Etsy Purchases

Last week was a pretty good week. I saw my Robert Gerard a bunch and I got my taxes back, with $600 more then I expected! Some stimulous thing...anyways I decided to treat myself to a little etsy shopping to celebrate. I think I spent a little under $40 and I am in love with both my purchases.

First I got a WPI gauge from KaratStix for my handspun. This will help me figure out the yarn weight I am spinning....I am hoping to get fingering weight some day for socks. =)

Then I bought myself a new spindle. I haven't been using my spindle that much since I bought my wheel. I just have a plain wooden ashford spindle, so I thought I would buy a more asthetically pleasing one to help inspire me to use it. It is 1 oz with a jade whorl from butterflygirldesigns....perfect for my Asian style.

Cant wait for them to get here, especially my spindle, I tend to spin thinner on spindles then on the wheel so I want to make a few bobbins full with it and ply it on the wheel to see what I get. I will give an update when I use it. Hopefully it will spin like a dream!

P.S 22 weeks til Disney!

So Excited!

I forgot to mention this before but my friend Lindsay ( the one who convinced me I can buy as much fiber as I want) is going to be making me a logo graphic for my page! She is a very talented artist, animator and illustrator and she said she would do it as a gift! I am siked about it and I can't wait to see how it comes out =). I am going to make tags for my handspun yarns and hand dyed roving (when I start doing that) using the design. Just want to write a little update about it, I know it will be awesome =)

New Developments

New developments with my credit card! It has burned a hole through my purse because I just put $100 bucks on it. ::Groan::

I saw my best friend Lindsay last night and seeing her inspired me to spend more money on my hobby because I love it so much and she said I could! Lol I am sure she didn't mean 12 hours later but oh well....I did it anyway. And boy what a load I bought!!!! All from Spunky Eclectic (my favorite fiber shop online). Its a good thing I ordered extra bobbins for my baby kiwi! Other wise it might get a little crazy haha

First BFL in Bluemoon, Sumac, and Thunderstorm colorways in that order

Then I have Corriedale in Nova Scotia, Toronto and Joshua Tree colorways.

Next I got a wool blend in the Rocky Mountain High colorway

And last but not least the prize on the bunch, 4oz of Alpaca wool in the Forcast colorway.

All pictures came from Spunky Eclectic because I don't have them yet. Aren't they all gorgeous??? I was so happy with all the purchases and I am not too concerned with the credit card, my taxes will pay that off =P

Feeling a little....uncreative

The last few days I have been feeling a bit depressed and uncreative. I have been spinning like a maniac and knitting on a new pair of socks but still I feel like something is......missing. I feel like something is stifled and I can't seem to get it back. I haven't drawn or painted in years and I wonder if that is why I am so.....lost.

I loved to paint and draw all through highschool and part of college. It was my outlet and I always looked forward to it. I am not saying I was very good, not terrible, but not particularly good. I never found my own style and pretty much just did it for fun. Once I started knitting again I put it on the back burner and started focusing on other things. Then I started spinning and you know the rest. I have tried to doodle like I use to but it isn't really coming back to me and I feel really sad about that. Like I lost something very dear to me. Maybe I am just crazy and just need to work on it like I use to and I will fall in love with it again. Who knows.

Wheel and First Handspun!

I suppose it is time to talk about my wheel when it came in. I left work early to go pick it up. When I got to the yarn shop Lucy told me she didn't have time to give me a lesson but I bought some merino/silk blend ( don't have a picture right now) and a niddy noddy for when I wanted to make a hank before I left.

When I got home I ripped open the box and got to work on putting my baby together! I just wasn't expecting it to take 3 hours!!!!

So it took me 3 hours to put together, meaning I didn't have much time to do actual spinning on it because I was tired, cranky, my back hurt and it was almost bed time! But I tried for a little while and lets just say I wasn't a natural. I couldn't get it to turn the right way and the fiber kept breaking =( very frustrating.

But I eventually got the hang of it and produced a nice bobbin of purple corriedale singles =)

Obviously they are thick and uneven but it was my first time! And I have definately seen worse. I eventually got bored with spinning the purple because I knew it was messed up so I wanted to try something else. I grabbed the wool blend I bought from MaineWoodsYarns in the birch tree color way and it spun up gorgeous! I LOVED the colors but I messed half the roving up when I started so I couldn't get two bobbins to ply. So what did I do? I plyed it with the purple and it is beautiful.

Yes I know, I need to start taking pictures during daylight hours, they are terrible! But the yarn is soooooo pretty! I wish I had more =(

84 yards of bulky weight yarn wool blend and corriedale. I am in love with the colors and I am going to try to find that colorway again and order more, it is just love I tell you! I hope I have enough to make a hate with in, I don't think I would even take it off =)

Dying to Dye

My wheel arrived! Well it arrived last week, but I have been playing with it ever since! I am certainly not a natural by any means. Everytime I tried to spin the wheel one way it kept going the other way, I mean it would unspin what I spun and the fiber would break. Muy frustrating! Eventually I got the hang of it and have been spinning lovely (yet kind of thick) singles that are incredibly over spun....but I digress. Practice makes perfect thats for sure! I dont have any pics right now, but I will post them next time.

In the meantime I have gotten this strong compulsion......to dye. As in dye roving so I can spin yarn in the colors I want and create my own colorways! Wouldn't that be sooooooo coool? There are so many people online that dye their own roving and it comes out so pretty, alot even sell them on Etsy.com and have little businesses. I probably won't go that far because lets face it, I can't stand still long enough to start a business.

So I went and bought a pound of wool blend roving (very cheap stuff, good for a beginner) and a dye kit that comes with 8 dye colors, gloves, mixing cups, bottles, a face mask, eye dropper, and a booklet on how to get started. All I need now is the vinegar and we are good to go!

The dye kit came from Hello Yarn and the roving came from Spunky Eclectic, both very good online stores for spinning stuff. So now I am going to try my hand at dyeing....I will be sure to post pics of my first colorway! I am thinking comic book inspired.....yes that is a good idea.

P.S 25 Weeks til Disney!

Valentines Day

I have been so caught up in all my spinning and roving talk that I completely forgot to talk about Valentines day! It was such an awesome night! I got me and Rob a hotel room near our house so we wouldn't have to deal with parents or kids bothering us...not to mention we could snuggle and watch TV without the noise! So I checked into the hotel a little early to get ready for our night. He didn't tell me where we were going, just that I should dress comfortably.

So he calls me and asks which room I was in and comes up. He walks in wearing sweats and a long johns shirt. Not that it wasn't adorable (i love it when he looks comfy! means I will be comfy when we snuggle ^_~) but I was a little confused. I thought we were getting ready for a romantic evening. But before I could say anything he started pulling things out of his overnight bag. He cooked me an entire meal from scratch!

He had plates and silver ware, he brought fancy distilled water in glass bottles, homemade angel hair pasta with yummy sauce he made from scratch, a salad with candied pecans, peaches and spinach, bread with garlic oil, and ice cream for dessert! It was the most incredible this I have ever seen! To think how long it took him to do all this and the effort he put into it just so we could have a nice dinner in and I would have an awesome Valentines day =).

I was thrilled with the whole thing, I couldn't have asked for more! But he also gave me chocolates, the new hulk movie and Supernatural season 3.....what can I say, the boy knows me. I just love him so much and it was such a great night that I had to share! Thanks for making it so special for me baby! Love you!