Update time

The SHOP has been updated!



Just a little tip - if you sign up for the newsletter you get first dibs - they have a 1/2 hour run before I update it to the blog!

Ohh FO's tomorrow!

I'm pleased to introduce...

The newest member to my spinning family - Geraldine, the Pat Green Fancicard!

I ordered the carder about 2 months ago and late last week it finally arrived - This is an amazing machine! It's quiet and fast and with one pass the fiber is lovely. I love that it's motorized and I can use both hands to feed the fiber, I don't need to change drums, and with a quick band change I can change the speed. It also came with a number of tools.



Here we have a burnishing brush (the large one), a felting brush, a doffer stick (the pointy metal one) and two wooden dowels - one of which has a plastic sheet attached to help in removing fine batts. The tools are just as well made as the machine itself.

Of course I got right to work - here are my very first batts:

From left to right: Merino/Silk, Merino/Firestar sparkle, Merino/Icicle Sparkle (if you view the larger pic you can see the sparkle better) - I am going to be having soooo much fun doing this! I started spinning up the middle batt (I actually have a few batts in that colorway) and you'll be seeing the results soon. If you have never spun from a batt before, you really need to try it. The batt is so fluffy and the sparkle is nicely integrated, drafting is a breeze. It's so easy to get either a thick or fine single....can you tell I'm in love?

Vacation's over

Well I'm back home - I've been back for a bit now, but I'm still trying to get used to working...it's never easy! You should see the piles of stuff on my desk.

We had a really fun time in Amsterdam even though we battled with the rain, and poor E had her own battle with a particularly nasty bit of salmon.

ok ready for some pictures - they aren't the best since it was pretty grey out most of the time.
Here is the top of the palace at Dam Square.

This picture, to me, really represents Amsterdam - Canals, canal houses, and lots and lots of bikes!

I couldn't pass up the smoking Alien...he wasn't about to share!

This is the ferry that E and I took every day. Our hotel was located in the Noord neighborhood - it was very nice but it was a 15min walk to the ferry, although once off of the ferry we were right at central station. Luckily the hotel offered either a ride to the ferry or on certain days a ride right into the city proper.

Anne Frank statue - if you go to Amsterdam you MUST visit the Anne Frank house.

The Atomaton in Brussels -built for the 1958 worlds fair....very cool. I'm ready for another vacation - a vacation from my vacation - maybe mexico...laying on the beach drinking frosted margaritas!

I have a ton of photos but I can't seem to upload anymore - stupid blogger!

I also have finished objects...are you amazed? shocked? so am i! I'll get them up soon.

Also, thank you to everyone who has commented on the last few posts - not only have I been crazy with the trip, work, and then my performance - but I haven't been getting my email posts - so thank you - I'm trying to get back to all of you soon -= I just want to let you know I appreciate it.

Greetings from Amsterdam

Hello everyone! Well E and I are halfway though our trip andwe've had a great time so far, even though it's been raining on an off. I wanted to write an entry the day we were leaving but it got way too hectic - yes I am a very LAST minute packer.

We've seen the Anne Frank house, the Rembrant House, a few churches and Museums, and yesterday we took a trip to Antwerp and Brussels (I Love Antwerp...so pretty) The only complaint I have so far is I've yet to have a decent meal. It's most likely I'm going to the wrong places but there seems to be way more bars and "coffeeshops" than real restaurants. Oh well, I'll keep looking.

Today it's pretty crappy out so we are taking it easy and just chilling - I'm catching up on some knitting. I will definately finally have my Clapotis done...I know, shame on me I've had it in a pile so long I almost forgot what I was doing!

I'm thinking tomorrow we'll take the train to Haarlem or Utrecht and see what they have to offer. Sorry for the pictureless post, this place doesn't allow uploading.

Since this is a fiber blog I will tell you I have been to one yarn store already and have the address of another to visit before I leave. I bought 2 skeins of a simple lambswool blend for socks and 5 small cones of a really funky holographic thread to spin into a future yarn. I thought with all these sheep around I'd be able to buy some wool but alas spinning hasn't caught on here...oh well I have plenty anyway.

Hope to check back in again soon!

Shop Update

Hello All -

I have updated the Shop Go take a look! I have 3 different superwash sock yarns - I like them all so I think I'll keep offering all three.

Look what I do while I'm on a phone meeting...I'm sure plenty of you do the same!

Fiber goodies

Yes, I decided to join the hordes and go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! E and I drove down on Sunday morning, got lost about a mile away, spent 45 min and precious expensive gas trying to get there - we did eventually. Once there it wasn't too crowded - My guess is everyone went on Sat. We walked around looked at some cute stinky sheep and then met up with the wonderful MamaE, her husband and thier son - the cutest little cowboy out there (it's so adorable the way he called me Miss Marie, and called E Miss E!) After a quick bite to eat with them and my induction into the deep fried oreo lovers club (Erin you are so in trouble for that!) , E and I went shopping...ok well, I went shopping and she stopped me from buying another wheel (have you seen - these - Like I can afford a Golding Wheel, it's on my lottery list.)
I want one of these - Alpacas are so cute...poor baby, if he was mine he'd always be cold!
Here are the goodies: 1 lb of white cashmere, 1 lb of black alpaca, 8ox of 100's merino, 8 oz commercial angora, 3 batts of amazingly soft angora, silk, fine merino, and Brooks Farm Duet - 3 skeins of a pretty blue for a sweater for me, and 1 of some earthy colors that E picked out - destined to be a hat and scarf set or maybe a small vest. All In all, I did well, and I didn't break the bank. Good thing E was with me becuase there were a few wheels I really really wanted - oh well there is always Rhinebeck!

After MSWF - I came home to a lovely package of goodies from Stephanie. Since she lives too far to attend the festival, we had a little fiber exchange of our own -

Take a look at those batts - they are so delish you can't tell in the pic but they are filled with sparkly firestar and just soooo soft - I can't wait to spin these up! Everything is so nice - THANKS STEPH!

Now if you've read this far - you're in luck...I will be updating the Shop tomorrow at about 2 pm - with at least 30 skeins of sock yarn in all new colors!

McGyver is at it again

Lately I've been thinking about electric spinners - mainly because spinning cotton on my louet is driving me bonkers - for cotton you need to spin fast and have very little take up or pull on your yarn. I could go and buy a high speed spinning kit (I probably will) or I was thinking a smaller electric wheel would be nice, like the Roberta (faint, swoon) But over $750 is just not in my budget!

This is where the cheap-ass-make-use-of-what's-lying-around-the-house skills come in. I do have the bulky babes spinner - which is great but if I want to spin finely I really don't want to use a bobbin which holds 2 lbs of fiber. I took the motor and foot pedal from the babes and connected it to the louet like so -

And guess what? It works like a charm! And it goes fast fast fast - max is about 7,000 RPM's. I was able to spin some cotton on it and also some really fine lace weight merino. The only problem with this is that I was doing this at about midnight (yeah I'm loopy like that) and E had already gone to sleep, so I didn't want to make much noise. And as many of you know who have sewing machines - they aren't exactly quiet. In addition, while the foot pedal is great and allows me start and stop hands free, it's hard to keep the wheel spinning at a steady speed. Any slight variation in pressure from your foot will either speed it up or slow it down and this isn't the best when you want to try and get a very even fine single. So I was looking around to see what other kind of motor I had in the house and Viola! I found one. I pulled out my little quiet Dremel tool it's powerfuland can go up to about 20,000 RPM's and it's variable speed so I can go slow or fast with a change of the little speed indicator (although I do have to then disrupt spinning and use my hand to turn it up or down). Since I don't have a proper vise, I used a clamp from a pasta machine (from my polymer clay days) and a wooden board to secure the dremel to. Here it is -

It also works well and much more quiet. I'm thinking of buying a mother of all and flyer kit and mounting them on a board along with some kind of motor to make my own smaller electric wheel - maybe one which uses the louet bobbins I already have. Either that, or save up for the Roberta...hmmmm

I thought you all would get a kick out of my craziness!

New Labels!

A wonderful fellow knitblogger designed a new label for my yarn and also was kind enough to make a banner for the upcoming website and a button for all of you to steal!

Like the label? I love it! Just what I wanted and it only took her a weekend! This lovely lady is Chris of Fuzzy sheep Knits And not only is she great with Photoshop - she's a sweetie!



Here - take a button! (please use your own bandwith)

Now I'm off to have them printed up all nice like and start using them! Wow I feel like this is a real business - it is a real business but the labels make me feel all grown up...lol.

Also, My yarns can now be purchased at Yahaira's fancy new online store Pure Knits While you are there, check out the rest of her site - she has some amazing products. For you spinners out there reading this, she has super soft and sparkly batts by the talented Stephanie under yarn and Spritely Goods - also check her blog out for more handspun and fab. batts.

I've been playing around with my collection of beads and decided to bring my two passions, jewelry and knitting, together. I've combined stitch markers and jewelry - I know this isn't a new concept but I haven't really seen stitch markers which use semi precious stones and sterling silver! I'll probably offer them with a sterling silver chain - you never know when you need a stitch marker!

What do you think? Would you wear them? I think they make great cluster necklaces. 4 regular stitch markers and one center one just in case you need to mark the beginning of a row. Of course I can always add even smaller ones on the right or left side of the necklace if you need more markers.
This one is Garnet, Aquamarine, Peridot, Amethyst and Citrine - great for up to a size 6 needle.

This one is all faceted Smokey Quartz - and can be used with larger needles up to 11.

Edited to ddd - The stich markers are being held in my hand - although I can see why some people have thought they were my boobs - nope, luckily my boobs don't have creases like that! LOL

My name is Marie and I am a Fiber Addict!

And I have the pictures to prove it!

These are the purchases I've made in the last month alone. In this pile I have: about 24 lbs of Merino (love that RHLindsay!) 4 lbs of Tussah Silk, 1 lb of Bombyx silk - the most luscious silk around, 1 lb of cotton/merino, 1.5 lb of cotton/silk (both of which I still suck at spinning), 5 lbs of Mill end rovings (I have 2 more lbs of black in a bin someplace), 2 lbs of alpaca/merino/silk, and a few other odds and ends. Umm yeah I might need a 12 step program...lol (hey, I'm not knocking them - many friends are alive today because of them!)

My apartment is in utter disarray - I've neglected the housework, good thing I don't have plants because they would all be dead - don't worry about the cats they tell me when they are hungry...meow meow meow, scratch scratch, meow meow...

But isn't this pretty?!?

Here are the custom orders that went out earlier this week...most of them anyway. I say there is about 10 lbs of yarn there - 40 or so skeins - some of them fell down into the couch before the picture was taken.

Since I don't have much more content I'll leave you with some sleepy kitty pictures

Guidy sleeping like a princess - the only time she is a princess - all the rest she is a QUEEN.

Gary and Gina - Gary looks Gigantic from this angle! More proof of the mess - a bead box...stay tuned for some kick ass beaded stitch markers, and random tax papers - don't worry I got them out ontime.

I swear - I'm alive!

I'm here I promise! Thank you for your concerned emails - I've just been busy here at work and at home so blogging time has been cut off for a while. I've been dyeing up a gigantic amount of custom orders and spinning up some huge wholesale orders to go to various stores - so I'm pretty tired.

Other than all the spinning and dyeing there isn't much going on! I did start the hourglass sweater but umm I'm only like 10 rows in, so a picture would be kinda pointless. I do have some exciting news though - on June 17th and 18th I will be selling my yarn in a Handspun Collective with other very talented Spinners at the Renegade Craft Fair in Williamsburg Brooklyn - Go Brooklyn! I'll give you more information soon!

I'm also working on my Brooklyn Handspun ecommerce website - I was going to be quiet about it until it is done and ready for the unveiling but I can't pass up the opportunity to bitch about how deficient I am in HTML and how pathetically little I know about PHP! Not to mention my graphic art skills also need some serious help. Anyone want to offer services for yarn? - I've got a lot of yarn!

Sorry for the pictureless post but I've got nothin new for you - On Monday I promise I'll have more pictures!

Have a great weekend!

Back from Vegas

And guess what? I actually won something! Amazingly I came back with more money than I went there with. I didn't win millions or thousands but I've got a few hundred dollars and I'm putting it all towards my fibery pursuits.

I bought myself a Pat Green drum carder - I'm on a waitlist for it so I'm not going to go into it until I get it and can show pictures...I am so excited.

I didn't take too many pics while in Vegas cause you know the saying - what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas - well actually, it's because my mother and I were way to busy gambling to take pictures (hey I know they are dorky - but make sure you get those cards to put into the machines or to give to the dealer when playing the tables - we got 2 nights free from our stay and another 2 nights for a future trip!)

Here are a few pictures:
Isn't this sign just the coolest? Too bad it'll be gone by the end of the year - yup the stardust which has been on the strip since the 50's will be torn down for something new and over the top.

Love this lion!

Me and my mom - no I'm not standing on something - I'm 5'7 and my mom is 4'11 - doesn't she look good?

When I got back I had some fabulous Spider events to attend. On Friday night Katie and Amanda hosted a Spring Fling get together - where wonderful food was eaten and copious amounts of wine were imbibed! Being the special girl I am I didn't bring my camera but I'm sure there will be pictures floating around - so check out the other Spider pages.

On Saturday we had a baby shower for our very lovely and very pregnant Kaitlyn. We arrived at The Point bright an early in the morning and had mimosas and lovely treats from the cafe -

Here you can see Veronique (Head on over to her site where you can see the amazing Rapunzel she just finished) and Carrie partaking of the bubbly!

Steph organized a baby shower project and we all knit up mitered squares and she and Lisa put it together in the fabulous baby blanket

Here is Kaitlyn holding it up - I stole this pic from Lisa's site (don't worry I copied to my hard drive first thanks Lisa!)

Very eventful week I must say - oh I also got my final package from my SP& but I'll show you that tomorrow - she rocks!

Update and a Winner

The Shop has been updated with 24 skeins of superwash sock yarn.

Since I got so many great responses to name the bulky electric spinner I couldn't pick my favorite so I decided to enter everyone into a random drawing this morning - and the winner is....

SKYLAR I just went over to her site and her birthday just passed - Happy Birthday Skylar...what a coincidence! Email me to claim your prize!

Scant little knitting has been done around here lately but a lot of spinning and dyeing has. They dyeing you can check out on the sales page - I've got a lot of new colorways - I've got to change up every now and again so I don't get bored with doing the same colors over and over again. Although some colorways are just too popular to not do - like Chocolate Covered Cherries!

This is the new way I've been dyeing a lot of my roving - I used to do a lot of saran wrap sausages and then steam them but it's way too time consuming when you are trying to dye 8 oz to a pound at a time. This way is much faster and you get great results. Both of these roasting pans were done similarly but a little different. The pre-soaked fiber was first randomly placed in the pan trying not to overlap much the with the orange one I squirted the dye in sections the covered the whole thing with foil to keep the steam in and put it in the oven for 45 min at 340 degrees. I added a little more water to the Blue and purple then covered it and stuck it in the oven - after about 20 min I took it out and squirted dye on it - this I think is called the hot pour method and I love it. The dye strikes the fiber immediately right where you squirt it...I think I can get great results from this method with more practice!

I've also got some spinning done:

From left to right is a green merino and sparkle supercoil, Multicolored Optim plied with a thread and lurex sparkle, Spring colored Merino plied with a rayon thread and sparkle, Two ply merino with sparkle in pink, and Natural Fawn Alpaca plied with rayon and gold sparkle lurex. These are Giant skeins each over 150 yards except for the pink one. They are all spoken for but these are the styles I've been spinning up lately.

Ohh take a look at this here is a comparison of bobbins

again from left to right a regular louet bobbin which holds about 6 oz, a bulky louet bobbin, and the babes bulky electric bobbin...Whoa baby that thing is huge!!! I LOVE IT!

Car update - the insurance paid off the remainder of the bank note since we were still financing and we only got 1,000 back. With that and what we had available to us we went out and bought a 2001 Dodge Stratus. So far so good, it's a nice car and very roomy. The best part about it? It's not on the stolen lists!

Finally some breathing time! and a Contest!

Ok, so I haven't posted in over a week - getting close to 2 weeks (have you missed me??)- don't delete me from bloglines just yet! I've been busy but I have been taking pictures so I'll get ya all caught up in photos - here we go.

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely lolly - she really is lovely and so sweet! I met Lolly and Carrie (I'm always happy to get a chance to hang with a fellow spider!) We went right for the yarn and took a stroll over to School Products - Here is a great picture of Lolly and Carrie in front of a full color spectrum of yarn - very fitting!
From there we got a bite to eat. I wish we had more time to hang out - we'll have to plan another get together soon ladies! Maybe at Sheep and Wool??

Here is proof that yarn is officially taking over my apartment it has escaped from the craft room and is thinking of starting it's own blog! Don't worry I've remedied this and shot down the mutiny by sending most of these unruly skeins off to Kpixie for relocation! Take that yarn - you will never get the best of me...bwahahaha

Please welcome the newest member of my spinning family - He's a bit on the chunky side which makes him even cuter. This big baby is a Babes Bulky Electric Spinner with electric skeinwinder attached. Don't worry I haven't neglected my little Gooch the Louet - she gets plenty of action when I spin silk! So what should I name the Bulky Spinner? Any suggestions? Free skein of Brooklyn Handspun Superwash to the winner...come on I know you can get creative...

Last but certainly not least my SP7 sent me some fabulous gifts. There are earrings, pins, stickers (hmm I'm thinking she is from london!!!) some Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn and the creme de la creme - one ounce of Cashmere! It's soo soft - I've never spun cashmere and I have a feeling I'm going to have to buy more of this stuff! I'm loving the luxury!

I'm off to catch up on the 400 new posts on bloglines that I've neglected - if you haven't heard from me in a while don't worry I'm back - and will be commenting away!

Update time!

The Shop has been updated - go take a look!

Ok I can't belive I haven't blogged at all this week...well I do have a lot on my plate right now...you wanna see the state of my craft room?

this was taken a few days ago - it's much much worse now!


I don't have time for an indepth post but here is something for you to laugh at - me as a soildier in the first act of the Opera -

As you can see Soldiers costumes are not normally made for busty gals like myself!

More to come soon!

Performance time!

Sorry I've been such a poor blogger as of late but it's time for another Opera. This weekend will be the first performances of L'Elisir D'Amore! I'm having a great time, although I'm stretched a little thin and feeling just a tad of stress. Hopefully I'll have pictures of the show on Monday to show everyone.

Considering the above, I really haven't had much time to knit but I did get a little spinning done.
Here is a sorbet handpainted merino 2 ply with, of course, some sparkle lurex thrown in. I've still got about 2.5 pounds of dyed fiber to spin up so there will be plenty of pictures to post. I've also spun up some plain tussah silk that I will be dyeing. This stuff is so soft...like buttah. I'm thinking dark burgundy with some purple thrown in maybe a little olive green...we'll see what happens when I get to the dyepot! I've got about 3 more lbs of of this, so you'll be seeing silk a lot.

COLOR

EDIT - TODAY 2/23/06 - The SHOP has been updated!


After a dreary weekend of auto thievery, I need some color.................here are some splashes in preparation for Project Spectrum

Freshly dyed roving

Pre-drafted roving ready to be spun

8 oz of super chunky sparkle yarn!

4 oz of sparkle spun yarn

A Preview of tomorrow's Shop update!

Bye Bye Auto

Well this was supposed to be a nice long weekend full of relaxation, knitting and yarn buying - ummm some of that happened but not in the way I would have preferred.

This weekend our car was stolen! yup it must have been picked up by a crooked tow truck company because we had the club on it, and the alarm - which incorporates a cut off switch - and there was no broken glass where we parked it. And for all of you wishful thinkers out there - nope it was not towed by the city - we checked. Good thing we have a good full coverage insurance policy!

You know the worst part? That we had to dig the friggin car out from under 2 feet of snow last week and in addition, E got a $115 parking ticket and the car was towed (another $185) on Thursday - for being like 2 inches into the intersection in Brooklyn Heights. The police told her that the traffic cops were making up for lost ticket days on Monday and Tuesday because of the snow...isn't that nice? So if they were going to steal our car couldn't they have done it the week before? At least we would have had $300 more in the bank and I wouldn't have gotten a big bruise on my butt from falling while shoveling the car out!

On a good note - I had a great time hanging out on Friday with mah girls and I did pick up some misti alpaca for a thicker lace shawl! Oh well, I've got to look on the bright side at least we weren't in the car while it was stolen and now we get to go car shopping!

Necessity is the mother of Invention

That Plato he was a smart one!

So, last night I was reskeining yarn and I was so annoyed at how slow it was going that I decided to do something about it. First, a little backround info - I am a spinner and handpainter of yarns and yet, I do not own a Niddy noddy - I know it's adsurd (for those of you who are thinking very bad thoughts - take a look HERE where you can see a niddy noddy in action) Instead of the proper tool, aka the niddy noddy, I've been winding my yarn around the table in my hallway. The hallway table is great because it's a yard wide and makes measuring my handspun very easy - I drag my spinning wheel into the hallway throw the bobbin on the lazy kate and wind away. This is fine for under 150 yards of handspun but when I'm reskeining 480 yards of sock yarn it gets to be really tedious. I figured what I needed was a skein winder - something like this , but since it was about 9 pm and I wanted something right then and there this is what I did:

I broke out the power tools - the cordless drill with all of the bits, and my nifty jigsaw (E and I bought this when we were making our hallway table - it really does come in handy!) and I turned this:

our lovely dinner try which was muched loved but has admittedly, seen better days.

into this - now I don't have to wind around the table and it's much faster - it spins great due to some washers a large bolt and a plate which normally holds a table leg in place. This is the prototype - I'll be heading to home depot this weekend to pick up proper supplies, and make myself one which is a little more balanced and smoother. I'll also add another peg in the center so turning it is easier, and have been thinking about how I can mount it upright - I could probably mount it to the wall but I don't think E would appreciate that.

And this is my reskeining set up - the ball winder is in the middle because I needed to use the little metal hook - the swift was much too high to wind onto the skein winder evenly. The winder is screwed onto a scrap peice of wood and the clamped to the table for support. As usual E thought I was insane, but I was rather proud of myself!

I don't have any new knitting content but I want to say a big thank you to my secret pal who sent this over on tuesday:

yes that is Trekking XXL in Colorway 100...oh yeah I LOVE it! All the goodies were wrapped in colorful tissue paper and it was all very thoughtful - it even had some destressifying stuff in there for my hectic days! My SP rocks because many of the items in my gift box were from other handcrafters - I love when people support the little creative types! Thank you so much SP!!!

For all of you who are waiting for Brooklyn Handspun yarn - it's on the way. The snowstorm delayed the mail a bit, but you'll get it soon! There is no update this week, because I've decided to update the store every two weeks instead of every week. It'll be less stressful for me and I'll be able to have more yarn both dyed and handspun in each update. So look around the Shop next Thursday for a nice update!

Snowed in

By now you've probably all seen a million pictures of the great Blizzard of '06 but I'm going to bore you with a few more. I'd like to show you why I am terribly sore today - this is our car before:

Then bring on the ancient shovel E keeps in the trunk - which itself weighs about 30 lbs, and a lot of elbow greese, and this is what you get:
ahh a nice clean car! I've got to remember to buy a couple of those smaller plastic shovels not the wood and metal...hmm could it have been LEAD...shovels.

The good thing about this weekend is that I got to stay home and knit and spin and dye...OH MY! But first check this out. E finished her hat and scarf set:
These really came in handy this weekend and they look amazing. I love the yarn she choose, it is so soft...baby alpaca and silk, and the colors are so fitting for her. Not to mention her knitting skills are really coming along - look at these decreases. I am so proud! She's also started a shawl...I think another week and she'll be done...of course pictures will be following completion.

E isn't the only one who has been knitting, I'm chugging away on my Clapotis -
This is a little over a weeks work - not too bad, and I'm not bored yet...good thing dropping stitches is fun! I've also had a chance to work on my Flower Basket Shawl - I've got the Upper Chart done and 2 repeats of the lower done - I'll have pictures soon. I wish I would have picked a) a lighter yarn so I could see the stitches better and b) a thicker yarn - again so the stitches would be a little more apparent. When knitting lace with two strands of yarn I find, for the novice lace knitter like myself, that I sometimes only pick up one of the strands and I'll have to go back and fix it. Oh well now I know for my next lace project....oh man did I just say that...yes yes I'm liking the lace, even if looking at the chart makes my eyes go cross from time to time!