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 .
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.
It is now 7 pm Pacific Time as I start to write this post, and that means just 2 hours to SpinZilla !!! SpinZilla is a friendly week long team spinning competition to see which team can spin the most yardage from 12:01 am Monday October 7th to Midnight Sunday October 13th.
I am spinning for Team Storey Publishing, and have set myself a goal of spinning 20,000 yards. I’m still working on getting enough fiber to spin. So far I have 2 pounds of black BFL wool that needs to be spun into a 2 ply DK weight, 1- 1/2 pounds of Merino Cashmere that I will be spinning into a 2 ply fingering weight, 1/2 pound of Cashmere/Tussah Silk that should make some very nice lace weight yarn.
Spinning Fiber for SpinZilla
This week you can expect to see daily posts of my progress, but right now it is time for me to hang up the fiber I dyed today, eat the lovely dinner Will made for me, then it will be time to get settled in to spin.
Wish me luck to meet my goal of 20,000 yards spun!
Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, OFFF was quite eventful this year. Set up on Friday went smoothly. I share a booth with the Duncan Drum Carders. After a few hours the booth was ready.
New Hue Handspuns and Duncan Carders
Lucky for me I live only 20 miles from the Canby Fairgrounds where OFFF is held, but the trip home that night wasn’t so lucky for me. North bound I-205 was stop and go traffic the whole way.
I was looking forward to getting home to celebrate my 27th wedding anniversary with my husband. Little did I know that we would be spending most of the evening in the emergency room……. A distracted driver plowed into the back of my truck! I ended up strapped to a back board and had a lovely ride to ER in the ambulance. My dear Hubby met us at the hospital. After a few hours and what seemed like hundreds of x-rays they determined nothing was broken. I was finally turned loose with prescriptions for pain meds and muscle relaxants.
My truck wasn’t hurt, and lucky for me I just have to deal with sore muscles for a few weeks. I was pretty loopy on the pain meds, and unable to drive, so Will drove me down and picked me up from OFFF both days. I wasn’t able to spin at all on Saturday. Sitting upright in my chair and selling fiber was challenging enough!
The weather during OFFF was pretty nasty with the wind and rain. Several outside vendor’s tents were blown over and some decided it was best to head home. Lucky for me, we have an inside booth.
Despite the rain, wind, and the trip to the ER, it was a good show. I got to see some old friends and make some new ones…..even if I was a bit out of it, and can’t remember names:)
I’m now back at home resting up and working on my “Just Add Knitter Kits” The last label has been made.
New Hue & Newhouse Just Add Knitter Kit tag
hopefully by the next posting the first Neck Warmer Kit will be available!
I’m getting ready for Spinzilla ! I am on Team Storey Publishing. Now to line up enough fiber to spin during the week long event. The goal I’ve set for myself is to spin 20,000 yards in 7 days! now I just have to find enough fiber to spin……
The past week has been all about getting ready for Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival ! I haven’t had the time to make plying videos because I have been dyeing up a storm, putting the finishing touches on a new pattern, and developing the New Hue & Newhouse “Just add Knitter” Kits.
The truck is packed and I am heading out to set up for Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival! See you there.
New Hue Handspuns booth at Oregon Flock and Fiber
Today is also a very special day….. Twenty Seven years ago today this is what I was doing!!!!
The fiber has been weighed, prepped, dyed, dried, and now at last it is time for Spinning, Spinning, Spinning!!!
Let’s start off with my absolute all time favorite picture of me spinning…… What could be better than Spinning, watching football, with a glass of homemade Mead, and a nice warm fire?!?!?!
Drowning in 14 pounds of fiber to be spun.
This was my monthly shipment of 14 pounds of Crown Mountain Farms fiber. Remember way back when CMF first started selling their handspun Sock Hop Yarn? That was me spinning up about 60 skeins of the stuff every month. I did this for a few years along with creating singles for Tanglewood Fiber Creations, and spinning my own line of yarns. When I decided to focus on my own yarns and retired from CMF spinning it did give me a little ego boost when it took several spinners to replace me:)
Now days the picture of me spinning looks a little different. Treadling away 8-18 hours a day for years took it’s toll on my body. The tendons that connect my foot to ankle have so many tears and scars that even 5 minutes of treadling is impossible for me. Months in braces and other contraptions couldn’t get my legs back to treadling , I thought I was going to have to give up my favorite activity and walking……….
BUT this is me spinning now!
Cheryl Newhouse Spinning at Sock Summit 2011
I now use Miss Mini for all my work. I tried several electric spinners, burned up lots of them, hated others, then at last I found Hansen Craft Mini Spinner ! I will do a complete review on the mini spinner in a future post, but for now go check them out!
I have a few videos on youtube and hope to make some more soon. I do 90% of my spinning by spinning across the top. It saves me from having to split fiber or do any pre drafting. These two videos are examples of spinning across the top. Spinning across the top Baa Baa Huey and Spinning across the top Bunny Patch .
To say that I Love Spinning is an understatement. From the first minute of my first lesson 18 + years ago I knew that this is what I was destined to do. The drive and need to spin has not diminished over the years, only grown stronger. Now I just need to work on making a living at it!
My next fiber show Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, is coming up soon. I am busy with the dye pots, and putting the final touches on the New Hue & Newhouse “Just Add Knitter” kits. I hope to have some pictures of the completed kits in the next posting when I chat about plying.
Hand painting spinning fiber is the second step in making my yarn, and that is what this post is going to be about. BUT first I just have to share with you what has been consuming me this past week, and has made this post a few days later than I planned:)
Now that I have that out of my system, back to the subject at hand!
Dyeing fiber can be done so many ways and every dyer has their favorite method. I’ve tried a few different methods and eventually settled down with my favorite combinations. First I always start by hand painting spinning fiber. This gives me my best chance at controlling the colors and their blending. Better control for me means more consistency when repeating colorways…..other say that I just have a control issue…lol.
Remember those fiber cinnamon rolls the last post? well here they are rolled out waiting to be hand painted. People have asked me many times why my packages of Bam Huey Spinning Fiber are of the unusual weight of 3 oz? Here is the answer….. The length of my dining room table with all the extensions can only hold the length of 3 oz. I love that table, and I am not getting rid of it, so 3oz packages of Bam Huey fiber it is!
Bam Huey Fiber rolled out for Hand Painting
Across from Dining/Dying room Table is my little dye studio. This is where I blend the colors, first in my mind, then with the dyes. I’ve enlarged this area, but it is such a mess right now I thought it better to share an older picture with you.
Were the Creations/mess:) Happens
My inspiration for colorways comes from everything around me. I almost always have my camera with me to snap a picture of colors that catch my eye. Sky photos are my favorite to work with. It isn’t about the focus, but the colors. here is one of my favorites, how many layered shades of blue do you see!!!!
layers of blues
This one is destined to become a New Hue colorway!
Eventually I do get the dye onto the fiber
Last step is to wrap and roll up the fiber and steam away. After a few hours the fruits of my labor are hanging to dry.
Drying Bam Huey Spinning FIber
I’ll leave the fiber to drying for now, and when I come back next time it will be time for SPINNING!!!! I will also give a little peak into what I am prepping up for Oregon Flock and Fiber.
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