Oh Picasa, how do I love thee?
Posted by: micamynx on: January 29, 2010
I have been a little blogging-lax lately. Work has picked up and made increasing demands on my days and as usual, I spend as much “free” time as possible dyeing, knitting, spinning and talking about those activities on Ravelry. My new batch of dyes arrived the beginning of this week, so I spent a morning playing. I was thrilled to discover that Picasa has a lovely collage option. So without futher ado, my dyed fiber:
Micamynx Handdyed Fiber
These are from top left: Lily Pond (BFL), Queen of Hearts (SW Merino), Turmoil (Targhee), & Murky Maraschino (SW Merino)
Middle row: Pumpkin Patch (BFL) and far right middle Butternut Squash (Merino/Cashmere)
Bottom row from Left: Sunny Sorrel(Merino/Cashmere), Leap Frog (SW Merino) Barnwood (merino/Cashmere) & Old Rug (BFL)
I also spun up the AllSpunUp Wensleydale for the SAL (well, 4oz of it anyway). It is gorgeous and the singles are so pretty:
AllSpunUp Wensleydale in Blaze, Singles 460 yards
I also spun up the Gale’s Art 50/50 Merino/Silk in Merry Go Round colorway. This fiber was amazingly smooth and lovely to spin. I spun very thin singles (probably my finest yet) and navajo plied it to preserve the jewel tone colorway. I put it up on my etsy shop (www.micamynx.etsy.com) but I may take it down & knit it up. Maybe a pair of bright stripey luxe socks?
3 ply (nplied) 326 yards 15/16 wpi
I also have a bobbin of singles of the Into the Whirled Jan/Feb SAL fiber that have been “resting” and will soon be nav-plied:
Into the Whirled "A Warm Return" SAL fiber
And finally, I am a mere 4 rows from finishing the Bitterroot shawl. Cross your fingers. You can bet I will plaster pictures of that bad boy everywhere when I finally finish it!
Back from paradise.
Posted by: micamynx on: January 20, 2010
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Home again! Cabo San Lucas was amazingly beautiful and peaceful, as usual. Got to see some awesome whale antics (including breaching!) and spent a romantic, disgustingly mushy and lovey week with my wonderful husband. Two years and one month of marriage and we are still the couple that makes everyone gag with the lovey-dubby-ness!
Last night in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
So, back home & back to spinning! I missed my wheel while I was gone. With no spinning or knitting, my hands felt horribly idle. The weather in South Carolina was cold & rainy when we got home, so the first thing I spun up was this bright and pretty merino from Gale’s Art (http://www.etsy.com/shop/galesart) in the Crayon Box colorway.
128 yards nav plied, worsted weight
Then I finished up the Merino/Bamboo from KnotMyDayJob on etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/KnotMyDayJob) in Pink Pander. I left it as laceweight singles and it is unbelievably lush and soft. I carried it around all day yesterday.
752 yards Merino/Bamboo singles
I also spun up the MCN top that I dyed with Mom before I left for Mexico. These colors turned out to blend very nicely and you can’t beat the MCN for softness and loft.
300 yards, fingering/sock weight "Placid"
I put the MCN up in the etsy shop (since I am currently hoarding several skeins of handspun MCN yarn!) and it sold within 12 hours. Wow! It tickles me to know that people are going to knit with my handspun!
Finally, I scored a ton of lovely tops to spin before leaving:
8 oz. Wensleydale from AllSpunUp
This Wensleydale is the Jan/Feb spin-a-long fiber from AllSpunUp (http://www.etsy.com/shop/Allspunup) and it is screaming to be made into a laceweight singles shawl!
These from Pigeonroof Studios (http://www.etsy.com/shop/pigeonroofstudios) in Merino:
SW Merino in "Ricochet" about 8.4 oz.
And, I scored the winning photo in the Into The Whirled Jan/Feb spin-a-long inspiration photo contest with this one of Mom’s:
Original photo at photographybyjinx.zenfolio.com
Cris of Into the Whirled (http://www.etsy.com/shop/IntoTheWhirled) has dyed up a special merino top using that photo as inspiration. The good news? I snagged a free 4oz braid of it and ordered another 4oz braid too! The best news? Cris has already shipped it (along with another couple of purchases!) I am stuck in the cone of silence until Feburary 1, 2010, but you can bet that I will be posting all about it on that date!
So I think I managed to catch up a little. I am still not quite finished with the Bitterroot shawl (that sucker is taking forever to knit! I am spoiled by quick little Ishbels!) and I have some court time coming up that is going to seriously eat into my yarn/fiber time. I do still have a POUND of Merino/Cashmere, a POUND of Targhee and 3 (yes, 3!!) POUNDS of superwash merino to dye. Between that and my fav indie dyers I should be able to keep the etsy shop stocked for awhile!
Lace-y Baktus Handspun-us
Posted by: micamynx on: January 6, 2010
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I forgot to shamelessly post my completely Lacey Baktus scarf I finished over Christmas. The yarn is my handspun BeeMiceElf merino in the Floribunda colorway. I actually had this yarn listed for sale on the etsy shop (www.micamynx.etsy.com) and then I took it down so I could knit it up! I think that may be my modus operandi-maybe I will start listing everything and if it doesn’t get snapped up, I will unlist it & knit it at will! This yarn striped beautifully at the beginning, but once the stripe mojo left, I couldn’t get it back. It still turned out to be a killer little scarf though! I love it!
Lacey Baktus
I also forgot to post this :
788 yards of laceweight singles
Laceweight singles from this scrumptious Hedgehog Fibres (www.hedgehogfibres.etsy.com) 50/50 merino/silk combed top!
Silk/Merino top in Hold Your Breath
It is rapidly becoming a Bitterroot shawl (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter09/KSPATTbitterroot.php). I am trying to finish it before I leave for Mexico, because I desperately want to wear it in Cabo, but I don’t know if I will make it or not!
The family that dyes together…
Posted by: micamynx on: January 5, 2010
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I have been a little lax on my blogging and I am getting ready to disappear for a week to paradise.
Here:
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
But I got a nice treat, my Mom came down a few days early (she is staying with the girls and the furry boys while Lake & I go to Cabo) and I had her all to myself for a change! So yesterday we spent-dyeing wool! Mom is a photographer (see some of her awesome photos at www.photographybyjinx.zenfolio.com) and she picked out the color combinations. The first 3 are BFL combed top:
Looks like a faded rug
pumkin patch
Lily pond
The next two are MCN combed top that I buy from a lady on Etsy. The top is fantastic and makes luscious sock yarn, but it comes in several pieces so you can never photograph it in pretty braids. But it is heavenly to spin!
Mountains
Mardi Gras
I also managed to spin up a little art yarn over the last week, thanks to the awesome article on coils in the new issue of Spin-Off magazine.
The purple is some superwash merino from Pigeonroof Studios plied with some of the Spinners Hill purple sw merino I spun on my drop spindle back in August. The two make a pretty color combination and the yarn is uber-soft & squishy. I am just not sure what one makes with art yarn. Those coils are cool, but a little awkward on the needles.
Some of my handdyed BFL
Superwash BFL dyed by me
The yarn dyeing went so well that I ordered 3lbs of superwash merino for Mom to dye while we are in Cabo! That should keep me spinning for awhile! Mom also tried the drop spindle and immediately asked to try the wheel. She spun a little bit but got frustrated because it was thick and thin. Hopefully she will give it another go while she is babysitting!
I loves me some Wensleydale!
Posted by: micamynx on: January 2, 2010
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This is going to be quick because the hubby has me “decrapifying” the house, but here is some gorgeous Wensleydale from Allspunup that I spun over New Years. It is absolutely a joy to spin and I love the long staple length. It is not overly soft, but it has such a nice sheen and halo. I can’t wait to knit with it!
The top prior to spinning
440 yards of yummy lusciousness!
Ridiculous amounts of fiber
Posted by: micamynx on: December 28, 2009
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I have it. Seriously, ridiculous amounts of spinning fiber. I spent most of the day today catching up on my stash photos, and finding room for all the fiber. Yikes! And I still want more.
I managed to finish the Saroyan shawl/scarf I started out of the Ashland Bay handspun.
Saroyan scarf/shawl in handspun
And I spun up another bunch of Hedgehog Fibres luscious merino/silk (50/50) fiber. I left it as fingering weight singles and ended up with about 788 yards. It is drying now, so pictures later.
Last minute Christmas knitting
Posted by: micamynx on: December 21, 2009
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I came across some patterns yesterday using small amounts of bulky yarn. So I whipped the following:
That BFL I was tickled I didn’t felt? I held it double and made this quick cowl:
Keely modeling the cowl
Close up of cowl
And remember my first wheel spun handspun? The crazy thick & thin stuff?
It became this cool chunky beret:
Close up of beret
These turned out so well, I decided to quick spin the Squoosh merino nice & thick to knit up some more quick berets and cowls.
It is drying now.
It worked!
Posted by: micamynx on: December 20, 2009
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I was able to spin the BFL I thought I felted during the multiple dye process. It actually turned out quite pretty, I think.
BFL-"Indecisive" 136 yards worsted weightIndecisive
Indecisive- BFL
Blue fingernails
Posted by: micamynx on: December 16, 2009
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Blue fingernails occur when you forget to put on plastic gloves prior to dyeing fiber. Oops. So yeah, I have them. I may have to paint them before this weekends Christmas parties.
I dyed up a storm yesterday and again today. Only one minor casualty, yesterday I kettle dyed 4 oz. of BFL in pinks and greens, per Keely’s request. After it dried last night it just looked icky. So back into the dyepot it went with some blues. It came out of the dyepot in lovely watercolor-ish shades of blues, greens and pinks. Really- it looked like a slice of a Monet water lily. Unfortunately, I got the brilliant idea to try to “spin out the water” in the washer. I put it in a lingerie mesh bag and set the spin cycle for low. About 4 minutes later, I have a long FELTED hank of watercolorish BFL. Ugh! I am going to try to salvage it, but who knows.
Here are a couple of dry finished products.
Bejeweled
Christmas tree
Evergreen
Harlequin
There are a few others that are still drying. A couple of MCN and a 6oz bump of superwash BFL. I can’t wait to spin them up!
Camoflauge
Posted by: micamynx on: December 14, 2009
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214 yards superwash merino handdyed
Here is the full skein picture (before setting the twist, so overlook those twisty spots & the poor skein job!)
Camo skein
Regardless, it looks like manly yarn to me.
I also realized I forgot to blog photo the latest Dragonfly Fibers silk/merino roving I spun up. In the Eureka colorway (greens & golds). This is heavy laceweight singles
Eureka-silk/merino singles 552 yards
It is very pretty, but I am getting a little “greened” out.
Flickr Photos
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