Yes, I’m spammy today, but I’m way behind, and I didn’t want to combine them all.

The shop has been reopened and updated. It still needs restocking, but there’s quite a few new stitch markers, including binary and sock/lace markers.

There is also, Ramboulliet, Jacob, Wensleydale, Romney, SW Merino, Dorset, and Cotswold.

I’ll be putting up some new yarns shortly.

In other news:

I turned in my thesis to my boss for final edits on Monday. I’m applying to jobs this week. I’ve applied two one, am working on the cover letter for a second and third, and formatting my resume for a fourth. I’m also trying to get a handle on my apartment which has been escaping while my dissertation ate my brain. I’ve reclaimed ah… one room.

After much fighting with stupid fashion industry standards, I found two business/government interview appropriate dress shirts that aren’t ridiculously too long. Apparently the “fitted” shifts the shoulders enough to shorten the 32″ sleeves to 31″ effectively, making them only 1″ too long. Tomorrow I take in my pants to be taken in. Next up, another shirt or two, and comfortable dress shoes.

One week from Monday I hand in my thesis. Two weeks from that, I defend it all to the community and my committee. Wheeeeee. Scary.

OH! I totally forgot. I actually finished a hat. I started it on the plane down to MD, so I misremembered how many stitches to cast on. Ended up 10 short. Which is ok, it will go to a deserving young man I know of. It was mostly a conceptual exercise for me anyway. I have a concept in my head I wanna test out. I’ll get photos soon.

~The Gnome

So! Friday I dyed a whole bunch, and Saturday I got to play with spinning friends.

Today, I will update the fiber part. Tomorrow I’ll update the spinning part. And I’m currently dyeing more fiber as we speak… type… read… you know what I mean.

First a bit of housekeeping. I updated the home page a little, cleaned up formatting, made it more clear what I carry. Did the same for the shop. Nothing big.

The largest of the batch was more Wensleydale, so we’ll start with that. Most of these are on the shop. Some, however, are getting mailed off to a real brick and mortar store.

Friday was… a bad day. So I was exceptionally cranky, and barely let Self have any time at the dye pot (don’t worry he’ll get some today). Apparently when cranky, not only do I go for warm, I apparently go for BRIGHT.

I was on an orange kick. Because the Daylillies colorway wasn’t bright enough, I made it brighter. Pretty, if intense.

Bright Daylillies: 4oz Combed Wensleydale Top

Then, I decided, that was nice, but not bright ENOUGH (I swear that wasn’t what I was thinking, but sometimes my dye hands do what they want). And out came the summer flower Trumpet Vine.

Trumpet Vine: 4oz Combed Wensleydale Top
This one will likely get mailed

Finally I got myself to switch out of intense orange phase, and try some browns. Mmm brown!

One thing that always comes with summer, for my family, is rhubarb. And with rhubarb comes… strawberry rhubarb cobbler. Mmmmm… shiny like the steamy fruit…

Rhubarb Cobbler – 4oz Combed Wensleydale Top

And another spring/summer visitor, the purple finch! Softly colored, but with a bright warble. They make me smile. A good thought for a bad day. I love the subtle gloss of this one.

Purple Finch – 4oz Combed Wensleydale Top
This one will also likely be mailed

Then I figured, why just do inland birds? Another summer bird (ok, any time, but I don’t end up at the beach much in the winter), the sandpiper!

Sandpiper – 4oz Combed Wensleydale Top

Now on a real brown kick, I went back to an old method I haven’t used since another fiber an age ago…

Brass Dreams – 4oz Combed Wensleydale Top

And finally a repeat of a colorway that never got to the shop, but was mailed to another event.

Summer Calls – 6oz Combed Wensleydale Top

Now we get into the non-Wensleydale fibers.

My last bit of the Alpaca/Merino/Silk, a small bit for a bit of lace perhaps? Back to those oranges again!

Daylillies – 2oz Combed 50% Alpaca / 30% Merino / 20% Silk Top

An ever popular colorway, a little different each time, and always different on different fibers, War for the Oaks. This fiber ate the brown and was not playing with the green.

War for the Oaks – 4oz Combed Merino Top

And a softer version of another colorway I’ve done before, one I like personally because of the images it evokes.

Forest Shadows – 8oz Combed BFL Top
This one’s probably getting mailed

Aaaand, finally, the first part of the next Spin-A-Sweater.

Moss – 1lb Carded Romney Roving
The next piece(s) will be in Earth and Stone

And that’s all for now. Off to update the shop!

Oh right, and this creepy little guy crawled out of the pages of my sketchbook! Watch out, he’s got long fingers for fiber!

This arrived in the mail for me yesterday. Which was an excellent way to end a really long 13.5 hour workday.

I’ll take better photos later with a full list of what’s in there, but you can see, even at almost 10:00 last night I couldn’t resist pulling out a tiny bit of almost all of them and finger or thigh spinning it (that’s what those threads hanging out are). Oooooh. I’m really liking some of these.

And what’s even better? They’re picked to be ones that are harder to find on this side of the pond, so there’s only one of them I’ve even ever had a sample of (a sample that’s still waiting to be spun)! COoooool. ::drool::

Also, I made two sets of these stitch markers. I rather like them. The first set was donated to the Northeast Men’s Knitting Retreat. The second set will be up on the shop shortly.

A special note about these. The jasper and onyx for these were donated by the fabulous Habetrot. Many thanks.

A set of six, with a contrasting master marker.
Onyx – Serpentine – Lava
Master: Brecciated Picture Jasper – Serpentine – Lava

More soon. New fiber coming. New stitch markers planned. New fae in the notebook. Lab eating brain.

~The Gnome

Whee, dyeing! Pretty colors!

Done a bunch of dyeing.

First, we’ll start with the big one.

The first Gnomespun Spin-A-Sweater.

2lbs of Corriedale in the semi-solid Deerfield Ledge (A local sandstone). Apparently on some monitors it appears UT orange. I assure you it’s sandstone.

Next, we have finn. Mm. I’m swiftly falling for this fiber (ok, so I fall for almost every fiber I play with). It’s got a soft shine and is lofty and soft.

For the most part, since it’s spring, I let Self play on this batch. With a few interjections to add more warmth.

First, he decided to go with blue. Dark blue semi-solid. April shower, bring May flowers, and thus came…

Storm Rising, 4oz of combed Finn top

Self decided he liked this dark color thing and decided to go for some green. And since it is spring now and the green has started to leaf and bloom… some are already looking forward to…

Summer Calls, 4oz of combed Finn top

Somehow he thought he was incredibly creative (despite my informing him otherwise) to go from blue, to green, to… bluegreen! As summer comes, people begin to think of the sea…

Seafoam, 4oz of combed Finn top

I gently suggested maybe he should combine his cools with something a little different, maybe? He said of course, and being in a sea mood, came up with this…

Sea and Sand, 6oz of combed Finn top

Finally, I took the reins and demanded at least ONE dyejob from this batch. I think I might have gotten a little overenthusiastic with my “I wanna do warm!” But you know, for me, spring means time to go camping. And camping means…

Bonfire, 4oz of combed Finn top

Mmm finn.

Next up we have Wensleydale. Oooh so shiny. And for a fiber not renowned for it’s softness, it’s shockingly silky. I really like this fiber and the way it takes dye.

After getting a little hot with the Bonfire, but liking the mode, I made this. Mmmm.

Burning Bright, 4oz combed Wensleydale top

Then I gave the pot back to Self and he immediately went back to his old refrain. I have to admit though, I really like this one. The photo doesn’t really capture the soft shine and very subtly semi-solid nature of this braid. I think it would make a great laceweight.

Aquamarine, 4oz combed Wensleydale top

Then, as we do periodically, Self and I collaborated on a project. This was the last of the Wensleydale (in this batch, more on the way) and we both went for intense saturated colors. Not surprisingly, playing this much, we came out with…

Fingerpaints, 4oz combed Wensleydale top

Love this fiber. Loooove it.

Finally, Self did a big chunk of BFL. Another green (he had a green thing going, what can I say?)

Forest Walk, 8oz combed BFL top

That’s just about it for now. Oh right… there’s also this other thing, but I’ll talk more about it later. For now… a teaser photo…

Today I leave you with a little fae who’s been trying to crawl out of my sketchbook for a few weeks now. He was stalled by the fact that I stubbornly decided I wanted to delve into inking again. And my inking is even more rusty than my pencil sketching. He finally made it, though, happily sprouting to say hi to everyone.

~The Gnome

Work’s been eating my head. If things go as planned (ok, the scientists and friends of scientist can get back in their chairs and stop laughing now), then I’ll be done with the paper by endish of next week. We’ll see.

The lab push is why I’ve been more or less absent for the past week.

I have, however, gotten a little bit done.

I dyed this, and it was spoken for before it got posted anywhere. Wensleydale, Sapphire Surprise, 4oz Wensleydale

I also dyed up some finn, and this I actually still have.

Who doesn’t want a nice glass of wine to end the day?

Merlot – 6oz Finn Combed Top

And a signature of the summer, fresh berries. Mmmm. Not frozen, so the insides of the blueberries are still white. Niummy

Crushed Berries – 4oz Finn Combed Top

I’m in the process of dyeing a bunch more finn and wensleydale, with more fiber on the way. Have to weigh out the romney and corrie.

Oh right, I also dyed this. I’ve been wanting to try this method for a while. So the most recent large order gets this as their “bonus.” I like it. I’m so doing this again.

A Sky Full of Stars
~50yds, 2-ply, Aran Weight, 100% Merino

And the final big news… remember a ways back, when I posted the trip up to Maine to play with wheels?

And remember… him?

Well… he was still waiting for me. With a discount.

So, now he’s on layaway. I’m paying for him slowly. Which is why there will be a progress bar on the blog entries. If you want to make a donation, feel free to step over to the shop, which I will be endeavoring to keep full!

That’s all for now. New fae to arrive soon.

~The Gnome