CrazyCat Fibers

I did a small shop update today, smaller than I had wanted because being on-call for work this week has resulted in a serious disruption of my weekend plans. However, I was able to add these three very different new colorways, all in different wools.

Superfine Merino (just amazingly soft!):

BFL:

The last of the Columbia/Dorset:

I’m also over halfway through making some Berry Hill Fingerless Mitts knitted from my Misty Morning Columbia-Dorset handspun. I plied this yarn very tightly, so the mitts are sturdy and warm and should wear well. I keep thinking that I should have made socks instead!

I put 4 new rovings in the Etsy shop tonight; 2 are experiments in overdyeing colored wool, which I am really having fun with, and 2 are fluffy, soft Targhee wool top.

I’ve decided that I love dyeing longwool fibers. They suck up the dye like a sponge and the luster and shine is amazing. Here are 2 new combed tops, about to go on the Etsy store in a day or 2.

“Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness”, BFL (I love me some Keats poems).

“Karma Chamelon”, Wensleydale. Yep, there’s red, gold, and green in there, among other colors.

A new shipment of fiber came in on Monday, and I dyed up a couple of new tops this week. These will go into the Etsy store soon.

Diogenes Club, Merino Top (If you’re a Sherlock Holmes fan, you’ll know the reference…)

A Pocket Full of Posies, wonderfully soft Blue Faced Leicester.

I finished my first “big” handspun project on Monday night, washed and blocked it Tuesday, and wore it to work yesterday.

I used about 6oz of the Autumn Bliss handspun. It varied quite a bit in thickness, but the Simple Yet Effective shawl pattern is very forgiving.

I’m hooked! I can’t wait to knit with more handspun!

I seem to be on a flower kick lately; my latest colorways have all been flower-themed. I’m planning to post these to Etsy today and tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m busily thinking about what flowers to use as inspiration for future colorways. I have some new rovings due to arrive on Tuesday, and I hope to start dyeing those on Tuesday evening and posting to Etsy by Thursday!

Dogwoods in Bloom (Columbia/Dorset):

Pansies (Superwash Merino):

Rose Bouquet (Columbia/Dorset):

I poked around on Ravelry for quite some time, looking for the perfect pattern for the Columbia/Dorset Autumn Bliss 2-ply yarn. I finally settled on Cosmicpluto’s great Simple Yet Effective shawl. The alternating stripes of garter and stockinette add texture, and the simple pattern shows off the color variations in the yarn. Like a lot of Ravellers, I’m adding some eyelet rows to the shawl. I also found an oddball skein of Fibre Company Terra in brown in my stash, so I’m adding periodic stripes of that to stretch out the handspun.

After spending the morning taking pictures and re-weighing all the hand-dyed tops I’ve gotten ready so far, I crossed my fingers and officially opened the Etsy shop this afternoon. I’ve put up 5 tops in the first update, hopefully a good variety of Merino, Targhee, and Columbia/Dorset. I’ll add more throughout the week. Here’s a sampling of what’s available now:

I just finshed spinning, plying, and wash-n-whacking the 4.8oz of Columbia-Dorset roving that Jag and I hand-dyed a few weeks ago in the “Autumn Bliss” colorway. Barber-pole 2-plies are my current handspun addiction, so that’s what I spun for myself. I have approximately 520 yards here, ranging from heavy sport to light worsted. I’m currently browsing the shawl and shrug patterns on Ravelry looking for something that meets the yardage requirements and jumps out at me.

Here’s the roving I started out with:

And here’s the final yarn: