More scrap spun into yarn- this time wildly plied with glow in the dark thread! I know, I've been spinning some very non-technical yarns lately, but I do have a new yarn laid out and ready to spin with all the bobbles, textures and funky colors I normally spin. I've also gathered up materials to spin another version of High Tide (see the archives for photo) which sold last October and was oogled by many here in Kodiak. I've got new sea life buttons to add in, so I think this new adaptation will leave the old one in its wake.
I met a woman from New Zealand on Friday. She works on the Kennicott- a ferry boat that stops frequently in Kodiak. She asked me if I'd be intrested in yarns from New Zealand and came back later that evening dragging a huge suitcase behind her. These pic's do no justice, none at all, but when she opened the case it was everything I could do not to shove her out of my way so I could dive in. Hand painted skeins of boucle and brushed mohair... roving to drool over... Though the roving wasn't yet for sale (she's still working on getting it over and I couldn't get her to part with her stash) there was pleanty of yarns to choose from. The boucle and brushed mohair have a core thread of merino- no synthetics here. Gorgeously soft. Just beautiful- so if you live in Kodiak, better get into the shop quick! Don't know how soon I can get these again. Touch Yarns is the name of the company- a small farm operation that utilizes their own mohair and local merino wool. The colorways are gorgeous- again I couldn't convince her to part with some of them...
I frogged my 9' scarf and I'm knitting up a skinny-mini version. The original was way too long: tripple wrapped around my neck and still slapping at my knees. It was my first attempt at a scarf on circular needles and I didn't know how many stitches to cast on. I love this yarn- its one of my favorite color combinations and the texture makes my fingers tingle with ecstasy. The light blue slubs were actually added in while I was plying and were lightly felted while setting the twist. Anything that didn't felt down I used the felting needle on when it was dry.
I drove down to the fuel dock this morning to pick up my daughter from her fishing trip with Dad (spring break Kodiak style). She was a bit sea sick the first day out but had her sea legs next day- and she got to see some cool stuff: a killer whale breaching about 15 feet away from the boat and a colony of sea otters in Whale Pass. They even caught a shark in the net. Kinda freaked her out cause its alive you know, wriggling on deck and bigger than she is. She was pretty relieved to see it swim off when they heaved it overboard. All in all she had fun... Dropped her home with a friend so I could check out Com Fish (a fishing industry trade show) with Paddy while he was waiting to offload his fish, but got side-tracked along the way and stopped to visit my friend Liz at her frame shop/gallery. I couldn't leave without bartering for a pair of vintage mardi gras beads. Thankfully Liz shares my fiber obsession, so I was able to walk away with these two beauties. Did the fish convention thing, got set up with a new cell phone plan and free purple motorola phone, parted company with my other half, and stopped off at Salvation Army to empty out all the junk that had been clocking miles in the boot of my car. While I was there I did some digging around and unearthed some T-shirts for me and the kids (see above). Had to laugh about the miss spud shirt, being married to an Irishman. And to make matters even funnier, I found out today that his new nick name amoungst the other skippers is Taterhead. LOL!Does anybody get the "Make Like A Tree And Leave" shirt? I totally got it, but my husband and daughter were like... huh? It was hilarious trying to explain it to them, but I still don't think they get it... sigh... I guess I'm on my own with this one.
My current spinning project. ..Here's your blue alpaca Kristine! For those of you who don't know Kristine Brooks... Kristine is owner of Curious Creek Fibers http://www.curiouscreek.com/ I sell some of her yarns and fibers in my shop- and since I know she checks out my blog I'm going to shamelessly plug her stuff. (She's really cool by the way... Really).I got to chat with her on the phone this afternoon and was blabing on about going to MSW in May to hang with the Whirly Girls and spin funky yarns... OK, here's the just how cool Kristine Brooks really is part... she offered me some gorgeous fibery goodness to bring along to the festival to throw into the fiber pile! Yeah! A big ol' handpainted Bombyx Silk Brick and snippets and bits of her gorgeous yarns. Roll in it baby!!! Kristine, you kick ass!
Thanks again Velma for the fiber. I took it in to work today so I could get a good picture and well.. I had this overwhelming urge to actually wear the silk cap you sent. So here it is- me shamelessly hiding in the back room filfilling my yarn geek tendencies. You know you wanna try it...
Without trying to be vain or anthing, here's a mugshot of me. For anyone heading to the Maryland Fiber Festival in May, I'm planning on being there- though I can't promise I'll look anything like I do in the photo- I plan to get my hair chopped soon. I'm itching to sneak in some funky color and give my hair an over-all attitude adjustment. It'll grow out, right? So what color should I go for??? Red, orange, purple, pink, magenta????? I'm leaning towards red, but am certainly open to suggestions. Anyone?
The fibers for this yarn have been hanging around awhile. Most were leftovers from other spinning projects. The snippets of yarn and threaded pompoms had already been prepped so everything was ready to spin. I finished this a few days ago and now have another yarn in the works- its a second take on a yarn I've already spun with some new ideas worked in. I'm also doing prep work on an easter inspired yarn that I'll start spinning as soon as I finish whats on my bobbin. I'm already pulling fibers for two more yarns... got my hands on some new novelty trims that have me inspired! Yeah, I'm obsessed.
I'm slacking on my blog posts- but its been a fairly productive week despite sick kids, huricane force winds and my husband home from fishing. Had to close up shop for a couple of days- my kids were feeling miserable and the wind was howling something fierce, so I took pity on them and stayed home. Decided to try making felted snakes and eggs from a Harrisville kit. Had fun with it and finished up some soaps as well, but my hands... I couldn't touch fiber for a couple of days afterwards. Next time I'll wear latex gloves.
Here's a peek at the dowery Velma. Hope you enjoy... pompoms threaded on sparkly fun fur, fuzzy soft pink eyelash yarn, fabric by Kaffe, threaded sequins, tule, snippets of Fiesta Yarn's Flirt, angelina magenta flash, roving and a big fat drumcarded batt.
