Hush Hush Handspun Hootenanny Questionaire

1. How long have you been spinning? What skill level do you consider yourself?
a couple years - intermediate

2. What kinds of yarn do you create (singles/2-ply/3-ply/art yarn)?
mostlyI like 2 or 3 ply, cabled yarn is fun too

3. What do you spin with (spindle/wheel/both)?
I spindle but prefer wheel spinning

4. What are your favorite fibers to spin with? Anything you don't like?
wool, alpaca, silk blends, anything carded. I'm not a big fan of sparkly stuff although I will spin it to gift to someone else.

5. Who are your favorite crack dealers fiber sources (etsy or otherwise)?
copperpot woolies batts are lovely and well made, loop on etsy (haven't tried but would like to), I like to spin my own stuff and often do but I more often sell or gift mine and use the mulaa to buy other people's fiber goods

6. What kind of fiber do you want to try?
quivit

7. Is there any techniques you would like to learn?
coils

8. Do you dye fiber? If not, would you like to learn?
yes

9. Do you have fiber prep tools (and like to use them) or would you prefer ready to spin fiber?
I have a drum carder that I love but ready to spin is super fun and, of course, ready to spin!

10. What do you do with your handspun? What projects have you completed?
look at it? Isn't that what you're supposed to do with it? Seriously, I'm working on sweaters, hats, scarves, fingerless mitts. Oh, and I sometimes gift it to my sister or niece who also like to knit.

11. Are you in need of any spinning gadgets (WPI Gauge, threading hook, etc)?
a pretty orifice hook would be nice. I saw a sample size niddy noddy somewhere on the web that looked fun.

12. What colors "fall into your shopping basket"? Any colors you just can't stand?
pinks and reds tend to fall in most often. I think I have some of most colors in my stash. I'm constantly challenged by my teenaged kids to try new things so I do. I will try anything - if I don't like it, it gets dyed.

13. What is on your wheel/spindle right now?
hand carded tweed batts made by me, purple dyed rambouillet laceweight I dyed and accidentally matted - oops have to keep that one.

14. What other crafts/hobbies do you have?
peyote beading, sewing, quilting

15. Other than crafts, what are you passionate about?
only knitting and spinning are really passions right now. Oh, and working with foster kids - respite care - can't get enough of them.

16. Do you have an online wishlist?
only on Wollmeise

17. Is there anything that you collect?
yarn & fiber? do those count?

18. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What magazine subscriptions do you have?
I don't currently subscribe to any. I buy Spin Off and IK regularly

19. When is your birthday?
October 6

20. What book or movie character do you most resemble in personality?
really strange question - I don't know

21. What is the climate like where you live around this time (need to know for careful shipments of anything meltable)?
don't blink, rain to hot, you just never know in Oregon. last week it was 60 and today its almost 100

22. Tell us one weird fact about yourself!
My husband says I'm pretty normal, can't think of anything weird. Oh, I like Nascar more than some guys - him, at least.

Favorites
favorite painting/picture(link):
Who needs a link, I have this one - the original - hanging in my office


Candy: sugar babies, chocolate - medium dark

Food: pizza, authentic Mexican, anything barbequed

Drink: Diet Coke, Chai

Movie(s): National Treasure, Serenity

TV Show(s): CSIs, Law & Order (all of them), The Closer, Hell's Kitchen, Firefly

Book(s): Emma Brown,

Guilty Pleasure(s): NASCAR!!!!! love it!

Let's try this again

Long time, no post. Crazy huh? I've been sucked into the Ravelry hole (friend me, I'm jenknits) - what a major time suck that is, but I love to waste my time there. Mostly I lurk around and queue patterns and dream of stuff I'd like to knit or yarns I'd like to play with.

There's been spinning and knitting and carding and dyeing as well.

This is a batt I made for the June Spin-a-long on Ravelry. It's a tweed I created at the beginning of June and I forgot to write down what I did so I don't even remember what all is in it. I think its mostly burgandy and pink merinos with blue dyed tussah silk, a bit of yellow merino and green merino added at the end so it shows and some light grey 100% super soft alpaca blended in really well.I'm spinning it with a supported long draw pretty thick and I'm planning to two-ply it into a bulky yarn that will be super soft.
There's also been a lot of knitting. I'm co-moderating a group on Ravelry that discusses the book A Fine Fleece by Lisa Lloyd. What a fabulous book that is! So far I've carded lots of batts and spun up lots of yarn in hopes of a sweater from the book. But in my excitement to get started I ordered a yarn to start the Trinity vest so I could be knitting something from the book amoungst my spininng time. It's a nicely written pattern and I love the yarn I chose but the trinity stitch hurts my hands some so I'm chugging along a little slow just a few rows at a time.
A month in and only about 6 inches. Then again, there is all the other distraction. I have lots of other stuff on the needles all the time - project monogamy is definitely not for me.

Oh, and just for a shameless shop plug, I've done a lot of dyeing and posting lately and here a couple of my favorites - both in superfine mernino top.

What's in a Name

Okay this is just weird. I know, I know, I don't blog in for...ev....er, and then post this lame blogthing. But how do these people know me so well? Just about every word of this name thing is me to a T. Unbelievable. I'm gonna go do a my kids.

What Jennifer Means

You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you. You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries. You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are loving, compassionate, and ruled by your feelings. You are able to be a foundation for other people... but you still know how to have fun. Sometimes your emotions weigh you down, but you generally feel free from them. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Playing in the fiber

The basic fact is, I'd rather knit than write about it, therefore, no pictures and all in a list. Here's a rundown of what's been up:

*The fingerless mitts? They're done! They just need a little soak and then into the Christmas drawer to await their eager recipient.

*I've also been spinning some wonderful alpaca/wool handdyed by a company that I can't find online.

*I'm carding a gorgeous blend of alpaca/superwash merino/fake cashmere that will be sock yarn. YUM does not even begin to cover it. I'll take a picture of that in progress for sure.

*I went to a local knitting group on Sunday. Fun! Met some interesting people, but they meet a little too early in the day for my schedule so I don't know if that will work for me.

*We're starting a NEW SPINNING GROUP! This Sunday from 1 to 4 at a local yarn shop. I meets a little later so I can go to all of church and still eat with the kids before I go. Only once a month though. Can't wait to meet spinners from my town and play.

*Started knitting on the thrummed hat for to dear one who went off to college in Alaska. He's been complaining that his handknit hat's holes are too big and air comes through. This one will have a hemmed edge and 50/50 angora merino thrums. I just DARE him to exercise that same complaint. HA!

*Oh! And I finished a whole scarf. Ala Brooklyn Tweed only out of two colorways of Boku also for dear one in Alaska with orders from the kiddos still home for more colors in less scratchy yarn. It is gorgeous, but beware to tight knitters. Boku is breaky and not great for those who knit tightly unless weaving in ends is at the top of your list of fun things to do.

Okay, pictures later maybe. Unless I get distracted doing something more fun like, oh, say, knitting.

Imagine That

A progress photo? I thought a progress photo was in order. Usually I completely forget to take photos of pretty much everything. This time I've - so far - only forgotten to photograph the batt. My previous post shows the two-ply yarn spun by me that I'm using to knit these mitts. So far they are lovely. I'm very happy with them. I just hope they fit since my hands - i.e. bones -- are very small making fitting hand clothing very difficult. I'm just to the point where I'm starting the thumb gusset over one of the lacy motifs so and they should increase just perfectly fitwise. Oh, and are they ever warm and soft.

By the way, if you have any interest in this type of fiber, I have a few in my Etsy shop as well as a few that I'm getting ready to post there. They all have close to 30% each merino and/or superwash merino, 30% kid mohair and 30% tussah silk with the additional 10% being bits of angora or alpaca or, in one case, bamboo. All are semi-solids.

Tip of the Day

Jennifer's Tips to Combat Global Warming

1. Turn up the heat full blast.

2. Open all the doors to let the heat out into the atmosphere.

3. Bake cookies so your house and your insides and your psyche stay all warm and cosy.

Handspun is best

I just love how that red fluff came out. I really tried to concentrate on not making it too perfect. Spinning from batts is such a treat that I decided to do more of it. So here's some soft and shiny charcoal that sparkles with little bits of color that I threw on the batt. While I have no clue what to do with the red, I spun the black with a purpose. It will be fingerless mitts for my niece. I just hope they're warm enough. The batt included about a third each of merino, kid mohair and tussah silk and came out two-ply about fingering weight. A while back I dyed a bunch of superwash merino in shades of purple. I don't think I ever blogged about the dyed roving but the spinning is here. Well I finally got around to knitting up the socks and they are done! Yea. I am so not a finisher so this is a very fun day for me. I'm wearing my new socks.Pattern: Fractal Stripe Sock from Spin-Off Magazine Summer 2007

Materials: my handspun, superwash merino, sport weight 2-ply, dyed by me

Needles: US5 Addis

Wanna see the roving? Okay, you twisted my arm. Here it is.

Secret Stash Questionaire

Lame, I know. To only write a blog post in order to answer some questions. Oh, well. Here they are.

Questionnaire:
1) When is you birthday? October 6
2) How long have you been spinning? a little over year
3) How long have you been blending your fibers? a few months
4) What types of blends do you like to make and spin? I love kid mohair, silk and wool. Most of the time I just add lots of soft stuff and not too funky if it's for me.
5) What types of fibers do you NOT like? Are you allergic to any kinds of fiber? I'm not allergic, just a tad sensitive to scratchy, rougher wools or older mohair. I can't handle strong floral scents.
6) What are your favorite colors? All of them, even the neutrals
7) What are you least favorite colors? probably purple
8) What type of yarns do you like to spin? (singles, plied, novelty, fingering, bulky, etc.) Still trying to figure out singles. I mostly do two ply and I'm anxious to play with mohair locks.
9) What type of blending equipment do you use? Clems & Clems manual drum carder
10) What type of wheel or spindle do you spin on? Ashford traveller, sometimes a drop spindle
11) What do you do with your handspun yarn? knit with it, give it away, look at it. I've sold a few skeins, but never anything that someone's given me.
12) What are your interests outside of spinning? knitting, crochet, dyeing, yarn & fiber & fabric, cooking, sewing, quilting, eating chocolate, watching football, watching Nascar, being with my kids
13) What types of music do you like? Christian Contemporary, Josh Groban
14) What types of movies do you like? anything Bourne, action, anything Jane Eyre
15) Do you collect anything? fiber!
16) What types of candy and snacks do you like and dislike? good chocolate, sugar babies, Brach's brand candy corn
17) Do you have any food allergies to common "goodies"? (ie: chocolate, nuts, etc.) nope

What a fun swap this will be. I can't wait to spoil and be spoiled!

And as for updating my blog. Hmmm, that will have to wait for me to motivate another time. I've got picutures and projects and just tons to say but no motivation. Go figure. Oh! I did finish that yarn from the red fluff and it IS luscious! TEASE!

Red Fluff

News front the red fluff front. aka more red photography frustration.

This is one of the balls of fluff that I'm spinning from.Kid Mohair, Merino, SW Merino, Angora, Cashgora, Tussah Silk and Rambouillette

Here's two more batts that are for sale in my Etsy shop.

Oh, and here it in on the bobbin so far. It's a tad overspun, but I'm hoping that I can ply out that bit of overspinnage.

I'm also playing with lots more colors on the carder. Any special requests?

Ready to Card

Red is a bugger to photograph. But you all knew that already didn't you. Below is a basket of red toned fibers that I plan to card together on the drum carder to make a fluffy romantic batt or two.

From 10:00 clockwise: Cashgora, 100% rambouilette, angora/merino, 100% tussah silk, 100% kid mohair

Yea for new colorways

I've got a couple new colorways that I'm really liking so I wanted to show them off here.

Beach Glass

Moon Dreams

FO Friday

I finished an adorable hat to go with an adorable pair of unfinished booties. Now I just need to learn how to make the little seam so the booties can become finished.

Pattern: Seed Stitch Hat

Source: My own, made to match the bootees

Yarn: Sublime 100% extra fine merino

Pattern: Textured-Cuff Bootees
Source: 50 Baby Bootees to Knit
Yarn: Sublime 100% extra fine merino

Also finished this week is the headband I showed unblocked last week. I really like it now. It's a tad big and I don't really like the finishing. I have another one almost finished that I'm thinking of grafting instead of the three-neeedle bind-off to attach the underside to itself.

Pattern: Zig Zag Headband
Source: Knit Purl yarn shop
Yarn: It's a Colorful Life, Mykonos Dark colorway
Amount: 10 grams

This is a great pattern for using leftover bits of sock yarn.

Prayers for Minnesotans

I've been glued to the tube for a couple hours now watching the reporting on the massive bridge collapse in Minneapolis. To all in that part of Minnesota or with relatives involved I want you to know my prayer will be with you tonight. The miracle of the school bus landing on all four tires moved me. I pray for more miracles as the search for survivors continues.