" season, I thought it might be good to make up some other items. Made up some cute dishcloths and bath scrubbies.

Trying to be patient

Got paid today, so the new drive band for my new-to-me drum carder is ordered and on its way to me. I can't wait to play with my new toys.

In other news, I made up a short length of corespun yarn with a 32 gauge wire core. I haven't figured out what I am going to do with it yet, but I was thinking it might make some kind of fun thing for my hair. We shall see.

Belated Christmas gifts

I traded Christmas presents with a co-worker, finally. I made her a pair of fingerless mittens from some hand-dyed, handspun yarn. And I got an awesome pen and ink drawing in return. I feel lucky to have friends who appreciate handmade gifts and who create such beautiful things for me.

Yay!

Drum carder is on its way to me! I'm super excited.

Tentatively Squeeing

I may or may not have just put a bid in on a drum carder.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Enclosure - new handspun yarn

I have had this fiber sitting around for a long time. Spun it up into another single ply, thick and thin yarn.

The fiber is mostly black with pops of yellow, red and turquoise and is really soft. I'm working on some new yarn, my first attempt at corespinning, so I should have pictures of that soon. Assuming I can get to the studio sometime in the near future.

From the ministry of silly hats

I got a book of hat patterns for Christmas, and immediately had to try this one out. It is incredibly silly: 

 I used a combination of handspun, hand dyed and commercial yarns and I love the way it came out, except that it is a little too small for me. Also weaving in all the ends was a total bitch. Still, I will probably make this one again sometime.

Harvest

This is another new yarn spun up from some oddly colored fiber. Mostly Gold Ochre, with bits of Chestnut, Lilac, Chartreuse and Burnt Orange.

  

 Can you tell I've been into chunky, squishy yarns lately?