Goodies!

*Finally* Amanda and I got to see each other. With travel for SOAR and the holidays and my getting sick two weeks ago we hadn’t seen each other since the night before she left for SOAR in early November. She brought me back goodies too!

On the left is Socks that Rock (yes, I’m finally part of the cool kids with just the right yarn, LOL!) in Iolite. This was a fortunate thing for me, as Amanda and Margene’s yarn choices for Snow overlapped and this was a doubled colorway so I was given the option to give it a home in my stash. And, as luck would have it these should blend wonderfully into my wardrobe once they grow up into socks! Wheeeee! Thank you!

Now that I went and looked at their colorways I have several others I’m coveting. Jewel of the Nile, Pebbles, Sandstone, Jade, Flourite, Cobalt Bloom… *sigh*

Then, the packet on the right has had me drooling since about 6:10pm last night… It’s a sampler of silk hankies from Treenway Silks. The colors are great and I *loved* spinning the silk from the bell in the spinning class in August. I can’t wait to play with this and then dream up something to do with it once it is spun.

Last night was also the first night this month that both Snow and I made it on the same night. Miraculously the universe has not started spiralling inward towards a black hole (at least not that I’ve heard so far). Yeah! It was kind of nice having just the hard core regulars there last night. Ashley’s fair isle cardigan is going to be gorgeous! She’s on a sleeve so it won’t be too much longer! And Linsey is getting close to starting sleeves on her gorgous orange Manos sweater for her hubby. *swoon*

I have progress to report on Grandma’s Albert Seaman Scarf, but that shall wait until tomorrow. I’m trying really hard to not cast on for the second Mitten from Halland, but I’m guessing I’ll cave before Saturday. While I’m making good progress on Grandma’s scarf, because it is mohair and it’s hard to see stitches clearly it just isn’t a visiting sort of project and I shall need a visiting project for the knitting tea. While I would love to report a finished scarf before Saturday I just don’t see it happening amongst work and preparations for the tea. That said, I’m coming into the home stretch enough I don’t think I’ll be in danger of casting aside the scarf in favor of exclusive knitting on the mitten. Wish me luck!

Stash Expansion!

Well, okay, not really. But it is still fibery goodness that arrived in the mail…

First up, I got this a couple of weeks ago. It’s 1-lb of Romeldale/CVM roving from The White Barn Farm in Michigan. I haven’t spun with it yet, but it feels great and what I’ve looked at appears to be nice and even and CLEAN. And, it’s a yummy oatmeal color and was shipped in an oatmeal box! DH gets a big kick out that. I’m thinking fraternal hats and scarfs and perhaps fingerless mitts (if there is enough to make through man sized of all of those) DH and I that go with our barn coats. Fitting, huh?

Then, last night DH brought in a box from KnitPicks! My first ever KnitPicks order has arrived. I can’t really call it much of a stash expansion though seeing as it contained mostly color cards. I did pick up a couple balls of their new solid color sock yarn, Essential (in the color Fawn) and the Kimono Styled Sweater pattern. Having not knit it yet I can’t say too much about the pattern though the directions seemed pretty clear on the read through. My only complaint would be the lack of a diagram. As someone who often has to fuss with the fit diagrams are good friends of mine and I’d rather not have to figure it out on my own… But, I will…

There were five other skeins of yarn in there that I can’t speak of. Well, except to say that most of those won’t be in my house for long and that I won’t be able to show off pictures of them and what they grow up to be until after the holidays But I shall share them as it becomes safe to do so.

Who is going to see Harry Potter on Friday? DH is going to the midnight show and then we’re both going to the 10:30am matinee on Friday morning! He’ll be there twice in less than 12 hours - that’s pretty crazy!

Saturday’s Splurge!

On Saturday we had tickets to the matinee of Little Shop of Horrors at the Orpheum theater in downtown Minneapolis. Not too far away was a shop I had seen advertised in Spin-Off called Creative Fibers. So, we headed out a little early (which was a *very* good thing as we stayed mostly ahead of some really severe thunderstorms) and visited this shop.

I had chosen two fibers for spinning and was looking at the sock yarns while mom was getting help picking out some economy yarn for a baby blanket. She was done and was checking out and to my surprise dad not only bought mom’s yarn and new circular needles (I’m trying to convert her as I think she’ll have less trouble with dropping stitches if she uses circs and grandma’s eyesight isn’t well enough to pick up her stitches anymore if she drops some, but she knits Scottish with a needle resting on her thigh) but he bought the two fibers I had picked out. Mom accused him of paying me to come visit and he said it was for driving mom around and helping with getting groceries and cooking while I’m home…

Anyway, I picked out this Color Me Woop Top in “Earthy.” There is no indication of the wool type. I suspect it is probably a blend of some sort. It is 8 oz and the colors are right up my alley for fall weather which I know will be on it’s way before I know it, despite the 110+ degree temperatures in Colorado last week.

Then, they had a luscious blend of 70/20/10 Merino/Silk/Angora that I couldn’t resist. I got 4 oz thinking I’ll perhaps make a scarf from it. It feels wonderful against the skin! *drool.* Of course I think I will fall prey to letting it age until I feel I can do it justice though… But, then again perhaps not. I think it might work quite nicely on my new Cascade spindle…

I really wish there was some way to show you how soft this is!

Then, I bought myself some yarn. For more socks, of course…

I love the colors of these. It’ll be a bit more of a departure from my wardrobe, but won’t require me to buy new clothes to wear with it. Despite the difference both balls have matching dye lots. I’m suspecting one was wound in the other direction, so I’m probably going to want to ball these again on my ball winder whenever I’m ready to knit them.

Then, because of the novelty and the fact that this is a luxury yarn and dyed right in St. Paul, I had to buy these…

The colors remind me of the MN river valley in the fall. The fiber is Chineese Camel (and it’s softer as heck). It comes from Silk Road Northwoods in St. Paul. It was $14.00 per 170 yd skein *gulp* but I was really hoping to find something that I could not readily get at home in Colorado and this was just the ticket. 170 yds will be a bit scant for socks, though it is more of a sport weight. But, I think I should be able to still get a 5 inch cuff or so as long as I don’t use a highly textured stitch. It will probably be the perfect time to make my first toe-up socks But this is the ultimate in souvenier yarn purchases

Now that my sister is home, thus ends the fiber shopping. She would not enjoy driving around the countryside going to yarn and spinning shops, LOL! That’s why we squeezed it all into my first week home. That still leaves several shops to check out in the metro on my next visit home.

I’m also very excited to get mom knitting again. It means when she comes and visits (we’re giving her free airfare to CO at the time of her choice for her 50th birthday - ssshhhhhh) she can come to Stitch ‘n Bitch and meet all the people I’m talking about all the time, LOL!

I probably won’t be writing much more this last week since there will be no shopping. Though I should be finishing my first Flatiron Clog sock soon. I ran out of yarn and am about 2/3 of the way to the toe shaping. I’ll want to have a decent start on the second sock before (whether it is a new Socka sock or the mate to Flatiron) I fly home. I hate trying to start a sock on the airplane or in a movie vehicle of any kind.

All you SnB gals, I’m missing you! We really need to get together that first week of August so I don’t go through full withdrawl symptoms

Friday’s Fiber Goodness…

On Friday mom and I ventured up to New London, MN to go to Uniquely Knit. It’s right in the heart of downtown and is a nice little shop. She had a huge selection of Cascade, Lopi and Brown Sheep and a lot of novelty stuff. The sock yarn selection was kind of sparse, but this is a very small town and the shop is quite small in space so I’m not surprised. But she had shelves from floor to ceiling. They had no spinning stuff, though I expected that from the location and name of the shop. I still made a few purchases…

I of course had to buy some sock yarn from Minnesota so I’d have socks to remind me of the trip. I don’t see Socka around in our area shops at home. I think Lambspun might carry it, but I try not to go there if I can help it. So, I picked this up in the nice dusty greens, blues and neutrals. It has a touch of flash that may or may not be evident from the photo. I think these will fit into my wardrobe seamlessly!

Then, I’ve loved the Lucy Bag since I first saw a photo a loooooong time ago, but I hadn’t noticed this pattern at the shop I mostly frequent back home. So I bought the pattern and the yarn needed to make the largest version…

The yarn is a heathered purple so it has a lot of depth and I think will look really great when felted.

My mom also bought two skeins of Lopi and a coordinating eyelash yarn and a felted bag pattern for our neightbor’s youngest (and best friend of my sister). She’s a relatively new knitter but really enjoys knitting bags and mom fell in love with this bag that was on display and decided to get her the main supplies. It will be up to her to get the proper needles, but I suspect by the purse she was carrying when we gave her the gift that she may have them in her inventory already. We also gave her info on where to see the sample and the shop owner (whom we discovered my mom used to visit with when my dad used to play in raquetball tournaments well after we left the shop) said she’d be more than willing to help her should she need some assitance.

So, that concluded the fibery goodness on Friday.

Spending Expedition…

I’m having a nice time in Minnesota. We got home so late on Monday night that most of Tuesday was a bust and we napped. But, Tuesday evening we went to Jackpot Junction (a casino near Redwood Falls) and met up with an aunt and uncle that live in Redwood for the 1/2 price buffet there. Since it’s mom’s birthday month whe got $5 back and the three of us ate for $14.50 , LOL! Can’t beat that, even at fast food

We decided that yesterday was the day to do a road trip to Maple Plain (about 1hr 20 minutes or so from the farm), as we know my very unhappy sister in Grenada would not be cordial about going on a raod trip just for fiber. So, mom, Gaston (her Seeing Eye Dog ™) and I pile din their mini van and headed out on a road trip to Detta’s Spindle in rural Maple Plain.

Detta’s house was mostly filled with spinning goodness, with a bit of knitting stuff and commercial yarns. She had TONS of wheels, a fair selection of spindles and a lot of books and fiber. She managed to damage the checking out pretty good yesterday. But, I didn’t drive three hours round trip to not spend money, right?

Know that there is likely an afternoon of dyeing in my future I focused mostly on natural color fibers, wanting to get a variety of different types as well so I can get hands on experience to what I’ve read in In Sheep’s Clothing.

In the upper left is roughly 1/2 pound of Blue Face Leicester, which I’ve been reading that Theresa just loves BFL so when I saw this I had to pick it up, of course Then the small package in the clockwise direction is nearly 2 oz of Tussah silk, just to try a bit of. Then I got a pound of Punta Wool Top. The slip of paper in there says this is the same top that Brown Sheep uses for their Naturespun yarn, though it is not marked mill end as some of her bags were. But, this should be a good intro to spinning some different fibers that Snow hadn’t already set me up with and allow me to have some fun dying experiments as well.

I of course needed something with colors that remind me of home. This is actually a little more green in color that this picture indicates and the blend of colors in this Ashland Bay top reminds me of the lakes and the flora and fauna around them. This is 4 oz and may become a scarf in the future.

Then, in my quest to try out different fibers I picked up this 8-oz bag of 70/30 merino/eco-polyester blend fiber. Based on the coloring, I think this might also be Ashland Bay? I’m not sure if they make that blend as I’ve not become too familiar with the offerings yet. But, even though it isn’t all natural fibers I was intriqued by the use of a synthetic made from the recycling of soda bottles. I figure with the synthetic in there it will make for a nice sturdy yarn for socks and the merino will add a nice warmth.

You may also notice in this picture a drop spindle. Those who are observant will notice it is a new one. Yes, I have a Suzie Pro that I *love* to death. But I’m finding the spindle very enjoyable for traveling And, since my current spindle is a rather heavy 1.7 oz (great for plying though from my understanding) I succumbed to the siren call of a Cascade Spindle company Mt. St. Helen’s spindle. The wood of the whorl is absolutely gorgeous and check out the wonderful concave top that matches that of Mt. St. Helen’s peak?

This one is 1.0 oz and the groove for the yarn is deeped than my current spindle which I think will be nice. I haven’t given it a try yet, but I’m excited. Any recommendations on my purchased fibers as to what might work best with a 1.0 oz spindle? Mom says I probably don’t want to spin at their house because Gaston is really shedding a lot right now, but I can spin in my bedroom, as he and the cat aren’t allowed in there.

Speaking of spinning, here is some of the Coopworth I got from Snow on my first spindle. I’m guessing, based upon the targhe yardage that I’ve got roughly 50 yds on there right now…

It looks as though I’ll get to go to Creative Fibers before we go to the Orpheum on Saturday, but the other two shops will have to wait until my next visit. Which, is totally fine. I did enough damage at Detta’s I think.

BTW, Snow & Amanda - I picked up a catalog from her for each of you, so if I forget to give it to you when I get back remind about it, okay?

Northern Grounds in Willmar rocks for their high speed Internet! I’ll probably check back in sometime next week with another report of fiber stash enhancement from Saturday.

Fiber Friends are First Rate!

So, I had been contemplating spinning long before I actually met Snow. However, Snow made it her personal duty to increase the ranks of spinners in our little corner of the world - especially spinners who enjoy getting together and talking obsessively about their projects on a regular basis

Once she got Amanda and I to both cave and make the BIG purchase she didn’t view her job as over like many would. Instead, she dived into her personal fiber stash and put together some fiber samplers for us so that we can learn a bit about choosing wool for spinning for particular projects.

A group of SnB regulars gathered for Sushi on Friday night and she brough with her this…

Let’s take a closer look…

1 - A blend with angelina
2 - Targhee that is somewhat neppy
3 - Shetland
4 - Superwash Merino
5 - Confetti from Copper Moose
6 & 7 - Coopworth

Amanda is having very good success with the Targhee and a drop spindle. I know I definitely want to try it on my wheel, but I think I might pull out the drop spindle and give some of it a go on there as well…

On a side note, it’s not really a knit a long, but I put it there anyway and you’ve maybe noticed over there in the upper right already. I heard about the first swap at Wax and Feathers and Piddeloop
and was wishing I had gotten in on the exchange as both DH and I love being exposed to new music. So, when Piddleloop announced that she was hosting the 2nd round I signed up! Now, to choose the tracks I want to include on my CD and design the cover…

Lastely, since I had only one entrant in the last contest and the guess wasn’t right, I’ll be announcing a new contest late this week, so stay tuned and exercise your thinking caps, especially if they are of the pithy variety…

Yet More Goodies!

Because I ended up taking an unexpected break from blogland on Friday I still have a few more goodies to share that I got in Estes at the Wool Festival…

This was the last of my fiber purchases. It’s alpaca roving, 2 oz ea, from Red Barn in Loveland. When I feel my spinning is worthy it will be spun and I think the two colors plied together to make a scarf for my grandfather. I know it will knock my grandma’s socks off that I not only knit the scarf, but spun the yarn as well Plus, it is soooo soft and so nice and warm, it’ll be perfect for grandpa and the Minnesota winters! But, my spinning isn’t quite up to par to pull it out just yet.

Now, I had given my partners in budget busting crime to not let me leave without getting a Niddy Noddy. I almost did, but Amanda reminded me and then I remembered the gorgeous one Margene had pointed out to me at the Magpie Woodworks booth (sorry, they have no web site), so we both headed over there. Amanda got the same set, but also a felting needle holder and I believe is going to be calling them to order a large Niddy Noddy as well. The ones we took home with us are only 1-yd. I thought that would be just fine for me for a while, but I’m finding I don’t like putting more than about 30 yds on it. Plus, it is so gorgeous I don’t want to steam set the twist on it either. This cherry looks great with the rimu wood of our Majacraft wheels though.

I spun up another color from my Bountiful sampler. I haven’t taken it off the bobbin yet so I’m not positive on weight or yardage, but I’m guessing it to be roughly 1.25 oz and again ~30 yds probably.

I tired of the angelina (I didn’t think it was possible, but one can only take so much sparkle) and the fibers that would never likely spin really evenly. So, I picked up an inexpensive medium grade wool blend from a local shop. It is 3 oz on that bobbin and I am getting roughly 15 wpi from the singles. I’m still debating on whether I want to ply it or not. I still don’t have the rods for my lazy Kate and if I’m lucky they have been sent today, so I have time to think about it. I don’t want to navajo ply this so it will mean winding 1.5 oz off onto another bobbin.

I want to make Branching Out with it. Part of me is considering knitting it from the singles. Anyone care to share some pros or cons of my doing that?

And, to prove that I haven’t foresaken knitting in favor of spinning, here is a little WIP…

The Animals!

Despite my camera’s best efforts at thwarting me from taking pictures while at the Wool Market in Estes on Saturday, I ended up with over 50 pictures before the end of the weekend (this included a fun round of mini golf and some arcade excitement with some good friends of ours on Saturday night)…

I think my favorite was the alpaca tent where I made several friends…

Available in color or black & white.

This Suri alpaca was so cute I just wanted to leap into his pen and give him a big hug!

Also available in color or black & white.

I also enjoyed the goat tent. There were many young kids, though they tended to be too active to capture well in the somewhat low light. But, some of the adults were lazy enough in the heat to capture on film…

I couldn’t resist this guy’s charms with the fun cockeyed ears!

This is available in black and white as shown, or also color.

Who could resist these curly locks? Not me!

Also available in black & white as shown or color.

Check out these massive horns!

Available in color only.

It was such a blast! So much better than some of the other hobby related conventions I’ve been too. I can’t wait to go back again next year, and perhaps I’ll make it to some of the other animal tents next time!

Yet More Wool!

I undoubtedly bought the most fiber from Bountiful (see a snapshot of their booth in Monday’s post). There is an 8oz wool and Angelina blend in purple there, 8oz of a lambwool/angora blend from Louet in natural nearly white and an 8oz sampler of various color wool/Angelina blends. Most of these were marked down around 50% off and I got them so I’d have fiber I felt comfortable just practicing with. Though I have a feeling once I’m through the 8 oz sampler bag I’m going to be a bit tired of Angelina for a while, LOL!

~ .8 oz, 20 yds from Bountiful Grab Bag
Singles, Steam Set on Niddy Noddy

I had some issues while spinning these singles. One was that I was sitting in a rocker/glider in the basement with the wheel on carpet so I wasn’t treadling smoothly and evenly. Another was that DH was sitting right next to me doing a very poor job of pretending to read Harry Potter and instead staring *very* intently on my spinning and the last being that there was no form of distraction at all - no music or television so I was a little too intent upon the spinning process I think. But, over all, I’m pretty happy with these.

I did use our professional clothes steamer we got for Christmas to steam set the twist while it was on my niddy noddy. However, if I’m going to be using that technique much I think I’m going to want to build a PVC version as I don’t want to expose my gorgeous Cherry Wood one (pics later in the week) to that hot steam on a regular basis.

~1.2 oz, 30 yds from Bountiful Grab Bag
Singles, Wet Set (dried with a .8 oz weight)

This was much better! I moved to the back row of our stadium seating in the basement - a futon on a platform DH built and covered with left over Pergo. I also spun it when DH was not home and had the television on for a bit of distraction so I wasn’t overly intent upon my spinning and was more relaxed.

Because of the steam and the wood niddy noddy I wet set this and it did fluff considerably more than the steaming produced, but it didn’t even out my overtwist as much as the steam setting. There is also of course my lack of patience and the 24 hr dry time. Why that bothered me when I’m not up to using these singles anyway I’m not sure, LOL!

Speaking of using these singles - because they are from a grab bag there really aren’t long enough lengths of any of these fibers and I don’t care to ply the different colors together. But, I want something that properly uses these singles for posterity sake. I have a friend who is crocheting these gorgeous little bowls, but I’m thinking the singles are likely not bulky enough. But I was thinking that would make a lovely little project of my first singles. Anyone else have any suggestions?

Excited Exhaustion!

After much…

A little animal looking (pics to come later in the week)…

We had…

That trunk contains the complete haul of Snow, Margene and myself.

This is mine…

Yep, I got the Majacraft Suzie Pro. I *love* it, though need to not spin when DH is around at the moment. He keeps make rude comments about the rustic quality of what I’m spinning. I don’t think he understands that it is not something that is going to miraculously be wonderful now that I have a wheel. He was so impressed with my knitting when I first started, but I think he conveniently forgets that I had learned as a child, so I wasn’t a *real* newbie. My hands and arms and wrists all knew the movements, they just needed reminding.

Snow and Amanda (and the people I bought the wheel from, though they could have been buttering me up to make the purchase) have commented on my quick learning of spinning. Yes, it isn’t perfect and if you want perfect you should buy commercial yarn. But, before I bought the wheel I had logged roughly only 4 hours of wheel time - 3 on Snow’s Traveller and 1 on Amanda’s Little Gem. So, I’m trying to ignore DH’s comments the best I can and not egg him on by spinning in front of him.

I’m trying to be a responsible working adult today *sigh* so I haven’t spun since yesterday afternoon and I need to sign off soon and get to more serious work. But, don’t worry, I have a lot more to report throughout the week!

Oh, if you have favorite blogs that include spinning, please let me know! I’ll need to be adding those to my bloglines!