I haven’t been getting much done that’s blogworthy.
I started a weaving project in the shop:
It uses the Rustic Silk yarn I dye and the Tussah top. I stole the idea from Beth because it’s a really good one.
Other than that, I haven’t gotten much knitting or spinning done. June has been a flurry of activity. I feel as though the only time my feet were touching down at home was to run through. July is a new month and I should be home a little bit more. The shop has been crazy because of all this activity too. We’ve been moving stuff around and cleaning and making room for new product. Speaking of new….
The Cherry Matchlesses have arrived. Well, the first bunch. The next bunch will get delivered in August.
No really. I finished something.
We know I like to start new projects but sometimes I finish them too. I recently pulled out the sweater I was making 8goingon20 and asked what she thought about it. She’d seen my cropped Sprout and wanted her sweater short just like mine.
Really?
I can just add ribbing and call it done?
DEAL!
I have a goal of finishing a few things. I almost started 2 new sweaters over the weekend….I didn’t. Well, I only started one but it’s a deadline project so I had to start it. I’m actually feeling a little over whelmed with all the projects. Not the guilt of having them, but not sure where to put them all now so I don’t forget them and where they are. If I come up with a mapping system I may be ok starting a few more but until that day, my goal is to finish a couple….I think. Only time will tell if I change my mind (I’m so good at doing that)
Instead of working on a real blog post over the weekend I went through my Book Spin Control and I documented all the colorways that were used in it page by page.
All Fibers are Spunky Eclectic Unless otherwise noted.
Cover = Thick and Thin BFL yarn Singles - Berry Pickin’ (club June ‘06)
2 = Thick and Thin Yarn Singles =White Merino and Walking on the Sun Tussah
3 = Fiber - Tussah Silk, Walking on the Sun
4 = Fulled Merino Singles - Mud Season (club Mar ‘08)
6 = top row = left - random combed, right - Lightning Strike Alpaca worsted 2 ply; bottom row = left - Thick and thin white BFL and The New Black Tussah Silk (club July ‘06), Right - Autumn Feast Feather yarn
8 = Icelandic 2 ply worsted Snow Squall (club Jan ‘08)
10 = Balls - Fiber BFL Thermograph (club Aug ‘08), On the Bobbin - Perfect Storm Wennsleydale (club Apr ‘08)
12 = Fiber Almost solids - Sage, Sunflower and bark
14 = 3 ply Navajo/Chain ply Yarn in Rosebud (club May ‘08) with Random Fiber
15 = All are in Deep Sky
24 = Dark BFL Solar Flare
25 = Random
26-27 = most are random bits of fibers but the Handpainted Wool top is Dark BFL Solar Flare
28 = Water Nymph on Wool Blend
29 = Fiber BFL Thermograph (club Aug ‘08)
30-31 = Water Nymph on Wool Blend
32 = Fiber BFL Thermograph (club Aug ‘08)
33 = Batt blended just for the photo shoot.
52 = Swatches Clockwise from top - Mandy Wool Blend, Marigold mohair and Nylon, 4 ply Corrie in 4 Almost solid colors, Rosebud (club May ‘08), Burgundy one to the left is an Ashland Bay Fiber. Fibers in journal are Batts from Southern Cross Fiber and Batts from Enchanted Knoll.
54-55 = Ocean Corriedale
57 = Thunderstorm Singles being felted
58 = Ashland Bay Merino Silk Top
59 = Enchanted Knoll and Southern Cross Samples again
60-61 = Heathered Batts in 3 colors made into a 9 ply cable yarn
62 = Merino Silk in Sage
64 = Sage and Amarylis in Merino Silk
66 = Romney (I don’t remember what this is, it’s an old potluck color)
68 = Water Nymph on Wool Blend
69 = Sage and Amarylis in Merino Silk
71 = Bing Cherry on Romney
72 = Top Yarn is Burning Embers, Top Swatch is Mandy both are Wool Blend Bottom Swatch and yarn are Almost Solid Colors
73 = Swatch is Natural colors of Shetland, Spinning yarn is Almost solid colors.
74 = Sunflower on Corriedale
75 = Fiber BFL Thermograph (club Aug ‘08)
76 = Blue is a Sparkly Heather Batt, Gold is a Golden Sock Batt, Green is Sage with Beads.
78 = Salvia carded into a batt.
80 = Naturals
81 = Marigold
82 = Strawberry (pink) SeaGlass (blue)
83 = Fiber - Water Nymph on Wool Blend, Yarn/Swatch = Corriedale Rosebud (club May ‘08)
84 = Silky Tweed Batt
85 = BFL Silky Tweed Batt
88 = Top - 4 ply Almost solids, Middle - BFL Aspen (club Sept ‘07), Bottom - Corriedale Rosebud (club May ‘08)
91 = Top - parkly Heather Batt, Bottom - 4 ply Almost solids
93 = Party Dress in SW Corriedale (club Dec ‘07)
95 = Top - Diaper Tan on Merino Bamboo, Bottom - Heathered Batts in 3 colors
96 = Walking on the Sun
102 = Top - Sage, Bottom - Tie Dye
104 = Perfect Storm Wennsleydale (club Apr ‘08)
106 = Tie Dye
109 = Left - Hot Rod, Right Tie Dye
110 = Naturals and Dyed Black
115 = Snow Squall
Back Cover = Top - Water Nymph,Left = Autumn Feast Feather yarn
Today I want to talk about the DVD Sit and Spin by Jacey of Insubordiknit. I’ve wanted to talk about it for a while but I keep running out of time. Actually, there is a whole list of things at the shop for items that I’ve been “running out of time” to do and I’m working through that list as if it was the ONE list of things to do. Here we are, at long last.
Jacey mentions at the beginning of the video that this is not for people that don’t know how to spin. It’s not a video about how to start spinning. She’s right. You really need to understand the workings of your wheel, how twist works and what you need to do to accomplish the tasks that she’s giving you. You need to be mindful of wheel direction and how Jacey adjusts her wheel. If you’re not at that point yet then take a Start Spinning class, get a book or a video and it shouldn’t be long before you’re on your way to learning the great techniques that Jacey offers up.
This brings up another point that is more my issue than anything that really has to do with the video review at hand. Novelty yarn is NOT beginner yarn. Good, well balanced, fun novelty yarn takes skill. Like any skill, you need to build your skills. Some people will get it faster but it’s not generally a “first” yarn kind of thing. You really need to understand twist to make a well balanced fine novelty yarn.
So what do I like about the videos?
The content of course but you probably got that. What I think is really important to mention is how it’s all put together. Jacey doesn’t just run through explaining everything quickly and leaving it at that. The videos are good for LEARNING. See here in this photo I stole from Jacey:
She gives you the technique and you see it real time so you know how it’s supposed to go and then it’s broken down for you. Love that! Some of the techniques you see in a couple of different angles to make sure that you can really “get” what you need to do.
The other really cool thing is that it’s all broken down into segments and sections. You can watch one segment or section. Pause. Try it out and then rewind if you need to or move on. It’s really well put together and only second to actually taking a class with Jacey. Which she’s traveling ALL over the place teaching so you may have a chance to take a class.
I’m really late in getting this review done and so I’ve read many others and heard from people. People have mentioned they don’t like the music in the video. Of course the music isn’t for everyone but it’s so Jacey. I like that she put little interludes of it in the video. Don’t let the music deter you from purchasing this DVD. It’s a DVD and not a live performance you’re being forced to sit through. If you don’t like the music you can easily hit “next” and move on to the next technique skipping the music all together in the couple of sections that it comes on.
As for the content and what you’re learning….This is top notch novelty stuff. I learned things. Some of the techniques I knew and have used and some were completely new to me. I gotta think most people will be able to get a good lot of information from the DVD and really learn some great techniques on how to further their foray into novelty yarns.
Happy Spinning.
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted. Last week was simply crazy trying to get everything done. Let’s go through it.
Monday.
Was a Monday. Nothing huge but a lot of little mishaps all day long that gave a gal the feeling that she should have just stayed in bed. But I stayed awake and persevered through the day getting packages shipped while Lesley put the shop back together for me.
Tuesday.
Wasn’t Monday. It was yet another busy day working. Not to mention homeschooling and Girl Scouts. 8goingon20 moved on up to Junior Scouts.
Wednesday.
Was a day of waiting. Waiting for the book to arrive so I could get it shipped back out before I left for TNNA. I printed all the labels in anticipation and waited….It never showed.
Thursday.
Was a day of flying hell. First flight 1.5 hrs late into NY. Flight to Columbus left without us, then the next flight was canceled, the flight was overbooked and already have 5-6 stand-bys. The next flight was Friday. I made friends with a fellow stranded passenger and we decided to fly to Dayton, rent a car, and drive into Columbus. It was a fantastic plan. She dropped me off at 930 at the hotel to meet Beth.
Friday.
I took Beth’s class on Fibers. It was fantastic fun, she’s a really smart lady and great teacher. Then we carried wheels around to clear out the classroom, then met up with the Schacht booth babes. We had a blast. We played at the “sample it” and went to the Buffalo Gold party. All well worth going to. We’re both spinning shops so alot of the yarn stuff at TNNA wasn’t pertinent but much of it really was.
Saturday
TNNA Day. I spent. I brought in a few new product lines for the shop. Here’s the list:
- Qiviuk, Vicuna, Guanaca and patterns to go with it.
- New Zealand Batts of Merino Cashmere and Possum.
- More books!
- Della Q bags. I got a bunch that are perfect for Spindles.
- Debra’s Garden Needle and yarn guages. (They’re in “the book”)
- Power Scour!
Then we had lunch with Abby and family. Met up with Interweave for the Author meet up and cupcake party and continued on with the shopping and fun to have dinner with Amy and Jillian. Then back to the Hyatt bar where Amy played her Ukele for us!! Over the night the group expanded and it was such an impressively large group, it was the only photo I took all weekend. I only got a portion of the circle of chairs in the photo and it came out too fuzzy to tell much. My phone doesn’t have the best camera on it. But it’s all in my minds eye for sure. Which I suppose is why I take so few photos. I never feel like I need them. Which doesn’t make me a very good blogger.
Sunday
Was the day to come home. I met up with Chesley at the airport and we flew back east together. This time the flights were uneventful and we made it home on schedule.
And now here we are a full week later at another Monday.
Since the books arrived on Thursday, when I couldn’t sign anything due to leaving so early, I’ll be shipping them out today!
If you have one on pre-order, you get your books shipped today. As soon as that’s done, I’ll be working through the rest of the orders that came throughout my time away.
