3 pounds

A while back, I was commissioned to make 500 yards of bulky weigh 3 ply yarn.  Were it not for a little hiccup (where my 4 year old found a pair of scissors and went on a snipping spree, which happened to include the drive bands on my Majacraft...) I'd have been done these yarns quite a while ago.  But, given that that the time between snipping and shipping was over 2 weeks, I'm glad to be done this only slightly passed my set deadline (which happened to be rather flexible, but none the less.)

Singles on the bobbins 1 whole pound on each!

Plied, tied and ready for a bath!

They still need a bath in some Unicorn Fibre Wash, but that doesn't take much time.  At least not compared to the spinning!  I do love though, that throughout the 5 skeins there is an amazing amount of uniformity! Makes me super happy to be able to control my yarn that much if I want to.  Thank you Master Spinner classes!!

These skeins will be off to Sharon (of Sharon's Handknit Creations) by the early next week.  Then it's onto that pesky level 3 final project, socks!

~Kara

Found it Friday -Disgruntled ex has 17lbs of yarn for sale

And maybe two cats.  This is the funniest thing I've read in a long time with perfect quotes, like

"Maybe that's why I had thousands of dollars of credit card bills from "ravelry.com" and other such life-destroying sites."

And

" Some of it is even still in its packaging, I guess just in case she decided she suddenly needed this brand new package of yarn and there was some sort of crop-shortage in yarn-land so she had to buy it in advance." 

Apparently yarn and fluff aren't all love and sunshine.  At least not everyone. And definitly not to this guy.

Maybe I should send him a link to last weeks Found it Friday... That second song pretty much sums up his life...  And maybe, just maybe, she found a guy who asked her if she was knitting with handspun to replace this guy, as the first song...

~Kara

Oh hey! it's 2014!

Another year has gone by, which in and of itself is not surprising. The speed at which the years are going by, however, still seems to astonish me. With that said, I'm making no resolutions this year.  i'm just going to keep going, hoping that life does not throw me so many curve balls. Simple enough.
I'll keep blogging, selling, and doing my class work. And the mothering bits, and the wife-ing bits, and the girl guide-ing bits.  When it all fits in.

Anywho, I do hope 2014 is a wonderful year for everyone.  The best yet! One that tops all the others.

I finished out 2013 by taking a project off the bobbins.  It's 6.6 oz of Canadian grown and prepped Ets D'Laine Merino wool, spun woollen from carded roving, making it a super squishy and wonderful yarn. There's approximately 330 yards of this one. Such a lovely 3 ply.


And I'm starting 2014 by carding up some full sized batts of this llama merino yak blend that went out as samples in the Phat Fiber box! There will be approximately 12 oz (in smaller bits, likely 2oz chunks :) ) in the shop soon!



Don't forget to check out the Etsy Shop! 10% off until the 15th of January! Enter code Spingrand0 (that's a zero, not an 'o')

Happy happy new year to you!

~Kara

Grand Opening Sale!!

Yeah, baby!  It's time for a grand opening sale at the Etsy Shop!! Technically it started yesterday, so I'm a day late posting about it here.....  But!! That doesn't mean you can't take advantage of the next 29 days of sale!! :D  Dec 15, 2013- Jan15 2013 save 10% with the coupon code SpinGrand0 (<-that's a zero, not an 'O')

click to make bigger! ;)

Also, every purchase counts as an entry for a drawing at the end of the sale.  There are options!! One lucky person will have a choice of a yarny package that consists of yarn and stitch makers, or a spinners prize package of Batts and an oriface hook!  Prize valued at approximately 50$ :D

Oh! and the winner of the pre grand opening sale give away was Sharon Stacey!! Congrats Sharon!! 

Okay, now go buy some stuff ;)

~Kara

I win. Take that scissors.

I found the end!! I picked up that darn bobbin for at least 5-10 minutes every day since I found it had be visited by scissors. I skipped a whole day for a craft show, but on Sunday I picked up the bobbin, and she looked like this:

Not even 30 seconds after picking a string to tug, I found it! I found the end!

And a few days later I had a bobbin full of plied yarn!

Now to set the twist tomorrow, and it will be ready for my next (and last before the big Esty shop update!) craft show on Saturday!

It feels so good to win this one.

~Kara

Found it Friday

My husband found this image, presumably on The Chive, and I laughed.  I kind of identify myself as a hipster (a little bit, but maybe more of a wanna be ;) ). And I've not once, but twice, sat in the Dodge dealership spinning cotton on a Tahkli spindle. (see, that's why I'm not a hipster, I drive a mini van ;) )

So while the statement obviously doesn't apply to me, I love it none the less.  It's like a whole new awesome level of hipster. 

~Kara

Found it Friday!

On a Saturday!! whoops!! Best excuse ever though. We went to the fair yesterday! And the pool, and the sidewalk sale and by the time we came home and I did all the things I needed to do but didn't because I was busy having fun with the kids, I was exhausted and completely forgot what day it even was....

Image Credit: http://foulawool.co.uk/foula.htm

So today I bring something @LouisebScollay shared on twitter! Foula Wool!  Another breed of sheep found on the Island of Foula, near the Shetland Islands.  I love discovering the crazy range of breeds of this amazing creature.  I'd love to get my hands on some, though from the sounds of it, it only comes as yarn. That wouldn't be so bad, because I do knit. Think of the fair isle sweater I could make with these Natural colours!
Check out their Story :  http://foulawool.co.uk/foula.htm  They even have a contact form, and I might see if I can get some wool to spin.  If it's as fine as they say, I bet it would be a dream to spin!

~Kara

Ravellenic games completed!

I did it!  I made a pair of socks, and spun a whole fleece!  And I did it all in less then two weeks. Booyah.

First, too many pictures of socks.

The pair.

If you look closely enough, you can see an error where I picked up the provisional cast on wrong.  This is the left sock.  Named so, because there is also a ridge of purling where I accidentally knit a row I should have purled over the top of the toe.  The bind off on this one is almost to tight. But it helps to hold it up, so it's okay.

The right sock.  That little hole there is one of the two imperfections in this sock.  The other being that the bind off is to loose, and therefore wonky and prone to slippage. 

Top view!  You can see the left sock's toe ridge. 

Second, one whole Jacob yearling fleece worth of super bulky, Navajo plied yarn.

 It's squishy, bulky, and quite a mess.  It wasn't an exercise in perfection, but an exercise in creating.  It's sheepy, and that's the point!

~Kara

Preppin' for the Ravellenic Games!

Well, I guess the Ravellenic games start tomorrow at 4 to coincide with the opening games of the Olympic games!   I'm excited, and have big plans.  First, I want to knit my first ever pair of socks! I found this Toe Up Sock Pattern Generator via Ravelry, and am going to swatch for my pattern tonight. The only thing is I needed to put this pertty skein of yarn from Ancient Arts into ball form.

There was one little problem though... I don't have a ball winder, or a swift for that matter.  And to top it off I couldn't find my beat stick.  I mean my Notespinne.  So I grabbed a knitting needle and a willing soul and created something that worked quite nicely.

I call this video: Necessity is the Mother of Invention.  Or Child Labour is Great.  Or My 7 year old rocks.  Or... Well, yeah. You get the idea.  He was actually having fun doing this with me!  I no longer have to enlist my husband, who admittedly does it willingly, but imagine!  I could get 2-3 skeins wound in a day if I had two helpers! 

I've also got this lurvely Jacob yearling ewe fleece that I plan to spin, and hopefully knit up during the games... We'll see how it goes... 

Once the games are over, it's all homework all the time time... Because I will not repeat last year!  Will not!

Let the count down begin!

~Kara

Tour de Fleece - 2012

Is it to early to start thinking about it?  I don't think so!

What I'm thinking about is the two teams I'm going to captain, and my personal goals.  I've got Team Craftster.org and Team Look-in-a-Book.  And of course  I'll be joining Team Hopelessly Overcomitted as well.

Here are my goals:


1) Spin 12 oz of merciboo top into a serious lace weight.  Like,  craykray lace.  Practically sewing thread. or like 2 strands of sewing thread together crazy lace.  Because I'm nuts.  I might even buy the lace flyer for my Traveller...

2) Spin my way through a book.  I'm also heading up the team Team Look in a Book!  Where the goal will be to spin my way through one of my books, but just a sample of each technique... I just have to choose a book...

3) Spin some cotton on my tahkli.  I have ~4 oz of cotton that's been sitting for a long time.  If I get through it, I'll give a go at the camel and yak I have too!

Yup, Hopelessly Overcomitted.

You can find the Tour de Fleece Rav group here.  And the Team Craftster thread on Craftster here.   Of course there will be a thread for both my teams in the Ravelry group, but for now the teams cannot be posted until the moderators clean up the 2011 threads.  Soon, as I see there are just a few more to go through!

What about you?  Are you going to take on the Tour de Fleece this year?

~Kara

Final project of doooooom

Doom I say.  DOOOOM!

Sigh....

So here's the story (and pretty pictures too)  Some of it, you've heard.  Some of it's new, but I'm starting from the beginning anyway.  I'll make the stuff you've heard quick.

The final project for the Master Spinner Level one course is to be a finished object, taken from "sheep to shawl" if you will.  It doesn't need to be a shawl, of course, it can be what ever you want it to be.  This project, every step included, should take about 25 hours.  Originally I wanted it to be a pair of Chimera mittens, easy enough to spin and knit in 25 hours.  However.  The yarn I spun for them was horrendous, coarse and not really all to nice for a pair of mittens.


You can't really tell here, it looks nice enough, but the texture, the hand, the feel of it, is just off.


Okay. Fine.  Re-group.  Stumble upon the Belinda Shawl on Ravelry.  Gorgeous, fun, and perfect.  So I start spinning my best style of yarn, which is a fine yarn, about lace to fingering, with maybe a few sections just a bit heavier, because I'm not a master yet.  I plan to spin and nature dye the second yarn as i finish up knitting with the first yarn.


beautiful. Has really nice drape.  I'm super proud of all 616 yards.


Then I start on the knitting, choosing to make it 3/4 width, as a) I'm scared I'd run out of yarn (which in all likelyhood wouldn't happen) and b) I'm a small person, so my shawl can be a bit smaller right?  Fine.  I think okay, this will probably take me 10 hours to knit, which is a bit much considering the whole 25 hours of work start to finish.  But whatever, a little extra time wont hurt, if anything, it'll look like I'm an over achiever.
So I take the yarn, and my needles with me on the crazy long road trip to my families place over the Easter weekend.  7+ hours in the truck. Both ways.  So I knit.  And knit and knit.... And I knit once we get there, on and off, when I can find some time.  All the while thinking, geeeze.... I think I over estimated my knitting ability.  But I knit on.


In the hotel, where my fabulous Husband and sister organized a side trip for my birthday. Yay spa and knitting!

   On the way home, I knit for 6 pretty much consecutive hours.  Well, except that nearly 1 hour it took me to frog back 2.5 rows stitch by stitch.


Bad picture, I know.  But you can see the mistake. 

 This.Shawl.Is.Not.Even.Half.Done.  It's maybe 30% done one half .  My best guesstimate is I've put over 15 hours into this thing already.


I'm very happy with the progress I'm making, but the time consumption!  


 And now I wonder, do I start over again?  Make a pair of baby legs for my little girl? Maybe a really simple pair of fingerless mitts, with no pattern to them, just simple around and around and around?  Do I go back to the idea of knitting a cowl, also with no pattern, just around and around and around?

I don't know.  Because truth be told, by the time I get to the end of this shawl, I'll likely have put about 48 hours of knitting alone into the damn thing... Then the spinning and dyeing,  probably another good 15 hours. Which, you don't even have to be good at math, that's a heck of a lot more then 25.

I'll finish this shawl.  I'm committed now.  But do I keep at it for my final project, or make it a leisurely knit and finish it after I'm finished my workbook?

Dangit.

~Kara

okay, some fiber.

Because that's why you are here.

I felted these scarves up a while back, took pictures not as long ago, but only now am i posting them.  Life is getting KaRayZeeee around here.

Confetti: Merciboo top (merino, bamboo, and silk) and bit's of wool



Beads:  Merciboo top, hand dyed after felting and beaded.



Cowl:  All sorts of fibers, and handmade polymer clay buttons.




And here are a few yarns I've spun up, just for fun! Yup, I spun for fun.  Clearing the mind, don'tchaknow ;)

Purposeful thick and thin




Merino silk blend, spun worsted and fairly fine.  It was supposed to be 3 ply for socks, but oh boy, those would have been some thick socks!  So it's just a nice 2 ply.  I'll try again to spin my own socks, after I take the Getting even class at Fibre Week.




As to my homework, I've finished up 1/2 of the yarn for my final project.  I've chosen this pattern, the Belinda shawl, as I can start knitting over Easter, finish spinning the second yarn when I get home, and knit on!  I still have to type up everything, and put it all together.  I've decided to be a little slack with myself, no point in stressing over it.  It doesn't necessarily need to be in until June 22ish.

Anyway,  Happy Easter, to those who celebrate it, and Happy long weekend to those who don't!

~Kara

Nifty things I've recently learned about

So, of course, along with making yarn, I also use it. Go figure right?  I've been a very basic knitter, and a basic crocheter for years.   I'd love to weave, on a "real" loom, with heedles, and shafts and such, but not yet.

I have however learned a few really cool techniques I hadn't heard of until recently.  First, is knooking!  it's a really cool way for crocheters to get a knit look!  Check out this simple video of the knit stitch:

There is, of course a purl stitch too:

and of course you are going to have to cast on:

I can't wait to try this out!  I suppose first, I'll have to get a crochet hook modified!

And then there's the new (to me) method of the purl stitch, when you're knitting continentally, the Norwegian purl:

I can throw my yarn, and can knit continental, but I think will stick to continental when I figure this move out!  Think about how much quicker it will go!  It will probably convince me to knit more too. 

Alright, I hope this is all helpful to someone else out there! 

~Kara

What's been up..

I've been having fun spinning and crocheting and making a doll (most specifically a poppet)  So here are far to many pictures of wonderful things!!!!!!!!!

These yarns were inspired by a picture posted by Pluckyfluff on her facebook page.  She was plying a core spun with vintage chenille.    I had odd singles and eyelash yarn.  These were my results.





And since spinning the pink one, I've made this hat for my Daughter.   It has a whole bunch of odd singles in it.  I love it!


A friend of mine saw this roving I painted, and said she needed a scarf made out of it.  Here's the whole process.  I spun it "fractally".   Though I didn't split my roving quite right, as the shorter color runs ran out before I ran out of the longer ones!  Oh well, this yarn is still beautiful, and it makes a wonderful scarf :)









And I was in the Fiber Swap on craftster.org and received this wonderful fiber from Zombie Queen.  I spun it up slubby, and it's been turned into Poppet hair and a free form crochet cowlette.







I think for now, I'll leave it at that.    I don't want to explode your computers with to much yarn and craft!!!


~Kara

Art yarn: A topic of discussion.

What makes a yarn art?
Who decides it is art and no longer craft?

IMHO, Just because it is spun thick and thin does not necessarily make it art.  Art is either created with intent, or is a form of expressing emotion or thought.   But even with that being said, even if I spin something creatively, using non traditional methods (traditional as in woolen vs worsted, different types of plies)  does that constitute art?  Or is it just a yarn spun creatively?
I think the term has also become synonymous with poorly spun, and something that would fall apart if you were try to use it traditionally (weaving, knitting, crochet).
I also feel the term is way over used. A quick etsy search for the term brings up  this yarn that is a traditionally spun yarn, with a few different colors and some sparkle.  And far to many like it.  Does this really constitute art?   I think not.
And also this yarn which is waaaaay closer to art, but can still function as traditional yarn.

I've spun the yarn below, but wouldn't call it art.  Yes it has nubs, but overall it's a traditionally spun yarn.



And this, which is more artful, but still not art.  It is a yarn spun creatively.



And this, which is art.  It was spun with intent, to evoke the feeling of summer.



So where is the line?  Is there a line?  is it a thick bold line, or is it blurred and skewed?

Okay, your turn.  Discuss!

~Kara

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 :)

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