So, of course, no sheep and wool festival is complete without stuff! Mmm shiny stuff.

Birthday stuff:

My parents bought me some more lovely fiber for Strider. And a wrap gauge for me! Been wanting one for a while, yay! All from Spunky Eclectic. I narrowly avoided a bird’s eye maple Loki as well.

Merino/Tencel on the left, Corriedale batt by Grafton Fibers on the right, and wrap gauge below.

See? Shiny!

Let’s see… what else… oh right!

Heeeeee. For my birthday, I got Tsuper Tserious Tsock Tstuff.

Hand carded and blended Tsock Batts by the Tsarina herself… made with some of the fleece I gave her from the Great Fleece Adventure.

Mood Indigo: Romney, Mohair, Silk

And this one, “just for fun” which, in grand black tradition is hard to do photographic justice to

Assyrian Cohort: Merino, Seacell, Silk, Mohair, Sparkly

And, finally, recieved in the mail presents from England!

The shirt made me laugh. Which is good, laughter is the best medicine.

The socks… wow. Dude.

Here’s a better photo of them, truer to the gorgeous claret-ey color. DAMN they’re soft. If I recall correctly, they have silk in them. Fit great too. Look at those cables!

They’re even cabled on the back!

Aren’t they awesome? ::squee::

Presents from me, to me:

Now, of course, I can’t go to a sheep and wool festival without buying a few things myself. And so…

I got me some Abby Batts from Spunky Eclectic. Mmmm. Shiiiny.

And a closeup of the green one

I also got some Icelandic Lamb, because I haven’t spun any Icelandic yet, and it’s about time. Marcy helped with this purchase.

And finally, I had to valiantly throw myself on these to save my dear friend Lynn from them. Ahem. 30/2 and 40/2 cotton thread, which will be used for weaving.

Stuff I made:

And that’s all the new stuff… except…

Remember this photo?

Notice something? Here, let me zoom in…

See that? That was my not so super secret project after making the spindle bags.

Here it is with better light

Or on the table so maybe you can see it better…

Still can’t tell what’s going on?

Try this…

Get it now?

If not, wander over here and look at the 4th photo down, I’ll wait…

See it? Yeah, that’s me, at NH Sheep and Wool, wandering around spindle spinning. That’s what I do. I do it here at work too.

And it’s for that that I invented this little “device.”

It’s a spindle holster. Yes, a spindle holster. When they’re not all full, you can put them through button holes. But when the cop gets large, they won’t fit in button holes anymore. And spindle bags are great, but they really go IN bigger bags. And when I’m walking around spindle spinning, I want a place to put the spindle that’s right there at hand, that I can get the spindle back from. You know, you walk up, spinning away, to a booth and then OOOH cormo-silk, you have to pick it up to touch and look at the price, but where do you put your spindle? Oh noes! Put it in your pocket and it may get squeezed back out and dropped and… ::gasp:: lost.

So, I made this. Admittedly, it’s probably not for many people. I mean, it’s got a belt loop, and two draw strings. But as the link pointed out, I’m hardcore ::snickers:: really ::twitch:: hardcore… ::falls out of chair laughing:: Ahem… totally. Anyway, for me, it’s awesome. As the cop gets bigger, I can adjust the lower drawstring so that the spindle is snug and secure and won’t drop out the bottom or bounce out the top.

It’s awesome! I’m happy.

And finally:

A new bit of fiber for the shop.

Deep sea blue-green currents swirl and twist in the depths of the water, where strange creatures swim…

Deep Sea – 1oz – 50/50 Cashmere/Tussah Combed Top

SO SOFT. SO SHINY. Love.

That’s all for now.

Later!

~The Gnome

Short update because I couldn’t resist showing off new stuff!

Finished a yarn…

Berry Berry (a.k.a Hambaby, don’t ask, it’s weird) – 170yds – SW BFL – DKish

And I finally took my first weaving off the loom! Loooooom. Hee hee. They still need to be finished (washed), but otherwise, look what I did! Look look look! Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom? Mom look, look Mom, see what I made? See, see, see? ::holding up object WAY too close to actually see anything::

Ahem. I also almost finished the three prototype spindle holsters, but they need different drawstrings and belt-loops before I can sew up the last seams on those.

Wheeee!

All three spindle bags, with spindles inside…

My very first weaving ever…

Which was very random and was totally playing with what the different harnesses would do… so the sides aren’t remotely the same, and the pattern doesn’t wrap either…

A big one, folded along the bottom. I didn’t quite manage to duplicate the pattern perfectly. This is what happens when you’re trying to retroactively do recordkeeping on a pattern that was designed on the fly (and often counted when standing on one’s head on the underside of the loom). But it’s close.

And a closeup of some of the detail…

And the last spindle bag, and best fit of the three…

Whee! Weaving. Hope to have the holsters ready to field test this weekend.

And now back to panicking, not sleeping, and trying to get everything done. Need to get thesis outline to my committee today. Whee!

Oh, new fae finally showed up. It’s a little shy. Probably the fact that it’s small, and doesn’t have arms.

~The Gnome

So I got a line on some fleeces, and possibly some other stuff. And yesterday, I set out to see what there was to be seen…

When I came home, the back of my car looked like this:

Yeah… once I got them out they were this: (There are 10 if you’re curious)

I wasn’t planning on buying white. Or at least not MUCH white. But then there was this. A ewe by the name of “Vera Wang” border leicester…

And really, how could I resist?

Well I wasn’t disappointed. I turned out the fleece on my handy dandy sheet and…

Pretty huh? Well look at this…

Impressive huh? Yeah, my hands aren’t huge, but that’s still abut 7 inches. So, because I couldn’t wait, I gave it a quick rinse, not even full heat water or a soak…

Mmmmm…

The other best fleece there was this one, “Cocoa” by name. Another Border Leicester

Gorgeous, huh?

I also got a Cotswold, a breed I’m terribly unfamiliar with

And a greyer Border Leicester

Then I picked up some Romney, ’cause it was softer than most romney I’m familiar with, and quite pretty. Soft durable sweaters, ideal!

And everything else was dark Romney. Much of it has a small amount of sun damage, but I skirted out the worst of it, and what remains shouldn’t be too bad.

And one more of these I managed to not photograph.

Very shiny, huh? I’ll be sending these off for processing tomorrow. ::squee::

While I was there I also took a look at some fiber arts tools.

I picked up this:

A “click reel” which clicks every 40(?) turns of the winder. Cute! Needs cleaning, but works great.

And I found these!

Some very nice Meck combs, so I could make my own top if I wanted to… say out of that white Border Leicester…

Aaaand this liiittle guy. Isn’t he cute?

He’s a Hatchtown Spinimal, so I’ve been told.

And finally, I got this:

A warping board, with a built in stand. These photos don’t do these things justice, the light was terrible and it makes the wood look all gross. But it’s not.

Also, I’m dyeing a bunch. Yay. My new scale STILL hasn’t arrived, and I STILL haven’t heard from the company, so we’re dragging big companies into the fray, namely Paypal and Ebay. Want my scale!

That’s about it for now. More posts to come soon. Going to have some sock size stitch markers soon, and crochet functionable ones.

~The Gnome

Good weekend, Connecticut Sheep & Wool is fun, especially with good friends. I was good, didn’t spend that much. Was saved from both a Magpie and a Forester spindle by my dear friends throwing themselves in front of the bullets.

I did buy a lovely Border Leicester fleece though, heather grey, which I should have back in roving form in a monthish.

Some spinning has been happening, the big guy and I have been getting to know eachother. Names in the lead right now are Luchta and Strider (He said no to Bragi)

Also, more weaving. Working on a spindle bag for the Greensleeves.

Otherwise, brain no worky. Going to try to get a shop update this week, but the first priority this week is getting a draft of the scientific paper to my boss before her vacation.

~The Gnome

Whee. Got back to the gym after a 5 month absence last night. Oy. I’ll get it back, but it’s going to take a while. I haven’t been this out of shape in a long time, and I’ve never in my life weighed this much. Ouchy.

Lots of photos to post today.

We’ll start with older stuff that needs updating, or… something.

You might remember the last Spin-A-Sweater in Romney, Moss, Wood, and Stone? Well, I spun up a tiny bit of it, so people could see how it would spin, ply, and knit. Yay for spindles. All done on the Bossie.

First, I spun up singles.
Wood – Stone – Moss

Then I plied it into an itty bitty center pull ball.

And finally, I knitted it up into a little swatch, nothing fancy, but it’s a soft enough heathering, I think you could do cables without losing them in the heather.

Next, new fiber! Well, not new fiber, just new colors of fiber. This is all polwarth. Mmm. We’ll start with the two “oops” fibers, then move onto the non-oopses.

This one’s a lovely deep wine. Unfortunately it got a little compacted and a tiiiny bit felted during dyeing. Bugger. So I’m not selling it. Gnomespun does not provide inferior product. I’ll spin it myself (the big guy is handling it fine) and sell the yarn.

So, this one’s going back to the pot. It’s not “bad” just… boring. So I shall make it not boring.

And finally, before we get to the best stuff, this one, which I’m really proud of, and is already spoken for. It has a soft iridescent shine, which is part of how it got it’s name.

Balloon Flower: 4oz – Combed Polwarth Top

And finally, the fiber going up on the shop.

A repeat semi-solid in a new fiber, Aquamarine.

Aquamarine: 4oz – Combed Polwarth Top

One of my favorite yarn colorways, and a favorite summer… fall… ok all the time favorites, cranberries. Mmm cranberries. A true New England Tradition!

New England Cranberries: 4oz – Combed Polwarth Top

In spring, the river may run rapid, but the streams gurgle and splash…

Babbling Brook: 4oz – Combed Polwarth Top

And those of us who don’t like the heat much, seek out the deep forest, where the wild things dwell, and the fae dwell… another repeat, a slightly less dark version of Phouka, greener. His summer mein, perhaps.

Phouka: 4oz – Combed Polwarth Top

And, it’s spring! Which means it’s time for budding growth, tulips, and lots of mud! Mmm mud mud mud. Hee.

Spring Serendipity: 4oz – Combed Polwarth Top

And what do we get for all the rain and mud? Summer comes, with blue skies and bursting flowers!

Summer Serendipity: 4oz – Combed Polwarth Top

Yay fiber! More fiber coming soon. I’ve got a bunch of stuff on the way, and am scouting out some more suppliers.

And now, some stitch markers that have recently gone out as gifts in large orders (and one other).

First a pair of earrings that was part of a comission (which is why they get to be earrings, the earring findings cost more)

Sodalite – Aventurine x2 – Sterling Silver

A pair of Millefori glass markers I from beads in the batch Heather gave me.

Millefori Glass – Fancy Jasper

And finally a pair of amethyst dice stitch markers, which were added into a shipment that went out later than it should have.

Amethyst – Rose Quartz – Sodalite

And…

Hrm…

Nope, that’s it for now, sufficient? Got a couple projects coming up. Knitted objects, and possibly some stone whorl spindles. Yes, I sleep, sort of. Hush.

~The Gnome