Project Portfolio: Fluff-to-Socks Sal/Kal

Remember when I blogged about the Fluff-to-socks Spin-along, Knit-along that I was participating in? We had the month of May to spin the yarn and the month of June to knit the socks. Initially I was confused and thought that we could use any pattern we wished. Then a friend kindly let me know that the sal/kal was supposed to be done using the Effervesce sock pattern. As you can see there is a great deal of cabling in these socks but with the cabling-without-a-needle method they fairly flew of the needles. I was also pleased with how closely the striping lined up. 

As I stated previously, there isn't an outfit in my wardrobe thay such wild socks will work with, but they will be warm and they were such a fun project from start to finish. 

Dye Days

  There are few things more splendid to see mounded up on the table then pounds and pounds of fiber, waiting to be dyed, carded and spun! I am changing suppliers as I was not happy with my last batch of fiber. So imagine my delight with all my new fiber when i discovered how soft and exquisitely silky it was. Such drape and buttery smooth fluff. I wanted to keep every last bit  for myself, but of course that is not possible and my shop was getting empty, so I set to work dyeing it up.

 Some of my dye stock was low, particularly the yellow. So I ordered a few colors and then set to work doing as much dyeing as I could without completely exhausting my yellow stock. BFL/Silk is an amazing combo to dye up, the colors are so unique and there is such depth to the colorway. 

 The above fiber is my new colorway ARCHIPELAGO is in my 85%/15% BFL & Silk blend and it is simply stunning. The above colorway sold right away so a few days later I dyed another to spin into yarn for my shop.  I also did the same colorway in Kid Mohair. It comes out a little different on mohair then on the wool, the colors are deeper and there is less of the natural color showing through, but it is still amazing.

All in all I am very happy with my new fibers and I am excited to be able to share some new colorways and blends with you all.  You can find all the loveliness here at Turquoise Owl Fibers.
For those of you who don't spin, but would love to knit or crochet with these fantastic fibers, there will soon be some of my colorways available as handspun yarn  in my shop! Stay tuned for updates.

Knitting :: Cowl For A Friend

Last November I spun and knit this cowl in a matter of days. The fact that it was on drop spindle is what amazes me for bulky weights on a spindle are not my forte. I should say Single bulky weight. But it turned out very nicely and I do believe my friend was quite pleased with her cowl. It was a birthday present and since I spun and knit it quickly I did not keep proper notes and write down the pattern like I should have.*Ehem. Cough.

One of these days I will spin up more bulky yarn and write out the pattern for all of you. I'll keep you posted if/when that happens.

Introducing....Penelope!

 Yes, I do name inanimate objects. I think we covered that in the last post. 
Moving on. 
My exciting news is...(.drum roll please).....I bought a spinning wheel in March!
I had absolutely no plans of getting one anytime soon. But my Mom had been hunting around on the internet and told me about the excellent deal she found on a brand new Ashford Kiwi 2. It came from a reputable fiber company in Washington State, and after some deliberation, I placed an order. 
I was quite on pins and needles waiting for it to arrive. Well, finally it did, on March 21st and I was more then ecstatic.
The wheel also came complete with 1 pound of fiber, a niddy noddy, and a maintenance kit with extra parts, oil, etc.
For those of you who are new to my blog, this is my first spinning wheel. I have been a drop spindler for 4 years now. And while I have become very proficient at the drop spindle, and love my spindles dearly, it will be quite nice to be able to get a skein done faster and maybe spin some yarn to sell. That was never really an option with a drop spindle as there is so much time invested in a skein it would have to cost a fortune when sold!

 I have named my wheel Penelope. That was already decided in my head for quite some time as it seemed like the perfect name for a wheel. So Penelope it is. I actually didn't get to do any spinning on her until the 22nd. The wheel arrived unfinished so it had to be waxed to keep it clean and prevent any warping. I wanted to assemble it all then and there but I waited patiently (or maybe not so patiently) for it to dry.

The yarn shown is my very first skein of wheel spun yarn EVER! It was a single that I then navajo plied for a nice heavy-worsted, three-ply. I am very pleased with the way it turned out.
Thus far I have spun six skeins on my wheel, all in varying weights and yardages as I practice my spinning and get used to the differences between wheel spinning and spindle spinning. 
I'll have to share my photos as I progress. It took me a little while for me to actually like my wheel because I find spindling much easier. But now I am getting the hang of it and I find myself quite fond of Penelope. She's a simple but sturdy little wheel and though I still have a vast amount to learn,  it is nice to be gaining a better understanding of how things work with a wheel.

I am so very thankful to the Lord for making this opportunity available. It has certainly been a blessing thus far. I look forward to sharing more with you as I move forward in my Spinning Journey!

January Fiber Updates

 Hello my friends! It is good to be back here in blogland with you. I will admit I have been spending more time on Instagram then on my blog. Probably because the camera on my phone is nicer then my point-and-shoot. And it is fairly instant, far less work then editing photos and doing up a blog post. But I am determined to be a little more regular on here, as time allows, and not neglect my poor blog and my wonderful followers. 
 First up are shop updates. 
I am keeping fairly busy with my shop. Things slowed down around Christmas but are picking back up within the last week. Spindle sales are on the rise and that is a blessing. I get so excited every time I sell a spindle. Actually I still get so excited every time I have any sort of sale. Each one is a blessing and an answer to prayer.
Newest in my shop right now are my Marbled Puni Collections! 
I am working on carefully carding up unique fiber blends on my hand cards and selling them in small amounts. These are similar to batts, but are already split up into sections as you can spin straight from a puni. They will make beautiful heathered yarns and depending on the content, will be lightly textured.
If you haven't seen them yet please do stop by and check them out!
** Concerning Punis, I will be doing a special post about what makes a puni, and the difference between punis and rolags. Stay tuned!

 In my own personal non-business-related Fibery dealings, this is a little of what I have been working on. Bright and early New Year's day, (yes, I mean about 12:30am!) I dumped out my container of woolly odds and ends left over from other carding projects. I wanted to see if I could make some order out of the chaos and maybe card them into rolags/punis. Yes, I know I could use them for felting or stuffing, but they seemed to pretty to use for anything other then spinning. I lashed them neatly onto my hand cards as shown above, then away I carded.

 As you can see they turned out beautifully! They have some short,, blobby spots. And I had to deal with a few more noily sections then I usually do, but overall I loved them. Since I was using scraps they ended up being a mixture of merino wool, angora, silk, bamboo, llama, and sari silk threads. 
 This was my project basket on New Year's Day. Although I ended up just working on my scrappy punis and never did get to spin on my Christmas yarn. I carded, spun, and plied all of my scraps on January 1st, in between the general chatter, food, games and time spent with my wonderful family. 

 Here is the resulting yarn, my first handspun of the year 2013!I am not sure on the WPI of the yardage, I will have to measure it again.

 As for my Happy Christmas yarn, it spun up fairly quickly. I dithered back and forth on how I should ply it. Two ply to blend the colors more? Navajo ply for longer color repeats? Normally I don't have trouble deciding what to do with my plying but I wanted this to be perfect so it sat as a single for a little while. Two different people advised that I do two-ply. So that is what i ended up going with.

And I absolutely LOVE the way the colors ended up! It is a very unique yarn, and some of the colors are not "me" at all. But as a whole I love it and I am already designing a shawl pattern with it. This was only 180 yards of fingering weight yarn. I have already knit almost all of it and I am plying the second skein for it. Depending on how the shawl turns out I may turn it into a pdf for sale on Ravelry. I'll be sharing pictures with you soon!
What about you? What projects have been keeping you busy in your spare time thus far in the New Year? I would love to hear all about them!

This Week's Projects

This week I started a new and quick spinning project. I carded together two of my colorways, "CHESTNUT" and then a small blue and green braid from one of my samplers. I also added a little bit of angora to the mix. The resulting yarn is a heavy worsted, almost bulky in parts. I have a gift in mind for it. We'll see. I only carded about half of it. So this is roughly two ounces.  I love carding together special combinations of fiber to spin. They always come out so unique and beautiful.

I'm also doing some crocheting. I ordered this yarn during Knit Picks Cyber Monday sale for a gift I am making. I haven't done any crocheting in quite awhile. I can certainly tell because after only two evenings of steady crocheting this past weekend, my wrist was cracking constantly while I was crocheting! However this pattern goes fairly fast so I am hoping it is done soon. I prefer to knit.
Speaking of gift-making, Christmas is fast approaching!  I still feel like I have so much to do! How about you? Are you working on any projects for your friends and loved ones?

Sale in the Shop this weekend!

Starting right this very minute, I am running a store-wide 10% off "Black Friday through Cyber Monday" sale! I have no idea how this idea will float, or if I'll ever do it again, but I figured it was worth the shot. So if you have a hankering to stock up on roving, spindles, or yarn, now is the time and place to do it! Be it gift giving, gift making, or just splurging on yourself, feel free to come on over and browse to your heart's content!
Visit my shop for more information and details.

Inside Out:: One

Inspired by House Wren Studio, I have decided to do an "Inside Out" post every now and then. Mine may contain several pictures, not just the usual two. It seemed like a fun and inspiring idea that should help me blog more spontaneously, and might even occasionally get me out of a blogging rut; though that's certainly not to say I am in a rut every time I decide to do one! 

Inside:: My projects for today. I mainly worked on my rug hooking. That is to say, of the projects shown the rug hooking is what I concentrated on. I did not spend the whole day rug hooking however! Though I will be the first to admit, I am very slow at it. It is not one of those projects that I can just work on anytime. It doesn't work very well for watching a dvd, I have to always be looking at what I am doing and I miss half the movie. I haven't tried working on it in the car. Lately anyways I have been the driver, not the passenger, on many of the longer trips. But I DO work on it occasionally. And it makes teeny bits of progress each time. One of these days it will be finished and framed. And I DO greatly enjoy working on it. Though there are times when I wish I had chosen a kit with 1/4 width wool strips instead of 1/8 inch........

Outside:: The ladies were all in a huddle, fluffing out their "cowls" (as we like to call them), against the chilly breeze. Alas, they have ceased laying for the winter. I'm already missing the daily fresh eggs.

Spinning For A Pumpkin Sweater

I know I was planning on showing you fair isle today. And I know I had no intention of starting a new spinning project, after all Christmas is fast approaching. But we "happened" to be at a fiber mill today. And I just "happened" to spot this gorgeous pumpkin colored roving. And I did it. I bought a whole pound and a half for a sweater. Gulp. I did not plan on that. But there you have it. 
And you know what? I am very happy with my purchase. It was an excellent price, I LOVE the color, and I have been longing to spin and knit a sweater. So the sweater is now in the very beginning stages. I must say its very fun  to spin this roving, but I am sure by the time I get to the bottom of the bag I will be just a wee bit tired of it. No matter, it will be gorgeous. And I'm looking forward to wearing it!
It's our last night on Holiday. I need to hustle to bed, morning comes early when you have to be packed and out by 10am!

In Snapshots: My Week Thus Far

~Early Sunday morning milking. I enjoy the cool quiet, the warmth of the cow, the sound of milk streaming into the metal pail, it is a lovely way to start the day.

~Fresh, foamy milk. Steel-toed boots to protect my toes, getting accidentally stepped on by a cow hurts!

~One of my cousin's new French Angora bunnies! Isn't she darling?

~Sunlight through the trees. It always makes me so happy.

~Handspun Painter's Palette yarn. Spun with Turquoise Owl Fibers roving from my shop, by my cousin.

~A spot of morning tea

~Knitting my Seaweed Stole and browsing through the most recent copy of Spin Off. 

~Picking a colander-full of fresh grape tomatoes.

~Chicken scratch.

~Bright pink Yarrow in the garden.

~Spinning a beautiful blend of 70%Polworth Wool/26% Alpaca/4% Silk.

Have a beautiful day!

Don't forget to enter my Giveaway if you have not done so yet. Only two days left!

Just popping in.

Today it is raining again. And I am not complaining. It is wonderful to have all this rain after our long dry spell. It feels a bit like autumn, like it did when I blogged this post. The house is quiet, so quiet that you can hear the clocks ticking, and the rain hitting the stove pipe outside the living room wall. 

Rainy weather always puts me in the mood for tea. I turned the electric kettle on, fished out my tea pot, wiped the dust out of a cup I have not used in awhile and made a pot of Rooibush Chocolate Tea. It is made by the Tea Gschwendner company, and oh so tasty. As the description says: "The creamy sweetness of chocolate combined with refreshing mind blend perfectly for a delightful cup!"

Things are going to be different around home for awhile. Grandma had surgery and Mother and I are switching on and off taking turns caring for her. The last two days I had previous commitments, and getting back earlier then planned, I had intended to dye fiber today  The rain put a stop to that and I found myself home this afternoon, with less to do then I thought.

So today I am working on my Etsy shop, blog and some knitting. Last week I picked up this lovely skein of Ella rae merino lace yarn. It is kettle dyed in gorgeous shades and I was so excited to start knitting it up.

I picked this yarn with my Seaweed Stole in mind, so as soon as I had found the right size of needles I got right to it. This is an easier pattern to work on then the other lace one I was doing. It works well for when I am sitting with my Grandma while we watch the Olympics. I kept losing my place in the other one, staring at the telly and holding my breath until a critical moment in the games had passed. Needless to say, I was not getting anywhere fast on that project! 
The Seaweed stole only has 4 rows to repeat, and just one of them is lace, so it is easy to keep track of while other things are going on.
I'm planning on selling this in my shop once it is done. Though that may not be for awhile, it needs another skein of yarn and the shop where I purchased it is across the state. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!