TDF Day 3

I gotta say, you are such nice blog readers! Having disappeared for 2 months I was just over the moon to get some lovely comments on my previous post. :)

Anyway, before I get all sappy, here is my progress!
The white yarn is called Vanilla delight and is the yarn I spun yesterday, this time skeined but pre-washing.

Next up we have a corespun yarn spun from the batt I carded yesterday. The pictures don't really do it justice, it looks so fluffy and gorgeous close up!

....and theeeeennn, I carded up a really summery, tropical trio, with lots of Angelina and Mohair curls added to the mix. Don't they just look yummy? Can't wait to spin them!

TDF Day 2

Hi there! Well, today I used some previously carded batts, mainly containing wool, silk and soy silk to spin a simple textured single yarn, very 'Vanilla'. :)

Browsing some yarns on Ravelry got me really motivated to use my drum carder again, so I used a collection of aqua tones and some yellow/lime green mohair curls for this batt. Tomorrow I will hopefully be able to finish spinning the yarn out of it!

Tour de Fleece 2010 begins!

Can it be, can it really be? Have I not written anything in exactly 2 months? Well, it is a little scary, but I suppose I did have many other things going on and in a way it was nice to concentrate on non-yarny things for a few weeks. You'll hopefully be pleased to know that I am back with fresh motivation and inspiration - just in time for the yearly Tour de Fleece!

For those of you who are new to the concept, it's basically spinning during the Tour de France (which I don't even watch) and all of it documented on Ravelry...

Unfortunately I was at work for most of this beautiful Saturday, so by the time I actually had some yarn to photograph it was already quite dark.
It's very much a scrap yarn made from some random fibres I carded together a while ago. The purple yarn is a commercial mohair boucle yarn.

Freeform CAL

I don't know what made me do it, but I am tempted to blame Gypsy Dancer for it. :P She showed off a freeform crochet piece at one of our recent local knitting meet-ups - it looked convincingly great!

Aaaanyway, some will know that I don't really crochet. Don't get me wrong, I think it's very handy and love doing little shell borders, but when it comes to picking patterns I just feel more comfortable in knitting. Doesn't help that I only vaguely know German crochet lingo, let alone British or American. Well, nevermind, I always wanted to do some freeform crochet and I am joining in this lovely freeform crochet-along on Ravelry to have some fun and perhaps pick up some new skills. The end result will be some kind of knitting bag, I think. To make it more my own I am trying to use mainly (if not only) my own handspun bits and leftovers.

Do join in if you like, I bet it will be fun!

Handspun button sweater WIP

After being so busy preparing for my recent craft fair, I have really been enjoying the calm last few days. I even finally started knitting a cardigan from my handspun Merino/silk singles (The type often appearing in my shop as well). The pattern I am basing it on is the button sweater by 'Oh my stars', a design I have been meaning to try out for ages. It is a top down raglan with a wide button band. The colours on this picture seem a bit washed out as you can mainly just see the shinyness of the silk... I will get some better pictures after more progress. As I am making it up as I go, there are already a few things I would do differently to improve fit, but I kept going as I plan on knitting another raglan in this style eventually anyway...

By coincidence (ok, not really, I just buy a lot of handmade buttons) I already have some lovely ceramic buttons that would go brilliantly with this sweater! http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=9226423

Pictures of Wonderwool

This is a picture of our stall at Wonderwool Wales. My friend Sally had her rugs up on the walls and her handspun yarns (using local wool and only natural dyes) mainly on the left part. My hand dyed sock yarns were in the far left corner and my handspun yarns on the right table. My little handwritten sign hadn't gone up yet as I took the picture, but I am planning on sewing a nice big one for next time, using lots of pattern and colour. :)
The two colourful rugs on the floor were also hand dyed and woven by Sally, aren't they gorgeous? We had a fun but tiring time and really enoyed meeting all these knitters, spinners and fibre lovers. It was especially great for me to put faces to a few names I knew from the online world.

I also used my vintage suitcase and antique wooden spools for the first time and am really delighted with the look achieved. Of course there are always improvements to be made, but I get better with every fair I do. :P

Right now I am delighted to be able to say that I am finally truly updating my etsy shop again and have already added lots of new sock yarns! Just before Wonderwool I dyed up a storm and am so pleased to be able to finally show the outcome. Taking my yarns 'out there' forced me to weigh and label a lot of my recent work, which makes my life now a lot easier, haha.

Aaaanyway, this is no time to rest, I am back at my spinning wheel already!

Wonderwool Wales is coming!

Wow, time has flown. I'm telling you, absolutely flown! Suddenly I find myself just one night away from my first ever UK craft fair, and it is a big one at that!

Well, if by any chance you find yourself in the heart of Wales this weekend, do make sure to drop by this amazing Fibre Festival! http://www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk/
Ok, I haven't been before, but I have heard and I assume that it is amazing.... ;)

There are so many things to be done yet and soooo little time. I did get lots of sock yarns dyed up though and am going through labelling loads of exciting handspun yarns, including many never seen before art yarns! I will be at stall F8, which I will be sharing with my spinning friend Sally, who is also a brilliant printmaker and weaver.

Please, wish me luck - I could use some. :D
Veronika