A New Spinner Is Born

Hi everyone out there in Cyberland.  What a great day it is.

You know, it is always hard for me to write up a blog post. Especially since I have not blogged on a very regular basis in such a long time.  I need to work on remedying that. So my posts won't feel so clumsy when I type them up.  Maybe that will be a goal in the upcoming year.

But today I'm not going to talk about goals though. I've been having fun with my Christmas present from my hubby.  This year he gave me a spinning wheel. Yay!

I've been wanting one and just couldn't see myself investing that much money into a wheel when I knew nothing about spinning. So a while back I did invest in a spindle and some fiber and started spinning on my spindle.

Well, I was out doing some searches one day and found a very affordable beginner spinning wheel.  I forwarded the link to hubby, and what do you know, he gave it to me for Christmas.

It is absolutely gorgeous! It's the BlueBonnet BumbleeBee, from BlueBonnett Spinning Wheels.  A beginner wheel, perfect for a beginner like me.

So I've been practicing with the fiber I haven't spun on the spindle yet.  It will take me awhile to get a good feel for the wheel and what to do and how to get better at spinning but that's fine.  I know this will take me some time to do. But in the meantime I'm having fun with it.  The fiber is Ewephoric Fibers that I purchased way back in the spring when I went to the Carolina FiberFest.

Look at this picture I snapped last night.  it's the fiber spun up on my spindle and the same fiber spun on my new wheel. Not much as far as yardage goes. A thick and thin ratio.  But it will make a lovely accent for something wonderful.  I did purchase some worsted weight, dark blue Berroco Vintage to make hats and gloves or maybe a cowl and I want to use this as an accent to that blue. It'll be great.

Even though I haven't been spinning long, I can already tell that I'm going to love it.  I think it's safe to say, a new spinner is born!

A New First

I have a new first!  My very first handspun skein of yarn!

Can you believe it?!  It's not perfect but I love it. Very thin and then chunky in places!  Still, it's my first!

I'm already thinking of what projects I want to use for this

The roving was 1 oz of an 80% Merino 20% Tussah Silk.  It spun up nice and quick.  And I think I was starting to get the feel for the process there at the end. I spun using the drop spindle I purchased from LaTeaDa Designs a few years ago.

I'm really excited to use this now.  But first it's in the finishing process (wash and dry to set the spin {I'm learning so much!}).  Even though it's not ready for knitting yet, I can start contemplating what I want to use it with.  I only got roughly 45 yards.  For my first try, I was impressed I got that much.  So do I make a small critter like the Bluebird of Happiness, or use it as an accent on a hat or shawl? Decisions...

Dying with Kool-Aid

Last year, I decided I wanted to give my hand a try at dying yarn.  I'd been seeing a lot of craft projects worked up with hand-dyed yarn and thought it looked so amazing.  The trouble with this plan is 1) I'd never dyed yarn and had no clue what to do and 2) Little fingers getting into the dye and getting hurt.  But then I saw where people had dyed yarn using Kool-Aid.  You know that drink from your childhood.  So I thought, Awesome!  This is something I can try and it's non-toxic.

So I did.

Here's the process I used to Kool-Aid dye two skeins of Debbie Stoller's Full 'O Sheep 100% Natural Wool (colorway Little Lamb).

Tools Needed: 100% Natural Wool, Packages of Kool-Aid in color choice(s), Pan, Pot, Water, & Space for drying

First: Unravel you're yarn and tie loosely.  This will allow the dye to reach all the yarn.

Second: Pull out your Kool-Aid packages.  I used two packs of Black Cherry and two packs of Lemonaide. (I had kind of tie-dyed effect with the yarn, where the color is lighter in areas.  Next time I will use more Kool-Aid for a stronger, and hopefully more even, dying.)

Third: Soak your yarn in a very luke warm water bath.  If the water is too hot it could start to felt and you don't want that.

Fourth: While you're yarn is soaking, you want all the yarn to get good and saturated, fill a pot with water and let that water start to warm on the stove.

Fifth: Just before the water starts to boil, remove from heat and drop in your Kool-Aid packs and give it a stir.

Sixth: Gently place your presoaked yarn in the Kool-Aid water.  Stir gently around to help the dye reach all the nooks and cranies of the yarn or just swirl around to help create a kind of tie-dyed effect.  Becareful not to cause too much agitation however, because you do not want to felt the yarn.

Seventh: Let your yarn sit in the water.  The yarn will start to absorb the dye from the water, and you will see you're yarn become colorful.

Eighth: Once the yarn has cooled and absorbed all the dye, remove from the pans and place in a fresh pan of water, roughly the same temperature as the yarn. Rinse the yarn (You can use a mild soap to wash the yarn.).

Ninth: Once your yarn is rinsed, gently wring it out to get as much excess water out of the yarn as you can.  Then hang you're yarn and allow it to dry.

Tenth: Roll, wind or ball your Kool-Aid dyed yarn and use!

There are a lot of great tutorials online for dying with Kool-Aid. Just Google How to Dye Yarn with Kool-Aid and you'll get about 1,250,000 results.  I read many of these tutorials and watched some YouTube videos and thought, this is something I can do.

And it really was that easy.

10 in 2010 ~ Knitted

I know I haven't posted in like a super duper long time.  I can't believe how crazy busy I have been.  Seems like I have been on the go nonstop since September. But the holiday season is almost over.  Just waiting on that New Year to pop on in and then things might settle down for a few.  One can hope right?!

Anyways, I thought I would write up a few year end posts.  Since I signed up for the 10 in 2010 challange on Raverly I figured I'd start there.  First thing I wanted to do with this challenge is take my knitting to the next level, maybe even do some personal designing and just hone some skills.  Secondly, I wanted to learn to crochet.  I've tried to crochet in the past but never could get past the chaining stage. So with those two goals in mind, here goes my first 10 in 2010 post. (The pattern links are to Raverly.  If you're not a member sign on up.  It's a great community and membership is free.)

10 in 2010 ~ Knitted

First, I tried my hand at jewerly.  A very simple necklace worked up using the I-cord pattern and Needle Loft canvas yarn. I was inspired to try this after doing some Etsy searches and seeing some of the handmade jewerly.

Second, I worked myself up some very comfy and warm slipper socks using my Knifty Knitter Loom.  This was my first loom project. And, so far, my last.  I haven't used the loom again since making these.  Guess I should pull the loom back out and work something up on it.

One of my next projects is a bit of tricky project.  It started out as something completely different than what it ended up being.  Sadly, this is the only photo I currently have this project.  I need to take a new photo and when I finally get one taken I'll update the post.  But what this ended up being is a poncho.  I've worn it a few times and folks seem to like it.  Well, at least they tell me they do. This is one of those personal designs I mentioned earlier.  Since I completely changed direction with this project halfway into it, I made the second half up as I went along and VIOLA! a new design is born.  But it's not perfected by any means.  Needs a lot of tweeking.  But I have thought about working on that by making a second. Maybe in 2011.

Another personal design.  I call it Gray Day Shawlette.  It's very warm and I want to work out some of the kinks in this one as well.

The Wham Bam Thank You Lamb cowl. Sadly, I wasn't crazy about how this turned out.  Could have been the yarn or the fact that I used a larger size needle.  Regardless, I still think I like the pattern and will work this up again.  My goal with this one was bust some stash, and in that regard, I did acheive my objective.

Next up, another personal design.  This is a small satchel I knitted for my mom for Mother's Day.

I was asked by a super, sweet little boy to knit him a 'water blue' scarf.  So that's what I did.  This was knitted up just using the basic garter stitch and holding two strands of Knit Picks Shine Sport yarn together.  If I've never mentioned this before, I love Knit Picks!  They are awesomesauce.  Their yarn is very reasonably priced and goodness gracious but I've fallen in love with their Harmony Needles.

The Black Widow Headband.  This was totally not the right yarn choice for this headband.  Way to small.  But I like the design and hopefully will bust some stash up next year and try it again.

Another stash busting project - The Log Cabin Washcloth.  I plan to make many more of these.  Not only did it bust some stash, but helped me learn the skill of picking up stitches.  I highly recommend this pattern.

This was a fabulously fun and funky project.  It's called the Fabulous Funky Fringe Scarf.  I actually purchased this pattern (and yarn Karabella Vintage Cotton) through my LYS (Local Yarn Store). I spied one they'd knitted up and had on display and after seeing it a few times while attending knit night, I decided I needed one.  I wore this to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert and loved it. Well, loved the scarf and the show.  I actually love this pattern and yarn so much I purchased some in black and plan to do a black and pearl scarf next year.  While working this pattern was also the first time I usesd Hiya-Hiya Bamboo Needles.  These were a pleasure to work with. I do recommend this needle as well.

So that is a total of 10 knitted projects.  However, that is not all of my 2010 pojects.  So here a few more completed projects for the last year.

My first in-the-round project- The Honey Cowl.  This one took me awhile to figure out.  I kept twisting my stitches and basically ended up knitting this cowl twice. It was a big lesson learned. On to a mini-rant concerning this project, the yarn I used was an acrylic yarn, James C. Brett Marble Chunky.  I saw it at my LYS and loved the colors.  I thought it would make a very nice, cozy cowl for the autumn months.  And for the amount of yardage in one skein the price is actually very decent. Only, halfway through my skein of yarn the ply changed (It was a two-ply chunky yarn).  Instead of being plyed with the same color, it was now plyed to two different colors.  Now, had the entire skein been plyed this way and my cowl been knitted in this fashion it wouldn't have been an issue.  But since I was halfway through my project this change really stands out.  I wasn't happy with this.  However, I do LOVE this cowl and this pattern.  I used the mid-size cast on.  I will knit this again and use the large size and a solid color yarn.

Another personal design.  This one turned out so much lovelier than I thought it was going to.  I found some Cascade Pearls Yarn on sale at my LYS, and I loved the colors and the uniqueness of the yarn.  It is a blend of cotton and rayon. I knitted the body of the caplet with two strands of the Cascade yarn held together and it has such a lovely drape and springiness to it. The collar is Bergere de France Teddy yarn.  It really made the finished object what it is.  I just love it.  Too bad, my daughter didn't love it as much.  She gets mad at it when she wears it.

And yet another personal design.  I call this the Half-Way Wrong-Way Cowl.  Simply because I messed up half way through the cowl and started knitting backward.  but it worked out great because it gave the front of the cowl some extra bulk and makes the buttons stand out.

Can you guess?  Yep!  Another personal design.  Not only did I work this up in my little brain, but I also dyed the yarn.  I plan another blog post to detail that funness.  The purse is really cute, but I think it is a more spring time purse so it's waiting patiently for spring to arrive.

One final project that I knitted in 2010 is the Pandora Scarf from the One-Skein Wonders book.  I have not taken a photo of the finished project yet.  But I knitted this one up using Ella Rae Bamboo Silk yarn.  It is much smaller than the pattern calls for.  I wear it as decoration more than anything else.

Yikes!  I almost forgot the South Park hat I knitted up for a friend of mine's little 9 month old baby.  I didn't have a pattern so I had to wing it with the hat.  And as luck would have it... No time to take photos of it.  It got wrapped up and placed under the tree before I could even think photo.  So maybe one day I'll get a photo of him wearing it.

Wow.  I think that does it for finished knitting projects in 2010.  Maybe I'll start a post of unfinished projects one day soon.  But for now, I think this will wrap up this post.  It's already ubber long.

A Quick Update

It's been awhile since I posted so I thought I'd jump right out here and do that. I don't have much time to spare so today will be a quick post and then I'll follow up it up with a longer post later.

First is an update on the eBay auctions. I won two and lost one.

Pity really on the one I lost. It was a steal of deal on that yarn - 10 skeins of Suss Yarn 100% cotton. I could have gotten into a bidding war over it, but I'd decided that I wouldn't. I told myself when I placed my bid, if the price went above that then I wasn't meant to have that yarn and of course it did like I knew it would. Guess I knew when I placed the bid that I didn't really need it, or I would have upped my bid. Because, seriously, that was a steal for that yarn.

The second auction however, I set my price fair and again knew that I would not go over that price. Of course that was the auction someone came in and started bidding against me on. Fortunately, they realized that the price was a fair price once it hit my max bid and did not go any higher. So even though I did not get a steal, I got a gorgeous yarn for a very fair price. Plus the shipping on this auction wasn't crazy high like most auctions are on eBay these days.

Speaking of eBay, is it me, or have sellers gone totally crazy on eBay?!

I mean, honestly, some of the items and prices I see make me stop and think. I've come up with only two solutions. Either these people have gone crazy. Or they really love their junk! It's a very rare thing these days to actually find a bargain.

All right. I have to go folks. Duty calls. Talk to ya!

It's Just A Phase, Really!

The other day I told my hubby, C$, that I was going to buy some yarn for a project. It's going to be a simply 2x2 ribbed scarf for my friend's little boy. So he said to "Go for it". So that's what I did. I went out in search of the perfect, water blue yarn. And how I did that was Google Water Blue Yarn. I couldn't find a yarn that was exactly labeled as Water Blue, but I did find several yarns that were in the same water family. I finally ended up ordering Knit Picks' Shine Sport River Blue yarn. Which arrived the other day and is absolutely gorgeous. So soft and light weight, I believe it will be a treat to work with.

But because I loved the yarn so much and Knit Picks' prices are so reasonable, I told C$ that I really wished I'd ordered more yarn. He told me to go out and get what I needed. Well, need is a realative term. Because do I really need more yarn... Well, yes I did, but did I need it right then... maybe not. But that didn't stop me. I hightailed it right back out there and ordered more more more yarn. To my defense, the bulk of what I ordered is for another promised scarf. But I did order me up a little something special though.

When this new shipment of yarn arrived I was in heaven. It is so gorgeous! Even more so than the images on the website. I'm ultra excited about using this yarn.

Now, I have to stop here and go back a little ways in time. See, this wasn't the first yarn I've bought. I'd gone on another yarn shopping spree very recently where I bought yarn to coordinate to some fabric I'd bought to knit/sew a few sundresses for my daughter. So that was a total of 3 other skiens of yarn.

In total, in the last month, I've purchased 15 skiens of yarn. Yikes! I know, I know. Right?! I'm crazy. I have so many projects all bubbling up in my head that I want to work on them all right now! But I can't. I only have so many hours- Ha! Did I just say hours? I mean minutes in the day that I can actually sit down and work on a project.

So what in the blue blazes was I thinking this morning when I went to eBay? To look at yarn? And then actually bid? On not one but three (3!) different auctions for yarn?

Holy hell! What am I going to do with that yarn?!

I've already won one auction this morning. The other two are up in a couple of days. My bids on those two are not that high, so we'll see if I win. But I want to win. The colors are so awesome!

Seriously though. This is not an addiction. I swear that it is not. It's a phase. I seem to go through them ever so often where I have to buy yarn. I just have to. The more the better. Someone mentioned on Facebook the other day in realation to a friend's comment that you can never have too much stash. And that's my story today. You can never have too much in your stash!