Open Shop!

It's a good day! I got off work early, we have some friends we rarely see over to visit, and I opened my etsy shop again, at http://kashasknits.etsy.com

My latest project on my bobbins:
100% Merino

I just finished a couple of bobbins of these singles and I'm working on plying them. I also am working on some hand carded roving with my hand carders.

Fiber Overload!

OK. So yesterday I got a HUGE order from paradisefibers.com. Without further ado, I give you..

A ball winder!

One POUND of bare Blue Faced Leicester, soon to be dyed and turned into yarn or fiber batts.

One POUND of 16 ct Merino. This stuff is heavenly soft. Ditto with the yarn and batts.

And...the worlds most gargantuan 'hank' of merino yarn!

And finally, 4 oz of very soft 'happy hippie' fiber

My first set of hand cards, and a small pile of batts that proves I'm getting the hang of it. I've already got some calluses on my palms.

So my next task is onto dying the 3 pounds of bare fiber I have now! I spent a few hours the other day with my 5 color dye set and some microwave safe cups, and experimented with a few new colors. These are what I came up with so far.

This set was dyed with differing ratios of blue and orange dye

This set was made with different ratios of violet and yellow in a mix.

I'm hoping that I can get a good start on dying this weekend since I don't have to work. (Though my fiance Rick and I are going to drive to Apple Valley to see U2 3d in the IMAX there.) Then I should be able to start the process of opening my store again on my Wednesday off next week. Considering my professors don't decide that I need to do some huge legal research project.

A sneak preview of my new store!

I'm taking advantage of my time before the big game to build up inventory for the reopening of my etsy store. I'm opening under a new user name since it doesn't match my business name. Oh well. (*Note: I SHOULD be using this time to do homework, but...I'm not...)

Right now I have two skeins of handspun hanging to dry in the kitchen...

This one is a merino/tencel blend, handpainted by fatcatknits.etsy.com, I handspun it into a 2 ply sock weight.

This is a superwash wool/nylon blend, spun into sock weight yarn.

I also have a few skeins of bare Lion Brand wool I picked up. I handpainted this skein with orange and pink. It turned out very nicely variegated, and I just know its going to be fun trying to get accurate color pics.
Then theres my personal knitting. I fell in love with the Bubble Cable Dolman in the Winter 07 Issue of IK. I attempted it a few times, but got completely stuck with trying to maintain the cable pattern while increasing so often. I didn't really like the initial yarn anyway, so it was a good practice run. But I finally found some yarn (recycled from a thrift store sweater) that was perfect for it. So I'm off and running again, and I'm doing a little better this time. Yay!

Well, off to some homework, then nachos and a football game!