Spinning Other People’s Fibers

on June 22, 2007

I realized recently that not only did I not have a stash of spinning fibers, but I had absolutely no fibers dyed by other people. What a shame! I’d see fibers, then think “Ah, I can do that, so I shouldn’t spend the money.” Well, sometimes you just need a treat. Amy and I decided to trade subscriptions to each other’s fiber clubs, so that’s one fiber per month added to my stash. My first month receiving fiber from Amy was May and I finally got to spin it the night before last.

Nightshade colorway, Spunky Eclectic Spunky Club offering, May 2007
Coopworth wool
250 yards/ 4 oz.
sport/DK weight
singles yarn

This is a nice, soft single, as balanced as a single can be: not a hint of a twist to the skein when hung. Here’s some great info on spinning low-twist singles if you’re new to that.

Then I saw batts over at Spritely Goods and needed some of those. Can you blame me?

I started on these last night, spinning one batt into singles as is and splitting another into layers, one dark brown and white, the other brown, and then splitting the layers in two for the other single. I’ll spin the second bobbin in 4 big fat stripes and ply it with the first bobbin. Hopefully, this will result in long, subtle stripes in the finished 2-ply. Will report back on that!

I already have enough handspun brown yarn to combine that with the Nightshade to make a sweater. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for a fiber to go with the Spritely Goods batts. Maybe you can help me figure out where I’ll find the time to knit this all up! Maybe I’ll stop cleaning the house to free up some time. :)

Since I never did post a photo of the Hello Yarn Fiber Club June offering, it’s about time.

Thistle
18 Micron Merino wool top
4 oz.

This stuff is crazy soft! I hope everyone likes it. From now on, I’ll keep the dyes I mix up for the club fibers for a month or so, so that you may order more of a colorway if you like. Email to order and include your full name so I know who you are. This is only for club members.

9 Comments

Shop Overhaul

on June 21, 2007

A LONG overdue upgrade of my shopping cart happened this afternoon. Whew! I tend to ignore the emails I get telling me new versions of things are available until I need to do something that can’t be done because my version is so old. That’s what happened. Someone lovely needed her newsletter shop update warnings back, and since I’d lost my old newsletter when Hello Yarn was summarily booted by its old host (You guys were overloading them!) and every other newsletter service either limited mailings to fewer people than were members or was confusing and expensive, I hemmed and hawed and waited. The only way to get a newsletter built into the shopping cart was to update. It was strenuous but I only broke one nail.

So, without further ado, if you’d like to sign up for shop update warnings and other possibly fun stuff, follow these instructions over at the shop.

In the left column, down a bit, you’ll see the Account Options section:

Click on Account Details. Scroll down and you’ll see this:

Click that little box to opt in, then click Continue. That’s it!

By the time next week’s shop update rolls around, I should have figured out how to actually send the newsletter out. :)

Maybe I’ll try to update my WordPress theme tomorrow! It could be a banner week.

Knitscene:

Did you see the Hello Yarn Dye Kits in the Fall 2007 Knitscene (p.7)? Not only did they say wonderful things about me and the kit, but they paid for the postage and returned the kit and yarn to me, which was the last thing I expected.

There are a couple of really nice things in the magazine, too. The Stag Bag by Nora Gaughan is beautiful, and I love Breton Girl by Kat Coyle. The Seaweed Sweater CRACKS ME UP, though. Oh, my gosh, the 80’s attack. I’m officially old, huh?

6 Comments

Book Knitting

on June 20, 2007

Over the last year or so, I’ve done some pattern designing on the sly. It’s awful not being able to show what I was knitting here. I’ve grown so used to it! FINALLY, there’s a photo I can show.

You may recognize the black sweater on the cover from way back when. It’s revamped in Peace Fleece in a gazillion sizes with a brand new, extra menacing skull. I can’t even tell you how excited I am to get the cover.

To Amazon.com! It’s still four months away from release, but don’t let that stop you. :)

The Knitter’s Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn by Clara Parkes is another book I designed patterns for. This is going to be a super interesting book that explores fibers, yarn construction, yarn weights, etc., and provides patterns for each type/style of yarn.

I’ve also got some stuff in Larissa and Martin’s Knit-Along(link to the blog), but that’s not on Amazon yet. Hurry up, Amazon!

I really lucked out with these jobs. With the exception of the SNB sweater (Debbie knew exactly what she wanted as far as the design went. I did get to choose the Peace Fleece and was very happy to be allowed to use a small company’s yarn.), I was given so much freedom with designs and got to do some crazy modern takes on traditional stuff. Many thanks to the authors.

Shop Update:

The next shop update will be next Tuesday, the 26th, at 2 pm EST. Sarah’s sending tons of stuff, and I’ve been dyeing, dyeing, dyeing.

After dyeing up a bunch of the BFL laceweight yarn in semi-solids, I got to wondering if anyone was interested in semi-solid sock yarns. Speak up and I’ll dye some for the update to see how it sells. thanks!

37 Comments