Indie Fiber

I love the fact that there as so many out there doing their own thing when it comes to fiber and then that they are dyeing and spinning enough to share with the rest of us. :-) I thought I would put together a little list of some of the ones that many art talking about.

Some of the most Popular:
1. Cabin Cove by Dave Daniels (have some of this WANT/NEED more)
2. Socks That Rock by Blue Moon Fiber (gifted a lovely skein for my bday...soooo yummy NEED MORE)
3. Scout's Swag by Scout (i do believe i am DESPERATE for her stuff, everything i have seen (and able to molest for a few minutes) is absolutely gorgeous)

Some of the newer (well newer to me since I have just recently be hearing about them), I have not had any face time with these yarns but I see alot of noise on blogs about them and see them knitted up beautifully:
1. Posh Yarns by Dee GB
2. Pirate Yarns by Georgia
3. Hello Yarns by Adrian Bizilia
4. Lotus Yarns by Lotus Knits

The Stash

I have spent the weekend working on my stash, knitting books, tools etc....organizing, sorting, listing and photographing. All I can say is I am WAAAAYYY OUT OF HAND. LOL...Well I have been stashing yarn for at least 20+ years...so what does that tell you. But before I get into that...



Last month on my bday I mentioned that I had won some yarn. It arrived over a week ago and I do apologize to Yarnivorous for not posting sooner about. I have showed it off though! :-) She not only sent me 100grs of handspun, she specially spun it for me from soft lovely handpainted Australian wool...AND then she also sent me 100 gr. of Australian wool roving! Now I just have to get my hands on a spindle and get someone to show me how to spin it.


Now lets talk stash...I spent all of today photographing, sorting and listing my stash so that I can organize it in my Ravelry. I only got to 3/4s of my stash! I am so out of hand.


1. This is a shot of SOME of my wool and natural fibers collection on the floor. It was the easiest way I could find to sort the stuff. I collected all the wool that I had around and put it into one pile. I then sorted it by brand, photographed and then bagged it as it was sorted.


2. While I was sorting and hand my back turned my little guy pushed his way through and made himself all comfy in the yarn. I snapped a picture really quick because he was so darn cute...and the shooed him away because I don't let the furballs hang out on my yarn. Another reason why I am taking the time and spending the money on bagging it all. I love my fur children but I don't want their fur in my yarn or my projects.


3. These two shots are of my yarn that did not get sorted....didn't even get looked at actually LOL. This is all Acrylic (yuky Red heart and Caron's Simple soft for the most part) and crochet thread/cotton. This is yarn that I will eventually sort and catalogue but I am in no hurry. I rarely get into this yarn and really am not too worried about it. Much of it will be donated, or used for teaching yarn arts to kids (something I will be doing next winter...project that is in the works).


4. Finally this is what I worked on today. Every skein, cake or ball was sorted and photographed. From left to right: A. All cotton, B. Lace weights, ribbon yarn and novelty yarns (I don't have much of that), C. Wool and Natural fibers (ie the stuff that will felt), D. Sock yarn. Can you tell what kind of yarn I like the most? LOL...I have been mostly concerned about organizing this yarn. This is the stuff I used the most and replenish the most. I need to be able to find out what I have or need when I am putting things together for a project. Years and years ago I had done this but it was all on paper which was not really convient. Ravelry is making it way easy to organize this stuff. Now I can easily see what I have or what I need for a project and easily put it together with a project. The photographs will show me what colors I have and the way its organized in Ravelry I will know how much I have on hand as far as yardage for a project. I am also able to organize the yarn that I have dyed which is really cool.


So I still have to organize and list my needles, hooks, notions. I have already organized my WIP's and FOs. Including crochet projects that I had done years and years ago. Did the projects first because I really needed to see what I had going on. LOL. I have some work to do on the pics I took of the yarn but the hard part is done! yeah! This is going to be so nice to have it all in one place.

Ok well start working with my kids tomorrow. Looking forward to that. Have a good week everyone!

Happy Birthday

Well...to start with today is my birthday...yuppers. I am 42...blah...I do not have a big thing about age actually but for some reason I just don't like that number. Yes I know the alternative to getting older is not getting any older so that isn't that cool...so of course I would rather take the larger number. lol


I awoke to several surprises. Honey, got up earlier and cleaned the place up...went to the store and purchased special breakfast stuff and a Little Mermaid balloon (no not flowers, he gets me flowers all the time but see...I have this "thing" for balloons...don't know why but I love balloons...yeah I know, strange but oh well!)


So anyhoo...in the living room I found the balloon hovering over the coffee table. Then there was a brightly colored gift box with a card on top. Inside was a funny card with Bugs Bunny on the front (yes I LOVE bugs...he is way cool...sorry I like cartoons and comics...and today we are going to see Shrek 3... :-P) Inside the card was a generous gift certificate to the bookstore! I happen to be addicted to books as MUCH as I am addicted to yarn. Its pretty bad.


Now for the box...hmm well this is kind of strange...if you are a geeky type person you will totally get how cool this gift is...if you aren't well I'm sorry for you LOL ...you will just have to take my word for it....THIS IS A WAY COOL GIFT...my guy is unbelievably smart to have come up with it. So...he made me something...I am forever forgetting to charge my Ipod and like to fall asleep with it (long story) so lots of time I go to bed and realize its not charged...duh me. So, Honey figured that I needed a way to charge it or plug it in to the wall socket so that it would stay charged. Now, they sell wall charges for Ipods all over the darn place but do you think he would go to the store and simply buy one? Of course NOT...silly. He makes me one...and its WAY cooler then the one in the store because not only can I plug into the wall socket...but see the black piece attached to the HUB? That piece olds batteries, rechargable batteries so if I am some place that I cannot readily access a wall socket, I don't need it because the batteries will charge my Ipod for me! (the black piece is also removable) Can't buy those anywhere! So, as he said, its not the prettiest thing but its way functional and convient. He also included a pouch so that I can put everything in it and just carry it along. Ok...now tell me that isn't SUPER SMART! You can't I know! LOL I really love this gift...do you think that tells you how much of a geek I am? lol


Ok now onto more gifts...earlier in the week I recieved a great package from Ireland from the lovely Jo. She got herself a cone of 50% Suri Alpaca and 50% Blue Face Leicester undyed yarn. She wound some up for me (657 yds of some) and sent it to me. Wow! Its about a sock weight....and really soft. I want to do a special dye job. Jo did not know that my bday was coming she just sent it because she wanted to share with me. Is that not really cool or what? I really hope to meet her someday because I KNOW we would have a blast. I also know that she will fit right into our strange little group of yarn addicts. If you have yet to visit her blog you are missing out. She is a great and funny writer, her writting has a storytellers style and she also post gorgeous photos of where she lives.


As for the dye job, I would like to do something metallic looking like the yarn that Mr. Dave spun himself. I really think this yarn needs something special to really make it stand out and metallics would do it up right. Just have to figure out how to get that silver, gold, copper look.


Also, last Tuesday my lovely blogless friend, Monkey Socks, came in and handed me a skein of yarn and said: "Here for you", "Me? Why?" , "Well I ordered it and it looked different online, I don't like it as much now and I thought it just SCREAMED Vikkie" LOL....she is right it does and I love it. Its from Bright Dyes and its called "Easter Parade". I do not know what its made of nor how many yards it is. I have looked at the Bright Dyes page for yardage on their skeins but could not find it...so if anyone knows please drop me a line. Again, as with Jo, Monkey Socks did not know my bday was coming. hehehe...


Ok, one more gift. After opeing my lovely gifts from Honey, I checked email and found a message from "Yarnivorous". She had a contest at the beginning of the month. Someone else had one but did not claim their prize...Sooooo.....guess what? YUP! I won it. I get to choose from her shop any handdye OR handspun yarn up 100grs! Is that cool or what? She even has handdye roving...I do not know if I can choose from the roving but if so that would be cool, since as I have mentioned: I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO SPIN! LOL....She has really great colors so I don't have a prefrence there. I would be happy with anything! One more time, she had no idea that it was my birthday. LOL...good yarn karma. Oh, and she lives in Victoria, Australia! (Victoria is a beautiful place...its the area of Australia where Melbourne is located) Isn't that something considering my first name is Victoria? LOL...well I think it is. LOL My stash is getting an international flavor to it. How fun!


Oh and finally but not the least. My Mom sent me a really nice card...I mean its really pretty. Its covered in silk with felted flowers on the front. It came with the following message:


"Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. The hummingbird's delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life's sweetest creation."


Lovely. The card also contained a generous gift for yarn shopping. Well I don't know if intended it for yarn but since its not specified that I should purchase something specific then I am getting some yarn that I have been coveting. Isn't there always some of that? LOL


For the rest of the day I will be going to the bookstore, and Honey is taking me to play Minituare Golf (which I haven't played in years, which I am really bad at, which I love because its a hoot) and then we are going to see Shrek 3 and then dinner. Not too bad for a 42nd bday. Especially since I really didn't feel like celebrating my bday...not sure why but I just didn't. LOL

Was just getting ready to post and had a lovely bday call from the lovely Knitty Otter lady! :-D Makes my day. My (baby...lol) sister called me last night just to make sure she didn't miss me today lol....thank you honey I love you!

Have a great Sunday all. I have been tagged to do a couple of meme's and will post those this coming week because I think this post is long enough. LOL

Drop everything...

...to do this! I have a serious problem! ...a problem with beautiful hand painted yarn

Cabin Cove Mercantile
Fingering weight
450 yds
Handpainted By Dave Daniels
Colorway: Mountain Meadow MN096
US 9 24" Circulars
Chevron/feather fan pattern

I love it....its super soft and the colors are bright and soothing...reminds me of spring wild flowers....and though I have tons of projects going and a lot of yarn that I want to play with i HAD to stop and play with this one. Isn't it great! Yes I know its sock yarn but I have been wanting some of Dave's yarn for so long that I didn't want to make something that would be hidden under pants...it needed to be showed off....thought I have to see thay socks made for this yarn will be really happy and relaxed feet because it is so very soft.

Sigh now the only problem with this is that once I use it I will want more Dave Yarn....damn that sucks when that happens huh? hehehehe......

Oh and by the way lovely enabler Florrie from Deluxe yarn is way too accomodating sometimes....I just mentioned to her that I want to try spinning but that I just wanted to get my hand on a drop spindle and some roving just to see if I could do it and if I would like and what does she do.....oh here had this in the back just sitting there....hands be a good size portion of roving in a natural color and a spindle that she just has lying around....no she doesn't sell spinning supplies....yet anyway.....it her stuff but she let me take it home with her to try.....she is such an enabler lol...geez!

Yeah me!

I am now the proud owner of some Dave Yarn! My lovely Knitty Otter friends surprised me with some lovely Cabin Cove Mercantile sock yarn! Yeah...1 of the 3 that I am craving! I don't know why...she just did! She is really lovely...can't believe it...its a sock weight but I am not going to use it for socks...I want to make something super cool that will show Dave's gorgeous colors! I can also now join the KAL for the Cabin Cove fiber! More...yeah to me! I do not think that KO understand how happy I am to have recieved this yarn! Seriously! Here are the specs:
Yd: 450 Fingering weight
Gauge: 6.5 to 8 stitches to the inch on US 1 to US 3 needles
Fiber: 80% Merino, 20% Nylon
Colorway: Mountain Meadow, MN 096


I am now on the hunt for a fabulous pattern for this lovely yarn...it is really soft and the colors are very vibrant that does not show up in the picture very well.

I have a SICKNESS

I honestly think I have a problem...one is color and the other is colors in cool yarn! LOL....

I am coveting yarn from three places online and I feel like I am about to explode if I don't get some of my own. My Knitty Otter friend and my blogless Monkey Socks friend (lol to her) have both allowed me to fondle their purchases from these places (well I actually molested the yarn but we won't go there) and I am just wanting it bad. But they will have to wait until I start working in June...damn it! LOL If you are a yarn addict like me and haven't visited these place then you just have to...you will understand what I mean when you see what they have.

1) Socks That Rock: They carry different weights of yarn but I want their sock yarn (they call it lightweight) in the "Fire on The Mountain", "Lemongrass", "G-Rocks", and "Lucy" colorways. The yarn is a bit pricy, HOWEVER one skein makes a pair of socks with a lot of yarn left over. I wouldn't use it for socks though. I have other projects in mind.

2) Cabin Cove Mercantile: This is THAT DARN DAVE'S stuff LOL......I have mentioned his stuff a bit lately so don't have to again. Suffice to say that I will buy anything fun and colorful from him...lace or sock weight and find a really great pattern to showcase the yarn.

3) Scout's Swag: Scout recently did a little show on Knitty Gritty about how she dyes yarn. I learned alot from her ...and yes I do dye my own yarn...however the kind of dyes she uses is not feasible for me to use and dye with due to space....and she just has a knack with color. She has a colorway called "Van Gogh" and he is my favorite artist, so when I saw the colorway I lost it! Yes I did...Van Gogh does that too me....have spent many hours just staring at his paintings in Musuems I would haunt when I still in NYC. Yarn named after him? GIVE! LOL....she has some others that are super nice too but since I would need at least two skeins of her yarn I will be super happy to get at least one of her colorways

Anyway, all you yarn addicts out there...check them out...if you buy something from let me know what you got and how you like it. I don't know what it is but I get a thrill out of seeing stashes of others. I KNOW I am not the only one who does either....because when we meet at the LYS ....my fellow addicts all gleefully molest the yarn of others....never mind what we do to anything new that comes into the LYS. That Florrie (the owner) is a big time enabler! (Well she is in the business of course, but she is also an addict who just gave in to her need by opening a shop!) LOLOL.....she is really "bad" she trys to fulfill all our wants and needs as far as her store's finances allows....seriously she is way to good to us. When we come to her with: "hey umm...Florrie...I saw this stuff.....and umm do you think you could get it???????" (with cheesy, pleading pathetic sorrowful looks) LOL.....she ALWAYS does her best to keep us addicted....ummm no I mean she tries to fill our request! :-D Seriously, she is a doll....if you need a pick me up all you have to do is go to her shop....you get calmness but also by the time you leave your face is hurting so bad from laughing that you forget whatever was causing you stressing before you entered her shop.

Anyway...feel a bit calmer now. HAD to get that all out....not only was I dreaming about spinning...AGAIN...but was dreaming about that yarn. sigh ....its really bad. LOLOL

My Sock Yarn

Here are the six hanks of Knitpicks dye your own yarn that I dyed on Sunday. I also dyed some two lace weight but have not wound it up yet. Each of these is 440 yards. I used Wilton's as before. The top three I tried graduated color. It worked out really well though the picture doesn't show it well. I have A LOT of sock yarn but very little solid colors so I thought I would try making some colors that were not entirely solid but close to it. I just completed a swatch with US 1, Addi Turbos and got 8 stitches to the inch. I am really happy with it...I am planning on using one of these (or some Schaefer) for Round 5 of Sock Madness. The bottom far right cake was a dyeing mistake...I had done rainbow colors and the wanted black blocks but I guess the yarn was too wet and the black spread and weakened in color...I didn't think it looked good...but after it dried and I wound it...I was surprised by how it looked...there are flashes of bright color in between the muted blacks...super nice. Its also very soft to work with...the swatches knitted up into a really nice, upscale fabric.

When I wind the lace I will post a picture. I really enjoy dyeing yarn...it gives me creative freedom as well as control over the colors that I end up with. I would really like to dye some more and get my hands on a warping board and better dye but not sure where to get this stuff. I also don't know how much it would cost.

I am now ready for Round 5...I am almost finished witht he pair of cuff down Magic loops socks and today practiced toe-up Magic Loop...ripped it out though...I just wanted to be sure that I would understand a toe up version just in case the pattern is toe up. So BRING IT ON I AM READY TO GO! LOL

Colorways of My Own Making

Stitch Markers

I recently thought I would try my hand at stitch markers. They came out pretty well if I do say so myself...and I do :-D. Pictured here are 8 different kinds, I made about 12 kinds, with 4 to 10 in each set. I forgot to take a picture of all the others I made...I have shared some. No fun making something cool if you don't share it.

Now for the Yarn:

All of these are destined for specific projects. The purple and the green are going to projects from "Victorian Lace Today". I purchased all of this yarn from Knitpicks "Dye Your Own Yarn" line. The swatches knitted up really nice and are very soft, so I know that the lace pieces are going to come out nice. I do have a little bit of a problem with the yarn however. I did not ball up the yarn prior to dyeing it (of course)...it came already in hanks so I do it as it came. After it was throughly dyed I then wound it from Swift to ball winder. I was a bit upset when I did this...I dyed two skeins per colorway so that I would be sure to have more then enough with left overs for each project...almost each skein was cut in pieces...no it didn't break it was clearly cut in pieces and the pieces were wound into the hanks. So of course I did not realize this until I wound them into balls. So now I am not sure if I will have enough of each colorway for my projects. Sigh...cross your fingers for me.

As for the dyeing of these: I did something a little different then when I dyed the first group. I first soaked each skein in Kool-Aide (Cherry, Grape and Lime Green) so that I would get an over all even base color. I then laid them out and "painted on" deeper colors with Wilton's Food colors. The pictures really don't show the color variations. The colors really came out the way I was hoping. My favorite is the green. The purple still smells like grape Kool-Aide lol.

In this set the first one is Brown Sheep's "Lamb's Pride". I have to say that I REALLY loved the way the dyeing came out with this yarn. The dye laid the mohair down in the yarn...so that it now seems to have a tighter twist, but it is still soft. It also gave it a really nice sheen that makes it look like some of the more expensive yarns that are out there. The second one is Cascade 220 and the colors really came out bright and deep. It doesn't show up as well in this picture but the dark color is brown and there are shades going from brown, red to yellows; fall colors. I have already made something with some of it and will post the pic soon.

Well there ya go...a bit slow in posting my pics but here it is. I have more yarn to dye but will concentrate on knitting for a bit. It was a lot of fun dyeing the yarn and making the stitch markers. It was more fun sharing what I made with my yarn addict friends. :-D It really made me happy to give the stitch markers to others and see them enjoyed.

Dyeing Yarn

I have been trying my hand at some dyeing. This was my first one. It was alot of fun though the colors came out more mutated then I really wanted. I still like the colors and the way It came out. I used white peruvian wool Cascade 220 to start with.

These two were also Cascade 220 wool. Again the colors came out mutated. I was being too conservative with the ratio of dye to water/vinegar solution. I also tried to do two balls at the same time so that I could have enough yarn to make something with the colorway. The first one I used only one skein of Cascade 220. These two add up to about 440 yards of Cascade however even though they were died with the same colors at the same time they came out different. Sheesh! lol

This is my favorite and also the fourth one I did. I finally got the intensity right. The colors came out vibrant. I used Brown Sheep's Wildfoot whose base color was a pastel pink. I used two skeins and wound them together so I have about 430 yards of sock weight yarn but I do not want to make sock with it because I want it to be seen.

I can't wait to do more but have to get some more dye and containers to mix the different colors. I used Wilton's Icing Dye and Mccormik's Food Coloring for this first time dyeing. Would like to also try the Kool Aide process as well, though from what I have read the Kool Aide colors come out light and I like intense jewel tone colors the best. It was surprisingly easy and fun to do...though messy.

Following is what I did with the food coloring:

1. First skein I used the yarn dry but the second set I soaked the yarn over night in a solution of water and vinegar. Soaking it seems to work better because the yarn soaks up the dye solution faster.

2. Then mixed color with a solution of warm water and a teaspoon of vinegar.

3. Using sponge brushes I painted the yarn with the coloring.

4. After I was satisfied with that all the yarn had been saturated with color it was wrapped with Saran Wrap (like a suasage) and coiled on the turning plate of the microwave.

5. The yarn was then "cooked" for four , two minute intervals with about a two minute break in between each.

6. Once it was "cooked" I let the yarn sit for a bit to cool enough to handle.

7. I then took it into the bathroom and unwrapped it and rinsed it with cool water until the water ran clear.

8. Finally I just hung it in the shower to dry and wound it up the next day.

All in all it took about 2 hours from start to finish to do two skeins. Not counting the clean up afterwards lol. Oh and btw I did not do it alone my honey got into it with me and it was fun to share it with him. :-) yeah!