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What a great weekend – most of it was devoted to fiber-y pursuits and I finally had time to do some knitting and spinning – I have an FO! And I got some great news about my business!
The great news is that Lime N Violet mentioned The Painted Sheep on their podcast – twice apparently (haven’t figured out how to listen to this yet, mind you). That’s why I had a big jump in sales and browsing on Etsy at the end of the last week!!! And why did they mention The Painted Sheep? Because Jenny from SnB emailed them and told them about my stuff! JENNY ROCKS! Jenny’s getting a skein of The Painted Sock! Thank you Jenny!
More good news on the business – I signed up to be a vendor at the Coventry Regional Farmer’s Market Fiber Twist on September 23. In exchange for doing a demonstration, they give you a free booth. This is perfect – just the kind of first event that I was looking for. Its short (3 hours) and on a Sunday. No huge committment and nothing so big that it would be overwhelming. I also got put on the list for vendor space at CT Sheep and Wool – nothing happens until February in terms of registering, but as long as things continue to go well, I’ll do a booth.
Saturday was CT Sheep and Wool. What a great festival. This was only the 2nd time I’ve attended (could never make it down this weekend when I lived in NY). I noticed more vendors this year and some of the vendors that you usually see at the big shows, such as Grafton Fibers and Goldings Spindles. It was pretty crowded in late morning, early afternoon – all good signs. I went in thinking I wasn’t buying much. I didn’t buy as much as I do at Rhinebeck, but enough to decide that a trip to NH Sheep and Wool in 2 weeks isn’t happening (well, that and the fact that Ev’s working, leaving me to do all that driving alone). Here’s the run down: 2 fleeces, 1 white Romney (this was a cheap find – we’ll see how much I get from it) and 1 black border leicester – GORGEOUS. Its a deep chocolate, with some fading at the tips – the part of the faded bits that don’t come off in the drum carder will make the yarn heathered. I think I finally found the ideal fleece for the handspun, hand knitted afghan I want to do. Nothing fancy, just a big comfy throw for the couch. I’m thinking big fat yarn, spun loosely. The deep brown of the border leicester will be perfect. Just need a couple of warm days to wash the fleeces. I also picked up some roving, a few ounces each of handpainted tussah silk, merino, merino/silk and merino/tencel (yes, exactly what I’m selling – should have saved some for me). I also picked up one of Grafton Fibers’ yummy spinning batts. I had plenty of time to hang out with the Nutmeg Spinners and catch up with some friends.
More time in the dye studio on Saturday evening. I dyed up Blue-faced Leicester roving for 2 orders and 2 more hanks of sock yarn. Six more skeins of sock yarn are on the way – 3 in Blue Note and 3 in a new colorway (unnamed at the moment) that’s earthy – shades of brown and blue and green.
I had time to knit last night and this morning. Feels like a small miracle. Caught up on tv shows that I taped – we won’t go into what I watch – let’s just say that if I’m going to waste time watching TV, its going to be really mindless trash 
This allowed me time to finish the Cowl Neck Sweater from Morehouse. Here she is:
Picture’s not great, but you get the idea. Charcoal Morehouse 3 ply (worsted weight), in seed stitch, sleeveless, with a “fake” cowl – there’s no increases in the cowl, so its really an extended turtleneck. Fits perfectly – it’ll be great for those in between days. Horray! Something’s finished! Something more than sock, singular. Of course, I moved on quickly, wound up 2 skeins of Misti Alpaca Chunky to start making Christmas presents (no, I didn’t type wrong – I have plan to knit Christmas presents for the really important people in my life, which means I need to start now). The other motivation was to have mindless knitting for the mindless training that my asshole mindless senior director is sending me to all day Tuesday. As much as I am dying to start it, I decided that starting the Clapotis has to wait. I have so many unfinished projects right now. Like Ev’s Christmas present – which is still sitting in the bag I bought it in. I actually want to start that one after I finish the green sweater I started for him in August. And I want to finish the rpm socks – doing the 2nd foot right now. Of course, socks don’t count, really, since I always have a pair with me to work on.
The other big fiber thing this weekend – destashing. Serious destashing. Filled a 3′ x 3′ x 2′ box with destashed stuff. I put together a big bag of leftovers to donate. The SnBers have been great – I put out a request for info on where to donate them and got a bunch of suggestions already. And for any of you reading this – offer still stands to coordinate a group donation. And as far as the suggestion related to donating them to the knitting group at a local college (warning: here’s my rather blunt opinion coming into play), college students aren’t what I had in mind when I was thinking about donating to a group. I was thinking charity, someone in need. College students should get jobs to fund their hobbies. Better yet, get three jobs, just like I did. Rant complete. Let me know if you have stuff to donate. I’m thinking something local, like a women’s group of some sort or one of the women’s prisons. If you want to enhance your stash, check out my Ebay auctions. Yes, I’ve complained about eBay, but I was also in the mood to get rid of stuff quick, before I change my mind. There’s some really good stuff there, some impulse buys at sales, some legitimate projects that I’ve now rethought – like the Rowan Polar. Enough to make a full length coat – in blue. Pretty. If anyone’s interested, I’ll find the magenta and lime green Rowan Wool Cotton that I bought to make matching striped gloves. This should be called the “What the f— was I thinking?” sale.
No dyeing for me tonight. Fatigue from this week set in late this afternoon, the light was really poor in the dye studio/sunroom by the time I got home – and this was the GREAT reason not to get in there – I was busy filling orders from Etsy tonight! Seriously, THANKS to any customers out there who might read this. I sold as many items this morning as I have in the last couple of weeks. Had time to prepare for CT Sheep and Wool tomorrow and catch up on some emails.
A few of my lists have had threads going recently about people’s favorite blogs. You might notice that my blogroll grew today. I found a couple of new blogs when I was reading others’ posts today. I thought I’d share my some of my favorites from the list. There’s 3 of my SnB friends – Gothknits, Needles and Wool and Live and Let Knit. Paula, Karen and Amy respectively – all great blogs. I knit with some seriously talented ladies (bloggers and blogless alike)! Sheep Gal, Barbara Parry’s blog, has the cute factor – who could resist those lambs? Thankfully, she also has that hefty dose of reality that having sheep, especially a big farm, is one big, dirty undertaking. Not for everyone – but you can see how much Barb loves it in her blog. Barb is also a great spinner, dyer and teacher – if you have a chance to take a class with her – do it! She’s awesome. Two of the new blogs are from people who are near to my spinner/dyer’s heart. They are the two people who are probably most to blame for this little fiber thing of mine. I took amazing classes from both of them at Harrisville Designs. Jenny Bakridges – Spinning Spider Jenny – taught me to spin. I took her 3 day learn to spin class at Harrisville in 2002. Her class was amazing. We did it all – washed a whole fleece, carded samples, dyed some of it with natural dyes, learned to spindle spin and spin on a wheel. That’s when it all clicked and I was hooked. I wonder if she realizes how much of an influence she had? Jenny’s blog is inspiring, in every way that she is. Lynne Vogel – Handspun Central – she knows how much of an influence she had. Emailed her a few weeks ago to point out what she’d started. Took her class at Harrisville in August – learned to dye, spin and knit with handpainted rovings – turned around and started The Painted Sheep. See what a little inspiration can do? I’m taking Lynne’s class again this year at Harrisville – wonder what that will bring. Lynne is so talented and giving of her time. She has a great infectious energy, yet she’s totally laid back. Lynne’s name might be familiar – she wrote The Twisted Sister’s Sock Workbook. She’s working on another book too. Check out the profile of her in Knitting in America too – the sweater she designed, then dyed and spun the yarn and knitted is a work of art. Oh, I can’t wait for August. Lynne’s blog has her some of her latest stuff, also links to her fiber for sale, twisted friends, etc.
The last link I added was for Sylvia’s Farm. This is the website for Sylvia Jorrin, who wrote the book Sylvia’s Farm. It has excerpts and Sylvia’s continued journalling about life on the farm. The book and the site are great reads. Sylvia is another amazing woman.
Happy reading!
It’s DONE! I’ve just listed The Painted Sock in 2 colorways on Etsy – Jewels and Autumn. Feels like a minor miracle, between first figuring out how to dye it and then skeining it, which proved to be far more of a challenge than it should have been. Wrestling match followed by meltdown last night – it got a little ugly in my house. Returned to skeining this morning – everything goes better when its preceded by sleep and coffee! I have two more colorways dyed and ready to be skeined – Dublin Lake and Crayons. Tomorrow night they’ll get done – tonight is knitting, which I can’t wait for, and the end of my Mom’s auctions on Ebay – I listed a bunch of her Vera’s too. So more sock yarn, probably listed Friday morning. Big plans to do more dyeing on Friday night and on Sunday – more sock yarn, more fiber to come.
Here they are: 
Today was the kind of day that makes my heart sing. I woke up early – 5:30 – because the sun was coming in the window. I’ve missed that! I love quiet, beautiful mornings like this one. My hands were in the dye pot before my first cup of coffee. By 8:30, everything from yesterday’s dyeing – 2 pounds of roving and a pound of yarn – was drying in the sun. And it was 60 out! The first yarn from The Painted Sheep is finished and ready to go on Etsy, Alpaca Handpaint in Lilacs:
There’s another one too, but its mine! I’m keeping one thing and it has to be this, Alpaca Handpaint in Dublin Lake: 
I spent the day in the dye studio and in the garden. There is sock yarn coming! I dyed 4 different colorways – Dublin Lake, Jewels, Crayons and Autumn. This will make 11 skeins. The garden – things are starting to come alive! Its wonderful. Everything that I was concerned about – things that budded during the January warm spell, like my lilacs and hydrangeas – are fine and budding as they should be. I cleaned up my flower beds, fed my roses. Everett finished preparing the vegetable garden. We planted peas – a first for us. Can’t wait until they’re ready in a couple of months. The day ended with a happy surprise – all but one of the Vera Bradley bags I listed on Ebay sold. Its official – Everett can no longer complain when I buy more Vera!!! My fiber didn’t move – between the lack of activity and the fees (now I know why it gets called feebay), I’m sticking to Etsy for fiber at this point. Today’s only glitch – Etsy’s been down in one form or another all day. It finally came up at 5:30 pm – can’t list items. Tomorrow, I hope – 10 new fiber listings and 1 new yarn listing – sock yarn tomorrow night? I hope so!!!
… Otherwise known as my sun room! What a perfect day – I got to enjoy this GORGEOUS weather, moving between the sun room/dye studio and our deck, which is off of it – while dyeing up a storm. I spent much of last night in there as well. The result? Four new merino/tencel rovings just listed on Etsy and a very full dye pot cooling as I write this. In that pot is another pound of merino/tencel roving (I love this stuff), a pound of merino/angora/silk roving and 2 big (8 ounces each) skeins of alpaca/merino/silk yarn – yummy! I’ll list those tomorrow, after they’ve been washed and dried in the sunshine! I may have to keep one skein of the yarn for me. I’ve had so much self control, listing everything I’ve dyed so far… Also in last night’s dye pot were two sample skeins of my sock yarn, The Painted Sock.
The idea here was play with one colorway, dyeing 2 small skeins a little differently though in the same proportions of color – one with long color repeats, the other with shorter ones. Tonight, I’ll knit a sample of each – to see which works better and determine a recommended gauge and needle size. My gut says shorter color repeats will avoid the dreaded “pooling” that some sock yarns have. Each day in the dye studio is a learning experience. This sock yarn reminded me of a couple of things – more contrast can definitely be better (just think about how lightening up the deep purple would have changed things, or better yet – replacing it with a medium green) and that different fibers take up the dye in vastly different ways. This yarn is superwash merino – it sucks in the color, making them deep and rich. Colors that I would normally not dilute may need to be watered down to get the effect I want. Then look at this:
(This is available on Etsy! Click the link to the right!)
Merino/Tencel roving in exactly the same colors and proportions but so different. The Tencel (celluse fiber) doesn’t take up the dye the same way that wool (protein fiber) does. Combine that with the sheen from the Tencel and it looks totally different. I did a couple of new colorways today in this blend that I loved – but I don’t know if I’ll be able to easily repeat them in other fibers. We’ll see…
So I know that several people are waiting for my sock yarn (!). I’m hoping that tonight’s swatching will have me to the point that I can dye some tomorrow and have them available by the middle of next week. No guarantees – it really depends on whether the dye studio or the garden wins out tomorrow!
Its a family portrait! In a very, odd way. This never happens – all of the cats, in one place, looking reasonably in the same direction. I think this is actually the first picture we’ve gotten with all of them. I had to share. So, here they are, clockwise from the bottom center: Maggie, Gizmo, Jasmine, Merlin, Thumper, Rosie (with her back turned, snubbing us all, as usual) and Tigger. That’s my bunch – the magnificent 7.
We also got this great picture:
Maggie and Tigger, otherwise known as #3 and #4. Tigger was adopted from a shelter – 6 months after we got Thumper and Gizmo, I decided we needed another kitten. I went to a specific shelter because they were the only ones around who had any kittens available (it was February). I ended up instead with Tigger – all 18 pounds of him. Tigger is my cat, period. We like to say that he sees Everett as the other man in my life. He loves me – and he has no problem with pushing Everett out of his way. And yes, Tigger bounces.
Maggie was adopted again from a shelter. We decided to go and “look around”. Not finding anyone to take home, we were heading out. We were stopped by her meow. I picked Maggie up and fell in love with her, all the while Everett was pointing to the big yellow cast that went from her paw to her shoulder. Didn’t care – took her home anyway. She had put her paw through a cage in the middle of the night and got stuck. By the time we got the cast off, she had an abscess and an infection – almost lost the leg. She’s had a host of medical issues – from the paw thing, to repeated UTI’s and cystis, and yes, some behavioral urinating while we were in Syracuse – some people know her as my Prozac kitty. One for me, one for Maggie – she stopped peeing outside the box and I could deal with it We moved to CT and the urinary issues just stopped – new environment made a difference. No more Prozac! Since we came here, she blew out a knee and lost her vision in her left eye. Vets love us. But we love Mags – she’s our princess. She thinks she rules the roost. And yes, she is as fat as you think she is. My weeble wobble, my cow kitty – 20 pounds worth. She eats a tiny amount every day and does not lose weight. We think a lot of it is due to her old medical issues. We keep trying – she gets her daily exercise by running from the bedroom where she eats separately to the food dishes in her kitchen to see if anything’s left Shortly after we took this picture, Tigger and Maggie turned on their sides and started to knead each other. They never quite get this daily ritual – both are so strong that it hurts each other to knead like they do – so they knead, they hiss at each other, they swat a bit, then one turns away in annoyance – purring all the while. Sweet, cute, maybe not so smart.
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