Think Small

Spinning the bamboo is getting much better. I'm getting the hang of it. I think the trick is to use smaller strips as you would with wool. It seems to be working much better. I can't wait to see it turns out and soaks up dye.

Let's give bamboo a chance

I finished the quirky yarn I was working on tonight and decided to not give up on the bamboo. It seems to be getting better and I'm learning tricks to try to prevent it from breaking every time I draft. So far, it's working. I didn't think bamboo would be harder to spin than wool. Speaking of wool, I have some raw wool coming soon! I bought it from a farm in Idaho and I'm really excited to learn how to card. It will give me practice before my goat angora comes. We have a Chao and I would love to spin her hair, so hopefully when my husband's parents get her clipped, they will save the clippings for me so I can spin her fur. Now, I'm going to set the twist on this skein I finished. Will post when it's dry.

Back Break

I really need a new chair for spinning. The chair I use hurts my back so bad, it's hard to spin for a long time. I don't really know why, but it does. I should look on websites to see what they recommend for chairs for spinning.

I tried spinning bamboo today and it was tougher than I thought. Since the fiber is so fine, it's hard to draft and keep going. I'm going to research it more and go back to it. I really wanted to make my best friend a hand-spun, hand-knitted headband out of bamboo, but since I'm not that experienced in bamboo, I will have think of another plan. Right now, I'm spinning this great batt full of different colors. It's turning out really cool and I think I'm going to make a headband out of some of it. I need to get started on Sarah's headbands soon because she is coming home this weekend and I'm going to visit her next weekend. I'm really excited to see her. She lives in Belgium with her husband, who is in the military. I also have to get stared on my nephew sweater. Lots of projects ahead...that's good, because I need to stay busy.

Corinne Burns Bag

This will be on sale on Etsy once I make another one

Eunny Jang Deep V Sweater

Spinning away

I started a new spinning project today. I bought some shetland wool from etsy a while ago and I've decided to spin it and I've also decided to ply it. I'm going to dye it as well. I got some great new colors a while ago and I can't wait to try them out. I finally received my ravelry invite and got started on that. I don't have any knitting projects going on right now, but I will post them here and on ravelry when I do.

Operation Camera Swap Accomplished!

So, I finally have a working camera. I've been taking pictures practically all day and haven't had a problem yet (knock on wood). It's quite the battery hog, so I need to get an upgrade on my rechargeables. Here's some pictures from the camera:




This is my wheel.
this is the wheel treadle.
And these are the kick ass kitty ears.

Broken!

So, I got my new camera today. Everything was working just fine until the camera started turning off randomly. Then I realized, my camera is...BROKEN! I'm going to return it and get a different one at Circuit City tomorrow rather than wait for one in the mail again. I'm going to try the same model again. I'm sure it's just a weird fluke. Until then, I did take some great pictures of the bath puff and washcloth set before it broke.

Bath puff

I'm getting my camera today! That means I will be posting pictures and adding new Etsy items. I have made a bath puff and washcloth set that will be featured soon and will be making more of those sets. I love my handmade bath puff and I think that more people need handmade bath puffs. The ones I make are 100% cotton, so they are eco-friendly. You need to buy one when they are up!

My husband and I are going to an All Species Ball tonight and I made cat ears for it last night. They turned out great and I can't wait to show them off. I ordered the yarn for my nephew's sweater and that is coming today also. I can't wait to go home and play with my new toys!!!

Ordered

I ordered my camera!!! I got a Samsung S85 Silver from Amazon. It's gotten really good reviews and it sounds like an awesome camera, so hopefully it lives up to the hype. I bought extra memory from Ebay as well. Once I get it in, I'll be able to take pictures of my stuff and start listing things on Etsy again. I just finished a dish rag to sell and will be making more of them. I also finished another skein of yarn (not for sale) with my spinning wheel and it's soaking right now. It turned out great. I can't believe how easy it is to use a spinning wheel! It's much easier than a hand spindle. It was a wise investment and I am very happy with it.

I need to go through my yarn and see if I can do a destash sale. I have a bunch of white yarn I can hand dye. I am going to dye a skein black because I want to make my Corinne Burns bag to sell on Etsy. I will post a picture when I get a camera again.

Nephew sweater

I think I'm going to make this for my nephew. It looks like something that can be worn all seasons except summer. And it looks pretty easy.

Refashion

One of these days, I am going to do this.

Camera Obscura

The sweater turned out great! A little longer than I thought it would be, but it still looks very good. When I knit things, I always forget how short I am. My torso may not be as long as everyone else's, so it may be longer than designed. Nonetheless, I am very happy with it and cannot wait to wear it.

You'll have to wait on pictures because I have decided to buy a new digital camera. Mine's on the verge of being five years old and I think it's time for an upgrade. I'm looking for a baby sweater/outfit to knit my little nephew for his first birthday in April. I'm itching to knit something new.

Finished

The Eunny Jang argyle sweater vest is finished and drying after I blocked it. I finished it yesterday and it's drying quite quickly. I'm always quite restless when I block, because I'm afraid that I have stretched it somehow and it will not fit. Most of the time, projects usually turn out ok, so I just have to be patient and let it dry. The sweater turned out AMAZING! I will take a picture of it when I get my camera back and when it's dry. I just started a dish rag for the Etsy store and I'm going to start focusing on adding more to the Etsy store. Be on the lookout for new merchandise! I am also wanting to branch out in local areas of commerce. My husband has an office in the arts building in Toledo and I can use his space to showcase my stuff during art openings. I hope to have business cards soon to advertise.

Ahh, Goat Shares....

Yesterday I bought a goat share. That's right, a goat share. There is this small farm on Martha's Vineyard who is doing a Yarn/Fiber CSA and they are selling shares on Etsy. Check it out here.
They responded quickly to my questions and were very nice. I really like the idea of small farms doing this, because this way, the spinner/knitter knows where the wool is coming from and the small farm is thriving because of shareholders like me. I hope more farmers will do this.

I now have a spinning wheel. I've had it for almost 2 weeks and I absolutely love it. I named it Wilma. It was the first name that came to mind. It is a Fricke S160 Single Treadle with a Scotch tension drive and it is very easy to use. I've made three skeins of yarn already.

As for knitting, I'm working on an argyle vest by Eunny Jang. It can be found here. I just cut my steeks yesterday. What a nerve-racking experience! I don't really like to crochet, so it was a little hard for me to do, but once I got it over with, a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I still have the ribbing portion to do and I'm afraid I'm going to run out of yarn again. I had to wait for a ball in the mail because the place I ordered my yarn from didn't have enough balls in stock. I'm going to call around local yarn shops to see if they have any in, so I don't have to wait.

Welcome to my blog!

I've wanted to do a knitting blog for a long time now, but haven't really had the will to set one up until now. This blog will catalog my trial, tribulations, and triumphs as a knitter and spinner, and it will also give updates on my Etsy store. Stay tuned and I will be posting more!