get out of here

I have a couple skeins of yarn at the shop that I’m getting sick of looking at, plus they’ll be expiring in just over 2 weeks. This makes me sad. They are very fluffy skeins.

So I decided to create a “sale” section and discount the skeins a few dollars. I started at -$2 and may go down another dollar for each week it sits.

Alright, so maybe my yarn isn’t THAT impressive… it’s just average yarn. I get that. Maybe I won’t try selling yarn anymore. People seem to respond to the spinning fiber more positively. But I want to spin too! I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this ’small business’ thing quite yet. On some level it’s fun, but sometimes it’s very frustrating and depressing. I’ll just blame my fragile emotions.

Bubbly Pie. 70 yards, Falklands. $12.00

Pixie. 70 yards, Corriedale. $12.00.

hands cold no more

A note about these mittens, or “wristers” as Cosy refers to them in her book (PS. Cosy, what’s the difference?). I make lots of fingerless mitts to sell in the winter, but I haven’t made myself a new pair since a lot time ago. I really liked the variation she had created in the Night Sky Wristers pattern, so I got out all my handspun odds and ends to make a pair with two contrasting yarns. But deep down I just don’t have that in me. Instead I used two yarns that are relatively the same weight; one was a natural single and the other a handdyed 2ply. The single, from my BFL X Border Leicester cross fleece, has a nice fuzzy halo that adds to the mitt. I did manage to not make the stripes match.

I started with the size small, casting on 26 stitches, got to the end, realized they were too big, and ripped them out entirely. So I dropped down to a size 10 needle (from 10.5) and cast on 20 stitches. This worked much better for my apparently small hands. It’s funny that all of the smalls I’ve made of Cosy’s patterns end up too big for me! Anyway, I got the second one done in record time and I’m very happy with them. I am wearing them right now as I type this!

as productive as I get

When some people have a pile of yarn or dyed fibers to show off just so we know how busy they’ve been, it is huge. It may cover a couch, dining table, etc. For me, not so much. I’m a slow worker. I get bored easily. I need variation. So, this is as productive as I get…

Here contains assorted yarn, some top, and a bundle of dyed locks in Corriedale, Falklands, or BFL. These will be added to my Etsy shop as I get to it. The main hang-up was just getting the photos taken. My camera battery died and I wasn’t entirely sure where the charger had wandered off to. Also, I have to get the light at the right time of day, which seems to be around 10 am. I got everything reskeined, weighed, measured, and tagged yesterday. It’s fun to have a relatively large batch to look at and make yourself feel good.

I ended up at the Four Seasons Flea Market Sunday afternoon. It has proven itself to be quite the little hot spot for things I’m looking for. I found this hand-held mirror for $1.00 (wanted one for my craft sale table); the buttons were $.25 for the loose and $.50 for the cards.

Also found this cute little bowl for $4.00. He wanted $5, but after a lot of thinking, he gave up. He just asked that I didn’t go on Antique’s Roadshow and say, “Look what my mom and I found at the flea market!”. It was pretty funny. It’s number 441, so now I’m just missing 442 and I’ll have the complete set of Verde Cinderella Bowls! Additionally, I found two Pyrex lids that I needed for $1.00.

what is that ugly thing?

Oh, it’s wool dyed with Black-eyed Susans.

I am just not having any success with this natural plant dyeing business! My first two things came out yellow – one Queen Anne’s Lace and the other Eucalyptus. Now this! Arg. I soaked the crap out of those flowers, I guess there just weren’t enough of them. It’s annoying because the dye bath was a nice orange-y sort of color, then I put in the wool and suddenly it was this dull tan. Cheers. I can dye wool tan. I am awesome.

unstable, stable

Can’t say I’ve been feeling overly motivated to get back into the swing of internet things since being home from Pennsic. While I’m there, not having this thing always on your mind is really nice and I didn’t miss it. But it’s not just the internet, I haven’t been wanting to do anything. I feel like an ultra-slacker not having a job. I am looking though – I’m registered with several places that are supposed to help me find something. One of which I took a typing test for, something I haven’t done since I was 13. Apparently I type 67 words a minute. I think one of the main stressers in all of this is that most things have come pretty easily or naturally to me. My first job at the newspaper I got because of my sister. My second job I got because I did job shadowing and they thought I was cute. I never studied much in school. I just never had to try that hard. So struggling with this makes me feel weird. Not to say I’m awesome at everything. Any of you should know how much I gripe and moan about my crap-photography or problems with dyeing. Suddenly I’m in a very uncertain time in my life when I’m more accustomed to regularity and stability.

Well, I have been trying to get myself to use the time I have at home. I dyed the rest of my 2 lbs of BFL, so now I’ve got to make another order so I can update the shop. Also finally used the black-eyed susans, but that’s drying so I’ll photo later. Here are two bits of fiber I’m quite happy with. Again, used the baking method, which I’m having lots of fun with!

Aurora Borealis.
4 ounces, BFL, lanaset dyes. I love the way this turned out. I used lots of black and it dulled the colors into something really beautiful and dark. New found love = black!

Yacht Club.
4 ounces, BFL, lanaset dyes. Sometimes I like the way orange and blue mix and sometimes I don’t. This one has already been spun. It’s a little dirty and muddled and the gold flecks disappeared, but it’s still nice.

what’s in the pot?

I hope it’s not dinner… No, they’re Black-eyed Susans being boiled for their natural dye pigments. I’ve been wanting to do more natural dyeing; I’ve got all the stuff. Wool, plants and dyestuffs, mordants. It’s a little scary for some reason, not sure why. I saw the buds for these in the backyard before Pennsic and decided to have my way with them when I got home. Today is the day. These will boil an hour, then sit for a day (or two), maybe boil more. Then the mordanted wool will be added in. I hope they don’t turn out yellow. I love yellow, but if everything that I dye turns out yellow, I’m not going to bother anymore.

In addition to the plant dyes, I also dyed some BFL with Lanaset dyes. I think it’s good that I’ve settled on one particular type of dye instead of changing all the time. It’s easier to remember which one was used. Lately I’ve been oven-dyeing more frequently than stove-top dyeing. It has a different feeling. Sometimes I like that I don’t have a very obvious style to my stuff. It makes it a little interesting. Although, sometimes I think it would be better if people could look at my stuff and know that I made it.

life goes on without you

While I was away at Pennsic, my fleece came home! I walked in to the house on Sunday to find a sizable box with my name on it. I opened it up and WOOL. Recall my horrific story of fleeces gone missing? Well, it made me a bit wary of getting another processed, but I decided to try again elsewhere, and left it with Zeilinger Wool Co, someone different (someone better). So professional! And the end product is beautiful. It’s free of VM, combed so nice and straight and clean. Finished in a timely fashion (May to August). I couldn’t be happier. In the future I would definitely go back to them. In fact, I may do that more often! It’s nice to be able to say: “Yes, this is locally produced fiber.”

Also, right before I left, I did some website helper stuff for a woman who owns alpacas. She was really nice, super friendly, and very enthusiastic. She called me up to ask if I would like to spin at the farm’s open house in a few weeks. It’s a national alpaca farm thingy where all the farms are open for visitors. She wants me to bring everything! My knitting, weaving, spinning – whatever I have. I think it’ll be really fun to get out there and be chatty and it’ll be good exposure for me. Something cute I can put on my resume (which is good because I’m job hunting). Plus I’ll just be fibering all day long!

the spoils of war

I have to admit, shopping is at the very tip-top of my list of favorite things to do at Pennsic. Within the first week I’d already spent all my money. Amazing how it goes away so quickly! The following are not my purchases in their entirety, just what was readily available at the moment.

I decided to buy lots of fabric this year, since I didn’t get any last year. I always go for linen because you can get it at really good prices there. And of course I love wool but I don’t buy much because I rarely have an occasion to wear it.  I bought all linen and one piece of wool (the white on the far right). They’ve already been washed! I’m excited about renewing my wardrobe with pieces appropriate to my time period.

Some fancy silk embroidery floss for doing, well, embroidery. I couldn’t pass up these colors!

And beads. I’ve slowly been expanding my jewelry collection. My love is amber, but it’s far too expensive. Last year I bought some carnelian and strung them into a necklace.  This year I still looked for amber, but the lengths were all funky. So, I got these jade beads and will make them into something, any length I want.

home from time travel

Luckily we had no problems returning from the 12th century to the 21st century. In past years it has been rather difficult and traumatic, but we managed it quite well this time. I’ve just been vegging out all day, although not everyone has that luxury. On my list of things to do: laundry. And if the sun cooperates, take photos of the goodies I brought home. A lot of them are packed away in the front of the truck, so it may be awhile. I took some photos of camp, although for those of you who don’t quite know what you are looking at, it may be confusing… I’ll just share a few; there are more on Flickr.

Front gate of Gryphon’s Rest, our household. The sheetwall panels have our arms painted on them. Mine is the one on the left: green top, yellow bottom, squirrel. Most camps have some kind of entrance like this, displaying the name, with sheets for privacy and dust protection. Also keeps wanderers out of camp.

This is our lovely new dining fly, seen a few weeks ago at the demo. We had one long table down the center where we sat for dinner. The kitchen area was also under there, which was a little bit tight. Next year we’ll move the kitchen out and get shelves for the storage shed.

Here we are, Lady Genevieve and Lord Rickard, standing in front of his pavilion before leaving for Midrealm Court. We had just gotten circlets (which we have had the right to wear for several years and didn’t), so now we look semi-important. I have lots of sewing to do now that I’m home. Most of his tunics need to be taken in, especially in the sleeves. Apparently I didn’t measure very accurately when I made them.

We had a good year. Rickard and I went dancing several nights, which was a great experience since in our home shire it’s really hard to get people to dance. I went to a few classes, some good, some lame. Mostly I get frustrated and give up because there are so many women trying to get in, they just elbow you right out. I didn’t do a whole lot of knitting or spinning, although I did buy a new spindle and some wool. I did a little bit of weaving and learned a new felting technique. It was good to get away and relax. We even had good weather.

I almost forgot! Today is my 3 year anniversary of spinning! In 2005 I took the Turkish drop spindle class at Pennsic and here I am today. It’s really amazing what one little thing can do to change your life. For spinning, HOOBAH!