Strauch Petite (pt. 2)

It arrived yesterday!  I took pictures as I opened it, and I sent a batch of scrap wool through to get the feel of this carder, as well as clean the carding cloth from dust.  Photos aren't uploaded yet, but I should have time tomorrow to do that, and I'm planning to whip up a batt or two this upcoming weekend!  Keep your eyes peeled :)


Here's another lovely photo that I found:

Branching Out?

I'd like to post here about more than just yarn stuff, because sometimes I get too busy to do as much yarn and fiber as I want to, but I like updating here.  My drum carder had an estimated delivery date between Dec. 3 and Dec. 9...any day now!

Strauch Petite (pt. 1)

I ordered the Strauch Petite today!  It comes with a bag of free fibers, so I will play and take photos.  Should be here next week... and I have lots and lots of fleece that needs to be processed!

Labor Day Weekend

All in all, the weekend was pretty enjoyable.  I didn't get *nearly* enough knitting done, but I did have some time to relax and breathe (also very important!).  Now, back to deadlines and time crunches.  I now have 6 days to complete 2 lace projects so I can have photos ready to send into a gallery who may or may not end up showing the pieces.  I have *got* to find my blackbear/qiviut yarn, as I'm almost to the last repeat, and that's the (irreplaceable) yarn I need for it.  Any other just won't do.  And if completing this project has to wait until I do find it, then that's what's going to have to happen.  No compromises for this one, that's for sure.

On another note, it is long past time for me to be sleeping.  Work kept me a long time tonight, and I have class at a fairly early hour tomorrow.  And so it goes. 

This is the start of my very own lace pattern, being knitted in a lovely mohair boucle!

Adventures in Lace

I wrote a lace design a  few weeks ago that I have (slowly) been knitting up, and I'm super excited about it!  The chart is a bit annoying to read, but the rest row helps a lot with that.  I'm also almost finished with the last yarn I need for my blackbear/qiviut/etc. scarf that I've been hibernating for a few months.  Now I just have to remember where I put it (moving kills me sometimes), and the knitting itself will be pretty quick. 

Once I'm done with the scarf I'm knitting from my pattern, I think it'll be time to go back to Diagonale, which I am knitting from super-thin lace silk handspun.  I plan to decrease the pattern repeats to three across, instead of four, and see how it goes from there.  The twist should have settled in the silk by now, which will help a lot.  Now I need to find a set of super-points (I forget what they're actually called) so that the blunt metal needles actually pick up the silk stitches with ease.

I actually really like working from my own lace pattern.  When you design it, you know when things have gone wrong and it's easier to tell how to fix it without just tinking backward.  Perhaps there are more designs to come!

I have some photos to add here at some point; I need to resize and upload before I can post them though.

Well!  Life's been quite the adventure lately.  I finished my move, which was promptly followed by a heavy study load.  I've been curled up at home for the last 4 days with a *terrible* ear infection (hopefully the latest drugs will clear it up for me).  My super-sneaky boyfriend came and stayed with me for the weekend, which was very nice of him.  I'm glad I didn't have to be sick AND alone this whole weekend.  I have no idea how I'm going to pay for all these doctor visits, but I have to get better before that even becomes a problem.  In the meantime, since I'm missing school and work, I'll be putting together a few more items for my Etsy store. 

-3+ Grab-and-Spin Fiber Porn Kits

-2-4 Art Yarns

-Finish a repeat of "Criss-Cross Applesauce"

-Paint a few watercolor flowers (if I can find my art supplies!)

Post-Move Stress Relief

Whew! I'm finally 90% unpacked and getting settled in.  Yesterday I cooked pretty much non-stop all day, and today I dyed a whole pound of wool (pictures tomorrow; the wools are wet still, of course).  I listed two yarns this evening.  I'm waiting for my next order from Carol over at the Sheep Shed to arrive.  I should be good to go on locks for a month or two after this...now I need to stock up on extra goodies - glitz, ribbon, accessories, and whatever else I want to put into my Fiber Porn spinning kits.  I'm working on getting my stash organized (still) but I have a few stacked trays that I'm going to put the little stuff in for now.  I seriously need a place for all this big stuff, though!!  I have over 30 lbs of raw llama that needs some sort of storage space already!




In other news, I'm still saving up for my drum carder.  I just opened a new bank account that has a cash reward after completion of a few minor requirements, and that will put me in reach of the carder I want!  I'm saving up for the Strauch Mad Batter.  I've heard a lot of places that saving up for a Strauch is way worth it, so I'm doing it.  I can't wait!

All dyed and waiting to dry.

 Robot Unicorn Attack

Superwash from The Sheep Shed Studio

New Order + Photos

Got my order from SSS yesterday!  It was actually probably here on Saturday, but I wasn't around to check the mail.  Although I really want to get dyeing, I probably won't be able to get any done until next week, since the move is happening this weekend.  But I'm working on reorganizing my entire stash and getting things in logical places, as soon as I think of a good (cheap!) way to do it.

Etsy Update!

I just added a few new yarns to my store!  I think I will add the rest of the items one-by-one over several weeks so that I don't get frustrated with resizing pictures and all that. 

The order from Carol Lee over at the Sheep Shed Studio should arrive tomorrow.  However, I'll be gone for the weekend, so I won't get to play with it or dye any fibers until Tuesday at the earliest.

Lots of new stuff planned for the next couple of months!  Things will get underway once I'm done moving next weekend.

Placed an order to SSS (http://www.thesheepshedstudio.com/) this afternoon for more fantastic supplies.  I have a few yarns and dyejobs planned!  I'm excited for the fibers, as always.  I also recently ordered a new phone from Sprint - after a year in WA, I'm finally switching my service provider and phone number to local ones. 

Week two of school has begun.  I only got a little bit of yarn stuff done this weekend, and next weekend won't be much better as I will be out of town.  I'm going to work hard to get schoolwork *and* yarnwork done in the next 4 days.  Things are going to be busy at work, too, and I'm sure I'll have plenty of sore muscles to go along with it.  I'm actually really excited about this job.  I like actually using my body to do things besides sit all day long.  Loading packages for UPS is completely opposite, and so far I am really enjoying it! 

I will be moving a few items over from Artfire to Etsy in the next week or two.  I love that listing items on Artfire is free, but I am not seeing the same traffic that I am to my Etsy.  I also can't figure out how to renew items with Artfire.

Pictures of the new goodies to come!  I am also halfway done with the first sock from my Fiber Porn Sock Blend Batt, so that will be on here soon as well.

Mooooving.

Been on a househunt for the last few days.  It's been much, much easier than the last time I searched for housing - the second place I went to is somewhere I'm pretty much sold on.  I haven't worked on yarn or fleece in the last couple of days but I have lots of time tomorrow, since the househunt will (hopefully) be completed.  I'll be packing up my things soon, which will limit my fibery activities for a little while, but I'll get up and running again pretty quickly.  In the meantime, I've got school and work to tend to!

Today is the start of a new quarter of school (go 5th year of college!) and the first day of training for my new job with UPS.  I'm pretty excited for both, and I have a loooong day ahead of me.  I woke up earlier than I wanted, but I'm not sleepy anymore.  I should have time to get a little spinning done before I head off to class, if I get the rest of my morning routine taken care of. 

Here's the set of batts I carded up last night.  I'm spinning them into a sport-weight yarn, which I'll then knit into socks.  They're an amazing shade of midnight blue!

Reminder List

Things I would like to work on and complete in the near future:

*Create 16 more samples

*Create 5-10 new products for my shops

*Cut, pin, and sew 2 dresses and a shirt

*Finish sewing keyboards for quilt

*Spin a roving from the Black Sheep Gathering thick-and-thin; ply.

*Organize craft area (need milk crates for storage bins!)

*Weave placemats from old fabrics

*Begin better marketing

Custom-ordered Yarns

I finished up those yarns for my Etsy customer!  Here they are :)

Summertime in Kim's World

Since my last update, I've only worked on a few things.  I've been slowly processing the alpaca fleece for one of the ladies in my knitting group.  I also worked on one of the two yarns for a customer from Etsy; I plan to finish this yarn tomorrow and restart the other yarn after that.  I've got materials for a new dress, a quilt to work on, and lots of yarn stuff to do!  I also made two dropspindles and one of each in my stores  ( http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=1616172 ). 

On top of all the exciting fibery things, my new school program starts for me in a week!  I'm ready to be learning again, to get another degree, and to be done going to school for a while.  I'm ready to earn money, pay down debt, and feed my fiber addiction.  It's going to be good.

Black Sheep Gathering

Shortly after my last post, I was notified that I had to move out of the place I was living as quickly as possible. Life has been a whirlwind ever since, and things are just starting to slow down enough to spend a proper amount of time crafting.

There's a knitting group that meets at one of the libraries here in town.  It's Wednesday evenings and it's a lovely group.  I really enjoy going.  So far I haven't missed a meeting since I started attending - I've been late and had to leave early, but no complete misses.  Of course now that I've said that I've jinxed myself and I'll miss one in the next couple of weeks!  There is also a group that meets Thursday nights at a LYS which I may start attending, but it's sounding like my Thursday evenings will be filled up next quarter with school.  

Speaking of school, I'm officially a college graduate.  I have a general studies AA.  I go back to school in 3 weeks to pursue an AS in Pharmacy.  It will keep me very busy for the next year or so, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. 

There will be a fiber arts show at a local gallery in August; the deadline for submissions is the end of this month and I am racing to complete a scarf so that I can have 3 items juried.  I have a week, which should be plenty of time, as long as I just take the time to sit down and make this scarf.  I am unsure of how it is turning out, though, and I might replace it with a yarn last-minute if it ends up needing to be frogged.   It would be very cool to have my work displayed, though!

I went to the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR last weekend (courtesy of my grandmother!) and wandered all the vendors.  I picked up quite a bit of great yarn material.  I also scored a pretty nice raw fleece.  I plan to make a step-by-step tutorial for cleaning a raw fleece; hopefully I can complete it before the term starts at my new school.

I also keep meaning to finish my quilt top.  I started to work on it last night but I was already too tired and I had to put it away after messing up the first seam.  The keyboards will be beautiful when they are done, but they are time-consuming and I'm definitely procrastinating it. 

Photos to come later!

Happy April!

Wow, I haven't posted in too long! I've been working on a lot of things, at the same time that I've been working on not enough things.

Recently new:

-Made 2 skirts today
-Started knitting with the black bear plied yarn
-Joined a knitting group
-Dyeing!

Other stuff I haven't posted about:

-Worked (briefly) on my quilt
-Almost done with the kitchen curtains
-Made a dress
-Took a pottery class AND a drawing class


So. From the top down then!

The skirts are circle skirts, no pattern, very easy. Neither turned out quite how I wanted, and both are shorter than I would have liked. But they're both gorgeous and I am pleased anyway. Next time I might only do half-circle skirts; we'll see. The teal one I based off of this: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=190983.0 (Only I didn't do it quite right and it ended up being a full circle, just so it would fit around my waist).


Blackbear scarf. I plied the merino/tencel with the black bear/qiviut/husky yarn and it's gorgeous and soft and wonderful, only with bigger needles and a thicker yarn there isn't enough to go around. So, I'm going to do a couple of things. First, I'll spin up an ounce of cinnamon tussah and ply it with a light grey handspun. I'll also spin up an ounce of pure qiviut and ply it with a white handspun. Then I'll knit in sections - I started with the blackbear ply, then I'll do tussah, then qiviut, then tussah, then blackbear again. It will be gorgeous and the grey and white will move throughout. I'm pretty excited for it.


The knitting group is great. It meets Wednesday nights at the library here in town and everyone's really friendly and I have a good time. I found another group on Ravelry that meets Monday evenings that I will probably go check out tomorrow. Bringing my crafting to a group of people who are all crafting gives me motivation and helps me to be productive. I like it.


I just finished dyeing 10 oz of wool (5 two-oz batches). Pictures later; it's all drying.


The dress I made:

February Happenings

Results are in for the Phoenix, and they accepted all my yarns and the scarf! They may not end up putting all of them in the finished publication, for overall balance of composition, but the important part is that some will be shown :)

I did a bit of dyeing a couple of weeks ago. Here are the pictures!

Tropical Fish, 2 oz:



Ruby Tuesday, 2 oz:



Aaaaand! I got a new digital camera that gets colors accurately <3 It's super sweet. Awesome image stabilization, good macro, options equivalent to a film camera in manual mode, 12.2 megapixels...and all for $100!!

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited.

I've been taking a pottery class this quarter and once I get everything home aft er the quarter is over, I'll take pictures and make a post with everything in it. :)

.

I did a little dyeing this evening - 2 oz of a new colorway, and 2 oz of a repeat colorway that I put on a new wool. I'll add pictures once it's dry. I got lots of super bright colors and although I don't love the repeat colorway as much as I did on solid white wool, it's got potential as well. It might be prettier after spinning than its predecessor; we'll see.

The other thing I forgot to mention last post! Clark College has an art publication called the Phoenix that has been nationally recognized. I submitted a few yarns as well as my clapotis for jury. I'm not sure when I'll hear back, but the deadline for submissions is this Thursday, Feb. 10, so I imagine I'll know a few weeks after that.

The Good vs. Evil yarn I started almost a year ago I now plan to send to the Handspun Revolution for display in the giant skein of yarn they're making. I have to work on it, first, but it's not due till March. I have it out and I plan to put in a little time this evening but we'll see how it works out.

I am actually in the mood for more dyeing but I have other things to get to, so I'm letting the quarter pound be enough for tonight. Perhaps next weekend.

Happy (Belated) 2010!

I haven't been up to much. I guess that's what happens when life gets busy!

I did make a clapotis which it appears I haven't posted here (pics later). I bought 2 drop spindles recently - unusual for me, since I'm all about wheel-spinning, but more on that in a second. I've been spinning a 70/30 merino/tencel blend to ply with my black bear/qiviut/doghair yarn, since it's too fragile on its own for the needle size I have now, as well as for durability.

I picked up a 1.7-ish oz Ashford drop spindle from The Weaving Works in Seattle, recommended to me by my aunt Gail, and a 3-oz Schacht hi-lo drop spindle from Northwest Wools in Portland. I like them both for different reasons, but the Schacht is really what I was looking for. It spins for a longer time without needing additional momentum due to its weight, and I'll be able to make more heavy-duty yarns with it. I'm not sure why I bought them, except that I haven't been getting enough yarn in my life, and I need to be able to take it with me. I'm learning the beauty of dropspindle yarn, and though it does take longer, I have more control over each section of the yarn. I'll be exploring thick-and-thin yarns once I do a bit more test yarn on the Schacht. I am spinning the merino/tencel for plying on the Ashford, even though the yarn I'll ply it with was wheel-spun. It might not make a difference, and it might add more character. I'll find out soon enough! I will be wheel-plying, since I don't even want to mess with plying on a drop spindle until I have more practice.

I have dyeing and completion of a very fun art yarn on my to-do list for this weekend. I'm hoping to get a couple of new listings in my Artfire.