Starting in January, I began to sell my handspun yarns. In my store, I’ll offer a variety of handspun dyed by lots of popular dyers: Dicentra Designs, Julie Spins,Becoming Art,  Pigeonroof Studios, Spinning Awesome Good, All Spun up,Moonrover, Hedgehog Fibres and what ever other fun colors I find.  I will have single skeins as well as some in larger quantities for big projects.  If you don’t spin and you’d like me to spin something for you, please request a custom spin.

I’ve even a very small quantity of kettle-dyed bulky yarn.  I just love big ol’ bulky yarns. they are squishy and knit up so quickly!  I don’t plan to offer much in the hand-dyed vein, so get these skeins while they’re around because I won’t be able to recreate the colors exactly.  See, kettle dyeing is kind of like a guessing game.  You put the yarn in the hot water, mix up your colors, pour them in the water and either leave or agitate.  You just never know what you’re gonna get.  Actually, dying is more of an art than a science in my opinion.  You can do your best, plan, organize, estimate, measure, etc.  But, when it comes right down to it, you get what you get when the dye hits the fiber or fabric.  I used to get frustrated that my “pre-conceived notions” didn’t match the dye results.  But, I’ve learned that you just let dyeing happen as it will.    Some things just will not be controlled.  

This year, I will be the featured spinner for Dicentra Designs fiber at Madrona.  Lisa will have a spot in her booth where all the yummy fiber of hers that I’ve spun up will be for sale.This is a new venture for both Lisa and I.  We have been conversing for a month or so now and she’s just such a great “pen pal”.  I’ll be attending Madrona to learn e-knitting (pulling in LED’s into my knitting) from Syne Mitchell and “creating your own stitch patterns”.   But, I’ll also be about spinning and shopping and conversing. 

In addition to the Dicentra Designs booth, I’ll also have a small amount of handspun art yarns by other popular dyers available in the Lollipop Cabin booth(thanks Ialiuxh!).  As always, you can buy from me directly via my Etsy shop (Something Dread.Full).  I’ve been posting small amounts of fiber each week as I’m able to photograph, weigh, ID yardage, etc.  Lots of love, joy and “calm under tension” spun into all my fiber.

Last week I received the box of Dicentra fibers.  I gasped.  The colors are so vibrant and delightful that I found myself in “insta-happy” land. Immediately, they must be sniffed, petted, etc.  Sigh… there’s nothing quite like the joy of color in fiber.  So, I thought I’d share with you some of the delightful colors.  When I have more spun up, I’ll post again.

Happy January! 

One of my ravelry boards started a thread on goals for 2011.   I thought my creative 2011 goals would be great to share here. What do you plan to create in 2011?

1. Bring joy to the world through my handknits/handspun art yarn
2. Earn $ from selling my handspun & handknits to buy my own wheel and return the borrowed one.  Then proceed to bring in a steady stream of income from selling my art/crafts.
3. Knit a sweater from my handspun
4. Sell & Burn down my fiber & fabric stash by at least 50%. (Avoid buying clothes or new materials whenever possible – only bring in materials which have serious *wow* factor)
5. Learn how to make the most exciting and coveted E-fashion (LED’s, sensors & the like)
6. Only make things which serve both function & fashion.  Including costumes.
7. Knit a sweater of Becoming Art yarn (in my stash)
8. Design a wall mounted needle/notions holder
9. Get my Studio organized so that the floor is always clean and ready for me to knit/spin/sew in.
10. Sketch up more designs, write up the patterns and post to Ravelry.
11. Learn & apply new spinning techniques.
12. Knit sweaters for the twins. 

My first custom knit order came in before Christmas.  2 Andean (earflap) hats for 2 little boys.  Both are quite young, (< 3 mo) and would need hats they could wear now and grow into.  So, I knit them in 1 year size which will give them a bit of growing room. Some kids have larger heads than others, so if that’s a concern, using exact measurements is always a great starting point.  I hope to have some photos of the boys wearing them soon.  When I do, I’ll post here.  Such Fun!! 

My client didn’t want exact matching hats, but wanted me to work with the same fiber.  So, I altered the brims, earflaps, and crowns of each hat. Can you tell just how?

Fiber: 80/20 Merino/Silk + Merino >> dyed by Julie Spins, handspun by me!