New HandSpun Yarns
by Liz on Jul.17, 2010, under Life, Spinning
I’ve continued my progress during TdF
My Foo Fighter Yarn, Colour & Shape:
I’m extremely please with how it turned out. I think it fits the inspiration (see previous post) well.
And then the next yarn was inspired by one of my daughter’s t-shirts:
May I present to you… Blondie!
She is such a bright, fun yarn.
And how can I resist sharing the batts I got in the mail from Crafty Puppy Lover? Toy Story SAL for the win!
Rex wanted to make sure he caught his photo op since one of the batts was inspired by him.
I haven’t decided yet whether I will spin them together or separately. I’ll let them tell me when it’s time (do I sounds like a crazy lady yet?)
For now I need to finish packing and prepping for the bachelorette party that I planned for my future SAL. We’re off to Cincy/Northern Kentucky late this afternoon and will be wreaking havoc on the area all night. Watch out!
~L
Tour de Fleece!
by Liz on Jul.12, 2010, under Spinning
Since I am now a self proclaimed spinner I’ve decided to participate in Tour de Fleece. What is that you ask? Well, you’re supposed to spin for each day during the Tour de France. Take a rest day when they have a rest day, spin while they are riding. I’ve been successful in spinning most days, however have not had quite as much time as I would like each day. So far I have successfully completed two yarns and I have a third waiting on the mail for some add-ins:
Yarn 1- Pinkalicious!
Yarn 2- Crimson
Yarn 3- Colour & Shape (in process)
I’ve started spinning a fourth while I wait on the add-ins for the 3rd. I’m thinking about adding in silk flowers to #4, but we’ll see. I don’t know if I’m quite that brave yet 
~L
WWKIP Day
by Liz on Jun.13, 2010, under Uncategorized
Yesterday was Worldwide Knit in Public day! I grabbed Andrea, picked up Monica (who I met at the spinning class a few months ago) and we ventured up to Polaris to take part. Fairly good turn out, I think I counted 18 people. Given the stormy weather headed our way, not bad. It was hot and it was humid, but we were not deterred. A few pictures:
I even made some new Ravelry friends, hooray! Now hopefully we can kick off a new knitting event in Dublin and make it work Fingers crossed…
And my latest completed yarn. It turned out even better than I imagined. I’m calling it Maleficent:
~L
Gaga for Spinning
by Liz on Jun.05, 2010, under Spinning
It’s been awhile, but I am still around and I am still spinning! However not so much knitting lately.
Since returning to work I’ve traveled to Chicago, the UK and Germany. So you can imagine that free time for crafting has been limited when you also add in a baby and a toddler Yet that will not stop me!
Here is a finished picture of my Melted Mint Chip yarn:
Apparently mine had more rust color than any of the others and I core spinning really made it pop! The scarf pattern that we were to use for the SAL I found was just not for me or the yarn so I defaulted to a cowl. It’s actually the same pattern that Carrie used for my yarn pictured in the last post:
I’ve since spun up a few yarns, but have many more in progress and not completed. The finished yarns:
Punk Rock Princess spun for Melissa (Banana Migraine) as part of a swap:
Gaga as part of a Lady Gaga inspired SAL:
Detail. This is my first time with add-ins. Dangly beads are a pain, but it turned out so fun!
In the works I have Punk Rock Princess Pt II, a bright yellow/pink/natural three ply and a peacock inspired yarn. Oh yeah, and a purple/black 2 ply. So much to spin and not enough time. Not to mention my lack of knitting!
Ultimately I hope to spin enough to open an etsy shop soon. We’ll see if I can’t finally bring that idea to fruition very, very soon.
Time to feed the baby!
~L
More Awesome!
by Liz on May.02, 2010, under Knitting/Crochet
This totally made my night last night:
This is my Burlesque yarn all knit up! Carrie (craftypuppylover on Ravelry) and I traded yarns and this is what she created with mine. My first ever finished hand spun looks beautiful! I am so in love with this cowl. I know I’ve said this before, but I feel I must say it again… Carrie totally rocks!
I need to knit up the yarn I received of hers as the trade… hmm… off to find a pattern.
~L
Spin City!
by Liz on May.02, 2010, under Knitting/Crochet, Spinning
During a week in which I thought I would not do much with knitting and fiber, I actually ended up churning out a lot! I finished the left panel on the never ending WIP that is my vest and I managed to spin 4 yarns in three days. I was going for 5, but I’ll settle with 4:
Magma, which is infinitely brighter in person:
Blooming Irises:
Mint Chip, this is one of two skeins:
Crashing Waves:
I really do need to either craft up my own light box or buy a little one so I can get much better pics of my creations. I think soon I may start my etsy shop and try to sell those that I do not plan to knit into a project.
~L
One More Week
by Liz on Apr.26, 2010, under Knitting/Crochet, Spinning
I have officially started my last week of maternity leave. Those 10 weeks sure did move by rather quickly, didn’t they? Although I suppose I did get to play with a lot of fiber in my time off.
Recent completed project, the Thermal Cowl test knit I was working on:
And two more new yarns!
Clifford. I only had two ounces, but have ordered 3 more ounces in order to make this little 26 yard guy bigger. He needs a friend.
And for the Alice in Wonderland SAL, the Queen of Hearts. She is 204 yards, I’m pretty thrilled about the yardage of this one
As always, more photos on Flickr.
This week I will continue working on that never ending vest and spin up a peacock theme batt I purchased from JazzTurtle. LIkely that will be the extent of my fiber adventures this week, but we shall see. Last week I didn’t think I’d do any spinning and I completed two yarns.
This coming weekend I also hope to attend a Spin In at Temptations in Dublin and check out a cute sewing shop I just heard about, Sew To Speak.
And that’s all I’ve got for now! Off to work on my vest. The front left is getting oh so close to completion.
~L
Fun With Kool Aid
by Liz on Apr.17, 2010, under Dyeing, Knitting/Crochet, Spinning
I meant to post this much earlier in the week, but per usual time escaped me. Week before last I decided to take the dive into dyeing. It was a very shallow dive, but a dive nonetheless. I determined that with a newborn in the house probably the best initial step would be something non-toxic, like Kool Aid, instead of playing with my acid dyes. Off to the grocery store I went!
Lucky for me there was a whole end cap of Kool Aid awaiting my arrival. I stood there for many minutes tossing around color combinations in my head. Something I never noticed before, the outside of the packet has a drawing of the juice and color! Typically this matches the base color of the packet too, I believe. So I grab various “colors”: shades of red and pink (the most common), green, purple and blue. I held off on yellow and orange for now. Now mind you, you need about 3 packets per ounce of yarn. I must have bought 30 packets of Kool Aid, thankfully the cashier didn’t even flinch.
The process I used was a very simple one. I bathed the yarn for 30 minutes prior to dyeing. Once the yarn was prepped I used a pyrex dish as my dye pot. In went the yarn with enough water to cover, and then I poured in the dye over that in the areas I wanted it to color. Now granted this method provides for some color mixing so I tried my best to use complimentary colors. Cover with plastic wrap and into the microwave it went for various 5 minute intervals until the water was clear, therefore indicating the dye was absorbed. Rinse and hang dry… easy!
Pictures!
Hugs N’ Kisses just after being rinsed, on its way to be hung for drying:
And all dried/skeined:
Spring Flowers:
Oceanic:
Did I mention it all still has a slight Kool Aid smell even after rinsing? Oh yes, it will be so “sweet” to knit with. Actually, I’m already using Hugs N’ Kisses to test knit a cowl for someone on Ravelry:
I much further along than that on the cowl now. Pictures when it is completed.
This past week was dedicated to spinning. I managed to complete 3 yarns, all of which I am very proud of:
Citron:
Gaia:
Bollywood Blast:
This coming week I need to spin the yarn for the Alice in Wonderland SAL, but beyond that I think I will be focused on knitting. Need to focus on getting the vest done! The back is completed and I’m halfway through the left front panel. Would be great to finish the front panels next week so I can get them attached to the back and pick up for the color/edging.
That’s about it for now. Off to find lunch soon with Caitlin. We’re having mommy & Caitlin time this morning
~L
March Recap
by Liz on Apr.03, 2010, under Knitting/Crochet, Life, Ravelry, Spinning
I meant to post this on the 31st, but clearly that did not work out. Mosaic summary of some of my March accomplishments:
I completed my first ever hand spun yarn on a spindle and had an offer to purchase it. Instead I did a trade
I completed my second hand spun yarn and knit it into a cool neck warmer.
I took a picture of my newborn with a really pretty batt and everyone seemed to adore it.
I started knitting a garment for myself, I got pretty far, but did not complete it. I did manage to finish the back piece today and have moved on to the front.
I started knitting a dress for Caitlin. It may take forever and then a few days to complete. Small needles/gauge plus a lot of stitches mean a lot of time to complete.
I used one of my daughters toys as a lazy kate in order to ply a yarn. I’m craftier than I thought.
I bought a spinning wheel! I must be crazy, but it is also crazy fun!
And last, but not least, I received a really cool mystery package from some amazing internet friends on Ravelry. It contained all kinds of great gifts for me, Caitlin and Reagan. I swear these women are awesome and I am proud to know them all, even if it is virtually (for now!)
While I didn’t complete everything I wanted to complete, per se, in March, I still feel very accomplished. Now let’s see what April brings!
~L
First Wheel Yarn
by Liz on Mar.30, 2010, under Spinning
I have completed my first yarn on the spinning wheel. I can’t get over how fast it was to spin up a single and then ply. Now I understand how so many of the spinners i know fly through making the yarns!
Here is a picture of the yarn on the bobbin:
This is another Bohemian Knitter Chic batt, specifically for the Retro Pin-up Spin Along. Batt and inspiration photo were in this fantastic pic:
Now if my niddy noddy that I ordered would finally show up… *sigh*
~L
