Madness.

I'm fairly certain that all of my kids are going through some kind of.. phase. I keep telling myself that they will be calm at some point. They'll stop screaming about everything. Things will "normalize" - whatever that is.

I haven't had the emotional/mental energy to blog. Nothing *bad* is going on. Just the everyday life of three boys. Which is enough, believe me.

Here's what I've been doing when *not* tearing my hair out:


This is a spin along (spin-a-long? I just don't know) from Hobbledehoy. I've started spinning it as a fine single to be chain plied. Mine is the 4th Doctor's Scarf colorway.


I've been making rolags! These aren't great looking, but they're only attempts two and three. Unlike the ones I pulled from the drum carder, these are skinny and long. How am I making them if not on the drum carder, you ask? (Okay, I know you didn't ask.)


B and I finally made a blending board! I've been obsessively thinking about, plotting, and planning this thing. It didn't work out quite how I'd wanted - the keel is majorly hacked. But it works! I wish we'd put the cloth another inch or so from the end and cut the board shorter. But these things are doable, though not high on the list.


This is one of the Elf's birthday gifts. It's my attempt at a intarsia/woven stranded hybrid. It's knit entirely from handspun. Not perfect, but I'm proud. I'm also making him some small crocheted Spartans (not historical but rather from Halo) but couldn't be bothered to take pictures.

In addition, I've been dyeing for the shop. I posted a large (for me) update today. And here's the admission, I've been spending more time than I should playing Borderlands. We finished all the DLC yesterday and started Borderlands 2. Yes, it's an addiction.

Happy Wool Day!

Now today is the kind of Thursday I think I could get the hang of! After a long, hot trip to the grocery store I came home to three boxes of woolly goodness: a roving order for the shop, my Phat Fiber contributors box, and the Phat Fiber fluff box that I ordered. Score! Now I have some lovely Phat fluff to spin for TdF13. I'm getting tired of spinning only my own fibers. Ordering the sample box is a great way to find out what sort of fibers and prep I like the most - it also give me variety.


Two pounds of Corriedale, one pound of Polwarth, one pound of superwash BFL, a quarter of an ounce (I know, right?) of Angelina, and some blue dye.


This is from the mixed contributor box.


More from the contributor box.


Fluff box!


More fluff.


Whee!

My two littlest ones were just as excited about these boxes as I was. I love that they can share in my passion like that. The Beast instantly absconded with a bag by Fiber Faire and some Falkland roving by Beesybee Fibers. The Imp fell in love with the soap from Three Waters Farm and some Polwarth roving by Shadawyn Fiber Arts. I'm personally excited about the Friends in Fiber "Nautilus" rolag. I've never spun from a rolag before and am anxious to give it a try.

But to be honest, I love it all. This box is absolutely stunning.

Oops

It would seem that I've been neglecting this blog. Here's a smattering of pictures to prove that I haven't been slacking elsewhere, too.


Muddy Rainbows - TdF13 spinning.


Super Heroes and Villains (from the Phat Fiber boxes) - TdF13 spinning.


Batt carding, spinning, and the Beast - more TdF13 stuff.


Campfire batt


Rainbow roving


Larger version of my Phat Fiber contribution this month - Sun Dappled

I've also dyed a mess of things in the last few days, but I haven't edited the pictures yet. Basically I've been wool obsessed (shocked, aren't you?) for the most part. We're working on the Elf's homeschool evaluation, the Imp's amazing transition out of diapers, and all the usual Summer craziness.

Blergh.

I am having a Not Good dye day. The Elf just helped me clean up an enormous spill. I've learn not to try and dye nearly a pound of fiber at once. With my make-shift set up, it isn't worth the risks. I'm trying to dye roving in a Luna Moth colorway for Phat Fiber. I knew there was a reason I didn't want to do that particular box. All of these troubles are like the universe screaming "I told you so!"

But I'm pushing on anyway. The roving is steaming and I just hope that it'll turn out decent enough or that I can at least salvage it with an overdye.

It's been storming for more than a week now. My Sunshine State is failing me. It isn't usually this bad unless a hurricane is coming through. I need sunlight the way fish need water.

No pictures today. I'm doing all I can not to throw things at the wall in frustration.

Tdf13 day 3

Today's spinning:

"Good Red Dirt" by Three Waters Farm
"G-Man Gideon Graves" by Luthvarian Fiber Arts
"Spike" by Hilltop Cloud
"Drawn to be Bad" by All for Love of Yarn
"Absolute Zero" by The Dyeing Arts
100% alpaca by NorthStarAlpacas
"Detective Superintendent Hannasyde of Scotland Yard" by Bitsy Knits
50% baby alpaca 50% fine moorit wool by Catawampus Farms

Tdf13 day 2

Last night I ended up spinning more. "Long Hair Loki" and "The Dark World" by Things Liz Makes and and unnamed bit of top by All for Love of Yarn.

Today I've spun "Hexadecimal" by Llady Llama Fiber Co., "The End of Rorschach" by Luthvarian Fiber Arts, "Psychedelic Powers" by Alma Park Alpacas,"Hero 2" by Shades of Light, "Regina" by Kitty Mine Crafts, "The Doctor" by Inglenook Fibers, and "Wonder Woman" by Six Fingered Kitty.



We finally got Mama Cat and her three kittens into the house today. They're scared but contained. In the next day or two we'll get them to the vet. Mama may need to be a spay-and-release. She's *really* not thrilled about being inside.

Tour de Fleece

So, I did it. I joined the Phat Fiber Tour de Fleece team. For those of you who don't know what that is, here's my understanding: While the people in the Tour de France ride, we spin. Not all day, though. The goal is to spin every day that they ride and to do something difficult on their challenging day. I know nothing about bike races. And honestly, I don't care. But an excuse to definitely spin every day? I'm all for that.



I'm spinning my samples from the last two Phat Fiber boxes (super heroes and villains). I'm having the boys pick (from youngest to oldest) which sample I spin. So far it's been "Storm" by Fiber Faire, "The Man of Steel" by Woodland Hills Alpaca, and "Joker" by Hello Purl.



And how could I resist a picture of one of my cute helpers?

Otherwise it's been a stormy, stormy day and we've been trying to coax a feral mama cat and her three kittens into the house.

Friday + Wool

This was Friday for my youngest:





With everything I've done since then, I feel like taking a nap, too. Here's what I've been up to:


I spun this from a gorgeous batt by Hobbledehoy. I have honestly never enjoyed my wheel as much as I did while spinning this. It was nothing less than perfection.


"Cable" plying. So. Much. Work. Never again.


Corriedale rainbow.


Superwash BFL Princess.


Superwash BFL Hawk.


Polwarth Flame.

I've added all of these (minus the first yarn - that one's mine!) to my Etsy Shop.

Taming the Jungle

Let me show you something amazing (and embarrassing).

Backyard as seen from the bedroom window.

Before:

After:

Crazy, right? It took the super-powered yard guys three hours to clean our front and back yard.

This is a (bad) shot of the Rusalka batts I've been posting about. I have all my samples for July's Phat Fiber box packaged up. I just need to stamp the paper insert thingies and then it'll be ready to go. I'll also have a Rusalka batt in the shop. For once, I won't be upset if it never sells - I'd be totally happy to spin it myself!

Today I've been carding a blue/purple batt. The kids took over the table so I've had to set it all aside for now. If my energy holds, there will also be a shop update tonight. I've taken pictures and edited them but I still need to write the listings (not my favorite thing to do).

In the meantime I have a good book to read and a sleeping cat snuggled up next to me.

Rusalka

Next month's Phat Fiber theme is "under the sea." For part of my contribution I'm using the rusalka myths as inspiration. If you head to DeviantArt and search for "rusalka" you'll see some good examples. Over the past three days I've been dyeing fibers.

In this photo I have corriedale wool, tussah silk, silk noil, bamboo, hemp, and firestar. I'm excited to mix it all up - but also terrified of making a huge mess out of it.

Phat FIber

I've made a last minute contribution to this month's Phat Fiber box. The theme is villains and I will admit that I took a bit of poetic license.



My villain/antagonists/bad guys are: White Witch, mirelurks, Trixie, and the vague idea of djinn) as bad guys in fantasy novels (but I preferred the word ifrit).


All packaged and ready to mail, which I did this morning. Whee!

Weekend.

My cranky old man thinks he's a box of food, apparently. He spent more than half an hour sitting there.


My dye experiment (inspired by this). I used Jacquard acid dyes in not-quite-primary colors. It's an imperfect experiment but it gives me a good idea of how to get certain colors.


Spinning! Yay! I've been spinning like.. a dervish.


This was a lace/cobweb that I chain plied. I think it's gorgeous.


My Black Cat batt. The locks I used were crap. My step mother gave me an ancient package of locks meant for doll hair or crafting or something. But it's what I had. I managed to get a few tips to show through. If (and that's a big if) I list it in my Etsy shop it'll go under a new heading "Handpun Yarn - Experiments" and be deeply discounted.


Another experiment. This was my Master Chief batt. I spun it up all crazy and then coil/plied around an unknown golden fiber (some people think it might be linen, others think it may just be acrylic). It's crazy. I still have half of the yarn left over (not coiled). My core yarn kept falling apart or getting terribly overspun. How do people deal with that? Clearly I'm doing something wrong.

Not sure what I'll do with the rest of my Sunday. Finish carding my Promethean batt maybe. Or spin the gorgeous art batt that B bought me. Whatever it is, I expect it'll be woolly.

Otherwise occupied.

What have I been doing? Well, lots of things - most of them far from my blog.

I carded this batt (I really hope the curly locks stay curly) based on this super hero.


This is the side that I think of as the inside - not on the top of the carder when I'm carding.


The top side.


Rolled up and pretty. It's wool, mohair, and bamboo.


Can you see how busy we've been? This is the Beast. He's four feet away from me in this exact pose right now.


I'm almost done with this roving. I really enjoyed spinning the first half (it's already been plied). This second half has taken *forever* to spin. I have about fifteen inches of roving left (what's hanging from the tension knob in the picture). Then it has to sit for a few days before I ply it. Whew.

I have another bobbin to ply and then I'm have to decide if I want to spin my Master Chief batt, my Promethean batt (which actually isn't finished yet), or my Black Cat batt. Or.. or.. or.. yeah. Such problems I have, right? Well, to be honest, I'm using wool to distract myself from the fact that our oven is broken and has been for about a week. With luck (and $200+) it will be fixed tomorrow. I also had to take the dog to the vet yesterday ($200+ for allergy meds, shots, and flea meds) and the Elf to the asthma specialist ($70+ for the doctor and medication). Right. Look at my fluffy fiber stash! It's so shiny..

The woes of wool.

Okay. I give up. Spinners and fiber fanatics, I call upon you for help.

I want to add "interesting" things to my batts (those sheets of fluff that my drum carder produces for spinning - for you nonspinners). Where in the world do I start? What are fair prices for these things? Where in the world do I find them?

I wanted to try sari (saree?) silk. Here's the thing, it's supposedly a waste product. Tell me then, why does it cost so much? I don't want it already carded so that I can separate the colors some - all I'm finding is Paradise Fibers. So.. is this silk really that different from buying silk thread at a craft store? Or using silk roving in teeny bits?

What about all those locks? Cotswold, mohair, etc. I have a fairly fine toothed carder - is it worth the $6+ an ounce for this stuff?

I see all of these lovely batts on Etsy and I feel overwhelmed. I want to be able to combine colors as well as they do. I want the variety of texture that I can only imagine these batts contain. Which leave me with: where in the world do I start?

And because I can't leave you without any pictures (also this will help explain some of the crazy going on in my head). Here's the loot from my first ever Phat Fiber box.









So much squishy goodness in this box! The theme was "super heroes" and I can't wait for next month: villains!

A good mail day!

I meant to post this.. Thursday? I'm really not on the ball this week.


Check out this all of this loot! My dear friend sent an unbirthday package for me and the boys: spinning tops, monster finger puppets, and yummy chocolate (not pictured because I hid it away immediately). The high speed whorl and fiber I ordered got here two days early. And the super fun EyeCanArt kit that I won from Nicole's giveaway. Also a book to review for LibraryThing! Yay!

Today I've been doing this:



It will eventually be combined to make "Master Chief" batts.

More exciting news? I ordered my first ever Phat Fiber Sample Box! How will we celebrate this? With the vanilla frosted brownie cake the Beast requested, of course! Speaking of, I should get started on the mini apple pies for B and myself.