Blur

It's amazing to me how I sometimes wake up and realize that a great chunk of time has flown by me. 

The last few days I've been sitting back and taking in the fact that the school year is almost over. At some point this year my little girl learned how to read, and while I remember helping her to learn this skill I still am having a hard time understanding how it happened.

The house -while still not done- is frighteningly close to being ready, and moving is probably right around the corner. I can't tell you how much this intimidates me. I was born in this town and I like living here. Most of my family lives here and soon I'm going to be living an hour away from them. I'm starting to actually get scared about whether or not I'm going to like the new town, whether or not I'm going to like our new house (while I'm generally content to live anywhere as long as the roof doesn't leak, it would be difficult to move from this house -now that it's finally looking so nice- to somewhere else that might not be). I've also begun to worry about forging new friendships. (People in Forks are really an interesting sort and seeing as I don't have a gun rack in the back of my Jeep, I'm not sure of how well I'll be able to fit in.) 

I'm hoping I'll be lucky enough to find another knitter and/or spinner. A partner in woolly crime. That would be awesome. 

Speaking of wool...

 

This skein of yarn is what the moonlit colorway looks like all spun up and Navajo plied. I've really grown fond of this skein and I hope it's new owner enjoys it, too. 

Lately, I've been in desperate need of some "me" spinning time. I think I'm going to be spending the next month (possibly two) just spinning down my stash. Some of it may end up in the shop and then again it might not. I've had several gorgeous bumps of fiber in there that I've been saving just for me and I keep putting them off in favor of spinning yarns for the shop. Now that my stash of "me" fiber has grown past the 3 pound mark I think it's time to set some time aside for getting through it. Besides, the fourth bobbin and lazy kate are here. There aren't any more excuses to wait.

Aside from all that, I've still been spending an evening with my dyepots when I have time. This is a braid of Bacchus in SW BFL, which I started working on this morning. It's another BFL that's making me fall hard. It's soooo soft and drafts so nicely. Even though I do have the Kate now, I've decided to go ahead and Navajo ply this one anyways. I think the coloring will turn out a lot better than with a standard 3 ply. 

 

And finally, this is an extra spicy version of Thelma (in SW merino) which I'm planning on spinning into a standard 3 ply sock yarn for the shop. I think it's going to turn out nice. 

I think I have plenty to keep me busy for a while. Even though I plan on using a lot of my spinning time for myself in the next few months, I'm sure I'll still be adding yarn to the shop once in a while and I'll definitely be adding more fibers (lots and lots, I hope).

I hope everyone going to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival will be enjoying themselves thoroughly (hopefully one day I'll make it that far east) and that everyone goes home with many woolly treasures. =)

P.S. Did I mention I've finished a second Koolhaas?

WIP: Home Edition?

I know it's not fiber, but it will explain why things have been so quiet around here. This is my bathroom.



A few weeks ago my bathroom was hideous. As you can see (and I hope would agree) it now resembles a nice, normal bathroom (if a little messy, still). The only thing we have left to finish in the bathroom is to work on the grout and to hang the new shower curtain rod and the bathroom will finally be done. These last couple of chores should be completed by the end of the weekend and then we will only have to wait to use it until Wednesday when...



the new carpeting is installed!! I am so excited! I've never lived in a home with brand new carpeting in my entire life. Next Wednesday I wont be able to say that anymore. It's a good thing, too. You never know what kind of disasters lurk beneath the old carpet you're pulling up until it's too late, and well, I don't know if I could endure having people over with this vomit-colored vinyl in my house.



Boone doesn't seem to mind the vinyl, but he doesn't mind vomit either.

I'm thankful for this experience, too. We expected new carpeting to be unaffordable for us but found out that it isn't always so bad if you do part of the work yourself. We were able to cut our costs nearly in half by removing the old carpeting and disposing of it ourselves, which was surprisingly easy. My husband and I were able to remove all of the old carpet and padding in two hours and (this next part was especially lucky as there was a special at the dump) we were able to dispose of it for thirteen dollars. We probably saved ourselves around a thousand dollars with 2 hours of relatively easy work and $13. Good deal, no?

I've also been spending a lot more time deep-cleaning and packing up things that we don't often use. So, there has been progress lately, it just hasn't been the woolly sort.

As soon as the new carpeting is done and the house has been put in order, I'm hoping to get back to the wheel and get some more "me" spinning time in, which I am very excited about since I finally ordered a fourth bobbin and a lazy kate. Standard three ply, here I come!!

New Colors!

I've been working away at my dyepots and I have a few new colorways to show for it. The first is my personal favorite...


:bacchus:

And the next 2 colorways are lovely as well...


:sleeping leaves:


:moonlit:

I'm enjoying my dyeing time more now than I have in the past, and I'm thinking that it's because dyeing gets easier the more you practice it, same as anything else (this is not to say that I don't still make an ugh here and there). I'm glad that it's coming along better now, because if I can't enjoy something, I don't do it for very long.

I still need to post about my now-finished Koolhaas (I'm also halfway through knitting a second in black for my husband), but I'll have to save that for next time. Hope everyone's having a good day and Happy Bobmas to Ravelers everywhere! =)

P.S. The rovings in this post have already been listed in my etsy shop.

Update 4.9.09

Just a quick note to say I'll be updating the shop with a few fibers later on this afternoon, and I'll be adding more again in the next couple of days. Today there will be some merino, SW merino and BFL. See you there! =)

WIP: Koolhaas

Most weekend mornings when I get up, I pour myself a cup of coffee, sit down at my wheel and spin until I'm good and ready to get into the shower. This morning, however, I'm enjoying a little change of pace.



It's a Koolhaas in progress and I'm really enjoying this knit. The yarn is Pigeonroof Studios Siren 2 Worsted in Oxblood, which is a much springier yarn than I thought it would be (the twist in this yarn is insanely tight) but it's proving to be a great choice for this pattern on account of it's excellent stitch definition.



Up to now I haven't really been the hat-knitting sort of person, but as I don't get to knit as much as I'd like to these days, I'm growing fonder of patterns that require a little less yarn and can be completed in just a few days.

Another thing I like about this hat is the stitch pattern, which has kept me interested but is still easy to memorize (a perfect combination for me as I lose interest quickly with too-simple patterns and don't have time to work on anything more involved at the moment). This hat has been just the ticket.

I do have one spinning project currently underway, which is a merino roving I've been spinning for the Funky Junkies handspun swap on Ravelry (I expect to finish that one today), then I think I'm going to pull out some hand dyed SW merino in Albatross that I purchased from CMF (I love starting new spinning projects). =)

Oh, and I'm dyeing my way through 4 pounds of fiber for the shop. I'll make a little announcement before the next update.

Spin-A-Long FO

Here's my newest sock yarn, fresh off the wheel.


3 ply handspun BFL sock yarn
fingering weight
approx. 4oz and 415 yards



For some reason I had myself convinced that BFL would not work well as a Navajo-plied yarn, but I had my mind changed by several of the participants in the AllSpunUp spin-a-long on Ravelry who cranked out some seriously beautiful 3 ply yarns. This is one case where I'm glad I was wrong.



This yarn is listed in the shop. Hope everyone's having a safe and fun April fool's Day. =)