The Land of Wool and Honey

Don't Look Now

...but guess who's knitting!

I know I haven't been posting very often or with much content, but I swear, there's been knitting.

And spinning.

Okay, so maybe there's been more input than output, but I really am getting a few things done around here.

Documenting real progress?  One of these days I'll get on it.

Labor Day

This is my idea of a vacation. 

Happy holidays, my hard-working fellow Americans! 

Sunshine and Rainbows

Things that make most excellent Mondays:

1.  Breakfast.  Most specifically, breakfast with out-of-town friends who love both knitting and decadent pastries.   

2.  Packages.  Most specifically, packages containing luxurious spinning fibers  (alpaca, silk, cashmere, et. al.) and a new album to add to the trans-ambient industrial rock music collection.

(Notice that both the rainbow-dyed roving and this Radiohead album showed up in my P.O. box on the same day.  If that's not a sign from the Universe, I don't know what is.)

3.  Phone calls from dads.  Most specifically, dads that begin conversations with the phrase, "What it be like?"  (If you know Jer, I know you can picture this.)

4.  More packages.  Most specifically, a heads up that a big, big box of buttery soft wool (20 colors of Merino worsted) is making its long-awaited trek to Michigan!

5.  And, well, having a very, very good day.  Most specifically, a very, very good day filled with iced tea, phone calls, mail orders, iced tea, happy customers, chocolate, yarn, iced tea, newspaper interviews, ringing cash register, more yarn, did I say iced tea...?

Happy Monday!

What Stash?

On Sunday morning, I headed off to a family mini-vacation in the U.P. (approximately 27 hours of fun), stopping first in Charlevoix to get my midsummer fiber fix.   And I hit it hard.

 

L to R: 50/50 wool/Seacell (Creatively Dyed), 50/25/25 Merino/bamboo/silk (Winterhaven Fiber Farm) and 50/50 wool/bamboo (Creatively Dyed).

 

50/30/20 alpaca/Merino/tussah silk (Yarn Hollow), 50/25/25 Merino/bamboo/silk (Winterhaven).

50/50 Merino/Tencel (Winterhaven), 50/30/20 alpaca/Merino/tussah silk (Yarn Hollow).

 

50/30/20 alpaca/Merino/tussah (Yarn Hollow), 100% Bluefaced Leicester (Yarn Hollow).

100% BFL, both from Yarn Hollow....wow, am I that predictable?

And, wouldn't you know it, when I got home on Monday night, I had a little package waiting for me there, too.  Whoops.

100% superwash BFL (L) and 100% superwash Merino (R) from Fat Cat Knits.  LOVE!

And this one, which has already gone through the orifice once and is ready to ply:

 

I can typically curb this sort of manic cash-flashing, but I actually have an acceptable excuse for this particular stash enhancement.  I'm preparing for (and only just announcing it for the first time at this very moment!) a trunk show of my very own. 

Throughout Thanksgiving weekend 2010 (Friday-Sunday, November 26-28th), I'll be showcasing my handspun yarn, handpainted spinning fibers and samples knit from my own line of patterns, designed specifically for beautiful, unique skeins of handspun yarn.  The trunk show will be here at the shop, with an artist's reception on Friday night from 6-9 (can you say 'chocolate and sparkling wine'?)  I'll be introducing a few surprises as well--it's going to be a crazy awesome weekend.

So, long story short, this stash that I've most recently acquired is not stash at all, but soon-to-be yarn. 

It all makes perfect sense to me.

(While writing this and waiting for my blog photos to load, I may or may not have bought this.  I'm terrible.)
 

Less Talk, More Wool

Experimented with color in January.

 

"Razor Love"

 

"Almond Blossom"

 

"Montezuma"

Up next?  Yarn.

 

That is all.

There and Back Again: A Knitter's Tale

Although I haven't spent the last month trudging through the fires of Mordor, I am about as winded as one must be at the end of an epic journey.  Since my last check-in, I attended a Fiber Fest (to buy more stuff of course!), dyed 15-ish pounds of BFL, spun five? six?  twelve? an unknown number of four-ounce skeins, manned a hopping booth at the Leland Fiber Fest, enjoyed the most successful month of 2009 to date at Inish Knits (October--whee!),  and was asked to teach a class at the Northern MI Lamb & Wool Fest 2010.  I also watched the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Again.

There's been knitting, too.

 

Festivus Fingerless Mitts.  Details here.

 

Which became a multi colored version of this.

A failed attempt at a hat:

 

However.  When at first you don't succeed, 

 

Keep on knittin'.

 

A designing/spinning/knitting project is in the works:

 

 

 

Merino and silk, how I love thee.

I am up to my wool-covered ears in custom orders, emails and requests for private instruction.  At least five people every day are added to our email list.  (Email me at inishknits AT charter DOT net if you'd like me to add you!)  In "these trying economic times", it seems that everyone I meet is finding peace in all things handmade. 

I am inspired, renewed and grateful.  
 

Wallowing-in-My-Own-Filth Friday

Holy deadlines, Batman.  This week has been-- how you say?--a bit much.  And this is the death and destruction a week like mine leaves in its wake:

 

Yes.  According to the calendar on the wall, we are still experiencing the month of April.  Thanks for pointing that out.

 

 

Can you say "biohazard"?

Oy.  Thankfully, in this case, I have something to show for my week.  (Well, besides cracked, stained fingernails, dark circles where my eyes should be and a raging addiction to caffeine.)

Dyeing:

 

Drying:

 

Spinning:

 

 

And a bit of sewing, too:

 

TGIF?  Yeah, I can dig it.

p.s.  As the ultimate treat to myself for a week of work well done, I am heading tomorrow to the Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Fest.  Will you? 

p.p.s.  In the spirit of Friday randomness, just thought I'd pass on this week's factoid.  Laura Nyro was nominated (posthumously, of course) for an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Finally!

 

 

Happiness Is...

 A package first thing on a Monday morning!

 

Inside this box is five pounds of exquisite paper artistry from a very talented lady.  Foldover product labels, business cards, desktop stationery, stickers and thank-you cards--for my other shop.   

 

And just in time, too!

 

I have been spinning like a maniac preparing for My First Fiber Festival.  Dyeing, too.   

 

Inspired by this:

 

This:

 

Inspired by:

 

And this one:

 

By this:

(A little Monet never hurt anybody, no?)

Please say you'll come!  Both my sister and I will be there, along with some of Michigan's finest fiber peeps.  Mark your calendar for Friday, October 9th from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, October 10th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m for the 2009 Fiber Festival at the Old Art Building in Leland.  

p.s. 

Happy Blogiversary

Thank you, my lovely readers; it's been two years together!  Although I didn't knit 50 pairs of socks in 2008, nor finish Tour de Fleece 2008 (or 2009--whoops!) and while I'm still trying to get  that sugar demon off my back, the things I have finished (here, here and here, among a multitude of others) are quite fabulous, if I do say so myself.  I love all of your comments and have been meaning to respond back to each of them.  I think I'll get right on that.

Thanks for listening reading.  I'm so very happy to say this is just the beginning.

Epic

And so it begins. 

 

On Sunday morning, I began the sweater I have been dreaming about for the past six months: My First Handspun Sweater.

I started out the voyage with eight handpainted rovings, totalling approximately 34 ounces.  (I'm not even going to tell you where I bought them.  I imagine you can guess.)  I split each of them in half, along their entire length(s).  And I split them again and again, until I had eight very long strips of bright green wool--to preserve all of the colors throughout  each roving.  Similar, but each quite different, the goal here is to mesh and meld all the unique colors within the eight rovings into one seamless, badass sweater.

I've spun almost eight ounces of singles thus far.  I'm shooting for a 2-ply worsted weight.  The sweater I have in mind is the very basic, very mindless Knitting Pure and Simple Top Down Cardigan, although I would prefer to knit this at 18 sts per 4 inches vs. the pattern's 16.  (Easy enough to modify, no?) 

These singles will be resting on the bobbins for the rest of the evening, as well as tomorrow, and I plan on plying them Thursday morning.  I don't have enough bobbins to spin all the singles before I have one long plying session, and let's be honest--I don't have the patience, either.  

Before the week's end, this lovely green stuff will be the beginnings of a sweater.

***Also.  About dropping the ball last week: I joined Facebook and Twitter.  My apologies.