another quicky

There's been some development on the label front.  I have a bunch of in laws in town so I'm WIPED out.  I don't want to feel like I'm ignoring this space.  I think I'll get back here on Sunday.  That feels like ten years from now!

I'd so rather be doing this right now!

I feel like life has slowed down for me a little bit this last week and half.  E worked an extra day and I haven't had much extra time for me.  When I do get some time, like e taking a nap, I don't want to do much.  Just relax and not think!  I have been doing a few things.  Here are some label options for Knitted Wit.  I'm thinking the third one in is the winner.  I'll take them to knit night and get a few more opinions though.  

Then there's the spinning.  I'm trying to get a lot done to sell handspun at the Farmer's Market.  I'm also working at the Tour de Fleece.  So what's on the wheel now is optimized merino.  I believe that's when they take the fiber and stretch it out to make the fiber smooth.  It's very nice to spin.  I think I'm making lace weight just about.  I don't know what it will be like when I ply it.  I think it will be very nice for a shawl.  We'll see if this ends up for sale or not!

This is the hanspun I've gotten done while the tour de fleece has been going on.  I think at the end of all this I'll weigh what I've done to see if I've hit the 2 pound mark.

Here is some of the yarn I've dyed lately.  I'm waiting for the labels.  I suppose I could post this in the shop.  I'm a little apprehensive right now.  I haven't been selling much there lately.  I figure once August hits sales will pick up.  I'm also trying to have stock for the Market.
Here's a blurry picture of the handspun that's finished.  I forgot one skein, hence the bonus picture up top.
This is a prize I was fortunate enough to win from Deb.  I donated to the Crohn's Walk she participated in.  I'm so excited to spin this up.  It's a Merino/Bamboo mix dyed by Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio.  She dyes beautiful yarns and fiber.  I have some yarn that I just found recently in a garage clean up.  I want to find something special.  Possibly something small for e. I don't have a ton of the yarn!  Anyways, this fiber is my reward for all the spinning during Tour de Fleece.  I'm thinking of having a sale for those who have participated in the Tour de Fleece. Free shipping is what I'm thinking.  Yeah, that sounds fun.  I figure all this emptying of stash means I need to restock.  I assume other spinners will feel the same when they see their empty storage boxes!
Well, e is still napping.  I think I have twenty more minutes and I want to bust through the purple merino on the wheel.  I'll try to be back a little more regularly.  This place makes me feel some normalcy and that I'm accomplishing more than being a milk machine!

I will do a real post one of these days...

But for now I'm watching crap tv trying to survive the heat.  I did take a bunch of pictures and will show a bunch of things one of these days!

Two Months!

I was so wiped out the last two days I couldn't quite make it over here.  But here I am now.  e is 14 pounds (papa was closer!) and 25 inches long!  I'm growing a big one!  I thought I was going to have more to write about that but apparently I don't!  He is amazing, super happy, super easy and a love bug.  There's a little more I guess.

On the spinning front I've been quite busy.  I spun/plied/set some super wash Corriedale.  It was the first time I spun super wash corriedale, it was like butter.  Hairy butter, but butter.  I need to find some more to spin.  Now I'm onto some optimized merino.  That's where they take the fiber and s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the fiber and it makes it silky smooth.  For the most part it's spinning very finely so I might start another project that will go faster.  I like finishing things!  I also want to have a healthy supply for the Farmer's Market.

Speaking of Knitted Wit, I've been working on a new label.  Well, a friend's been working.  I'm having a hard time deciding what to go with.  I love my little sheep picture, but I don't really want to do a color label.  Too pricey, and I can't do it on my printer.  I think I'll end up going with a low tech label and some snazzy paper.  I want it to look professional, not like I just printed if on my hp.  But I want to print it on my hp.  See the dilemma?  

Crying babe coming my way, sorry no pics.  I'll put some up next time of the label.

Quick Note

I did in fact get the dye today.  I was able to dye six skeins which will be split into two a piece.  That feels pretty good, but I didn't get as much time as I wanted to dye.  That and it was freakin' hot today!  Tomorrow is supposed to be quite warm as well, but I'm going to try and get an earlier start.  The dye didn't get here until after 1 p.m. today so I had no chance of beating the heat.  

I've been kicking butt on the spinning front too.  That's part of the reason this post is short and picture-less.  I want to go finish up some corriedale superwash tonight so I can have a plying party tomorrow.  I have another bobbin to ply of merino and silk.  I wish there were a few more hours in the day. 

Tomorrow e will be two moths!  We go see the pediatrician and the only thing I'm excited to know is how much he weighs!  E thinks 13 or 14 pounds.  I'm going for 15!  That seems pretty bold, but he eats a ton and is freakin' heavy!  When we were out and about yesterday EVERYBODY commented on how big he is.  I'll let you know tomorrow!  

Sorry this is discombobulated, I'm off to spin!

One Spinning Project Down!

After finishing that last project I've decided to not spin anything I hate.  My time is too limited to sit there thinking about how much I hate what I'm working on!  So when I went to the box to get out the oldest fiber to spin it went straight to the craigslist bag.  My goal this week is to list that. I might also be going through my stash to have a sale on yarn.  I feel guilty having so much that won't be made into something anytime soon.  We'll see.  

I didn't make any progress on the quilt, it's just here cluttering up the desk.  When I have a few free minutes I've decided to sew on it, instead of waiting for a chunk of time.  I do have one row put together, that just leaves 9? more to go.  Not bad.  They only take a few minutes to zip together.  

e is down for his big morning nap so I need to move on to spinning.  When he gets up we're headed out on a big adventure.  We'll be taking a few buses to Target and Fred Meyer's.  The trip is going to take so long that we'll be nursing at one of these stops.  You can look for us at the patio furniture!  It's the most comfortable.

We might get a few looks similar to this!

taking a weekend

The idea sounded good at the time!  Now I'm finding taking a little break makes it harder to get back in the groove of things.  Yesterday e and I took the bus over to Naked Sheep to help celebrate their third year in business!  It's one of my favorite shops, even E likes going.  The biggest problem is how far away it is.  I can justify the bus trip but not a car trip.  Any ways, I bought a skein of eco wool so I could make the Hemlock Ring Blanket (ravelry link).  I've had one skein of eco wool marinating but the pattern calls for two.  Of course the shop didn't have the dye lot I bought last year! Surprise, surprise.  So I had one in lavender and bought one in grape.  I think it will look really nice.  This is for a xmas present for one of the grandmas.  I plan to cast on shortly.  So Le Tour de Fleece started today.  I can't remember how specific I was with my goals before so I'll state them, possibly again.  As soon as I finish the current project (I wish I had finished already!), I'll start spinning the oldest stash to the newest stash.  I have a prize for my self once this is completed, but more on that later when I have pics.  I like Stephanie's idea of naming a weight goal.  I don't feel like I can commit to something so concrete.  I'm going to use the baby as an excuse.  E works three mornings a week so I don't get to crawl back in bed for a snooze after the last feeding.  When he works the two evening shifts and our weekend, E will take e

 after he eats and hang out, go for a walk with the dog etc.  When I'm home alone with e in the morning I tend to have a VERY slow start to the day, thus limiting what gets accomplished.  Tomorrow E is home in the morning and boy do I need the break!  All this to say, I don't f

eel comfortable committing to a weight goal to spin.  If I did I would like to say I could do 2 pounds.  But with dyeing about to resume, Tuesday, that will take up a lot of time.  So back to the original goal of spinning oldest to newest stash.  Then maybe I can justify buying wool at OFFF.

So here is a picture of the quilt I started working on again.  

Last time we looked at this I realized I had used the wrong measurement for the I can't remember what it's called.  It's not the seam, shoot.  I'm tired.  Instead of sewing a 1/4" seam, I used a 1/2" seam.  Stupid.  So I took apart all the squares I had sewn together, not the squares made of little squares though.  Then I cut down the plain squares to match the patch work ones, laid it all out, and now I'm sewing the rows.  I'm thinking this will be a tie quilt since I don't know how to quilt it with my machine.  I'm thinking orange yarn or whatever I use would look great.  I'll show you the backing and binding when I have all the rows put together.  I'm hoping Cathy from knit night can help out with this.

e is taking a wee nap so I need to go finish up some spinning.  Really I wish I was sleeping too, but it's a little late in the evening for a nap.  Tomorrow.