9 posts tagged “functionart”

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!

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!

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.

So, this morning when I woke up, I was very tired. I thought, "I have to leave work early today anyways I should just stay home." But, no. I've only got 18 more days left, I should really go in . . .

So, I did.

Well, eventually.

It took me *two hours* to get to work this morning. It usually takes 35-40 minutes. The freeway was *completely shut down*. Ugh. It was a total mess. And, of course, because they were diverting traffic off the freeway there was heavy traffic on the frontage roads, apparently other scheduled lane closures and a sinkhole? pothole? on one of the roads in the area. But, I persevered and finally got here! Yay!

I didn't have much to say today, anyways, but did want to show off the new art yarn that I listed yesterday - Boho Brights. Two skeins of hand dyed merino wool (dyed by the Yarn Wench), with novelty yarns spun in, and plied with thread. Here they are! (You can click on the picture to go to the etsy listing.)

I spun up a new bamboo color last night so should have two single ply skeins listed later today. But, now, must get to work! ;)

Some new hand spun yarns now listed -

CoilySpun - Southwest Rustic - merino wool, 52 yards, 2.5 oz

FunctionArt/Kitty Minis - Southwest Rustic - merino wool, 52 yards, 1.9 oz
Kitty Singles - Vintage PolkaDot - 150 yards, worsted weight, spun from hand dyed Falkland wool.You can click on the pictures to go the the etsy listing, or check out kittygrrlz.com as they will be listed there shortly, too.

Last night, I spun up a bright and vivid art yarn in shades of orange, pink/fuchsia, and turquoise. Here is a sneak peek (two skeins available, they will be listed later today). It was spun from merino wool hand dyed by the Yarn Wench in color "Boho".

After I get them listed this afternoon, I will be spinning up more bamboo! So, I should have at least two new skeins available tomorrow! I'll be spinning bamboo for the next couple of days, most likely, then will be returning to the art yarns. I've got an all-shades-of-blue one planned, and possible a purple/yellow one. Actually, I have a whole list of potential ones I want to spin but not the time to spin them all - yet!

I think that's it from me this morning! :)

So, for anyone into fiber/spinning, you may be aware of LOOP - her batts were on the cover of Spin-Off magazine recently, and the demand has definitely increased for her wonderful fiber batts. But, none of them compare to her "Spontaneous Spinning Batts" - from her listing, this is a description of the batts:

"Spontaneous Spinning Batts are lumpy, bumpy, super textured spinning batts inspired by an awesome experience I had at Camp Plucky Fluff! These OOAK batts are an exercise in NOT thinking and letting spontaneity take over. I have so much fun making these batts but you'll have even more fun spinning them! They are carded to intentionally create lumps and bumps in the fiber with loads of color and lots of goodies like glitz, locks, yarn scraps, sari silk, silk noils and even sequins carded in! The result is fabulous texture and automatic randomness in your yarn. As you spin these batts, be spontaneous- let the batts spin themselves. It's so much fun!!!"

They are near impossible to get - when they appear in her shop they are gone in SECONDS! Seriously, I know. But, a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to snag *two* of them! And, both in two of my favorite colors . . . . which also happen to be the colors in my logo - orange and purple!

The first one - Purple Progression. I LOVE purple, so this batt was perfect! And, so fun to spin! It contained Corriedale wool, bamboo, alpaca, silk, and merino with a little sparkle, too. I spun in 6 different purple yarns - 3 light and 3 dark - and then plied with shiny light purple thread. The pictures don't quite do it justice, but here is the finished yarn - Plum Perfect Purple:

The second one, well, is quite opposite! The batt was called "Creamsicle" and has shades of orange, yellow and white in it for just an amazing brightness! The fibers in this one are bamboo, silk, alpaca, wool, and of course glitz. I spun in yellow and orange yarns and plied with a variegated orange/yellow/white thread. The blends of fibers give this one a really interesting texture - mostly soft/smooth but with some bumpy parts from the yarns spun in and the wool. I'm calling this skein, "You Are My Sunshine" :
Alas, these are the only two "SSBs" I've had the luxury to spin, but I did join her "Spontaneous Spinning Club" which means I will be getting one new batt each month! Yay! I've also got some batches of "babycakes" on the way, which will be combined for various types of yarns . . .

While I would love to spin nothing but SSBs and babycakes, I do have other fiber to spin, and recently had the joy of trying out a new fiber seller - FeltStudioUK . I was asked to spin up the "Forest" batts . . . I made sure I got extra fiber so purchased two batt lots - and with the smaller one I spun up this yarn:

This smaller skein IS available as I will be spinning a slightly different skein with the other batch for the custom request.

I spun up yet another batt last night - this one from TerraBellaSpun - and that one should be listed later today. It is pretty shades of purple and blue (with shades in between) and black, plied with three threads to match the lighter colors. It also has a bit of sparkle in it! Since it is mostly merino wool, it turned out as a soft & squishy bulky yarn!

Tonight, I'll be stepping away from the batts for a bit and will be spinning up some merino top hand dyed by the Yarn Wench. Or Bamboo. Or both. We'll see! :)

So, I didn't get quite as much spun this weekend as I was hoping to as I just wanted to laze around instead! But, I did get a TON of pictures taken for all of the hand knits that I need to add to my Kitty Grrlz Knits shop and also did get some yarns spun.

First, here are a couple shots of the hand knits. I will slowly be adding more shawls, scarves, and wristwarmers throughout the week. I'm editing the pictures slowly as even though I re-did my set-up, I'm still not getting the quality I want - but, for now, this is the best I can do.

Mocha Swirl Hand Knit Scarf - knit with a nylon/tactel yarn (Gedifra India)

Earth Mother Hand Knit Triangle Shawl - knit with Gedifra Poesie yarn (nylon/polyester/microfiber)

Then, there are the yarns! The first ones I have to show are a second round of the "Spring Break" colorway - this is actually the "Hot Tropics" color hand dyed by the Yarn Wench. This was my second batch (the previous two yarns have sold). Even though I thought this was the lighter batch, I actually think it is darker. I spun in a TON of green, purple, and yellow angelina for sparkle in these, along with novelty yarns in green, purple, and yellow. Then, I plied it with purple thread. Here they are:

106 yard skein:
108 yard skein:
The next batch I did was the "Cherry Peacock" colorway, also dyed by the Yarn Wench. This was Falkland wool and I absolutely loved this color and wished I had more! Very difficult to get the true colors, but here is a shot of the one available skein (the other is reserved):

I also spun up this yarn, it was a "test" for a custom spin I am doing. This one has a few colors/yarns in it that won't be in the "final" yarn, which also means this one should be listed and available later today. It was spun from the "Forest" fiber batts from FeltStudioUK.etsy.com I didn't spin in the sequins as they will be used in the second skein. This is a small skein of about 62 yards, with lots of novelty yarns in shades of green and black spun in, and plied with metallic green thread.

I also spun up two Spontaneous Spinning batts from Loop yesterday! I will wait to show those as I'd like to get better pictures. They will both be listed later today, though. One is "Purple Progression" and the other is "Creamsicle" (though my yarn names will probably be different. They were great to spin - lots of different fibers like wools, bamboo, alpaca, silk, and more! Look for pictures of them tomorrow!

well, actually this is about Spike and Angel.

So, on my way to work this morning, I was listening to a CD that had two of the Buffy musical songs on it, one of them being Spike's song . . . which of course got me thinking about Spike in general . . . and about how many fans find one of the most annoying "inconsistencies" to be when Spike says, "You were my sire, man, you were my Yoda" to Angel in the episode "School Hard".

Now, we later find out that it was in fact Drusilla who turned Spike. BUT, Angel DID turn Drusilla, right? And in many vampire-lores, it is the "master vampire" who is the powerful one, right? The one who started the "chain"? Well, and here is where the logic isn't perfect, but . . . I don't think Spike meant Angel *actually* was the one to bite him, but rather . . . Angel was the "master" (yes, I know he wasn't the "first" and even within the 4 of them, DARLA actually would be the "original", but go with me on this . . .) and it is obvious that Spike looked to Angel to learn and mold himself on how to be a vampire, in a way. So . . . this small little line no longer bothers me (not that it ever really did, to be honest - now I just have a convoluted way of explaining it away . . .) Am I making any sense?

This also got me thinking about Angel vs. Spike . . . I've always liked Spike better. I thought Buffy/Angel was kinda creepy (and not that some of the same factors should apply with Spike, but by then she was "older" and more "mature" - she was just so young with Angel, ya know? and he was so old . . .) but Buffy/Spike just made sense. I also think Spike was just . . . better. Angel was a total jackass *before* he became a vampire, is it any wonder he was such a bad-ass vamp? He had to be cursed into his soul. Spike, on the other hand, or William the Bloody, well, he was different, wasn't he? And those traits? Those traits came through in Spike whether he wanted them to or not . . . and Spike, well, he WANTED his soul, and even BEFORE he got it showed much more "humanity" than Angel . . . remember the Judge? He knew it.

Anyways, enough about Buffy. And Spike. . . .

I didn't spin anything last night! I can't believe it! But, the forces were against me as I was 1. trying to catch random updates from Loop, 2. watching Thursday night TV (don't even get me started on LOST!) and 3. prepping bamboo fiber. SO, it wasn't a total waste of a night as I do now have 3 colors of bamboo ready to spin tonight and tomorrow!

I did list the three yarns I "sneak-peeked" yesterday! Here they are again with separate pictures and also links to the etsy listing . . . they are also on my website.

Aqua Lime Explosion 3

Aqua Lime Explostion 4

Rocky Roads - Aqua Lime - Hand Spun Yarn with coils

Well, that's all! Lots of work to do today as well as two updates to stalk! ha ha! :)

In addition to gearing up for the Ravelry ad (that is now running, btw! yay!), I'm also getting ready for a SALE that will be running from April 17-20. It is the ESST - Etsy Supplies Street Team sale! The ESST shop sales may include percentage off deals, free shipping, free goodies, or everyday great prices. If you are in need of supplies, starting TOMORROW, search for "esst" on etsy!

Of course, my problem is I'm not exactly sure what MY sale is going to be! So, please keep an eye here on my blog, or my shop announcement on etsy for details starting Thursday morning. I may have different offers each day, or something that I will run throughout. I'm just not sure yet!

What I AM sure about is I have finished all of the Plum Divine skeins! (well, for now, at least!) I have *6* new skeins up at kittygrrlz.com and my etsy store. Each set of two is slightly different. Here are pictures of each skein with links to the etsy listing. (Please note, if you were to purchase any of them today, or anything else in my shop, and then that item ended up being part of my sale tomorrow, I *will* honor the discount by refunding the difference if payment was already made.)

Plum - Wine - Divine 1 & 2
These have burgundy, green, and purple specialty and novelty yarns spun in and are plied with green thread. Great yardage!

Plum - Lime - Divine 1 & 2
These two skeins have only purple and green novelty and specialty yarns spun in and are both plied with green thread with coils & beehives for added texture!

Plum - Sunshine - Divine 1 & 2
These two skeins have yellow, burgundy, green and purple novelty and specialty yarns spun in and are plied with yellow thread instead of the green.

That's it for today - make sure to check back tomorrow for my ESST sale!