Kitty Grrlz Knitz (& Spins)’s blog

Important announcements . . .

nobody@vox.com(Kitty Grrlz Knits & Spins) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:16:04 -0700

Or something like that.

FIRST - TOMORROW! Saturday, June 28 - is the CRAFTACULAR in Madison, Wisconsin. Come to the HIGH NOON SALOON between the hours of 10am and 4pm to shop for lots of wonderful hand made items. I will be there with lots of yarns and hand knits, including lightweight summer shawls! Hope to see you there!

SECOND - I will not be able to SHIP anything between JUNE 29-JULY 4! If you have been looking at something, today would be a great day to purchase since I can still ship it out tomorrow. After that, all orders received and paid for from June 29 - July 4 will be mailed on July 5th!

And, to make up for this inconvenience, I will be offering FREE SHIPPING in the USA on ALL ORDERS and Half Price International Shipping starting TODAY! Check out all items at kittygrrlz.etsy.com! This shipping offer will expire on the morning of July 4.

THIRD - It is my last day as a librarian! In a few short hours I will leave this job behind and enter into the realm of full-time crafting. I'm having a bit of anxiety over it all, but . . . yay for being able to spin more!

And, finally, since no post of mine would be complete with a yarn picture - here is my newest yarn - a Kitty Mini skein of a merino/silk blend spun up into a Navajo 3-ply yarn - Turquoise Sands Dark -

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Into the Forest Pine . . .

nobody@vox.com(Kitty Grrlz Knits & Spins) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:12:51 -0700

One thing you may notice is the fact that there are some colors I return to over and over again . . . Pine Forest happens to be one of them. I first spun this colorway into two art yarns. Then, recently, into some single plys. And, now, here it is in yet another form -

This is a thick/thin super squishy 2ply! One ply is a thick/thin merino and the other is a thin merino/silk. I also have a mini skein of it, too -

And, since I always have extra of the thin merino/silk strand, I also have a small 85-yard skein of the merino/silk Navajo plied!

Last night, I did another of the bulky thick/thin 2plys in the "Meridian" colorway! I didn't get the Navajo 3ply done, but I did get a large 120 yard skein of the 2ply spun up - it should be listed later today!

Tonight, I finish the Navajo 3ply and then it is back to the bamboo! I have some more to spin for a possible buyer this weekend at the CRAFTACULAR (at the High Noon Saloon in Madison, Wisconsin - Saturday, June 28, 10am-4pm!) and then also wanted to get a couple more skeins spun up for the show in general.

In other news, I have 3 days left of my job . . . . . it's just . . . weird. But, I will definitely love having more time to spin!!

That's all from me for now!

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More new yarns, of course!

nobody@vox.com(Kitty Grrlz Knits & Spins) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:51:38 -0700

Of course I have more new yarn pictures for you today! (maybe some rambling later, too, but for now - pictures!)

First, are two yarns spun from hand dyed merino wool, dyed by the Yarn Wench in color "Arcadia". I realized when listing these yesterday that this seems to be another one of my favorite color combinations. These two are a little different than the similar ones I have already spun (Cherry Peacock is much darker, and Blu-Mocha Cherry is much brighter). Here they are -

CoilySpun - Teal Mocha Rose

FunctionArt - Teal Mocha Rose
And, the other two are almost totally opposite! These two are also spun from merino wool hand dyed by Lynn, but this is color "Citrus" again. The first is a different twist on my Novel-Ply yarns. In this one, the yarn I plied with has 60 Hello Kitty face beads strung on it - so when plying they get interspersed throughout the skein! The yarn I used for plying is Schoeller & Stahl "Tahiti". The other is a FunctionArt skein in bright yellows, oranges, and pinks!

Novel-Ply - Pink Lemonade Kitty
FunctionArt - Summer Citrus Sun

Last night, I spun up a bulky Squooshy! Two-Ply in the Pine Forest colorway. It is one thin strand of merino/silk plied with a thicker strand of just merino. So soft & squishilicious! I should have that listed later this afternoon. I also have a smaller skein of just the merino/silk Navajo plied. I *love* how that came out. The greens in it are so vivid!

Today, I may do another similar yarn or I may work on spinning up more bamboo. I have a show this weekend (THE CRAFTACULAR at the HIGH NOON SALOON in Madison, WI!) so am trying to get a few things done for that - which means I will probably be knitting by the end of the week, too!

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Just a quickie picture post . . .

nobody@vox.com(Kitty Grrlz Knits & Spins) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:02:06 -0700

Here are just a few pictures from the new yarns I spun up over the weekend (more coming this afternoon, too!) Clicking on the pictures should take you to the Etsy Listing.

Vegas, baby! Hand Spun Two-Ply bamboo yarn spun from two of LOOP's "Chocolate Liqueur" batts.

Then, there is "Radioactive Chance" - after working on the two-ply most of Saturday, I decided to ignore my to-do list, my to-spin list, and all the already-prepped fiber, and spin this. It's just . . . different from my normal colors so thought I'd take a chance on it . . .

Three new single plys - all from Falkland wool dyed by the Yarn Wench.

Orchid Sunset 2

Watermelon Sky
Aqua Lime Light

And, finally, another skein of Mahogany Midnight Moon as an art yarn. I love this colorway! I have about 2 oz left of it but am not sure if I want to do another art yarn skein, or a coordinating CoilySpun skein!

And, I'll probably be mentioning this every day this week - but if you are in the Madison, Wisconsin are this SATURDAY, JUNE 28 - come by the HIGH NOON SALOON for the SUMMER CRAFTACULAR! I will be there, along with many other great hand made vendors. Hours are from 10am-4pm.

That's all from me for today!

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Statistics

nobody@vox.com(Kitty Grrlz Knits & Spins) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:12:45 -0700

So, I just turned in my final statistics for my job. Over the past 3-1/2 years I have been cataloging a large collection of children's books that were donated to the library/college I work at (at least for one more week). Over the course of the past 41 months . . . I have cataloged . . .

22,536 books!

That is an average of almost 550 a month! (Of course, there were some months I did almost twice that and some months I did half of that, depending on what else was going on)

Woohoo!

I admit, while I'm excited to be looking ahead, it is a little sad to think I only have 6-1/2 days left here . . .

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I sure am no Tiger Woods

nobody@vox.com(Kitty Grrlz Knits & Spins) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:46:10 -0700

So, for those who don't live with ESPN on in the background (as I seem to do) or follow golf - Tiger Woods won the US Open this past weekend. Well, actually on Monday. After 19 *extra* holes. On a bad knee. But, we didn't know HOW bad until more recently.

Apparently, he has a torn ACL (which from what I gather with football is pretty serious) AND . . . a double stress fracture!?!? He will have season-ending surgery . . .

Now, it is amazing enough that HE WON THE US OPEN with these injuries, but apparently he's been at least partially injured since LAST JULY.

I am truly amazed and impressed. I did happen to catch most of the rounds of the Open and it really was exciting. Some of the shots he made - and the tension and drama of how close it was and the finish on Monday? Spectacular!

(Part of me can't even believe I am saying this about *golf* of all things! I never really considered golf a "sport" until now, I guess. It was mostly a good thing to have on in the background as it is generally quiet and . . . well, boring.)

I think it is a total shame that he will miss the rest of the season and I feel bad for golf, overall, in a way, as he is such a big draw - BUT, it is a *great* opportunity for some young (or old! Go Rocco!) players to be noticed. With Tiger out it really does give a chance to some of the players that are good but just can't compete with Tiger.

There is and will be much debate about whether he should have played through the injury (he did against doctor's orders) but, really, given the little I know of him, I can't imagine him NOT playing.

And, before I tie this in to the title of this post - let me just say YAY BOSTON!!! FINALLY, we won a Las Vegas sports bet!!! I, of course, wasn't wise enough to bet on the Celtics, but my boyfriend was, so while it isn't a HUGE payout, he won the bet he made last October that the Celtics would win!!!! Woohoo!!!! I really think it was a given that they were going to win. They were on fire ALL SEASON. AND - this is the crucial point in my opinion - they were a TEAM. Basketball (unlike, say, GOLF) is a TEAM SPORT. Even though you had 3 huge stars (apparently, I really don't know much about basketball) - they PLAYED TOGETHER to win! As great as Kobe Bryant is - I don't believe one player can carry an entire team that far!

So, yay for the Celtics!

Now, back to the title. I am so pathetic. Great athletes can apparently play through torn ligaments, broken legs, the flu, and more . . while me??? I can't even spin through a lousy HEADACHE!?!?!?

Seriously, I am pretty disgusted with myself this morning. Yesterday when I got home from work, I had a headache (kinda the norm for this week if ya know what i mean) but i still tried to do my usual - take pictures (i only had one yarn, though), do my etsy listing, eat, and then get to work . . .

I started out okay - got pictures taken of my new yarn, spun from LOOP's BeautyBerries batt -

And did get it listed on etsy. I ate. And then that's where it all went down hill . . .

I took an Aleve and decided to lie down - just for a little bit, I figured I'd be up and spinning by around 7pm (it was around 5:30pm) . . . that would still have given me a good 3 hours of spinning time.

That is not how it went. I pretty much didn't get up until THIS MORNING. I am so disappointed. I didn't get *any* spinning done! I did prep a little bit of fiber (I have some new Kitty Singles coming soon!) but that was it! An entire night wasted! I guess once I am doing this full-time, one missed day won't kill me, but . . .right now I've got a lot to do - commissions to finish, a show at the end of the month to get ready for, a fiber festival in July . . . and, what do I do? Sleep.

So, while Tiger can win a championship on a broken leg and bad knee . . . all it takes is a stupid headache to knock me out!

;)

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Spinning rampage!

nobody@vox.com(Kitty Grrlz Knits & Spins) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:16:09 -0700

So, I haven't been online as much lately, but oh, I HAVE been spinning! Lots and lots of new yarns, though some have sold, and more are coming! Here are the latest -

Beautiful Bamboo - Summer Neon Taffy - Two skeins available here and here or click on the picture below.

FunctionArt - Pink Lemonade - a smaller art yarn skein spun from merino wool with novelty yarns/fibers spun in and plied with thread. Sort of coordinates with the Novel-Ply "Citrus Sun" and I do also plan on having two more skeins in brighter shades of orange, yellow, and pink.

Novel-Ply - Citrus Sun

FunctionArt/Batt-tacular! - Aqua Splash! - spun from a carded batt from TerraBellaSpun.

This single ply yarn was spun by me from a blended fiber batt from ButterflyGirlDesigns. It is 67% bamboo, 25% merino wool, and 8% nylon firestar. She called it "The Curtain Dress" inspired by the dress Scarlett O'Hara made from curtains in Gone with the Wind. It is beautiful intense shades of teal, gold, and black.

Kitty Singles - Vintage Spring - hand dyed Falkland wool dyed by the Yarn Wench, spun by me.

And, another FunctionArt/Batt-tacular yarn, spun from a carded fiber batt from FeltStudioUK.

Another single ply -

And, more bamboo! This is a new color, "Seashore" . . . I'm calling it Seashells by the Seashore, just because I like the ring to it! I have two skeins available here and here, or click on the picture below.

And, one more FunctionArt/Batt-tacular! yarn - spun from the "Sexy" batt from FeltStudioUK. I just LOVE the colors in this one! Wasn't sure at first the combination would work, but . . . I think it did!
In other news, I officially purchased health insurance today! (For when my job ends at the end of the month.) It is just something I refused to NOT have, so . . . even though it is costly, it will be a good thing knowing I am covered . . .

But, dealing with things like this are really making me start to freak out a little in regards to having no job! I only have 8 days left! I haven't not had a job since . . . god, since I was like, 12?? Okay, those weren't official jobs, but I have been working for a very long time - AND I have been working in libraries since 1990!? How weird will it be not to anymore? Though, I do hope to return to a library at some point - right now I'm thinking/hoping maybe the end of the year or beginning of next . . .

Ah, but who knows. I've got to just take this one day at a time, I think.

That's all from me today!

OH! One more thing - I am taking part in the Etsy-wide YART SALE in my Kitty Grrlz Knits shop! I've got 12 items listed for very reduced prices - check them out HERE.

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A couple of new yarns . . .

nobody@vox.com(Kitty Grrlz Knits & Spins) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:47:40 -0700

So, here are the new yarns that I listed yesterday -

Spring Garden bamboo

I have two skeins available - on etsy here and here!

Then, I have "Ocean Splash" - a new CoilySpun yarn - in merino wool so it is very soft & squooshy! I have more of this color of fiber so will either be doing more coils, or maybe an art yarn to coordinate with the coils -

Last night I spun up two "Kitty Singles" and they should be listed later today. Tonight, it may be more singles or possibly back to the bamboo. I have two art yarns "in the works" but may hold off on those until the end of the week. We'll see. I've been feeling sort of "random" this week, so have just been pulling fiber out on a whim and spinning it. I'm also hoping to get another CoilySpun yarn done soon, too.

I was also on the Etsy Front Page last night! Thanks to CuriosityKilled who put me in this gorgeous treasury. Here is just a part of it -

That's all from me this morning! :)

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What I did this weekend . . .

nobody@vox.com(Kitty Grrlz Knits & Spins) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:09:08 -0700

This weekend was supposed to be filled with spinning, but instead I was distracted by the stormy weather, and also finally gave in and organized my novelty/specialty yarns -

Now, at least, it should be easier for me to gather yarns together for my art yarn spins! I also moved my fiber bins - they are now stacked to the ceiling!?

You can't really tell from these pictures, but the room does look a little more open now!

I DID get some spinning done, and should have 2 new bamboo skeins and a new CoilySpun yarn ready to list later today. Over the weekend, I did finish up a couple of custom spins, one of which was "Plum Berry Sky". This one was spun from a carded batt of fiber from FeltStudio -

I also spun up some merino wool coils -
And, finally, since I had two skeins of "Hillside Wildflowers" and the customer opted for one, I do have one skein available -
I also have two bamboo sets listed (I will have a set of Spring Garden listed later today) -

Citrus Dreams
Cotton Candy Blues -

And, I also spun up a Navajo 3-ply bamboo skein - this one was going to be part of a two-ply, but this batch was darker than any other I've had before, and I just loved the colors so much, didn't want to dilute them by plying with a lighter batch - so, I just spun it by itself into a 3ply - Dark Stormy Night -
Finally, before I go - I am running a BAMBOO SPECIAL in the month of JUNE!
**If you buy TWO or THREE skeins of bamboo yarn - you will get Free Shipping in the USA or Half Price International Shipping.
**If you buy FOUR or more skeins - you will get the shipping discount *AND* $2.50 off *each skein*!

Please see the bamboo listings in my etsy shop or website for more details! This offer will run until 12midnight CST on June 27. (I have a show June 28 and will be on vacation from June 29-July 4). Also, I have a HUGE box of bamboo fiber ready to spin - if there is a color in my sold section that you would like, there is a chance I can spin it again - please contact me for details!

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More bamboo - Ice Princess

nobody@vox.com(Kitty Grrlz Knits & Spins) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:42:37 -0700

Just a quickie picture post today to show the new bamboo yarn I listed yesterday - a color I'm calling "Ice Princess" spun from the "Blue Pearl" color from the FiberLady.

I'll have a new color listed later today, too!

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