catching up and upcoming shop update ^.^

so, it's been an incredibly difficult, and painful, and educational, and inspiring 2 years for me.  i've been through a lot, and learned a lot of important life lessons.  unfortunately i've also let my poor blog fall into stagnation many times because there's just so much i've been dealing with.  but it seems that things in my life are finally falling into place, after much hard work. i'm finally having some time to focus on growing and branching out as a fiber artist, and totally revamping my etsy shop.

so much has changed since i started this little blog back in 2009.  back then i didn't even know how to spin, and it was strictly a knit/crochet blog.  these days i'm spinning, sewing, fiber preping and most recently dyeing much more than i knit or crochet.

since it been so long since i've posted here i thought i'd do a little picture show of some of the things i've been working on for the past 6 months or so.

these days it seems i only ever knit anything with my own handspun.  i tell you i don't know how i ever lived before i could spin.  there's just something so satisfying about being able to take exactly the fibers you want in the exactly the colors you want, spin them exactly how you want them spun and then knit with your very own perfectly planned and executed yarn.  to that effect here's my first handspun hat

i bought this awesome set of batts from Play At Life Fiber Arts, one batt was black with a little sparkle in it, the other was a nice gradient from a dark coral to a lighter peachy color.  this is now my official "i'm having a bad hair day better throw on a slouchy hat" hat, hehe.

i've also knit my very first pair of handspun socks, which as it turns out proved to be more difficult than i imagined.  it wasn't the knitting of the socks so much as spinning the 2 skeins of yarn evenly that was the problem.  i ended up with 1 skein about 20yds longer than the other but decided to knit the socks up anyways.

as you can see, 20yds really does make a big difference in the length of your sock.  but seeing as how both skeins are a rainbow gradient there's nothing more i can do than keep these as my official "putturing around the house" socks.

aside from spinning and knitting i also have been bitten by the fiber prep and dyeing bugs, respectively.  i got my very first set of hand carders a few months ago and went on a carding frenzie, carding up hand pulled rovings for the ol' etsy shop.

hand carding is fun, and a great workout, but i'm already itching to get myself a drum carder so i can make some big, beautiful batts like the one's i'm always lusting after in other peoples etsy shops.  with my hand carders all i can do is card somewhat small amounts of fiber and pull them out into rovings to make these little roving buns.  but drum carder envy aside there's something to be said for the simplicity of taking just a few types or colors of fiber and creating a nice tonal or variegated yarn without all the crazy bells and whistles of art batts.

and now, my latest obsession:  DYEING!!!

i claimed some ashford acid dyes in a swap on Ravelry, bought myself some nekkid fiber and had myself a little dye party this weekend.

 this is my very first evar dyed braid of fiber.  it's lovely soft Falkland and this was a learning experience for sure.  there were originally supposed to be 4 colors that were equally represented, but i used WAY too much dye and when i was rolling the fiber up to be steamed the excess dye just made all the colors run together.  the purple and black are pretty dominent, while the blue-green and dirty yellow-green barely pop up here and there.  even so i still love this little braid dearly and will probably end up keeping it all to myself.


i did however use the lessons i learned with that first experiment when dying up the 2 tops i did today.

these two i decided to do as mirrored gradients and i'm really happy with the way they turned out.  i used way less dye this time so that i didn't have a bunch of excess being squeezed through and muddling up the colors.  these are out on my back patio drying at this very moment and tomorrow they have a photo shoot and will be put on sale in my shop.

but wait, there's more!

i know this post is pretty epic already but i would be remiss if i didn't mention my newest line at petite vache designs:                                                    

Big n' lil box bag sets

{ one of my Big n' lil box bag sets that sold last month }

so i mentioned in my last post that i started sewing little notions sized box bags.   well i got the brilliant idea to sew up sets of medium and tiny sized box bags, the tiny one nestles inside the bigger one and holds all your notions, leaving room for a small to medium sized project in the bag still.  it's basically the perfect way to keep your project bags organized, each one will have it's own matching little notions bag.

i had 4 sets of these that all got snatched up pretty quickly last month and have just recently listed another set, but i'll be doing some more sewing in the coming month so if you're interested in grabbing a set for yourself be on the lookout for blog updates in May :)

well i'm sure that's quite enough of an update for the time being.  i hope everyone had a great weekend and will have an equally joyous new week

peace&love

~carla

FREE online workship, knitting FO and shop update

so, i realized that i rarely mention knitting these days on my blog. this DID start out as a knitting/crochet blog and has recently gravitated more toward spinning and sewing. in an effort to rectify this little oversight i give you my latest knitting FO, this totally cute little shrug.

i'm not sure exactly how it happened, but somehow i ended up on an email list for Craftsy.com and a few weeks ago i got an email invite to do a free workshop featuring this One Skein Knit Shrug pattern by Stefanie Japel. this workshop is still free as of today, November 3rd at 5pm Pacific time!! if i were you i'd head on over there right now and sign up before they come to their senses and start charging for this workshop again. just click the link above that says "One Skein Knit Shrug" and it should take you straight there :)

{ me modeling my new handknit, handspun shrug }

the pattern suggested a single skein of Cascade 220, but seeing as how i've got a closet full of my own handspun that i never do anything with i decided to go digging and this is what i came up with

{ 75/25 BFL/Silk - 261yds approx. worsted weight }

this yarn has been sitting around in my stash since i first got serious about spinning over a year ago, which should really be a crime because it's so incredibly soft due to the mix of silk and BFL. although, maybe i should be glad i hadn't used it for anything until now because it really was the perfect yarn for this pattern. you can see in the pic it's a little thick and thin and i was concerned that might show in the finished product, but as you can see from the closeup below it actually produced a pretty even looking fabric. especially since this pic is pre-blocking (i actually still haven't blocked it yet hehe)

{ closeup to show detail }

i ended up finishing this in 4 days with about 10 yards left over to make a matching cuff or bow or whatever i think up to use it for xD

not only is this pattern really a really cute, quick, fun knit, the workshop format online atCraftsy.com was really cool. once you sign into the workshop you progress through several pages of instruction with lots of photos that show you exactly how to do everything step by step. and you can also get involved in discussion with everyone else that's taking the workshop, and even ask questions and get responses from the designer herself.

i really think Craftsy has a great idea with these new workshops. there are a few sewing workshops they have for sale that i'm seriously considering buying.

and speaking of sewing i've got some awesome little additions to my shop as of today

{ itty bitty boxy bag: skinny rectangle - black white red }

i'm proud to pronounce that i am once again putting my sewing skills to good use and sewing a new line of mini box bags for my shop. they're really all purpose, handly little bags that i can envision being used for everything form makeup or notions storage to an actual purse for those times when you just want to take a few essential things with you

{ itty bitty boxy bag: fat rectangle - dusty ping and mauve }

so far i've got 2 different sizes, the skinny rectangle and the fat rectangle, each one is just about big enough to hold a travel set of knitting/crochet notions, a handful of spools of thread, just enough makeup/keys/ID to get you through a trip to the store and back.

you can see these two bags on sale in my etsy shop, as well as get all the information about the exact size and materials i used.

well that's all for today folks. check back soon because i'm going to have an in depth review of those banana and ramie fibers i talked about a few weeks ago ^.^

happy knitting/crocheting/spinning/sewing/crafting

~carla

xmas in october and 2 giveaways!

time for a picture-heavy post!

i've been a huge fan of PhatFiber for a few years now, but for some reason it never occured to me to blog about the awesome weekly giveaways here :: scratches head ::

this week there is some awesome fiber up for grabs like this gorgeous loose cashmere/tussah silk fiber package from none other than my fav indy dyer Girl Meets Spindle:

{ click here for your chance to win! }

or if you're more into the cool colors there's a BFL/Silk hankie package being given away by Fun House Fibers:

{ cliquez ici pour votre chance a gagner! }

pardon my french folks, i just hate typing the exact same thing under 2 different pics. if you don't speak french that says the same thing thats under the first pic xD

and now on to my very own XMAS IN OCTOBER!!!!

and why is it xmas in october you ask? well because i got 2 TOTALLY AMAZING packages in the mail today.

this first package came from Zebisis Designs on Etsy. this was my first time ordering from Zebisis but i've seen her richly saturated fibers all over ravelry. much like Girl Meets Spindle, Zebisis specializes in mostly Luxury fibers but also handmade spindles and also takes the time to package her fiber in a wonderfully aesthetically pleasing way. this stuff was pricey, i'll be honest, but when i felt how soft it was it was worth every last penny. not only did i get the fiber i paid for but she also sent me a full 2.3 oz "sample" of some gorgeous hand dyed silk brick, and some matching mohair locks!

{ 4oz 50/50 Merino Silk roving in "Moody Rainbow" }

{ 2.3oz "sample" of Mulberry silk brick }

unfortunately i have a mohair allergy so i didn't wanna take the locks out to photograph them lest they make my fingers burn :( but i assure you they are equally as lovely

and in box #2 i got my swap package for the Legends of the Underworld swap on ravelry! my swap partner Hygieia really spoiled me rotten, just look at the size of this box!

{ sunglasses are there for reference only, they were not part of the package xD }

when i opened up the box it was just filled to the brim with individually wrapped goodies ^-^

{ all the lovely packages}

i feel so incredibly spoiled, there was just too much goodness to list all of it here. pretty much everything was skully themed, from the bandaids to the stitch markers to the craft supplies, even skully tissues and duct tape!

{ the loot }

but aside from all the skully goodness there were also a couple awesome little gifts she had her brother bring me from Japan because she knew that i love things from foreign countries. i honestly can't even list everything i got here cuz it would just be too much but as you can see from the pic i am one happy camper ^.^

i hope everyone's had a great week, i'm going to have a few spinning fiber reviews coming up soon including the ramie and banana fibers from my last post so be on the lookout for my next blog post!

~carla

exotic and luxury fibers, and a little sewing too :)

i got another great package from Girl Meets Spindle a few weeks ago, as you can see below

{ i really do love the way she packages her fiber }

i've had my eye on some of the luxury and exotic fibers in Rachel's shop for quite some time now and so i decided to buy myself a little birthday treat in the form of 2 luxurious oz of 50/50 royal baby alpaca/cashmere, and also a few half ounce samples of Ramie and Banana fibers.

{ 1/2oz steel blue Banana fiber }

i really love the halo on this banana fiber, and it's much softer than i expected. i'm still not exactly sure which part of the banana plant this fiber comes from, but my friend Justin was over the day i got my package and he's now demanding a banana fiber beanie from me xD

{ 1/2oz Ramie fiber in "Winter Morn" }

now, i'm sure some of you are wondering "what the heck is 'Ramei' fiber?" well i honestly didn't even know exactly what it was when i bought it, so i just googled it right now and got this interesting little tid bit:

"Ramie, also known as “China Grass”, is a flowering plant native to eastern Asia. For centuries, ramie fiber has been used for making fabrics and clothing. In fact, ramie has been used for clothes since at least 5000 - 3000 BC in Egypt.

Ramie fibers are one of the strongest natural fibers. Ramie can be up to 8 times stronger than cotton, and is even stronger when wet."

this too is much softer fiber than i had anticipated, and has a similar whispy

halo to the banana fiber.

{ 2oz 50% Royal Baby Alpaca, 50% Cashmere in colorway "Molten Metals" }

but of course the crown jewel of my birthday fiber shmorgasborg is this sinfully luxurious alpaca/cashmere blend fiber. i haven't even had the heart to spin it yet i've just been taking it out to stare at it longingly and stroke it's unbelievable softness hehe

i'm not even sure of how i'm going to spin it yet or what i'm going to make with it, but i think for now i'll just keep it as a fibery pet ^-^

{ my very first hand sewn needle/notions organizer }

and last but not least i'm excited to report that i've actually been bitten by the sewing bug lately. to make a long story short i recently got into Steampunk fashion, which is basically like late 19th century late victorian kinda stuff. i really wanted to get a pair of bloomers, but i just wasn't willing to pay what people were asking on Etsy, not when i knew i could sew them myself with the help of my trusty sewing machine ^^

{ crochet hooks and stitch holders }

needless to say the pics you see in front of you are NOT bloomers xD

i had a bit of a fiasco with trying to get the correct measurements and my first bloomers attempt were far too small :( but i've since bought some new fabric and will be making another attempt soon. in the mean time though i sewed this awesome little needle/notions organizer from some scraps left over from one of my Underworld Swap projects.

{ DPNs }

i created my own pattern for this using my limited sewing knowledge and thought it came out great, although next time i think i'll use a thiner fabric, this stuff was almost felt like and it make doing some of the top stitching a bit tough. if there are any seamstresses out there who would like me to share the pattern with them i'd be more than happy to do so just leave me a comment here with your email and i'll get back to you :)

{ all tied up }

if all goes well this week i should have some pics of bloomers to share, as well as the usual spinning/knitting related goodness.

have a great weekend everyone ^^/

peace&love

~carla