Surrender

Here is my latest handspun...



::Surrender Colorway::
3 ply Handspun Merino Sock Yarn
4oz and 485 yards
fingering weight/Navajo plied

This one was wonderful to spin, though I spun it very fine and my single snapped on me a couple of times when I was plying. That doesn't happen often but when it does it's a pain in the arse. I spliced the snapped ends back together and kept plying so the yarn is a sound and sturdy continuous strand, though I listed it in the shop with a slightly reduced price. Here are a few other goodies that were listed-



::Hand dyed merino in the Toad colorway::


::Hand dyed merino in the Mountain colorway:

There were also a couple of shipwrecked (only one left now, I think) and a new one called Crocus that is a girly blend of greens, blues and purple. I think, for this batch of roving Toad was my favorite.

I have more fiber ordered (merino, SW merino & BFL) and it should be here in a few days, then it'll be time to start dyeing again !!

Thelma and Louise

Here are a couple of new colorways. Actually, they're more like two different takes on the same colorway. The first is Thelma, which is a little more vibrant.



And the second is Louise, which is much more subdued.



I'm not sure how repeats of these will turn out but I did take notes so it's at least a possibility. I already have these, along with another braid of Surrender listed in the shop and I'm almost through with spinning the Surrender that's currently on the wheel.

My next spinning project will be a braid of Funky Carolina fiber for the Funky Junkies Handspun Swap on Ravelry. After that I'll be spinning more yarns for the shop. In the mean time I'll be listing more fibers, so keep a look out for yummy new colorways. =)

Shipwrecked

Here is the first of my repeatable colorway rovings all spun up. This one is the Shipwrecked colorway, and I love it. I really thought hard about keeping this one, but decided that I've got too much going on to knit with it right now. It was a hard choice, too. It would have made a beautiful 1x1 rib -2 row striped scarf if paired with



the Pigeonroof Circe Sock in Black Walnut I just bought from a fellow raveler's destash. I guess I'll just have to dye and spin another for myself in the future. =)



100% merino
Approx. 3.9oz and 460 yards
Fingering Weight
Navajo (chain) plied



Next up: The Surrender colorway. It's on the wheel right now. =)

Yarn Love & Dyeing Success

This one's fresh from the wheel and he's a keeper...



It's 4.2 oz and 475 yards of the smooshiest 3 ply merino sock yarn I have ever spun. Seriously, this skein is very plump and lovable. The hand-dyed merino came from AllSpunUp and was such a treat to spin.

Also, I spent part of the morning dyeing up a pound of roving, and my time was not wasted. Every single one of these rovings came out lovely and all of them will be listed in the shop this weekend (I'll be getting them up as soon as they're dry, braided and photographed).




I'm super happy with the results, and even happier still, because I was able to repeat all three of the rovings from my last post. So, I'm going to keep working on some new colorways (as well as some old ones) and I'll be doing my best to have at least a few standard colorways available each time I update my shop. I hope I'll get to see these guys off to good homes soon!

Repeats

This morning I braved the chill and still-falling snow to go out and take pictures of a few of the rovings I dyed up this weekend. These three are my favorite and I've decided to keep them and spin them up for myself. Depending on how attached I become to them, I may or may not add them to the shop (I know, it's kind of selfish).


:surrender colorway:

At least this time I payed careful attention and took really good notes while creating them so I should (in theory) be able to repeat these three. Also, as much as I love kettle-dyed rovings I'm trying to get away from doing them because so many of them seem impossible to repeat. I'd like to start having some of my own colorways that I can repeat for customers so they can still get a braid of something they like even if they missed out on it, or so they can get another if they'd like to pursue a larger project.


:shipwrecked colorway:

I should be dyeing some more rovings in a few days (trying to do some repeats) and I do plan on adding those to the shop. So, if you see one of these and plan on hunting for them keep your eyes on the shop this weekend.

:night song colorway (though I'm still revising this one):

P.S. That's not fuzz on the last one. It's snow.

Embarrasing behavior...

In my last post I mentioned something about having dyed up some nice rovings and that I'd post again with pictures as soon as they were dry. I've been trying to make a post for the last couple of days and for some reason, it wouldn't work. Tonight it's finally cooperating, so here are a couple of my favorites.



This one is lovely plain merino. I was trying for something else when I did this one and it came out very different from what I was aiming for, though I think I like it even more. the colors are just so pretty and girlie.



And here is my favorite of the SW merino/alpaca blends I put in my shop (gone already). I love the way this one came out. I can just envision how stunning this one would be as a 3 ply sock yarn.



On a different note, I fell off the wagon bad this week. At the beginning of this year, I made a deal with myself (and my husband) that I would have to earn my hand-dyed braids of fiber by losing weight. Well, I cheated. Twice.

The first cheat was kind of small. My excuse was that it was okay because it was for the AllSpunUp Ravelry Spin-A-Long, and I always participate. So I bought one braid for the spin-a-long.

The second cheat happened last night. I was fiddling around on Etsy and I noticed that Kristin was just listing fibers in her shop. I was looking through them with the intention of admiring them (just admiring them) when I saw one that absolutely had to be mine....

I was checking out with it before I new what was happening. Shame on me. I hope I can snap out of it and regain some self control.

Also, I've finished knitting the baby cardigan for my sister-in-law's baby boy (still not born yet, I think he might turn out a bit stubborn) though I haven't finished sewing it up yet. Did I mention that I also have a pair of socks that have been sitting around for well over a month now, completely done except for one toe?

What I really need right now is a nice long weekend to sit quietly, and finish stuff. I've been hearing a rumor for the last day or so that we're supposed to get more snow. I know it's wrong to think this way, but all this unfinished stuff is making me hope we actually get it.