Spin A Yarn for Ewe

I decided to knit up something from one of my many skeins of handspun. I wanted something I could wear here in Southern California and something I could make with just one skein. I decided on a cowl as I love wearing them and it gets just cold enough to do here. I started with my trusty circulars in size 9 and changed 2 sizes about every 2 -3 inches. I love to use this trick to cause a flare rather than doing an increase to do so. I think it turned out great. I also finished it just in time for it to be cold here again so I have gotten to wear it too. I finished the yellow/orange/bead yarn today and will photograph it later after it is dry. It came out a little more subtle than I had planned but I like it alot with the beads. My next yarn will probably be another self striping as the LYS store I sell to has been asking for some and I said I really liked to spin already dyed roving rather than dyeing afterwards so since I have figured out a way to do both I can do some for her. I also found some fun plying thread to try out.

I did do the 5K on Saturday. I finished it in a personal best but by no means fast. The fastest time was 14:32. At least my per mile time was faster than the fastest mens overall time. It was for a great cause and over $70 thousand was raised so that made all the hard work worth it.

It seems like mother nature has decided on spring around here. Now don't get me wrong we hardly even have winter here but to see the sun again for 2 days in a row is so nice. I finally got a good shot of the self striping yarn. I also finished one skein of a blue beaded one that I really like. I think I should be able to get 2 beaded skeins and a plain one to all go together but maybe just 3 beaded skeins.

I want to thank every one for all the nice comments I have had lately and to the yarn sales. It is so much fun to know that others really like my yarn and that it will get made into something fun.

The yellow/orange roving is drying as I type this and should be on the wheel this weekend. I also think I am going to do another striping yarn in a totally different color combo.

On a personal front I am going to be running tomorrow in my first ever 5K. It should be fun as I know the course and it is very flat so I might actually finish it running, worse case I will finish walking. I have been training off and on since the first of the year but it is amazing how long it takes my aging body to get in shape. 10 years ago it would of been nothing, now it is a challenge. Good news is that this is the first weekend in 3 weeks that we haven't had rain. Somebody is watching out for me.

The yarn I invisioned this time came out how I wanted. I was starting to worry that my ideas were great in my head just not in real life. This is a self striping yarn in green, white and yellow plied with a bright metalic thread in gold. It looks really nice in person. I will have to get better shots of it. There is enough to do a great hat.

I also signed up for this exchange. One Skein Secret Pal I love these kind of exchanges. I have had good luck on the ones I have done before so I signed up to do this one. Hope it goes smoothly and I hope my pal likes handspun, worse case it is a fun way of meeting new people.

I also have noticed alot of Project Spectrum participants so maybe for April I will do a yellow and orange yarn for that knit along. I ended up doing the pink for March without even realizing it.

Yesterdays spinning was a bust. I had an image in my mind and it did not work at all. The finished product was not soft and looked like a disaster. I even ripped up what I did the first time and did it differently and still hated the finished product. Oh well, on to the next. This skein came out how I wanted. This is Grrlie Grrl's big sister. It is a perfect compliment colorwise to Grrlie Grrl but bulkier. They would be great together in a fun scarf or hat and mitt set.

I was so bummed from my failed day spinning that I decided to knit last night. Of course that didn't work out well either as I through caution to the wind and did not swatch and what I started ended up way to big but it kept me busy and the yarn looks great worked up so I didn't mind ripping it out to start again as the finished product will look great.

More spinning tonight as I am going to do a thick and thin striping yarn that will be perfect for a hat that I plan to ply with something new that hopefully(fingers crossed) will work out like I want.

The yarn I showed last time as a single is now plied. It is bulky and kind of thick and thin but really nice. I love the colors. They turned out how I had hoped. Next I worked with the roving I had spot dyed pink. Spun up some nice thin singles and plied it with hundreds of little pink and pearl beads. Very grrlie! Next up is the blue roving then back to the dye pot as I want to try something new. Big plans for some hopefully fun looking yarn. I also have plans for some more "magic" skeins as they sold really well at the LYS. She even said she was so shocked how wrong she was about them. People loved them. Since they are made with my left over small bits I love putting it to use.

So I got out the dye yesterday and dyed some merino and some BFL. The blue has little spots of magenta and a very light purple the pink is just pink. I want it to be very subtle and then I will ply it with these great pink and pearl beads I have. Very spring. The blue will probably have some beads too in a very pretty ice blue irridescent that I found at my crazy bead store. This bead store is close to me so I go there but the place is a mess. I am not sure how the guy finds anything but he always seems to come up with it. I really think he should have a sale for all the beads on the floor because it is covered in them. Maybe a $1 for all you can get in a sandwich bag.

Next up is what I am spinning now. I already have 2 bobbins full that I plan to ply tonight. It should be a thick and thin very bulky finished yarn as the wool was very lightly carded and lead to very random spinning. Fun to do.

I also added a few new yarns for sale and replaced some pictures with better ones, so go take a look!

I have decided to sell some of my more unique yarns here rather than take them to my LYS. They look for more traditioinal stuff and shy from what I think is fun. Their loss. I have posted a few that I have right now in an album with prices. If you are interested you can email me at spinayarnforewe(at)yahoo(dot)com. We can then discuss particulars. I will be posting more as I finish them so check back often as I spin alot. I have plans for more beaded yarns and also some fun new colors. Any suggestions, comments or custom stuff let me know. Hope to hear from you.

Ever since the LYS called to say bring more yarn down I have been going crazy trying to spin up a bunch more as she really wanted a good showing of the beaded yarns. So here is what I managed to get done since Friday night. First was a multi colored cotton with beads and a natural BFL. I only got one of these done but could do more if she likes it. Next up was a multi colored batt that I made up with the 1 ounce pieces of roving I dyed before combined with Angelina in a fushia and silver beads very lightly and burgandy commercial wool. This turned out very nice I think. I managed to get 2 skeins of this combo done. Last but not least is a red on red yarn with red beads. I love this combo even if it is VERY hard to photograph. It actually has tons of beads but since everything is similar in color it is more subtle. I also got 2 skeins of this done. I think next up is some of the Rambouillet roving that I dyed last week. I have about 6oz dyed in yellow and magenta spots. It should turn out nice as a 2 ply with no beads. I am kind of beaded out from the weekend. Stringing all of the beads doesn't take that long but it is something I don't really enjoy. I did most of it in the car riding around to do errands. I love getting something done while in the car. That way I don't feel like I am wasting time.

I am so excited. I got a phone call from the LYS where I have my yarn and she wants/needs more. She bought a dozen skeins from me 3 weeks ago. She didn't put it out until her grand-reopening on the 25th and there are only 2 skeins left. Success, baby! She is really interested in more beaded skeins and luckily I have 5 done right now (I had 7 but 2 are already spoken for) and I have until Tuesday to get some more done. Nothing like some pressure spinning. Here is the yarn from yesterday all spun up and plied. I like the colors and hopefully I can have another of these done before Tuesday too. I was so glad to hear that the yarn had sold as I had not heard from her so I was kind of nervous but I guess I was worrying over nothing. I will be interested to see what didn't sell yet as I go there on Tuesday to drop off the new batch.

I dyed a bunch of 1oz pieces of roving last week. Then I was stuck to figure out something to do with it. Yesterday I whipped out the drum carder and started cranking. I used white merino, yellow BFL, green merino and green Angelina flash. The flash is the hardest to see but you can almost see it in this picture. It is spinning up into a very pretty combo. Different for me as I tend to lean more towards blues/pinks/purples. It should end up being a nice light worsted 2 ply. So now I have the blue, purple and magenta pieces left so I think I will combine them with the white merino or white BFL. Angelina or not, I am not sure. I know it kind of makes it "novelty" yarn then but I use it very lightly and it seem really to be just a little sparkle. We will see what mood I am in when I card. I really need to get on a dyeing kick but I just haven't been in the mood this week. Just playing with what I already have done. Using stash is a good thing.