Purple! I’ve been playing with soft grey-purples lately. For you non-purple fans, don’t worry, I’ve got some super dark green in now, and plans for more green messing.

Lavender Clouds. It’s almost lavender time! I love lavender blooms… Similar to yesterdays Chionodoxa, but a little purpler and less grey.

Lavender Clouds – 4oz – Combed Wensleydale Top

And always a favorite both with me and others… a really nice true amethyst this round…

Amethyst – 1oz x 2 – Combed Tussah Silk Top

Will get these up in the shop shortly.

In the meantime… spindle goodness.

First, a new spindle! One I eyed at Spunky Eclectic’s shop when I was picking up Strider, then again at MA Sheep and Wool… I was being good, saving for fiber, and a benefactor (who wishes to remain nameless) bought it for me! ::squee::

Isn’t it pretty? Ok, yeah, so I have a thing for Bird’s Eye Maple. So sue me! I lurves it. I got it an ounce of yak, which I’ve never spun before, as a “Welcome to the Gnomespun family” present. It has a lot of yak flakes in it. Rrm… not too happy about that, but I think it’ll be ok.

Greensleeves: Loki – 23.5g – 0.82oz – Bird’s Eye Maple – Top Whorl
1oz Yak – Paradise Fibers

And here’s my travel spindle, the Bocote Bosworth (0.88oz) with the Cormo/Angora/Alpaca I got at NH Sheep and Wool.

Still building up the cop, aiming to get as much as possible on there. I’m at 37g now, which is 1.3oz, not too bad! It’s getting tougher to flick spin it, but it still thigh rolls without any trouble. So I definitely still have a ways to go, the cop is still totally tight and stable.

That’s it for now. Have to go work on the resumy/cv and my western blots. This weekend there will be more stuff, more knitting, more spinning, more dyeing, and some time with friends.

~The Gnome

First, I will gloat over my new shininess.

mmm new shininess.

A Spindlewood, bottom whorl, 1.5oz – 41g made from Bird’s Eye Maple.

Isn’t it pretty? It’s my biggest and heaviest spindle to date. Primarily I got it for plying, but I’m sure I’ll use it for straight up spinning too. The bit of spinning that’s on it isn’t mine, I’m guessing it was from testing it.

There’s some super dark green silk drying right now, and some merino/angora dyeing.

Eye of the Storm – 4oz – Combed BFL Top

Will be up in the shop shortly.

Lab continues apace. All parts of the paper have been re-written at least once. The intro is getting close to complete, I think, and the results section as well, minus one last experiment I’m trying to get to work. This weekend will be largely a rest weekend.

That’s about it for now. More to come as always.

So, of course, no sheep and wool festival is complete without stuff! Mmm shiny stuff.

Birthday stuff:

My parents bought me some more lovely fiber for Strider. And a wrap gauge for me! Been wanting one for a while, yay! All from Spunky Eclectic. I narrowly avoided a bird’s eye maple Loki as well.

Merino/Tencel on the left, Corriedale batt by Grafton Fibers on the right, and wrap gauge below.

See? Shiny!

Let’s see… what else… oh right!

Heeeeee. For my birthday, I got Tsuper Tserious Tsock Tstuff.

Hand carded and blended Tsock Batts by the Tsarina herself… made with some of the fleece I gave her from the Great Fleece Adventure.

Mood Indigo: Romney, Mohair, Silk

And this one, “just for fun” which, in grand black tradition is hard to do photographic justice to

Assyrian Cohort: Merino, Seacell, Silk, Mohair, Sparkly

And, finally, recieved in the mail presents from England!

The shirt made me laugh. Which is good, laughter is the best medicine.

The socks… wow. Dude.

Here’s a better photo of them, truer to the gorgeous claret-ey color. DAMN they’re soft. If I recall correctly, they have silk in them. Fit great too. Look at those cables!

They’re even cabled on the back!

Aren’t they awesome? ::squee::

Presents from me, to me:

Now, of course, I can’t go to a sheep and wool festival without buying a few things myself. And so…

I got me some Abby Batts from Spunky Eclectic. Mmmm. Shiiiny.

And a closeup of the green one

I also got some Icelandic Lamb, because I haven’t spun any Icelandic yet, and it’s about time. Marcy helped with this purchase.

And finally, I had to valiantly throw myself on these to save my dear friend Lynn from them. Ahem. 30/2 and 40/2 cotton thread, which will be used for weaving.

Stuff I made:

And that’s all the new stuff… except…

Remember this photo?

Notice something? Here, let me zoom in…

See that? That was my not so super secret project after making the spindle bags.

Here it is with better light

Or on the table so maybe you can see it better…

Still can’t tell what’s going on?

Try this…

Get it now?

If not, wander over here and look at the 4th photo down, I’ll wait…

See it? Yeah, that’s me, at NH Sheep and Wool, wandering around spindle spinning. That’s what I do. I do it here at work too.

And it’s for that that I invented this little “device.”

It’s a spindle holster. Yes, a spindle holster. When they’re not all full, you can put them through button holes. But when the cop gets large, they won’t fit in button holes anymore. And spindle bags are great, but they really go IN bigger bags. And when I’m walking around spindle spinning, I want a place to put the spindle that’s right there at hand, that I can get the spindle back from. You know, you walk up, spinning away, to a booth and then OOOH cormo-silk, you have to pick it up to touch and look at the price, but where do you put your spindle? Oh noes! Put it in your pocket and it may get squeezed back out and dropped and… ::gasp:: lost.

So, I made this. Admittedly, it’s probably not for many people. I mean, it’s got a belt loop, and two draw strings. But as the link pointed out, I’m hardcore ::snickers:: really ::twitch:: hardcore… ::falls out of chair laughing:: Ahem… totally. Anyway, for me, it’s awesome. As the cop gets bigger, I can adjust the lower drawstring so that the spindle is snug and secure and won’t drop out the bottom or bounce out the top.

It’s awesome! I’m happy.

And finally:

A new bit of fiber for the shop.

Deep sea blue-green currents swirl and twist in the depths of the water, where strange creatures swim…

Deep Sea – 1oz – 50/50 Cashmere/Tussah Combed Top

SO SOFT. SO SHINY. Love.

That’s all for now.

Later!

~The Gnome

Short update because I couldn’t resist showing off new stuff!

Finished a yarn…

Berry Berry (a.k.a Hambaby, don’t ask, it’s weird) – 170yds – SW BFL – DKish

And I finally took my first weaving off the loom! Loooooom. Hee hee. They still need to be finished (washed), but otherwise, look what I did! Look look look! Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom? Mom look, look Mom, see what I made? See, see, see? ::holding up object WAY too close to actually see anything::

Ahem. I also almost finished the three prototype spindle holsters, but they need different drawstrings and belt-loops before I can sew up the last seams on those.

Wheeee!

All three spindle bags, with spindles inside…

My very first weaving ever…

Which was very random and was totally playing with what the different harnesses would do… so the sides aren’t remotely the same, and the pattern doesn’t wrap either…

A big one, folded along the bottom. I didn’t quite manage to duplicate the pattern perfectly. This is what happens when you’re trying to retroactively do recordkeeping on a pattern that was designed on the fly (and often counted when standing on one’s head on the underside of the loom). But it’s close.

And a closeup of some of the detail…

And the last spindle bag, and best fit of the three…

Whee! Weaving. Hope to have the holsters ready to field test this weekend.

And now back to panicking, not sleeping, and trying to get everything done. Need to get thesis outline to my committee today. Whee!

Oh, new fae finally showed up. It’s a little shy. Probably the fact that it’s small, and doesn’t have arms.

~The Gnome

Spent Saturday with my parents, put in some veggies, relaxed. Always a good time. Didn’t do any fiber things.

I think I’m going to try retting some nettle, and some hyssop this summer, just because. I’m curious.

Also managed to check in on my horribly neglected garden at my parents’ place. The wisteria tree I grew from seed was in bloom. It’s large enough that there’s a cave underneath you can stand up in. Very fragrant. The wooden thing is my trellis with a Niobe and Autumn Clematis, which is falling over.

The toughest azalea ever (eaten to the ground two years in a row by the goat, eaten many years after, including this one, by deer) was blooming as well.

It was a good day. Got to talk to my parents about life and plans and such. As much as I could with so much still in the air, at least.

Sunday was fiber day again.

Here’s the skein I posted earlier, reskeined, set, whacked, and measured.

A Heady Brew – 250yds – 4oz – Polwarth

I’m keeping this one, since it’s the first off Strider. Debating whether to use it for a cabled hat, or for weaving. I like it. It’s very soft, with a lovely hand, and a soft shine. Mmm. I dyed this one, and love the color.

I got the other yarn I was doing on the wheel finished and plied, but it’s not dry yet, so photos forthcoming. The weight difference between superwash and nonsuperwash never ceases to amaze me.

And I got this guy plied and set. Little skein, but it’s the first full skein I’ve done on the spindle. And it’s small ’cause that’s what I had of the sparkly fiber. The alpaca is undyed, and the blue was hand blended just for me by Heather, yay!

Moon on the Water – 100yds – 0.95oz – 50% Alpaca – 50% Wool (Merino I think) + Angelina

Then I got my butt sat down and worked on a commissioned set of stitch markers (I’ve still got another set waiting, plus a request, whee!). I will note these are some of my poorest photos of stitch markers.

Aventurine – Sodalite – Amethyst
Master: Pewter – Sodalite – Amethyst

And a set of binary stitch markers 1-8, or technically 0-7 I guess.

Lapis and Blue Aventurine

And a set of markers that can be used for crochet…

Lapis – Copper – Malachite

And while I was at it, I figured I should make some for the store as well.

Lapis and White Howlite

And another set…

Rhodonite and Poppy (Brecciated) Jasper

As is the usual case these days, I also spent some time weaving. I’m loving it. So very much. I want a floor loom with treadles!

Noting that these are truly awful photos because I never take them other than at 11:00 at night, I think they’re coming out well.

Here’s the bottom end of a spindle bag…

And here are two spindle “holsters” that I’m working on. I’m not sure if the idea will work, but I hope to test one or more of them out this weekend. The second one isn’t done yet.

I’m going to be at MA Sheep and Wool this weekend. Exactly when and for how long will depend a lot on how my thesis meeting goes on Friday. If the weather is good and I’m in a good mood from the meeting, I’m hoping to bring Strider to meet people, and I’ll stay long to celebrate. If not… well then it’s hard to say.

Incidentally, it will be two days after my birthday, and the one year anniversary of my enablement by the wonderful Tsock Tsarina and Jennifer of Holiday Yarns.

In other news, I will be doing dyeing/spinning/etc. this week. I have to to keep sane. However, I don’t know how often, or if, I will be updating. I just got comments back on my paper draft, and I have a lot of work to do, and I have to make a presentation for the committee meeting, and finish and edit my thesis outline for my committee. So, yeah… hectic week.

Hope to see people at MASW if I don’t post more here before then.

~The Gnome