Souvenirs from Bavaria

Dirndl buttons
Originally uploaded by snowberrylime

I got back from a little weekend in Bavaria and of course I found a few great souvenirs. :D
Amongst them is a considerable stash of creamy fabrics, a bundle of cotton lace and other ribbons and these gorgeous silvery ribbons. Although the shops I got these buttons were both really tiny they has a stunning selection of gorgeousness - all for making dirndls and other traditional clothes.

Summer rain

Summer rain handspun soy silk
Originally uploaded by snowberrylime

Here is my latest vegan yarn, handspun from natural soy silk in its golden colour featuring lots of (mainly) glass beads in yellows and greens.

It has also just now been featured on this vegan knitting blog: http://nutmeg.gen.nz/fakesheep/2008/06/19/handmade-vegan-yarn/
Thank you so much, Moira!
There is so much information on that blog and fake sheep as a name? Just too cute, right? So go on and hop over there. :)

I am still also working on my bags and the first one might actually be finished shortly! I will also be updating the shop with a few more yarns this week, mainly the ones pictured in the last entry and some more...

Latest handspun yarns

Latest handspun yarns
Originally uploaded by snowberrylime

I couldn't resist posting this picture to give a bit of an update on what I am doing. Can I pretend it is fibre friday already? :D
Lots of different stuff this week, ranging from corespun baby camel (on the left), to soy silk (3rd from left and second from the right), to Tussah silk (2nd with baby camel, 5th, 6th) with some Merino to the right and an absolutely stunning pink yarn called Rokoko (the big skein in the middle), it features a lovely Merino/silk blend and real freshwater pearls, about 80 of them!
You can click on the picture for more details.

Well, as you can see, I have not been picking cherries and this should keep my daily shop updates going for a little while... :)

Handspun giveaway!

Would you like the chance to test some of my handspun yarn for free, no strings attached?

Well, then hop on over here for a chance to win the skein of handspun cotton yarn below. There you can also read an interview and see a picture of my 'workspace'...

What else have I been up to? Well what about 'Heavenly pearls', a Merino yarn with pearls and sequins:
...or another hand dyed soy silk:And more soy silk, undyed in all its natural beauty:
Coming soon is finally my 'Midnight' (or something to that effect) art yarn, for which I have been collecting goodies for a long time.

On the bag front I am still more thinking about making them than actually making them, but once I get around to doing it they will be absolutely stunning, I promise!

Tweed bag WIP 2

Tweed bag WIP 2
Originally uploaded by snowberrylime

Just a little update on how my new bags are coming along. Well, as usual I am getting lost in the tiniest details, this is why it is taking me a bit longer...
Here we have one of the herringbone tweed ones (with silk in it, so soft and cuddly) with embroidered flower. I have cut out the lining in a very sweet patchwork fabric I got in Wales, added a padding type interfacing and have sewn a little pocket inside which matches the bottom/side fabric of the bag. Right now I am torn between using my one pair of bamboo handles (horse shoe shaped) or matching fabric handles.

I had asked this question in a forum and was very surprised by the answers. It seems to be a bit of a cultural thing that many Americans consider it as cheap looking and what discounters would sell, whilst here in Europe most people do seem to think it looks classier. Considering how expensive these handles are I was very surprised that they appear to be like a cheap option to many. I am still not sure, but do still believe that the bamboo would look great with it!

New plant based yarns

As you might guess I always love trying out new fibres, and with Summer coming up around here I finally spun quite a bit of my plant fibre collection. The added bonus to being a little different is that these yarns are ideal to people with a wool allergy, very sensitive skin or of course vegans.

To the left we have handspun, undyed cotton, it has a gorgeous natural vanilla colour. Cotton is a lot slower to spin due to its short fibre length, but as a handspun yarn it is also a lot softer and fluffier than commercial cotton, which makes it all worthwhile!

The green yarn is hand dyed pure soy silk. The first time I spun soy silk (a good while back) it was so fuzzy and such a hassle, but this time round (on the wheel) it was a lot easier and I continued with some more soy silk.

Below is some bright pink pure soy silk with faux pearls spun into it, making it like all the other yarns presented here, a completely vegan yarn. It caters in its colour range very well to my hidden inner girly girl persona. :P
I am sure it would look very elegant no matter what kind of project it is used in, the soft drape and lots of pearl just lead to that result by default...
There is some of this pink soy silk left yet and I just bought some more faux pearls, but before I work on another skein of this one I just finished a non-vegan version of it in Merino/silk with genuine freshwater pearls - simply delicious for a natural fibre lover like me....

Gone for a few days

Well, just wanted to say I am off to France for a few days, and when I am back I will tell you everything about my new plant-based, vegan yarns. :D

So yeah, should be about a 5-6 hours drive today, and then again on Sunday - yay! *sarcastic tone off*