Dye studio

Happy Wednesday! Just stopping by with a picture of my dyeing studio this morning:

It's nothing more than just a table in my basement, and there are definitely still things  I could use to help make it a better work space- like shelves for example. But - it is a start- and it is my very own.

And yes, that is a batch of fiber that I am working on. Merino silk! I'm hoping to introduce spinning fiber to my shop sometime early March, so watch for it!

Green

I've got a lot of green going on in my shop right now. I honestly don't know how it happened- but I have 5 -- no wait -- 6 skeins that are predominantly green. For a while, every week as I sat down to decide what I was going to dye, I decided on green. I don't know if it was my bad memory of what I had already, or if it was just my subconscious trying to help spring along, but here they are all lined up pretty:

L-R "Moss" "The Colors of the Sea" "No Imagination" "Understory" "Seaworthy"

And this one: (he missed out on the group picture)

"Swamp monster"

A little overkill don't you think? Well, I think I'm over green now. However, I have dyed two pink-dominant skeins in a row... Maybe pink is my new green. Uh oh.

How does 15% off sound?

In preperation for the official introduction of my new lines next week (Feb 28th) I am having a 15% off "clearing out the castle" sale this week. As usual, this excludes gift certificates, and prices will be as marked. I'd love to move out some old inventory so that I can dye up a huge batch of my new yarns for March.

I had hoped to get this post out earlier this morning, but the tall, white, heavy Michigan snow did not get along well with the bottom of my car this morning when I attempted to take my husband into school. It took us 45 minutes to get from our driveway to a main road. Once I was out, I ended up staying out until noon, when the neighborhood roads had been driven on a bit more and I was able to get my car into the driveway. (just barely- I had to shovel my way the last little bit. Seriously, crazy morning.

The view out my front door- to give you an idea of the amount of snow we have:

And to think, yesterday I could see green grass, and the only snow was a tiny bit where it had been plowed up! Now we've got over 6 inches! Michigan amazes me some times.

The colors, they remind me of spring

Greetings from a white, white Michigan!

While the weather outside may be white and bland, at least there is some bright pretty color coming out of my dye pot! I'm going to show you four new things- two new yarn lines, and two new colorways- and I'm going to do it in only two pictures. (sneaky of me eh?)

First, there is this pretty skein on Swagger:

Isn't it cheery? It's so light and airy, with all the little pops of soft spring colors coming through. And the yarn itself- Oh my goodness! I would like to take it to bed with me and use it for my pillow, it is so soft and cuddly and amazing! I'm calling this yarn line "Swagger" because I truly believe that having socks out of this yarn will instantly add swagger to you. It is fingering weight with a luxurious blend of 80% supper wash merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon.

Then there is this skein of worsted BFL:

It is a test run of a custom colorway I was asked to design. I'm really happy with how this shade of pink turned out, and once again- I love the pops of color. I really think this one is going to knit up spectacularly! The actual custom order will be dyed on Calcaneus, but this particular skein would be perfect for a little girl's soaker.

Both of these skeins will be in the shop tomorrow- a week ahead of schedule. I'm not officially launching the new lines until Monday, Feb 28th, but I don't think it is fair to tantalize you with these pictures and not make them available for sale.

I've got one more element in store for this coming week. You'll have to check back then to find out the details!

As a side note- I apologize for the late-night pictures taken on the top of my computer. My old camera would have been able to crank out a decent photo even under those conditions, but alas, the lens is stuck and it won't turn on. Sigh. Sad face. If you can't tell from my complaining, I sure miss Keisha a lot! (Yes, my camera has a name. So do most of my other valuables.)

See everyone tomorrow!

Bare...yarn

I am so excited! My first wholesale shipment of yarns & fibers came in today. This is a huge milestone for me. I feel like a real businesswomen now! I was sharing over on my Ravelry group that I both want to dye everything all at once, and save it all until I have colorways that I think are worthy of this yummy yarn. I hardly know where to begin!

It was really cool to watch the Fedex tracking page for my package- I refreshed the page as the box was delivered- and sure enough, it said delivered! Right the very minute the box came. I had to take a picture to share with you, even though I'm sure it won't be nearly as exciting to you as it is to me:

I'm excited the way a painter is at the sight of a bare canvas, the way a new teacher is when they see all their students as having unlimited potential, as a musician with a new violin in hand, as a mother at the news she is expecting, but she doesn't know who it is she'll give birth to yet.

Ah. But it doesn't stay bare for long. as soon as I post this, I'm heading to take a skein out of the dye pot. Swagger. (That's the name of the yarn) MCN. (That's what's in it) Swoon. (That's what I'm going to do)

I should mention...

That if you don't follow my blog publicly, I can't see you to put you in the drawing! Just so you know. 

And... If you win and don't like any of the yarns I've got in my shop, I'm always willing to design a custom color! 

That is all. Short & sweet. 

This Week's Spinning

Since I got my spinning wheel a couple of weeks back, I've spun two 4 ounce braids of fiber! I absolutely love the process. I enjoy my wheel, I enjoy the feeling of the fiber running through my fingers, and I doubly enjoy knitting with the finished product.

This week, I got around to spinning the very first braid of fiber I ever bought: a beautiful braid of BFL from Tomorrow Farm in the colorway "tranquility" (link is for the colorway in merino- it doesn't look like they have any more BFL) 

I split the fiber in half and spun the first half as it was- aiming for a fairly thick single (especially for me- I tend to spin on the finer side) The second half I split in half again before spinning it, and again aimed for the singles to be on the thicker side. Here are both of them- I'm holding the first one, and the second one is still on the wheel:

Plying was the next job. I don't have a lazy kate, but I do have old straight knitting needles that fit through the bobbin, and through the hole where the lazy kate is supposed to be on the wheel. See the head of the needle circled in this picture?

Another pretty shot of the plied yarn still on the bobbin- I hardly got it all to fit!

There was a little bit of single left after I had plied everything off the other bobbin. Usually I will ply the left over bit with a spindle, using the andean plying bracelet. 

This time, after I had wrapped the bracelet, the single decided it wanted to become art all by itself:

The energy of the twist in the single causes it to keep it's shape, even when you poke and prod the sculpture a bit. it's pretty sweet! I currently have it on display in a dish on an end table in my my living room:

While the left over single was sculpting itself, the rest of the yarn had been skeined up and put in a bath:

After it had been finished and dried, it became this lovely skein of the softest, squishy-est yarn ever.

The "Follow me!" contest

I'm running a little give away on my blog to get things started. The rules are very simple- follow this blog by the end of February, and you will be entered into a drawing for your choice of an item from my shop! (excludes gift certificates) If I get a significantly large number of followers, I may just add in 2nd and 3rd place prizes as well. Tell your friends! I'll be posting on the 1st of March to announce the winner. 

Happy Tuesday everyone!

On the needles...

And a couple of tiny things recently off the needles as well. I've been working on two large projects, and while I don't knit painfully slow by some definitions of the word, I definitely knit slowly enough to be painful to myself sometimes.

First up, a sweater that I've started for my husband. It is for his birthday, which was today, so obviously I haven't gotten it finished in time. My new goal is to finish it by the end of February- but we'll see. At least then would be finished in the same month as his birthday.

It's got cables and... see that stripe? It is the first stripe in a three color fibonacci sequence.  (more on that here)  The third color, you ask? Well, here is another picture with a ball of the third color in it:

Brown, grey, and blue. Manly colors, if I do say so, and in very beautiful yarn. It's Artesanal from Aslan Trends - a blend of alpaca, cotton and nylon, with a wonderful heathered texture.

The second big project that I've been working on is a test knit/shop sample of a pattern for LynnH of colorjoy.com (The pattern is still in progress- for now, you can read about it on her blog here and here. I'll be sure to let you know when it is published.) Words can't say how much I love this pattern. There is so much room to play with color. The stitch pattern itself is fairly simple, making it accessible to pretty much all knitters with a project or two of experience. I am not purple's biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination, but when I'm working this pattern, I am hardly aware of the fact that I'm working with purple yarn. A quick sneak peak:

Just you wait till I get it off the needles and blocked out.

When I work on these big projects, I get itchy to just get something finished. I ordered yarn samples from a company so that I could choose a couple new lines of yarn for my etsy shop. I finally got to dyeing my favorites over the weekend, and managed to knit up a few and come to final decisions. Because of the minimal yardage when it comes to sample skeins, I was able to crank out 4 FO in 24 hours. (Even if they're really not that functional.)

The first new line that I will be carrying is untreated BFL worsted weight yarn. This is a wonderfully soft & lofty yarn that will be perfect for soakers & longies (used in cloth diapering) I hope to come up with some beautiful baby worthy colors that moms will be proud to put on their baby's bottoms.

The second line that I will be introducing by the end of February, if all goes well, is this:

Merino, Cashmere & nylon sock yarn. The sample they sent me was in sport weight, but you get the idea. It is as soft as a day-old chick, and strong to boot. It will be perfect for that pair of luxury socks you've been wanting to make, or perhaps a pair of gloves, or a hat.

I know I said that I cranked out 4 finished objects- but the other two will have to wait. They belong to lines of yarn that I will be introducing to my shop in a month or two- so I'll save showing you those samples for another day.

What's on your needles? Or what's recently found its way off?