"Twinge"

Finished spinning this up LATE last night...finally. Another spin session into the wee hours of the morning. I've been trying to get at it for several days now, but stuff just kept getting in between me and my wheel. I'm happy with it, but wish I had waited until I could get my hands on some sparkly magenta pompoms. I think that would have looked really hot in this skein. I'm in the process of prepping another batch of fiber for spinning. This time I'm waiting for the pompoms- red sparkly ones. I've been cutting out woolfelt shapes and thredding them on sparkly fun fur novelty yarn to create flames that will be spun into the yarn. I plan to thread the pompoms as well on a soft fuzzy eyelash yarn, so am holding off on spinning for now. Purgatory is the theme for the next skein...

Copper River

I know that Copper River is not in Kodiak, but it is in Alaska and its the first thing that came to mind as I was spinning this yarn. It's loaded with copper flash. The photos do not capture the metalic in this yarn at all. It simply glows. I plied in fused angelina fibers in addition to the copper flash that was carded into the wool. If you've seen fused glass, you'll know the metalic sheen this yarn gives off.

In My Backyard

Here are some photos I took today driving around... I drove out to Dead Man's Curve wanting to get a picture of the whole town and some ocean views, but the sun was making everything hazy. I'll try from the top of Pillar Mountain sometime. The first three were taken downtown. Eagles perched in a cottonwood tree outside the Baronov Museum, Russian Orthodox Church, and wood carvings in someone's yard that greet folks as they enter town- in the summer the large figure has moss and flowers cascading from its head.

The mountain pic's were taken out in Monoshka- the area I live in outside of town. You can tell its Monoshka cause there isn't much sunlight compared to town this time of year. In the summer though, these mountains are green all the way up to their peaks. Looks tropical like Hawaii or New Zealand... Kodiak is considered a temperate rain forest. The spruce forests here are dripping with spanish moss and the forest floor is covered in a mossy carpet. It's the kind of forest you would expect to find a tidy cottage door in the side of a tree with little woodland folk living comfortably within. Lots of ferns, wild blueberries, roses and wildflowers galore. The summers are pectacular here. Lets not forget about the bears... world's largest brown bears make their home here.

Remembering a Friend

Ditched work early today due to feeling a bit under the weather and not having had a single customer- the joy and dispair of being your own boss... Picked up my daughter from school and drove around town soaking up the sunshine. Had to enjoy it from inside the car- its freezing cold outside. Drove out to visit the Big Valley memorial. If anyone has seen Deadliest Catch on the Discovery channel, you'll be familiar with the sinking of the Big Valley. Skipper Gary Edwards was a good friend, and I've been thinking alot about him lately. Hard to believe it's been a year already. I still can't get my mind around the fact that he's gone and never coming back. Gary was for me such a huge part of what made Kodiak such a cool place to live. Words can not express the loss this community has felt. Gary was one of the most unique individuals I've ever met- a rennaisance man, ecclectic, bohemian all the way, artist, tag sale junkie, total ladies man ( yeah, he knew how to work it!) and the biggest heart this side of the equator. A man with major class. He loved the arts and threw fabulous parties. He always wore his trade-mark white shirt, thin black tie and black cashmere cardigan- usually paired with a ragged and frayed pair of slacks. My wedding dress was found in his attic- a 1950's creation from San Fransisco still in the original box. Anyhow, I miss him heaps and wish he could have seen my shop and the artwork I've been doing- he was always one for pursuing one's dreams and know he would have approved...

The View From Here

Snapped this photo several days ago. The sky cleared, the sun came out and mist started rising up from the trees. This is the view from my house- part of it anyhow. There's another mountain to the right. This group of mountains are named Three Sisters. In the summer the sun sets right behind them. In the winter however the sun doesn't quite make it over to this side of the island, so it can be a bit dark and dreary when there isn't any snow on the ground to brighten things up.

Norolicious!

Here are the latest additions to the yarn shelves at The Rookery- Kureyon 100% wool by Noro. This stuff is gorgeous! I love the color combinations found in Japanese yarns. Diakieto is another that simply makes me drool. Not many commercial yarns inspire me like these... Gotta put Japan on my list of top 5 places to visit. New Zealand is #1, though I think I'd actually like to live there rather than just visit. Everything I've encountered from New Zealand ( people, photos, films, fibers, my spinning wheel, old coins, etc.) really strike a chord in me. Japan tempts me also with its animation, street fashion, sushi and attention to detail. I wonder if I could pimp my handspun on the streets of Tokyo?

What Kind of Yarn Are You?

You are Merino Wool.You are very easygoing and sweet.
People like to keep you close because you are so
softhearted. You love to be comfortable and
warm from your head to your toes.

Can you believe this!??? I thought for sure I'd score somewhere in the novelty yarns... Man, this really destroys my punk spinster image big time!

What kind of yarn are you?

Slacking Off

Feeling a little guilty, as I have been procrastinating big time on my year-end paperwork. I've been wildly spinning and carding away the hours this past week. Now I've got myself several spinning projects lined up. Yeah!

It hasn't been all play though- I have even been re-organizing down at the shop to give myself some much needed work/studio space. I'm even taking on the cash register! You have no idea how huge this is... I've been intimidated by this thing for a year now, so its been parked on my desk collecting dust in the back room. Now that I actually NEED to use my desk for my laptop and actual book keeping, its time to bring out the cash register, get it programmed and phase out the long receipts...

Lots of parcels in the mail today- Noro yarn is here! Its gorgeous. Brittany and clover needles have arrived, angelina fibers, UV threads, Bo Dash and other fibery art goodies, and ( what I've been waiting forever for) the alpaca fleece I sent off to be processed. It has finally arrived!!! LOTS of alpaca roving- 5 big boxes stuffed full!

"Swizzle"

I've loaded this photo 5 times and managed to delete it 4... wound this off the bobbin last night before heading off to bed. It measured in at 125 yds. This yarn was really hard to photograph in terms of capturing the color. Had to use the flash to get the magenta to show up- otherwise it looked grape soda purple. The other thing that doesn't show up is all the magenta flash carded into the wool. I'll add a photo without the flash as the magenta flash might show up better...

Yarn Hottie!

I'm really pleased with the way this skein turned out- definate yarn hottie in my book! It measures in at 146 yds. This yarn should stripe as it is knitted up. I alternated between the blue (heavily carded with blue flash and plied with orange mohair locks) and the multi-colored heather(spun with sparkley blue pompoms threaded on to magenta fun fur). The yarn is plied with a canary yellow viscose thread. Yum!

In the Spin

Here's a peek at what I've got whirling on my wheel. It's going to get even louder in color when I start plying in the mohair locks...

Fish Tales and Superstitions

My friend in Finland knit up this beauty with yarn I sent her for Christmas (Mountain Colors aplaca/wool blend). I knew it would tempt her away from her studies! I'll let her explain the pattern and such (hope she doesn't mind!)

"As promised, a picture of the scarf I knit out of the yummy yarn you sent me. The picture is not really showing of the structure of the scarf very well, but it is a sort of fishtail pattern. I don't know the name of it, I took it from a German magazine, and it was not specified with a pattern name. But it reminds me of fishtails, and since the yarn is from you, living in a fishing community I find the description suitable. I chose the pattern based on my desire show of the colour changes that happen in the hand dyed yarn. I tried a more elaborated cable pattern, but it ate up the colours completely. The scarf is about 2 m long, and took almost all of the yarn."

Beautiful!

Anyhow...can you believe it's Friday the 13th AND a full moon... how cool is that!?

Yummy Yarns!

Wanted to share pic's of these scrumptiously soft Italian wool yarns from De Vi. Two of the colors I already had on the shelf, and have now added four more. There are so many colors to choose from its hard to pick, but I'm happy with my selection of the top three (yellow, yellow/green/orange, black/red/yellow...) and the one on the right in the second pic- (purple/blue/green). This yarn is a dream to knit with and its thick and thin spin adds wonderful texture. I had another color that I sold out of and re-ordered, but its on back order...a gorgeous flaming red/orange/yellow combination. I still have to break the news to one of my customers who is waiting for this yarn so that she can finish her scarf.

Northern Lights

Here it is off the bobbin... It measured in at 186 yds- my largest skein to date.

Sneaky Peek

A quick break from spinning to share a peek at my northern lights yarn still in the works- and the colors chosen for my next spinning exploit. Pretty loud! I still haven't figured out what little bobbles and bits I'm going to spin in to it, but do have my eye on the last of my orange mohair locks. As for the northern lights yarn, I think this skein will have the most yardage of any other novelty I've spun. My longest to date is "Retro Confetti" at 129 yds. We'll see how this one measures up when I'm finished. It's spinning up finer than the last yarn, but I attribute that to having hand carded the first batch and using the drum carder for the second. This yarn is not as flashy as the last, a little more subtle and delicate, which I really like, but still very sparkly.

Flickr!

Check out my new Flickr badge! This is one of the coolest sites I've come across for creating, managing and storing photo albums- and for checking out photos by other folks. Its a very visually oriented website and some of the pic's there are simply stunning. Click on the badge flashing under my profile and it will take you to all of my photo albums. There are lots of pic's there that have never made it to my blog- especially in the handspun yarn album. The slideshow option will give you a more detailed veiw of everything. Enjoy!

124 Yards of Bliss!

Finally got to ply some yarn! The close up photo looks much darker for some reason, but the picture of the skein is fairly true in color. I plied with a lime green sulky holoshimmer thread, sparkly fun fur, purple tule and fused angelina fibers. This is much darker than the northern lights yarn I have planned. With the northern lights yarn I'll spin the sparkly fun fur into the yarn instead of plying it in. Also I plan to spin in some threaded sequins that I dyed and load up some lavender sulky thread with beads for plying, adding in a soft shimmering pale seafoam green tule as I ply. Thats the plan anyhow. Don't know if I'll incorporate the fused angelina in it or not- haven't decided. Now, back to the wheel for more spinning!

Keeping my Sanity, Stitch by Stitch...

Well, I finished the scarf before the end of the year as promised, amidst the holiday frenzy, but I haven't given up an inch of my insomniatic knitting habits. Here are the results of of a recent episode of knitting into the wee hours... So far I have NOT been able to work on my northern lights yarn or a wall hanging I have in the works- much to my frustration. Knitting has been my fix for the time being... more work, less play these days. I've a date with quickbooks this friday and LOTS (and I mean LOTS!!!) of data entry to do- not to mention a busy class schedual at the shop starting up soon. Throw two small kids in the mix, a heap of housework, five chickens and a husband who's work has taken him off island since October and you'll start to understand why I've got a death grip on my knitting needles.