There's a gremlin in my chest trying to claw its way out through my throat. At least, that's how it feels in the mornings. Allergies? Cold? Who knows, but I feel like ass. Fiber is taking a backseat to trying to feel better, but I do have some pictures to share from better days.



These are some batts carded up special for my dear friend Megan at Treats for Breathing. (Hey Megan, I gave them a name--HIP HIP HOORAY! Get it? Get it?) They are my own hand dyed superwash, some lovely cotswold locks I got from funwithyarn.com, plus some sari silk and novelty yarn snippets, and maybe some other bits and bobs I can't remember in my plague-addled mind.



I also experimented with carding up a crazy batt and running it through twice, rather than the once-through I usually give them. I thought this would be a good experiment, since my poor wheel has made it known in no uncertain terms that superchunky yarns spun from minimally carded batts are no longer welcome through its orifice (and really, shouldn't we all be able to dictate exactly what goes through our orifice, even our spinning wheels?)

I have one yarn to share. Still trying to decide whether to put it in the shop or not. It's a two-ply yarn spun from merino roving dyed by the Yarn Wench, with mohair locks from funwithyarn.com spun into one ply to give it some texture and character.

Not even tornadoes can stop the wheel from spinning! But it does beg the question--if you put wool in a tornado, does it come out as yarn? A most existential question posed by the recipient of Wupatki II, DrKnitter.



I updated my etsy shop with a new yarn from some of my crazy-carded batts. My poor wheel is begging me to take a break from the super-duper-bulky yarns, so this is the last one for a while. It's named The Last Straw, and features lots of that plastic Easter basket straw. So much fun--so hard on the wheel. This yarn is crazy-thick, as thick as my thumb in some spots.



And I finally managed to hold on to some of my hand carded batts long enough to photograph them...usually I spin them up before I get a chance to take pictures. I am in love with these, though. I have to think of the perfect spin for them. They're my own hand dyed mill ends wool in shades of green and brown, with some bright yellow superwash merino and a touch of red merino and gold firestar nylon.





And on a personal note, how does the significant other keep himself occupied when I go into hardcore yarn-production mode? Why, with computer games and kittens, of course.

Musings, shop

I am trying to find my voice in fiber. I feel like I am beginning to get close, that the vision of what I want to create is becoming more clear to me. My productivity is going through the roof. I have more yarn in my shop now than ever before, and still more to list. And of course I have plenty of handspun stash waiting for me to knit...but for now, I spin.

Shop updates are coming more frequently now. Here are my most recently listed yarns.



Wupatki. Hand dyed blend of merino, wool, and ingeo (cornsilk). This was an exercise in spinning based on a memory of a place I travelled to, and I am very pleased with how it matches the colors in my memory.

I'm also starting to list handspun sets--these contain "skeinlets" of yarn, spun either as experiments or samples and when used together would make nice coordinating yarns. Or they'd be a great introduction to knitting or crocheting with handspun yarns, including some novelty varieties.

"Cocooned" set. Hand dyed mill ends wool with merino/mohair/sparkle cocoons, paired with a handcarded blend of wool and bits of bright red bamboo.





"Crayon Box" set. 4 wool yarns, handcarded and/or handdyed. I love how they all look together.