I cheated on my lady...

Truth be told, I'm not monogamous crafter.  My heart does not lie only with my wheel.  Yes, spinning yarn is fulfilling, it moves me and shakes me.  It's absolutely wonderful.  But I only learned to spin 3 years ago.  Before that, I sewed.  I've got experience and training in fashion design.  I don't get to make as much clothing and such as I used to. It's quite difficult to sew with 3 kids trying to help.  Not so hard to spin though.
With that said. I cheated on my Lady.  (My wheel, she has no name, but she is a lady, not a tramp ;) )  My crafting space needed much attention.  I really couldn't get a thing done in there with the state is was in.  So the other night I took to the giant task of cleaning it out!
This is what it was before:

During:


And After:


And after all that work, I got to play.  And I stayed up far to late sewing my self this spanky new purse.


But now I'm back at the wheel, and I've spun this beauty up for the FOC Raffle swap on Craftster.org




Pretty and squishy!  I love that yarn...

~ Kara


Oh, I've also been meaning to ask my readers, do you like this font?  I'm not sure if it's easy to read, or sometimes just annoying.  It's pretty, but is i functional?  Let me know! 
Fix the font!  One comment that it was hard to read is enough for me!

And! I nearly forgot this linky... :) Here's hoping I win the great prize :)

OOOH Cyclocarder!

Okay check this out! It's so neato!!! A drum carder powered by pedal power!

Originally posted about here:
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2011/09/cyclocarder_katharine_jolda_vi.html

 I think I want one.


~Kara

Yarn Porn

Pictures of yarn. Not naked people doing naughty things.

I spun this and it has since been dubbed Lemon Lime Sherbert

This one is not mine. This one was spun by LaughingLark on Craftster.org

I'm still working on washing the wool I have, but I have recently re-arranged my craft room and the supplies within. I'll show the mess before and after another time (when it's actually finished!) ~Kara

Progress!

Check this out!  Look at the difference in this wool!  Washed lock by lock is SOOOOO worth it for this wool.


  I'd say I've washed about 1- 1.5 pounds already.  I've got to take a break though, as we are off to visit the in-laws for the weekend.  But I can't wait to get back to wash more.  Over all I've spent at least 3 hours washing so far.  But it's turning out to be a zen experience.  Even with the little ones 'helping'.

This fleece is going to be so wonderful as a warp yarn, or a super fine lace weight, and I'm almost afraid of carding it!  Straight from the lock for most of this!

Oh! And this is what 6 lbs of BFL fleece looks like, in case you were curious.




~Kara

6 lbs to go....

Today I start the daunting task of washing 6 pounds of Blue Face Leicester fleece lock by lock.  I've decided that even though it's a greasy fleece I'm only going to wash it, instead of scouring it.  But maybe, just maybe I'll change my mind and scour it anyway.  I just know that it will take a good long time to dip each of those locks 4 times.   Spinning a slightly greasy fleece isn't all that bad.  Once upon a time I wondered why on earth anyone would even touch a greasy fleece.  Now it's something I enjoy!  It's fun to see the pieces of the sheep, to be able to lay out a dirty fleece and identify the parts, sort them and spin them into just the right yarn.   Okay, so I can't quite spin just the right yarn yet, I'm not there in my learning, but that's the whole point of becoming a Master Spinner.
Anywho, wish me luck because the washing isn't  my favorite part, but it's something that must be done!

~Kara

Colour!

Time sure flies when you are having fun, doesn't it?  

I've been taking advantage of summers last hurrah.  No, not the beach.  I've been solar dyeing!  I plan to do one round of 6 jars every day until the temps go back down again.   One can never have enough color.
Jars of color! (yep, we like pickles.... >.> One day I'll peel those labels off.  Promise.)




My scarves and hankies:



Wool:



And speaking of dyeing, this past week my sister and her family were up here to visit.  We went into the forest for a hike and I came across quite a few things to harvest for natural dyeing.  Check out these awesome mushrooms!   I think they might be these ones.  If you know for sure, because you are an awesome mushroom identifier, let me know!

I also got a big bag of some type of moss/forest floor green stuff I hope will give me an interesting color.
And a friend of mine has these mushrooms popping up in her yard, and is giving them all to me.  They promise some great greys and green greys.


Another most fabulously fibre related development, I bought a double treadle kit for my Traveler!!  And it's here!  She's just as excited as I am (yes, my wheel is a girl.  She hasn't told me just yet what her name is though....)  I've also got 4 more bobbins!  Wewt!  More yarn can be made!  I can switch projects more often!   I had half a thought to paint the treadles with pretty things, but i want those on faster then fast, so a quick coat of varnish it is. 




Yep, it's been quite the busy week for me! What with the oldest back in school, "real work", and the visits from family, I'm surprised I got this much accomplished! I hope summer lasts a few more weeks for most you you out there, it's said to end tomorrow up in these parts.

~Kara

Spun Summer - A Shrug

Once upon a story, I was given a bag full of beautiful little pipe cleaner bumblebees. The instant I saw those bees I knew they needed to be in yarn. In yarn that had flowers and grass. Because where else would bees fly about? You've seen the yarn once already, but you need to see it again. Because it's gorgeous. So here it is.

I knew I really wanted to show this yarn off. But how? A hat? No, not quite my forte in the knit wears department. A scarf? no, there was just to much to make a scarf out of. I could have made 3! but I'm selfish and wanted it all to myself. So a shrug it was. Here it is in all it's glory.
And just because I'm showing it off right now, here are the lovely little needle felted details and the one little bee that made it into the final shrug. Happy with all his flowers.



I've entered it over on Craftster.org in this months challenge, Inspired by nature!

~Kara