whoa.

I just bought a Fancy Kitty.   A Kitten drum carder, to be exact.  wow.  I've been saving my pennies and finally had enough, so I did it.  I'm excited. and in shock.  I thought it would never happen. and now it should be here in a week or two.  wow.

O.O

~Kara

The Give Away!!

I'm done spinning nearly all my samples for the course!!  3 more 10 yard samples to go, then my final project, which is either moon socks or chimera mittens.  I'll make both and see which I like better.  I also have to put all the paper work together, and put it in my accordion folder, but I'm sooo close.  Not on my goal of March 1st at all,  but I'll be done by the end of March, which is great!  So what does this mean for you?

It's here, it's here, it's here!!  The give away is here!!  Yay free stuff!!

22g of beautiful silk Muwata, dyed by myself, inspired by my shells pin on pinterest.

How to enter:

Step 1:  Become a follower! If you follow already, yay!  And thanks!

Step 2:  Leave a comment!

Step 3: 1 extra entry for each: tweet and facebook share.  Please come back and comment that you did so!

This will give you 3 chances at these Muwata!  

Knitters & Crocheters!  This isn't just for spinners!  Check out how you can knit with these here:  http://youtu.be/stSgvbrcygA

This contest runs from February 24th- March 2nd at 6pm cst.  The Random number generator will choose a comment!  Good Luck!

~Kara

GIVE AWAY CLOSED!  THE WINNER IS JENNIFER BEAMER!  Check out the action here.

Fun I've been up to

So yesterday was the bazaar in town!  I'll have to say I had a really good day, despite it being quite slow.  But I had fun.  And the folks who did come got to see me in action, as I took my spinning wheel with me.  I gave mini history lessons on spinning and how the world wouldn't be what it was today had someone not noticed you could make wool into thread.  And of course I was asked (a few times) "You know you can buy yarn from a store, right?"  ::)  Where is the fun in that though? Truth is I much prefer the making of the yarn then using it.  I can, and I do, but it's so much more fun to spin!  I was happy to see some men take interest in the wheel too, though I think they were more interested in its mechanics, then the yarn that came out of it!

I've also completed the spinning of my breed study!  Yay!!  That means I can spend a little time with the dye today, after I make a cheesecake tho.  I will get this cheesecake thing right eventually..... Especially for the sake of my husband.  He did clean and de-clutter the kitchen.

~Kara

Getting stoked for level 2!

I was checking out the Level 2 Master Spinners class overview, and I saw that we get to learn how to spin on a Navajo spindle.  So off to Google I go, and I found this video of a Navajo Master Weaver Clara Sherman.  It's awe inspiring.  She's so amazing.  Maybe one day I'll be that good at spinning...

~Kara

P.S.  I still plan on dyeing up some hankies this week!  6 more swatches to knit then I can play with the dye :D

Almost done the breed study!

Sooooo close to be done the big study assignment,  the Breed Study! I washed the last fleece yesterday.  Once i'm completely done, I'm taking a day to play with acid dye.  And with that I'll be doing a give away of some hand dyed silk hankies!
I'll be pulling inspiration from my Color Inspiration Pin board on Pinterest.  So if you see something on there that you'd love as a colorway in silk hankies post a comment with which you like.  Maybe I'll choose your favorite colors!

~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

Hiccups and Happenings

Well, I would say using the Of Mice and Men quote has cursed me.... Or something along those lines.
There were a few weather days last week where I had the oldest home to, so I needed to entertain 3 instead of 2.
I've gone and signed up for a craft/small business Bazaar, that is in mid February.  Which I've been felting up a few scarves and cowls, and have plans for more felting...
I've gone to a conference that took an entire day.  It was on Children and Behavior.  It was brilliant.
And of course the Flu, that you all heard of already.

But what does this mean of my homework?  It means my homework has not completely stopped, but slowed down.    Which is terribly sad.  Though I'm happy to say that I've gotten 6/10 breeds done. Here's my "Organizational system".  I still hope to have all my homework done by March 1st.  I can do it!  Can't I?


I've also got another side by side shot, again of two very different fibers.  Shetland and Southdown.  It's basically the exact same illustration as the last time, but it continues to amaze me!



And finally, my wonderful, amazing, fabulous sister bought me 2 books for Christmas.  Unfortunately, they were both books that were to be released this January!   They both finally came!  I also borrowed the Fleece and Fiber Source book from the library. So, here is my reading for the next little while.  



So, that's what I've been up to.  Off to spin up some more glorious Shetland!

~Kara