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Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 | Author: The Gnome

Shop link, for RSS convenience

Hallo! Sorry for the delay, lots of stuff going on. Computers dying, trips for family stuff, etc.

And so, I’m updating the shop in the middle of a thunderstorm. Whee! I can’t see much but blinding rain outside of the window.

Anyway, plenty of neat stuff in this update, but the biggest thing is Exmoor Horn. This is a threatened English breed. The entire population of this lovely downs wool lives in a 12.5km radius! It’s very soft and lustrous for a downs type wool. As sleek as a nice shetland and shinier. I’m thinking it would make a GREAT fiber for anything where you want both softness and the downs durability/spring. Socks, mittens, sweaters, etc. I didn’t want to sell it, but figured you guys deserved a shot at it. If people like it as much as I think they will, I’ll see about getting more.

Oh, and some more BFL/Silk…

So! The new fiber:
New Fiber!

We have, in order… Rambouillet, BFL/Silk, Dorset, Wensleydale, and Exmoor Horn.

Colorways, in order are…

Rambouillet

A Tiger in the Shadows: In the gathered shadows of the forest, danger lurks. Unbridled power, stalks the shadows on silent paws, claws unfurled, and you… are prey.

Summer Garden: Balloon flower and bee balm bloom in the warm summer sun. Hummingbirds flit back and forth in the scarlet monarda while bumblebees buzz and light in the purple balloons…

Trumpet Vine: Delicate flowers dance to the beat of the hummingbird’s wing, trumpeting out the glory of the warm summer sun as they reach for the sky!

BFL/SILK

The Nightingale and the Rose: For the literary, something by Oscar Wilde. A drop of heartsblood, for true-love to turn a rose red…

The Tiger Stalks: Through the trees the tiger stalks, paws soft and silent, claws retracted until it scents its prey nearby…

Dorset

The Tide Turns: As the tide turns the waves roll back out, rushing back in a froth over the stones and sand, leaving tide pools stranded behind, mirrors into other worlds of impossible creatures.

Bryophyta: Warm rich muted greens carpet the floor of the forest, creeping up and hanging from the trees in this primordial wood.

Lapidary Wheel: Water flows on the wheel, washing the dust away for a wet polish to the shimmering gem clutched tightly in practiced and wrinkled fingers. Lifted to the light it shimmers and sparkles, perfectly faceted…

Dianthus at Dusk: Dusk falls and the scent of the dianthus flowers fills the yard, green leaves barely poking out from between the pinked petals as a tiger swallowtails drink their last nectar before evening falls…

Wensleydale

Soft Heart of the Fire: Brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows flicker and dance in the heart of the fire, where the heat is highest and the spirit of living things is released as energy to warm our souls…

Exmoor Horn

Deepest Wine: A deep and heady brew, rich with flavor and tannin, aged in the finest casks in the depths of the keep. It reeks of the halls of power where kings treat and lords walk…

Singing in the Rain: I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain! What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again. I’m laughing at clouds, so dark up above. The sun’s in my heart, I’m ready for love!

Spanish Shawl: Like a shawl in the breeze it glides across the reef, brilliant colors warning others of the nematocysts filling it’s shimmering fronds… This is a colorway I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.

California Dreamin’: All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey, I’ve been for a walk, on a winter’s day…

Annnnnd that’s all for this update folks. Coming up soon, a little more polwarth, some dorset, suffolk, and you’ll have to see what else! I also hope to have more bloggy blog up soon.

~The Gnome
gnome

Category: roving  | Tags: , ,  | 6 Comments
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 | Author: The Gnome

Shop update!

Two fibers this round, wensleydale and jacob. Next update will have border leicester, finn, and cotswold (at least). Many of the wensleydale was done in double batches, so for once some colorways have more than one braid.

A note that this is the last of my jacob. I don’t know when I’ll get more. Soon hopefully.

Jacob: Garnet Shadows, Emerald Shadows, Amethyst Shadows, Midnight Magic, and Heather and Gorse

Wensleydale: Soft Bismuth, Haying Time, Slate, Across the Sea, Midnight Iris, Rhubarb Cobbler, Heart of the Fire, Soft Heart of the Fire, Redwood, Calapogon

Jacob

Wensleydale

Also made these, considering putting them up…
Tiger Eye

That’s all for now, back to dyeing!

~The Gnome
Gnome

Friday, April 02nd, 2010 | Author: The Gnome

Link to the shop for feed readers

Life continues apace. Weather has limited my ability to take pictures for the past few days, or this update would have been up three days ago or more.

In non-fiber news, I’m still job searching. Learned yesterday that many of my resumes were not formatted ideally for the jobs I was applying for. Federal resumes are the opposite in brevity from academic and industry jobs, who knew? So I’ll be working on redoing those shortly.

In fiber news… oh boy

As Ravelry board readers know, I’ve got a TON of new fiber on the way to be processed into roving. Domestic Polwarth, Perendale, Suffolk, Debouillet, and a Targhee and Alpaca blend. I’m *really* looking forward to these. The fleeces all look absolutely divine.

We also have a new fiber hitting the Gnomespun shelves, Cheviot! A lovely downs wool similar in many ways to Dorset. Perhaps a bit coarser with a bit longer staple length. A good heavy duty sock fiber, or any long and hard wearing purpose. Almost unfeltable through wear, and difficult to felt otherwise.

In this update we have:

Cheviot: Bismuth, Robins and Rabbits, Spring Crocus, Bryophyta
Dorset: Desert Sunset, Spring Rains, Marigolds, Bryophyta, Open Sea, In the Spring
Finn: Into the Green, Soft Into the Green, Soft Fingerpaints, Peaches and Strawberries
Wensleydale: Deep Sea, Bryophyta, Tarnished Gold
Jacob: Garnet Shadows

Fiber!

And then we have a big new Gnomspun first… millspun yarn!

This first, Gnomespun Phouka, is a yarn I hope to have fairly regularly. It’s a yarn spun specifically for socks, which means its fairly loose spun but has a very high twist. This makes it very soft and lofty, but strong enough and springy enough for good socks. The weight is a “fine fingering.”

A note: All but one of these are single skeins. There should be enough for a pair of normal socks in a skein. Once I get an idea which colorways are popular, I’ll likely start doing them in pairs or sets of four.

Gnomespun Phouka
~400 Yards per skein, 3.2oz
75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon

Gnomespun Phouka

This is a yarn I’ve only got 5 skeins of. Whether I will have more or not depends on a bunch of other factors (like how fast and if I get a job). This is a more multipurpose yarn, with a lower twist and more stretch than the Phouka. Welcome, Gnomespun Imp.

Gnomespun Imp
~400+ yds
80% Superwash Merino / 20% Nylon

Gnomespun Imp Yarn

And now, off for my run, and to rewrite my resume. More coming!

That’s all for now!

Oh, right, also note that for those who like to stash, these yarns are now entered into the Ravelry Database as “Imp” and “Phouka” under the “Gnomespun Yarn” category.

~The Gnome
Gnome

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 | Author: The Gnome

Hallo. Sorry for the delay. Here’s a big update of fiber!

Will also get other update stuff up soon.

So, here’s today’s update.

Up on the shop

Fiber!

We have:

Polwarth: Rhodonite
BL: Eye of the Storm
Romney: Capibara, Barn Door, Moss, Dark Nebula, Spring Puddles
Finn: Sandstorm, Sunset Over Apocalypse
BFL: A Touch of Romance, Bipartisan
Jacob: Bluejeans, Red Gold Sands
Rambouillet: Gold Road, Amethyst and Gold
Wensleydale: Deep Sea, Heart of the Fire, Amethyst Fractures
Targhee: Wisteria, Strawberry Shortcake

More coming soon!

~The Gnome
Fae

Category: roving  | Tags: , ,  | One Comment
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 | Author: The Gnome

No really!

Dissertation is turned in. Working on my defense presentation now. That happens next Monday. I’ll be more human after that, I promise.

Shop update.

Polwarth
Polwarth

Finn
Finn

Dorset
Dorset

Jacob
Jacob

Wensleydale
Fat Lip

Romney
Lavender

Have more to update with, in terms of yarns for the shop, stuff I’ve knitted, stuff I’ve received but… defense.

~The Gnome
Gnome

Category: roving  | Tags: , ,  | 6 Comments