Yay!

So happy news!  I am now a Phat Fiber Contributor! And box drop is coming up. And as usual I'm obsessing. (Eh, it's what I do.) So lightning strike of inspiration coupled with a recent interest in Dire Straits. (I have no idea why.) I knew I would never be able to sleep until I finished it, so here is my parody of Dire Straits' Money for Nothing

 

I want my PFSB (Phat Fiber Sampler Box)

 

I want my, I want my PFSB

Now look at them fibers, that’s the way you do it.
You stalk the Etsy for the PFSB
You’re box huntin’, that’s the way you do it
Phat Fiber Sampler, mini shopping spree

 

Now you’re box huntin, that’s the way you do it
Lemme tell you that box is fun,
Maybe get some hand dyed silky sock yarn
Maybe get some beautiful handspun

 

You got to wait for the box drop email
Yes, it’s coming; wait and see
You got to wait and stalk until drop time
Ask for help from the Gods of Etsy

 

You got to wait for the box drop email
Yes, it’s coming; wait and see
You got to wait and stalk until drop time
Ask for help from the Gods of Etsy

 

Look a’ here, Look a’ here

You wanna learn to spin some hand spun
You wanna learn to knit some gloves
Look at that box, it’s fillin’ up the camera

Man, sure could be fun

Oh and right there, what that? Cashmere and Yak blend?
Bet you that will crochet up just like a dream?
You’re box huntin’, that’s the way you do it
Get your Phat Fiber Sampler, mini shopping spree

 

You got to wait for the box drop email
Yes, it’s coming; wait and see
You got to wait and stalk until drop time
Ask for help from the Gods of Etsy

 

Listen here

Now you’re box huntin’, that’s the way you do it
You click the button for your PFSB
You’re box huntin’, that’s the way you do it
Phat Fiber Sampler, mini shopping spree

 

Phat Fiber Sampler
Mini shopping spree
Phat Fiber Sampler
Mini shopping spree

Look at that, look at that,
I want my
I want my
I want my PFSB

 

Refresh your memory of the original version:

 

ribbit Ribbit

So this weekend my darling husband took me to several thrift stores looking for pieces for my Halloween costume, which I'll keep you up to date on that progress. No such luck on that front, but I bagged 6 sweaters.

 

No I’m not stocking up for winter. I'm going to give into my childish, destructive side and rip them apart and then dye to my little heart's content. I'm most excited about the cashmere sweater and most scared by it as well. A couple are wool blends with synthetics and I'm not sure how those will turn out. But all in all it should be fun. So look for hand painted yarn in the store soon. ^_^

 

I’m test knitting a really cool hat pattern for Lee Meredith and that is going well, quite fun actually.I still haven’t finished my 2nd pair of Xmas sock, hey don’t look at me like that.  I’m working on it. I’ve got some spinning to do so this will be all for today.  I’ll leave you with my favorite pic this week.  My dog, Ranger, watching our favorite show, Mythbusters.

 

 

 

 

Jamie is his favorite, but I’m an Adam Fan.  Later gators!

Ok I’ll Admit It

I’m a little absentminded, easily distracted perhaps. Whatever you want to call it, it boils down to I misplace a lot of things. So I'm working on a line of products for my shop to help me and the other absentminded knitters out there. Surely I'm not the only one, right?

 

The first products I am adding to the shop  are “Leashed" Scissors. Scissors with a chain on them so you can secure them to your work in progress bag. I love them because I have about 20 pairs of scissors in this house and I can never find even one set when I need them. Here are some pictures of the pairs I will be listed today.

 

 

 

I’ve almost perfected my glasses holder, I’m not a fan of the traditional lanyard.  After that I’m making something to hold my stitch markers and then something for needles.  Then perhaps I can not have to spend the majority of my time looking for my tools.

 

If you have a suggestion, send it to me.  If you want a “Leashed” pair of Scissors of your own visit my shop.

Weekly Shop Update

Over Saturday and Sunday I updated my shop. I put up 14 new stitch marker sets. That's all the sets I had made. It'll be stitch markers mania this week to be ready for next weeks update. Wanna see what's new? Visit my shop.  Here is an overview of the new additions still available.  .

 

 

The best news?  I’ve sold five sets since I started the update.  *happydance*  I feel good.  I’ll be riding this high all week!  Also good news?  I found another supplier for my beads.  Inexpensive without sacrificing quality, just how I like it.  I’ll be placing an order soon, so if you have a color request, speak now!

 

Good news for you?  All orders will receive a gift just as a thank you to you from me.  What?  Well you’ll have to buy to find out.

 

On the agenda this week…

1. MAKE MORE STITCH MARKERS
2. Finalize and make stock of wrist distaffs
3. Stock up on free gifts (hint, hint.  Go buy stitch markers!)
4. Place bead order.

Up and coming events in NC:

• September 18 – Spin in public day
• October 3 – Farm Fest at Rising Meadow Farm in Liberty, NC
• October 22 – 24 – Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair at WNC Ag. Center in Fletcher, NC

Talk to you soon!

Socks, shop, and Spin Control

Some crazy woman decided that for Christmas everyone in the family would get hand knit socks who did not already have a pair. Oh yeah that was me.

 

Sometimes I wonder about my own sanity.

 

Good news is I do have one pair made, one on the needles, and the yarn for two more pairs. I still have to buy yarn for three more pairs. Also on the holiday checklist: Sheldon the turtle, A Haruni lace shawl, a watch cap and cowl set, an OpArt blanket, a set of mittens, a scarf, a lace bag, and a coffee cup coozie. That's not unreasonable, is it? I also have two different sets of roving to spin. Going to be fun huh?

 

Since my last post, I sold two more sets of stitch markers. I'll be updating my shop again on Sunday with at least five new stitch marker sets. Right now I'm trying to figure out if I can cut costs by ordering in bulk online. I'm crunching the numbers and weighing the pros and cons.

 

I will soon have some different offerings stitch marker wise within a week or two. I'll update and let you know before hand. I'm still trying to keep my stitch marker sets one of a kind, because I personally like the idea myself. But what is your opinion?

 

And last but not least I’ve been eyeing the spinner’s control cards out, but the seem unreasonably priced to me.  I know they’re a great tool and I really would like one, but I just cannot make myself spend $16+ on one, so I made one of my own using MS Works Word Processor.  It doesn’t have as many options as the store bought one, but I think it work well enough for me. 

 

And that is what has been up with me.  What about you?

 

Almost forgot about this!

I know it’s been awhile, but Life got in the way.  And honestly I've been rather busy. But I promise to do better. First off, for my birthday in May I got my newest toy, a spinning wheel. My parents bought me a Double Treadle Fiber Production from Babes Fiber Garden. I love it. Which meant I got to really participate in this years Tour de Fleece, unfortunately I did not meet my goal of 30 minutes of spinning each day. Fun was had anyway. I look forward to next year. Also I now have my own Esty shop!

 

 

Come by and check out my stitch markers.  I’m perfecting my wrist distaff design and hope to have them in the shop soon.  So that’s why I’ve been away among other things.  But I’ll be back soon.

Spin Spin Sugar

So on my last trip home to see the ‘rents i worked on a project with my dad.  While drooling over the drop spindles available on Etsy  I discovered something called a kick spindle.  Imagine a drop spindle and a spinning wheel had a baby, that’s basically a kick spindle.  They were available anywhere from $50 to $500, but as you will no doubt find out, I have this why buy it when I can make it life philosophy.

 

So I go to my father the carpenter and discuss the project with him. So we makes  a quick trip to the local Lowes costing about $10.  Our shopping list was a couple dowel rods (sizes 3/8”, 1/2”, and 3/4”) a bun foot, and 1/2” cup hooks.. The extra wood was going to be provide by the inordinate amount lumber he has laying around.

 

So we went out to the workshop, read altered garage, and played with lots of fun tools including the miter saw, the drill press, and the radial arm saw.  Some measuring and Gorilla Glue later it was completed and drying.  As a bonus we made a 1 yd and a 2 yd Niddy Noddy.

 

A week later I finally had a moment to sit and spin, hehe, and it worked, just needed a few adjustments.  But I was able to spin an entire ball of roving.  See.

 

 

So here’s the to do list for the Kick Spindle :

1. Shorten the shaft.
2. Reduce the angle.
3. Sand/strip the wood.
4. Do some cut outs on the upright
5. Smooth off edges.
6. Repaint.
7. Add non slip to the bottom.

I’ll keep you updated on how it’s going.

 

As a bonus, here’s a pic of the yarn I spun, I call it Smoky after my husband’s pet rat, on the 1 yd Niddy Noddy we made.

 

 

A Pic of Smoky.