Stocking the Shop

Now that our travel responsibilities are over for the rest of the year, I've been able to concentrate on getting some yarn and fiber into the shop!

So, I've been adding yarn, fiber, and mini-skeins to the shop each day this week. It's starting to add up! Here's a peek:

There will be more to come in the weeks ahead, so check back each week to see what's new!

A Colorful Viewpoint

I tend to assign colors to lots of different things, including months of the year, holidays, places, song titles...you name it and it probably conjures up some kind of color image in my head. And sometimes it only makes sense to me. For instance, I usually think of April as "white". I think it's because there are usually trees flowering, it's usually Easter month, and what not.  I know I'm not alone in this, there must be others who do it...I just haven't met them yet:)

Sometimes it's a very subjective viewpoint ..like this colorway, Monaco:

In my mind, "Monaco" conjures up sparkling marble & limestone buildings with rich interiors layered in raspberry velvets and gold leaf moldings.

And sometimes it's more obvious, like Seashells:

All the soft colors you see in a pile of seashells.

How do you think about color?

A little spinning everyday

One of my goals for this year to spin more. I know I can't spend hours, but I can spend a few minutes! So, I've given myself an informal challenge of spinning for just 10 minutes five days a week. It makes it seem very manageable - just 10 minutes.

Here's the first bobbin of the new year...merino/silk in the Flannel Shirt colorway:

It makes me warmer just looking at it:)

On the Wheel : Seashells

I'm not getting a lot of time to spin or knit right now (it's dye, dye, dye all the time around here), but I do have this lovely bit of fiber on the wheel when I do get a moment or two to spin:

This is last June's fiber club colorway.  It'll be available as a regular color this coming June:)

Fiber Focus : Yak/Merino

Since I opened my shop, I've continued to add new spinning fibers a little bit at a time. I tend to add fibers that I personally am interested in spinning or trying out. I've also added a couple that Ravelry group members have mentioned they were interested in.

It's fun to try new breeds and fiber combinations, especially if you've never spun with a certain fiber before.

The most luxurious fiber blend I have right now is a 50% Yak/50% Merino blend.

A little about Yak
In case you didn't know, Yak fiber is softer than Merino and warmer than Cashmere. Yes, you read that right. Softer than Merino. Yak produce two types of fiber, guard hair and down hair. This is the down hair, which is the fine, soft undercoat grown in the winter. Yak fiber is odorless, does not shed and like wool, maintains its ability to keep you warm even when wet.

Since the Yak is a dark brown fiber, and it's blended with ecru colored Merino, the combed top is a brown heathery color. I over-dye this to create the colors you see below:

Left to Right: Nightshade, Dried Herbs, Spice Garden, Rainforest

Have you tried Yak fiber or yarn?

Ready!

Well, after months of preparation, it's finally here. My first time as a vendor at a fiber festival! The shop will be closed through this weekend, and will re-open on Monday, September 22nd.

After a little break to basically do nothing, I'll be back at the dye pots to get ready for October and fall knitting season.  Hey, and then the holidays will be right around the corner...!

Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza

It's almost here! We're just a couple of weeks away from my first vending gig at a fiber festival! I'm excited...and nervous...and busy!

I'll be debuting a lot of new yarns and spinning batts at AFAE, so I've been doing a lot of dyeing and drumcarding, and my hands are letting me know about it.

I had a few issues last year with my right hand and arm hurting from overuse. And it's acting up a bit again, and now my left wrist is showing definite signs of "De Quervains Tenosynovitis". It's basically a repetitive stress injury, and goodness knows I've been doing some repetitive things!

I'll be giving both hands a nice rest...after the show!

Plum Good

There's a lot of plum pictures popping up in my flickr account, since I'm taking a daily progress pic of my Tour de Fleece spinning.  This is a collage of Week 1. I almost got through this braid in the first week, and I'm pretty pleased about it.

I'm not the fastest spinner on the block, and considering the other things I've got going on, I'm thrilled that this is the amount of spinning I accomplished in just one week.  I'm starting to actually believe I could spin 3 braids during TdF.  Go me!

Underway

We are underway with the spinning for Tour de Fleece!  I got a very slow start on Saturday, the first day of the tour. We had to make a flying trip to Jackson, Tennessee and back. Let me tell you, a 13-hour car trip does not make one want to sit and spin.  Mostly the sitting. I was done with the sitting for sure.

But, Sunday dawned clear and bright with a pile of fiber waiting to turn into yarn.

I actually do better at spinning through the week than I do on weekends. We tend to be up, out and doing stuff on the weekends. But through the week, I've always got a couple of hours in the evening to work on whatever project I want - knitting, spinning, etc.

My goal is to spin about 16 ounces of fiber during the TdF.  We shall see if I'm delusional or not as we go along.  That'll be fun, won't it?

Tour de Fleece 2014

Are you ready for the Tour de Fleece? We're gearing up and getting ready to spin, spin, spin! 

If you're not familiar with the Tour de Fleece, it's  the annual Tour de Fleece spin-along during the Tour de France. They spin, we spin. A real spinning-themed spin-along.  The concept is simple:

Challenge Yourself.
Spin.
Have fun.

The tour begins July 5 and runs through July 27, with a couple of rest days sprinkled in here and there.

If you want to challenge yourself with a spinning goal, join Team October House! Don't think you have to spin a sweater's worth of yarn to participate. It's all about challenging yourself at whatever level you're at: novice, experienced, or somewhere in between! And don't forget FUN...let's definitely have fun:)

Check the October House Fiber Arts group for more details and to sign up as a team member! You can also snag an official OHFA Tour de Fleece ravatar here.

Do you have a project (or projects) lined up for the Tour? Let's hear about it!

Note: You do not have to spin October House fiber to join the team (although you are certainly welcome to), and you're encouraged to join any other teams you are interested in joining!

Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza

I have to fill a few of these with fluffy hand dyed fiber and yarn by September!



Because, I will be attending my first fiber festival as a vendor this September! Yes, I am excited.

I've been accepted to the Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza, which is held right here in my hometown of Hot Springs. 

This year's featured speaker is none other than Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot! The dates are September 18-20, 2014. 

Visit the Extravaganza website for more details and information.

Spinning for Socks

The Spin for Socks Spin-A-Long is starting this Friday, so I thought it would be a good idea to give a few tips for spinning a sock yarn.  These are based on my experiences, and definitely not written in stone.  If you want to try something different - do it!  There are no spinning police:)

• You can knit socks out of any fiber you can spin.  That being said, some fibers make for a softer / tougher / longer lasting sock than others.  If you're not interested in hand washing your socks, choose a superwash fiber.  
• If you want a durable, long lasting sock - it pays to have a little nylon or silk in the mix, or maybe a little mohair.  They add strength, and they take dye beautifully.  
• You should most definitely spin a worsted yarn.  You need a smooth, tightly spun and plied yarn in order to have it hold up under wear.  
• The more plies, the better.  The more plies you have in your finished yarn, the less stress you place on each individual ply.  My personal rule is at least a 3-ply for a pair of handspun socks.  If I'm going to go to the trouble of spinning and knitting a pair of socks, I want them to last...and feel good.  
• Go up one ratio.  If you usually spin at a 5:1 or 6:1 ratio, trying going up one notch on your whorl.  You'll get more twist without changing anything else.
• Loosen your brake-band.  Try to lighten the take-up so that you have to "give" the fiber to wheel, rather than having it "yank" it out of your hands.  This can be a small adjustment with a big impact, as you'll have time to draft out the fibers more evenly 
• Compare your yarn.  If you haven't spun for socks before, it can be very helpful to take a length of commercial sock yarn and separate the plies so you have something to compare to.  Keep this sample near your wheel and compare your singles to one of the plies regularly as you spin.  I did this for my first handspun sock yarn, and I ended up with 440 yards of 3-ply!
• Keep notes!  I'm a divvy-er...I like to divvy up my little bump of fiber based on how I plan to spin it. For example, for a 3-ply, I'll divide the length of fiber into 3 equal pieces.  Then I'll take length #1 and divide it into 3 pieces.  I'll take length #2 and divide it into 4 pieces, and length #3 will get left in one piece.  Then I pre-draft the heck out of all of them.  I bag them up and put notes in there to help me remember what I just did.

Do you have any good spinning tips?  

Join the Spin-a-Long, or just chat about spinning in the October House Fiber Arts group on Ravelry.

A Sheep's Fleece

I've been gearing up to buy some fleeces this year, and I took the plunge and got my first one last week!
In the past, I have purchased fleece by the pound (or ounces), and I've bought washed and raw locks from several kinds of sheep.

But this is my first "the whole fleece from one sheep" fleece.  I think I might be hooked already.  Take a look:

This is a Coopworth lamb's fleece, about 5 pounds.  Coopworth is a long wool, with a lovely, defined crimp and high luster. It's not as soft as a fine wool, but it's very strong.  And since this is a lamb's fleece, it's probably a little softer. But look at those locks...how could you not love it?

I've washed and flicked a handful of locks, which only took a few minutes.  Here's what they looked like after I washed and flicked them:

I'm also eager to see how they take the dye.  I foresee a lot of flicking in my future!

On the Wheel - Finn Batts

I've been spinning up a couple of the first batts I made with my drum carder.  The first is a blend of Finn and Angora rabbit (that's the lighter bobbin), the second is Finn & mohair locks (I used dark red & burgundy locks).  

Each batt was 1 ounce, and I'm planning to ply them together and see what happens.  The batts are so airy and lofty, it makes for quick and easy spinning.  I see many more batts in my future!

On the Wheel - Mork and Mohair

I'm spinning the other half of the CVM roving I got at the Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza.  And I'm slipping in assorted locks of mohair with this singles.

Very thick and thin...light and bouncy, bouncy, bouncy.  This will be plied with the plain Mork singles I did earlier, then the plan is to make a pair of mittens for me and a pair for Jimmy.  And since it's been in the single digits around here this week, I think maybe I should have thought of this sooner. (knit faster!)

Works in Progress

My Lillia Hyrnia shawl is coming along nicely...although you can't tell from the photo.  It still looks like a blob of knitting, but I'm through the stockinette panels and have started the first lace chart.

I've been washing some Shetland fleece.  I love the sheepy smell and this is a beautiful moorit (brown) fleece...very soft and fine.  Though it does have a fair amount of vm in it.  I'm anxious to put some on the drumcarder and see how it spins!

I'm working on a baby sweater for one of my husband's co-workers:

It's the Lucille cardigan from Kelbourne Woolens, but I'm not doing the lace pattern.  After the yoke, I'm did the body in stockinette, mostly due to time.  It needs to be done soon!  I'm on the second sleeve now, although, once again, you can't tell by the photo.

There is also a lot of baking happening right now, but, alas, no photos of that.

A little stash enhancement

This past weekend was the Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza.  It's been held here in my town (Hot Springs) for the past few years and keeps growing & getting better every year.  Until this year - and our out-of-the-ordinary winter weather.  I think it really cut down on the attendance, and I know a few of the vendors had to cancel, and some of the classes were cancelled as well.

But, I still managed to find some goodies in the vendor market :

I'm about to throw this on the wheel:

I'm excited about trying this out - CVM (California Variegated Mutant).  I've read a lot about it and have wanted to try some.  I saw it at the first booth I came to, and boy is it bouncy and springy!  

I'll let you know what I think as I'm spinning it.

And next year, I hear they've got the Yarn Harlot coming as the keynote speaker....that oughta bring the knitters out in force.

October House Fiber Club

I'm excited to announce my first fiber club!

If you enjoy getting surprises in the mail once a month (and hey, who doesn't!?) and if you enjoy color in your spinning and are looking to try different wool breeds, you need to try October House Fiber Arts Fiber Club!

Here are the club details:
Length:  3 month & 6 month options

Fibers:  Each month you'll receive a braid of hand dyed spinning fiber in an exclusive colorway for 3 (or 6) months.

I will hand dye a unique colorway on a different wool or wool-blend fiber every month and deliver it to you. Each package will be over 4 ounces of fiber. Examples of fibers include merino, polwarth, finn, falkland, bfl, shetland, or a wool blend such as merino/silk, polwarth/silk or bfl/silk.  This club will feature natural fibers, so you won't see any nylon, tencel, soysilk or sparkles.  The fiber club colorways are exclusive for club members and not for regular sale.

When:  Fibers are mailed out on the 15th (or as close to it as possible) of each month, for the length of your club membership.  If you purchase a club membership after the 15th, your membership will begin the next month.

Space is limited!  I'm an indie dyer, hand dyeing in small batches, so to keep quality up I have to limit the size of the club.  My absolute first priority is to send you the best quality fibers I can possibly produce.

Click below to try a 3 month club :

Or, a 6 month club :


Happy spinning!

A New Fiber Toy

I just got a new fiber toy...and it's a big one:

A drum carder!  I've wanted a drum carder for a couple of years now, but it seems the timing was right and here it is.  After doing some research, I went with a Fancy Kitty Kitten and I love it.  I've only played with it a wee bit so far, but I love it.  I made this batt for my first try:

It's finn that I hand dyed a while back, but it was a little too solid in color for me.  Putting it through the drum carder definitely fluffed it out and made the reds & browns more distinct.  You might not be able to tell it in the photo, but it's got a beautiful brown undertone to it.

So, I'll be playing with my new toy this holiday season.

Black Friday Sale

Thanksgiving is over...it's Black Friday and I'm having a sale!

Spend $60 in my shop and receive free shipping (domestic & international), using the code: OHBLACKFRIDAY.  (This offer is good through Sunday, December 1st, not just Friday.)

I also have a new addition today....yarn!  I've been dyeing sock yarn for a couple of weeks, and I've added the first batch to the shop.  Because, I love sock yarn and I love knitting socks, it seemed natural to start there in the yarn department.

The shop is just over a month old now, and I'm having so much fun.  It's very soul-satisfying for me to play with color and wool every week.  Thank you for supporting my fiber dreams.

Hop on over and have a peek!