More Spinning Adventures

I had meant to post about spinning earlier, but Young Mr. SockPixie, one of our sons, gave us a little excitement. The few trips to the emergency room from early evening until the early hours of the morning forced me to reorganize my life for a few days. On the positive side, I was able to knit a hat, and of course, the hat was promised to the sick boy.
Now that everything has returned to normal, I can resume my blogging.

The soy/wool roving was spun, and as I am a new spinner, I found it a little harder to spin than the BFL. Again, it has a lot of the charm of a new spinner's hand! The soy made it incredibly silky. The colors seemed to glow, and I could not stop spinning.



Then came my favorite part, the plying. I am not kidding, I just love plying. I like to see the two strands twist together to create the richly colored and textured yarn that I know I will soon be knitting with.

I am really happy with my choice of colorways. The Petunia and the Madame d'Haussonville really flatter each other.




The yarn had just finished drying after being set when it became clear that I would have to take Young Mr. SockPixie to the hospital that night. I stuffed the yarn and needles in my pocket, and off we went.

As I was sitting there, casting on, Young Mr. SockPixie expressed his undying love for purple, and whether the hat could be his. How could I say no? There he was, sick and scared. The hat was promised to him. Between you and me, he really deserved it, as he proved to be so courageous all night, even as the doctor came with scalpel in hand!

I did not finish the hat the first night, rather I finished it on our second visit to the hospital the following night.
By the time we went home, in the middle of the night, as a gorgeous blizzard was transforming Boston into a snowy paradise, the hat was given to Young Mr. SockPixie.

Here is a picture of proud Young Mr. SockPixie wearing his first handspun, hand-dyed, and of course hand-knit hat with our snowy world in the background.

Let it Snow!

Boston has been a real Winter Wonderland. Snow, snow, and more snow. Christmas is so much in the air that I could no resist the temptation to create SockPixie colorways with a Holiday theme. I found my inspiration in Vintage Christmas ornaments.

Here is Candy Cane in a faboulous Finn roving...



Have a great holiday season!

Change of Plans

Thank you for all your comments about my handspun. You are so right. Spinning is not about perfection. The organic nature of its "imperfection" is what makes handspun yarn magical.

I had truly intended to post pictures of the single that will be plied with the Petunia colorway, but as always, life took over.

Homeschooling and work merrily filled my day yesterday. I did have a great dinner with my parents,then decided to work a little more last night, and took a late night walk to the post office to drop your orders in the mail.

Today was very much like yesterday, except for the fact that I changed my mind on the fiber I would spin to ply with the Petunia. The fiber, is from this week's colorways, and is Madame d'Haussonville in the wool/soy mix. I pre-drafted the fiber during Math and History. It is all set to be spun tonight. As soon as the little ones are in bed reading their books, I will spin!



But back to serious things, the wool/soy fiber. I am really excited to be spinning it tonight. It is my first time with this fiber. During pre-drafting, it felt incredibly soft, silky, and fluid, almost like butter. I expect it will be a very smooth yarn. The little bit of shine should liven up the BFL, and the colors should complement eachother beautifully.

As a last eye candy, here is another shot of the unspun fiber. I just can't help seeing a Van Gogh there. Don't you think?

I have been shy...

I have been shy lately. I have been learning to spin, and in my usual way, refused to post anything about it. Why? Because, you guessed it, I am a perfectionist. I hate showing something that is not perfect. Mr. SockPixie thinks I am being silly, and he has been encouraging me to post about my progress...

I have been enjoying spinning beyond words. I love how relaxing it is, and how satisfying it is to see the bobbin fill up, and of course, to knit the handspun yarn.
Spinnning has become my treat. To congratulate myself for completing my work,I allow myself to spin.

To go back to the issue of perfectionism dicussed earlier, I have decided to listen to Mr. SockPixie, and post a picture of my imperfect handspun single.Here is what I just spun on my Louet Victoria, a 100% BFL roving, in the O'Keefe colorway Petunia.




I just dyed a Tencel roving that will be spun today, and plied with the petunia single tomorrow. I had a long debate with myself, about which color I would ply with it. I settled on a periwinkle blue semi-solid. I thought the periwinkle would bring out the purple, and once plied, the effect would be subtle yet enticing. I really like plying a variegated and a solid together. It seems to add subtlety to the variegated.

Maybe tomorrow, I will be able to show you the periwinkle solid. And I will force myself, no matter how imperfect it is!

This week it is Ingres

This week, Sockpixie's colorways were inspired by the gorgeous paintings of Ingres. I love the textures, and the brilliance of his colors.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here is the Ingres eye candy!

The Georgia O'Keeffe Colorways are up!

After huffing anf puffing, the store update is done, and the Georgia O'Keeffe colorways have found their home!
I had to make a lot of changes to the site, which of course took all day. It is mostly done. I will make a few more changes, but the core is done.
Back to the O'Keeffe colorways. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do. They are really stunning, like the paintings that inspired them.
Again I think, the grey winter made me long for color, which is why, these bright, and colorful paintings called to me.
There is a depth in O'Keeffe's colorwork that mesmerizes me. I almost do not see the flowers, but rather just the colors, and their interactions.
Here is my favorite painting, the Red Canna Lilly, and its yarn and fiber sisters.



The yarn sister...



The fiber sister...




Enjoy!