Yummy Yarn

Yummy Yarn is now Two Sisters Stringworks

2011-02-23T08:12:00.000-08:00

Hey are you wondering where I went? I've rebranded as Two Sisters Stringworks, and I have a website and a new Etsy shop. You can also follow me on Twitter and keep track of me on Ravelry.

Knitting Clinic

2010-12-01T14:00:00.001-08:00

Work continues apace

2009-11-29T17:07:00.000-08:00

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

Crafts are eating my brain

2009-10-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

I'm a crafter. For the most part I stick with the fiber arts; knitting has always been the craft that I return to again and again. But I've dabbled with all sorts of things. I've done embroidery, decoupage, papier mache, needlepoint, sewing, woodworking. (I'm sure there's more, but I'm still on my first coffee here.)

I believe in the power of making things. I believe that it's a way to unlock your creativity, to relax, to form community, to think of the world in new ways, to raise awareness, to raise funds, to raise spirits, to see what you're capable of, to express yourself, to free yourself from dependence on mass production, to appreciate our foremothers and fathers, to connect with children.

Maybe it's my grandmother's recent passing that has made me think of the wide variety of things that I used to make. She was primarily a needlecrafter, herself, but she turned her hand to a lot of things, too, and we used to do a lot of crafts together. Lately I've been interested in exploring what else I can make for my home, my family and friends.

Last week I did a needle felting workshop for some friends, and despite the chaos of many kids swirling about, we had a fun time. Not only did I enjoy sharing this new little craft that I've been doing lately, I got to see what other people did with the skill. I loved seeing that, other ideas, other perspectives, other techniques being innovated. One woman made a stab at making realistic carrot tops for her carrots -- not easy with a needle felter, let me tell you! One woman made a banana with peel that comes down.

So that got me thinking, wouldn't it be fun to do a lot more crafts? (Big leap, I know.) I'm thinking I might start an informal crafting group, with an emphasis on crafting things which are meant to be used, and using shared, thrifted, or inexpensive materials. Crafting is very tied in with opting out of consumerism, for me. Or maybe that's exerting too much control. That's the big thing that crafting is for me, but who's to say what it is for someone else? That's something to find out, I guess.

Next week I'll call about this superb space I know about and see if I can have it for a regular thing. I'm pretty sure that getting members for a crafting group will *not* be a problem.

Here's some of the felting that's been eating my brain:

Quick and Dirty Update

2009-09-28T15:30:00.001-07:00

Hi! I still exist. In fact I'm working very hard at being Yummy Yarn, so hard I don't have time to blog. Or the impulse, usually. That's the thing, see, I'm not a blogger. I read and enjoy some blogs, don't get me wrong, and I have no bad opinion of the people who do blog, but I lack the impulse to narrate my life, myself. However, I do like to reach out to my fiber people from time to time, and let them know what I"m up to.

Mostly, I'm up to this:

Isn't she lovely? That's the new baby, playing with the fringe of my stashbuster scarf. I've been stashbusting like crazy. After 5 scarves, I got a bit bored and now I'm doing a stashbuster sweater. Here's that in progress:

I'm also back to teaching at Black Sheep Yarns and soon I'll be offering a couple classes at Vancouver's new yarn store, Baaad Anna's. So far, teaching with the baby in tow has been successful; fingers crossed that it continues to work out. I'm getting creative with it. I bring a babysitter to my Tuesday classes at BSY; Friday workshops are done without a babysitter to spell me off. My Baaad Anna's workshops may be done with or without the sitter, I haven't decided. Depends on how the bebe is that week, I suppose. She's getting a lot happier about hanging out in a wrap carrier on my back while I do stuff, so that's bodes well!

My big project this week is getting as much stock as I can, because in a few weeks I'm holding a trunk show! Baaad Anna's has agreed to host my trunk show of yarns, fiber, and knitted objects (those are for show not sale) on the weekend of October 17-18. It's a chance for locals to see all my yarn in the same place at the same time, something that hasn't happened since I stopped doing the Coquitlam Farmer's Market last September. I hope it's a good event for the store, since I always like to see a yarn store do well, and I won't lie, I hope the sales are good.

Book located, and Spring Knitty

2009-03-11T11:45:00.001-07:00

I found it. On my bookshelf. *facepalm*

The Spring Knitty is up! I really, really want to cast on for Hanne, because I think my handspun 2-ply is probably the perfect gauge and would knit up to great effect. However -- the border on my Pi Shawl is going on, but not done yet, the bands (waist, button, neck) on my tweed sweater still need to go on, my Kauni Rainbow cardigan is...actually, bands need to go on that one too. The first wrist band is done, the second is nearly done, and the big job of the single border that encompasses the neck, button bands, and bottom remains. (But due to a fit of pique at the insufficiently flexible cable of my Addi Turbo, I ordered 2 or 3 Knitpicks fixed circulars in the correct size. Trust me that there seemed to be a very good reason for ordering more than one at the time. I'm trusting me...because I can't really think of that reason right now.) Also, the grafting of the baby bog jacket is done and it needs...

Bands! Okay. All my projects are stalled at the band stage. I, uh, I guess I don't find knitting bands to be very compelling. Although in my defense, the garter blocks pattern that I'm using for the Kauni sweater involve stranded purling, which is a truly hand-cramping, fiddly task.

Off to knit some edges on things.

Missing Book! Help!

2009-03-08T15:18:00.001-07:00

I loaned out my copy of Stranded Knitting by Nanette Blanchard. I think. Does anyone who reads this blog have it? I asked the person I thought I loaned it to, but she doesn't have it, so now I'm at a loss. I'm done teaching class 2 of 5 of my Stranded Knitting class, and there are some pictures I really, really want to show the class, but I can't because I can't find the book. I think I loaned it out...although the book just being lost in the house somewhere is entirely possible.

If I can't find it in a couple weeks I'll just re-order the thing. It's a fantastic reference book and not expensive.

Working it out

2009-02-02T10:40:00.001-08:00

I've had the word "blog" on my to-do list for ages now, and I never seem to find the time and energy to do it. I don't really have it today either, but I figure maybe I need to treat the blog like I treat answering emails from friends, sometimes -- better to send scattered and less coherent messages more frequently than to send brilliant missives at one-year intervals.

So I'm pregnant. Lots of locals already know this, and some read it between the lines, but that's why I suddenly decided to get the toxic dye out of my house last August. That's also where all my energy has gone lately. I'm fine, strong and healthy, but even an easy pregnancy still involves growing a new human and takes considerable energy. For months now, I've only had the werewithal for my family and the basics of my business. I'm managing a good rate of spinning, and a decent rate of dyeing due thanks to Felicia Lo of Sweet Georgia, who opened her studio (with rentable dye space) at exactly the right time.

The search for alternative workspace has been interesting. Back in the spring it was becoming clear to me that if I wanted to grow, I'd need some workspace where I could spread out more and achieve a bit more volume, and I was selling my stuff at a good enough rate that the idea of paying for space was not too far-fetched. And then, two lines appeared on the stick, and it was clear to me that finding workspace that wasn't my family's kitchen was a non-negotiable. So I started to explore.

I told everyone that I needed space, and I know enough people in the local arts scene and a good handful of people in the fiber arts community specifically that I was really able to get the word out. Lots of people were keeping their ears open for me, and while the suggestions didn't roll in quickly, they came in regularly enough. Several of them were unworkable for my specific needs, but a few were possible, and one -- the Sweet Georgia studio -- was perfect. Or at least, close to perfect. It was downtown, so I'd have to make a pretty major expedition carrying all my stuff (20lbs of fiber, buckets, towels, my big box of dye solutions, etc.), but I tried it once, and it was okay, and the second time I went, it was awesome. I dyed 15lbs in a day; my one-day record so far.

And just a short time ago, two or three more offers came in. One for an actual studio four blocks from my house, with a totally affordable rent, and one for occasional use of another indie dyer's garage, which is her own dye workspace. The first, I can't use now -- studio and newborn are just unmixable things -- but how amazing is it that, after only 6-8 months of starting the process of looking for this very particular thing, I found it?

I don't believe that the Universe is interested in my happiness one way or the other. I don't believe that anyone or anything ethereal listens when you say what you want. I do, however, believe that articulating what you want, to yourself first and foremost, and then to others, can provide impressive results. Get clear on what you want, so that you recognize it when it happens, that's what I think. And it's happening.

I have only one picture for you today: a pair of Knucks knit from a skein of my Bordering on the Avant Garde yarn.

More Knitting than Usual

2008-11-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

One of the effects of me making teaching a significant part of my business is that I'm spending a whole lot more time knitting than I had been, and I didn't realize how much I'd missed it. I never stopped, but I was doing pretty minor things -- a pair of mittens here, socks there, now and then a hat. Now, I'm spending a lot of time making up demo projects for classes and trying to come up with simple projects that showcase my yarn. It's kind of nice, to have stuff on the go.

I've been knitting a sweater for my Sweaters Without a Pattern class out of the tweed yarn I handspun a while back. I'm so in love with this yarn, i can't tell you. It's springy and robust but still soft on the skin, and the way it's knitting up, showing off those little bits and pieces of

leftover fiber bits from my previous spinning -- love, total love. I didn't have quite enough for a sweater to fit me, though, and I agonized for a bit. I could just make a sweater for my daughter, and it would be lovely, but I worked so hard on making this yarn that I couldn't quite bear the thought of it not being for me. I could set the yarn aside for a vest, and make the sweater from different yarn, but I'm not exactly rolling in money, and if I could make the demo project without spending money, that would be better.

I decided to go to the yarn store and see if there was something interesting I could use for the cuffs and button bands, maybe a bit of detailing, and I struck gold. I struck Noro. Their new yarn, Yuzen, is an interesting crispy texture, and the silk content gives it a bit of a sheen. And they had a colourway that could not have been a better match for my tweed.

Here is the project in progress, half the body and the sleeves done, ready to be joined up for the raglan shoulder. If you want to lick the screen, then you're like me.

I can't knit anymore on the sweater until a week from now, when I demonstrate how to do an armscye and how to assemble the pieces to begin the raglan shaping, but I was enjoying the pretty mindless knitting on chunky yarn. I decided to cast on for a felted bag.

I've said in the past that it makes me cry when I find out that someone wants to felt my yarn, but I can see the appeal -- the colours are lovely, and it does felt like a dream. So I chose some colours:

Mindless knitting, pretty colours -- I can see the appeal. Will keep you posted.

Class news: By popular demand, I'm running a Beginner's Knitting class that begins this Thursday evening. I hadn't anticipated that Beginner Knitting would be the one with the highest demand, but now I know -- next Winter, I'll run it twice. There is going to be a 2-session Mittens class beginning on Saturday Nov 22 that I think will be fun. I'm teaching a pattern that can be used with any yarn, for any size hands. I like any pattern that starts "choose any yarn you like."

Some pretty things to look at

2008-10-20T16:21:00.001-07:00

In the past couple days a few people have sent me pictures of what they have done with my yarn, and I thought I'd share.

Firstly, some crocheting. I can crochet, but I usually don't, so I'm glad to see an example of my yarn used for a purpose rather different from the one I usually put it to. I've seen crocheting done up in handspun yarn, and the effect is very interesting. The colour blending that you get with the combination of stitch and yarn is really unique.

Next, a use I often put my yarn to -- mittens. Can never have too many mittens, I'd say.

Lastly, a contribution by a Torchwood fan and nascent spinner:

It's been a slow and quiet month. I started my weaving class, and it's been interesting. So far, I don't find weaving nearly as rhythmic and relaxing as knitting, but I'm new, so it's bound to feel clumsy and difficult right now. I've been neglecting my bookkeeping, doing no dyeing whatsoever, and playing around with the drum carder from time to time. I now know that I can drum card 8 batts in an hour. Hey, when you're crafting for profit, you need to know these things. I'm just adding it to the pile of Facts of Limited General Application that I have.

Mostly I've been concentrating on the teaching, this month. Three out of four scheduled classes have gone ahead, and I've enjoyed all of them. My Sweaters Without a Pattern class is beginning this Wednesday evening, and I'm looking forward to it -- I love teaching this class. I love taking a group of knitters and empowering them to knit stuff just the way they want it, in exactly the yarn they want. Freedom from the tyranny of the pattern! Not that there isn't a time and a place for a good pattern, but it's not *every* time. The class has four students in it right now so it will definitely go ahead, but there's room for a few more if anyone is interested. A fun time will be had.

Cautiously Optimistic

2008-09-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

The nice thing about being a small business is that I'm very, very flexible. I don't have employees with specialized skills whose time needs to be used wisely, I don't have to pay rent on a separate business space, and I don't have large standing orders that need to be fulfilled or else I lose customers. When something changes, I can change with it.

This is not to say that it's easy, change, no matter what the circumstance. I had a rhythm going. I had regular customers and a fairly predictable set of activities that I would do over the course of a week or a month. Then I needed to stop dyeing in the house, and everything had to be rethought.

However -- I've been thinking and researching and planning these past weeks, and I think I have a workable plan. Here it is.

Firstly, my experiments with Wilton's and my research on the subject (which mostly consisted of talking to a lot of dyers on Ravelry who have used it and various other dyes) has led me to believe that it is not the answer to my problems. I believe I would be sacrificing too much in terms of my results (can't get the colourways I want) if I switched to food dye. So it has to be the toxic stuff.

However, I have figured out how to do a limited amount of dyeing on my front porch. How miserable this strategy makes me in January remains to be seen; it probably behooves me to stockpile a bit. I'm also investigating taking part in Felicia Lo's (Sweet Georgia's) shared studio, a project that she's setting up so that several of the casual and small independent dyers, weavers, and spinners (both business people and hobbyists) can have a suitable space for their activities. I'm not the only dyer out there with the problem of how to use toxic dye without polluting one's living space.

Secondly, the fiber sales are not kaput, but they will be limited. I will not wholesale my fiber, except for the carded batts that I offer to the two local stores I sell through. I will continue to sell some fiber on Etsy and to those who know me well enough to send an email that says "hey what do you have right now, can you send me a picture?"

Thirdly, I need to sell a lot more yarn. I haven't pushed the yarn sales because my fiber sales were doing so well. My yarn sales were mostly wholesales through Three Bags Full and Black Sheep Yarns. This was perfectly satisfactory to me -- the volume was high enough that the cut I take on the wholesale price still leaves me sufficiently compensated for my spinning time, and the online fiber sales made up the rest of my paycheque. Now, though, I need to somehow convince The Internet to buy more yarn. I can do this. I just have to put my mind to the marketing problem.

The last part of the strategy is teaching, which is ramping up about now. My beginners class at Black Sheep will begin this week, and it already has 5 or 6 people in it -- which is awesome. There are three or four more classes already scheduled at the shop, and once I find out whether my Arts Centre classes are going ahead, I'll be able to firmly schedule a bunch more for later in the Fall.

So that's that. I feel much less panicked than I did a couple weeks ago. I'm heavily buoyed up by yesterday's success -- I handpainted some BFL and cooked it in my new, standalone turkey roaster which lives on the front porch. Here is the roaster:

And here is the 3lbs of wool I painted:

3lbs is almost nothing compared to my previous production, but I'm still working out the details. It's a bit like going back to stovetop cooking, this roaster, and managing convection and colour splitting is something I'm having to re-learn. The batches are slow, very slow, so far, and I can't queue them up like I could with my oven method. I probably won't have many more 10 lb days, but hey, that's fine -- I'm mostly dyeing to supply my own spinning, and I can only spin so fast. Slow is fine.

Lastly -- I have had my final Farmer's Market. For some reason, this season has been the pits for sales at the market. Dunno why, but it has. So I've cancelled my last two scheduled days, because I have more productive ways to spend my time than huddling outside in the cold. The market was awesome while it lasted, and I'll continue to shop there, but my days as a vendor are over for now.

Hear that squealing noise? Those were my brakes.

2008-08-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

This past week, I've been going through some major changes. I have to stop dyeing the way I have been.

For the time being, I can't use the Ciba dyes inside my house. I'm too concerned about traces of the dye getting into my system and into my family's system. I mix the powders in the little laundry nook in my bedroom (wearing gloves and a respirator), but I have some concern about the powders spreading out into the sleeping space. I mix the dye stocks in the laundry room too, which involves opening and closing a lot of jars, all of which have dried dye on the edge, which can spread more powder.

I handpaint the fibers in my kitchen. I put down a big shower curtain with a towel on top of it, but still, splashes occur, and since I'm still opening and closing plastic tubs with dried dye around the edge, there's probably some powder spreading. In the cooking area.

Step 1: No dye in the house. It's on my covered front porch now, in a big wooden bin.

Step 2: Figure out how to colour fiber without going back on Step 1.

So this is where I am. I see two options: use new dye, or dye outside the house.

The new dye possibility is Wilton's. Wilton's is an icing dye, available for purchase at Michael's Craft Store. It's expensive, but it's a cost I don't mind eating if it makes a difference. The reports on Wilton's aren't great, though. It's very difficult to manage (some of the colours -- several of the colours, in fact -- split like crazy, making predictable results hard to achieve), and it's not as light- and colour-fast as the professional grade dyes. I know of one Etsy seller who is very successful using it, but I'm skeptical. And my early experiments have not gone well. I'd post a picture of the bad, bad colours, but it's just embarrassing. Also, there isn't a decent black with Wilton's.

i just got tipped off about a "Green" dye with no heavy metals in it. I have contacted the company about their MSDS sheet and am waiting to hear. We'll see.

The other option is to dye outside my house. This would involve having someone else mix my dye stocks (I'm sure I can find a teenager who will do it for the right price), and having me retreat to my covered front porch to mix my colours and paint the wool. I would dye using a crock pot and maybe this cooker I found at Canadian Tire. I hear Felicia of Sweet Georgia uses an outdoor turkey roaster, and I'll be emailing her about that. The downside of this option is that a) it's cold and damp out there for most of the next 6 months, and b) it's a bit expensive, what with cooking outside and all the heat waste that implies.

Whichever of these options I choose, it still means that I'm pretty much only making enough fiber for my own spinning purposes. I can't see doing production dyeing with these methods. I might be able to do some fiber sales in the form of carded batts, and I'm willing to try to expand that, but so far my batts haven't been big sellers.

No fiber sales, that hurts. Fiber sales is 80% of my business right now, and for the past few months I've sold close to $1000 worth each month. Putting a total stop to that will hurt my bottom line, and I'm not doing this business as a hobby. It's a valuable part of my household budget.

The bright side is that, if ever there was a time to really push my yarn sales, the beginning of autumn is it. And I have 5 knitting classes starting in a few weeks; hopefully that will become a more significant source of income. And teaching? Completely non-toxic. I can do lots of that, and no protective equipment is necessary.

So that's where I'm at -- going out of my tree, more or less. Any attempt at helpful information or friendly hand-holding will be appreciated.

Coming Events

2008-08-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

Just briefly, here are some places you can find me in the upcoming weeks.

Farmer's Market dates: August 24, September 14, October 5, October 26

Classes at Black Sheep Yarns: Sock Knitting, Project Support, Foundation Skills, Beginner Knitting.
Classes at the Port Moody Arts Centre: Freeform Knitting, Sweaters without a Pattern.

And of course I'll be spending an absurd amount of time at Black Sheep Yarns just hanging out, because there is now a yarn store within blocks of my house and I can.

Summer Hiatus, apparently

2008-08-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean to take a hiatus, but it seems to have happened. It was an accident though. I have the time to work and I want to work, but it seems that I've been ordering such a high volume of supplies that I've been cleaning my supplier out, and then getting caught in her supply dip when I want to reorder. It has happened twice this summer. Once, I had a forced break of only a week, and that was fine, I just devoted myself to spinning, but this last break lasted three weeks. I had no supplies, I had a rapidly dwindling stock, and I could do nothing whatsoever about it.

I do not mean to criticize my supplier -- I have nothing but love for her service, her attention to quality, and her prices. I'm just growing is all. I am working out a deal for a standing order with her, and that should help. She's growing too -- namely, she's growing some storage space so she can keep more in stock, herself -- and the timing is perfect for that. With any luck, this won't happen again.

I did get my first box of supplies on Tuesday: 5 lbs of Corrie, 22 lbs of BFL, 1 lb of Wensleydale just to try, and another pound of wool/soysilk which is oh so pretty. I have attempted to work. My mom is visiting though, so you really can't blame me for taking Tuesday afternoon off to go see Brideshead Revisited instead. And yesterday, I apparently pissed off the gods of electronics. I had Internet connectivity troubles all day (this is unrelated to the dyeing), and my electronic scale went on the fritz. If I can't weigh the wool, I can't dye the wool.

As a result, although I got supplies on Tuesday, this is all I have managed to achieve:

That's 4 lbs of BFL. 4. On a decent single day, I can do 7, and that's if they're all handpainted colourways. If I mix up some semi-solids in my workload, on a day when I'm burning through the wool I can do 12. So 4 -- not so impressive. But as I keep reminding myself, there is NO SUCH THING as a wool emergency, so I try not to fret. But still, I'm feeling less than impressed with my output.

Something I am impressed by, though, is this:

For those of you playing the home game, that's tweedy yarn, spun from those mixed batts that were cluttering up my desk a few entries back. I am so beyond thrilled with this yarn I can hardly tell you. I'm spinning it long draw, so it's a little uneven, which is perfect; I'm going for a look that's really sort of arty. I plan to use this yarn in my next Sweaters Without a Pattern class that I'll be teaching at the Port Moody Arts Centre this fall. I always like to have a personal project to do so that I can demo the various techniques on a real project.

In other news, Black Sheep Yarns is days away from opening. I'm so delighted by this development. For one, Port Moody is ready for an upscale yarn store. The local knitters are numerous and artistic, and are apparently tired of driving to Maple Ridge or Vancouver for good yarn. Now me, I spent a decade living in a very boring town that was 2 hours from any really good yarn stores, so driving 35 minutes to Main Street to visit Three Bags Full was always just fine with me, but that's me. Living away from a decent city for so long, I relish the chance to go a mere half hour away to be in the midst of the interesting people, the cool shops, and the swank little coffee shops with wireless access.

However, a local yarn store -- really local -- is fantastic. And it's excellent for me, because I finally have a teaching home. I've been given more or less carte blanche to offer whatever classes i want, at whatever schedule I want. I'll still teach a couple classes at the Arts Centre (Freeform Knitting and Sweaters, this fall), but most of my teaching will happen at Black Sheep. I absolutely love teaching knitting, love to share my passion and my skill, so I have great hopes that I'll get to do a lot more of it now than I could at the Arts Centre.

The expected opening day for the new store is August 19, and the first knit night will be held the night before.

Lastly, here is a picture of cute children with a sheep. I took my daughter to Maplewood Farm the other week, and she loved it. She fed bunnies who were stuffed but tried to be polite and take a few nibbles of the profferred apple wedges, frowned at goats who were trying to nibble her shoelaces, and petted the sheep. I petted the sheep too. Or rather, I crouched down and poked at their fleece, gauging it for staple length, texture, and crimp. As the sheep looked back at me with an unmistakable "What *are* you doing?!" look on its face, I thought, most people probably don't do this.

Reflection

2008-07-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Last night, I went to give a talk to the West Coast Knitters Guild. There are a number of fiber related guilds in town: The WCKG mentioned above, the Greater Vancouver Weavers and Spinners (a chapter of the Northwest Weavers Guild), the Coquitlam Weavers and Spinners Guild, something in Maple Ridge, something in Langley. This area is lousy with fiber artists! In my travels, I've met a lot of them, and I've been invited to check out many of the local guilds and groups.

My family life is such that evening activities aren't practical right now, so I have to keep saying "thanks, but no" to the invitations. But I did thoroughly enjoy checking out the Guild last night. I met some local fiber artists as well as knitting enthusiasts. I got to talk dye technique, and say "why thank you!" to people who complimented my colour choices.

I was sorry that I had to hightail it out of there before the meeting was over, but with a 7:30 meeting and a 40 minute drive eachh way, that was the price for going at all. And it was fair. My motto these days, for getting through this busy time when my child is young, is this: "You can have it all, but just not much of it, and not all at once." It makes me sanguine about taking a hors d'oeuvres approach to my life.

I drove home watching the sunset light bounce around the haze that always seems to cover this city, making the North Shore mountains look like glowing shadows. I was blissfully alone and listening to my iPod, which was somehow feeding me a lot of my favourite songs all at once despite being on random play.

If there has been a theme of the last year, a principle I have learned, it's this: jump in bravely and do what you like, and good things will come from it.

I don't remember what I did that led to it, but in the spring, I was invited to demonstrate Freeform Knitting for the Port Moody Arts Centre's Arts 4U day, a day of demonstrating various arts and crafts to locals as part of the PoMo Arts Festival. I had never heard of freeform knitting before this point, but I jumped in. The day was fun, the demo was a success, and at the end of the day, one of the people at the Centre asked me if I'd be interested in teaching knitting there in the Fall. Paid work, teaching something I love and am an expert at, two blocks from my house on a schedule that I determine? Why yes, thank you. I would be interested.

Putting in a table at the farmer's market led to be being noticed by a writer for the local paper, Sarah Payne, a tremendous supporter of local artists and artisans. The article was open on the table the day Helen, of the soon-to-open Black Sheep Yarns, told her husband she thought she might like to open a yarn store, and what did he think? He turned the paper towards her and said, "I think there might be a local market for that, yeah." And the store is going to be my new teaching home in a couple months. That little cause-and-effect loop kind of gives me chills, the kind you get when the pieces are just so perfect you can practically hear the "click."

And last night, I had another little moment. As I said, getting to the Guild meeting was a bit of a labour, and definitely not something I can do regularly. But I was flattered to have been invited by Linda, who works at Three Bags Full, who sell my yarn and fiber and have been tremendously important to me for both the personal encouragement the owners and staff have given me, and for my local marketing. As I was setting up, I was approached by a notable local fiber artist who is working on setting up a fiber arts studio on Granville Island (for non-locals, pretend I just said "Soho"). She wanted to talk to me about being involved somehow, as a supplier at least. I kept my cool, but it tripped off all kinds of dreams of being artistic and fabulous in a Granville Island studio.

There have been a lot of little things, too. The friends, well-wishers, students, and business tips I have picked up by being at the Farmer's Market have been invaluable. The spinning class I just finished netted me some new friends, new customers, one student, and a drum carder, not to mention an acquaintance with Irene Weisner, a formidable force for craft about whose support and practical help I cannot say enough.

I have dyed the colours I liked without regard for what I thought other people wanted, and it turned out other people liked those colours too. And strangest of all, when I started dyeing wool in Whoverse-themed colours, I found all these people who were obsessive fans of both fiber *and* the Whoverse. Talk about a niche market, but I wouldn't have found it if I hadn't been just mostly making myself happy.

I don't believe that The Universe is taking care of me; I don't believe in The Secret. It's not my bent to believe in mysterious forces that do right by us if we're virtuous enough. I'm feeling awfully fortunate right now though, and just at the moment I'm rather taken by the picture that has presented itself. I took a real leap about a year ago when I decided to throw myself into something that had no guarantee whatsoever of being a viable job. I jumped in with both feet though, said yes to all kinds of things just because it pleased me to do so, and what I have in front of me at the moment is a wealth of something we all dream of: work that I love. And I couldn't be happier -- unless someone has figured out a way for me to do everything I want to, and still get 8 hours sleep? No?

My desk clutter has changed

2008-07-04T09:34:00.000-07:00

My desk clutter used to be like most people's desk clutter. Bills that need to be paid, papers that need to be filed, a book in progress, pens that may or may not work, and a half-drunk cup of coffee from earlier in the week. But it's different now. Now I have a baby bottle full of olive oil that I was using to oil my wheel because I couldn't be bothered to go buy the proper kind, 13 batts of burgundy-based fiber blend destined to become tweed yarn, a spare bobbin, some thrift store yarn that will be used to attach labels to my stuff, some exciting sparkly eyelash yarn destined to be the binder in a wild boucle, a bag full of assorted fiber gifted to me by a friend, my case of knitting accessories -- and that half-drunk cup of coffee. Today's anyway.

Does the Fly Lady have anything to say about fiber kipple?

Meet my new baby

2008-06-27T10:39:00.001-07:00

I now have visual aids to help those of you not already imbued with carded-batt lust understand what the big deal is.

Here is my new drum carder, and a basket of fiber "nibbles" (1 oz bits) that I am preparing to blend by carding:

I'm sorry to say that I don't know what kind of carder I bought. I have a piece of paper that tells me. All I know is, it was a price I could afford, and good deal according to Irene the Fiber Goddess who brokered the deal, and after I fiddled with the positioning of the drum for a bit, it works. So I'm as happy as can be.

Here is a before and during photo -- the dyed roving before carding, and a drum with a batt on it, not yet removed:

Here is what a batt looks like, carefully folded and glowing in today's lovely sunshine:

And here is my in progress, personal carding project -- my attempt to make something like tweed. I'm using some dark BFL that I dyed burgundy, and all of my considerable leftover bits of wool from the past several months' spinning:

I can't wait to spin it up. I plan a worsted weight yarn done long-draw, to preserve the excellent wooliness of the BFL. If all goes well, I'll use the wool for my next self-designed sweater. I always make a personal project as a model when I teach my 8-week class in knitting sweaters without a pattern. For the past two classes, I've done a kid's sweater so I could be sure that I would finish each stage in time to demonstrate it, but I'm feeling ambitious these days (must be the sunshine). My Fall teaching at the Port Moody Arts Centre is confirmed, and my sweaters class is going ahead pending registration, so I have until September to finish the spinning. Maybe I'll knit the body in advance, come to think of it; that doesn't need to be demo'd.

Weather into the weekend is good, and if the Port Moody Knitters group on Ravelry is anything to go by, it looks like we'll have at least a half-dozen people at this weekend's Fiber Party, maybe more. I'm looking forward to it.

Party at My Place!

2008-06-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, I'll be at the farmer's market for my scheduled day, and I'm throwing a party. I'm going to be hanging out, spinning, and playing with a drum carder. And while that sounds like a perfectly fun time to spend all by myself, or just with the friend who is bringing the drum carder, it would be a lot *more* fun if there were lots of fibery people all together.

So, I'm throwing a party, a fiber party at my market booth. Bring some fiber if you want to play with the carder (or buy some of mine); bring hand cards. Bring your spinning wheel or your drop spindle. Bring a pair of knitting needles and you WIP, or bring a crochet hook and stand tall as a representative of the beleaguered-but-belligerent hookers out there.

Also bring your own chair, and possibly some sunblock.

Location: Coquitlam Farmer's Market (click here for directions)
Time: 9am to 1pm

What do you think? Who's in?

WWKIP

2008-06-13T07:46:00.001-07:00

This Saturday, June 14th, is World Wide Knit In Public Day. I did not make that up. I have no particular feelings on the subject of this day, but I like any excuse for knitters to get out and publicly fondle each others projects, so I'll be going to at least one of the six events happening in the Lower Mainland.

Specifically, I will be attending the Port Moody get together, which will be held from 11am to 1pm in front of the Social Rec. Centre here in PoMo (that's the building that has been under construction for the past 3 years, to the right of the library). Fingers crossed for sun, because if there is rain, there is no backup plan.

If you're on Ravelry, there is a thread devoted to the PoMo KIP day here.)

I will be raffling off a skein of my handspun at the KIP, and the price of entry is to knit a bit on the baby blanket I'm working on. I hand dyed 20 skeins of gorgeous superwash merino in different shades of blue, and I'm making a lovely log cabin blanket, but I want as many hands as possible to work on the gift; just as many hands help a mother to care for her baby.

Hope to see some of you tomorrow!

Keepin' it real

2008-06-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

I've been taking a proper spinning class, and despite the humbling feeling of not knowing how to make my fingers interact with the fiber in such a way as to produce knittable yarn, I've been enjoying it tremendously. But this week, I'm positively singing with creative possibilities.

On the first day of the class, we touched raw fleece and did a little carding, to get the feel for how to separate and then line up the fibers, how to draft and add enough twist. The carding was cool, and it did produce the most lovely little fiber nibbles, but I couldn't honestly see how it was useful for doing volume work -- and it's not. It's a technique for those who have all the time in the world to just enjoy fondling fibers.

Cut to now, some 9 classes later, and we're all working on the long draw drafting technique. For those of you who don't spin, it's like this -- you build up a bunch of twist on a short bit of the yarn you have just made, pinching it so the twist doesn't travel down, then (if all goes well) you quickly swoop your fiber-holding hand down and away, and a perfectly even strand appears almost like magic from the fiber mass.

If all goes well. In practice, my early experiments with this technique have led to slubs, micro-fine thread, and broken bit after broken bit.

I'm not tangenting. Back to fiber preparation now. Last week, we were given some dyed but otherwise unprocessed Romney wool, and told to card and spin it. Carding, as well as neatening up the lanolin-covered fibers considerably, blended the colours up -- yum. Here is my basket of hand carded, sprinkle-dyed, raw romney locks:

I spun them using the long draw method, and even though the fibers were not expertly carded (read: they were still tangled), and even though they were sticky as all get-out with lanolin, I still managed a relatively smooth (read: I didn't keep breaking the strand as I made it) long draw. I felt proud. (I'd show you the yarn I spun, but there is no good light for taking a picture right now; I'll try to take one tomorrow.)

Today in class, I used the drum carder. I created a batt, which is much like a rolag except bigger. The fibers were all aligned, but they were so airy and light, they just drafted like a dream. I actually achieved the "swoop" with very little breakage and slubbing.

So, here are the pieces I have put together now. 1) Home fiber preparation, leading to airy fibers and the possibility of creating my own blends of fiber type and colour. 2) A successful, quick long-draw.

Suddenly, exciting yarn possibilities are open to me. Heathered yarn, which is made from different coloured fibers blended together to create a single colour of marvellous depth and movement, like watershot taffeta, is a possibility now. Tweed is possible.

Did you hear me? Tweed. Am I the only one who gets a somewhat indecent thrill at the idea of a gorgeous tweed?

I have this bag of dark blue faced leicester that I've been saving to do something special with, and I think I have a plan now. I'm going to dye it either blue-red or magenta. I'm going to drum card it with flecks of electric blue, canary yellow, and forest green. I'm going to make tweed batts, spin it up to a worsted or aran weight, and make myself a sweater. A hooded sweater -- it will be my demo project for the next class I teach in knitting sweaters without a pattern.

Then I will never take it off, not ever.

Anyone have a drum carder for sale? I'm looking to buy.

My Market Schedule

2008-05-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

For interested locals, here are the dates I'll be at the Coquitlam Farmer's Market this season.

June 8, 29;
July 20;
August 10, 24;
September 14; and
October 5, 26.

I usually bring all yarn but just some of the available fiber. If you ever see anything in my Etsy shop that you want me to be sure to bring, just let me know the day before.

Creative Process

2008-05-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

So here's a little collage that I just spent way too much time making. It would have taken less time, except that I really don't know what I'm doing with Photoshop, so using it involves a lot of trial and error. I'm a little better with InDesign, which in hindsight is probably what I should have used...but live and learn.

Anyway, this photo collage shows a creative process, just for those of you who are curious to see the steps. It starts with a picture, a colour combo that I found compelling. Muted red, cherry red, black, and hints of grey. I dyed the roving in these colours, taking care to put the black in such a way that it would blend with the adjacent colours, creating a streakiness rather than a solid block of colour -- just like the tie. You can see that somewhat in the bobbin of singles that is pictured. Then, plying blends the colours further, and we have yarn!

I'm not sure whether I'll be keeping this skein for myself or selling it. I'm going to look at it and pet it for awhile. I may dye more roving in this colourway on Friday; we'll see.

Buy Local

2008-05-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to remind folks that I will be at the Coquitlam Farmer's Market tomorrow. I have a huge variety of my yarn, so if you want to see everything I have all at once, the Market is the place to do that.

I have less fiber than I'd like though. My sales this month have been overwhelming -- which is great! -- so my stock is low. I have 18 lbs of BFL on order that will likely arrive in time for me to dye on Friday, so expect new stuff to start being available as of May 26th.

I have returned to making sock yarn. I took a long break from doing that, because I just wasn't satisfied with what I was producing -- it didn't match the picture in my mind. I've been learning tons from my spinning class though, and the other day I produced a 165 gram skein of DK weight yarn that makes me really happy. It's here, if you want to see. I used a worsted drawing technique, fresh fiber, low tension, and very even plying -- I'm very happy with the results. Happy enough that I might, just might, make more.

If you're in the GVA, come visit me tomorrow!

Preschooler Surprise

2008-05-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

I finished the Baby Surprise Jacket, and I'm thrilled with it. I just followed the standard EZ pattern, but with a much larger-gauge yarn than she suggests. If you do this yarn in the suggested worsted weight yarn (I think worsted...maybe smaller), you get a jacket for a baby. If you do it in my yarn, which is an Aran weight, you get this:

That's my sizeable 3 year old, who usually wears a 4T.

The jacket is proportioned for a baby, hence the short arms. I could pick up stitches along the sleeves and lengthen them, but I rather like the short sleeve. The number of handknit sweaters I end up washing because they got a little food or paint just on the edge of the sleeves is large. Maybe this will cut down a bit on the washing -- dare to dream.

Specifics: I knit this particular jacket from 5 skeins of my own soft-spun yarn. I used a 5mm needle, but I'm a really loose knitter, so a more typical knitter may wish to use a 6 or 6.5mm needle. I had very little of those skeins left over when the project was done. If you wanted to lengthen the sleeves, you'd want 6 skeins. Garter stitch is lovely, but it does tend to eat yarn. Still, the resulting fabric is so squooshy and yum, I think the yarn-consumption is worth it.

The photo shoot was a bit of a challenge. You know how it is. The second your small child senses that you *really* want her to try something on, that is the one time she absolutely will not do it. And if they do it, they will run away from the camera when you pull that out and ask for just one picture.

Here is my daughter 'hiding' from the camera.

Tomorrow is Got Craft, and I have the usual pre-show jitters. I'm afraid I won't have enough stuff, I'm afraid no one will buy anything, I'm afraid I'll have not enough breakfast and too much coffee and be a manic mess whenever I try to talk to anyone, prompting the public at large to start referring to me as "that insane yarn lady." (I'm pretending that they don't already.)

At least I have a ride. My car broke down on Wednesday, and the garage I like can't look at it until Monday...and how will I get downtown with all my stuff you ask? Fortunately, the Skytrain is not involved, as amusing as it would be to carry 8 garbage bags full of wool on public transit. No, instead, the lovely and generous Amanda of Ebbandflo Designs, a vendor at Got Craft who just happens to live near me, will be giving me a lift. Me and my giant bags of wool. Fortunately, she sells jewellery which is small.

I am so buying her lunch.

Natural Progression

2008-04-30T16:52:00.001-07:00

After considerable time spent in front of my wheel, listening to audiobooks and Massive Attack, I have spun 60 new skeins of yarn. Here are 40+ of them, drying outside -- actually drying, not just dripping until they match the ambient humidity of the Pacific Northwest outdoors in spring. I do love the improvements in the weather -- I was having a hard time staying happy, with all the grey skies. Sun make Kirsten happy.

This is all in preparation for Got Craft? this Sunday, May 4th. I'm looking forward to the show. I've been watching the vendor profiles go by on the show's blog, and I'm excited to be in such creative and accomplished company. If you're in the GVA on Sunday, it looks as though this show will be well worth the $2 admission.

Tomorrow -- labeling! My least favourite job, but a necessity.

Moving too fast to blog...

2008-04-25T15:13:00.001-07:00

I just looked in my little dyeing notebook -- I keep something resembling actual records now, which is a big shift for me -- and it tells me that I have dyed 19 3/4 lbs of wool this week. That's probably a record, although of course I can't be sure since I just started keeping this notebook. It's a lot of wool, in any case. More than 50% of that will be sold as fiber, but I aim to have a good 30% of it spun up by Thursday of next week (the last day I can have skeins in the water for finishing, and still have them dry by Sunday). My to do list -- it's colourful, but it's long.

So I'm moving a little too fast to blog at the moment. I would love to show you what 19.75 lbs looks like, but honestly, some of it is in my spinning basket, some of it is already braided up, some is piled up waiting to be braided, some is still wet outside and one pound is still in my oven. I can show you what Day 1 of dyeing looked like:

My big success this week is finally creating a "Ianto" roving that is exactly what I pictured in my head. This colourway involves two shades of purple, and my violet dye is one of those that intensifies 10x in the dyepot -- purple has often defeated me. My solution was to stop using that dye to try to create purple. Instead, I use red, magenta, turquoise, and cobalt in various combinations to get the shades I want. So I'm very pleased. Not only did I get the roving to turn out just like I wanted it, but I know what I did, so I can reliably duplicate my results. Probably. Won't know until I try again! I also (to continue the Whoverse theme) redid my Tardis colourway and got results I'm pleased with -- but I'm still going to refine that one. I'll post my Tardis roving tomorrow on Etsy.

Lastly, my BSJ is finished except for blocking and buttons. It should fit a largish 2 year old, and it took 5 skeins of Yummy Yarn. It's sooo cushy and pretty.

BSJ progress

2008-04-17T09:54:00.001-07:00

Just a couple pictures. Here is the project as it appeared on Monday -- yarn chosen, pattern available, cast on done:

The yarn is my own, in colours Grape Jelly, Rose-A-Lee, and Mocha-Chocolata.

Here it is today:

Another day or two, and the knitting will be done. The Baby Surprise Jacket done with thick yarn -- delightful. The thing I love about instant gratification knitting is that the gratification is so, well, instant.

It's coming out about the right size for a two year old, which is what I expected. I may lengthen the sleeves a bit with a perpendicular garter stitch border; I may not. I don't know who will eventually wear the jacket, but it's a lovely demo piece for my yarn.

Studio Tour, and a Sunny Day

2008-04-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

I had an excellent day today. It was one of those sun-is-shining spring days where all the neurons are popping, and I feel electric with ideas and possibilities and optimism. The sun is just part of it. Today, I had my third spinning class, and I think I finally have sorted the difference between woolen and worsted, both as fiber preparations and drafting techniques. It remains to do some scientific experimenting -- use the same fiber to spin roughly the same weight of yarn in four different ways (woolen prep/woolen draft, worsted/worsted, and both semi-worsted yarns), then knit them, then examine them in lots of light and possibly given all 4 swatches a serious wash and rub to see how they wear.

Usually I'm not very scientific -- my dye mixing technique is solidly in the "a little of this and a little of that" camp, and note taking is an occasional afterthought. But I can't yet see some of the differences I'm looking for, but I want to be in control of the yarn that I spin so that I can make decisions about technique to produce a desired effect. I need to do what it takes for me to be able to see the differences.

I'll keep you posted on this project.

After my spinning class, I visited Three Bags Full to deliver some promised rovings, and I found all four of the Elizabeth Zimmerman books that I had wanted to see in person. I settled on The Opinionated Knitter and Knitting Around. The Knitters Almanac frankly doesn't contain projects that interest me, although I'm intrigued by the concept of knitted tights, and the book based on her TV series is a bit redundant, since I have the DVDs.

EZ always gets me inspired. The new books, along with my teacher's exhortations to be seen knitting my own yarn more often, are combining to inspire me to make my first Baby Surprise Jacket with my own soft-spun yarn. As soon as my husband comes home, I'll head out to the car (I ought not to leave the three year old alone in the house) to bring in the rest of the yarn that's still in the trunk from the weekend show, and choose my colours. I'm thinking two or three purples, and a lovely brown.

The Studio Tour was cool -- i met some neat fellow artists and artisans, I explained how to make yarn to a lot of kids, and I explained the mechanics of the spinning wheel to lots of all kinds of people. I really enjoyed myself, but I'm wiped, as usual.

No rest for the self-employed though. Today's full schedule of class and a sales call was technically my "day off," and tomorrow I have to hit the dyepots -- I'm completely out of fiber. If you want my fiber, head down to Three Bags Full, they have everything.

I Haz a TARDIS!

2008-04-11T21:29:00.001-07:00

This is attempt #1 at dyeing a TARDIS colourway, and I'm pretty pleased with the first attempt. My next attempt with make the greenish parts a little more blue, and will add some of the darker tones, but hey waddya think for a first try?

Coming Events

2008-04-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a couple public events in the upcoming weeks, and they are these:

April 12-13, noon to 5pm: The ArtsConnect Port Moody Studio Tour. This annual event is a chance for the public to visit many of Port Moody's several artists in their own studios, or, in the case of those without public-friendly studios, in public venues. I will be at the Station Museum with my wheel, my yarn, and my fiber. To get the map of the whole event, click here.

May 4, 11am to 5pm: The Got Craft show on Commercial Drive. The Got Craft blog is profiling all the vendors one at a time, so check it out!

May 18: The Coquitlam Farmer's Market begins its 12th season on May 11, and I'll be there as a vendor on May 18. I intend to be there every three weeks, all summer.

And as always, my yarn and fiber is available at Three Bags Full.

"Dear Brown,"

2008-04-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Brown,

I'm sorry to have to write this letter, but I'm afraid we have had some complaints with regard to your behaviour.

I am afraid I must ask you to stop impersonating Orange. You are not orange. I'll grant you, there is a striking resemblance sometimes, but on close inspection, you are about as close to being Orange as a drag queen with visible stubble is to being a beautiful woman.

If you do not cease trying to be Orange, I'm afraid I shall have to take measures. Your job can be done perfectly well if your duties are split between Green and Red, with some occasional help from Black. In fact, given your consistently spotty performance, I am tempted to replace you right now, but as there is some time left in your contract, please consider this to be a stern warning, and try to fulfill your own job function, and no one else's.

Sincerely,

The Dyepot

I'm doing it all wrong

2008-04-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

"Anything worth doing, is worth doing badly."

This has been a mantra of mine for a long time, ever since I read it...somewhere...and I'm reminding myself of it today. Because yesterday, I learned that I was spinning badly. I'm doing it all wrong. And it's the lesson I expected to learn -- I am self-taught after all, and I'm not usually big on autodidacticism, I think it leads to bad habits and stunted skills. So I wasn't shocked and offended or anything, but even still it was a bit of a tough pill to swallow.

It's hard to learn new things at any stage, but when you're a child, there are so few things you know, and even fewer that you know well, so it's not quite as much of a risk to the ego to try doing something new. As we grow older, though, we learn what it feels like to master skills, learning sets, facts, and paradigms. We put it all on the line when we try -- and risk failing at -- something new. It takes, I think, a greater deal of bravery to try something new the older you get. It's why some people simply stop trying new things.

The rewards are tremendous, though. Today, I feel that childlike sense of possibility and confidence, the voice that says, I can't do this, but I'll practice, and then I'll be good! And that feeling is why some other people keep trying new things. When I was little, my mom expressed admiration for an 80-year old friend of hers. For her 80th birthday, this friend asked for an 8-volume set of the history of China. Because she didn't know anything at all about China, and wanted to learn. I was kind of inspired then, and I continue to be now.

The fact that I clearly have so much to learn, more than I thought I did going into this, is good news in one way though. These classes are pricey. They're the perfectly correct price, given that they're comprehensive, thorough lessons taught by a highly skilled instructor, but it's a chunk out of my budget to be taking them, which is one of the reasons I waited this long to sign up. So the good news is this -- since I have so very much to learn, I am definitely getting my money's worth.

Back to it

2008-03-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

Well that was a lovely little break. I have been working, but really, not much. I'm kind of amazed by how long it has taken me (is taking me) to get back to my usual work rhythm. Partly, I was really wiped by Fibrefest, and partly, life just sort of took over. It's the curse of the work-at-home-mom -- if an errand needs to be done, then the one who works at home is going to be the one to give up work time to do it. And I get that, it makes sense. I don't need to book time off with anyone, rearrange meetings, file paperwork with HR. But still, there have been a lot of little things -- holidays that preschool takes but not any other business, illnesses, etc -- and they have taken over 50% of my usual three days a week working time lately.

But I'm back to it! I spent Tuesday communing with the dyepots, and dyed 8lbs of corriedale. The current batch is possibly even lovelier than usual; Hello Yarn is such a great supplier, so reliable and affordable. Can't say enough good about them and their product. Here is some of what I have dyed:

The current batch of BFL is sort of intriguing. It has an incredibly soft hand, and the fibers are long and very fluffy. It's wonderful to spin, soft, a bit soapy/silky to draft. However, there are these regular little tufts of very short hairs. Any spinners know what those are? They must be something that's usually combed out, that wasn't in this batch. Anyway, it's spinning up fine, but I'm having to slow down and be careful when I get to the short-ish bits.

In other news, I have signed up for the comprehensive spinning class at Place des Arts starting next week. Here's my little secret -- I'm a beginner spinner. I can do a couple types of yarn rather well, so I'm confident about what I offer for sale, but my range of skills is not high. I'm looking forward to this course, so that I can learn the basics right from the dirty-fleece stage, fill in gaps in my basic knowledge, and extend my skills so that I can spin different types of fiber with confidence. I have learned as much as I can by myself, with YouTube videos and experimenting, and I'm looking forward to learning from a real live teacher in a classroom situation.

And to close -- here is some yarn to look at. I am still trying to perfect the colourway "Ianto." Torchwood fans -- waddya think of this batch? I didn't get the charcoal element in, quite, but if you see it as just a tie-shirt combo, it's rather good I think.

I love him.

2008-03-11T09:30:00.001-07:00

I will tell you all about Fibrefest, I promise, but I'm still recovering my language skills.

Today, my mom has gone home to Ottawa and my daughter is in preschool all day. I have the day to myself, and I will not be working. I have knitting plans -- the Kauni stranded scarf I started at Fibrefest, maybe, or the double-knitting scarf I started a while back. Don't-bug-me knitting projects, both of them. I have reading plans -- the Spring issue of Bitch magazine came to my house yesterday.

And as to my title -- when I came home from dropping my daughter off, the house was empty, and on a couch cushion was an envelope. On it, my beloved husband had written "Go to a movie, K," and inside was a free movie pass.

I love him.

I've decided to see Juno, all by myself. I love to go see movies by myself. No one to consult on the movie choice, no one to negotiate snack-sharing with, no one else to worry about in any way. It's only-child nirvana.

I made a wool tree!

2008-03-06T15:42:00.000-08:00

Is it wrong to be just a little in love with myself today? 'Cause I am. 'Cause look what sprouted up in my dining room:

I'm very proud of my work. I'm also certain that I haven't done nearly enough to prepare, I don't have enough stock, I'm going to be doing a lot of handing out my business card and hoping people contact me later, but hey, I can't do anything about that now. I have worked my fingers off the last three weeks, I bought as much supplies as I could afford without digging into high-interest credit, and I've accomplished quite a bit. It's a balancing act, doing this small business. I want to keep enough stock around so that anyone who finds me can probably find something to their taste, but not so much that I have more than i can afford tied up in the stock. I want to buy enough supplies to keep my stock high, but not so much that the business is living on credit. So, a balancing act. But an interesting one.

Look! Yarn:

I feel pretty...

2008-03-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

Well, not me precisely. Me, I need a haircut, my roots are severely grown out, and I'm still fighting an unpleasant multi-symptom virus that had me cancelling class on Saturday and, what's more not meeting my spinning quota for the day, but the part of me that I'm all focussed on these days -- the wooly part of me -- that feels awfully pretty. Here is my upstairs half-wall thingy:

And my back patio drying racks:

And two bigass bins o' yarn in my spinning room:

I am actually feeling not completely panicked, not entirely inadequate, not like I am about to be cleaned out of my meagre supplies within moments of Fibrefest's doors opening, leaving me with 15 hours in which to apologize to potential customers that I have nothing to show them.

I had a little burst of energy yesterday and I managed to dye another 4lbs of corriedale, in awfully pretty colours. Not having much in the way of creativity left, I dyed colourways that have been popular in the past and all 4 batches turned out just like I wanted. I spun 12 skeins of yarn as well, and felt generally cheerful in the process.

Did I mention the unexpected not panicking? That was nice.

Today, I'm starting with some relaxing spinning -- a very pretty Shetland roving:

And in case you missed it: Fibrefest is in Abbottsford on March 7-8, *not* at Tradex where it used to be. Follow the link for driving directions, and come visit me there!

I'm hearing the theme from 2001

2008-02-27T08:50:00.000-08:00

Alright, so it's not quite the neverending shot of that spaceship, but I'm pretty sure it's more wool than has ever been on my drying racks all at once. What you see, from back to front: some 2-ply aran weight yarn, which I'm very excited about, a bunch of dyed corriedale, some spun corriedale, and a pile of dyed BFL. All drying a heck of a lot faster outside, now that it isn't raining 24/7 and hovering around zero degrees, than it would inside. I'm out of space, though, so if I manage to get any more yarn made and washed today, some of that fiber will have to be relocated into my "drying closet," aka my guest bathroom which has a lovely powerful heater and a fan.

We're in the soup now. I have a daily quota of at least 10 skeins of yarn to be spun every day for the next 7 days, and that still won't manage to get everything spun and ready. I have had my first experience of sitting down at my wheel and saying to myself, oh no, not more spinning. I promised myself I'd pull back if I ever got to that point, but this is a special time, so I'm just trying to put my head down and meet the goal.

I have a good amount of spinning-entertainment on hand. I've been watching my episodes of Torchwood Season 2 (and we won't talk about how I acquired these eps, which are not being broadcast in Canada yet), I plan to maybe finish of my re-watch of Buffy Season 7 (on re-watching, the season held together a little better than it seemed to at first), and I'm listening to a lot of music. The new Radiohead album is on constant-repeat, and I'm finding that 'vintage' UK punk makes for a rather good spinning rhythm.

My daughter is home today and tomorrow, though, so I expect I'll be watching more Boohbah than I normally would on my own.

The Countdown Begins

2008-02-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

As of today, there are three weeks until Fibrefest. And I cannot begin to envision being ready.

The business has had a strange three months. My sales have seemed to be very low. My December and January farmer's market days were slower than the late summer and early fall days. My Etsy sales, which had been becoming steadier, seemed to drop off completely. And yet, when I look at the account books, my monthly net sales for each month have been about the same. The apparent difference is only that -- apparent. The pattern has been changing, though. Rather than a steady stream of small sales, I have had larger sales at greater intervals. So I have nothing actually to complain about, but this new pattern does get to my nerves somewhat.

I seem to panic about two things: 1) that I'm not selling enough, and I should pack up this silly home-based craft business and get a real job, and 2) that I'm selling too much, and I won't have enough stock for my next market date, craft show, or wholesale order.

Clearly, I'm just in a mood to panic.

I am trying to get a grip. But having three weeks to go until my biggest show to-date, and having in the last month sold some 75 skeins to Three Bags Full, and 21 to a couple other people, I have bare, bare cupboards. So I get to find some (barely) legitimate reason to panic about *both* problems -- not enough stock and fear of no sales -- at the same time. For three weeks.

Maybe I got off the prozac too soon.

Feb 10 Coquitlam Market

2008-02-07T22:17:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note from me to any local readers: I won't be at the Coquitlam Farmer's Market on Sunday. My family suddenly had a chance to take a short trip to Portland, to visit family, so I cancelled my scheduled market day. It's too bad, I love being at the market. I also love my once-a-month chance to stock up on organic beef, artisan bread (have you *tried* the fennel raisin bread? It's to-die.), and beautiful tasty little potatoes. I'm gonna miss the March market too, because it conflicts with Fibrefest -- I think I'll need to send a personal shopper to buy my stuff for me.

Despite being in Portland, I plan to post new things to my shop, at least once a day, for the next 10 days.

In the queue

2008-02-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

I had intended to post a bunch of the soft-spun corriedale that I've been making -- loads of new colourways, all gorgeous, I'm very proud -- but they all got bought before I could post them. Hardly a problem, but a bit of a surprise. It seems that the half-size (as in, 55g instead of 110g) skeins are selling marvellously well at Three Bags Full, much better than the full size, and they wanted to re-stock a mere two weeks after they bought their last batch from me. I'm delighted, but the cupboards are bare. Pictured above is what I managed to spin in four or five days of being at home with a sick child. It's not my usual high rate of production, but the variety is high. I should be able to post one new yarn a day for the next week or so. Which is good, because I'm going to be unable to get any spinning done until Tuesday.

I swear, I haven't gotten a decent stretch of work days since November. Christmas, visitors, illness -- it conspires to take away what little time I have. And getting the two year old to understand that she has to let me spin is a tough sell.

One month until Fibrefest! My goodness, I am *so* not ready. Much work and stockpiling to be done.

7.5 pounds of wet wool

2008-01-26T09:06:00.001-08:00

It doesn't sound like a good time, seven and a half pounds of wet wool, but it depends on what wool, and why it's wet. Check out what I spent 5 hours doing yesterday:

It's hard to tell until it's spun, but on that rack are rovings that will become new batches of Kyoto, Gummy Worms, and Time Held me Green and Dying, as well as a bunch of new colours. Also coming soon, the return of Booberry. I got a couple skeins just right, and four that are too pale -- I'm calling those Son of Booberry.

I'm off to class this morning, and I'm theoretically looking forward to it, but if I had a time machine and could freeze this day a little longer, I'd do it. I have a pounding head, a dripping nose, and a great sense of being very sorry for myself.

Knitting will help, surely. It usually does.

Classes Starting This Week

2008-01-20T18:03:00.001-08:00

I really love teaching knitting, it thrills me like I can hardly explain. I've been in love with knitting since I was a little child. I loved sitting quietly and knitting away, feeling like I was producing something, and I loved experimenting. I've never stopped experimenting and trying to learn new things. There have been times when I sat back for a few months and just made stuff with the skills I already knew, but I was never satisfied for long doing the same thing. Fast forward 27 years from the day I learned, and here I am, with a ton of experience under my belt, able to produce just what I see in my mind (give or take!), and able to empathize with knitters at all skill levels as they go through their own learning curve. Able to give all kinds of useful tips and tricks, the ones I wish someone had been able to tell me when I was figuring out this or that on my own.

So having the opportunity to teach these skills, for decent pay no less, at a lovely establishment two blocks from my house, on my own schedule? It's like I'm living in a happy fiber dreamland.

Which is all to say, here is a little reminder that my classes are starting this week. When I checked last week, the Sweaters class had 4 people and the Knit Cafe had 3 -- so there's room for more, if you're interested. Or if you know a friend.

I'm also planning my summer classes. I'm thinking of taking a scattershot approach, and offering a ton of fun, short, workshop-like classes. Most of them will be 2 hours each class, and the emphasis will be on practising the skills taught -- lots of swatching, lots of experimenting, lots of hands-on playing with yarn.

So far, I'm proposing the following:
Knit Cafe: 5 classes
Adult Beginner Knitting: 5 classes
Stranded Knitting 1: 3 classes
Stranded Knitting 2 (steeking!): 3 classes
Sock Knitting 1: 4 classes
Sock Knitting 2: 4 classes
Freeform Knitting: 3 classes
Basic Sweaters: 8 classes
Cables 1: 2 classes

I'd love to hear ideas and opinions. What sorts of skills do you like to learn in a class? That is, what will cause you to take a class in something rather than buy a book and try it on your own? What length of time do you think is good -- is 2 hours too much? Is 1.5 hours too little? Do you like single-day classes, 2-3 day classes, or longer sessions, like 8 sessions to complete a larger project?

I have big, if vague, plans for the Fall too. I'm hoping that I will have had enough people take my Basic Sweaters class, and some take the Stranded knitting and Cables classes, so that I can offer an Advanced Sweaters class which includes work in cables, colourwork and steeking.

I didn't mean this to be a knitblog...

2008-01-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

And yet the compulsion to take pictures of my projects in progress and report to you on the techniques, materials, etc. is overwhelming. Ah well. I'm gonna go with it until someone complains.

I have been feeling this mania to try new things lately, and my latest experiment is with double knitting. This is a technique whereby you knit a two-sided fabric, working with two contrasting strands of yarn at the same time. It's not actually all that hard, but it is fiddly. I'm refining my technique of holding two yarns on the same hand, and knitting with just one at a time. Here is my scarf in progress:

And here's the magic part -- here is the back of the same piece:

Ta da! Reversible. The pattern is my husband's -- he's a computer programmer, he said something about "Life" (the way he said it made it sound like it ought to be capitalized). It sounded like some kind of pattern that appears in some sort of life-behaviour simulator? I'm unclear. I said he could guest-blog to explain it, when it's done.

But to return to the knitting -- isn't that awesome?! I'm very taken with this technique. The scarf is just the beginning. You can use double-knitting to knit two socks, at the same time, on the same needle, one inside the other. I know -- magic. I wanna do *that* magic trick.

In other people's knitting, here are Inara's mittens, done with my wool and pattern. Aren't they pretty? Like stained glass.

I've been dyeing all week, and I have a bunch of new BFL that will be posted this week. I have a bit of new corriedale dyed, and I have 10lbs in the mail, on its way to me. And for those of you who are local -- Three Bags Full will be getting a new delivery of my rovings on Monday. Anyone wanna meet me on Main Street for coffee and knitting?

Back to the steam

2008-01-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

Today, I'm hitting the dyepots, and hitting them hard. Three Bags Full has indicated that they want more rovings, and Fibrefest is coming, so I'm trying to keep the stock high. I'm also low on sock yarn, so I'll be snagging a few braids for my own spinning.

It's nice to be back to it. My daughter finished with her daycare at the end of November, so I had all of December and the first two weeks of January with her in the house, as well as Christmas visitors. I can spin under those conditions, but dyeing requires unbroken time to get anything useful done. Today -- I have unbroken time. And a full pot of coffee!

Here are two pots full of wool and dye, cooking away:

The Farmer's Market yesterday was better than last month, in terms of sales and the warmth of the room. I was prepared yesterday with wooly tights, wool socks (handknit), jeans, boots, a tank, a very thin sweater, a thick sweater, a scarf, arm warmers (handknit Koigu), a hat (handknit handspun), and mittens (handspun handknit). I'm nothing if not a walking advertisement for the benefits of wool, and the joy of knitting. Needless to say, I didn't find myself needing all of those things, which is great, because when I'm wearing all of them, I look a little bit like I'm the victim of some sort of knitwear pile-on.

The Winter Market is getting a number of the regular visitors, those who frequent the summer market, but there are new faces too. I continue to enjoy talking to the various crafters who visit my table and tell me about their projects. I'm afraid I was slightly in "pounce" mode though. More than one person heard me respond, seemingly casually, "You know, I teach knitting at the Port Moody Arts Center.. I managed to give out all of the brochures I brought with me, and there seems to be interest in my classes. Not that I didn't enjoy the 3-4 students per class last term, but more would definitely be better.

I didn't trade yarn for anything, but I bought 3 loaves of bread from an amazing baker, a few pounds of organic fuji apples, eggs, carrots, strawberries (thank the flying spaghetti monster for vendors who freeze their stuff so they can sell it in the winter!), ethically and organically raised beef, and fig stuffed olives.

Lastly -- I did indeed write up the pattern for the colourwork mittens. It's available on my shop for a small fee, but free if you buy the yarn from me. Here's a suggested colour combo that I really like:

In which I totally brag about my own stuff

2008-01-06T12:55:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun making the purple and grey stranded mittens, that I wanted to make them again. I decided to make them out of my regular corriedale singles, and I couldn't be more pleased by the results. Here are my new mittens:

I made them out of natural 2) and Pink and Brown. I like the effect so much that I'm considering making a whole sweater with a natural foreground, and a background in maybe multi-blue, or shades of orange. There is some undyed fiber all measured out and ready to be spun -- I suspect I'll want a lot of it around, for myself, and hopefully for the people who will see these mittens at Three Bags Full and the Coquitlam Farmer's Market, and want to make their own. I'm even considering writing up an actual pattern. I don't really enjoy writing patterns, I'd rather teach someone how to knit without one, but I do enjoy selling the patterns, and I do get requests for the things. So there may be a write up. A comment or two expressing an opinion on this matter would help me to decide.

I somehow put the thumb on the same side on both mittens. I can only blame temporary insanity. I swear, I checked, but I think when I checked I was holding one mitten upside down. Anyway, I was too lazy to totally undo the mitten to the provisional row that forms the thumb opening, so instead I took down the wrong thumb, grafted the life stitches of the thumb opening together (and not all that well, as you can see), then snipped a stitch in the middle of where I wanted the thumb to go and opened it up. This is an Elizabether Zimmerman technique, one she uses for afterthought pockets on sweaters, and afterthought heels on socks. The Yarn Harlot wrote about the afterthought heel last week.

Here's my picture of the altered mitten, close up:

I have printed off the entry forms for the Abbottsford Fibrefest in March. I'm a bit intimidated by the idea of sending off the entry fee and committing to a big show like this, but when I look at it realistically, it makes sense. I pay $35 for a table for a day at the Farmer's Market, and it's only a small percentage of patrons there who knit and are interested in buying yarn on that particular day. Fibrefest, *everyone* is interested in yarn or fiber, and if they're like me, they enter the building fully expecting to spend a minimum of $200 before they leave. So all in all, I think I can expect sales to be good enough to justify the entry fee. But it's still a bit intimidating.

Hey anyone know of a flat pack, easy to assemble and disassemble, and repeat many times over a season, fairly inexpensive shelf? Doesn't have to be that attractive, I can cover the ugliness with fabric and yarn, but it does need to fit into my rather small trunk of my rather small Subaru.

Where I'll be

2007-12-31T09:05:00.000-08:00

Here are some places you can find me in the upcoming days.

1) Coquitlam Farmer's Market (details at www.makebakegrow.com) on January 13 and February 9. I'll be bringing a ton of yarn with me -- vast amounts of my single ply Corriedale, and as much sock yarn as I can make between now and then. Come visit me, and bring a big shopping bag for the gorgeous local food you can buy directly from farmers in the area.

2) At the Port Moody Arts Center (details at http://www.pomoartscentre.ca/pages/pdf_files/winter_spring/w08_adspecint.pdf). I'm teaching a class in how to knit sweaters without a pattern on Wednesday evenings. Shaping a sweater doesn't have to be a complicated affair; I'll teach you some basic calculations and basic sweater shapes, and you'll feel like you can take on the (knitting) world once the class is over. Plus, you'll have a new sweater.

The second class is a Knit Cafe on Saturday mornings. This is an open classroom, sort of like a knitting group with a mentor. All are welcome, from people who have never touched needles before to more advanced knitters who want some guidance in some specific techniques. Do you have a half-finished project that you can't make progress on? Do you want to know how to follow a chart? Work with two colours at once? Do cables? Or maybe you don't know what you want to learn, but you just want to go with the flow and see what's being taught that day. I think the Open Class is gonna be big fun. Basic materials and tools will be available for purchase at cost (including my own handspun yarn -- I can't pass up an opportunity for potential sales -- but you can bring your own, too.

As always, my yarn is available on my Etsy shop (link to the right) and at Three Bags Full.

I have a bunch of pink, lavender, pink/white/brown, and eggplant yarn drying inside. I might even photograph some of it this afternoon -- stay tuned.

I'm famous! (In Coquitlam)

2007-12-28T19:33:00.001-08:00

So it's all silly, but at this moment I am absurdly proud of having been interviewed by one of the local papers, the Tri-City News. The interviewer got most of the facts right, and the photographer took a wonderfully glam photo of yours truly. The link is below -- read the article, then come back and tell me I'm pretty:

http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/tricitynews/entertainment/12873486.html

I'm spinning orange sock yarn, and on my drying rack is a yarn I'm titling Myfanwy. Tell me why I chose Myfanwy, and I'll...well I don't have any useful giveaways. I'll be very impressed though, and I'll ask you to be my friend.

The love between a woman and her mittens

2007-12-23T18:49:00.000-08:00

If this love is wrong, I don't want to be right. Above is shown a mitten in progress, both front and back. I'm so pleased, I can hardly tell you how much. It might be unnatural.

The first mitten is now complete, and the second is begun. Don't ask me for the pattern, because that scribbled-on graph paper in the first photo? That's my pattern.

I've knit with my own yarn before, but somehow this feels more special. Maybe it's because I know I'm preparing. I'm practising spinning this fiber, trying to get it thinner. I got it down to a worsted weight, but I need to get to a DK in order to do a Starmore pattern. I'm practising dyein the fiber in gradations of the same colour. I tried to get 5 distinct shades, but what I got was a light (not as light as I wanted), a dark, and three of much the same shade in between. And I'm practising my stranded work. It's improving. I have ordered this little plastic doohickey, looks like a ring with two guides on the top, for stranding both colours on the same hand. Right now I do my foreground colour in my left hand, as I usually knit, and my background in the right hand -- slow, and awkward, and not nearly as quick as I'd like. I must practice my "throwing" technique.

Here is a picture of me spinning the shetland. This is my usual spinning location (by my desk in the livingroom) and uniform (comfy jeans and fleece, sleeves pushed up because I hate having fabric on my forearms when I'm doing any sort of handwork). We're trying out a new camera -- not bad for low light, hm?

I'm theoretically doing the mittens as prep for my sweater, but the mittens themselves are really fun and satisfying, and fast! The first mitten was complete inside 24 hours (after the wool was ready of course). I'm having visions of a second pair in gradations of cherry pink, with a chocolate brown foreground. Maybe some sort of a leaf pattern?

Cooking up mittens

2007-12-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

I'm cooking up something new -- something just for me. I handspun some Shetland wool, undyed. I tried for sport weight, but I think it came out more like a DK -- will need to practice that for my next project. Then, I put half the skeins in a charcoal dyebath, and half of them I dyed in varying shades of purple. My plan is to make a pair of Norwegian style, 2-stranded colourwork mittens. I was considering Eunny Jang's Anemoi (http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/12/anemoi_mittens.html), but the yarn might be too thick to make the pattern work. I'm also considering doing them in the Alice Starmore pattern for her Lindisfarne sweater.

My eventual goal is to have good enough spinning, dyeing, and fairisle knitting technique to make a full-size Lindisfarne for myself, out of my own handspun. And if I'm doing the dyeing, I can make the sweater in 12 different shades of red, 10 shades of blue, 4 shades of brown. It's my marathon project for this year. Right now, I'm training for the marathon with a short 5K -- mittens. Updates to follow.

Here's the purple yarn cooking:

Green, baby, green.

2007-11-29T18:26:00.000-08:00

I have had a glorious week in fiber. In brief, here are the high points:

1) Inky the Squid Boy has turned out to be, not Shetland as I thought, but Corriedale. I two-plyed it anyway, and made something very puffy, slightly shiny, and altogether lovely. I think I shall keep one of the two skeins for myself, and make some fingerless gloves for my mother's husband for an X-mess present. I'm thinking of doing more Corrie as an Aran weight two-ply, and ditching my whole two-ply shetland idea. I may keep the 4lbs of the stuff all for myself, and do some glorious hand dyed, handspun fairisle work with it. Will keep you posted.

2) My skeinwinder, which clamps onto the top of my spinning wheel, arrived in the mail. My previous process for winding skeins involves using a swift clamped onto my dining room table, holding a yarn-filled bobbin on a long knitting needle, and tensioning the bobbin with a beleagered UNO card while I whirl the swift around with my right hand. Thank goodness I have really long arms, otherwise this system would be a total no-go. As it is, it's weird and inconvenient, and if I do more three skeins in a row my shoulder cramps up. My skeinwinder only involves threading the finished yarn up to to the winder, and using the hand-crank to whirl a skein up directly from the laden bobbin. This new device is $100 that will pay for itself in no time, what with all the carrying, tying, cursing, and massaging my shoulder that I'm no longer doing.

3) I have finally gotten the hang of this colour theory thing. I have finally put together some key pieces. My two blues, two yellows, and two reds? (well, magenta and red.) Warm and cool versions of the same underlying colour. Warm and cool. If I want a warm green, I should mix the warm yellow and warm blue. If I want a clear, bright orange, I should mix the cool yellow and the magenta. I know that many people learned this stuff in grade school, but I stopped taking art in grade 6 and never looked back. that's the one piece. The second key piece which I knew about, but wasn't successfully getting to work, was the art of toning down a colour with its opposite, its complement. To tone down red, I should add green. To mellow out a yellow, I should add purple. Put these pieces together and I have successfully created....

4) GREEN!!! Twice in two days, I created more or less the green that I was looking for, and nothing really unexpected happened in the dyepot. I even got a beautiful, even, bright spring green. If you have been reading this blog, you will have heard me complain about the difficulty of managing green, but I'm finally getting it. Expect lots and lots of green coming up.

5) I managed to dye a couple pounds of fiber while my two year old was at home. I usually wait until she's at daycare before I break out the poison and boiling water, but I wanted to see if I could accomplish the task with her underfoot. See, her last daycare day is tomorrow, and I have to see if I can keep dyeing even if she's around, otherwise I'll run out of fiber to spin before December is out.

I have no pictures for you today, because it's dark outside. When I start moving my new fiber inside onto my railing to finish drying, I'll show you some stuff. You'll see some gorgeous carmine red, some fuschia, some spring green and bright blue -- so much fiber all so very pretty that I might even offer some of the corrie for sale.

Inky the Squid Boy

2007-11-21T11:25:00.000-08:00

I'm having a peaceful week. I'm working a bit, but mostly I'm coasting. I worked very hard to get ready for last Sunday, and the work paid off -- my stock is high, and full of variety. In fact, when I was struck with a dyeing idea on Tuesday and pulled out my undyed wool, I found that I was almost completely out of the BFL. Time to reorder!

26 lbs of undyed wool is on its way to me, and I'll undoubtedly have a big production week when it comes, but until then, I can regroup, and experiment a bit. I was struck with this idea. Or rather, I was struck with a neat yarn made by someone else, and I stole the idea. The yarn I was knitting with -- just a partially synthetic Patons yarn -- had one ply of black yarn, and one ply of various colours. The effect was a sort of all over tweedy, but with different accent colours. It would be easy enough to dye for -- just make a bunch of pure black, and then short bits of various other colours, joining one to the next as the whim strikes me. Here's the first attempt to dye this style of colourway:

I also did one batch of what I presume is my shetland wool. It was in an unmarked bag. It felt like the shetland, but the differences between the fibers are somewhat subtle, until they're washed. Once it dries, I'll know for sure what it is. I was asked to do some "boy" colours, and I rather like how this turned out -- it's all inky. Dark enough to be manly, but varied enough to be interesting to spin and knit. I call this "Inky the Squid Boy." (I've been watching a lot of Buffy lately.)

Lastly -- this one is brand new. It's a wool/soysilk blend. I ordered a single, 4oz package, just to try it out. My attempts at dyeing a merino/silk blend haven't gone great -- the stuff is touchy! And I hated spinning with it too. So, no more of that. But I have these wool/seacell socks that feel so wonderful, so I thought I'd try to spin enough of the wool/soysilk to make myself a pair of socks, and we'll see how the yarn turns out, how it knits, how it wears. Then I'll consider the possibility of making more for friends or for sale. In the meantime, I still want to show off the dye job, because it breaks my heart with the colourful blendy wonderfulness.

To market, to market

2007-11-17T20:39:00.000-08:00

I'm off to the Coquitlam Farmer's Market tomorrow, and I have never been so ready for a market day. I have 4 bags full of yarn (big bags), a rack of yarn still drying in my bathroom that I hope will be ready for labelling in the AM, and a tote full of the assorted stuff I usually need. Pen, business cards, calculator, extra bags, and a knitting project. Swift, and ball winder -- 'cause I'm a full-service yarn booth.

I'm looking forward to this market. The Winter Market is an annual (indoor!) event, and apparently it's fairly popular. I'll be glad to not have to worry about cold fingers, raindrops on my labels, and wind blowing my business cards away. And I'll be glad to maybe get into the holiday spirit, just a little -- the craft vendors will certainly have some Christmas-y stuff to show.

And I have 11 skeins of sock yarn to sell. That may not sound like much, but honestly the stuff sells so screamingly fast that I've never had this much in stock at once. How did I accomplish it? Spinning like crazy, and not listing. I hope I sell out tomorrow, but if I don't, I'm sure some Etsy buyers will be happy to have a few skeins posted at once.

If you're in Port Moody tomorrow, come visit me at the Social Rec Centre. Yeah I know, the Coquitlam market is held in Port Moody. We're a close-knit community. Or series of communities. That's life in the suburbs.

It just occurred to me...

2007-11-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

I have a dyepot! And dye! No, I haven't become very very stupid, it's just that a paradigm shift is required. I know all about the dyeing of white stuff. But it didn't occur to me until just today that I could dye stuff that already had colour on it.

Backstory (short): I bought the new Cat Bordhi sock book, and it is blowing me away. After all this time and all this knitting, I didn't think a knitting book could do that, but it did. I decided to make some socks, and I bought these lovely skeins of Koigu to make them with:

I need a bit of contrasting yarn to make some stripes with. I have quite a little stash of leftover nuggets of Koigu, remnants of a long-standing but mostly now cured Koigu addiction. I had a bright orange that might work, but it wasn't quite right. What I really wanted was a forest green. I didn't have that.

But I have a dyepot.

So tonight, I turned this:

Into this:

I'm so jazzed about these socks that I might even post in-progress sock pictures.

Colour Therapy

2007-11-07T08:17:00.000-08:00

I had a seriously bad day yesterday, but I had to do some dyeing, no time to sit on the couch with a gin bottle and the remote control. I decided to combat the bad mood with some silly, candy colours. My very favourite. The pictures below are of a rack of blue faced leicester, some destined to sell some destined to be made into sock yarn, then socks. I'm picturing a row of candy-coloured feet as I type.

A closeup:

And some sock yarn drying -- I did some more sedate colours in the last batch, and I'm spinning them up now:

Butcher, Baker...

2007-11-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here reading someone's blog of their year on the 250-mile diet (their more relaxed version of the 100-mile diet), and spinning some sock yarn for Bev, a woman who met me at my farmer's market booth this summer and is now taking my sock knitting class -- knitting her first socks with my yarn.

I'm spinning the yarn and ruminating as I read the blog (did I tell you all I've learned to spin and read stuff on my computer screen at the same time? Bliss.), thinking about this writer's new relationship with a local miller, several local farmers, a local butcher, etc. I'm thinking about how much I enjoy buying a whole loaf of bread from the baker, and asking her to slice it for me. I like buying a cut of meat from the butcher, knowing he created that cut himself. I'm a coffee snob who grinds her own beans just before brewing the coffee, but if I weren't, I'd like buying whole, fresh-roasted beans and asking the coffee person (?) to grind the beans for me. There's just something really nice about picking something whole, something fresh and lovely, and then talking to a real live person who is providing this lovely thing for you, for some final processing of the item. You get to reflect. You both get to feel some satisfaction -- the seller, from seeing that the item that was created with care is being received with appreciation, and the buyer, from knowing that they are receiving something that was made with intent, by a person who has a face, a name, a personality, and a whole life that is now touching yours in this small but significant way.

I reflected on this braid of roving I'm spinning up, and how Bev plucked it off my display line at my booth. She handed it to me, and asked me to spin it into sock yarn for her -- whenever I have time. She told me not to hurry, and I haven't -- we both knew, I'd get to it when I got to it, and we'd see each other several times in the future. There are a few people who regularly make requests for colourways they'd like to see, and there are a few people who see my dyed roving and ask me to set aside a specific braid to spin for them. I had someone ask me to make her "something I can make slippers with...any colour is fine." I made something, and she loves it.

I am very devoted to making relationships as I make transactions. Whenever possible, I eat out at a local restaurant where I know the owner by name, and where my husband attends the informal jam sessions on the weekend. Whenever possible, I buy my meat from the butcher who can tell me which farms each cut comes from, or the one who told me all about when his baby boy was going through a rough crying phase. I buy my groceries from a delivery service that often follows up my emails with phone calls, "just to make sure you're happy with everything," and those phone calls come from the same four or five people, not one of a thousand CSRs located somewhere in the Indian sub-continent.

And now, it seems that I'm on the seller side of some of these relationships. I couldn't be more tickled about it.

This Week in Wool

2007-10-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

I got a new shipment of supplies on Monday morning, so I spent my two child-free days this week applying dye to wool by means of boiling, acidic water. My house stinks of vinegar, but there are many pretty wooly things to look at. In fact, I've decided to take a new approach to decorating:

It's hard to get the wool fully dry outside in this cool, damp season, so after the wool has dripped outside fora couple days, I move it inside. Through the winter, my railings will form a large part of my drying strategy. It alarms my husband, though, when he walks down to the front entry way and is greeted with the hanging wool-tentacles.

My dyepot has mellowed from the somewhat stormy mood it was apparently in on Tuesday; today I managed to produce a bunch of lovely, sagey green, as well as a marvellous batch of purple.

Awesome socks!

2007-10-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Hey check out these socks, half-knit from some of my yarn! Aren't they gorgeous? I'm gonna dye up a bunch more of the rovings these came from; feel free to email me to reserve one for yourself (in either roving or yarn form)

Well that was nice

2007-10-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

I just came home from my last Farmer's Market of the season. The whole Farmer's Market thing -- the whole selling yarn for profit thing, for that matter -- is new this season. I started in March with the idea that maybe it would be fun, and if I could do it without actually losing money then I'd call it a good thing.

I signed up for the whole season of the Coquitlam Farmer's Market, May to October, every other week. Most people don't buy yarn on impulse, so I figured my only shot of making the market work for me was to build a following who could expect me regularly. Come every other week, and fondle the yarn. Go home, consult pattern books, consider potential projects. Come back and fondle again. Maybe ask some questions. Check out my demonstrator projects.

I am completely thrilled with how the whole thing has turned out. Today, it was cold (12 degrees C) and raining -- not a pleasant day for the market. But this market has a regular clientele, people who come every week for the excellent produce, and among the regulars, I seem to have my own regulars. Today, every sale went to someone who has come to my booth before. I talked to two students from the knitting classes I teach -- students who learned about my classes because they met me at the Market. I made tentative arrangements to give a private lesson. I helped one of my first customers, a woman that I taught how to knit in May, finish and cast off her first scarf.

Upcoming dates: Nov 18, Coquitlam Winter Market (www.makebakegrow.com). Nov 24-25, Maternal Creations Fair at Pomegranate Midwives on East Hastings (Vancouver).

Eight Year Old Girl at Heart

2007-10-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

Apparently, I'm an eight year-old girl at heart, or else I'm already mourning the end of summer. I honestly didn't set out on Tuesday morning to dye an entire batch of bright pinks, oranges, and yellows. My first batch was going to be bright -- I wanted to do up a whole bunch of The Emperor of Ice Cream for an upcoming craft fair, since I think the babyish colours will sell well to the mothers of babies who attend this fair, but that was all I meant to do in those tones.

While Emperor was cooking, Mary (the knitter of the gorgeous My So-Called Scarf pictured in an earlier entry) came over for a visit, and I just did some simple stuff while she was here -- an orange and pink kettle-dye job, using the dye leftover from Emperor. Then when Mary left, I found a convo from someone who wanted to buy some Barbie Girl but only if she could have more than one skein of it -- enter the three batches of pink I cooked, trying to get a good match to the existing skein. I eventually overdyed one batch with some purples, because there's only so much pink a person needs.

After my pink extravaganza, I tried to duplicate an earlier colourway that's been requested, Maiden and Mother, but I ended up with something a little more asian in flavour (I think I'll call it Paper Cranes).

Anyway, it's not that I"m not happy, heck, I'm *very* happy. I love to dye and spin bright, clear, candy-like colours. And I can only hope that people like to knit with them too, because it's all I'll be doing for a couple of weeks. See this orange? I could eat this orange:

Dude...

2007-09-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

I am sooooo not on a plane anymore.

Can't wait for Sunday's farmer's market. Can't wait to post new pictures of socks made from my yarn. Can't wait for Tuesday, Daycare Day, when I can play with the 15 lbs of roving that arrived in the mail just before I left for my 3 week family-visiting-extravaganza.

Really can't wait for bed. 3 weeks travelling with a toddler, a time zone shift, and 9 hours of travel (over 2 of which were spent in rush hour traffic) will take it out of 'ya.

It isn't easy being green

2007-08-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

I'm still having trouble with green. I don't know if I'm the only dyer with green problems, but here they are:
1. blue and yellow "strike" the fiber at different temperatures and different acidity levels. I sometimes have a pot full of exactly the shade I want, but when I pull the fiber out, a lot of the blue dye is still there, and the fiber is a lot yellower than intended.
2. To mix up green, I have my choice of cobalt, turquoise, and navy, and "yellow" and "gold-yellow." Each blue, and each yellow, has different implications to the final shade.
3. I also have a "green" dye that isn't much green at all, but in fact a lovely shade of blue-green. It has to be mixed at about a 1:1 ratio with yellow to make what I would call green.
4. I don't keep notes.

Some of these problems are things I could solve, but won't (like No. 4). Some of these problems, I'm getting better at (like No. 2). Problem No. 1 is problem No. 1. I think I have just the right shade, it looks great dabbed on the paper towel, but somehow in the pot everything ends up a lot more yellow than I think. Here is some green that is not at all what I meant, but it's kind of interesting nonetheless:

Now here is some fiber I feel less ambiguous about. Check out the one with the spots of orange, dark purple, and chocolate brown. When I spin it, the intense spots will blend with the white to make long, streaky strands of wonderfulness. I can't wait.

And here is my wheel. Oh, sugar sugar. It only takes me about 3 hours to make a sock yarn, but I've been at it for days. The toddler is not being patient with me spinning, and not playing with her. Oh well, wool can wait.

My So Called Scarf

2007-08-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

Check. This. Out. This is what someone is making out of my yarn:

I was blown away when I saw these pictures, the stitch pattern is just perfect for the long colour changes of the yarn. Once I can tear myself away from my wheel, I'm totally making one of these for myself. It will be one of my many vacation projects. You can get the pattern here: http://www.sheepinthecity.prettyposies.com/archives/000079.html

And here are the socks that someone else is making from my yarn:

Don't you just love the colours? Granted, this yarn is not for those who demand symmetry in their socks, but if you like socks that are colourful fraternal twins, this is totally the yarn for you.

A study in wool and water

2007-08-08T09:50:00.001-07:00

My husband always gets a kick out of when I say "I think I'll dye today" so casually as he's leaving for work. Yesterday was Dyeing Day, and I dyed every fiber of blue faced leicester I had in the house -- about 5 pounds. I enjoyed myself. I was productive. See?

I've been really enjoying the dyeing, and getting better results, since I got my big square roasting pan that lets me lay the roving out in longish parallel strips. Because I'm dealing with a square, not a circle (as in my giant dye pots), I do a sort of hybrid between immersion dyeing and handpainting. The big advantage of handpainting is that you use less water and so you can use colours that ought not be allowed to blend, right beside each other. The big advantage of immersion dyeing is that it's like a one-pot meal -- less dishes, easier to prepare. So now, I can use some of the more high contrast colour combinations while still not using a ton of saran wrap (required for handpainting) or crouching down on my back patio for long periods of time (ouchy on the knees).

Anyway, lots of bfl. I especially like how this one turned out:

I can't say it's quite exactly what I intended -- I'm still getting some dye pot surprises, most consistently when I use green. I'm having trouble managing green. It tends to split rather badly, no matter how much salt I use in the bath, and I'm finding that the yellow component kind of intensifies in the dyepot -- or maybe the blue part just isn't quite striking? I know, more acid, more heat, I'm trying. I'll get it.

And here is yesterday's experiment -- pure tussah silk, two 4oz batches of it:

When it dries I'll pull out a few fibers just to make sure I didn't accidentally tangle them up in the dye pot, then I'm posting them for sale. Me, I like to spin a more robust fiber (notice how I don't offer merino? I really dislike the stuff), but I think there are some spinners out there who would love to have some silk to play with.

Wish me a sunny day, and the fleece will dry faster and get turned into sock yarn.

Achieving critical mass

2007-08-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

You know how when water turns to ice, a critical mass of the water molecules have to be at zero degrees celcius before the ice crystals can start to form? My yarn is like that too. I need to have a certain number of disparate hanks of yarn is various colourways before sweater sets can start to form.

I seem to have achieved critical mass.

I dye enough fleece in a batch now to make 4 hanks of each colourway, and it takes at least 6 hanks to make an adult medium sized sweater. I have enough yarn to make 3 or 4 different sweaters in different colour themes. Check them out:

CHICK HABIT( LIGHT):

CHICK HABIT (DARK):

RED MENACE:

DIVE IN THE WATER'S FINE:

LIGHT REDS:

Some of this yarn is posted, and some of it isn't. If you see something you like, just email me or convo me on Etsy and ask about it. I'm more than happy to send you group shots of many hanks of yarn, grouped artistically.

As a bonus: if you buy 6 or more skeins of yarn, I'll knock 10% off the price.

Like Christmas, all the time

2007-08-01T09:17:00.001-07:00

I know that this is a business and I'm being paid for this, but every time I make up a package of my yarn to send someone, I feel like I'm sending a pretty Christmas present. It's pure projection on my part; I think about opening a box, crinkling the bright paper, and seeing yarn! You can tell what *my* favourite Christmas present is.

So my fiber supplier tells me that he will be getting in some superwash blue faced leicester this month. Anyone interested in trying some sock yarn made from that?

Nice to know a photographer

2007-07-23T21:16:00.000-07:00

So there's this woman who visits the Coquitlam Farmer's Market who is a knitter, so she stopped by my booth to see the yarn, and she's also a photographer who always has her camera with her. She has given me the wonderful gift of some pictures that she took at my booth. Maybe it's narcissistic of me, but these pictures make me really happy. Usually I'm either taking the picture or posing with a static smile on my face. I rarely get to see the lip-chewing faces I make while I'm working.

That's sock yarn on the wheel. I have 6 skeins of sock yarn that aren't posted. Two are awaiting photograph, two are already claimed, and two are hanging damply on my railing waiting for enough ambient dryness so that they too can await photography. Sock knitters -- fingers over the mouse button. New yarn will be posted in a day or two.

Group Photos!

2007-07-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

"Okay, everyone crowd together for a group photo. Closer. A little...closer...there! Yellow, stop poking pink. Yes, I know he made a face at you. Pink -- stop that. Purple, would you please stand up straight? Oh for the love of...people!! This is only going to last another minute or so, and then you can all go back to your bin to play."

Here are some olives.

And some purples.

And lastly, my favourite, some bright pinks and lemons.

On My Back Porch

2007-07-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of what's currently drying on my back porch. That's mostly corriedale, but there are a couple batches of merino/silk blend. I've been dyeing that stuff just for sale, since I like to spin coarser fibers, but that olive and grapey one, that has me intrigued. As I was pulling it out of its final Eucalan bath and hanging it up, I suddenly envisioned some fingering weight singles, and felt that maybe I would be the one to spin them. I might put that batch aside until my high speed bobbins come in next week.