::waves:: Hello everyone, sorry for the delay in posting anything or getting anything up. But I had to get a draft of the paper done for the boss before she left on vacation (which I did, yay!) and then start to try to get my life back in order a bit (you know, hair cuts, bills, groceries, cleaning, those fascinating necessities). Allergies seem to be backing off. I can get to my oven again.

Created a Gnomespun flickr group for people to share the projects they’ve made, yarns they’ve spun, etc. So, go, post! I wanna SEEEEEEEE! Gnomespun Yarn and Fiber Arts on Flickr

I also skirted my two Southdown fleeces. First experience skirting specifically for fiber prep, especially for milling. A lot of VM there was no way to get out. This may very well be the stress test on this mill, given that this type of fleece isn’t the easiest to work with and it’s got the VM. Here’s to experiments.

Played with Strider some more, talked with a bunch of people, including Spunky Eclectic (where he came from) and managed to learn a lot. I now know how to get the drive band on without cursing, and how to realign his various wheels and pulleys. He’s still got a mischievous bone, though. Managed to work one of the threads of his drive band out of the knot and started to unravel it. So, I’ll be replacing that shortly, probably doing it myself. We’re getting along a lot better now. I love him.

Finished my first and second yarns on him too!

A Heady Brew – 4oz – Polwarth DK weight – Guessing ~250 yds?
(No, I haven’t measured it yet, it’s harder to measure this much yarn on my little niddy)
Once it’s measured and reskeined, it will go up on the shop.

Patches – >4oz – You name it – Sport-Worsted Thick/Thin
Icelandic, Romney, BFL, Merino, Corriedale, Cormo, Alpaca, etc.
This will not be in the shop, but will be sent off to my friend KnittyBe for a super-seecrit project

Right now, I’m spinning up some Spunky Eclectic fiber, Berry Berry in SW BFL which I’m loving.

And then I started dyeing again. Got a lot of commission dyeing done, and a bit for the shop. Note here that these are photos in my living room and in my puny light box. I’ll take more tomorrow, ’cause a lot of these (notably the red and purple)… suck.

First up, “A Sky Full of Stars” as a commission for a friend. Icelandic.

Then, onto roving… I discovered the exact limit of my bathroom fiber capacitywise… 13

This was enough fiber to slow the drying process, but not to halt it.

First up of these are the ones I don’t have photos of because they are still drying. All commissions. In the green/brown you can see a redux of Frog and Toad in SW Merino. Further you can see a Sapphire Surprise and a War for the Oaks in Polwarth. All still wet. Polwarth dries like mud.

First up of those you can see, more of a colorway you’ve seen, Burning Bright, this time in Cormo/Mohair, an interesting blend. Very soft. A little different than prior versions because I had to change the method for just short of a pound of fiber. Note the bad photography. It’s not nearly this neon, this is a sample of it, not the whole thing. This is the other half of the Sky Full of Stars commission.

That finishes the comissions and gets us to ones which will go up on the shop as soon as I get decent photographs of them (tomorrow morning, most likely).

A new fiber to Gnomespun, Jacob. I think I’m in love with this fiber. It’s super soft, great for semi-solid heathers, and lofty. Love.

Similar, but I think even better than the original, Moss. With all the shadings of deep green and hanging moss.

Moss – 4oz – Carded Jacob Roving

That Old Black Magic, a wonderful super deep almost black heathered purple. The pictures totally don’t do it justice.

That Old Black Magic – 4oz – Carded Jacob Roving

And one who’s name is more because it’s funny and I couldn’t come up with something perfect. I wanted to call it Hobbes, but that’s just not quite right for the grey-brown and orange. So instead…

Diamonds in the Rust – 4oz – Carded Jacob Roving

And another new fiber to Gnomespun, Dorset. A durable, and well nigh unfeltable downs wool. Not merino soft, but with a lot higher wear factor and a ton of loft. Excellent memory in this fiber.

Oxblood – 4oz – Carded Dorset Roving
This photo is terrible. Super dark, deep, red-black.

And a colorway you’ve seen before…

Hardwood – 4oz – Carded Dorset Roving
This is the worst photo ever. This is a deep golden BROWN. Not red. Not orange. Ugh. Will get better one tomorrow.

In other news… I finished this…

Look familiar? That’s because it is. It’s the other end of the pattern, which I did twice, in mirror, so I can fold it in half, sew up the sides, fold over the top, and make a bag.

And I made some test stitch markers.

Lapis – Amethyst – Garnet

Sodalite

Amethyst – Mountain Jade – Kambaba Jasper (both greener than the photo shows)

Aventurine – Sodalite – Amethyst

Sodalite-Lapis-Sodalite (Made to be extra small and light for things like lace)

Upcoming projects: More dyed fiber, more spinning, finished woven spindle bags, stitch markers, cute knitted critters, and a Gnomespun webpage update.

Upcoming posts: Dyeing methodology

Upcoming events: NH S&W (dangerous), MA S&W

Think that’s about it for now.

Oh right, I have some fae to show you but they’re not in the computer yet.

~The Gnome