Baby News-Fiber News

Again, its been ages since I posted. I dont know whats up with me, but its been really hard to make myself sit and write. Once I get going, I enjoy it, but dang, its so hard to sit here and DO it!

We're having a girl!! A wee girl... and her name is Madelyn. I adore my Granny (maternal) and her name is Madelyn and Shane and I love the name and love the nickname Mad, sooo, its perfect! Little Mad is growing like mad. Shes about 1 1/2 pounds now and 14 inches long! I feel like shes twice that big. My belly is enormous. Or at least it seems like it to me! Shes squashing everything. Its hard to breathe sometimes, depending on how Im sitting/laying and I cant eat much at a time. But its nothing bad. The awful part of it all is the hip pain that Im having. I swear, its some of the worst pain Ive ever felt in my life. It makes most movements incredibly painful. Even putting socks on is an ordeal. But its all good! Makes me stronger, gives me character. I know now that when Im old (or young!), if I have bad, chronic pain, I can take it. I can still do what I need to do, even if it hurst so much I cry.

Yesterday Shane and I went out and took some pictures. We both wish we could see what our mothers looked like while they were pregnant with us so we want to make sure Mad has plenty to pictures to see later. Heres a couple of my favorites -

Ive been doing a bit of spinning and knitting/crocheting. I bought some loverly sage green roving from Copperpot Woolies, spun it in to a worsted weight ad am knitting it in to some mittens for my mother. They were supposed to be done for her bday last month, but I got sick and was only able to get one done. So Im finishing up the second now (just got a thumb to do!). She seems to like them, at least she loves the color. Ill post a pic when Im all done.

As for spinning, Ive spun alot! Heres a pic of just some of the yarn Ive made -

Theres more than just these, but I got tired of taking pics of them all. On my wheel I have some misc roving ends from The Sheep Shed. Its a beautiful mix of caramel, dark chocolate and white. I think there is some mohair in it, but Im not sure. Its very pretty!

Hibernation and New Yarn

Finally, a new post! I havent felt much like writing lately. Ive been hibernating. Its too dang cold and bummy around here. The weather was nice and spring like for about an hour and then went right back to winter. Im soooo tired of grey and cold! Loki is about sick of wearing her blanket, too. And my poor chickens have been locked up for months. I hate having them in their coops so much. But with this cold, I dont dare let them out.

BUT, with my hibernating, Ive been getting quite a bit of fiber stuff done. Loads of spinning and a bit of knitting and crocheting. Puppi's sweater is all done. Yay!! Man, I thought it would never end. I tried to get a good pic of him in it but hes a wiggle worm. This was the best I could do without help!I also finally finished a pair of socks that I started over a year ago. theyve been sitting mostly done in a bag waiting for me to get int he sock mood. They came out pretty nice, though theyre knit with Magic Stripe which I find rather itchy. They fit well and are warm :)In my last post I mentioned this chocolate roving I bought from Blackcat Handspun. I sooo wish I had more. Look at how loverly it is!I also bought some raspberryish roving from her. Its an incredible mix of Coopworth and Chow Chow. While spinning it it reminded me of raspberry icecream and a place in Maine where we used to go when I was a child. So, I named this yarn Shaw's Ridge Raspberry.Another purchace I made was this beautiful silk roving from Copperpot on Etsy. Shes soo nice! And this roving spun up to the most beautiful yarn. I knit the ounce in to little wristlettes. I was going to knit a headband but decided that the colors were so pretty that I wanted them to be somewhere I could see!The last stuff Ive spun up is this two ounces of tussah silk. My cousin, Mariah, wants a skinny scarf and since shes allergic to wool (or at least finds it all quite it itchy) Im going to make it out of silk. I plan on dying it blue with Berry Blue Kool Aid. Loverly color! Though I must say, I love the natural color, too. Its so soft and buttery.

Chocolate Yarn and Desert Batts

I havent posted in a while. Mostly because I just havent felt like blabbing or even being ont he computer. Its been incredibly cold outside, here in NY and that means its pretty cold inside as well. I dont fancy numb fingers for typing so Ive been huddling in our combo bedroom/livingroom with the beasties trying to keep warm. But today was pretty nice out. Bit of a cool breeze, but warm enough to remove Lokis two blankets and open up her yard a bit. Ive been keeping her shut up in her stall because the dang wind and sub zero temps are awful! I cant let her have her full pasture untill the snow melts. The electric wire is lost in the snow. I dont want her wandering in to it and hurting herself.

Anyway, my most recent fiber stuffs have just been some crochet cat toys. Last fall I promised a friend of mine that I would make him some for his kitties, but Im a lazy poop and never got around to it. So during my *hibernation* Ive been pushing myself to get some done. Ive made some odd shapes, a few mice and am getting a nice collection. When I showed them to my Ma she fell in love with the mice. She has a beautiful little chihuahua, Rose, and poor Rose is so small that most toys are just too big for her to pick up. Ma wanted a mouse for her. But before I could give it to her, she found one of the cat nip mice. Wow was she happy! So Ive made her a few more toys, little balls, a square stuffy and a squiggly ball. Shes completely too adorable with them all. Theyre her babies. She hides them in her tent and wont let anyone touch them! I will try to get some pictures of her with them.

I also bought some fiber from a wonderful lady I found on Etsy. Her shop is called Blackcat Handspun. The first two batts I bought were so gorgeous, I went and bought a third. I got 7 oz of one called Desert Morning. Its made from Coopworth and Chow fur. Its wonderful! I havent spun it yet (Ive got a pound of fiber from The Sheep Shed Studio on my wheel at the moment), but I know its going to be beautiful!! The other batt I got is called Mocha Chocolata Yaya. 4 oz of a mix of corriedale, merino, mohair and silk. Its some of the most beautiful colors Ive ever spun. Lovely texture, too. I want more! It spun up in to two skeins, finishing up to be about 80 yards of two ply. I wish I had enough for a sweater!
A while back I bought some silk and used Berry Blue Kool Aid to dye it. The dye didnt make it in to the center of the roving so there was a bit of white left. I was a little annoyed at first but once I got it fluffled a little, I figured it was ok. I had wanted a solid blue, but this didnt look bad.But when I spun it....it just got prettier and prettier!! I'm in love with this blue color. I hope they never stop making Berry Blue!!!Now, Ive got to get off this frigging computer. Our video cards fan rattles and its driving me crazy!!!

Yarn Swap, Alpaca and Mittens

Well! I got a very nice surprize in the mail today. (Two actually, but one was a pound of roving that I knew was coming, so that wasnt completely a surprize.) You see, a while back I signed on to be part of a yarn swap Basically, person A spins a (3.5 oz) skein of yarn for person B, person B spins one for person C, etc. We get to see who were making the yarn for, but have no idea whos making one for us. Im very much a pessemist sometimes and thought that surely I would be paired up with the one person who wouldnt spin a skein of yarn. But (*YIPPIE*) I got a person who not only spun a skein, its the most wonderful, funky, and fabulous skein of yarn Ive ever held in my hands!!! I ADORE IT!!! Looky---->

*dances* I lurve it!! Though I have no idea when Ill be able to convince myself that I can knit with it and not totally ruin it. Im just going to stare at it for a while.

Last year I bought myself some alpaca fiber to spin. Ive finally finished it! The first skein came out nice (it spun up wicked easy), but this second one, I even impressed myself a little, heehee! Its the most even Ive ever spun. Also pretty thin for me. Its a two ply worsted (alsmot a sport weight). Its soft and a really wonderful warm brown color.
I ve also been working on the fingerless mittens for Shane. Theyre coming along nicely. I tried to take some pics tonight, but they came out terrible. Its night and I had to use the flash. Ill try again in the daylight. All I have left to do are the flaps!

Over a year ago I bought the book Stitch'n'Bitch. Theres a gorgeous pair of fingerless mittens in there. It calls for two balls of Noro something or other. So we headed out to the LYS and I bought the colors I liked. Well, I get home and am knitting away and soon realize that one ball is a continuous piece of yarn but the other is three tied together. The colors dont match up and I end up with one perfectly colored mitten, green to purple to yellow to orange. The other one I didnt even bother knitting because the colors woudlnt match up, it would drive me crazy! I threw the lot in a drawer and tried to forget about them. But while knitting Shanes mittens, I was almost obsessively thinking of my failed Noro mittens. So I got the one out and re-examined the yarn to see if I could piece it together to at least sort of match the finished one. No go! No amount of splicing would make it come close to being a mate. Ive decided that I must go bat to the LYS and scour their Noro yarn for one ball that will pair up with my finished thing.

I...must...finish...them...

More Yummies!!

First up is some gorgeous alpaca roving. This stuff is SO soft and light. I cant wait to try spinning it! There is a bit of VM as you can see in the pic, but nothing I cant take care of. Theres a full 10 ounces here, 30 yards! And I got it for a mere $18 :)
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This next is some shiney banana silk yarn from http://www.recycledsilk.com Its color is Vine and I bought it to go with the banana silk I bought off ebay (see previous post). Ive knit a hat with them and its just so pretty! Ill try to get a pic of me in it today.
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This is a full fleece I got off ebay. Its Jacob and just full of lanolin and Ive discovered that I adore the scent of sheep! It looks a little yellowed and dingy here but I took a handfull and washed it and after a bit o cleanin it sparkles like new snow. Its really beautiful!

That fleece came from the ewe below. They sent her picture with it. Her name is Valentine :o)------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is some Cotswold wool. I guess people use this alot for doll making. For bears and wigs and things. Its quite pretty though this bunch seems to have been washed to death. It feels dry and is a little dusty. But I think I can come up with SOMETHING to do with it!

Some Yummy Yarns...

These are some yarns that I bought off ebay recently and well, Im in love with them!

This top one is recycled sari silk and wonderfully eyelashy. And the warm tones make me feel all cozy! I bought 2 skeins and it was just enough to knit up a skinny scarf for myself. Its not thick yarn, but its heavy and has a wonderful weight to it. Though one skein was in 5 different peices tied together, it was fuzzy enough for me to hide all the ends well. Ive decided that these will be my xmass presents this year!

The color of this one was labled as Kathmandu Recycled Sari Silk Yarn in the color 'sunshine'. The two skeins differed a bit, one was very eyelashy and the other was more smooth. But I knit them together, 2 rows of one, 2 rows of the other, and they blended wonderfully. The seller was Aubelsbeth's Little Merchant Shop and they shipped very fast and packaged all the yarn I got in cute little celophane bags and wrapped in yellow tissue paper that had bees printed on it. Oopening the box was like xmas!
This one (also from Aubelsbeth's Little Merchant Shop) was labled as Kathmandu Banana Silk Yarn in 'mango'. But looking at the photo in the listing, I could have sworn it looked familiar. So, being the weirdo I am, I spent the next hour searching on the net for it. I found it here - http://www.recycledsilk.com/sarisolids.html The yarn in the photo in the ebay listing is actually recycled sari silk, not banana silk. BUT, the actual yarn I got IS banana silk and I looooved it. So they still got posative feedback from me. I liked this yarn so much that I bought two more skeins!