Stacy Was Here : Back at the Beginning

Stacy Was Here :
Back at the Beginning

Thursday, April 09, 2009

cryptic

Been working on something awesome lately, but I don't want to jinx myself, so I'm not talking about it. That is all.

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 1:20 PM 0 comments

Monday, March 30, 2009

So this weekend I went to my sisters cheer competition. This was the nationals level, so pretty intense for her, with a lot of high-caliber performances. Some not so high caliber performances as well, but at any rate you have to be pretty good to compete at this level, and I'm proud of her and the other girls for making it so far. Two groups (both freshman groups) from Cal won their divisions and are national champions. Two other groups (varsity song intermediate and crowdleading) made it to the finals and got 2nd and 4th, respectively. Didn't take a lot of pictures, but I couldn't pass up the mascot heads laying around like hunting trophys:

And here is a photo from the middle of the first crowdleading performance, before they made finals. I didn't take any pics from the second performance because I was far too busy screaming along with them and watching them all go.

Most of the time I was busy up in the seats knitting and doing a bit of good-natured shit talking on the other teams, providing some much needed comic relief for a lot of very tired cheer moms and dads. Plus some of the other teams were bastards and totally deserved it. Just saying. I got a lot done on Louisa... here's a pic from earlier on in the weekend....

And here it is this morning. I transitioned to the smaller needles, at which point I was able to try it on, only to find out it's about 4 inches too big on me. Majorly bummed about that, though of course my mom is very cheerful because it means she'll get to have it when it's finished. We might get me more of the yarn (in a different color, I think, this one is getting old for me at this point) so that I can make myself another in a smaller size. Good thing is that this pattern has 5 sizes, and I will be making the second smallest for myself, which is a bit of an ego boost. I may have lost a significant amount of weight, but I still, in my head, feel like I'm the same size I was two years ago.... that means I overestimate when I chose sizes in patterns, and also probably that my mom is destined to inherit more knitted items from me at some point.

This weekend was also the huge parking lot yarn sale from Newton's, which I am told happens twice a year, and me and my mom made out like bandits. It's a little daunting, because most of the yarn isn't labled, so I have no idea what most of it is actually made from, but we figure if we dry clean everything it should be safe, and it's all so lovely that we couldn't pass it up. Here is my haul:

This is a lovely salmon colored yarn, I think theres probably some cotton and nylon in it, just to judge by the feel of it. Half of it is barber-pole with a slightly darker color, and half of it is just single colored... not sure how thats actually distributed in the skein, yet, but we'll see when I wind it into a ball.

Here is a giant pile of cream-colored cotton mystery blend. There is a ton of this, 3 giant skeins, but I figure I can make a few different things from it and it might be good for dying. I might make this with it, if I can get the right gauge.

This stuff is cotton sock yarn, and it was seriously $1 a skein. Might dye it before I knit with it, but I'm not sure yet.

This is a grey-blue cotton yarn, no idea yet what it will be.

And this is a total mystery to me, fiber wise, but it's a gorgeous tourquoise/blue and bronze barber pole kind of yarn, and I am a fool when it comes to blues mixed with gold or bronze, not sure why. I don't have a flying clue what I'm going to do with it, it's pretty thin (maybe sock weight, perhaps), and I got three skeins of it because it's so lovely. Here's the best part. I got, what, reasonably a years worth of yarn here to knit with, seriously a trash bag full of the stuff, and it came to $25, of which we were only charged $20. Seriously, ONE of these skeins would cost that much, conservatively. My mom also got a trashbag full, which maybe I'll take pictures of later.

We also went to Downtown Disney and went to BASIN, which is one of my favorite places. They have the most delicious bath and body stuff, and they make these grab bags that cost $10 but contain at least $25 worth of their stuff. I did the math on mine and I think there's at least $35 worth of stuff in it, and it all smells glorious and I can't wait to use it. What can I say, for the most part I'm low maintenance, but I am still a girly girl, and I still love things that smell nice and feel good. Can't wait to have a use for the massage bar, lol.

With all the picture taking, Franny was a bit jealous, especially since she missed me all weekend, so I got a picture of her:

And here's one of her from before I left. She likes to sit at the window and wait for this ginger cat to come by, and then she stands at the door and they just sort of watch each other for a while. I think I heard him last week and it sounded like he was in heat. Maybe they have a thing going on?

Also, because I missed it, here is the Fridy5.

To whom do you normally turn when you need to complain about something?
Depends, and at the moment my people to turn to list is shorter than I thought it would be at this point... Usually my mom, Jen or Chels. I talk to Michelle a lot, too, but she's got enough to worry about and I usually just suck it up when I think about how much more crap she has to deal with than me.
Which annual season-turning do you enjoy the most?
I love the transition into autumn, and then autum into winter. I've always loved the dark part of the year best, especially when in Califonia when it cools off a bit. When I lived back east, I love the first few bits of spring coming out, until the allergies kicked in.
Where can you get a really good turnover?
Not sure as I don't really go for them much... I'm sure I could make a good one, though.
What’s employee turnover like where you work?
I don't have a job yet :(
One of the Wonder Twins could turn into any form of water, while the other could turn into any animal. Which of these powers would be more useful to you?
I would want to be able to turn into an animal, especially one that could fly (most likely an owl, which will surprise no one.)

Labels: cats, creativity, friday5, happy, knitting, life, photos, yarnporn

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 2:12 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

What, you thought I was done knitting?

Hahahahaha, silly you. I cast on for Louisa, from French Girl Knits, the book I bought for my Satine sweater that can't be knit until I spin up all that alpaca. I can't wait to start knitting, though, and I found a ribbon yarn similar to the one recommended for Louisa (which was the other sweater in the book that I am majorly lusting after), so I cast on for it the other night.

Here is the yarn, it's Trendsetter's Love (which I suspect is discontinued, a) because I got it at Tuesday Morning, which is where I got the angora yarn for Liesl, and b) because I can't find it for sale anywhere online to link to.) It doesn't look too promising in the ball, at least not for a sweater, because it's novelty yarn, and I thought maybe it would make a neat scarf, but holy shit the stitch definition is actually really good, so I went back for more to make Louisa out of.

I love the color scheme, it reminds me of working at Disneyland in New Orleans Square, and the color complexity is rich (and therefor hard to capture well in a photo.) The pattern is working up quickly, probably because its on size 13s, so it looks like I've entered a trend with my knitting (big needles, big lace patterns.) Don't mind, though, because these patterns are dreamy and I can't wait to see how the sweaters turn out. Also, it's the closest thing to instant gratification you can get when knitting a sweater. Woot woot.

Labels: creativity, knitting, photos, yarnporn

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 1:37 PM 0 comments

Liesl is finished! Well, mostly.

I finished Liesl in 5 days, and here are a couple pics:

So I still need to crochet around the neckline to reinforce it so it doesn't pull out too wide, and I think I'm going to weave purple ribbong through the crocheted bit to fasten it closed at the top. I'll take more pictures when that's done, but I was too excited to wait to post these.

Labels: creativity, knitting, photos

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 1:08 PM 0 comments

Friday, March 20, 2009

advice

In my experience, there are certain times or events in your life that cause the people around you to feel they have the right to give you unsolicited advice. I knew that happens at graduations, during pregnancies, and even when you get married. I guess I should have seen it coming, but apparently divorce is one of those times, and I've been getting everything from gently stated, well-meaning advice to out and out rude assertions that, obviously, I have no idea what life is all about and, obviously, everyone else knows better what I should be doing with myself. That, and there are old friends of mine who seem to have forgotten that I exist... even ones who were my friends before I ever met him. I guess it's true what they say, difficult times have a way of showing you who your real friends are.

So, to whoever happens to be reading this, here is my new rule: I am not accepting any more advice from people unless they have a) been married and divorced themselves, and b) have more general life experience than I do. Pay close attention to B, because I may be 29, but I probably have the life experience of someone quite a bit older than that. I guess I should also add C) must be someone I respect. Otherwise, stuff it and just be supportive. Besides, everyone has split into waring factions, from "he's a vile scumbag" to "you obviously didn't try hard enough", from "move on with your life and go have a fling" to "you should be sitting in your room, crying, with a black shroud over your head for at least a year before you even think of liking someone else." So whose crappy advice would I even choose?

On the flip side, of course, is that the two pieces of advice that I have received from people who fit those criteria are my knew guiding themes in life; the first was "don't ever look back", and the second was "take this opportunity to reflect and decide what it is that you really want and need out of a relationship".

So that's what I'm doing right now, trying to define what I want and need, not just out of a relationship, but out of life, too. I know for sure that whoever I end up in a relationship with needs to be able to appreciate everything I am, not just part of it. I like to go camping and hike and get dirty, but I also like museums and theatre and getting a bit fancy from time to time. I like to be looked after, but I can change my own tires and operate heavy machinery on my own, so I don't want to be patronized, either. I want someone I can have great conversations with - especially someone who has their own opinions, no matter whether they're the same opinions as mine. I want someone who will see the world with me, but will also be comfortable curling up on the couch and watching a movie sometimes. Most of all, I want someone who will open up to me, and will let me know whats going on with them, honestly.

On to knitting, (because it always comes back to fiber with me, lol), I started a sweater last night, this one, and I'm already at least a third of the way through it. I love this pattern because it has so many little ways to customize it and make it your own. I'm knitting it with a delicious angora blend from Elsebeth Lavold. It's been discontinued, though, and I can't for the life of me imagine why. It's so soft I just want to sit here petting it for days, and it's knitting up beautifully. Why would they want to disccontinue something so lovely? How is it that the pernicious Fun Fur seems to survive year after year, but this lovely find is going extinct?

Here is Franny darling modeling with the yarn. She's great about not messing with my yarn or knitting implements, but I still miss Zelda, knitting scourge though she was.

I got the yarn at Tuesday Morning, but of course they don't have a very big yarn selection, so there wasn't enough of just the grey to do much with, so I picked up the lone skein of purple and am adding purple stripes to the sweater. Normally I'm not big into stripes, but I'm starting to kind of like the way its turning out.

And here's my progress so far. I can't believe how fast this sweater is knitting up, that represents maybe 2 hours worth of work last night... the size 11 needles help, but at this rate it's going to become my potato chip pattern (i.e., you can't make just one.) Fortunately, there are enough options for changing the sweater along the way, so at least they'll all look different, lol.

Labels: creativity, knitting, life, photos, yarnporn

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 2:29 PM 1 comments

Monday, March 16, 2009

new finished object and basic wristband pattern

So I had some of this homespun spun up, but not a lot of it, so I decided to make myself a wristband with it. I used a simple cable design to showcase the yarn. Here it is after I finished knitting it.

I wet-blocked it (and it took forever to dry, hello wool.) It looks a lot better after blocking, though, no more scrinching up at the sides from the pull of the center cable.

Once it had finished blocking, I attached the button...

et voila, finished wristband:

Here's the basic recipe:

Yarn: about sock weight, not sure on the yardage but it doesn't take a lot.

Needles: I used size 0, which means most people would use a 1 or a 2.

Stitch Instructions:

C6F = slip first 3 sts to cable needle and hold to back, knit next 3 sts, then knit 3 sts on cable needle.

Instructions:

CO 16 sts.

Rows 1 and 3: knit 3, purl 2, knit 6, purl 2, knit 3.

All even rows: knit 5, purl 6, knit 5.

Row 5: knit 3, purl 2, C6F, purl 2, knit 3.

Repeat rows 1-6 until the wrist band can be wrapped around your wrist and overlaps itself by about 1/4".

Place button hole:

When you get to row 5, instead of cabling place button hole as follows: knit 3, purl 2, bind off 6 sts, purl 2, knit 3.

Next row: Knit 5, CO 6 sts, Knit 5.

Finishing:

Next row: knit 3, purl 2, knit 6, purl 2, knit 3.

Knit all sts next 4 rows, then bind off all sts.

Weave in ends, and wet block wrist band.

Once wrist band is blocked and dry, wrap around wrist to determine proper button placement. Sew on button. Ta da!

ETA: the garter stitch along the sides has a shorter row gauge than the cabled center, so in order to make it more even, I added short rows to the sides once for every cable repetition. Starting with row #1 on the second cable repetition, I knit the first three stitches, turned the band, knitted back over them on the opposite side, then turned again and knit them a third time before going on to the purl stitches. when you get to the end of that row, turn and knit the first three stitches of the next row, turn again and knit them back the other way, and then turn again and knit that row as usual, including knitting the first three stitches a third time. If you have any questions about this, feel free to comment or email me. This is an elementary short row technique, and it puts extra rows into the side to compensate for the difference in row gauge.

Labels: creativity, knitting, patterns, photos, yarnporn

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 3:41 PM 0 comments

Friday, March 13, 2009

More spinning... obsessed much?

So I got my new needles from Paradise Fibers tonight, and it came with free samples of fiber and yarn. First the yarn, Queensland Kathmandu Aran Tweed Yarn...

First off, I love the color and the feel of this yarn. It's way softer than it looks in the picture and has a nice body to it. I would definitely consider using this yarn in the future.

They also sent me a lovely sample of Baby Camel Top in white.

Well, clearly it isn't white, which I knew from the website before I requested it, but I kind of like that it's the natural color of the camel down rather than being bleached. This stuff is gloriously soft, not the softest camel fiber I've ever felt, but still enough to make any spinner drool in envy. It has a rather short staple length, which makes it a bit finicky to spin. I would NOT recommend this for an inexperienced spinner, and after having spun it on a drop spindle, I doubt I would ever try to spin this on the wheel. I have some camel back in NY waiting to be picked up and spun, and it's in clouds rather than top or roving. I thought that was what was making it difficult to spin, and that's part of it, but the other part, as I discovered, was that camel just has a short staple length compared to most of the other things I've spun (chiefly wool and alpaca.) This is not a deal breaker for me, not by any stretch of the imagination. To my mind, it doesn't make sense to drop serious money on a fiber like this and then rush through spinning it on the wheel. But then, I'm obviously a process person rather than a product person.

I overspun it intentionally, as I do with anything I am planning to ply. This made the plying come out very well, and the yarn, which is navajo plied (I tend to navajo ply anything if it's in a small quantity like this.) It is so soft to the touch... not as soft as my tiny bit of cashmere (no big surprise there), and roughtly comparable to the alpaca in softness, though they definitely have their differences. The alpaca is more slippery, which I think is why it feels like I'm stretching it when I spin it. The camel is fluffier, more matte than smooth, so it grips the other fibers slightly better, but if you try to draft it out too much it just separates like clouds pulling apart. I found that if I drafted 1" to 1.5" at a time it stayed together rather well.

Overall, this is a fiber I've been eyeballing for a long time, and I think I will definitely getting more of it at some time in the future.

Labels: creativity, photos, spinning, yarnporn

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 10:37 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The Single Life

So I'm settling in here, getting this room cleaned out more and more and, of course, trying to find a job (while simultaneously hoping the one I'm in line for works out this coming week.) There are several things that I am enjoying about my new life, about being single.

Tonight I went out to the knitting group, and I swear it was almost like being back at Chatham again. We were at a coffee shop, the same one we always meet at, and we were laughing so loud, drawing derisive looks from the other patrons, some of whom were obviously there to study. Seriously, though? Go to a library to study, and stop staring at us. You're just jealous that we're here having such a good time. Also, I apparently make a lot of drug references: I referred to Lorinda as my "fiber pusher", described ska music as "swing music on meth", and said that spinning is like crack. Funny thing is that I've never actually done any illegal drugs. *shrug*

It's just nice to be able to plan my time without regard for anyone... It's not like Chris ever made huge demands on me or anything, but it's different when you can just fill your time without having to think about another person. I'm running a book club and a stitch n' bitch, I'm reading book after book after book, spinning yarn for long periods of time while dancing around like an idiot with iTunes turned up on my laptop. It's basically awesome.

Also, I'm basically turning this room into my own personal little cave of wonder. Once I get it cleaned, I'm putting the loft bed up on craigslist to get it out of here, and then that corner is going to be my library and fiber corner, and will house my yarn/fiber stash and my spinning wheel, along with all my books. I found my old candles and have put them out all over the room because, god, I love candlelight more than I can say. It's not terribly practical, but I don't care.

Right now I'm reading Zinn's A People's History of the United States, which absolutely everyone should read. It's not unbiased, no history text is, but Zinn is absolutely transparent about the lens he's using from the first chapter on, and it balances out the history we're all taught in school, from elementary school onward. I've read part of this before in my US History course, taught by the wonderful Dr. Sterling Evans, one of the best professors I've ever had. Now I'm going back to reread the entire thing from the beginning. It's a fantastic, eye-opening book. I wouldn't say it should be the only book on US History anyone should read, but I think it gives the perspective that is so missing from the standard historical discourse, which I believe was Zinn's intention.

The spinning continues apace, and I've now filled one bobbin (aka a TP tube) with about an ounce of lovely alpaca single. I plied up a bit of it, and while it's not a full worsted weight at 3-ply (about half of the worsted weights thickness, actually), it's very close to the weight of the recommended yarn from the pattern, so I think it'll be a good thickness for the pattern. Even if my gauge is a little smaller than what's recommended in the pattern, I'm actually between two sizes, so I could just make the larger size at a slightly smaller gauge to get a better fit out of it. I ordered the needles, and they should be here soon, maybe even by the end of the week, so then I can knit the little bit I've plied up and see how it's looking (I don't think I have enough navajo plied for a gauge swatch, but it will give me a rough idea.)

All in all, things are going very well for me right now. Hopefully the job thing pans out soon so that I can be gainfully employed and not a damn freeloader anymore.

Labels: creativity, goals, happy, knitting, life, spinning

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 10:40 PM 0 comments

Friday, March 06, 2009

poetic ramblings

Bird

Feathered wings take flight,
soar against the sky of blue.
I still miss you so.

I still remember
your clipped wings recovering
despite the raw wounds.

To me, you were like
a phoenix, flying though they
fought hard to ground you.

When I dream of you,
it is with beating wings and
soaring, joyous heart.

Loss

I can't recall the sound
of your voice, or your laughter.
Nine years you've been gone.

Plans
You don't know yet,
but I've got plans for you.
Plans which involve talking,
laughing,
and possibly rug burn.

Labels: creativity, poetry

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 10:43 PM 0 comments

hmmm...

Ok, so now I'm thinking of being a little naughty and a little crazy and getting more of this delicious alpaca from Lorinda so I can make this with it:

I think it would be exquisite in this yarn, though I'm not sure how many times I'll have to ply it to get the right weight to the yarn... I might just have to use teh math to figure it out, but thats never hard...

Labels: creativity, goals, knitting, spinning, yarnporn

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 10:27 AM 0 comments

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Alpaaaaaaca

So I've been pacing the floor waiting to hear about a job for the last few days. I still haven't heard anything yet, so cross your figers for me, the last I heard they were trying to get a hold of my old boss, who is apparently on vacation until Monday.

To comfort me in my angsty waiting period, my mom took pity on me and bought this lovely alpaca fiber for me from Lorinda the Magnificent so that I have something to distract myself with. The nice thing about being a spinner when you are so completely broke is that you pay the same amount of money as you would for the yarn, but it keeps you occupied for longer because you get to spin it first. And it is so effing soft I just want to make a huge pile of it and roll around in it, naked.

I've always thought of drafting as sort of stretching the fibers out, which is inaccurate because you're really just pulling out a small bit of fibers at a time, but this stuff really feels like it's stretching because it's so smooth, and a bit cohesive.

If you recall my first homespun, you will noticed that my spinning has improved immensely in balance, evenness, and thickness. I worked so hard at spinning to be able to spin fine, and now this seems to be the thickness that everything comes out as, even when I try to spin thicker. I guess now if I ever want to do a worsted or bulky yarn I'm going to have to ply 8-10 singles together to get there, LoL.

It's turning out this lovely, gunmetal grey color, and I think when I'm don't spinning it, I'll ply it either 2 or 3-ply and make a smoke ring out of it, something like this or this.

My homemade spindles are spinning very well, which is exciting :) It's amazing how easy it is to make them well-balanced with the drill press, especially since the first one I made, without the drill press, required an ocean's age worth of sanding to get it to spin decently. These new ones will spin for ages and ages, leading me to finally try actually dropping the spindle. It's hard, because you feel like you're losing control of the process, but it works pretty smoothly as long as you've got the drafting process down, and as long as you pay attention to what you're doing. I miss my wheel like crazy, but if anything I'm glad that I've been forced to go back to the spindle so that I could refine my technique a bit. I actually don't think I'll use my wheel for luxury fibers any more after this - you get a much nicer, much more consistent product with the spindle, and plus then you get to spend more time doing it, which is largely the point of buying a nice, soft fiber like this one.

Labels: creativity, happy, photos, spinning, yarnporn

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 8:19 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Waiting for the phone to ring

So I'm waiting to hear about a job, and I've run out of room to clean, so I've resorted to knitting and such while I wait.

Here's a swatch I made out of a 2 foot length of cashmere I spun... It's 100% cashmere, spun from the cloud, navajo plied, and then knit on size 0 needles. It's the size of a penny, but it's sooo soft I can't stop touching it.

And after much ado, I finally finished the hat for my friend Michelle's baby, Giovanni. I can't wait to see it on him!!!!

Labels: creativity, knitting, photos, spinning, yarnporn

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 11:10 AM 0 comments

Sunday, March 01, 2009

giant update-o-rama

So, I've been silent for a while (okay, a looong while, really, if we're talking about posts with actual substance - my apologies.) First, a picture post, and then maybe something a little more in depth.

Not terribly deep, but I cut and dyed my hair recently... I keep meaning to grow it out to it's post-Costa Rica length, but it gets to this irritating stage and I haven't had the patience to make it through that yet... we'll see, maybe this will be the last time I chop it off, maybe not. At any rate, here's the most recent pic of me in existence:

I've been making spindles a lot lately now that I have access to a drill press. I'm planning to start selling them at some point, but here's a little window into my process. Step one is cutting out the whorls on a drill press:

After which the boards start to look like swiss cheese:

The come out a bit rough at first:

So they go back onto the drill press to get sanded, which takes a small lifetime:

and emerge soft as a baby's butt... at least in theory:

Then I give them a coat of varnish before I decorate them:

Anyone want to take a wild, flying guess as to whom I made this for?

This one was not designed with anyone in particular in mind, but I like it :)

This one I painted... not my best work, clearly, but it's not as terrible as it could be...

I've been spinning a lot, too, mostly bits of fiber I've received from Lorinda the Great at my new stitch n' bitch home. This one I named unicorn, owing to it's purple and blue shades with bits of shiny fiber in it.

This one I've called alternately sunset and gryffindor, obviously:

And this is one I started ages ago, which reminds me of easter:

They are all navajo (3) plied, and all of them are around sock weight, or possibly lighter. It seems now I've gotten spinning fine mastered I can't spin thicker any more, even when I try. Coming soon, look for my line of 15 ply worsted =P

I got myself a new journal for detailing my adventures in renewed singlehood. I'm actually feeling quite optimistic about things, and felt a saucy journal might inspire me to live a little more daring...

And here is an awesome pic of my sister leaving for winter formal. Isn't she lovely?

Labels: creativity, goals, happy, life, photos, spinning, yarnporn

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 4:39 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

blah-zay

I've been feeling my perrenial ache to do something profound, but it's just not there at the moment. My brain is scattered in a million tiny pieces, and more than anything I want to do something that means something, but it just seems like I plod along without any real inspiration. Somehow, I suspect the fault is mine. Not necessarily by general defect, but perhaps through a sense of self preservation the flood gates remain unopened.

It's surreal, really, to see someone you've known for thirteen years being tried for three counts of first degree murder. It's an intense mental conflict, sitting there, listening to the horrifying details of the thing she did while I remember the fun times we shared, the conversations and the memories. Silly to say, but it reminds me a bit of Harry Potter, the part where they say that killing someone rends your soul into pieces. I wonder, sometimes, if the person I knew ever really existed, or if it was always just the monster in there biding it's time. Can a good person and a monster coexist within the same being? Or is it like a point on a number line; a little round dot left in place to denote where the friend ceased to exist and gave way to the monster? What is that little point, then? What is the transition? I suppose if I knew that, I'd know an awful lot indeed.

My dad is hanging in there, but it's hard to see him so sick and in so much pain. Pray for him, please, if you do that sort of thing.

Labels: creativity, history, life

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 10:09 PM 0 comments

Saturday, January 26, 2008

back to spinning

So, Jan, the wonderful woman who sold me my wheel, sent me a new driveband and new bobbins, and my wheel spins so much better than before and it's perfecter (which I know is not a word, but it applies), and my spinning has improved because of it. Happy Stacy? Yes, happy Stacy :) Right now I am spinning that glorious merino/tencel blueberry fiber I got from Paradise Fibers, and it is effing gorgeous, see?

I am in fiber-licious heaven :) And I have new goodies coming soon, more fiber, that other spindle I ordered, etc, so I am looking forward to spinning more stuff and getting good enough to sell my stuff. I'm hoping to have some sales-worthy yarn coming out within the next month.

Labels: creativity, goals, happy, photos, spinning, yarnporn

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 11:31 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

so hey, 1,000 posts?

Apparently my last post was number 1,000.... s'too bad I spent it mostly bitching, but hey, thats what happens when I spend a week silently detesting my grandmother and having panic attacks.

I'm back home now, and decidedly more cheerful for it. Classes started today and I think this semester is going to be nice and peaceful, which I'm excited about. I've got a bunch of knitting and spinning classes to teach this and next month, and I'm totally looking forward to that. Plus the move is coming closer (as long as we can get the funds together.) I'm excited about it, I can't wait to be someplace new, and it feels like life will really start once I get there, you know? Like house-buying, baby-having, goat-chasing life.

I put my first pattern up for sale on etsy, and you can find it here: scarflette! It's really simple and basic, but I've gotten a bunch of complements on it since I've been wearing it, so I figured I'd give it a try. The patterns a PDF, and I'll email it out to whoever buys it.

It's on a different etsy account, because I'm trying to get a craft business started with my peeps Tully and Michelle, so I've started us up an account to see if we can generate a little business momentum.

Labels: creativity, etsyshop, goals, happy, knitting, photos

posted by Cat Named Eggroll @ 8:26 PM 4 comments

Friday, December 28, 2007

Yay!!! New toys!!

So yesterday, I received my order from Paradise Fibers: a full pound of undyed merino roving. I am in love!!!! Look!!!!!

This stuff spins like an absolute dream. The drafting is smooth, easy, and very conducive to producing a very nice yarn. I can't find a right word for this, but it's really creamy in a way... When you put the twist in, you can't really see the fibers much at all anymore, it all looks like one soft, squishy strand. It looks and feels just like I imagine clouds do, and I would love to make a giant pile of the roving and roll around in it for hours. Here's a closeup of my single! Look how pretty!!!

And now, a wider shot so you can see the new spindle that also arrived yesterday! It's the one I ordered from Spinsanity, and it spins like you wouldn't believe. It's very light, but it doesn't feel as light as the ones I made for myself (which it is.) It's wonderfully made - it feels more solid than mine by far, with way less wobble (no wobble at all, really), and it's perfectly balanced. Now that I'm using it, my hands don't hurt no matter how long I spin, my singles are way finer, and spinning is an even more exciting experience than it was before. This, truly, is the spindle of the gods!

With my spindle, she also sent me some beautiful rainbow pencil roving, which I am hoping to get more of:

And! What a delightful little treat, in the packag was this adorable little stitch marker:

Lastly, I've joined an affiliate program for Paradise Fibers. It was such a pleasant process ordering from them! I ordered the fiber, no kidding, on the Friday before Christmas, figuring it would get sent out after Christmas. *Hours* later, it had already been sent, and it got here yesterday, with the holiday and everything. The wool was well packaged, and, as I said above, well exceeded my expectations (It was only $14 for a full pound! Of merino!) I will definitely be ordering from them again, and I joined the affiliate program to share them with anyone reading this, and to maybe support my habbit a little bit. It costs you absolutely nothing to help add to my wheel fund. If you're planning to order any yarn, fiber, spinning, knitting, or weaving stuff, just click the link, I'd *really* apreciate it. I just ordered this blueberry merino/tencel blend, it's utterly exquisite, and I cannot wait for it to get here :)