First Skein of Cotton!

Yesterday morning I finished spinning my very first skein of cotton!  Woot Woot!

Spinning cotton definitely wasn't as difficult as I had thought it would be.  It was so much fun!  I think it's by far my favorite fiber to spin now!

Tour de Fleece 2013

Lately, I have been in a complete spinning funk...I've lost my spinning mojo.  Since December (oh god, has it really been THAT long) my spinning wheels have been gathering dust, languishing in the corner.  That's not to say that I haven't done any spinning whatsoever.  I finished plying some singles (since they were a Christmas present) and spent an hour or so "practicing" before I went to my first spinning guild meeting!  God forbid I would go to the meeting rusty on my spinning techniques...I'm sure people would gawk and stare at my lack of long draw ability.  Other than those two times, I haven't done any spinning, nothing, nada, zilch.  So this year's Tour de Fleece probably couldn't have come at a better time.  I really need to get back into my spinning grove, after all, what's better than spinning and hoarding gobs and gobs of yarn?

For this year's Tour, I've decided I needed a new challenge.  I am re-learning how to spindle spin and am going to spin 6 ounces of Falkland wool, trying to keep the single a consistent thickness.

Without further ado, my progress:

You may be saying to yourself "Dear God, Mary, what in the world HAVE you been doing if you haven't spun since December?"  See below.

I'm Loving...Podcasts

This week I'm loving knitting and spinning podcasts!  I've been listening to the SpinDoctor podcast and Knitmore Girls.  I highly recommend them.  Do you listen to podcasts?  Which ones?  I would LOVE to know, I'm always open to new podcasts!

Coil Boil - Final Post (I Promise!)

I put the coil boil art yarn I spun on my tree as a garland!

It's difficult to tell in the picture, but the tinsel and firestar in the yarn added a wonderful sparkle to the tree.

I hope everyone had a happy holiday season!

Newest Obsession Cont...

I finished the coil boil.  Here is the second step of the coil boil, after I core spun the yarn, I coiled it...

...and here is the finished yarn..

Holy cow did this yarn take me FOREVER!  I probably spent 10 hours spinning this and the result is only 10 yards!  Whattt!!  I must admit, it is totally worth it!  It's a pretty sweet yarn.  I'll probably use it to decorate my christmas tree, but then I need to find a permanent spot for it in my house.  This yarn is too cool to sit in a box for 11 months out of the year and only be used to decorate the Christmas tree.   Any ideas on where I can use it in my house? 

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

I finished spinning the batt Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater!  I bought the batt from Spin Culture.  Here is a picture of it from the etsy listing...

...and here it is all spun up!

I spun it into a light fingering weight and have 317 yards!  I think I'm going to knit a shawl with it.  I'm thinking Terribly Simple by Caitlin Ffrench.  Something simple to show off the yarn.  Or I could go with something a little more lacey... Seven and Zero or Holes to Make Lace .  As you can see, I LOVE Caitlin Ffrench's patterns!! 

Newest Obsession

I have a new obsession!!  Corespinning!

Sorry about the pic :(, I'll take better photos when I'm done with the yarn.

This corespun is spun out of a "Blizzard of '77" batt I made.  It includes merino, falkland, bamboo, firestar, faux cashmere and tinsel.

My obsession came from Pluckyfluff's video on how to make a coil boil (I can't link directly to it, but the link is on this Spin Artiste page).  OMG, I'm in L-O-V-E with coil boils!  They are made by first spinning a corespun yarn (Pluckyfluff spun a coreless corespun), then coiling that corespun onto another core yarn.  After that, the last step is to navajo ply.  The resulting yarn is a super thick, dense yarn which is more like a rope!  It is awesome! 

Have you ever spun art yarn?  If so, are you completely addicted?! 

Shop Update

I've just updated my etsy shop, Lammie Pie!  Here are a few of the new handpainted tops...

Later today I'll be updating the shop with new stitch markers too, Yay!  The new ones are oh so cute...new sheep designs, more paw prints, and some ferret designs too!  In the future, keep an eye out for bunny stitch markers :).  Also, don't forget stitch markers make great stocking stuffers!

~Mary

We made it to retail!

Lammie Pie Fibers has made it to the world of retail!!  My handspun/hand dyed yarn is now being sold at a shop on Elmwood Ave in Buffalo, Thin Ice.  Next time you are in the area you should check it out!  For those of you not in the Buffalo area, I'll take a picture of my yarn in the store next time I'm there.

Some of the yarn now available at Thin Ice:

 

Merino Singles

  

Wool from Punta, South America

 

 ....and last, but not least, pink and grey Falkland yarn (my fav!!)

Sorry about the terrible picture of this skein, unfortunately, this is the only one I took of it :(...  Also, when I went to set the spin, the dye on the black leaked a little, so the colors are more muted now.  I'm planning on re-rinsing the grey fiber again and spinning another skein so that I can keep the nice bright colors!

Craftsy Love

Sorry for the recent hiatus, I'm teaching a college math class this semester for the first time (!) and have been soooo busy!  Anyways, on to what matters most in the world...fiber...

Lately, I've been loving the Craftsy classes!  I got started with my first couple Craftsy classes because they offer a few free mini classes.  The first free class I took was on short rows and taught all the different methods of doing them.

The four ways of doing short rows:


 Pretty awesome huh?!

The second, and my favorite, free class I took was Know Your Wool, taught by Deborah Robson.  It is AWESOME, and the perfect primer for any spinner that wants to work with different wools.  I learned an incredible amount.  I must say, my favorite part is when Deborah goes to the wool market and there are adorable sheep there!!  So cute!  If you're a spinner, or even a knitter, I highly recommend this free course.

The latest Craftsy course I've taken is Spinning Dyed Fiber, by Felicia Lo.  This one is really good as well and does exactly what the title implies, teaches different methods of spinning dyed fibers.  The techniques really help so that you don't end up getting muddy looking yarns.  I currently working on using the techniques I learned to spin this...


Grimore by Hobbledehoy Fibers on Etsy  (my absolute fav fiber shop!!)

Have you ever taken any Craftsy courses?  If so, which ones?  Did you like them?

Handspun

Check out my newest handspun!  65 yards of goodness...

 Spun from a Hobbledehoy hand painted top Beach Pebbles (below).  I spun it, then navajo plied the singles.  It turned out much thicker than I had originally planned, and as a result I only got 65 yards of yarn...I should have spun the singles much thinner.

 Another handspun skein...

This one was spun from a Hobbledehoy art batt "Lawn Party."

Featherweight Progress

This week I have the house all to myself!  I have visions of everything I'm going to get done....pounds of fiber spun, whole sweaters knit...not to mention all the massive cleaning I'm going to do, and scrape, prime and paint the exterior of the house.  I'm sure I can do it ALL!  With time to spare.  Here's the beginning of my productivity...progress on my Featherweight sweater.

 I also spun and plied another alpaca skein.

I LOVE this alpaca!!!  It spins like a cloud.  Originally I wanted to make this into a thick single so it would be nice and squishy, however, I've noticed that some fibers have a mind of their own and just want to be a certain weight.  This alpaca wants to be thin...it wants to be about fingering weight (maybe thinner) as a single.  So thin it is!

TdF Day 13

I spun and plied like a mad woman on Tour de Fleece - day 13!  I spun an entire bobbin of alpaca singles and plied them.

Perfect mitten yarn!  (I'll post pics of the finished skeins after I set the twist!)

TDF Day 11

So much for day 11 of the Tour de Fleece being a day of rest.  I spun an entire bobbin of alpaca singles. 

I practiced my long draw technique to make this yarn nice and fluffy!  The alpaca skein from yesterday's post was supposed to be for a lonnnnnng needed pair of mittens...well I changed my mind.  I decided I want to knit my mittens with a plied yarn, instead of a single, to give it more strength.  I also plan on dying the alpaca after its spun...a dusty purple maybe?  Any ideas on what color?  (FYI my winter jacket is black)

TDF Day 10

My day 10 progress for the Tour de Fleece...

I finished spinning singles for the grey merino (London Fog) and plied it.  I also finished the alpaca merino on the right.  The merino is the first of many skeins for my cousin to knit Abalone, although I'm not sure it will have the drape she is looking for.  We will see after the swatch!  The alpaca is for a pair a mittens.