Shetland fiber, a bit of Cheviot, and Phouka yarn!

As always the shop is here

More blogging soon. Things are a bit hectic here as suppliers and such are changing.

~The Gnome

So I’ve had this for a while now (as evidenced by the fact it was filmed at my old apartment).

I keep thinking that I’ll do an addendum to it, or add something or what have you. But I don’t. So… I’ll post it as is. If it needs a new version, or an addendum, then you – dear readers – can tell me what you’d like to see.

So, here’s a small video I made about bottom whorls. Specifically it was meant to address two of the big myths I’ve seen spread about.

1) Bottom whorl spindles are heavy

2) You can’t spin fine on a bottom whorl

There’s also some basic explanation of how to use a bottom whorl, if you’re interested. Personally, I love my bottom whorls. I want to get another at some point, since my big one tends to be full of plying projects as it’s my longest shafted spindle (see earlier post with 4.2oz of icelandic plied onto it).

So, without further ado, here it is. Bottom/low whorl spindles.

Let me know if you have questions, comments, etc!

P.S. Thanks here to Tom, for filming this for me.

That’s all for now…

~The Gnome

I was a terrible photographer this year at the spring festivals. Terrible.

But here’s what I did manage…

NH Sheep and Wool! First fest of the year for me. I joined the fabulous Holiday Yarns booth again! It was POURING rain and freezing the first day. And even colder, but not pouring the second day.

My main corner (had some stuff in another corner too)

The other corner (back mostly out of sight from this angle) and the incomparable Georg

I utterly failed to get one of me, Jennifer, and Tsocks. Argh. Fail.

I did get a photo of these guys…

And I saw and hugged a LOT of people. It was awesome. Also this was the first public introduction of the new yarns of Gnomespun.

I only fell down once. I was very good. I bought this one fleece. It is gorgeous and springy and soft. I think I’m going to prep it entirely myself with teh goal of eventually making a sweater, quite possibly the Brigade pattern.

Montadale/Corriedale cross

After that weekend, I took a train down to DC on Monday for an interview. There was a week of goodness. And a job. I’ll make a post on that later. For now, festivals.

The weekend after I got back, was Cummington, which is one of my favorite festivals, and also the anniversary of both Strider and my original enablement into Gnomespun.

I totally failed to take photos there. I have no photos of the booth. No photos of most of the people. No photos (yet) of my one purchase. Oy. Fail.

Luckily, Lynn did take some photos.

And I *did* finally get to see my very first finished object in Gnomespun in person!

This is me, the lovely Gala, and her awesome hand spun, hand knit shawl in the Amethyst and Gold colorway in Ramboulliet fiber.

Finally, last weekend I had spinning guild, with the Nutmeg Spinners down in CT. Lovely group of people, always fun. I actually vended there for the first time this meeting (and quite possibly the last since I’ll be moving).

This was my first time vending alone. I forgot half of what little I had for setting up a table, but it was ok. After a bit, and with the help of Marcy, I figured out a few ways to make it a little less… flat, but I didn’t take more photos.

So there’s a whirlwind tour of the spring festival and vending season. More photos of things, more details on the DC trip, and all that as things continue. Now back to the dye pot.

~The Gnome

Another update to the shop!

Knitting and crochet stitch markers, and one pair of sock/lace markers! The crochet stitch markers are made on surgical steel kidney earring clasps, so they are perfectly functional as actual earrings. If people are interested in sterling silver hooks, I can also make earrings with those. I haven’t because there’s lots of people who make them, but if people want, I can.

That’s all for now. More blogging blog updates to come.

~The Gnome

Ok, back from fiber festivals and guild meetings and and and…

I’ll update you on the rest of everything shortly, I promise.

So, fiber update! Finally!

Here’s the shop

We have:

The last of my Cotswold, BFL, and Clun Forest until some unidentified point in the future. I’ll see if I can get more but my sources are limited, and I’ve got a move coming up.

Also finn, cheviot, dorset, romney, and wensleydale.

Upcoming I have… some mixed stuff and some shetland.

So what’s now on the shop!

That’s all for now, see you soon!

~The Gnome