Color Overload

Look what I've been up to -


I'll have a nice big update next week! Thanks to Virginia and my sister Lauren who both helped me dye up this crazy bunch of yarn - over 30 lbs of it I think.

Here is Lauren after washing a LOT of yarn.


Isn't she cute?

I've also had one sock fly off the needles - my mom's baby cashmerino sock - one down and the next one to do. I started knitting this sock last friday and I finished on Saturday - I love knitting on size 3US needles it goes so fast. I didn't cast on for the 2nd sock till last night and I am almost at the heel. Hopefully by tomorrow the pair will be done and my mom can stop hounding me (you hear that mom? I know you are reading this, they are almost done - I promise).

See, here is proof of the first one done!


Oh hey - here is a painting I did like 2 weeks ago. I was cleaning before having the spiders over and in the middle of cleaning I realized I needed to fill a space on my wall and I just HAD to make a new painting. So I put all the cleaning down and broke out the acrylics, the metallic powders and canvases and proceeded to make more of a mess. But I really like the way it came out. - check it out larger you can see the sparklies in it better.

Fun with Photos

So, I've had this fancy new camera since Christmas and I've been having a lot of fun learning about Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO speed and all that interesting stuff. The only problem is the weather - yes the weather. I'd like to go outside more often to experiment, walk around and take pictures but it's way too friggin cold. Although I can't really take the pics I want, I have been keeping myself busy taking pictures inside and from my window.

First here is a picture I took with Sandra in mind. She takes the coolest sock and shoe pics, although her shoes are way fancier than mine. Here I am sporting my finished socks and my brand new danskos.


I've been hearing about how comfortable these for so long from a bunch of the Spiders and they are so right! I love them.

Here is another shot of the socks where you can see more of them - and of Gary. He says they smell good! I swear that's what he said :)

Here are the specs:

Pattern: Lace Top Toe Up Sock
Yarn: BH - Soft Spun, Cool Beans colorway
Needles: Size 1 addis - magic loop
Time to complete: less than 2 weeks! - Personal best
Modifications: I didn't really look at the pattern till I got to the leg, I did a figure 8 cast on, increased to 72 st. and then did a simple short row heel using Misocrafty's method for no holes - thank you Steph for showing me!

I've already cast on for another pair of socks - this time using baby cashmerino...mmmmmm These are for my mom.

So I got this macro filter lens for my camera and I just had to show you how cool it is. Here is a picture of a poof of fiber nice and close.


And here is the crop - check out how close the baby gets!


I promise this is the last picture - this was taken from my window the other night after the snow - I Love the color of the sky.

Spin Spider, Spin

This past Sunday was the 2nd annual Bay Ridge Spider gathering....I figure I'll make this a yearly thing from now on. This year the theme was spinning. As you can see in the following picture I have more than enough supplies in my craft room for us all to spin!


Here are a few of the girls in action -


And check out Melissa on the Lendrum!


While some of the girls were spinning the rest were enjoying food, drink, and the Money Pit...what a great movie...lol.



I'm so glad everyone trekked out to Bay Ridge - Thank you! I had a great time and I love having everyone over.

I was so tired by the time everyone left - but that didn't stop me from continuing to work on my socks. I have got one down and the 2nd is almost done. I'll have these done in under two weeks - a personal record. Here is the 1st finished sock -



This is a pattern I randomly found online - the picture was so small I really couldn't tell how it was going to come out but I'm glad I decided to go for it. I'm back in the sock knitting mode - I've already got some sock yarn put aside for my next pair - I'm thinking Monkey.

Meme time!

Thank you everyone for the Birthday wishes - I had a great time and all your comments really made my week!

I have knitting but - it's mainly secret knitting so I can't show ya. I'm also knitting a pair of socks but I forgot to take my cf card so I could upload it. I'm using Cool Beans. While I was reskeining I had a bit of a tangle issue and eventually got impatient and had to cut a big chunk of the yarn out so it was too short to sell, I figured I'd keep it - there is still plenty for a pair of socks.

Since I have no pretty pictures for you to look at - other than maybe a random sky picture



I'm going to get to the two memes that I think I might have been tagged for!

The first one is 6 weird things about me -

1: I adore cheese - all kinds of cheese, I must - at all times - have at least 5 different kinds of cheese in my refrigerator!

2: I love to cook but only for 2 or more people, I have no problem cooking for 20 (ask the Spiders!) but when I come home from work I really don't want to cook just for me, so I put together strange combinations of what I have around the kitchen. A little seasoned plain yogurt (makes a great dip), some pita bread, a bit of cheese, an avocado...this list constantly changes and can at times get very strange.

3: I have a strange obsession with Swirls - if you've been reading this blog for a bit you'll have noticed that I enjoy swirls in my jewelry, paintings, and sewing projects When I see swirly fabric I'm compelled to buy it, I'll take pictures of swirls and I've even designed a tattoo of a swirl tree for myself!

4: I research - a LOT. When I become interested in a particular topic I research the hell out of it and learn pretty much all I can (I think this is why I have lots of crazy facts rolling around in my head) and the topics are varied from all sorts of crafts to holocaust studies - and many topics in between.

5: I enjoy inventing contraptions out of stuff around the house like the home made icord maker and yarn skeiner. Even if eventually I'll get the commercial one I still enjoy trying to do my own take on it. This is helpful when you get ideas very late at night and must improvise.

6: I don't drive - you heard me I don't have a license, I had a learners permit but that expired ages ago. You see, I'm a New Yorker - born and raised. My family didn't have a car while I was younger so I never had anything to learn on and well, you really don't need a car in NYC. I know the subway system very well and, to me at least, the map is quite easy to understand - even the bus maps. One day I'll get my license...one day...

The second Meme -

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

Right next to me I have my latest read - The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar

Mairi had the second sight. "Not much farther. I can sense a very strange land only a little way away."

very strange land indeed this blog land of ours!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yup - another year, another birthday. I enjoy my birthday and the numbers going up have not started to phase me yet (let's see how I feel in another 10 years!) today I am 29. This past year I've had my ups (new website and buisness) and downs (ending of a relationship) but no matter what happened I am always looking forward to what comes next. I'm sending out a big thank you to all my friends and family who have helped me out, supported and encouraged me to always move forward, learn from my mistakes and those of others, and just be happy, hopeful me!

Here is an interesting fact: my little sister, who works with me and who you've probably seen a few times on this here blog, it is her birthday too! When I was 7 I ran into school yelling - guess what I got for my birthday? a BABY sister! And my other sister was born on my half birthday July 25th...pretty cool huh?

I don't have any new knitting pictures but I do have a birthday request - I have started a customer gallery and REALLY want to get lots of pictures up there to share with everyone. So if you have knit something or spun something with anything from Brooklyn Handspun I would LOVE to get a picture, a little description and what info you'd like me to add like name / blog/ etc...

If you send them over to me I'll send you a 10% off coupon for the store How does that sound?

Here are a few pictures I've gotten already from the lovely Regina - The Frist one is using 1 skein of soft spun in Breeze (she had 5 yards left over! - she likes to live on the edge!).



This one is Signature in Smarties colorway-



Aren't they great?! I love seeing how creative you guys are it really inspires me!

I'll leave you with a picture I took with my Fab new camera of the Verrazano Bridge - this is only a few blocks from my house.

Store Update

Just letting you all know the STORE has been updated with lots of yarn!

Here is a preview:

Happy New Year - umm a little late

Well the new year is here and the SICKNESS has lifted from my home - I was grounded for close to a week with a terrible cold. I guess I took my holiday partying a little too seriously.

I had a wonderful Holiday season and I hope you all did as well. I got a cool new toy for Christmas - a new camera - a sweet Canon Digital Rebel XT, so hopefully you'll see some nicer pics around here - but I make no promises. Now we'll see if the crappy pictures were because of the equipment or the photographer!

So I finished my Glittens a LONG time ago but here is a pic.



I made a number of mistakes but I still love them and am now knitting another pair in black for myself - the green ones were gifted already.

Since I don't have much more knitting news, I'll show you another little project I have been working on. This is a fabric wall hanging that I pieced together this past weekend.



It's not done yet - I have to add lots of decorative stitching to keep all the fabric in place and to create more depth in the piece. I'll add some metallic thread and maybe even some yarn to embellish. I think the embellishment process will take a lot longer than the piecing - we'll see. I call this cheat quilting since no sewing was done. It's basically applique but using double sided fusible interfacing - Fabric Collage! Once the stitching is down I think it'll be a little more acceptable as a applique art quilt.

In other news - I am FINALLY updating the store! I was going to put it up this weekend but I think Tuesday is going to be the update day. It'll give me enough time to gather everything and take nice pics. I feel like I am finally back in the swing of things after being on and off for the past few months. This is a BIG update with a ton of yarn and fiber. Remember, mailing list friends get first dibs. Here is a sneak peak.

FO's

I actually have knitting to show you - are you amazed? Yup I pulled it out of the poor UFO pile and finished it up. Without further ado here is SIZZLE!



Pattern: Sizzle
Designer: Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Cathay
Modifications: knit in the round and close up the side slits (I hate side slits on sweaters...they look weird on me)
Needles: US 7 Addi Turbos
Date Started: umm a long time ago sometime in the summer
Date Completed: December 13, 2006

I had most of this done for so long but I just had no motivation to finish the border on the arms...well it's done now and I think it's way cute. I'm not sure I can get away with wearing it as a tank top without something under it....super sexy v-neck...but I love it. It is a little big because I started knitting it before I lost 30 lbs!

I've actually got another project underway already - Glittens. This pattern is too cute. I knit this in 1 evening (and a little clandestine knitting at my desk on a slow day)



I'll start on the mitten part tonight. I've made quite a few mistakes and I'm thinking I'll end up knitting 3 of these - this one is a learning tool...or at least that's what I'll tell myself...lol.

The Weekender bag is all done - I didn't take pics because it really doesn't look any different just the inside is lined in plain black cotton. I've got two scarves on the needles and a few more to cast on for...I'll make it for Christmas - maybe.

Weekender Bag Obsession

I am *almost* finished with my Amy Butler Weekender Bag (I have to finish the lining and sew it in) . 2 1/2 evenings of insane cutting, sewing, cursing, and ironing and I came up with this -



Here is another view -



And the side view -



I picked this pattern up Saturday at Brooklyn General after knitting with mah girls. I had just gone on a fabric buying binge and needed to soak up that fabric somehow, so I thought I'd give the most challenging pattern a try...what was I thinking!

The pattern itself isn't complicated but the pinning, maneuvering and sewing of all those thick layers is. I did take some shortcuts though -

- I used Fast2Fuse instead of the timtex - it's basically the same thickness but the advantage is you can fuse it to your fabric instead of having to sew it in. (for those of you in NYC I picked this up at City Quilter)

- I also used fusible interfacing instead of sew in - the less sewing I have to do the better (eventually it was going to be sewn anyway when attaching the sides.

- instead of going out and buying proper cording I had some lacing which I covered to make the piping - I think even a thick yarn would have worked...I didn't want my piping to be too thick anyway.

- I don't think I'm going to need the false bottom - it's already very sturdy.

- I'll be adding a zippered pocket to the inside. (38th Street between 7th and 8th in Manhattan is the best place to get zippers by the way)

I really liked the way it came out and I think I would make another one but next time I might use maybe two layers of heavy fusible interfacing instead of the fast2fuse (timtex). I enjoy the way it's very sturdy and stands up on it's own, but I think it would be just as strong without it and a lot easier to sew. Although if I did that, I would definitely do the false bottom (whenever I type false bottom I think about those pants with a fake butt sewn into them...like I need that! LOL)

Hopefully the bag will be totally completed by Saturday...I'll keep you updated

I might not be knitting but...

I certainly am crafting...take a looksee

Painting -



Jewelry Making -







Sewing -



Quilting/Applique stuff -



And SHOPPING (way too much) check out the fabric stash enhancement. All thick cotton 45" 3 bucks a yard...there are certain reasons to venture out into Bay Ridge - $3 cotton and $10 embroidered silk! (I didn't pick up any this time around)



This one is my favorite -



Next time I'll have some real content...

The Craft Addict

This is a cry for help, are there any 12 step programs for craft addictions?

Seriously, my home already is filled to the brim with craft paraphernalia, it might even be dubbed a "Craft Den" or "Craft House". I've experimented with all varieties of craft such as Polymer clay, seed beading, Jewelry design including semi-precious stone stringing,wire wrap and sterling silver soldering, sewing, corsetry, quilt making, oil/acrylic/watercolor painting, box decorating, knitting, spinning, pottery, embroidery, needlepoint, cross stitch, wood burning.....

So I have a long history of crafting and I thought I was done - I really did...I thought I had kicked the habit of starting yet another craft. But then, I went to a friends house and made these -



Aren't they pretty? I LOVE candles! I might have dabbled in candle making when I was a child but it was only with tapers which took FOREVER since you had to repeatedly dip them. These were so easy and the varieties that you can make are endless. So many colors and fragrances, shapes and techniques...it was a whole new world.

The day after I made the candles I found myself on a candle making site with a shopping cart filled with supplies. I had the wax, wicks, jars of fragrances, colors, a melting pot, and candle forms all just waiting for me to buy them. I even printed out instructions on how to turn an electric presto pot into a giant wax melting pot just in case I wanted to make a WHOLE BUNCH. When I get into the craft I REALLY go right in and buy any and all supplies needed - I don't like starting and then realizing I have to wait a week for something else.

Then while I was searching through my purse for my credit card I stopped. I returned back to my computer and shut it off. I backed away and figured this has got to be the first step in getting this craft addiction under control. Did I do the right thing? Is it so bad to have plenty of hobbies to keep my busy and satiate my creative spirit?

I don't know. What do you think?

No Longer a Rhinebeck Virgin

Boy am I scared to see what kind of hits I get with that post title!

Yup this was my first year of fiber festivals - first MD and now Rhinebeck...and now I'm hooked and am looking forward to next year already. Of course, the main reason it was so much fun was the company I went up with. The lovely Carrie graciously drove me, Jess and Virginia, along the way we met up with the other convoy of Spiders Steph, Jess, Abbie, Veronique, and Lisa. When we got there we ran into some of the other spiders - Nancy (blogless), Amanda, Katie, Iraida, Julsey...ALMOST everyone - our little group is not so little...lol.

Along the way we ran into so many people I am not going to attempt to remember so don't take offense - but I was in fiber euphoria and I mostly remember sheep. It was great meeting everyone although I didn't get to meet a number of bloggers I really wanted to - next year I am going to be more organized and make plans beforehand.

Now you've probably seen pics of the fairgrounds on all the other blogs - so I'll move on to the haul. Amazingly most of the day my money was in my pocket and my bags were empty...but...then I came to the Little Barn tent. Nancy and I broke away from the spiders for a bit and made our way into the tent and I could feel the money melting in my pocket and my bags grow heavy even before I picked up my first item. Needless to say I bought a LOT of fiber.



It's not the best pic so I'll give you a run down of what is there:

- 2 lbs of Commercial Grade Cashmere - super soft, It says it's 60% cashmere, I have no idea what the other 40% is but I really don't care (one lb is for my friend Steph in AZ)
- 1 lb of commercial grade Angora - 80% angora
- 1/2 lb silk/merino
- 1/2 lb angora/merino
- 1 lb of black premium alpaca
- 1/2 lb of purple alpaca to be carded with purple wool for mittens I think
- 1 lb of Mulberry silk

Can we say luxury! You'll also notice a couple of skeins of yarn in the pic here is a close up:



2 skeins of Handmaiden Sea Silk...it is amazing. Michelle brought them for me all the way from Canada! Mama-e and I got 2 hanks each - I wasn't expecting it to be so soft and delish. Now I have to figure out what to do with them.

From 8:30 in the morning on Sat. to 1 am when I got home it was a non-stop blast! I was so tired when I got on the train for my last leg home but not sleepy enough to stop me from using my brand new Golding spindle with some cashmere!



Here's the group pic...some were missing but you get the idea.

Blogger woes, knitting triumphs and a whole lotta yarn

First off let me say I TRIED to post a couple of times before this one in the past few weeks but blogger hates me. I even had a post all done and then when I went to update I lost it all - I couldn't bear redoing that long ass post so I threw my hands up and turned my computer off. It's taken me a little while to try my luck again...hopefully when I submit this time I'll have a real post!

I know what you are all going to say...it's time to move the blog to a better program like typepad or something. I promise it's going to happen, but probably not till next year - we'll see. Oh but guess what? I totally missed my Blogiversary! It was on September 21st, I can't believe I've been doing this for over a year now. I want to say thank you to all of you wonderful bloggers and blogless people who I've come to know and love! (and who put up with my sporadic posting) . A special thanks to my Spiders - without you, this blog would most likely have come and gone by now and I would still be knitting scarves!

On to the knitting triumphs - Sizzle progress...



Being that this is my first real garment I'm pretty proud with how it's looking so far. I knit the body in the round until I had to split for the armholes and the body went along just fine, it wasn't until I had to pick up the stitches for the neckline that I hit a wall. I never had to pick up stitches from a decrease edge before and well, on my first try I did it all wrong. I had little holes everywhere, so I ripped it all out and tried again. The second time was better (I had a reference book with me) but I got halfway through and realized I hadn't picked up enough stitches. Third time (a few nights later) was a charm - YAY. Now you know the extent of my knitting prowess - or lack thereof!

I've also been spinning - A LOT. I had a big custom order a few weeks back spinning 12 skeins of super chunky yarn. MY customer is going to be knitting up a beadspread! I really hope I get some pictures.

Here are some singles all ready for plying with sparkle...

I'm on a burgundy binge!

I've also spun up and plied some luscious creamy alpaca with multicolored sparkle (Sandra - if you are reading this - this is yours!) It's about 250 yards of loveliness - 6.5 oz.



I love spinning alpaca - it's easy to spin with a long draw method instead of the inchworm. It goes faster that way and the singles tend to be a lot more even.

So you wanna see a TON of yarn? This is what I have hiding under my desk at work.



Here you have 112 lbs of yarn! I have a spinning mill in canada who spins to my specifications and this is my latest order...it's going to take a while to ferry this all home on the subway.

Well tomorrow I am off to Rhinebeck and the NY Sheep and Wool Festival - if you see me please stop me and say hello!

Sock Club

Well I've decided to Collaborate with another Hand dyer to bring forth a great Winter Sock club.
Me and Erin have paired up and will be offering club participants 6 colorways over the course of 3 months. In December, January, and February you will receive a 4 oz hank of seasonally themed yarn from both Brooklyn Handspun and C*EYE*BER Fibers. All superwash. All sock weights ( fingering to sport). The cost is 150.00 with shipping in the US. (Email for rates outside of the US). Please email me if you'd like to join the club or have any questions about it.

Thank you everyone for a successful update - I've had a few people be a little upset that they didn't get to the store on time to grab some popular colorways - remember those on my mailing list have at least an hour headstart before I post the update on my blog so make sure to sign up by either emailing me or using the form on the right side ---->

Fall is here

And I think I'm beginning to wind down from a hectic summer and get back into the groove of things. I'm feeling the cool weather urge to knit, spin and create.

Here is some knitting -

Progress on Sizzle - I really like it so far - I hope it fits since I've lost weight from the time I started it! You can't see the back in the pic but it's halfway done since I did the bottom half in the round. Hopefully in another week - with some knitting time i'll be able to finish this.

Here is some spinning -

This Mmmmm silk


Plus This Equals

This about 220 yards of pure silk...ahhh I just love the feel of silk, now what to do with it?


And on the Creative front I have been painting -

This is just a larger version of one of my doodles
I'm not sure if I'm done yet - but then again sometimes I can go a little overboard, so I'm going to look at it a few more days to see if it yells "I'm finished". I have a feeling I'm going to be making more of these.

And last but not least I've gone color crazy with yarn dyeing -



The STORE has been updated with over 50 skeins of yarn - lots of new colorways.