This is my first seaming project. I’ve not done a sweater before because I’m not confident in my seaming ability. I googled and watched videos about seaming. Before long I figured out how to do a mattress stitch, did a few practice runs, and dove into seaming up the sweater! The mega pound sweater then hit the bath.
Mr X’s Soaking Sweater
At last the sweater was laid out to dry.
Mr X’s Sweater laid out to dry at last!
I’ve enjoyed knitting Anne Hanson’s Aztec Mazes. I fell in love with the pattern and the ease of knitting it. I did drop the cables because I thought it suited my brother-in-law better with out them. Yes that’s right, my BIL Dan is Mr X. He loves the sweater….the problem…. I made the arms too big. I have been researching my best option to skinny up the arms. I’ve decided to re-seam the arms and cut off the extra materials. I have been working up my courage to start cutting, and this afternoon it is my goal to take the plunge! Wish me luck!!!! One more close up before the scissors attack.
LOVE this Pattern!!!!
OK a REALLY Really close up…..
how’s that for texture!?!
I’ve had some other knitting on the needles. I finished off my hat of old left overs. This is some of my Merino/Angora handspun used with handspun Alpaca. A VERY nice WARM hat!
A Very Warm Merino, Angora, Alpaca Handspun hat.
I’m getting geared up to watch the Olympics on TV and knit along with the Ravelry Games. I’m playing on Team Knitspot. I have 2 WIP’s to knit on and am contemplating a fiber to finished project. starting from dying the fiber, spinning the yarn, then knitting an Anne Hanson Pattern. That starts on Friday, guess I best be making some decisions soon!
We have good news on the needle front. Our Newhouse Custom Carbon Fiber Needles will be offered in two new sizes. We have a small delivery of the new US size 2 – 3.0mm, and US size 6 – 4.0mm raw rods on the way. We have been taking pre orders and have a few spots left for this first batch. The new sizes should be listed in the shop early to mid March, until then if you would like to order a custom pair, please contact me HERE through the shop.
There has been spinning too. I had fun spinning up 1,000 yards of Bam Huey in the Joseph’s Coat colorway. This turned out to be a very heavy fingering weight of about 14/13 wpi. Bobbins full of all the rich colors of Joseph’s Coat always makes me smile.
Bobbins of Bam Huey Joseph’s Coat
I forgot to take pictures before sending this skein off to it’s new home, but I did remember to take one pre bath, all tied up in it’s washing ties.
1,000 Plus yards of Bam Huey Waiting for the bath!
There was also baking going on…..what better to do on a freezing cold afternoon than warm the house by baking an apple pie?!!?!
mmmmm pie:)
I’m going to go grab a cup of coffee and a nice warm piece of pie right now…see ya!
I’m having a hard time believing that it is 2 weeks into the New Year. I remember when a year seemed to take for ever, now I blink and a year has passed! I’m going to have to kick it into high gear if I want to keep up!!!! I haven’t shown my face here for the past few weeks, but I have been busy. Let’s play catch up!
We left off with me doing a 10 pound hand painted fiber restocking over at New Hue Handspuns. My web host gave me a bit of a scare by going off line for several hours, but fortunately it revived itself in time for me to get the listings all done and up just after midnight. There is lots of fiber to choose from and I have been restocking the sold out colors as often as I can. Gneiss Rock has been a big hit and I am trying to find some time to spin one up for myself! I want to do a two ply fractal spin with very short repeats. I’m thinking of knitting it up in a very pebble like pattern.
Bam Huey Spinning Fiber in Gneiss Rock
More of the Gneiss Rock is being dyed this weekend and should be available in the store about Monday:)
After the fiber update and getting the shipping done I headed out to do some more farm sitting for Steve. I started to come down with a cold the morning I left. Sneezing and achy all I could think of was a nice hot bowl of chicken noodle soup. Fortunate for me Steve did an excellent job of food shopping and I had every thing I needed to make up a nice big HOT pot of Chicken Noodle Soup:)
Home made Chicken Noodle Soup at Steve’s
I love spicy hot food especially when my sinuses are clogged. I found a big bottle of hot sauce in the fridge and added a good quarter cup of it to the soup, that and a fresh grind of pepper just before serving…..just what I needed to blow those sinuses right open and chase the cold away…well that and lots of orange juice.
I felt better after the soup, but didn’t have the energy to do much knitting while I was there. I had Mr X’s sweater with me. I only have 1 inch left to knit on the arms and then it is time to start seaming…… or screaming as the case may be for me. I think I keep stalling on knitting that last inch because I’m not too confident about my ability to seam. Here is the Sweater, waiting……..waiting……..waiting…. Better just bite the bullet and get-er-done!
Mr X’s Sweater parts waiting for seaming
I couldn’t completely give up knitting while I was vegging in front of the TV, watching movie after movie. When the Princess Lap Puppy allowed me, I knit on this….
Handspun Hat ala Left overs
I always have left over bits of handspun yarn rolling around. I rounded up a bag of them and decided that there was a hat some where in there. I’m am knitting with 2 yarns at the same time, something I haven’t done in a project before. One yarn is Alpaca that I spun up 17 years ago that is left over from a pair of socks. The other yarn is a Merino and Angora blend that has been hanging around for over 10 years. This is going to be one WARM hat! I’m making it up as I ago, but I’m liking the results so maybe I had better write it down now, before I forget what I did. Don’t you hate that…. you think “oh I’ll remember that”……yeah right….better go get a pen and paper…
There was plenty of football watching during my stay . The Seahawks manage to hold on to the win….had to start wondering about them at the end of the 4th quarter. There were some knuckle biting tense moments during the game, but I had set up plenty of munchies for my football party for one.
Football snack trayCheese and Crunchy for football day
I’m now back home and ready to play with fiber. My wonderful needle making husband has just returned from picking up 10 pounds of Bam Huey fiber for me…..time to hit the dye tables. I see Frog Ponds, Ancient Roses, Gneiss Rocks, and Carmels in my near future….
I’ve disappeared for 2 weeks and the most important thing I have to say is Keurig Withdrawals????? Yup, that is all I can think about…. Two weeks of long hours and craziness and all I want to talk about is how much l love the Keurig! I promise to put those thoughts a way for now and get you caught up on the adventures over the past 2 weeks.
My adventures began with a trunk show at Yarntastic!
Chatting away with Dave at Yarntastic!
Setting up a show the morning after Thanksgiving was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I tried to start loading the truck after dinner on Turkey day….lol…. that lasted about 10 minutes and I was back in my recliner knitting away, or maybe it was snoozing away:)
I was full of energy the next morning and managed to load the truck in a half hour. Set up went fast, and before I knew it we were greeting the first customers of the day.
My Baa Baa Huey Line had Center Stage. The Baa Baa Huey Handspun Gradient Cowl samples adorned the Lady in White and JR mannequins . Yes, I did have pet names for the store props, seemed proper to call them something while dressing them:)
Baa Baa Huey Handspun modeled by Lady in White and JR
The Baa Baa Huey Handspun Gradient Shawl was worn by Miss Birdcage, I even let her borrow my favorite shawl pin. I enjoyed showing customers the fiber from start to finish. The non-yarny types were truly amazed that a pile of grey fiber could be made into something so pretty and useful. It was nice to introduce people to the wonderful world of wool:)
Miss Birdcage modeling Baa Baa Huey Handspun Gradient Shawl
My Bam Huey line of handspun yarn, and hand dyed fiber took over one of the front windows. Anne Hanson’s Sonnenblume that I knit up in sunflower colors using Bam Huey Lace stopped many people in their tracks. The bright colors lured more than one window shopper inside to take a closer look.
Bam Huey Handspun yarns and fibers on display at Yarntastic!
It was a long, but fun week at Yarntastic! Owners Lesley and Dave were great to hang out with. Someday I will talk the shy Lesley into having her picture taken, but for now she will be a woman of mystery! Dave kept me in coffee, but this isn’t where the Keurig comes in, that’s later. During the trunk show some extra work came up at our bakery, so I was needed to help out more than expected that week. Many days I was up for work at the bakery at 4 am. I would finish up in time to be at Yarntastic at 11am and stayed there until 7pm, or 9pm. LONG day. Let’s just say that coffee was needed!
The week finished up at Yantastic! on Thursday night, and I was packed up and back home by 10pm. Now I had to get packed and ready to go farm sit in the morning.
My friend Kathy has Llamas and I get to farm sit for her/vacation at her house, when she needs to leave town. Kathy has had several what I would call “gentleman’s farms” over the years . These are in the 5 acre range, just big enough for a few hobby animals and a nice garden. The new owner of one of her former homes was in need for a house sitter and asked Kathy if she knew anyone who might be interested in the job. Guess who got the job! Steve, the new owner was pretty happy to hear the property comes complete with experienced sitter.
It was fun to get to stay there again. It was funny when I would reach for the spice drawer and it now has silverware in it, or when I kept trying to put garbage where there wasn’t a garbage can anymore. There aren’t any Llamas on the farm now, but there is a lovely home for 14 wild kitties. The Llama barn has been turned into a cattery for these kitties who previously had to fend for themselves. They now have vet care, a warm home, plenty of food, and a great kitty window to lounge in. There are several kitties in the house also to take care of along with 2 elderly dogs and one little Princess that rules the roost. Here is where the sweet little girl spent much of her time during the week.
The Little Princess was never far away.
We had some crazy cold weather during this week, and broke some record cold temperatures. Unfortunately that also resulted in many broken pipes in the area. When the city of Portland is having problems with water mains breaking due to the cold frozen ground, I guess I can’t be too surprised I lost a few battles with freezing pipes in the barn. The kitty barn is kept warm, but the pipes were in another part of the barn. The pvc pipes didn’t have a fighting chance against a week of below freezing weather. Fortunately all the house pipes are fine. I’ve been saying we are due for a cold winter around here and boy are we getting it!
Now comes in the Keurig! Part of the deal to get me to house/farm sit is that you provide me with food and coffee…lots of coffee. I hate shopping, and I love to eat! Steve did excellent in the food providing department. This was just the “dry goods” table. The fridge was full as well:)
Belly up to the food bar!
I like a well balanced plate….ok I admit it I like to play with my food, can’t help it I’m part kitty cat <^..^>
Balanced Food is Fun Food!
I have heard of Kuerig machines, but never got too interested in them , then Steve introduced me to his Kuerig machine,and said use it as much as you want. It was so simple even I didn’t have a problem using it. Oh how I miss it’s blue glow from across the room! Each morning the soft blue light guided me to the kitchen, in just moments I would be rewarded with a purrrrfect cup of rich coffee. Every time I needed you dear Kuerig machine, you were there, ready to make me happy. Oh how I miss you……… Many times a day I stopped by for a quick pick me up, and at the end of the day you lulled me to sleep with hot coco…..oh how I miss you Kuerig…..
I contemplated saving up and purchasing a Kuerig, but I know I could not control myself and those little packets of yummy coffee would take up our entire food budget. So for now I will fondly remember the Kuerig and look forward to the next farm sitting adventure:)
So that is where I have been and what I have been doing for the past two weeks. I just about have things caught up and back to normal here at home and the bakery. This coming week is all about spinning up some custom orders and dyeing fiber. Check back in a few days to see what I am working on and an update on the progress of Mr X’s Sweater!
Our Trunk Show is almost here! It will be at Yarntastic! Friday November 29th through Thursday December 5th. Stop by 6802 SE Milwaukie Ave. Portland, OR 97202 for a visit and some yarn/fiber petting:) We will also have our Custom Carbon Fiber Needles available. Don’t miss this chance to do some test knitting with these light weight strong needles!
Here is a sample of my “show”. For those of you who have found me at fiber shows this will look familiar. Come by Yarntastic and say hi!
New Hue Handspuns at Oregon Flock and Fiber
Unfortunately my shipment of dyes has been detained somewhere between Australia and Portland Oregon. That means I won’t have as much dyed fiber available for the Trunk show as I would like, but don’t worry there will be plenty of fiber and I will take orders:) I’ve been packaging up the fiber I dyed last week. How many people have a dinning room table as colorful as this!?!
Dye day results
I will be knitting and spinning away at Yarntastic! throughout the week. I hope you will stop by!
My first Trunk Show is coming up right here in Portland! Next posting in just a few days I will have all the details. I have done quite a few fiber shows over the years, but never a trunk show in a yarn shop. Fiber shows always seem to have a high energy buzz about them, where every thing is go go go!!! You have to move so fast from one person to the next and there are so many faces that they blur together. I’m not sure how the trunk show will go, but I’m expecting that it will be a bit more relaxed and that I can actually chat with people for more than 30 seconds.
Yesterday I had the chance to get some nice pictures of my latest shawl design.
Bam Huey Twister.
The Bam Huey Twister is 2 colorways plied together. This one uses a plying pattern of 1/3 – Wisteria X Wisteria, 1/3 Wisteria X Raspberry Sorbet, and 1/3- Raspberry Sorbet X Raspberry Sorbet. The pattern should be out on Ravelry a few days before Thanksgiving. I will be sure to announce it here.
Here are a few more views of the Bam Huey Twister Shawl
Not my backside view of Bam Huey Twister ShawlBam Huey Twister shawl in Wisteria/Raspberry Sorbet
I probably won’t be doing a large stocking of Bam Huey Twister until after Christmas. I do have one skein in blues you can check out here . I’m always happy to spin up a custom order, just ask:) Does the yarn store in the pictures look familiar to you? If it does, you just may know where my Trunk Show will be!
The work on the Just add knitter kits is almost done! The Neck Warmer kit is done and just a few more tweaks on the mitts pattern and it will be ready to go! Here is a picture of the test mitts…just one more mitt to finish.
Just Add Knitter Mitt Kits almost done!
The Yarn -A – Long over on Ravelry is starting up, it isn’t to late to join up. Come on over and play!
The next few days will be consumed with dyeing fiber. I hope to share some dying pictures with you next time along with the details for my Trunk Show! Mr X’s sweater didn’t get much attention this week, but it should make it’s way back to the top of the knitting pile once the mitt kit is finished.
Mr X’s handspun sweater has been on the to-do list for a few years, and because of Spinzilla it is now on the needles! I needed lots of fiber to spin for the week of Spinzilla, so I dug out the fiber I had been stock piling for Mr. X’s sweater. I hadn’t decided on a pattern, or yarn size prior to spinning. I went with that time trusted method and let the fiber decide what it wanted to be.
natural Black BFL for Mr X’s Sweater
I started with the Black BFL Wool…..well they call it Black but it sure looks Brown to me:) Either way I love the fiber. It has a nice crimp and about a 4 inch staple length. It was crying out to be a big lofty fluffy spin, but knowing it was going to be used for durable sweater I put a bit more twist in the yarn, but kept it a little on the fluffy side. I knew I wanted to ply this with another color so that the yarn would have a bit of a tweedy look when knit up.
Some of the fiber I had set aside for this project was rejects from a custom dye order. Some times I get the dye job just right on the first try, some times it takes a few test. A while back I was testing several colors on a combination of fibers to see how differently the fibers took up the dye. I ended up with a lot of test bits all in the same colors, colors that would be just purrrrrrrfect for Mr. X’s sweater. The only problem was that there wasn’t enough of the Greens to ply with the Brown/Black. As you can see from this picture I solved that problem…..
Baa Baa Huey Handspun for Mr X’s Sweater
but it wasn’t easy! I used one ply of the Black/Brown BFL and plied it against the 2 shades of green BFL and the natural BFL. I rotated through the 3 colors 8 feet at a time. VERY time consuming and a whole lot of joining to do, but it was soooo worth it in the end. This heavy DK weight handspun yarn is exactly what I envisioned.
Regular and Jumbo yarn balls ready for knitting!
I hate weaving in ends so I always make my skeins LONG. That did get me into a little trouble with my yarn bowl….big ball doesn’t fit…lol . Fortunately for me the small ball of 3 ply merino/silk fits just fine. I did a higher twist and a Navajo 3 ply to keep this a tight smooth yarn. It will be used for the ribbing on the cuffs, neck band and waist band, all areas that take a lot of abuse . I wanted a good strong yarn that would stand up to years of abuse.
After the frogging of my first attempt at the sweater things are going along well. I’m still a little concerned that it may be a little bit large, but according to the numbers is should be fine….I hope:)
Anne’s pattern Aztec Maze is a fun knit. I did have a bit of a surprise when I opened up the pattern and saw that it was charts……ummm I don’t do charts! I have managed to do a little with color work charts, but this was looking scary. I knew I still couldn’t follow a chart while knitting, but I knew I could read it. Well if I can read it then I must be able to write out what I read. Boy was I grateful that it is a fairly simple pattern containing only knits and purls. I wrote out the patten and all is smooth sailing.
Latest progress on Mr X’s Sweater
Almost time to split off and make arm holes, and before you know it I will be casting on some arms! Work is progressing on the Just add Knitter Kits, a few more test knits to finish, then I should have pictures next posting. I’m still trying to schedule in time for some knitting videoing so I can show off my cool new pit knitter circulars. I am LOVING them!
The New Hue and Newhouse Yarn -A- Long is gearing up over on Ravelry. Come on over and check it out. There is only 1 Rule.
Rule #1 You must use some product made by New Hue Handspuns or Newhouse Needles. That is the ONLY RULE:) You can spin any New Hue Fiber, knit with any New Hue Handspun Yarn , Felt , weave, crochet, or what ever you use yarn/fiber for. You can knit any pattern with Newhouse Needles using any yarn. Last but not least you can knit one of my FREE Patterns, using any yarn and needles.
If this sounds fun to you and you like to win prizes Click HERE . The more that play the more prizes. If you check out the Yarn -a – Long thread you will find a coupon code for a $5 savings at New Hue Handspuns .
I’m knitting my first Sweater….or should I say I am sweating out my first sweater! The sweater is for Mr X. I don’t have his exact measurements, I’m making modifications to the pattern, and my yarn and needles are different than the pattern is written for….lol….I’m not making this easy for myself! The first attempt was ripped after about 50 rows, it was WAY too big. I screwed up on the math. Second attempt is coming along well, but I am concerned that it is still a little too big. I’ve decided that if it turns out too big I will give it a little time in a hot dryer and shrink it up a bit:)
Mr X’s Aztec Maze
I am really enjoying this pattern, Anne Hanson’s Aztec Mazes . The pattern is written with cables up the sides and intended to have some shaping. We decided that this maze pattern is purrrrrfect for Mr X but the sweater needed to be a bit more manly so I’ve dropped the cables and shaping.
I learned a few things while knitting the sweater. I am a lever/pit knitter and have always use long dpns for knitting in the round. I recently had to learn how to use circular needles to test all our carbon fiber needles. I’m slower with the circulars, but I did come to appreciate not having to deal with all the points involved with dpns. I enjoy using 9 inch and 16 inch circulars. For this sweater I pulled out the 40″ circs….. Uggghhhh! long circulars are NOT for ME! all that moving of stitches over all that cord was driving me batty. I missed my 14″ dpns, so I switched back over, but once again I had to deal with all those points. It finally dawned on me that I could have the best of both worlds. A long needle to tuck under my right arm and attached to the other end of the cord a short needle to knit off of. I plan to make a video of the needle in use very soon…pit knitting with circulars…I’m a happy camper:)
here’s a closer picture..
Circulars for Pit Knitters!
I have a little more testing to do with these needles, but hope to have them listed in the shop soon.
It will have to wait for my next blog post for me to go into more detail of the yarn used for this project because it is getting late and I need to get some sleep and I know that you are all hanging on to find out who is the winner of the Spinzilla spun yarn
this one…
432 yards of Handspun Bam Huey – High Tide
There were 67 entries and I gave each of you a number in the order of entry. I cranked up the old Random Number Generator and it spit out number 13…… and lucky #13 is Audrey! If you don’t get my email Audrey, please email me your shipping address.
The fun isn’t over yet! I’m hosting a Yarn-a-Long over on Ravelry Here in the New Hue Handspuns Creations group. Rules and prizes will be posted on Saturday 11/2/13 and the Yarn-a-Long will start on 11/11/13. You will need to join the group to play along and use something produced by New Hue Handspuns or Newhouse Needles. This includes spinning fiber, handspun yarn, carbon fiber needles, or one of my free patterns on Ravelry. Be sure to check in on the group on Saturday for all the details.
This week has been a busy one, but here are the highlights….. A Win, a Dream, and a Frogging!
Before I go on to explain the win, dream, and frogging I want to THANK everyone for the nice complements on my Spinzilla spinning. I had wanted to reply to each one of you, but then I saw how that was going to muddy up the numbering for the drawing. Besides thanking the kind writers there were also a few questions I’d like to answer. Roxie wanted to know if my Hansen needed a rest… My little Miss Mini is a trooper and kept up with me the whole time! Vicky asked when did I sleep……Let’s just say I don’t sleep a whole lot:) Ashley thought I should do something rewarding for myself…..my reward is that I have all the yarn I need for Christmas gift knitting!…..now to find the time to get the knitting done..lol.
Now on to the Win, the Dream, and the Frogging
The Win was most yards spun by an individual during Spinzilla. Team Fancy Tiger was the first place team, and Team Storey Publishing (which I was a member of) came in 3rd place. You can check out all the winners and prizes on the Spinzilla blog post My award, A Yarn to Yards Balance with the Spinzilla plaque arrived in the mail from the Woolery.
Spinzilla Award, Sweater yarn, and High Tide prize skein.
It is about the Spinzilla competition next year. Those who know me, and put up with me, know I have done long marathon spinning sessions many times. Spinning all day for weeks at a time is what I love to do. Some people run marathons, some climb mountains, and others swim the English Channel…. me, I spin. My dream is to spend the week of Spinzilla next year in a hotel. This would be a fund raising spin in. I would have a room at the hotel, and the spin in would be in one of the meeting rooms that would be open 24 hours a day. Spinners could make a donations for the opportunity to spin along. When I dream, I dream big, so in my dream there would be a fiber supplier/mill that would donate the fiber, and all the spun yarn would be sold to benefit the Spinzilla education program, oh yeah…and my room and room service would be paid for:) It’s a big dream and I know I don’t have the skill to organize it, but boy do I want to do it!
Last but not least….the Frogging. …
I started a sweater from some of the yarn I spun for Spinzilla. I chose Anne Hanson’s Aztec Mazes This is my first sweater and I am a bit worried that it won’t fit. I’m knitting this as a surprise for Mr X. I don’t have exact measurements for Mr. X , and I am working with a different size yarn and needle than the pattern calls for. This means I have to work a bit of math to figure out gauge and which size to knit.
Mr. X’s sweater…Pre Frogging
One does start to wonder if the sweater is too big when it doesn’t fit in the photo box…. Yikes! it was WAY TOO BIG! Turns out I rounded up when I should have been rounding down…lol…to the Frog Pile! There were a few tears among the Ripppp- it Rippppp-it noises, but all is well now. I’ve started over in a size smaller and will have some progress pictures of it next posting on November 1st when I announce the winner of the skein of Bam Huey yarn in High Tide. I will also have some pictures of a new needle style I made for sweater knitting.
The Spinzilla group on Ravelry has been buzzing with numbers. Teams are checking in with the group totals. The final tally will be announced on Friday, just a few more hours before we know which team spun the most yards. It is so nice to read about handspun yarns being talked about in the number of MILES spun!
I am on Team Storey Publishing, and have loved every minute of getting to know some of the spinners on the team. Not only was I lucky enough to make some new friends, but I also lucked out on one of the daily drawing for prizes on our team. Henry , Team Captain Bonnie’s sweet little birdy ,who with out a doubt rules the house, pecked my name from the ticket bowl! I found my lovely prize in this morning’s mail. I had to immediately fill this beautiful wood yarn bowl with my latest project on the needles, Anne Hanson’s Sugarfrost from FIFC 2012.
Ash wood yarn bowl by Carl Tubbs
This yarn bowl is made by Carl Tubbs. The wood is Ash and has such a warm smooth feel to it. I love the swirls of grain and the glow that emanates from them. Hand made tools always make my work so much more enjoyable, and I am looking forward to spending hours knitting with this bowl holding my yarn:)
I am still trying to find where Carl and Christine Tubbs sell their bowls, and I will add a link just as soon as I get that info! UPDATE…I now have the Info!!! Carl also has a full time job so not a lot of bowl listed right now but go check out the beauties he has listed HERE The only complaint I have is that Carl has not signed his work of art. If I am ever lucky enough to meet them in real life, I will be begging Carl to sign my bowl!
I have to toot my own horn a little, sorry, but I just can’t help myself. This post was made by the Spinzilla moderators in the Yardage total discussion thread for Spinzilla…..
We’ll be posting updates as our count begins here:
We have over 300 spinners accounted for and more coming in every minute. Deadline for Team Captain’s is 8pm EST tonight (Wednesday Oct 16th). We have just begun the happy task of recording all the entries. So far the highest yardage from an individual team member we have recorded is Cheryl Newhouse of TeamStorey with 16,852 monster yards!
EEEEEEK, That’s ME! It’s quite possible that someone will be checking in with more, but for now I am tickled PINK!! well, more like Purple, because after all I am a Purple Girl at heart:)
It’s a weird mix of emotions reading posts of people commenting on the amount I have spun. My ego has gotten quite a boost, but I know I didn’t do any where near my personal best of 24,000 yards spun and plied in a week’s time. Some of you may remember seeing these pictures…
550, 400 yard skeins of handspun yarn for Knitspot’s FIFC 2011 club
This was a 8.5 months of spinning for Anne Hanson’s Knitspot’s 2011 Fall in Full Color Club…..but that is a story for another day.
For now I will reply to all the lovely compliments “thank you…..but just wait until next year!!!!!!”
Now I do believe it is time for a little prize! As a reward for all the new and old readers of the blog along with celebrating a successful Spinzilla! Leave a comment on this posting before Midnight October 31st Pacific Mountain Time, and enter for your chance to win one of the skeins of yarn I spun for Spinzilla. This is a 435 yard skein of two ply Bam Huey in a lace weight of about 18-19 wpi, in the High Tides colorway. The yarn is hanging to dry right now, so I don’t have a good picture, but I will post one soon. If you look close you can see the teal skein in the basket before it was washed. Winner will be chosen by using a random number generator.
The multi shades of Teal skein in the upper right corner is the prize skein pre washing.
Now all that remains is to wait for the Spinzilla results………..
Until next time, Happy Spinning and Knitting!
Cheryl <^..^>
UPDATE! My 16,852 yards held up as most yards spun by and individual! The skein of Bam Huey being given away is dry and here is an updated picture!
Spinzilla spinning is officially over! The teams have just a few more moments to tally up their yardage and the team captains are collecting and organizing the entries.
The week long spinning event was not without it’s pitfalls. Team members reported in with flu, headaches, arm pain, leg pain and just plain old life getting in the way of spinning. Me, I had my own problems……..
Burns from boiling dye
I’ve been dyeing fiber for 16+ years……never once have I spilled boiling dye on myself…..until this time. OUCH! I had to keep my hands covered with ice packs for over a day. I slept with hands wrapped in blue ice packs. About 36 hours later I was able to get back to spinning. My goal was 20,000 yards of handspun singles, but with more than a day of spinning lost there was no way I could make it. That didn’t discourage me I reset my goal for 17,000 yards…………Then Mom and Dad came for a visit Friday afternoon until Monday morning! I only see my parents for a few days 2-3 times year. It was difficult to spin and entertain the troops, but I think we had a nice visit chatting while I spun. 9 pm Sunday night arrived right on schedule, and at last it was fiber down and spinners stopped! Monday was all about plying, plying, and PLYING! I did ply a few thousand yards during the week, but there were thousands left to ply on Monday. Plying up the fine lace weight Cashmere and Tussah Silk seemed to never end, but finally the pound + of fiber was done, almost 3,000 yards of 2 ply lace. I have some secret plans for this:) Here is my final picture I sent off as my entry.
16,852 yards of singles!
The dark brown and greens are for another secret project. The chocolate Cashmere on the rolls will be shipped off to Tanglewood Fiber Creations. The BFL gradients and other odds and ends will be up for sale in the Shop before long. The Navajo 3 ply will be use on the secret brown/green project. The pale blue/green/white Merino and Cashmere will be turned into some toasty warm leg warmers and slippers for me!
Spinzilla week was long, and full of road blocks, but it was fun! It was great to get some spinning done for myself and get some odds and ends finished up that have been waiting too long. I’ve been a production spinner for many years so producing thousands of yard of yarn in a week wasn’t unusual for me, but it was fun to read about spinners who were experiencing production spinning for the first time. I can’t help but wonder how many of them will now be bitten by the production spinning bug!
If you are a Raveler you may want to go check out the Spinzilla Group Threads and read the adventures of hundreds of spinners for yourself. If you are not a member of Ravelry do yourself a favor and go sign up..it’s free, fun and a wealth of information. I have made some wonderful friends there!
Now that Spinzilla is coming to a close, It is time to do some celebrating, the winning team will be announced on Friday. Other things to celebrate along with completing Spinzilla are my 27th wedding anniversary, and my 18th year of spinning!!! Next posting will announce my plans of some competitions and some prizes to spread the love of spinning and my anniversaries!
until next time, Happy Spinning!
Cheryl <^..^>
p.s. get those needles warmed up, because there will be some knitting prizes too.
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