More of my handspun...

Some of my recently spun yarns:

This one was a gorgeous batt from Copperpot Woolies, part of her "The Good Stuff" range:


Hand-dyed by me. Originally pencil roving and spun to a chunky single. Stupidly did not make a note of the fiber content, but I am pretty sure it was soy-silk:


Originally a batt from SplitRock Ranch, the batt was 3oz of 50% Wool Top, 20% Mohair, 20% Tencel, 10% Tussah Silk. Gorgeous!





"Eclipse" colorway, Romney fiber from Spunky's fiber of the month club. I had a double dose of 8 oz, spun both as chunky singles. Used 4 oz to make "Bag for Sophie" and still have 4oz in stash:



Another one of Spunky's fiber club offerings. This one is in colorway "Acadia", and is Finn. It became the "Herringbone Wrap."

In my defense, it has been a busy year!

I knew I had completely neglected my blog, but had no idea it was a year since I had posted! And whew, what a year it has been! I stopped posting soon after moving from the UK to the USA. That was quite the adventure, and with pretty much starting anew here, working full time, and starting on my Masters degree, I have been very busy!

We are due to move house again at the end of the week (still staying in Arizona, just a different part of the city), but I plan to spend more time updating my blog. No more neglect!!

So let me start by posting my latest FO. I got a gorgeous batt from Butterfly Girl Designs. It was 3oz of 60% merino, 30% bamboo, 10% nylon firestar. Truly gorgeous, soft, and squooshy:


Which became:



It then became the Darkside Cowl:




It was actually made for me, but I have a ready and willing model in DS, so he is kindly demonstrating finished item. This was a fast and fun project. The firestar in the yarn makes it appear like it might be a bit rough or scratchy, but the merino and bamboo are actually super soft. Love it.

Sorry for the lengthy absence...

I have just been so busy! The biggy news, I got a beeeoootifoool spinning wheel from Santa! It is an Ashford Traveller with double treadle, and I just love it! Haven't gotten around to taking a pic of it yet, but will do so soon and get it uploaded.

I have spun up a few skeins of yarn now, and overall am very happy with them! These pictures are of Romney in colorway "goblin eyes", the october fiber from the spunky fiber club. I am so in love with spunky's fibers. I love that every month we get not only a radically different color to previous months, but the fiber is different too! Having the opportunity to try new fibers and new colors is just so important with spinning, as I have quickly learned that the finished yarn often bears little resemblance to the roving! This is a picture of the roving:


Single on the bobbin:

2ply skeined:

December's colorway was a very bright "party dress", fiber is Corriedale.
I basically got two skeins from the roving. The first is red plied with green:


The second is green plied with turqoise:


I don't think there is a spinner on the planet who doesn't buy from Spunky, but just in case you happen to be one!! check out her website here. She truly created works of art in her fiber, the colors are always just beautiful. She also has a blog here which I have found so useful as a new spinner. There are a few tutorials as well as some free patterns etc.

New Drop Spindle

Yesterday we visited Kathy from Unique Designs by Kathy at her shop in Tucson, Arizona. What a fabulous time I had! The shop is adjacent to her home, which meant that she was able to show us around introducing her animals, whose fibre she sells in her shop both as handspun yarn and roving. We met her llamas, sheep and goats, who all seemed so happy and content there. It was great to be able to "put a face" (so to speak!) to the fiber in the shop.

She then showed me her work in the shop. There were beautiful wet felted pieces in the form of bowls, hats, bags and landscapes to hang on the wall (check out her website here for some pictures of what she sells), as well as knitted items, and of course the yarn and roving. Kathy is just so friendly and helpful, I am a new spinner and I learned so much from her in our short trip yesterday! She also sells a line of handspun yarns that she calls "hidden treasures" Wow! (see pictures on her blog here, although they don't do the yarn justice! Has nothing to do with Kathy's photos, you just can't capture in a picture the textures, colors and beauty of these yarns). There is a mix of fibers in there for a textured effect, including ribbons, and then periodically there are beads, buttons, feathers etc. Truly wonderful works of art. I felt so inspired being around her store and seeing her work.

I bought a GORGEOUS new drop spindle from her. It was made by a gentleman from Kundert Spindles, and I am just ecstatic over it! It is Maple, with accents of Red cedar, Maple and Bloodwood on the whorl. It is truly a beautiful piece of art, and was hand turned to create such a well balanced spindle. The one I was previously using was a homemade DIY job, which worked well, but oh my gosh! After using this new spindle last night, I could never use anything else again! The quality of what I was spinning increased ten-fold and it was such a pleasure to use! I feel like a real spinner now!


I also bought roving from Kathy. The brown and black in it is from her llama, then I think she said the colored fiber was Shetland. It also has some angel tinsel through it. I started spinning it last night, and am really pleased with how it is turning out. It looks silvery grey, with flecks of the tinsel shimmer, then tweedy bits of orange and white.



What a cutie model demonstrating my new spindle:


As a note, if you happen to be around Tucson, Arizona on Saturday 3rd November, Kathy has organized the "Tucson Wool Festival 2007" to be held on her property.

Apologies...

OK so first of all apologies that I seemed to have fallen off the face of the planet! In actual fact we made the move from UK to Arizona on 27th Sept, and it has taken me a while to get sorted out and find the time to take pictures etc! I have had very little time to knit or do anything that could be classed as "me time" (inevitable I think with so much going on), but I do have a few things to show you...

Firstly I have started spinning my BFL in "Embers" colorway from Yarn Yard. *Remember I am a new spinner!!* Because I am a newbie it is slubby, but I am really pleased with the results, and the colors are gorgeous! I am not sure what the wpi are yet.


I also received my first package from spunky fiber club, and it is just so gorgeous! Just truly, beautiful, and so shiny! It is 2 ounces of Superwash Merino Tencel in "Aspen" colourway, apparently inspired by "the Yellow Aspens, the big teal blue sky and the large mountains [with] snow caps". Can't wait for my new kit to arrive!

Embers roving

As mentioned in a previous post, I am a total newbie to spinning. I have so far only spun some of the Shetland roving which I bought to practice on. I recently received an email from Natalie at the Yarn Yard saying that she was updating stock. I decided to treat myself to some pretty roving, and fell in love with some BFL in the "embers" colourway:

It is my first purchase from the Yarn Yard, and I am over the moon. She is based in Scotland, and does some beautiful work. I was at a Stitch N'Bitch last night, and there was a lady there knitting socks from Yarn Yard yarn. She is a member of their sock club, and it was the latest colourway in pinks and yellows. Really nice.

Will try to get some spun up and a picture posted. Am a bit nervous that I am gonna make a big mess of it seeing as I am such a novice, but at the same time can't wait to get on making some pretty yarn!