I'm addicted!

Nothing real exciting going on here... I haven't been feeling good the past couple of days. I went to the Dr. yesterday & he said that I'm either getting a Spring cold or I'm having "tick" symptoms. UGH! I've been running a low fever off & on, feeling achey in all of my joints, & generally run down. I'm on antibiotics, vitamin B12 (which I learned will help with healing, & help my thumb heal faster), vitamin D, & a multi-vitamin. He thinks I really need the vitamins, make sure I take them this time (I'm not good at taking my vitamins LOL)

Anyhoo... while vegging on the sofa I got a few more bracelets done. I'm so addicted to this quick little project! After not being able to pick up a hook or needle for several weeks, it's nice to have so many finished projects so quickly. :) If you want more info about them you can check out my Ravelry projects page.

These were all done with the Beaded Flamboyance crochet pattern by Lisa Gentry.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Actual Projects! Woohoo!

How was everyone's weekend? We had a nice weekend, full of warm sunny weather. The hubby was turned loose in the yard with a chain saw, luckily he survived with everything still attached. A lot of the bushes, pampas grass & weed trees weren't so lucky though. :) My sinuses weren't so lucky either. Although it was nice to open the windows, air out the house for a while & get out in the sun. It was worth the stopped up nose & itchy eyes for a few days.

And I got the front porch all washed off (lots of pollen), some pretty impatiens planted in the pots, house plants relocated out on the porch, etc... It'll be a nice place to knit or spin in the evenings until the spring breezes die down & the mosquito's show up enforce.

I did wake up with one of those dang deer ticks on my back this morning, that was pretty icky. Especially since I'm terrified of insects of any kind... not a good way to wake up on a Monday morning...

Okay, on to the projects....

Here is my finished Merino/Angora yarn. I'm very pleased with this, I ended up with 290 yards of 2ply yarn. I'll have to try out my WIP tool & see just what I have as far as weight...

And here are 2 actual finished projects!! This is the crocheted Beaded Flamboyance bracelet by Lisa Gentry. The pattern can be lengthened to an anklet or a necklace. It was super quick & super easy! Just the right little project to get me back in the swing of things. I did both of them this weekend. I don't want to overdo with the thumb just yet, it's still a little sore. But I was dying to knit or crochet something!I hope everyone has a great week, and I hope everyone gets a little warm sunshine....

Been a while...

Sorry it's been so long since I posted last. Nothing real exciting going on. Tourist season has officially begun here. We had one heck of an Easter Weekend at work. I'm glad to see so many people coming to the beach this year... but boy am I tired! I think it's gonna take a little while to get back into the swing of the busy season again. :)

What's been going on besides a lot of work?

I got a package from Robin, I won a prize on her blogiversary contest. Yay! I like surprises. She sent some wonderful handmade soap, and a flip flop stitch marker that she made, 2 cute sheepies, a note pad, a nature CD, and the Knitting for Good book. Thanks so much Robin! Your package made my day. :)

And look at my super thin singles!! I've still been spinning away since the thumb is still not up to par for knitting/crochet. This is my Merino/Angora that I've had for a while & was waiting until I learned how to spin better before I attempted it. This is some nice stuff, really soft & it has a nice soft fuzz to it. I'm in the process of plying it now. I'll post finished photos hopefully this weekend! This is my thinnest yarn yet! I'm very pleased even though I still need to work on my consistency. My goal is to be able to spin an entire skein of yarn with very little difference in thickness.

Here we have my Gypsyknits (from Kathy) BFL roving ready to go next. I want to try navajo plying with this. I've been practicing & I think I've got it down now. My other Robin friend showed me how to do the navajo plying last fall & I've been wanting to give it a try. :)Hope everyone has had a good week, one day left before I get a WHOLE weekend off! Yay!

More fibery goodness

Remember this? I purchased this French Angora rabbit fur last year at a fiber festival. I happened to think about it when a few people on one of my groups started talking about angora fiber. I asked them what I needed to do with this in order to spin it, I had so little of it, only 1 oz.

Anyhoo... One of the ladies in the group, Roo with Moonwood Farms, volunteered to blend it for me with her new drum carder. And she turned it into these lovely batts. What we have here are 3 batts of 50% alpaca, 33% angora (my bunny fur), 17% milk, and just a tiny bit of gold glitz in there. And I can't tell you just how soft these are!!She also sent along these little samples. The one in the bag is some of the milk fiber. I had no idea what milk fiber was. I know now that it's extremely soft. I also learned that milk fiber is a green product, it's PH is 6.8 which is the same to human skin. Milk fiber contains seventeen amino-acids and natural anti-bacterial rate is above eighty percent. So milk fiber has sanitarian function. That's just so cool. Thank you so much Roo for blending my angora for me & turning it into such lovely spinning batts! And for the samples, it's all wonderful & I can hardly wait to get it on my spinning wheel. :)

And the spinning marathon continues... I finished up my green yarn. This is my 100% wool from The Flying Ewe. I plied them together & like the result. I think the lighter green keeps the other one from being too dark.I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend! It went by way too fast for me.

Finished & WIP

I just had to take another photo of this huge, gorgeous skein of handspun yarn!! It's soft & squishy, I love it!! I should have put my hand or something in the photo so you can see just how large this skein is, amazing. LOL Thanks again Chan, it's been the Christmas present that just keeps on givin! Now I just have to pick out some kind of pattern for it.

So the thumb is still sore & tingly.... and I'm spinning yarn like crazy. I feel lost in the evenings without being able to knit or crochet. Needless to say I'm gonna have tons of yarn to knit with if the darn thumb ever quits hurting. However I'm probably going to be out of fiber. he he

I had 2 oz. of each of these greens. It's 100% wool from The Flying Ewe. I'm in the process of plying these 2 together. I'll get better photos without the flash after I get it all finished up.

Hope everyone has had a good week. I don't know about you but I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Finished Yarn!

Here it is, my finished yarn! Even though I can't (shouldn't) be knitting or crocheting at the moment, I'm enjoying my spinning wheel. I can do that without involving my thumb too much. :)

I finished plying the hand dyed 100% merino wool from Creatively Dyed Yarn, that I got from Chan for Christmas.

Would you just look at that HUGE bobbin full of yarn! I got all 8 oz. of fiber on there! Can I get a Woot Woot for the huge Heavenly Handspinning bobbins?! LOL

I ended up with approx. 480 yards of yarn, it should be just a little over that by my calculations. It's in the sink taking a bath at the moment, I'll take finished photos of my big skein of yarn once it dries. Turned out really pretty I think, all soft purpley & pink. :) Thanks Chan, I had so much fun spinning this up.

Now..... on to more fiber! Once my thumb heals up I'll have tons of new yarn to knit with!

Thrifty Spinning Tool

Here is a little thrifty spinning tool... my FREE Lazy Kate. I'm still hoping that the hubby will build me a pretty one, but until then this one will work fine. I used a free priority box from the post office, 2 large knitting needles that I don't use, and a scrap of cotton yarn. I left one flap on the box straight so it would tilt towards me for easier use. And there is room in there for a 3rd bobbin if I choose to do a 3-ply.....

Look Chan, I'm plying the fiber you sent finally!! :)

I have started spinning again like a mad woman. I've developed an odd injury.... a knitting injury! My right thumb has gone numb. This happened when I was trying to finish up my secret required knitting. I was using size 3 needles & knitting like crazy to get the thing done. I'm hoping that I've just bruised it or something. It's numb, but also sore & when I use it, it hurts. And sometimes I get a sharp pain, sometimes I get a tingly pain... So I'm forcing myself to not knit or crochet for about 2 weeks to see if it will get better. Which really sucks cause I have cast on a really cute pair of quick knit socks & was really wanting to get them finished. :(

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Even more goodies!

I have even more goodies to show you! Take a look at this great package that Kathy sent last week. I made a few sales in my esty store, so of course I headed right over to Kathy's shop to snag another of her beautiful fiber rovings, then I couldn't resist the yarn when I was there. :)
And just so you know, she has just listed a bunch of new yarns...

Here is the gorgeous BFL roving, the colorway is called Crayon Box. Now I just need more time to get all this new fiber spun up!

And here is my new Gypsyknits Sock It yarn in the Lovin Spoonful colorway. Makes me think of strawberries & cream....And here are all the great extras that she put in the box! I got a generous sample of more fiber & some yarn!! There is also a little sample of eucalan fiber wash stashed in the yarn sample. And then sweet Mr. Bettis & his pals sent Jazzy some toys & a sweet card. She was thrilled! Especially since Mr. Bettis put his extra bit of love on one of them. 3 of them are missing already so we know that she is enjoying them. LOL Another game of hide & seek, she hides them & I seek them out. I have to say though, Miss Jaz was just as thrilled with the Crayon Box fiber. I had them laying in the floor here beside my spot on the loveseat, and she was rubbing her head all over the bag it was in, smooshing it up against the sofa. The hubby & I got a good laugh out of that. I figured Kathy either rubbed catnip on it or maybe Mr. Bettis or one of the kittys had loved on the bag before it left her house. It was really cute.

Thanks so much Kathy!!! Of course I love your yarn & fiber, but the little extras you sent just made my weekend! And Jazzy's too!

I'm Phat!

I received my first Phat Fiber box the other day, and it is AWESOME! I have been contributing samples of my stitch markers for the box and I got my own box for March. Sit back, relax & enjoy looking at all these goodies, gonna be a photo heavy post here.......Such lovely goodies!

This is from Corgi Hill Farm, a few chocolate kisses, maple candy (YUM), and this gorgeous handspun yarn! The yarn is hand blended superwash merino & firestar.
Here we have all of the coupons that I got. Sorry guys, I blocked out anything relating to the coupon codes... those are mine! LOL And there are some awesome deals here!!

This came from Calizona Designs, super cute tiny green beaded stitch markers, a lovely tile pendant, and some gorgeous hand dyed yarn in Lucky Springtime colorway. Also included was a pattern for a headband & a $10 gift certificate!! How awesome is that?!

This lovely yarn came from Desired Haven Farm. It's called Maddy's Potpourri, made up from odds & ends, blended with Maddy's Charcoal Fleece. I never knew that odds & ends could look so pretty!

Here we have a gorgeous beaded row counter from In Stitches. While I might use this as a row counter, I believe it is destined to be a bracelet too, because it's just too pretty to hide in my knitting notions bag! :)And a generous 100 yd. sample of Kangaroo Dyer's handdyed yarn. (75% superwash wool/25% nylon) It's purple too! My favorite!! This is some really soft, squishy yarn, I can't wait to try knitting with it!Here we have some natural plant dyed merino top from Natchwoolie, in the Irish Moss colorway. Incredibly soft fiber, & the color is gorgeous, the photo doesn't do it justice.This pretty pink (Rhodium) yarn is Billy Shakes Sock yarn from Nerdclub 2000 Yarn & Fiber. It also came with a great coupon.Here are some hand dyed mohair locks in the Lugh Colorway, from Northern Lights Fiber Co. I can't wait to give these a spin, I've never tried locks before.

Check out this cute Itty Bitty sock & lace stitch marker from Oddish Creations. How adorable, & I'm sure it will get plenty of use here with my knitting.I received a couple of great patterns in the box. I've got the Bocca Baciatia, a beautiful hair comb pattern, from Bohemian Knitter Chic, and a Felted Cat Toy pattern from 7 Yaks Design. I'm sure Jasmine is wanting me to make that first before anything else! LOLFluffington Farms sent some lovely Easter Dress fiber, a blend of two different merinos, angora, firestar & slik. This fiber is just heavenly to touch & the pastel colors are so sweet. She also sent some of her great smelling bath salts. I can tell you that those will be put to good use in a very timely manner!This great little bag is from Ruddawg. Extremely well made little bag, it'll be perfect for my spinning goodies!Here is a lovely sample of handspun yarn from Simply Twisted Yarn. Another one that I can't wait to knit up. I have to say though that a lot of these little yarn samples are just so pretty like they are it's gonna be hard to unwind them. :)

Here is another gorgeous yarn sample from Tactile. This is superwash merino sport weight sock yarn, and it's soooo soft!And here is some beautiful fiber from Tracy Rios. This little batt of fiber is awesome to pet. LOL And if you do nothing else you have to go check out her angora bunnies! How adorable!This lovely fiber blend (50% alpaca/30% merino/20% Tussah Silk) is from Whorling Tides. Great color & fiber blend! Definitely makes me want to go buy more! :)This little sample from Wooly Hands is another one that the photo doesn't do justice to. It's much more green, but it's a pretty soft, mossy green. I love it! And yes, that's another coupon there that I blocked out. Everyone was very generous with the coupons!!And last but certainly not least, we have some Silk top w/noil from Zebisis Designs. This fiber is absolutely gorgeous!! And another one that I can hardly wait to spin! I've never tried silk before so I'm really looking forward to it! They also have lovely spindles in their shop!WHEW! That's it! Really guys, if you see something you like go check out the shops. Everyone in the contributors group is super nice & their products are just awesome!