Hungry for Handspun

Blog Move and a Hiatus

Well, I've not been around much at all here, have I?  My move across the country in May went quite well..we're all settled here in Wisconsin. 

I am taking a Hiatus from dyeing while we in our current lodgings.  Everything here is wood.  Wood countertops, wood floors, wood wood wood and as this is not our house and there is not easy to clean up tile or metal or other surface for me to dye on..I am not dyeing for the time being.  I do plan to return to it..but it will be quite some time before I do.  I miss it..I really do.  I miss the magic and the colors and the wool.

I am still knitting and will be listing the occasional wrist warmer in the shop.

I seem to have lost my spinning mojo..but I'm sure that will return in time!  There will be occasional listings of handspun in the shop as well!

In the meantime..I've been working on building up my soap business.  You can find the soap shop here:  Lake House Soapworks   I've also been working on a shop blog for the soap here:  Soapy Blog

Anyway....This blog will remain here as is...but I have moved the blog to wordpress and hope to resume blogging fibery things there when I am back to it!  You can find it here  It needs a good deal of tweaking, so please forgive the dust!

Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful fiber support!  I will return to the wonderful world of wool dyeing soon enough....

Until then, happy knitting, happy spinning and happy sudsing!

 

It's All Opal's Fault

I've been bending wire!  And it's all our Opal's fault...she's a very ebil enabler :). 

Happy Eye Candy Friday!

I apologize for blog slacking..but packing is taking up lots of time!  Photos of moving will probably be coming soon (how droll...er um..I mean...how exciting).

In shop news...the shop will be going into vacation mode on April 14th so I can pack everything up.  I will be reopening in mid May.

The Other Me

Before I became a Wool-Dyeing-Soap-Making Freak I was a Baker and Chef by profession for 16  years .  And I really just wanted to share with you my other blog (Which I rarely post to nowadays...as I'm still a bit burnt out in the baking/cooking area....so my posts there are now few and far between).  So, if you like baking recipes..have a look!  And many of you who have purchased fiber from me before will recognize lots of the photos over there..as they are the ones I use for my "Zero-Calorie" greeting cards.  Here's the link if you want to have a lookie (I last posted in July of 2009...but there are quite a few recipes to look through):  The Barmy Baker  

Oh, and it's Eye Candy Friday!  Enjoy:

The only perk to oral surgery:

(Ice cream for lunch)

My flock of soap sheep grows every week (this photo isn't the best...it's dark and rainy here and the sheep were feeling restless):

 

(these are an unscented castile breed of sheep soap)

And Tim has discovered that his wild life of sleeping and eating and doing catnip is finally catching up to him:

Poor exhausted Tim...

In other news...Moving is creeping up on us.  We're starting to pack a little here and there...I won't be dyeing any more wool until after the move...so sometime Mid May.  The shop will be closing mid April so intensive packing can take place and I'll be reopening as soon as we are settled!  I will have more soap photos as the next few weeks pass as I've not quite used up the lye yet.

Hope this post finds everyone well!

Well Hello There! Remember Me? I've Been Knitting...

I've also been a naughty blogger.  My committee recommended I blog, so here I am!  I'll try to be better about blogging this year.  If I'm not, I'm sure my committee ( you know who you are Opal and Megan....) will do their best to prod me. 

So, what's up here?  Not much.  I haven't been dyeing much because I seem to have some inflamed rib cage cartilage which has kind of slowed me down.  It's starting to feel much better and I hope to get back to dyeing in the next week. I'm itching to dye up some more fiber for the shop.

In other news...I'll be moving this year!  My husband's job will allow him to work from  home and I've been wanting to move closer to my family.  So we're going to be packing everything up here and driving about 2100 miles back to where we came from (well, back to where I came from...G came from a much greater distance).  I'm so very excited to be moving home!  This shouldn't really affect the shop except that it will be in vacation mode for a few weeks while we make the move and settle in (and your packages will be coming from Wisconsin instead of California).

And finally...I've been knitting.  I'm trying very hard to finish items that I've started before casting on new ones.  So far I'm doing sort of ok with that....I finished these two items:

Hemlock Ring Blanket (pattern by Jared Flood) (Ravelry link)

 

Which is currently heading to it's new home.  I used Cascade Eco + in the "Lichen" colorway for this.  Used just shy of 2 skeins.  I love it, the pattern is well written and with no purling required, it just flew off my needles!  Woooo!

And the Reversible Cabled-Rib Shawl (pattern by Lily Chin) (Ravelry Link, yet again)

The above photo is of the shawl blocked, the photo below is of the shawl before blocking:

I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to block it.  I love the texture of the cables..but I think I love it even more blocked...so good decision...right?  I used 4 skeins Malabrigo Lace for this in the "Butter" colorway.

So, once I finished those two, I decided I could cast on another project....

That's the Wing o' the Moth Shawl (pattern by Anne Hanson) started in Malabrigo Lace in the "Sauterne" colorway.  I love the color...it reminds me of lemon curd.  Yum!

I couldn't be stopped there though... my need to cast-on new things took over and I also started the Woodland Shawl:

This is using Dream in Color Baby yarn in the "Chinatown Apple" colorway.

Two new projects really isn't that horrible, right?  Or is it?  I also have another Girasole on my needles and a new Log Cabin Blanket in progress (there may also be a few unfinished socks and um...well, other things...but I just won't get into that now).  Oh the shame. 

Anyway..I babble!  Lots!  To sum things up:

Ribs a hurtin' = no dyeing for another week

Two finished projects = a whole new slew of projects cast-on = I have no restraint

Maybe I for my next blog post, I should just sum things up right away and save you all the babble ;).

I'll try to blog every other week from now on with progress and shop news and moving news (no promises..but i will try!).

Happy Fiber Play!

Dye Days

I love dye days!  Playing with soft fluffy wool and colors fills my day with fun :D.  I'm dyeing what I currently have in stock, which isn't a lot, but it will be something for the next shop update.  I'm planning on updating this coming Monday (the 19th) and will have some BFL combed top, some new batts and a bit more sock yarn! Wooot!

I'm also doing  a bit of personal knitting between dye jobs.  I've just recently discovered the addiction that is sock knitting and socks are keeping my needles occupied.

I leave you with some photos of things to come:

 

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of some Merino/Silk blend, 80 count Merino and Wensleydale!  They will be arriving sometime next week and I hope to have them dyed and ready for the shop update after this one!

Thanks for looking!  Have a fantastic weekend :D

Batts in my Belfry...

Ok ok, I don't have a Belfry.  I do have batts in the works for the shop though!  Here are some photos of the new beastie that is helping to provide me with Batts!  All hail the Drum Carder (I have yet to name the beastie..it will come to me though.  It took me a year to name my wheel ;) )

The Beast:

 

 

 

I plan to have a few Batts up this weekend with my small shop update!  I also am experimenting with sock yarns.  I've dyed up a few and will be listing them as well.  Just experimenting with them for now, but expect to see more in the shop in the future!

 

Thank you for looking!  I plan to keep this blog more updated as one of my New Year's goals!

There Be Things A'foot.....

I've been dyeing solid colors!  Yikes!  Can you guess what should be arriving on my doorstep in the next day or so??

Stay tuned for more photos