Fiber Friday: Fun, right? Fun!

It's another late post! I apologize, but I have been running around like a chicken with no head. Funny to watch in a fashion, but I feel a little like I'm completely unprepared for tomorrow, and I probably am.

Why?

Tomorrow, I'm doing my first fibery craft market showing at the Midtown Bazaar in downtown Sacramento. I'll be there by myself, setting up and attempting to be friendly throughout the day. Believe me, for someone who is an introvert, this is a scary, scary prospect. Yes, I've acted, yes, I've spoken in public but this is different, somehow.

So in my frenzy, I thought I'd show you a couple not-so-great shots of my craft room mid-preparation. With any luck, I won't bring as much home with me as I'm taking. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I'll be crossing my toes. I'm going to need my fingers tomorrow.

:)

Wednesday on the Wheel: Back on the spindle again.

That's right, it's another spindle-focused post. Well, not focused so much as, the spindle is the tool I'm using this time.

And, to change things up, this is neither one of my handmade spindles, nor one I use for spinning singles. Today's spindle is one of my first, one that I learned on and one that's excellent for plying and spinning bulkier yarns than I like these days, but not so great for fine weights.

This, my friends, is an Ashford Student spindle. I refer to it as a boat anchor spindle, a term used to refer to big, heavy spindles. This beast weighs 2.75 oz, which is a lot when compared to my usual collection, all of which weigh well under an ounce. Still, it has it's use.

Plying, as I mentioned. I used it today to ply up the merino I mentioned I wanted to use with the cormo from my current project. I ended up getting about 85 yards of not-so-smooth chain-plied yarn out of the ounce of merino I had. Not bad, really. I believe I'll be using these in combination for a pair of Lovisa Armwarmers, since I think that pattern would tolerate my bumpy yarns. I'll know for sure when I have some needles cleared up and can cast on!

Edit: And I totally forgot one of my reasons for doing another spindle post! Spinning Daily (from Interweave and put together by Amy Moore, the editor of Spin-Off magazine) is offering a free ebook on learning how to spin on a drop spindle. Registration is free! Go check it out, if you're interested!

Make It Monday: A needle of a different sort

Another Make It Monday, and another apology for a belated post. I'm getting ready for a show this weekend, so I'm running around like crazy making sure I have enough stuff and everything in order. I also had to make a trip to the dentist, (boo!) but here I am and here you are and here we go!

Firstly, a big hello to people visiting the blog because they've heard about the Slinging Stitches...in Color! podcast. Glad to have you stop by. Please feel free to leave a comment and say hi. :)

So, as with most fiber crafting people, I have a huge range of needles in my home, from the very large to the hefty. Not all of my needles, however, are meant for yarn. Some are meant for much smaller items.

Like beads!

I started doing beadwork in college and I've been at it on and off ever since. I particularly love working with teeny tiny seed beads. These days, I mostly work with Miyuki Delicas, which are cylinder shaped beads cut to uniform sizes, which means that they stack neatly and are ideal for beadwork with crisp patterns and the occasional corner.

So I thought I'd show off some of my favorites. The jewelry pieces are all things I designed on my own. The beaded box design is by Julia Pretl, but I stitched it with my own two hands!

You can see more at my other etsy shop, Beadskinz.

More fibery stuff coming soon, promise!

Speaking out on Sunday: Slinging Stitches ... in Color!

It's here, it's here! And you didn't even know it was coming, did you? Not really, anyway, but it is and it was and ...SURPRISE!

Today marks the beginning of a new project for me, one that I have (nervously!) enjoyed starting and one that I (likewise nervously!) hope you enjoy as well.

Today, I launch my podcast, entitled Slinging Stitches...in Color! In it, I'm going to talk about knitting and spinning, of course, probably some dyeing, but the main focus is going to be colorwork. Stranded, Fair Isle, intarsia, entrelac... I haven't done all of them, but I'll give them a shot and talk about them, from a beginner's perspective!

And the first episode is in the can, so to speak, and ready to be heard. Clicking on the link should play the file for you. You can also copy it from here (http://thecreaturecomforts.net/Podcast/SSIC-Ep1.mp3) and paste it into any player you prefer.

If you'd like to subscribe, the RSS feed is: http://thecreaturecomforts.net/Podcast/ssic.xml. I have submitted it to iTunes so hopefully it will be available there soon.

And, of course, there are show notes!

Show notes for Episode 1: The Inaugural Podcast

Shops I mentioned:

Fat Cat Knits, owned and run by Ginny, one of my favorite indie fiberistas. Go and check out her shop and pick up any of her amazing fibers. You'll be glad you did.

Into the Whirled, owned and run by Cris, and another of my favorites! Hope of the Inspirations fiber club, and amazing colorways. Stop by and say hello!

I also mentioned Brie and Fall Creek Fibers, but she's on hiatus until June. When she's back, I promise, I will post a link.

Patterns/Designers I mentioned:

This week I'm talking about a couple of colorwork patterns by Eunny Jang.

First, her amazing Anemoi Mittens. I also talked about her free pattern for the Endpaper Mitts.

Contests and Giveaways:

Janeen Puckett, host of the Clothed in the Lamb podcast contacted me and invited me to be a sponsor for her second season. The first episode of Season Two will air on May 5, 2011. To celebrate, I'm donating a skein of worsted weight yarn to be given away to her listeners.

This is a brand new colorway called "Earthside" and I'm really, really happy with how it turned out. Take a look:

To find out what you have to do to win, go have a listen to Janeen's podcast! There will also be a discount code for her listeners, good for 10% off of anything in my Etsy shop. But again, you'll have to listen to find out what it is.

I'm hosting my own giveaway, btw, to celebrate the launch of Slinging Stitches...in Color! I'm giving away a 6-dpn set of US 2/2.75mm needles in harmony wood from KnitPicks and two balls of Debbie Bliss Rialto 4-ply (100% extrafine superwash merino, 189 yards/180 m, 50 g) in the following colors:

Want to win? Leave a comment on this post or visit this thread in my Ravelry group. You can say hello, tell me how you're feeling, or talk about your experiences with colorwork! I'll draw a random number from all entries at the end of May!

Real World Sightings:

I will be vending at the Midtown Bazaar next weekend, on May 7th. If you're in the area, stop by and say hello!

How to Contact me:

Ravelry: creaturecomfort
Ravelry Group: Creature Comfort Craftwork Fans
Etsy: Creature Comfort Craftworks on Etsy
Email: sarah.hawke [at] gmail.com
Twitter: creaturecmfts

Thanks for listening!

Fiber Friday: Indulgence

Friday again! Oh happy day.

It seems that my fiber Fridays are short posts. It's not that I couldn't blather on, but when it comes to showing pictures of my fiber, I don't know...I like to let the picture do the talking.

I got a little bit of a mixed bfl/silk blend to play with and dye up, so, since I was feeling spoiled, I indulged in my love of Romanesque colors, i.e. red and purple.

So, for your viewing pleasure, here's Empire!

Wednesday on the Wheel: Cormo Time

It's Wednesday again! That's always a good day, right? Halfway through the work week, Hump Day as it were. It's all downhill from here, baybee!

Ahem. Right.

This week, I'm going to talk about a little project I invented for myself. A few weeks ago, a call went out on Ravelry about a small farm in NY that was having some financial trouble and faced the prospect of going under. I spent a lot of time on a farm growing up, so I have a soft spot for people trying hard to make it work. And, this particular farm, Black Berry Hill Farm, produced something I wanted: cormo roving. I had never tried it and I'm always interested in trying new fibers, so I pitched in and bought a pound of the stuff.

Fortunately for the farm, our help helped! And overwhelmed them, but they're catching up and producing more, so please do go check them out.

When I got my roving, I was a little surprised. This is an object lesson in the difference between big mill and little mill processing, I think. I'm used to smooth, clean fiber. This is what I got:

Let me stop and say now: I'm not upset! Just surprised that the roving arrived this way. There is, as you can probably see (especially if you click on the picture), quite a bit of VM, or vegetable matter, in this stuff. I have also never spun roving that's sticky. By that I mean that after spinning for a while, my fingers are tacky and want to stick together. The fiber sticks to itself. (Yes, I will be washing some before spinning in the future to see if that makes a difference.) I realized that I wouldn't be able to dye and sell it as is, so this became fiber for me to play with. I like that!

On to the next lesson: this roving does not spin into a particularly smooth yarn! Again, it's not what I'm used to, so it took some trial and error to figure out how to spin it. It should be noted: I'm not a long-draw spinner. I inchworm like crazy. I have read that this stuff probably works better being spun long-draw, but there's too little control in that technique for me, so I made it work.

I spun an ounce-ish of the fiber, picking as much vm out as I could as I went. I am currently planning to pair this with some merino that I combed and am spindle spinning, probably for a little stranded project, depending on how the yarn washes up. I have plenty more cormo to work with, so I certainly won't run out. I may dye some up eventually. From here on out, it's all about experimenting, learning, and having fun.

Here's my little one-ounce ball of cormo singles. Plying is happening. Soon it will be yarn, and then? Time will tell!

Make It Monday: Vanilla Caramerlettos

So, I may be one of the world's slowest knitters, but occasionally I do make quantifiable, verifiable progress.

This weekend, I completed one half of a pair of Merletto mitts, out of my handspun merino, from Fat Cat Knits. Despite my issues with spinning merino, sometimes, the yarn came out very nicely, and it didn't take me long to cast something on with it.

Finishing it is another story.

As is getting accurate color out of my camera today, apparently. This is as close as I could get to the real color. It's lighter and creamier in real life.

Progress is still progress!