Close to my Heart

Fibre Acquisition Disorder

Thought I'd show off the lovely fibres I have accumulated the last couple weeks, mainly at the Victoria Fibre Fest.  I haven't bought yarn in months, but have been somewhat obsessed by pretty fibre.

After the spinning nirvana I experienced spinning the silk/romney blend I showed you in the last post, I was most interested in finding more similar fibre from Hummingbird Fibre Arts.  I was not disappointed, and brought three pretty rovings home with me.  The first two are a BFL/silk blend, while the third is superwash:

Knotty by Nature is a new business that is hoping to open a storefront in the Victoria area.  Stephanie and Ryan are a super nice couple, and I really hope they succeed.  The Victoria Fibre Fest was I believe there first outing.  I picked up a gorgeous Falkland Roving from them:

Another new to me Fibre business and new to the fibre fest this year is Twist of Fate, recently moved from Alberta to Kamloops BC (which coincidentally is where I graduated from high school).  From their booth, I picked out this bright and cheery fibre:

Looking at the pictures of the last two rovings, they look quite similar, but are not in real life.  The Knotty by Nature is a bit more subdued, while the Twist of Fate is very bright and vibrant.

And there are my Fibre Fest purchases for 2008.  I showed some restraint, feeling guilty about my big wheel purchase the previous day.  In retrospect though, I wish I had bought more fibre!

Here's a couple non Fibre Fest purchases to finish off this post.  First, this pretty braid from Yummy Yarns:

And this pretty BFL from Fleece Artist:

Well I'd best get to spinning now.  Problem is, I can't decide which fibre to break into.  There may be more in my stash that I haven't shown you yet, I honestly don't recall what I have blogged about (although all but today's has been inventoried on my Ravelry stash page) and there just might be still more on the way.  I am so weak!!!

The Last and the First

Here's the last couple skeins that I spun up on my Louet before leaving for Victoria last week. The first is from etsy seller Mainewoodsyarn, merino in the Vineyard colourway:

I actually didn't like this when I first had it plied up, but after my weekend in Victoria, it was all washed and dried and I quite like it now.

The next skein is a silk/romney blend that was an absolute dream to spin.  It was purchased from Hummingbird Fibre Arts, a fairly local to me seller.  There is 185 yards and approximately sport weight.  I can't wait to knit this up.  Oh, and I just may have purchased several more rovings from them last weekend!

These skeins will probably be the last totally spun on my trusty Louet.  Now that I have my Lendrum, I will spin on that and ply on my Louet.

Speaking of my Lendrum, despite a busy week, I have managed to spin every night so far.  Here are the first singles I have spun, the first is Louet Northern Lights purchased at the Fibre Fest from Fun Knits:

This is also my new Ravatar picture.  Here's the second single, the Quiet Morning Colourway from Etsy seller Colorfullife.

I finished spinning the second bobbin of this last night, so it is ready to ply tonight or tomorrow night.

Well the clock says it's time to get ready for work now, so I better get moving.  Next post will likely be the show and tell of the fiber I purchased last weekend at the Fibre Fest.   Pictures are all taken, just need to be organized.

Basking in the afterglow

After waking early the last few days due to excitement and anticipation, I was really looking forward to sleeping in today.  That never did happen, because my mind is still busy re-living the most wonderful weekend in Victoria at the Fibre Fest.  I almost opted out of this year's event, but am so glad that I didn't.  It was a fabulous weekend filled with friends, fiber, and fun.  Fiber people really are the best, and I almost feel bad that non fiber people don't get to experience this!

I arrived in Victoria for a late dim sum lunch, one of my favourite things.  I then set off on foot to wonder around downtown.  It was a warm sunny day, and there is nothing nicer than Victoria on a nice day.  Soon it was time to go check in at the hotel, in anticipation of the arrival of Uli and family.  Later Uli and I set off for the weekend's kickoff event, a fashion show.

On Saturday we combined kid friendly activities for Uli's family, with our need to find spinning and fiber supplies.  We headed out to Sidney, and eventually found ourselves at Honeysuckle Fibre Arts.  Honeysuckle is owned by Diane Cross, who is a very lovely and knowledgeable spinner and weaver.  Her studio is located in the front of her home, which is surrounded by the most beautiful gardens.  I wish I'd thought to take a picture.  While there, two other Ravelers came into the studio, and we kept running into them throughout the weekend.  Always neat to meet other fiber enthusiasts and realize that we had already "met" online!

I had in my mind that I would like to get another wheel this weekend.  I love my Louet S71, however am finding that it has some limitations.  Well at Honeysuckle, I met and fell in love with  a Lendrum DT Folding Wheel.  Almost immediately, while trying it out in the studio, I was able to spin thinner than on my Louet, with almost no effort.  After lots well really just a little bit of mulling, I decided to bring her home with me.

I already fired her up last night, and I think we will be very happy together.  I am going to keep my Louet, I still love her as well, and with her bigger bobbins, she will be a great plying wheel.

Saturday evening was a talk by renowned lace designer Sivia Harding.

I feel privileged to have met Sivia.  I learned that she has only been knitting for about seven years, yet she is one of the most amazing designers in the knitting world.  She is also modest and unassuming; truly a wonderful person.

Sunday was the biggest event of the weekend, the Market and Knit out at Saxe Point, a beautiful setting on the ocean:

The ocean made a lovely backdrop for Sivia and her Harbour Lights Shawl, designed especially for this event. 

I believe the pattern will be available for sale today on her website.  I'll edit this post with the link when it is up.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the vendor booths, however I was somewhat preoccupied by all the fibery goodness.  Here's one shot:

And yes, lots of fibery goodness came home with me!  It's going to take me a while to photograph it all, LOL!

And finally, I had no idea how cute llamas are:

Well I'd best get on with the day.  I'm off today, back to work tomorrow for what is going to be a crazy busy week both at work and personally.  I need to get some errands done today, and a nap just might be in order too.

Knitting with Handspun

A few nights ago, I finished my first item knit with my own wheel spun yarn.  I had previously knit a scarf with a bobbin spun single, but this was so much more enjoyable to work with, and the finished object is so much softer too.  Those of you who read here regularly know that I have a bit of a bag obsession, so it seemed fitting that I chose my first handspun hand knit to be a bag.  I actually found the pattern using Ravelry's great experimental search function where you can search for a pattern based on the type and amount of yarn you have.  It worked great! 

Here's what I made:

I used this pattern (Ravelry link), but cast on less stitches than called for to account for the amount of yarn (had to frog once to find that out though!).  I think  it will make a great small project bag.

I'm excited tonight because I have a four day weekend.  I took tomorrow off and Monday is my regular flex day.  I'm headed down to the Victoria Fibre Fest for a weekend getaway. It will be a weekend filled with fibre, shopping, old friends and (hopefully) new friends (Ravelry meet-up is planned).

Buttons will watch over my wheel while I'm away:

Tulips

One of the nice dangerous things about Etsy is the abundance of Indy dyers.  I showed a fair amount of restraint when my fiber purchases only consisted of yarns, however since I've had a wheel, I've been spinning through a fair amount of fiber, thus need to continually add to my stash.  If you check my Ravelry stash page, I have added the majority of my recent fiber acquisitions.

One of the new arrivals in the last week or two was this lovely Corridale Roving in the Tulip colourway, from the Exclusivelylindalee Etsy Shop.  Uli actually bought it first, and showed off the listing on the Canadian Etsy forum her and I frequent.  Well within minutes of clicking on the link, I'd added it to my cart.  Here's what it looks like:

Corriedale is a lovely fiber to spin up.  In the end I had about 109 yards when plied.  I am spinning consistently thinner and am getting more yardage from what are typically four ounce braids.  So why is it that the yarn always seems to be more or less worsted weight?  Anyhow, here's what the final product looks like, first on the niddy noddy:

And all skeined up, with the backdrop of the rocks on our fish pond (which I think makes quite an attractive background, if I do say so myself):

This weekend is the Victoria Fibre Festival.  I'm making a long weekend of it and heading down on Friday.  I'm trying not to succumb to any more Etsy Fiber purchases prior to this weekend, but the jury is still out as to whether or not I will succeed.  There are just too many temptations!

Back to spinning now, and then finishing a little bag I'm knitting with my own handspun.

Happy Father's Day

I made this card for my FIL, the moose hunter:

And this one for my own Dad, the fisherman:

More Yummy Yarn

Quick post here at bedtime.  I've had a nice three day weekend (SO thankful for Flex Days).  I spent lots of time knitting on my Adamas shawl, and am now one-third of the way into the edging.  All going well, I will block her this weekend.  I spun a little bit, and am quite thrilled that I'm spinning quite a bit thinner now and therefore getting a lot more yardage from typical 4 ounce braids of roving.  Today I have still more handspun to show you, once again from Yummy Yarn.  I actually didn't spin it this weekend but the previous weekend.  By the time the yarn is spun, plied, and washed, it seems I'm at least a week behind blogging it. 

Anyhow, what started as this:

Eventually became this single:

Which was plied:

Wound around the niddy noddy:

And after its bath, all skeined up:

Past my bedtime so must run.  Night!

Catch Up

I should have posted much sooner than this, but the last few days I've been knitting somewhat obsessively on my Adamas Shawl (Ravelry Link).  I have 3 1/2 pattern repeats to go before starting the edging.  There are 10 rows in each repeat, and hundreds of stitches on the needle, so it is a bit slow going at this point.  I am hoping to have moved onto the edging by the end of the coming weekend.  It is fairly simple lace, and I'm enjoying knitting this a lot.  I haven't even spun this week since I'm so into this shawl!

I am still however behind in blogging my handspun, so this post will be a bit of a summary.  For more details and pictures, please visit my Ravelry handspun stash page here.

First up is my current favourite handpun.  It's pink, soft and smooshy and I can't wait to knit it:

I have a pattern picked out and plan to cast on tomorrow. 

A few weeks ago, I finished spinning this:

And below,  my worst spinning job yet.  I loved spinning top on my spindle, but it took a lot more getting used to on the wheel.  I would either draft too much and break the fiber, or not enough and it would be too thick:

The only good thing about this handspun is that I learned a lot while spinning it.  I changed how I drafted by the time I finished spinning this yarn (I later learned from one of my spinning books that I am now doing a backwards draft) and as a result, am now spinning significantly thinner yarn, so it's all good!

And for all you kitty lovers out there, I'm happy to report that Frisbee has become much more brave and has moved further way from the doorstep:

TGIF

It's been a busy week and despite my best intentions, I haven't gotten around to blogging.  I thought I'd do a very quick post while I wake up with my coffee this morning.

Here's what I've been up to this week.  I listed something new in my Etsy shop:

I finished a pair of socks (only my second pair this year, shamefully):

Details will be up on my Ravelry page sometime this weekend, hopefully.

And yesterday morning, I was unable to make our bed before leaving for work:

A Little Kitty Explores

If you are looking for knitting, spinning, or even paper craft content, sorry, none of that here today.  Today's blog post is all about kitties.  We are enjoying some nicer weather here the last little while, so we've been able to enjoy our little backyard park. Our cats are normally indoor cats, but now that there is a fenced in area right out the living room door, we've been able to open it up and allow the cats to explore.  Well Buttons has surprised us with curious she has been.  She is a little kitty while her "brother" Frisbee is a much larger more muscular cat.  The little one has been much more brave about exploring her new surroundings, as these pictures will show you:

Meanwhile, Frisbee looks on from the more secure setting of the door step:

Regular crafting content returning here soon.