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!!!

Fiber Feast

Since purchasing my spinning wheel at the beginning of April, I've spun through most of the small fiber stash I already had.  Spinning on a wheel is SO much quicker than on a spindle.  As a result, I've been on a mission to acquire some pretty fiber to spin up.  This past week, a few pretty numbers came to live in our house, so thought I'd show them to you today.  First, while on  business trip this past week, I stopped at an LYS that I rarely get to, in the hopes of finding fiber.  I came home with some lovely Fleece Artist sliver in an alpaca/merino blend:

This picture really does not do this lovely fiber justice unfortunately, you'll just have to trust me that it is a lovely vibrant pink.

I did not really enjoy being away from home this past week.  I was on a course that was somewhat in the middle of nowhere, and it also resulted in being away from Joe for our 14th anniversary.  We've never been apart for our anniversary before.  I was glad to return home to Joe and the kitties (and my spinning wheel!), and also to find more fiber in the mailbox.  This was waiting for me when I returned:

Beautiful soft and squooshy fiber,it's 100% merino and is from Etsy seller TheYoYo.  She very nicely included this beautiful sample for me to spin as well:

And the day after I arrived home, after a day off that included a work phone call, emails, vacuuming and washing the floor, I opened the mailbox to find my package from another Etsy seller, one that I had previously purchased from, CopperPot.  I selected two different items from her:

This merino is called "GoodnPlenty."  The second fiber in this package was Apple Blossom, a merino tencel blend:

I must admit though, I'm not so sure how to spin these up when they so obviously have big strips of colour, and I'm still at the stage of pre-drafting everything.  Any advice?  Hopefully I won't make a mess of things!

My biggest question though, is what should I spin up next?   I can't even say that I have a favourite, all of these items are lovely.  Oh, and I must admit, I did more online fiber shopping yesterday (gotta love Etsy) so stay tuned for more new arrivals at Chez Close to my Heart!

Another week passed

Already over a week since my last post, where does the time go?  I'm coming off a lovely four day weekend, but still never got around to posting.  I did however get around to knitting.  I've made good progress on the Leaf Lace Shawl, and after I finish the current pattern repeat (four more rows) I'll start the edging.  I'm hoping to finish her this weekend. 

My Christmas knitting this year is socks, socks, and more socks.  I'm hoping to complete four or five pair to gift.  Here's the first in progress, doesn't it go well with my new project bag:

Yarn is Online Supersocke City Colour 921.  Since taking this picture, I've turned the heel and completed the gusset decreases on both socks.  I'm hoping to knit to the toe decreases on at least one of the socks at the skating club executive meeting tonight.

This past weekend also found me in a yarn store I've only visited only once before.  I discovered that their old stock Fleece Artist was on sale for 30% off.  After resisting the lure of seasilk for some time, I could finally justify bringing two hanks home:

Not sure yet what pretty lacy item these skeins will become.  Next on the needles though will be another luxury purchase, pure cashmere!

This was purchased during a recent trip to Fun Knits.  Shelley has designed a shop pattern for a lacy scarf, and I really want to get it on the needles.  It will go perfectly with my new fall rain jacket, and I'm sure will help keep me warm during the damp rainy days we've been having here on the Wet Coast.

Weekend countdown

SO glad it's Friday, really looking forward to the weekend and in particular, to sleeping in tomorrow. Yawn.  After having last week off it's been a long and tiring week.  Add the return to skating two nights a week to that mix, contributes to the way I'm feeling this Friday morning.  Speaking of skating, after being off the ice since April, I was glad to return this week.  I'm not doing the group lessons this year, I really felt that they contributed to my stall last year.  Instead, I'm sharing a private lesson once a week with a knitting friend who skates at the same level as me.  I hope I'll be able to progress more this year as a result.

Yesterday afternoon I met up with Lisa, whose blog I've been reading for some time now.  It was nice to finally meet her.  The main reason for our meet-up was to give her some yarn she had purchased in my stash sale.  We met up at the LYS, so of course went shopping.  I came home with the following:

I've knit with this Fabel sock yarn before and really liked it.  It is a reasonably priced yarn,  and I was happy to find another colourway that I liked.  I also bought this Sweatermaker Fingering weight merino:

I bought this thinking that I might make a small Forest Canopy Shawl with it (I love that pattern!) but now that I have it home, I think the colour might be a little too similar to this one that I made myself.  I would still like to make a small shawl or maybe a scarf with it.  If anyone has any suggestions for a pattern that uses 400 meters of fingering weight yarn, please let me know.

Need to get more caffeine into my blood now.  Just need to get through the work day and my hair appointment after work, and then the weekend is all mine!

What I did on my summer vacation

I've been home for a week now, so it is about time that I write this post!

I spent almost a week visiting with my sister and her husband in Vancouver.  They moved from the Okanagan to the big city this past spring.  This was my first visit to their new condo.  Quite a lifestyle change for them, from their big house with pool to a much smaller but very nice condo.  The condo is in a wonderful central location in downtown Vancouver, located just a block from Robson Street (great for this shopaholic).  I'm actually quite thrilled to have a free place to stay in Vancouver, it's been a long time since I've had that, probably since one of my childhood friends got married and moved to the burbs 15 years ago!

While in Vancouver, I was able to visit areas I frequented in university and haven't visited in a long time.  Not too surprisingly, these neighbourhoods have changed in almost 25 years!  Although I'm glad to be back to the relative peace of the small city I live in, it was great to be in the big city.  I love the diversity, hearing different languages spoken, observing the big city culture (I love people watching), and of course all the ethnic food.  I ate Greek, Japanese, Italian, Mandarin (great restaurant just across the street from my sister) Cantonese, and Ukrainian.  Other highlights of the trip were the Richmond Night Market (warning, there is some audio on the website, very worthwhile for those of you in the Lower Mainland or those planning a visit) and Granville Island, a place I frequented while living nearby during my university years, but haven't visited in some time.

But if you're reading here, what you're probably really wondering about is the Fiber purchases.  I managed to visit three yarn stores while in Vancouver.  The first stop was Birkeland Brothers, where I purchased the silk blend roving I showed you on the last post.  I had heard about this store from a local knitting friend, and was really looking forward to visiting.  It was a lot smaller than I expected, and nothing too exciting in terms of yarn.  Great source for spinning wheels, spindles, fiber etc., and I wish I lived close enough to take a spinning class.  In addition to the fiber, I also found something I was especially looking for, a nostepinde:

It's already been put to good use. 

Next I ventured up to Urban Yarns.  The bus ride took me through one of my old neighbourhoods as well as part way on the route I used to ride to UBC.  Very lovely store that I will return to, however I showed great restraint and didn't make any purchases this time.

I had checked the website for Three Bags Full prior to leaving home, and was disappointed to discover that they were closed for their own vacation during my time in Vancouver.  They did however open on my last day in the city, so I dragged my non-knitting non-crafty sister there with me, after a stop at Solly's for their awesome cinnamon buns (are you noticing how much this trip was about the food?  You'll be glad to know that I'm returning to my noon hour workouts at Curves beginning tomorrow).  I really enjoyed this store.  I found some lovely rovings from Yummy Yarns, whose Etsy store I have previously purchased roving from.  I brought this one home with me:

And am looking forward to spinning it up.  An impulse buy on my way to the check out was some Koigu:

I justified this purchase simply because it's been a longggg time since Koigu has found it's way into my stash.

So there you have it, what I did on my summer vacation.  I had over two weeks off from work, and it really was a great break that seemed longer than it was.  A week of it was spent in Vancouver.  I'm sure I'll be there much more regularly now that I have family to visit and stay with.

Now back to the weekend chore drudgery (can't complain though most of it is done).  Why do weekends always go by SO quickly?

I don't have a clue what to title this

So that is what you get.  Me just being silly!

Thanks to everyone for the birthday greetings as well as the complements on the pinwheel.  I had a really lovely birthday. 

Now on with today's post.

I hadn't been over to Quadra Island and Fun Knits since the knitting retreat in March, so was happy to go over yesterday.   It was a beautiful day for an ocean voyage.  Here's the view of Campbell River, looking back after the ferry had set sail:
 
I never get tired of looking at those beautiful snow capped mountains!

Shortly before I arrived at Fun Knits, this had been delivered:

That's Shelley cutting the big bales open.  I think she'll be telling you more about what is inside over at her blog when she has a chance, I know she's really busy the next while.

Of course the highlight of the day was connecting with Uli and her family, who were on Vancouver Island on vacation.   Unfortunately, we all forgot to take pictures of the event.  Bad bloggers, no cookie!  (I'm blatantly stealing a line from Lime and Violet).

Given that I just charged my car insurance and our new blinds on the ol' plastic, and also given that I'm about to go to Vancouver where I know I'll be spending some time shopping, I showed great restraint as far as stash acquisition goes.  Here's the measly three things that came home with me:

Prairie Wool that I had plans to combine with some of my handspun, tofutsie sock yarn because I love it and only have one other ball in my stash, and pretty Sweatermaker merino roving.

I'm now off to knit on my own handspun for the very first time.  Squee!

Monday Already

Not sure where the weekend went, but it sure was quick!  I spent very little time playing with fiber this weekend.  I don't think I picked up the spindle or the needles until Sunday night.  I spent FAR too much time playing with Facebook, and those of you who know my last name can find me there.  My niece told me it was cool, so thought I'd check it out.  I didn't think I would have a great need for Facebook given that I'm on Ravelry, but it's pretty neat, and after all, not ALL my friends and family knit or crochet!  I also made a couple cards for two friends with July birthdays.

I'm still spending a bit of time looking around Etsy, but am slowing down a little.  Last week, I received this in the mail:

Yummy roving from Yummy Yarn.  This seller is located fairly close by, and this actually arrived in my mailbox the day after I ordered it.  I was shocked to see it there so quickly!

And another addition to my fiber stash, from the Farmer's Market yesterday:

Alpaca!

Joe spent a good portion of the weekend on yard clean up, and it looks pretty good now.  It was long overdo and he feels great to have it done.  We even have the beginning of a fish pond now, to replace our last failed attempt at a garden (the Farmer's Market is for people like us!).  My contribution was some pretty hanging baskets I bought yesterday:

We're finally having some hot summer weather so I better remember to water or they'll be toast quickly. 

Hope you have a great summer week wherever you are!

Can't Stop Spinning

Back to work for me today.  I had a lousy sleep and have been awake a good 90 minutes prior to when my alarm would go off.  After tossing and turning for a good hour, I finally gave up and got up.  Part of the reason I couldn't sleep was that I was thinking of spinning.  I had a fun spinning day yesterday.  I started off by winding the boring pink corriedale off my Louet spindle and onto my brand new niddy noddy:

The plain pink just isn't doing it for me now that I have some gorgeous handpainted roving to spin.  I'm finding this yarn to be a somewhat brittle as well.  I have a couple ounces of this left, and it will eventually be spun.  In the meantime, I just couldn't resist pulling out my new Copperpot roving:

This is the Black Roses Colourway, and is 90% Merino, 10% tencel.  Gorgeous fiber that is spinning up nicely.  I'm quite happy with my spinning progress.  The main thing I noticed yesterday is that I'm now able to get a good spin going and therefore can spin longer lengths of fiber before I have to stop and wind onto my spindle.  I happily spun away and did not want to put it down!

I did however stop spinning long enough to go meet up with my yarn pusher.  It was really kind of funny, I pulled up in my car next to Shelley's van.  I didn't even get out of my car, and was handed a pink bag containing this:

I think you all probably can figure out what these two big beautiful hanks of wool are!

Recap of Last Weekend

Other than the Harlot post, I've been quite negligent about talking about the wonderful weekend I had (already a week ago) at the Victoria Fibre Festival.

It started off with a Fashion Show Friday night.  The best part about this was being able to spend time with other knitters, especially Shelley, Megan and little Meika, who is definitely going to be an up and coming knitter.  She has to, it's in the genes, her Mom, Grandma and Great Grandma all knit!  The fashion show had it's high and low points, there was a little too much fun fur for my tastes.

Saturday morning found me trudging off in the rain to attend a spinning class.  It was awesome to meet a few other knit bloggers, Raven, Michelle and Chris.  We've all been in touch a little during this week, and Michelle and I are already making plans to meet up again when she visits my community in August.  The spinning class was excellent, and proved to be just the hands on instruction that I needed.  I'm happy to report that I just finished my first post class session with my spindle, and I'm very pleased with how it went.  Hopefully there will be lots more spinning content here, there has to be as you'll see when I show you shortly the roving that I purchased!

Following the spinning class, Raven and I grabbed a quick lunch in Chinatown (just up the street from the class) Raven went to a weaving class, and I headed out on my own for a mini yarn crawl.  In one of the stores, I spotted someone who looked familiar, and quickly realized that it was Lizz and her mother.  She recognized me right away too.  We've been reading each other's blogs for a few years now, so it was nice to finally meet.

I thought I showed great restraint on this little yarn crawl.  I was saving my money for the Knit Out the following day, so all I bought was this roving:

and this sock pattern.

Before long it was time to head to the ferry to pick up Uli (great seeing you again, looking forward to seeing you and your family again next month!), back to the hotel, met up with Shelley and Megan and headed out to find the venue for the Yarn Harlot talk.  We parked the car, grabbed a quick supper, and then back to the Community Center to hear Stephanie.  It was so awesome when we walked into the gymnasium to find it full of people knitting:

Once again, it was great to connect with other knit bloggers.  Gina was behind me in the book signing line up, and I enjoyed chatting with her.  Sorry I didn't say goodbye, I got rather excited and distracted later!

Sunday was the Knit Out at Saxe Point Park.  Unfortunately, the weather left a little to be desired that day, but didn't stop me from some Stash Acquisition.  I bought some pretty superwash roving that is going to take me a LONG time to spin:

There's way more roving there than it appears in this picture.  If I do run out though, Hummingbird Fibre Arts is located in Nanaimo, not far from my parents' house.

The remainder of my weekend fibre purchases came from my favourite LYS, Fun Knits:

There's some Sweatermaker Roving, Tofutsies, Opal Feeling. Lorna's Laces, and Sweatermaker Island Hues Sock yarn.  This should keep me busy for a while!

Phew, this post has been a long time coming.  A direct result of the weekend was that I've been completely obsessed with knitting, crocheting, and spinning.  I chose to spend my week off doing those three things rather than blogging.  Today was a productive chore day, and now my final two days off I can get back to the Fiber, as well as some papercrafting that has a deadline attached.

And for now, better hit the pillow.  Thanks if you've made it this far, this ended up being quite the long post!

Saturday Shopping

Here it is Saturday, it's already my second day off, and I still have three more to go.  Gotta love a long weekend!  Monday is a stat holiday here, and Tuesday is my flex day.  The last couple days have been all about shopping and stash and craft supply accumulation, the next few days the crafting production will hopefully occur.

I decided to go for a drive to Courtenay today, which of course meant a stop at the LYS.  I was specifically after some yarn to make something for spring and summer.  And because there has not been any crocheting here for far too long, I chose a crochet project:

I also bought some sock yarn.

I hadn't seen this particular yarn before, and it was very inexpensive.  And we all know that sock yarn doesn't count as stash!

Next stop was Winners.  I'm told that Winners is a lot like Ross Department Store in the States, although I've not yet been to one myself.  I needed to replace my beloved cute pink and brown purse.  Unfortunately, it's rather cheaply made and keeps ripping.  The store I purchased it from has already replaced it for me once.  I'm not interested in a second replacement, I just want my money back.  Obviously the construction is very poor.  Too bad, I so loved this purse!  So today I found this funky brown leather number:

It has lots of compartments inside (an essential as far as I'm concerned) and plenty of room to hold my a take along sock WIP (also an essential feature).  And it's quite obviously much better made than the pink and brown one.

And finally, I just couldn't resist these brown shoes:

They'll look nice with the brown and pink floral skirt I bought last week (no pictures of this to show you) to go with my new shawl.  Now if the weather would just co-operate, I could show off my new outfit!

Yesterday's most significant crafting purchase was an embossing tool, which should help take my papercrafting to the next level.  I played with it a bit last night, and know I'm going to have a lot of fun using it.  I'll fire it up some more tomorrow, the remainder of this Saturday is going to be spent playing with yarn.

Thanks for all the sympathetic comments about my tooth extraction.  All went well, nitrous is my friend, and my mouth is feeling a lot better with the offending cracked tooth gone.

Finally, Happy Easter to those of you that celebrate!