Work continues apace

In an unsurprising turn of events, my stock of yarn is really low. It's unsurprising because Fall is a big big needlework season, with Christmas crafts and trying to keep warm and whatnot. But it's a bit of a problem for me because I am just not able to stock up as quickly as I could before. I'm spinning as much as I can, but I really need to keep up the pressure or stocks will go so low that my sales drop (less variety always equals fewer sales for me).

So what do I have on the brain? Why, trying new things, of course. I spin a bit of the same old same old, and it's great stuff, but I'm always happiest when I'm doing some new things too. I have decided to try and add a chunky weight 2ply made from the lovely, light, crimpy Corriedale yarn. I've spun up a couple skeins and shortly I'll knit them up into some mittens for the kid, see how the yarn performs. If it goes well, then I'll get to add a nice instant-gratification type yarn to my regular lineup of worsted weight yarns.

The other thing I want to try is making some needlepoint tapestry yarn. I bought a pound of Lincoln wool to try it out, and was I ever surprised when I felt it. It has a serious shine to it, not as much as a Wensleydale but more than Corriedale, and the staple length is huge! It's like 7 inches, I kid you not. So I Googled to figure out how other people like to use this rather unique wool, and found that some take advantage of the long staples to make lace weight yarn. I'm not a lace knitter, and it's not cost effective to spin lace weight, so I didn't really want to do that.

The other thing suggested was that it would make a wonderful yarn for needlepoint - and I love that idea. With crafts on the brain these days, I've been doing a tiny bit of embroidery, and thinking of doing more. I also love the idea of supplying a unique, handspun handdyed, beautiful yarn to crafters who do more using supplies than making them. First, though, gotta make some and use it myself to see if I can do it well.

And then I saw this:

It begs to be needlepointed onto a throw cushion. What can I saw, I'm a sucker for subversive crafts. Why just craft when you can craft and make people laugh? Or just yourself?

So yeah, now I need to ask my fabric consultant where to get some proper...burlap? muslin? canvas? so that I can do a proper job. And I'll be at my wheel trying to turn Lincoln wool into something suitable.

Thing the last - I started a crafting group. I'm still hunting for a space to meet regularly, but a few of us have gotten together a couple times in peoples' living rooms, and there's been a tiny bit of chatter on the Google group. If you're in the GVA and you'd like to join a group of crafters of varying skills, talents, and interests, the Google group is Clever Hands