My Auction and an 8 year old boy

This year for our school 'auction', my donation was to kool aid dye some yarn with the winning child, and then knit it into a pair of custom socks.

This is the result! He started out carefully painting, and changing colors. At the end, he up-ended all the cups on top of the skein!

We used cherry, grape, lime, grape, and strawberry. I gave him a choice of packets, and next time, I may just put out the primary colors and more concentrated as well. Also, do it directly in a crockpot to 'cook' at school, rather than muddying colors by transporting it home. But it was fun! Thank goodness for the chart in Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks so I can figure out how much to cast on. The yarn is Knitpicks merino Color Your Own.

Here's my latest skein that I'll be putting up soon on Etsy. I'm also inspired to spin some sock weight yarn to put up. Or use!

Knitting Book! My hat's on the cover!!

YES! Barb sent me the mock-up of her new book. That's my hat on the cover!! Woot! Hey, even Amazon doesn't have an image yet....

Barb's my tomato buddy. Not just any tomatos, heirloom tomatos. Names like 'Berkeley Tie-Dye' and 'Haley's Comet' and 'Purple Cherokee'. We didn't know about our knitting connection at first. She just posted on one of the tomato forums if anyone would be willing to knit samples for her book. Me, me! Ah, and many a knit project was born...

If you want to read a little more of what Amazon does have about this new, not yet published book (and it's not been an easy road to publication, folks, trust me!) look here. I know publishing is old hat to Barb, but I'm tickled pink!!!

Annakat, KnittingGuru and Felted Flowers

Oh boy, I'm adding links! Annakat is an opera singer now law student, a BIG sock knitter and adventurer of life, now chronicling her internet dating experience. KnittingGuru has many tips on knitting, and is a fellow Etsier! Go have a look!

Here's my newest play: Flowers. I have done knit ones, and just am not taken by knitting little things with lots of needle manipulation. And then I pulled out my crochet hook. FUN! Usually, anything bigger than a flower, I mess up completely in crochet, but flowers are perfect.

AND my yarns felt. Of course it should, being wool and mohair, but the way things are processed, you never know. The felted one is the rose. I'm using my own yarn leftovers, spun singles. I need to dye more fiber for flowers! I'm thinking of putting flowers on an omiyage pouch. Lots around the top.

And I must make one of those bunny head ponytail elastic thingies...the idea keeps jumping up and down like a true bunny in my head for attention...

Bugs, Yarn, new ideas and waking up late...

Ah, yarn soothes me!

What a day. I woke up late for work. Big deal, the first time in 13 years of teaching. It's because I was up until 2:00am plying this yarn!! Pretty, isn't it? It's Volcano. Well, Volcano Sunset, because I added pinks, not just reds.

So I get to school before class starts, but late, and my boys are so anxious to get inside, they try to break in with a stick. A stick broken off in the lock: hence, my key no longer works. Ack.

It got worse. Tantrum child, truant daughter, writing samples, and the final touch? I've been exposed to Strep. 13 days left of work...

I've been wanting to do hair ties. When I had a wonderful Japanese student, years ago, the mother gave me a lovely little delicate fabric flower hair tie. I still use it, it's my favorite. Hand stitched. So I'm thinking a bunny head and collar, on an elastic hair thing. Maybe in pairs, for $10. I need to make sure I make plenty for next Easter too!

Summer. I need to make more and different omiyage, more spinning, and perhaps knitting some of my crazy idea scarves with handspun. I have one idea of felted flowers. The idea is fab, but I don't like knitting little flowers....eh. But it IS an excuse to buy another book.

James and I held the 1st court yesterday again Steven/Kwo Wei and Karey/Dennis. I didn't play too badly! Now to finish another Sock Bug.

This is what I'm working on. Not 3 but 4 Sock Bugs! I don't think I can do much more. It takes me 2 or 3 days to look, ponder, and figure out fabrics and colors. I can't rush it. I look, place fabric, and if nothing speaks, I go away and come back later. I also can only do it in daylight, because it's the only time I can see well enough the true colors.

Yay, big sis bought me lots of fabric! I'll get it next weekend.



Here's Volcano and my rainbow roving, ready to spin. I've been a busy gal!

Lunarium had the best idea! She does polymer clay, her etsy pal Beckarahn does beading and ruching, and I do omiyage bags. So Lunarium suggested that we do an unofficial coproduction. I enlarge and create 3 bags about the size of a small purse from each of our fabrics. Then I send it on to Lunarium. She creates beads, unique to each bag and sends it to Becka. Becka beautifies the bags with Lunarium's beads and more fabric. Tada! Then we each receive one of the bags, to sell or keep. How much fun is that?!

8 year old Connor won my 'teacher auction'! Every Spring my school holds a Spring Fling, and part of it is a silent auction. My 'donation' was to koolaid paint some merino sock yarn from KnitPicks with the winner then knit a pair of socks from the yarn he/she painted.


Here's whats on my wheel now. I'll ply it tonight, and have something to put on Etsy tomorrow.

I love doing this. And to think I was thinking of stringing tennis rackets for a 2nd job! lol.

Muses can nag too....

Here I am, spinning away on my lovely pinks and baby blues, with another light, happy, Spring rovings next in line and I hear her/him.

'Orange. Yellow. Black.'

Huh? I ignore her/him. Heck, I ignored her/him 2 dye pots ago. See, I already have a red zone skein on Etsy, and it's been there for a while. So in my current pot, I did a rainbow, thank you very much. The voice gets louder.

'ORANGE, with yellow, red and black. And ply it a lot. And call it 'Volcano'!'

Rats. Not only is my dear Color Muse getting louder, she/he's getting very specific. Humph. Stock picks and lotto numbers I DON'T get. Color ways, parking spaces, and and green lights I do. :-) Can't say I'm not loved!

More yarn porn. I really love to spin!

I'm so freakin tired. really did too much today. Went to bed at 2:00 am last night, got up at 7:00 am to go to work. NOT an easy day. Had to call a parent twice (lies and stealing) and even that was hard. The phone # on the emergency card is a fax number, the other I could only leave a message, and writing to her email address got returned. Sigh.

Anyway, got home at 4:00pm. Then went for a 16 mile bike ride with nl into the wind. Rode straight to my sister's house, where I gave my nephew a hair cut (his hair is black, thick and grows as fast as kudzu.) Got home in time to scarf a frozen burrito, then out to the courts to play with my gang. Dn and I beat Cr and St 6-4. Then: fireworks! From the Davis City day. That was cool. I love fireworks! We sat on the service line and enjoyed a front seat show. We played until the parking lot cleared out, then rode 3.2 miles back home in the dark, getting back at 10:00pm (with lights and day-glo vest of course.)

I'm beat. But I did manage to finish and put up Brittany: Lunerium got her mini-Fawkes!

I'm so glad she liked it. It was 'made' before I started. I knew the fabric, I knew how I needed to change the pattern, I knew it would be special. He was a very cool bird, I have to admit. I like it, when things 'create' themselves, and I'm just the maker. Sock Bugs are like that. Yarn colors are getting 'clearer' to me too.

I'm still spinning away, although I'm making Sock Bugs too. At this point I don't seem to be able to make more than 3 SBs every weekend. I don't even want to really know how many hours it takes me, with the handstitching, and everything!

I'd like to just focus on yarn and Sock Bugs for Etsy. I'm beginning to sell yarn! Wahoo!

Should try some merino, besides thinking 'socks' and wool/mohair blend. Dying the fiber is the most fun, to see what I'll end up with.

Summer vacation means full time on Etsy. Make patterns for 'Everything But the Needles' kits.

flip flop

Ack...I don't see anyplace to put things IN a sidebar. I fail at this. I need dd to help me out. Sigh.


So I get a convo that says the yarn is lovely, but will I please just make Sock Bugs?? So funny! I went into a 'spin' because of Davidsdoll saying that she was on a yarn splurge and she liked bulky fun yarns. SO I spun. And now I get a convo to sew. So I start sewing, and then a new buyer comes and buys the Skittles skein!

What to do? :-)

long time no me

At least here. I have a livejournal I've been keeping. Mostly, I've been spinning for my Etsy.

And biking, and worrying about my mom. Oh, and work. And getting dd to go to school. And waiting for ds to get a job.

I spend 3 or 4 hours every night working Etsy, but it doesn't feel like working; cause I'd do it anyway. But for some reason. I'm not selling yarn as much as my Sock Bugs. And I want to sell yarn, because I like doing it. I may take it to the local yarn shop later this summer, if I get too much in my shop. My latest plying fun is from littlepenguins way like this:

Hey. I'm liking Blogger over my livejournal! If I can create a ring link on here, I'm switching!!