dreams of knitting and spinning...

So, I guess it was wishful thinking when I said this week wasn't going to be as busy as last, cause so far it's busier! I won't be getting home before 11 for the next week and a half! well once the Opera is over, I'll be a free woman and I can get back to my evening spinning and knitting.

Until then, check out this Quiz by Veronique

You are The Point!
http://www.thepointnyc.com
You want it all. You might have a hankering for
the most luxurious handpainted silk yarn. Or
maybe a couple of skein of Kureyon. Don't
worry, you can sit down, have a latte and
absorb it all...


What NYC yarn store are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

The Contest/Poll is still going on, I've been getting great feedback but would love some more. All you lurkers - get those comments posted and maybe you'll win some handspun yarn!

Back in business and a contest!

I have a feeling this week isn't going to be quite as crazy here at the job, and although my final rehearsals for the opera are coming up, it shouldn't be too hectic. I actually have some stuff to show, not much because my friggin camera's battery ran out before I had a chance to get everything.

On Friday I had a lovely time hanging out with the Spiders, and while there, I was working on a hat for my little sister which turned out to be way too short...yes yes you were right Veronique I really should have continued more before I started the decreases...man I am stubborn. Well I had to rip some out and here it is right after ripping.

Tonight I'll knit a few more inches before starting my decreases.

I've also finished my socks! Not quite in time for the end of socktober, but pretty close - they were done on November 2nd - not too bad.

They are so comfortable I have been wearing them around the house all week! I'm hoping to maybe score some sock yarn at the Spiders yarn swap so I can start another pair.

Oh here is a pic of the fiber I dyed last week, they are nice and dry and wrapped up into little fluff balls and ready to be spun up.


I went a little crazy with the blue and green this time (do the colors sound a little familiar Wendy?), I think next time I'm going to have more of a plan of action and make notes as to what colors I want in each roving, then I'll have more of a palette to work with after they are dry. It's so hard to get away from my favorite colors.

Here is a little bit of the spinning I got done:

This is 110 yards of the super silky soft Optim Merino...OMG it is so much like silk - I love it. Sorry for the crappy pic - the color is so much nicer in person.!

This one is 180! yards of the softest Merino, it's bulky and would make something perfect for next to the skin and very warm. It's a two ply one of 80's and one of 64's Merino.

I'm trying to figure out what kind of yarn people would like to see more of, so I'd like to take a poll and offer a random commenter a prize of one skein of handspun yarn with at least 100 yards - my choice of color and fiber.

So... would you like to see

1) single ply thick and thin
2) two ply balanced bulky
3) two ply dk
4) novelty yarn such as Glam Rock
5) any other ideas?

The contest will be over on Friday and I will randomly select the winner and then send out the prize! This will really help me, so thanks to all of you who participate.

so. very. busy.

Last week was one of "those" weeks. You know what I mean, a week where you don't take a lunch hour and leave late every night from work, where every night after work you have to go to appointments you made months ago and can't cancel although you are so tired you aren't much use to anyone anyway. Well that was me last week. I seemed to be running around like crazy from Sat. to Sat. non-stop. Thank goodness today I can finally rest a bit and maybe, possibly, get some spinning in.

I must get some spinning in so I can show some of my yarns to one of my LYS's, How cool would it be to have my yarn at The Point! I heart that store. I'm also looking into getting together my own website for Brooklyn Handspun which will be together with my Sun and Moon Creations website where I have my jewelry. I haven't updated that site in ages so it's time for a fresh start.

Although I was tired E and I gave a jewelry making workshop to cancer survivors in queens on Thursday and it was great. Basically we go in there with supplies, show them how to string beads or simple earrings and they then head for all the bead boxes and bead to their hearts content. We only charge the organization for the supplies and we volunteer our time. It makes me feel so good to see them smile and look at the bracelet, necklace or earrings they have made. I think that the sense of accomplishment really lifts their spirit - there is something special and alive about handcrafting. This was the second time we've went and it won't be the last!

Well I'm going to clean the house (it's in desperate need) and then get to crafting so I can have lots of pictures for tomorrow's post! Enjoy what's left of your weekend!!

Fiber and Yarn Dyeing Tutorial - or how to dye cool stuff

First let me start off my saying there are lots of different techniques and styles of dyeing fiber and this is the way "I" dye my fiber. I call it the lazy/impatient/lack-of-space way of fiber/yarn dyeing in 10 easy steps.

Supplies needed:

-Fiber and/or yarn
-Large pots or bowls
-water
-dye
-plastic wrap
-squeeze bottles - used only for this purpose
-white vinegar
-glass microwave safe bowl - used only for this purpose
-Microwave
-Sink

Many people will tell you to do this in the backyard or garage and stay out of the house, although that is a wonderful idea, I live in an apartment building and I don't have the luxury of a backyard or a garage, and since the kitchen has the water, microwave and sink, this is where I do my dyeing.

Step 1:

Soak your fiber for at least 30 min before attempting to dye it.

The dye takes much better to fully wet fiber. Don't worry about using your food bowls for this step, no dye is going in there - just make sure you wash it well.

Step 2:

Prepare your work area, you can cover your counters with newspaper and then add a layer of saran wrap to put the fiber on. Since I don't do any cutting on the counter and I am hoping to get a new one I skip the newspapers - oh also because I am LAZY.

Step 3:

Squeeze out the fiber and lay it out on the plastic wrap. Spread the fiber out a bit to give you access to the inside of the skein or roving.
Since I have limited counter space I snake it out, if you have more space feel free to make one long snake - you will have more precise color separation.

Step 4:

Prepare your dyes - there are lots and lots of dyes to choose from. The ones I use are Procion MX, they are fiber reactive dyes and work for both plant and animal fibers. The reason I started with these dyes is because they are readily available in most art supply stores. I have amassed quite a few colors, 19 to be exact. Although I have taken the time to only use the primaries and mix my own secondary and tertiary colors, since this is the Lazy way I have all the colors I need (and then some) right here:



From what I know, these are not toxic dyes but you can become very allergic to them if you don't take some precautions. When working with the dye in powder form make sure you use a mask - the powder form is the hazardous state. I don't really measure the dye I just place about a 1/2 teaspoon into my 8oz squeeze bottle and then add to this a glug or two of vinegar. Once the dye is fully mixed with the vinegar I fill the rest of the bottle with tap water and give it a shake.

Step 5:

Start squeezing out some color onto your fiber. You could premeaure out sections of fiber, squeeze a bit of dye into each section and then take a foam brush and neatly press the dye into only whose sections - but I don't have the patience for that. I squeeze away either randomly or with some kind of pattern.

Go crazy, use color families, or lots of contrasting colors. If you don't like the dye job you can always overdye it!

Step 6:

Wrap it all up in the plastic wrap.

like this:

and then into fiber buns like this.

Step 7:

Nuke it! Place the buns (I'm afraid of what kind of searches are going to get to this site with all the BUNS!) into a microwave safe bowl and set it on high for 3 min. I like to put a few in each batch. After it is done let it rest for 3-5 min and nuke again for 3 min. I usually do this 2-3 times.

Step 8:

Wait for them to cool. This is the hardest part, I have been known to almost scorch my hands removing the hot (Note: VERY HOT!) fiber from the wrap to make it cool faster...this is not a good idea! If you let it rest over night the dye will have even longer to work on the fiber and you will get more brilliant results.

Step 9:

Remove the plastic wrap and dunk your fiber to rinse. Be patient with the plastic wrap it might have melted onto itself so you'll have to rip it open, but make sure not to rip the roving! Fill your sink up with room temp water and put the dyed roving in to remove all excess dye.

Make sure not to over agitate it you don't want felt! Just dunk it under a few times, if you have a lot of dye, keep refilling the water until all the dye is out. Then squeeze out excess water - don't wring - see above reason, and set aside.

look at all that dyed pretty stuff!!!

Step 10:

Hang it up to dry! I use some plastic hangers and my shower rod.

Right now they look a bit like psychedelic wet cats, but in a day or two they will be lovely and fluffly spinable fiber or knitable yarn.

Let me know if you have any questions. Or if I missed something, I'll post the dried results...umm when they are dry!

Happy Halloween!

Well I don't really have any halloween goodies for you, but I did get some goodies on friday in the mail. Check it out my most recent fiber order has come in and I am so excited.


From left to rightwe have 3# of Fine BFL, 1# of Fine BFL and Alpaca, 1# of fawn alpaca, 2# of 80's Merino, and 1# of black baby alpaca - unprocessed. Tonight while giving candy to the neightborhood kids I will be dyeing up a storm and by the end of the week I'll have some lovely yarns to show for it.

I do have a few that were done over the weekend -
Natural Dark BFL with Turquoise Merino
NAtural Dark BFL with Peachy varigated Merino
Plain white romney - this I am going to dye and make socks for my dad...Shhh it's a christmas gift.

I have some good news - I just sold a bunch of my skeins to Kpixie! So keep an eye out in the one-of-a-kind section to see some Brooklyn Handspun!
These are the lucky Kpixie skeins.

In knitting news, I am almost done with the second sock, hopefully tomorrow I'll have a pic of the finished pair.

Gina Is proud - although a little grumpy, she didn't have time to prep her lovely self before I snapped this picture.

I've been tagged...

I've been tagged for this meme by Felicia...here goes

What is your all-time favourite yarn to knit with?
This is not a fair question to one who is enamored of all fibery things. My fav changes constantly but recently I've fallen in love with Debbie Bliss Baby Alpaca Silk (yes I know I have yet to knit with it, but I don't see how such softness can be anything but lovely!)

Your favourite needles?
I have yet to try the Addi's everyone raves about but they are on the shopping list. For now, I love my all purpose bamboo needles and really love my Grandmother's ancient bakellite ones.

The worst thing you’ve ever knit?
I really have too many to list, but the absolute worst was my first felted bag which came out about the size of a coin purse and turned out to be hexagonal instead of square...how the hell did that happen?

Your most favourite knit pattern? (maybe you don’t like wearing it…but it was the most fun to knit)
Since I've always had an issue with authority I haven't used very many patterns, I kinda go at it with a glance at a pattern but nothing strict - it could also be that my knitting skills are seriously HURT (but I am learning and being more patient - I'll be knitting a sweater in no time) But I did love the multi-directional diagonal scarf, it was so fun!

Most valuable knitting technique?
ummm, I've still got a lot to learn but breaking out a crochet hook to pick up those dropped stitches is a lifesaver.

Best knit book or magazine?
I have so many books it's really hard to choose, my favorite to look at because the pictures rock is Pluckyfluff's Handspun Revolution ok it's a spinning book, but it's really cool.

Your favorite knit-a-long?
I've never done an official KAL but I've jumped on the Socktoberfest bandwagon and am almost done.

Your favorite knitblogs?
This is really difficult because I read so many of them but a few I enjoy are Too Much Wool, Dogs Steal Yarn, and Knit, Anne Marie, Knit! There are so many more that I love but you'd be terribly bored reading 150 links!

Your favorite knitwear designer?
Hmm I just bought Teva Durhams book - Loop-d-looop and think her style is so unique, although maybe a little too fashion forward for me.

The knit item you wear the most? (how about a picture of it!)
The Knit item I wear the most has got to be my Multi-directional diagonal scarf - I've been wearing it every day since it's gotten cold.
I know it's novelty yarn (Berocco Softy) but oh my it lovely against the neck Here it is on:

Now let's see Veronique, Lisa and Natasha - Tag your it!

A little spinning

ok, so knitting has really gotten in the way of my spinning lately - I fear I am already quite addicted to knitting socks. I know I'm not even finished with the second sock of the pair, but I am already thinking of my next pair and what type of yarn to use. I Think I will actually be spinning my sock yarn because damn...sock yarn can be expensive! I'm trying to figure out if I should spin a nice weight single yarn and knit from there or ply two fine singles? I'll have to try both and see what I like the best.

So here is my meager spinning as of late - this skein is green romney spun from the lock and plied with green silk.


it's 72 yards. I like that it's nice and fuzzy but has some sheen from the silk. I'm not sure what to do with it though, I think I'll make something for my sister with it...any ideas?

Here is a little of the silk spun and plied



I love the way the colors combined in this yarn! this is blue and green silk plied, I was going to make a blue-blue and a green-green, but I really like this one so I'll probably spin the rest like this as well.

Note to self - when dyeing silk make sure to spread out the fiber more and apply the dye liberally! When I split the blue silk, in order to draft it before spinning, the inside was very white. Silk takes up dye so well that you have to make sure you saturate it and get every inch of fiber you want dyed. I had added a lot of dye to this, but it appears the outside layer sucked it all up! I still have about 8 oz left so I'll be sure to remember that on my next dye day.

Speaking of dye days, I really need to have one. I have pretty much run out of my hand dyed fiber to spin and I can't bare to spin up anything white, it's just so boring. I might have some pink/peach merino from the last time, but I am so not in a pink mood...but deperation might break that. Once I get my order from Copper Moose I'll set up and dye like 5 pounds of stuff to keep me busy - some alpaca, silk, 80's merino...ohhh I can't wait! If any of you Spiders would like to come and join in let me know and I'll see when I can set up a dye day.

In the meantime I went to knit-away this weekend and picked up the softest yarn - Debbie Bliss baby alpaca...OMG I love this stuff check out the colors.



Actually E picked the yarn and the colors. I am going to try and teach her how to knit...again. Maybe this time she'll get past the casting on process!

Just a quickie...

Get your minds out of the gutter...I mean a quick little post. I Finished the first sock


And I've cast on for the other last night.

In other news my little sister is working at my office as a temp (hopefully long term) and this is what happens when you put us together and throw in a sock -



She is so friggin funny, it makes the day bearable! She really is great to have around the office, even if she loves to complain about the boring ass project the bosses gave her! BTW, she is much prettier than the picture suggests...hehee

I'll have a lot more to show tomorrow, I've got spinning on the wheel and I'll be done with some silk tonight!

I'm getting there...

Before I get to "the sock saga" I want to give a shoutout to all you Spiders. I had a great time on friday with Lisa, Virginia, and Veronique these girls rock, and I'm so inspired by their knitting skills! I arrived a bit late this time but next time I'll be sure to get there early so I can meet the rest of you, I can't wait! I see some fun times in the future.

So back to the knitting folly. As friday's post revealed, I had cast on for my simple sock, and it was going well until I realized I'd have to be a 300 pound man with size 14 feet for this sock to fit me, so while at The Point with the Spiders I, and the other girls realized this was just not going in the right direction and I frogged the entire sock and cast on again, this time with fewer stitches. That night and the next morning while knitting away I decided hmm, this is looking a little small I wonder if it'll fit? So I stretched and pulled the sock onto my feet, and well the top of the sock fit wonderfully...on my ankle! Too bad this sock is supposed to go up to the calf. Regrettably, I had to rip out again and cast on a few more stitches. Third time is a charm - I feel like goldilocks - it's too big, then it's too small and now it's just right! check it out -

I think with some dedicated knitting tonight I'll have it done and then be able to cast on for the second sock lest I wait and never do it. I had a little difficulty with the heal turn and gusset but I finally got it and I think it turned out rather well.

I've been a bit caught up in knitting lately but once the first sock is done and I'm cast on for the second I'm going to take time out and spin up some of that silk. I think I am going to purchase some alpaca to dye also because while at The Point I was shown some serious fiber crack by Lisa, it was a silk alpaca blend spun very fine and it was so wonderfully soft. I am going to try and reproduce it to the best of my ability, it'll be a challenge to spin that fine but I think I can do it...we'll see.

Does't Gary look like a mouse?

Socktoberfest

I have finally done it! I cast on for my first pair of socks I love the colors and I'm actually not having much of a problem with the DPN's take a look


Now the only problem I see so far is the sock seems WAY too large, I think it's casue this sock yarn is a little larger than most it uses size 4 needles. This sucks! Either keep going and see how it goes or rip it out and start over with a modified pattern...argh I hate these decisions. Most likely I'll rip it out and knit it with fewer stitches...stop by on monday to see the progress.

Here is a little silk I dyed recently - this is what it looks like dry

and this is what it looks like with a little predrafting, nice and fluffy. From crunchy to fluffy I love it. I've also got this wonderful green color .
I'll probably make three skeins, when plied it'll be green-green, blue-blue, and blue-green.

So since I've seen so many people doing this meme I had to join in: Google and type in “your name needs” then show the first 10 things you’ve discovered you need...Here goes:

Marie needs to give her hectic life a shot in the arm - hell yeah
Marie needs the smallest number of servings from each food group - dude I know I need to lose a little weight...ok maybe a lot of weight but a girl needs to eat.
Marie needs to smile more - yeah I guess so
Marie needs to wait until she next sees me and borrow mine, or get her own copy - hmm does this give me license to buy more craft books?
Marie needs her perfect job - you can say that again
the first thing Marie needs is a complete psychiatric evaluation,
followed by ongoing psychotherapy and possibly, medication - No Comment ;)
Marie needs to ensure it has a strong marketing plan and adequate facilities and services to provide a positive experience for visitors - umm I dunno
Marie needs and wants stability in this area of her life yet she doesn't appear to be able to get it
Marie needs more spins - this one is my favorite!!
Marie needs to get a new hobby - another hobby come on I can't afford another hobby!

A little free time

I have hardly any free time lately and I hate it. I've been working late almost everyday and by the time I get home I am too tired to do much of anything. If I am not working I'm at rehearsal - but that's fun, tiring but fun. Although time has been an issue I do have a few FO's. Since I knit on the train to and from work, and each ride is 45 min, I get in at least 1.5 hours of knitting in - oh yeah baby I can always find a way.

This was a simple 2x2 rib scarf which is so soft and warm. It knit up really fast on large needles. The yarn is an alpaca bland called blizzard, it is really soft but it sheds like a mofo.

These are my very first pair of gauntlets knit with some of my handspun. I am very proud of these little babies cause I actually used DPN's and didn't faint...not even once! As of this picture they aren't quite finished but this was before my morning train ride.
Now I'll have nice warm wrists and palms when it starts getting cold. Here is what one of them looks like on - modeled by moi. Since I did so well with the DPN's on these, I'll be starting my first pair of socks with this yarn:
It's a little thicker than some of the other sock yarn I was looking at, it knits up on 4's. I figure I'll wean myself into the smaller gauge stuff.


I've been a little lax with spinning cause I've got the knitting bug but I started to spin up some of those green romney locks into fuzzy warmness. ohh and more spinning will be coming soon becuase I got this in the mail:

It's 4.4 pounds of Merino and 2.2 pounds of "silky" merino - otherwise called Optim merino. Optim is merino which has been mechanically stretched to a fineness of 14 microns. It is amazingly soft and it really does feel like silk or even cashmere! In the stretching process it actually gets stronger rather than weaker cause its molecular structure changes. I can't wait to dye some and take it for a spin. Stay tuned for some serious dyeing soon.

Take a look at this bad boy isn't he cute???

And The Winner is...

Without Further Ado here are the contestants of last weeks spinning pageant (or my week of obsessive spinning):


(picture a spotlight on each yarn and an overzealous emcee) Let me introduce you to Ice Princess she is composed of a lovely soft and bouncy Falkland wool and two strands of shimmer - a multi-colored one and a silver one - she is bulky and beautiful. She has been dyed in shades of lavender, soft mauve and icy grey.

The next contestant is dusk of winter A 3-ply yarn of a commercially spun merino and silk blend, a bit of silver sparkle, and an extremely soft 18 micron merino. This blue baby is spun thick and thin and is a very bulky but sexy Sweetie.

Number three has to be Dazed and Confused She might be a little wacky but I sure love her. 100% South African Fine Wool so soft and huggable. She will wear well next to the skin - heh heh heh if you know what I mean!

This lovely is Wild Child and she is something else! She is smooth as butter with her 18 Micron Merino Wild thick and thin super bulky and her commercially spun black wool boucle. She will knit fast and you will love it.

Last but not least is Tangerine Dream she is tropical heat on a cold autumn night. This hot mama is one-ply Falkland wool, one-ply commercially spun cotton, and one-ply copper sparkle - that's 3-plies of fun fun fun.

I promise you all this is not a beauty contest, it's not all about looks and sex appeal, I swear they have all won a scholarship to a fine university - They are all extremely smart and talented but, nonetheless, wanted to bare all for the world to see and appreciate their "talent". ok - Stop - Cut - I'd better stop while I'm ahead cause I could go into how degrading and sexist it is to have pageants and Ms. Universe and stuff like that but that's for a different blog! This is what I get when I watch a documentary about children and pageants and in the same weekend Ms. Congeniality.

Rhinebeck...cry cry cry

I really really want to go to Rhinebeck and the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival, but unfortunately I just can't make it up there this weekend. Tomorrow I have a rehearsal all day and on Sunday E is working and needs the car (I'll let you in on a secret...I am 27 and I don't drive - I don't even have a driver's license! - I'm a hardcore New Yorker). I want to go so badly I have written a really bad haiku:

Rhinebeck you tease me
with your fibery delights
carless I am lost

I told you it was bad! Since I won't be a Rhinebeck along with all you lucky knitters and spinners I'll have to make due with spinning up some of this:

this: and this:

These are Romney Locks that have already been dyed - I scored these on ebay a while ago. I don't have a drum carder - yet, so I'll be opening the locks and spinning them from there. I really like spinning like this, the yarn gets a great halo, it's softer than processed romney and it's always fun to let the curls stick out. The only problem with this fiber is the amount of VM that I have to pluck out and the occasional dead bug. I normally wouldn't call myself high maintenence but dead bugs in fiber kind of gross me out. It's not like I run screaming, but I am so used to nice clean processed fiber I kinda get the creeps every time a dried up beetle carcass plops into my hand or onto my lap. You have to see the mess around the spinning wheel when I am done, it's all hay and bug parts...don't worry I get them all out in the process of spinning - no bugs for my customers! Look at all I go through for you...how selfless...ok ok enough of the melodrama, sometimes I get carried away.

So while everyone is at Rhinebeck, I'll be here spinning. Hopefully, I'll have a bunch of stuff to show you on Monday. Maybe I'll do a little shopping of my own, I really shouldn't but 3lbs of fine BFL are calling to me...No I think I'll hold off. I already broke my fiber diet by going to school products..bad Marie bad bad.

Long Long Day

Today has been exceptionally long and stressful, It doesn't help that I didn't get home from rehearsal last night till 11. My job is driving me crazy, I actually have off tomorrow but I'll be in anyway - I had dreams of spinning and knitting all day but alas that will have to wait. I'm short on pictures today but I'll leave you with two that sum up how I feel:



These are some sleepy kitties!