Lack of posts...some finished stuff.

Yes, I have not been blog posting! Just a lot going on. Next week is my trip to the Estes Park Wool Festival in Colorado and I can't wait. I will post some photos when I return! I am trying to decide whether i will buy mostly knitting or spinning things. We will just have to see when we arrive.. I am looking forward to it.

I have finished a few things but I haven't been doing too much knitting or spinning the past week. It has been super hot here and I haven't been well. That sounds like a broken record statement, not feeling well, but its true unfortunately... The past week has been really tough.

But here are some of my recent finished items.
First this is a an all cotton washcloth I made - the pattern is out of The Mason Dixie book and it is a slip stitch pattern. I used two different 100% inexpensive yarn yarns, but they are perfect for this. The purple is Lion Brand and I don't remember the name of the cream variegated color. I have to say these are VERY VERY fun and easy to make. It didn't take long. I am going to make a few of these a gifts and pack them with something else fun for the kitchen.. First the full view followed by the close up. Not great photos!!


OK, here is here I need some help! I have been a spinning fool lately which is great, but I am really awful at doing something with my handspun. If anyone has ideas or patterns, I should would love to know about them. This first "spin" was spun with a gorgeous batt from Spritely Goods. I have spun a lot of Stephaine's batts and I just love them. This one is a beautiful raspberry color (pure merino) blended with fire star for sparkle. FUN FUN. I have about 300 yards to of DK weight-light worsted weight yarn too!



This next finished handspun was from some roving from a company called Bonkers, in the colorway Dragonfly. I am REALLY REALLY in love with this yarn and the colors. What can I make???? Really we all need better patterns and ideas for handspun. There are so many gorgeous handspun yarns out there......... If anyone has any ideas or patterns , let me know. I mean mostly one skein projects. I am kind of tired of scarves...... Maybe it is better to mix in the handspun with other yarns into some kind of shawl or bigger project.... I do know I am going to start buying bigger quantities of roving, like 8 ounce at least of each color so after I spin, I can make something with it.


I am currently spinning some roving I bought last year at Estes Park. I hope this vendor is here again. The name of the company is Handspun by Stefania. OH GOOD!! She is going to be at Estes Park again!! She has the most unusual and pretty naturally dyed yarns and rovings. She had tons of fiber their last year. This fiber is dyed with indigo and something else that gives it a bit of a yellow green cast. It is much prettier in person, but here is a photo on the wheel:


After this, I have a beautiful blue faced leicester roving that I bought from Georgia at Yarn Pirate. I just loved the colors and BFL is by far my favorite fiber. I like it much more than merino! It has a sheen to it that is hard to describe and it is next to your skin soft too!





We are getting in FIFTY rovings from Fleece Artist in about a week so I will have a lot of spinning supplies around!! HAHA And we have all these gorgeous new spinning batts from Madelinetosh too. They really have a lot of character too which I appreciate. My other new favorite fibers are from Funky Carolina. Her color combos are just amazing. Actually the fiber is all gone I just noticed, so I need to get more more more! SO my point is, why am I looking for more fiber at Estes Park???????? I guess I'll buy yarn instead. Last year there were a few dealers I particularly loved! I'll bring back a full report.

Time for bed........

May May May May

Yes it is May and that is most creative title post I could come with. Still have been busy and it is getting HOT. It was 100 today!

I did finish my FLAIR sweater but I don't have photos because I need to still sew on the buttons. Tonight, maybe I will do that while watching IDOL results. Still I can't believe I am watching it and so addicted too, but others are more into it than I am...

I knit a silk scarf for my mom for mother's day. It is one of my favorite patterns for using yarn in my stash for gifts. It is called the Ladder Scarf by Chris Bylsma and it is also a good pattern for handspun yarn. I have made the shawl too which is similar, just wider. For this pattern I used two yarns, a silk boucle yarn that my friend Georgia dyed for me, along with a similar color merino and tencel. There is a lot of shine and it is really long and silky and I hope she likes it. I know I am lucky to still have a mom. Some of my friends have lost theirs in recent years so I try to show appreciation even though we sometimes don't always get along.




We got these incredibly beautiful spindles from Israel made by Avi Wasserman and I want to buy one for myself and I am trying to decide which one. I am super attracted to this maple one he dyed light blue and also to this olive wood one that has silver in laid into it. I just love these and I am trying to figure out how to let spindle people know we have them. Most of the people who come to our site are more knitting people I think but I am not sure. We will just have to see over time.... I know spindles like this are hard to find because our LYS can't seem to get hand crafted spindles due to a shortage.



















Let's see. What else. I am 80% done with a blanket for my friends and now I need to figure out what my next knit project will be. I still have a Noni bag to finish for my mom and also the Ruby sweater for my niece is not quite done. I guess I should finish those before starting something new! I am thinking of starting either this cardigan from Be Sweet which I am just totally in love with. It is called the Magic Cardigan and I love it in these exact colors. I love it, I love it. I love Autumn colors, that is why. Or I am going to use either Sheep Shop 3 or a new cotton and merino yarn we are getting in for Wendy Bernard's sizzle pattern. I guess I'll have to knit up a swatch of both and then decide....

I am getting excited about my trip to the Estes Park Fiber festival which is coming up in June. That should be fun too. That reminds me, shoot, I owe someone a reply email. I am really really bad about personal email or phone calls lately. I just am having the hardest time keeping up with everything and people actually get mad at me and I wish they wouldn't......

Well almost time for American Idol (HAHA)