Spinning Stories

If you have followed my blog over the years, you'll know that, on top of everything else, I am also a spinner. I have a decent, handmade spinning wheel that was gifted to me a couple years back and when the the feeling is right I find myself sitting down at her to spin a yarn or two.

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday I finally sat down to finish a skein that had been waiting since the summer.  It's hard to have motivation when you have to reattach the treddle or put a new string on your tension.

Spun at about a DK weight, this yarn is 1 ply BFL dyed by The Fleece Artist, and 1 ply SW Merino solid lavender violet.  It comes in at just about 300 yards, which seems to be my norm with wheel spun yarn lately.  It's so luscious that I just had to name it "Cotton Candy Anyone?"

Finishing this skein is making me want to find a pattern to utilize all of my handspun yarn. I really do have a decent amount of 300yd+ skeins ever since I acquired the wheel.  

Violet Sparkle for example is a nice yarn that is 1 ply dyed alpaca, 1 ply SW merino held with sparkle. The pops of glitter really make me smile and would shine in a hat or scarf.

Springy Rainbows is another, being my first chain plyed yarn as to keep the rainbow color of the BFL.  I like the result, but it's a little too springy.  Maybe it'll become something fun someday.

Of finally, a very special yarn.  Friendship wool was spun on my spindle and has a story.  I bought two ball of roving and sent one to my friend.  She spun one ply, and I spun the other.  We then sent half our plys back to each other and plyed them together.  So we have a nice collaborative yarn :) <3 p="">

This year was 12 pairs of socks, maybe next year will be only Handspun,   Seems doable, but doubtful given the size of my stash.  But it may become a goal to use more of my handspun.... 

If anyone cares to peek, all of my handspun yarn is stashed over on Ravelry. 

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Do you spin? Have you thought about it? Or even just bought a skein of handspun yarn?  Any pattern ideas would always be loved <3 p="">

Have a great week!

~Lisa

Spinning Stories

On top of knitting, painting and teaching, there are several other hobbies that I thoroughly enjoy.  One of those things is spinning yarn.  I will admit that I don't spin as much as I knit or create, but my wheel isn't the most portable thing on the planet.

Gifted to me almost two years ago, this vintage handmade wheel was passed on to my by a lady in my knitting group who had received it from someone else.  Apparently it's had three or four different owners.  Given than I have never owned a wheel (due to expenses), I felt so honored to be trusted with this gem.

My first skein on the wheel was a bit loosely spun, but still a nice beauty.  This was a 2 ply with blue merino from my stash paired with a bat of orange/blue with sparkle.  I really like the color on this one and for a first try it turned out nice.

Probably my most successful to date is these two skeins of handdyed BFL from my LYS.  I loved how the colors pooled and slowly changed.  It plyed up really nice too.  Something I've learned from wheel spinning is that I definitely prefer BFL - or any animal with a long staple - over Merino. 

This yarn is also the first wheel spun I've knitted into something, for it became one of my favorite shawls - gnarled oysters - which I wear on a weekly basis. 

A nice thing about wheel spinning is that (I believe) it's easier to try out new techniques.  One of those for me was Navajo Plying.  I had never tried it before but the rainbow stripes on this BFL made me want to preserve that.  The result was a yarn that ended up a bit tight and springy, but still very fun. 

This last skein was a total experiment for me.  1-ply is a dyed purple alpaca, which spun up very nice.  The second ply is some matching solid deep purple merino which I held with some sparkle thread throughout.  The end result is a lofty 2-ply yarn that really shines in the light.  I haven't decided what to make with this, but I know I want to make something soon.

This past weekend I pulled out my wheel, oiled her up and started another spinning project.  I'm taking the leftover blue and violet merinos from some of the above skeins and holding them together to create the first ply.  Once all the singles are done I'll likely just ply it back on itself.  It's spinning up really nice, so I hope that I do it justice in the end. 

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I hope you enjoyed this journey with me.  Spinning is something I wish I could do more. Are you a spinner? Or maybe some other fiber craft besides knitting?  Share below, I'd love to hear your stories!

Have a fabulous week :)

~Lisa 

Insert Title Here About My Crazy, Stressful Life

Sigh. Welp, another month has gone by and another blog has sat un-updated. 

I guess that's life. I do love blogging, but the amount of work that goes into formatting photos, coming up with comments and just posting can sometime deter my interest.  Add the fact that I have TWO NEW JOBS and well, you get the point.

But seriously guys, I have Two New Jobs! I feel like my life as an artist is finally going places.  

Job 1) Teaching Middle and High School Art at my Local Catholic School.  Getting this job was a huge step for me, because up until now I've only taught after school.  Being in charge of an actual classroom, with actual students and attendance and grades is a crazy new world. I've had two weeks of inservice and classes started today and so far so good.

Job 2) Because the teaching is part time (only 3 sessions) I still can't fully afford to not have a second job. I had planned to stay nights at the cafe, but then an opportunity came up and, as an artist, I couldn't say no. I am now working 3 nights and Saturdays at the local frame shop in downtown. Framing art and meeting people.  This is actually a huge deal for me, because my life goal is to own my own business/gallery/yarn shop someday. 

Whew ok now that that is off my chest, let me do some brief fill-ins on fiber-world!

First up is Texas Sea Glass, my gorgeous lace summer cowl. It took longer than I would have liked, but that was because of Tour de Fleece, so it's all good.  I also have over half a skein of the Anzula Yarn left, hmmm what shall I make?

Talking about Tour de Fleece, I managed to get two skeins done.  The first one I'm sharing I actually didn't finish until after the tour, but that's because life got busy then and I was trying to go really thin.  While I ended up with consistency issues in thinness, I did create a gorgeous Navajo Plied yarn.  I need to practice that as well though, it got really springy. 

Navajo Plied Dyed BFL

The second TdF skein is one I had started before the tour and was too lazy to work on. One ply dyed Alpaca with 1 ply of a dark plum merino.  On the Merio I also held some sparkle at various points to give it a nice pop.  I really like this yarn and whatever she becomes will be gorgeous.

2-plied alpaca/merino with sparkle!

I have an art opening in under a month and a million things to do for it. I stopped painting about a month ago so that I could focus on teacher in-service and preparing for my show. The first one has happened, the second, not so much.

Here's the last large painting I have done. It's one of my favorites :) 

Rusted Morning Shore - color is a bit off here. 

The above painting leads well into my final topic: I'm publishing a book! Yea!!! So I have spent a long time the last few months working on this beautiful 50 page book that contains most of my paintings paired with poetry.  I'm selling them for $15, and they'll be released at the beginning of September. BUT if you want to pre-order, I'll give you the book , a special gift and free shipping for that price right now. This offer is only good until August 20, so take advantage while you can!

Send money via paypal to the above address or comment on here and I'll send you an invoice.

Inspirations: 

Art: I saw this artist at my favorite gallery last month and it opened my eyes to so many new artistic experiences. Rahileh Rokhsari is amazing! 

Knitting:  So as a new teacher, I need more professional clothes and thus time to knit more sweaters! While I decided on the Canted Pullover, a few other contenders (all from magazines I own) were: Hipsemantic , Caldwell and Haubergeon

Food:  Local food is the name of the game around here.  This week I'm going to try making stuffed patty pan squash with peppers and black bean!
Life: What can I say. Life is wonderfully crazy. I wouldn't change a thing. 

~Lisa 

Changes....

"Ch,ch,ch,ch...changes"

Quoting David Bowie today (may he rest in peace) as I have finally decided to change URLs to reflect the rest of this blog.  I hope you were able to find me OK! 

First on my list for this week is this handspun.  It's not perfect by any means - I literally had to fix every part of my wheel at some point during the creation of this yarn! It's 300 yards of dyed BFL, much bluer than in this photo. 

In the category of finished objects is my double knit cowl.  I finally got around to photograph it being worn, and I love the way it fits nice and sung. Perfect for cold  nights!

I also am working on some socks, because that sweater is just not calling my name right now.  These are with a ball of Crazy Zauberball that I divided up to make stripes. I am already at the heel and loving the way they are turning out :) 

Out in art world is my most recent painting.  I finally got my studio set up and am working on this guy currently.  Not as much as I should be, but enough.  I should have it done by this weekend.

Weekly Inspirations:

Art:  Currently I am using The Lion King as my inspiration painting.  The one above came from a scene, and there are few more stills that have my eye.  Do you have a favorite inspiring movie?
Knitting: I'm working a fish lips kiss heel for my socks.  Ever heard of it? I'm really liking it!
Food: I made a Thai kit for dinner last week.  Want a brief lowdown? It's here! (Hint - it was tasty!)
Life: My parents drove down from Kansas this past weekend to bring a few unpackable gifts and my art from my show last summer.  It was nice having them here to share my TX experiences with, as well as a chance for me to clean my apartment! haha. 

Hope you all have a creative week!

Race to the Finish.

Guys.  I have 4.5 weeks left of my Residency in Navasota. Can you believe it? It's been almost a YEAR since I relocated to Texas! For the record, I am moving to Bryan (about 20miles down the road from where I am right now) BUT I won't have a real studio for awhile.

Given that my time is quickly racing by, I am working on getting 2 knit projects and a large painting done before I have to say goodbye to my time here. It's definitely going to be a stressful last few weeks.

I mentioned in my last post I was going home for a week or so to set up a show at my local library. I got it all set up and it looks great! The reception went well also - lots of old friends made it out :) 

The night before I left I decided to finish up my first skein on the wheel. I couldn't just leave it there for a week! It looks pretty good for a first attempt, but I am excited to get better!

On with the spinning, I decided to start a new batch the other night. This is some merino dyed by the owner of my LYS. I'm trying to go fingering weight and consistent. So far I'm doing ok, but having a few issues with underspinning. 

Before I left I also finished my "Alpha B Blue" shawl.  My first real lace shawl (but not lace-weight!) and only a couple of not-so-noticeable mistakes. Total win!

On the list of finished projects, I have this cute little wine cozy I made for my roommate this is also done. She's been such a sweetheart the last few weeks that I wanted to give her a gift. 

 While I was back in Kansas I could not resist the urge to go into the yarn shop there. Luckily my sister was with me and decided she wanted me to make her a shawl. This is the result. It's got about 15 rows left and I'm trying to finish it by mid August when they visit.
(yarn Louisa Harding Amitola, pattern Revontuli/Northern Lights)

And something for myself is on the needles as well. A self designed colorwork shawl. If I can figure out how to word it, I want to publish this pattern. 

(Yarn - Ella Rae Lace Merino Worsted)

And finally the large painting I mentioned. I have two weeks to finish this one before I have to hit clean up mode. I think I can do it. (right now it's about half done - it's gonna get darker!)

Isn't it crazy how time can just fly by and you can get so much done without noticing? Just re-reading this post has made me realize the last three weeks have been. I hope I can keep this mojo up for a bit longer!

~Lisa

I'm leaving you all with a photo of my family's new kitten - Gizmo - who is one heck of a stinker. He was jumping up my legs, eating plants and chasing his tail all week. 

FO Friday: Spin to Knit Success!!

Happy Friday everyone! It's been one heck of a stressful week,and next week will be worse. I'll spare you the story of me and my art troubles though and let you hear something more pleasant.

I just realized I never showed you all my lovely golden cowl that I finished at the beginning of my Thanksgiving break.

You may all remember this lovely yarn I spun up during Tour de Fleece last summer, from a 50/50 Merino and Tencel blend.

It's definitely my favorite and most proud handspun, and I couldn't let it sit in my stash for long! But what do you do with 110 yards?? Not much, that's for sure. So I started hunting for patterns and decided a cowl/infinity scarf would be my best bet, and that whatever it was it would be pretty skinny and more decorative than anything. 

Eventually I decided on the Infinitude Scarf, and figured it was my best bet for this yarn. Super basic and easily adjustable to my yardage. I decided to make the small size, and  changed the ribbing to 10 rounds instead of the 15 it calls for. From there I just worked the pattern until I ran out of yarn. I think I got about half as many repeats as it called for. 

 When I first started working on this, I wasn't sure if it would be warm or not because of the huge amount of Tencel in the yarn, which made it really slick.  But it has quickly become a favorite accessory of mine! I love having something I can just throw over my neck and the way it curls and twists is so fun too. I don't even mind that the back side tends to make an appearance quite a bit -- it looks pretty too. I think it's the yarn :) This is probably my best spin - to - knit project to date, that's for sure!

Well I hope the weekend treats you all well. I'll be in studio for most of it. Everything is due in a week and a half; YIKES!

~Lisa

For more FO's Check out Tami's Amis!

Handspun and Art! (Opinions needed!!)

It's Thursday! Tomorrow starts the weekend, which for me is jam packed with way too much stuff. Between studio, a football game with my parents and lots of things to plan, it's gonna be busy!

I recently finished up some handspun yarn I wanted to share with you all. It's not perfect by any means, but since I was making drawings from it and also planned on using it for my Headbands that I want to sell, I figured it didn't have to be.

(Sorry in advance for the cruddy photos, lately my camera has had some focus issues)

Handdyed superwash merino in a really pretty rainbow colorway, plyed with undyed superwas merino. Probably one of the prettiest yarns I've ever dyed and spun. Now if I could only remember the colors I used to make it so pretty!

Handdyed lime green and yellow super wash merino, plyed back on itself. For my first attempt at plying on itself, it went well. Much more subdued and pretty in real life.

And the drawings I produced in the process! I have plans to mat these and sell that at a craft show for Relay in November. I was also hoping to get some opinions on potentially selling these elsewhere.  

After reading all the amazing posts about Reinbeck (sp?) I got to thinking that maybe I could sell drawings like these at fiber festivals in my area. I mean, they are super easy to make, and totally one of a kind. Plus they're unique and involve fiber in the process of making. What do you guys think? Would fiber festivals be interested in this type of product? I'd love some input before I waste more time making these!

Happy Fall everyone! It got down to 50 here today, and it was 80 yesterday! Go figure !!!

~Lisa 

The (almost) Perfect Spindle for Drawing With!

What am I talking about you say? See for yourself.

I have been doing a lot of spindle drawings lately because I am going to have an opportunity to sell them and the headbands with the yarn at a craft show in November. So back in August I did a bit of thinking and realized there had to be an easier way to draw with a spindle besides taping a pencil to the bottom.  And thus this was born!

Like most homemade spindles, I used wooden wheels from Hobby Lobby. Unlike most homemade spindles, the dowel rod is replaced with a charcoal pencil.  Overall, it does the job just like a normal spindle.  However there are a few flaws in this device:

• It actually makes a different type of mark than the ones produced by taping a pencil to the bottom of a normal spindle
• The hole in the wheel was too small for my pencil, so I had to do a bit of carving and hacking at it. If I wanted to go 'pro' on these, I'd find a better thing to use there.
• Since the wheel is small, it doesn't hold much yarn.
• Obviously, the pencil needs sharpening sometimes, thus making it shorter.
• I couldn't quite get the hook to stay it, so it's taped on top.

This really does do the trick for making drawings, I am not going to lie. But I think that I actually prefer the marks made by taping a pencil to the bottom. So for now I am alternating between the two until I have time to think of a better solution.

Anyone ever make a homemade drop spindle? Any pointers??

~Lisa

Turing Scraps into Gold

 Let me start by mentioning that I finally finished my Effortless Cardigan. I will post pictures and more details after it is blocked, whenever that is.

Anyways, as you may know, I am trying to only use stash yarn all year and not buy any new yarn at all. (although that may get broken very soon because Berroco just made some new amazing colors of Vintage and I freaked out for at least 5 minutes when I found out). So in my attempts to reduce my stash, I have been working on a few projects with my scrap/lower amount yarns.

The first one was a a headband I knitted up with some handspun.  This is the handspun that I made last semester for my spindle drawings , and I didn't have very much of each color so I couldn't do too much with it. I didn't even have enough to finish the headband, as you can see. There are 3 different yarns in there, a blue/black/green 3 ply, a blue/black 2 ply, and then a green 2 ply.  It's really fun to wear because of it's changes in color and bulkyness, but I wish it would lay flat. I guess I need to find an iron and try steam blocking it.

(This photo does no justice, but I can't get a picture of me wearing it...)

Next up is a pair of socks I started last night. I have a ton of random scraps of Vintage, and after finishing my cardigan I wanted to just get them out of my stash. So I am making random stripe worsted socks from the toe up.  I sat down for 3 hours yesterday and am already at the heel cup. I was going to do them 2 at a time, but my yarn got tangled really fast so I changed my mind. Worsted socks knit up so fast though so they'll still be done in no time. I am really excited for these because I am going to make them super long, basically until I use up all my Vintage!

       

Finally, as many of my fellow knitters can attest to, Red Heart, or any cheap acrylic, is AWFUL to knit with! So then why I am finding myself making tons of little white balls with my extra Red Heart? Well that's a secret for now, but lets just say it has to do with my art!

I have so much on my plate with school right now, I can't even keep it straight. I am really surprised that I have found time to knit (and post about it on here!) but I have noticed that when I spend time knitting it makes me want to do school work more later.  Taking a few hours on a Saturday to knit is a great stress relief and prepares me for Sunday when the homework load hits.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend and is ready for the week to start! I have a very busy one ahead, so I'll be lucky if I get through it unscathed.  Take care!

~Lisa

A Warm Wool Winter

Winter vacation is always a great time for getting some serious knitting done, and this year was no exception. I still have a week left of break, and it will be spent finishing a painting, working at the pre-school and hopefully some more knitting time!

Winter vacation was barely winter this year. The weather has been in the 40's and 50's the whole time and we have only had one fluke snow storm here in Kansas. The combination of the warm weather and the excessive fiber art that was going on in my house leads me to call this a very Warm Wool Winter.

The first thing I decided to conquer with my newly found free time was this amazing pair of socks.

Knitted using magic loop, one at a time, and Zitron Trekking 6ply (one of my new favorite sock yarns, yet very hard to find). The pattern is Soft Waves from the book Toe-up Two at a Time Socks, which I used to teach my self the toe up technique, something I had never tried before. I think it was a complete success!

While I was knitting on the socks, I was also finishing up my purple wool that I started way back this summer. I managed to finish this by the end of week one, and got it plyed and set on Christmas Day.

As a knitter, I couldn't just let the yarn sit in a plastic bag in my drawer. So I decided that there was actually enough to make something with and found the perfect pattern: Diagonal ribbed cowl. Knit on size 8 fixed circs, I had this thing done in less than 3 days.

Finishing this led me to need a new project to work on and so I decided to spin up the amazing 100% alpaca roving I purchased back in October. It was so soft, but really hard to draft because of this. The end result is something I am really proud of and one of the better yarns I ever spun.

The original roving was black, tan and white striped, so I didn't want to lose that pretty design in the final product and therefor I didn't pull apart pieces the way I usually do, and in turn I didn't produce as much yarn. I did produce enough to finish a hat though! The had is very soft and I absolutely love it! It's a little big, which means I should have cast on a few less stitches, but when you have thick and thin yarn (like all my handspun tends to be) it's hard to figure out the gauge, let alone knit a gauge swatch. That's one of my goals, to one day be able to figure out the gauge and 'weight' of the yarn that I have spun.

In between the cowl and the hat I was able to work on my Effortless Cardigan and it is slowly coming together. It still has quite a bit to go though.

With one week left, I plan to work on my ever growing collection of Relay for Life Dishcloths; hopefully I'll get 2 or 3 more done, so I can have a decent amount to sell this spring at farmer's market.

I hope all my readers are enjoying any time off and are keeping to any New Years resolutions. Until next time,

~Lisa