Month: May 2006

  • well loved

    Latest progress shot of the Dulaan raglan – it’s actually done now, save for the ends, but my camera batteries gave out before I could take a photo. It is so. cute. Obviously the sleeves are a different shade than the body, but who cares? It’s made with love. And lots of warm warm handspun.

    I also knit a little hat out of leftover Lamb’s Pride Bulky – okay, so you can’t reallllly see it here, but it’s just a stockinette hat with a garter trim. Aw, Zeddy. Is that a Canadianism or what!

    Annnndd…..I had been thinking about getting the plying head for my spinning wheel, to be able to do way huge skeins (250 g/8 oz!). It’s about a hundred bucks, plus tax, plus shipping. So what does the lovely Denny do? Dig around the house and come up with one!

    This thing is HUGE. The yarn? That’s a normal yarn-doughnut-sized ball of rowan wool cotton, and the beginning of the back of VBC. Needs a bit of a cleanup and buffin’ up, and a bobbin, but hey – Denny rocks! Thanks Denny!

  • sleepy…so sleepy

    I’ve been trying to make myself wake up earlier, because my exam on Thursday is at 9 am – an hour’s commute away (and I am SO not a morning person). And as a result of course, I’m getting awfully sleepy earlier!

    I’ve been busy dyeing up some silk ribbon for megan, and ironing it – I swear the ironing took longer than the dyeing, and was much less interesting.

    A wee bit of spinning – my little sister called this one “summer fields”.

    More green:

    (Fleece Artist wool/silk roving)

    My little seedlings are growing up! Yes, I’m replanting soon. Lincoln Peas.

    And a tiny bit (literally) more spinning – I did these wee skeins to aim for sock weight. Top one’s navajo plied and the bottom one is two ply. The two ply is thinner of course, but I just don’t think two ply would cut it for socks. I don’t know if I can get it much thinner though…I’m just not a super-duper tiny yarn spinner. At least not yet.

  • the mailman cometh

    And he bringeth me new stuff!

    The four skeins of Jaeger Trinity that I bought from erin, which I think will work perfectly for the Mermaid Mesh. It’s quite crunchy from the silk.

    My dye order from PRO chemical. I was looking into the Sabraset dyes, but some were so expensive ($20 for turquoise?) and they came in quantities I didn’t really need (50 grams). So I was delighted to find they had kits that go along with “Color in Spinning” by Deb Menz – all the Sabraset colours that she lists in the book plus WashFast magenta, in 10 g jars. Perfect! I also ordered some beakers, a graduated cylinder, and a syringe. I can’t wait to mix up some of her dye recipes.

    The Dulaan raglan – isn’t it so cute?

    I’ve just started the sleeves and the second skein of yarn – which is quite a bit bulkier than the first. Oh well. I’m not quite sure how long the sleeves should be, but I’ll wing it.

    New yarns – I finished spinning up the carded alpaca I got at the Frolic. It had quite a bit of VM in it that I picked out as I went, both in the singles and in the plying. There are still a couple little bits in there but hopefully a good washing will help. I found it interesting to spin – easy, but it had an oily feel to it. The washing will probably help with that too.

    Finally, two smaller skeins I finished today – the natural one is BFL, and I’m quite taken with its simplicity. The bottom one is from the blended batts from The Black Lamb, purchased at the Frolic. I just love the heathery colours! This skein’s about 120 yards/50 g, and I’ve got two other colourways to spin up. I’m hoping to use them all together in something.

    I decided to list a few yarns over on Etsy – you’ll notice the prices are higher than those listed on the blog; that’s to compensate for the fees! So if you buy direct from me through the blog, you’ll save a couple of bucks. I’m just hoping for a little more exposure on Etsy, and customers who weren’t already aware of the blog.

    Click here for my etsy shop.