March 22 shop update!

3.22.11 update preview, originally uploaded by cloudlover69.

I know, it's been a while. Too long, in fact. I do have a post planned to (kind of) explain where I've been and what I've been up to, but in the mean time- here is the next shop update preview! These lovelies will be going live in my BigCartel shop on Tuesday, March 22 at 2PM CST.

I also wanted to let you all know that 15% of all my sales made during March will be donated to the Red Cross and their efforts to help Japan recover from the tsunami. In addition, 100% of all profits from my Sakura colorway (which will be listed in the upcoming update) will be donated as well.

Shop update 10/18 at 2PM CST

shop update 10/18 at 2PM CST, originally uploaded by cloudlover69.

It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm adding these and MANY more lovely fibers to the BigCartel shop at 2PM CST on Monday, October 18.

There will be two NEW base fiber blends available, both are superwash: one is 70% merino, 20% cashmere and 10% silk and the other is 50% silk, 30% merino and 20% sea cell. They are both amazingly soft and a real treat to spin!

9/2 Shop update preview!

These are some of the pretties that will be going up in the shop Thursday, September 2 at 2PM CST!

For the love of Rambouillet

Yes, I'm still alive and well, despite what this blog might lead you to believe. In fact, it must take something special to make me come back after all this time, no?

A few weeks ago, I bought 30 pounds of Rambouillet top. Even though I have miscellaneous Rambouillet fibers lying around (some handpainted top, some fleece) I haven't actually worked with any of it until now. I am sorry I waited so long! This stuff is magical. It's got the softness of merino (I think it's even softer, actually) but it is much, much fluffier. I'm not sure what exactly it is that makes it so easy to spin, but this stuff just leaves my hand and turns into yarn as if it was enchanted. I can spin this fiber long-draw style straight from the un-predrafted top. Seriously. I think that says something. The result is the squishiest, softest, springiest yarn I've ever spun. I can only imagine what divine handspun socks it would make...

Anyway, I sold the first yarn I spun out of the first batch of fiber I dyed, but I'm working on another. This is my new favorite colorway too, I might add- Hanging Gardens:


I've got some for sale in my shop, and I plan to make this a regularly stocked fiber. But you'll have to convince me to list it for you and not hoard it all for myself first!

Look, I'm spinning!

It's been really hard to maintain a balanced schedule between work and the fiber biz. I loathe getting home at 6 and having only 4 hours in which to make dinner, take care of the animals, catch up on Etsy stuff, list items, and then hopefully card batts or spin before it's time for bed. Sticking to a shipping schedule frees up time, but not enough! I blame the day job ;)

Anyway, I managed to finish a few yarns this week. Here are two of my favorites:

"Märchengarten", my new favorite colorway, spun into a Falkland single!


"Cupid & Psyche", spun from batts carded by Hobbledehoy! I spun this one thick and thin and added little squishy coils here and there.

And as long as I've got spring on my mind, despite the fresh blanket of snow outside, here's a pic of Mr. Bun!

I can't wait until it's nice enough to let him romp around in the yard!

buried in wool

It's a great place to be, really. I'm almost through the 20+ pounds of roving I ordered a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to have to buy a whole bump next time, and replenish dyes soon too. So I guess my business experiment is going well. I don't think I'll sell it all in a month, but I'll at least "produce" it all in that time. I've found a lot of ways to streamline all the little processes, from fiber prep to shipping. I just wish I wasn't bogged down by a day job. I keep thinking about the endless possibilities, but those possibilities more bandwidth than I have to spare.

Here is the latest batch of rovings:


I've been buying a LOT more of other artists' fiber lately; something I thought I could curb by producing more of my own, but being surrounded more by my own stuff makes me crave something different and new. I've been trying to spin lots more, but it comes in fits and starts.

This is probably the best yarn in the world, spun from Hobbledehoy batts- I call it "Waves Become Wings":


And this is "Aeroplane Flies High" from my handpainted roving:


That's all for now! I've got to try to catch up on some sleep :)

back to it

A week ago, I got back from vacation. This pretty much sums it up:



But if you'd like to see more, they're on my Flickr account. Gratuitous greenery! The BF and I visited one of his old classmates who now lives on small farm and has plans to flesh it out and make it fully sustainable over the next couple of years. I got to spin outside under a giant tree with hummingbirds flitting around and big ol' farm cats flopped about on the grass. Yeah, it's kind of a wonder I'm back in Chicago. I don't know how well I'd handle country living, but I'm getting closer and closer to making the jump and trying it out. But I don't want to work. I just want to retire to a full time spinster at age 25. Wishful thinking, eh? I don't think I can afford a farm AND student loans on a spinster's income. Rats.

I did a lot of spinning while I was down there- mostly in my BF's parents' house and in a local cafe. To my surprise, only the bus-boy asked me what on earth I was doing. Maybe it's rural enough down there that most people are familiar with spinning wheels?! Anyway, here is what I got done last week and some of this week:



From top left: Laminaria, hand dyed BFL; Calico, hand dyed merino (huge skein for a two ply!); Prismatic Wall, hand dyed merino; Harlequin, merino from Pigeonroof Studios.

I finished two yarns yesterday, including the first of my Elvis-inspired yarns that I've been dreaming up (I went to Graceland last week!) More will follow, rest assured...

Time to get back to the dye pots. And to place another wool order. I may do something crazy like purchase an entire bump. WHOA.

Oh, P.S.- I got into YarnCon! I've got time, but I have to lay out a Plan for inventory, setup, etc. And I'm feeling kooky enough to apply for DIY Trunk Show too. I'm out of control! It's probably actually not-so-smart to do two craft shows within two months of each other in the fall when everyone is clamoring for holiday shopping and I'm only doing this part-time. But I'm enough of an over-achiever to try it anyway.

zzzz

I am pooped. I got up at 8 today (after staying up till 1 AM dyeing and rinsing wool- remind to not do that again) and gardened for 4 hours out in the 85+ sun and humidity at a local organic garden. Fun, but I'm covered in a mix of dirt and sunscreen and I'm so tired I don't even care!

This week, I spun up a couple of new yarns and started doing some fall knitting. Yeah, knitting is hard to get into when it's this hot, but I'm working up some great fingerless mitts. The first is from Folktale Fibers famous handspun patchwork yarn in the colorway Silhouette:

These are my test mitts, so they're a little big. I'm keeping them for myself.

Then, I got all inspired by the book by Cosette Cornelius-Bates, aka Cosyknitsliterally, called "Knit One, Embellish Too." It totally caters to my sensibilities and skill level as a crafter and knitter, so I started these mitts from some Pigeonroof Studios roving I spun up:

I think I'm going to embroider some vines and sew some small coordinating buttons on as 'grapes' or whatever.

I feel like it's been forever since I've knitted anything, so it's nice to do it again. Also, I find it's great to keep me busy during 7-hour sessions of playing Twilight Imperium with some friends.

Anyway, here are the yarns for the week:
Frog Prince, bulky singles from misc batts, unknown weight and yardage:


Get Happy, a mash-up of several

And Violet Hour, many purple and black batts, plied with clear thread, 110 yd, 4 oz:


Plus the Pigeonroof yarn in the WIP above. I got Intertwined the other day, so I'm going to try some new techniques this weekend- I think I'll start with corespinning my autumn-inspired LOOP batt!

I'd better go either check on how my rovings are drying, shower, or fall asleep.

First wheelspuns and some roving...

So I spent ALL of last weekend spinning. I mean ALL of it. I left the house on Saturday only momentarily: to walk to the post office to pick up a box of wool. Here is the result:



From left to right, top to bottom: Cry Baby (from Copperpot Woolies), Blues (very first spin, my own handpainted Corriedale), Secret Garden (Hobbledehoy LOLbatt), Solemn (handpainted BFL), Woodstock (from Lapoli), Live Wire (another LOLbatt), Allsorts (from Copperpot's gimongo batt, my first plied yarn!), Vamped (handpainted Corriedale), and Water Hyacinth, singles in progress (from Mary Jane's Attic.)

Also, I dyed a ton of roving the weekend before- another collage to feast on!



Treebeard closeup, Material Girl, Maison Moderne, Dried Petals, Color Box, Color Box closeup, Meritage, Concord. Treebeard again. I LOVE Treebeard. I'm going to have to try that colorway again. All of those are Falkland wool roving.

Ok, it's time for me to go work on that Water Hyacinth single... it is taking for-ever!

more yarn

I spun up some of my first dyed roving last week, plus some batts I bought on Etsy. Here they are:

This was spun from the green and yellow corriedale roving which you can see in the previous posts:



And here is a sample-size LOOP batt called "ribbon dance". It was FANTASTIC to work with!



There are two more, but I am going to wait until the bit of yarn I'm working on now is finished so I can post a complete "roving to handspun" comparison!

another one...

Here is a finished ball of "Beyond the Realm" (as mentioned in a previous post). Spun thick & thin but mostly a bulky worsted, plied with gold metallic thread. I hope this cold goes away so I can feel more up to spinning the rest of the batt soon!

first worthy yarns!

100% Merino, in "Magic Mirror" colorway by Freckleface Fibers. About 70 yards, but that's a guess as I lack a real niddy noddy (this skein was wrapped around my dear BF's forearm). It's bulky to dangerously thin, with some kinks. But it is awesome.


This is "Beyond the Realm" in progress (from Copperpot Woolies). Also merino, but much slicker, so it's a bit of a challenge for a newbie like me- but oh so pretty!