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

Lessee… shop updated. One Burning Bright, the April Showers (unless someone emails me for it or something), and the War for the Oaks are getting shipped to the brick and mortar store. Everything else is up.

So, among the many projects which I am a bajillion miles behind on, is a “Fiber to Scarf” trade. I haven’t started, you see. This makes me feel terribly guilty, but well… grad school. I will get it done, it’s just going to run up against the deadline more than I’d like.

However, my trade partner (who was just identified, since it’s a blind trade) has already finished. I sent him some lovely silver suri alpaca, and he sent back this…

EDIT: My trade partner was VTKnitboy, and here’s his Blog

Isn’t it pretty? And it’s SUPER soft. And squishy, with a remarkably good drape for a pure alpaca. Not a big fan of this photo, but hey.

He also kindly sent me back the extra yarn, even though I offered to let him keep it. it’s a lovely fingering/sportweight. I forgot to bring it so I could take a photo though.

That’s all for now, fiber update this weekend.

~The Gnome

FO FO FO!

Scarf, done.
Hat, DONE DONE DONE!

2-ply, 80% Merino / 20% Alpaca. Wheelspun except the stripe, which was spindle spun.

And being modeled by moi

So I can get these in the mail soon!

Should finish the Pink Spinel commissioned yarn tomorrow, since my date looks like it’s not happening. ::shrugs:: Then I can get started on the Sapphires and Emeralds commissioned yarns on Sunday. Woot! Then… assuming nothing else… probably back to finish off the Cernunnos. After that… either Rusalka or Amaterasu… or maybe a “normal” yarn? Who knows, the possibilities are endless… though lab’s also getting stupid hectic again.

Oh, update on testing of large volume dyeing method… it worked. Soon as it’s dry I have 14oz of “Brick” border leicester to photograph. Woot. Also looking at getting the equipment to do it a little easier once I hear back on two other opportunities.

Plan to squeeze in a few more stitch marker sets this weekend too. And hopefully some of a new variety. ::crosses fingers::

Busy Gnome.

~The Gnome

Working on the hat. Currently knitting the stripe now, in my spindle spun yarn. Going well, hope to have it done by this weekend.

Dyed some more blending silk, will post when it’s dry.

Also, I’m in the testing stages for doing larger batches of fiber. The plan is to periodically make sweater quantities of a single fiber, single dyelot available. So, right now I’m in the testing stages to see if it can be done with my equipment, and if not what I’ll need.

Today’s fairy is a little forlorn. You see, he’s a sunflower fairy, and he was all excited because he thought Spring might be coming. See, he even got his seedhead sparkler out! But then it snowed. Now, deep in his little green heart he knew it would, it is March after all, but still, he’s sad.

~The Gnome

And that’s what I have to say about that.

Lab is eating my life, as usual. 14.5 hour days are long. But, if things go well, I could be graduating in May/June.

I have, however, managed to get some Queen Mab spun up. I’m in the process of plying it now. Hope to get it done soon. It’s a little slow. I still have to build myself a beading rig. You know, along with needing a flat swift, etc. No problem! Soon as I can make me some time out of thin air!

As I think I mentioned before, my bobbins have been falling apart. Luckily I have gorilla glue, which is magic. So, two have been glued back together. Once Mab is plied, another will be fixed.

Let’s see, what else is up… once I get the Mab plied, I’ve got three commission yarns to do. But with my wheel running faster and smoother, those shouldn’t take as long… barring more insane lab weeks.

I have managed to get part of a hat made. Getting the color on this yarn to photograph is a pain in the butt. It’s not nearly as grey as the camera wants to make it.

It’s currently stalled for a bit because it needs a band of another color on it. So I have to spin one… though I suppose I could cut some off that ball I’m knitting from and overdye that… nah, that would be too logical. What I’ll probably do is spindle spin enough yarn for the stripe this Saturday while I’m waiting for immunoprecipitations and western blots in lab. Yay lab?

Oh, yeah, that bit of color. I made myself a stitch marker out of pieces I didn’t have enough of to make sets. So this is my one-of-a-kind stitch marker. A bead, chalcedony, and malachite. I like it.

I just put in an order for more fiber. Should be some nice fiber and blends, including some ::gasp:: non-merino. I got it in large enough batches to do sweater volumes of fiber. As soon as I get some time, I have some BFL and Shetland to dye, and maybe some clun forest roving as well.

I’m also trying to draw more fairies for the blog, but again… time.

~The Gnome