Art Yarns and Other Things

I realized that I haven't posted on here in quite some time. This spring has been very busy with shows and custom orders plus a baby blanket I made as a shower gift for Kiwi.

I have been spinning a lot of yarn, and I'm really happy with some art yarns I've spun. I'm getting so much better at it. I have lots of projects for this summer, so it is good that I don't have another show until August. My summer projects include finally getting some practice spinning on the wheel. (I had some issues with the drive band that I fixed, but then I was too busy to practice.) I have LOTS of art yarns planned to spin, mostly for my big spin-a-CD project. I'll be spinning a skein of yarn inspired by and named after each of the songs on Eddie From Ohio's Looking Out the Fishbowl CD. I'm also planning to make some Pride and sports team color beer cozies, some barrettes, some more coffee cozies, and some herbal moth/insect repellant sachets with my own custom blend of herbs. AND I want to work out a nice, quick bookmark pattern. Whew!

Since I've been super happy with some of my (relatively) recent art yarns, I thought I'd post some pictures.

Here is my first Spontaneous Spinning Batt from Loop:



It came with worry dolls, which I attached to embroidery thread and spun into the yarn.


I also got my first batt from Terra Bella Spun and spun that into a single that I plied with crochet thread strung with satin bows. I have two more batts from Terra Bella Spun waiting to be spun; one will be used for one of the Fishbowl yarns.


Finally, I just finished spinning Uniquely Yours' Spring Flower Ravelry Spin Along batts. I loved spinning this one! I spun one skein of boucle style art yarn plied with lavender sewing thread that had flowers threaded on it. Some of the flowers came with the batts. The purple and yellow velvet flowers I got from the Upcycle Exchange. I had a little bit of the single left over when the flowers ran out, so I have a small single also. Both are self striping, with a color sequence of green, purple, yellow, purple, green, purple, etc. to sort of emulate the colors of the crocus, the flower that was the inspiration for the batts.

Here is a picture of some of the roving balls I made from the batts all lined up in the color sequence.


And here are pictures of the finished yarn.



I really love this yarn, and I want to see how the stripes turn out, so I decided to keep the yarn and knit it myself. I have a cool idea of what I'm going to make and will probably keep the FO (finished object) for myself. Stay tuned for FO pictures!

Noel, Noel

For some reason, I'm not really sure WHAT reason, I have been in the Christmas spirit much earlier than usual this year. I usually put my tree up about 2 weeks before Christmas and take it down New Year's Day. But this year I put my tree up the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Hopefully I won't be sick of it by Christmas.

I'm wondering if part of the reason that I'm in the spirit early this year is that I started perusing Etsy for Christmas cards (and possible gifts) a while ago, knowing that I would need to order things in time for them to get here (and not wanting to pay ridiculous amounts for shipping). I'm really excited because I ordered handmade Christmas cards and gift tags from Etsy this year. One set of cards and the gift tags arrived this weekend...they are so cute! I'm hoping the other set of cards will arrive today. I also bought some cool things from Strung Out & Wired to give as gifts to my work friends. I like to give something handmade, and for the past 3 years I have made ornaments. But this year I knew I wouldn't have time to make something myself since I have been doing more craft shows, plus I have several custom orders that are Christmas presents (and presents to make that I'm giving as well). What I got is really cool though, and I think everyone will like them.

Another (somewhat selfish) reason I'm really excited about Christmas this year is that my parents are getting me a spinning wheel for Christmas. I found one that wasn't ridiculously expensive and is probably a good starter wheel. It would really suck to spend $500 on a wheel and then figure out that I hate spinning with a wheel. I ordered a beautiful fiber batt from Uniquely Yours, which I plan to make my first real wheel project, after I use crappy fiber and scraps to learn with. I can't wait to get the wheel and start spinning with it! It is going to make it so much easier to spin plied yarns.

Last Minute Maul

Avoid the shopping malls and cookie cutter gifts and instead finish your holiday shopping at Last Minute Maul, where you can find unique handmade gifts of art and craft. I am one of 40 artists selling handcrafted items at Last Minute Maul at Koken Art Factory in St. Louis on December 13 and 14.

Here's the blurb from the website about Last Minute Maul (follow the linked title of this blog to get to the website or go to www.freewebs.com/lastminutemaul):

"The Last Minute Maul is your last opportunity to purchase handcrafted items by the St. Louis area's best artists before the holiday. Gift hunters can peruse through our 40+ vendor booths whilst enjoying a glass of hot mulled wine and a home made baked goodie. We'll even have beer for those hardcore holiday shoppers.
Face painting and henna tattoos will be offered for our young shoppers. We'll also have local Girl Scouts on site manning a gift wrapping station for all of our customers' purchases.
You will find everything from photography, paintings, jewelry, glass, fiber, and mixed media items. We've got your shopping list covered! If you're looking for that perfect one of a kind gift please stop by the Last Minute Maul!"

Cowl Craze

So there seems to be a big trend right now for knitters and crocheters to be making cowls. Some of these are small cowls and some are gigantic oversized cowls. To be honest, I'm not really a fan of the cowl, which is probably why I don't make them. The plus side to the cowl is that you get the warmth of a scarf without the bulkiness and without having something to stuff into your coat or to be left hanging outside your coat. So I think I actually do kind of like the smaller cowls. This is also why I like scarflettes, which I do make. But I just don't see the point of the giant cowls. I mean, they are so big around that they don't really snuggle up to your neck, so you still have bare skin exposed to the cold. And even though you lose the bulkiness under your coat, you still have all of this bulky stuff on top of your coat. Apparently I'm in the minority though. I have definitely seen some beautiful cowls, even the giant ones. But for the most part, I'm a form over fashion kind of person, especially in the winter. I hate being cold and will pile on the layers in the winter, even if that isn't what is in style. So while some of these huge cowls are beautiful, they don't seem very practical or functional to me. And when it comes to items to keep me warm, I'm all about the practical and functional.

So now I come to the dilemma...do I bow to the trend and make some of these cowls, even though I don't like them, since they seem to be pretty popular and I'd probably have a good chance of selling some? Or do I buck the trend and continue to only make things I like, things I'd actually wear myself, even if they may not sell as well? I've never really been the type to follow a trend unless the trend was something I liked anyway (which is one of the reasons I will NEVER own a pair of crocs). But now that I'm trying to sell things, am I a sell out if I make something I don't really like just because I think it will make me some money? Would it even turn out well if it is something that I'm not enthusiastic about making?

Having thought about all of that, I think I have come to a compromise. Since I do actually like the smaller, functional cowls, I think maybe I will make a few and see how they sell. I think I'm going to make those and some more scarflettes (especially now that I have lots of pretty buttons) and leave the big-cowl making to people who actually like to make those.

Super Busy

So I just realized that it has been a very long time since I have posted any blogs. I have been pretty busy the past few months and had to deal with some trying things, so I haven't really had a whole lot to write about lately. I'm not a big fan of the confessional blog, so I didn't really want to write about the personal stuff I was going through. Everyone who knows me knows that I'm totally an open book with people in person; people who just meet me know my life story 5 minutes later (okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but not much). But the whole blogging thing is just so impersonal that I don't feel comfortable writing super personal stuff on here. Plus, people I could be writing about could easily come across my blog, and I just wouldn't want anyone to think that I'm out here sharing things that are also their personal things.

Anyway, since I was spending some time dealing with my feelings about some personal stuff, reading a lot, and busily working on projects to get ready for some craft shows, I just couldn't really think of anything to write about. But I have a few things now, so there will actually be several posts over the next few days. I guess I will make up for not posting for like a month and a half.