the Tour de Fleece, Phat Fiber, and shop updates

The Tour de Fleece is almost over!!!!

and i'm just now getting around to blogging about it lol.  I chose a hard road this TDF by trying to spin a fingering weight 3 ply yarn on my spindle.  it took me the first 16 or so days of tour just to do the spinning alone and it's going to take me a good 3 days just to do the plying!  here's a pic of me spinning out by the pool at my friends house 4th of July weekend

{ pool spinning time }

I should be finished with the plying by tomorrow so i'll get some pics up of what may be my 1 and only finished yarn of the tour this year.  after this one i doubt i'll be spinning this thin for a while, it's been a real test of my patience and endurance  ::whew::

in other news i've contributed to the Phat Fiber box 2 more months:  May and July.  i had to skip June because during May i was finishing up spring semester at Cal State Long Beach and just didn't have time to dye.

May's theme was "Superheroes" and i've been enamored of Gambit from the X-Men since i was a kid so i chose this pic as my inspiration:

{ the one and only Gambit <3 br="">

and here's a pic of the samples i sent in, hand carded roving buns ^.^ they're a mix of Corriedale, Superwash merino, Merino, Faux Cashmere, Milk fiber and Firestar.  

{ Gambit samples }

 since i missed the June box who's theme was "Villains" i decided to make my July samples a mix of that theme and the "Under the Sea" July theme and came up with one of my favorite Disney villains, Ursula

 { Bitch be fabulous }

I really like the way the fiber came out, so much so i might just save one of the full size braids to spin up myself!

 { Ursula samples and full size braids }

The theme for the month of August is "Entomology" and i have to admit i'm having a hard time coming up with inspiration for it.  not sure if i'll be contributing this month if i can't come up with something soon, so i guess we'll just see how that plays out.

In the mean time i have been working on a new item for my shop that i'm really excited about, my new "Sox Box" bag sets :D

{ the first Sox Box bag set }

I've had this idea floating around in my head for some time and just recently decided to get to work executing it.  The sets are made up of one of my original itty bitty boxxy bags for notions and a new cubic box bag that's perfect for knitting socks.  the little bag still snuggles perfectly in the bigger bag like my original Big n lil box bag sets, but this new design is a bit more compact so it can easily hang off your arm for sock knitting on the go.

{ a perfect fit for sock knitting projects }

I found this adorable owl fabric and bought a bunch of it so i made 3 of these Sox Box sets and have enough to make up 2 of my Big n lil sets i'll be sewing up this week.

but that's not all!!  I've also started dyeing a new "European Vacation" series inspired by beautiful pictures from different European countries, but i'll tell you all about that in my next blog post.  for now i bid you all adieu and wish you happy knitting/spinning/crocheting/crafting :)

~carla

Phinally a Phattie: my quarter-yearly catch up post

happy veterans day everyone :)

it seems as though i always think i'm somehow going to miraculously start having time to post here regularly but life always seems to have a different plan.  most recently i moved a month ago AND just finished up my midterms last week so needless to say things have been rather hectic in my life haha.  I'm finally returning to Cal State University Long Beach to finish up my bachelors degree after about 10 years of life getting in the way and it's really good to be back but definitely an adjustment to say the least.  i've been at community college for most of the past 10 years slowly chipping away at my general ed. requirements but now i get to take all the fun classes actually related to my major.  getting used to a full time class load again, and foolishly moving out mid semester, has kept me pretty busy but since i had a lovely 3 day weekend due to veterans day today i figured i should take some time out to update my blog ^-^

the most awesomest of news is that i'm finally a contributor to the Phat Fiber Sampler Box after years of being a devoted fan!  the month of October was my first time contributing and the theme was "Dia de los Muertos" which was a totally rad theme to get in on for my first month.  for those of you who aren't familiar with Phat Fiber, this wonderful woman named Jessie had the brilliant idea of gathering up a bunch of samples from indie artisans and consolidating them into a great sampler box that she sells every month.  there are stitches boxes full of yarn samples for the strictly knitly, fluff boxes full of fiber samples for all the spinsters, and mixed boxes with a combo of both for those of us who are bi-craftual.  and of course all the boxes have great little extras like knitting patters, stitch markers, buttons, sometimes yarn gauges and orafice hooks, heck sometimes you're even lucky enough to get a hand sewn project bag or a spindle!  it all depends on what the contributors happen to be sending in that month.  the whole idea is that you get to try little samples of yarns and fibers from many different indie artisans before you buy them, so you know what you'll be paying for.  the woman really is a genius and i love the way she's brought together the indie fiber artist community and given us a great way to get our products out there, as well as giving knitters and spinners everywhere a chance to try before they buy.  if you'd like more info on Phat Fiber check out their website www.phatfiber.com  there are links to the phat fiber blog, lots of info on how to buy the boxes and how to become a contributor as well as info about current contributors like me :)

 {fiber samples for October}

I did both fiber and handsewn samples for my first month because i was just so excited by the theme and wanted to contribute enough samples to earn myself a contributor box.  i'm really happy with how the fiber turned out, that pic i found for inspiration was just great and i wanted to do something different from the bright neon colors of sugar skulls that so many people were doing.

 {hand sewn samples for October}

my hand sewn samples were little teeny reversible stitch marker bags in this awesome Dia de los Muertos fabric i found which match with the Big n' lil box bag sets i sewed for my shop.  i'm excited that 3 of the 4 sets i made have already sold i just have one set left in the pink colorway.  

{full sized box bag sets}

And even with the stress of moving and midterms i actually did manage to get the minimum amount of samples sent in for the month of November as well, which has a "Harvest Festival" theme.  i suppose my samples are a bit more Octoberish seeing as how i went with this awesome pic of the Beltane Fire Society's Samhuinn Festival below:

 {inspiration pic for November}

But once again, trying not to run with the pack, i wanted to do something a bit different from what "Harvest Festival" brings to mind for most people, falling leaves, pumpkins, apple reds and the like.  Samhuinn (the holiday most people think of as being the precursor of our modern Halloween) is a harvest festival after all though so it was actually very much on theme with the November box.  i'm pretty happy with the way my samples turned out, this time i opted to dye up some top and hand card my samples with some amazing firey firestar.

{fiber samples for November}

i wish i'd been able to take a better pic of this sample, this one just doesn't do it justice, it's a nice blend of yellow and orange falkland i dyed, mixed with a jet black commercially dyed merino and that awesome firestar.  as soon as i get the full size carded up i'll take some much better pics.

i'm already working on my samples for the December box as well and i have an awesome inspiration pic for the "Nordic Culture" themed box, but i'll save that for my next post.  i'm going to try to motivate myself to blog more now that i have exciting Phat Fiber news to blog every month so i need to save some material for next time hehe.  I'll probably be blogging about that once i get my samples dyed up.

{sock blocker keychain}

And because i like to have a least a little knitting news in every post here's my latest FO, an adorable little sock blocker keychain.  i received the keychain, pattern and yarn from trishaknittin in the Silly About Swaps group on Ravelry for my birthday a few months ago and knit this cute little sock up right away, as well as another one in a variegated green.  i've seen these little sock blocker keychains for years but never had one of my own so i was so excited to receive this gift.  I actually had a totally awesome birthday this year thanks in part to all the wonderful and generous people in the Silly About Swaps group.  it's a pretty small swapping group that i can't remember how i stumbled upon but the people there are really friendly and welcoming.  even though i was a relatively new member people were very kind in gifting me lots of awesome patterns and sending me little birthday treasures for the Birthday Swap 

if you're a swap lover like me and you're tired of your normal swapping haunts you should come by silly about swaps and check out the fun :)

well now that i've caught you all up on my life and fiber arts exploits over the past few months i'm off to finish my homework and start working on the 2 term papers i have due in about a month.  happy knitting/crocheting/spinning/dyeing/carding/prepping to you all and with any luck i actually WILL start posting regularly to my blog now haha

~carla

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

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

day 4: new plans for the Etsy shop

Tour de Fleece day 12:

it's been tough spinning in this heat, it just makes me feel so lethargic. but i'm glad to announce that i FINALLY managed to finish spinning my "attempted" laceweight today :)

i say attempted because i can tell that some parts are closer to fingering weight. but at least a good majority of it is definitely true laceweight, not bad for a first attempt!

{all caked up and ready to ply}

i've been plying it sporadically throughout the day as i clean up the house a bit. had to dust off the ol' fan now that our first heatwave of the summer has hit us full force. there aren't a lot of things i miss about living in Las Vegas, but at least out there it was a criminal offense not to have air conditioning in apartments xD

but despite the opressive heat i'm actually starting to get some things done for my Etsy shop. today i took pictures of the first two handspun yarns i'll be offering in my shop and the first circular needle holder i finished!

{cotton candy blues - 163 yds, dk weight 2 ply, 100% Blue Face Leicester wool}

these two yarns were spun from roving i got in a swap on Ravelry. this first one is from Long Dog yarns and i loved the addition of a smokey, almost periwinklish navy blue to the traditional cotton candy colors pink/yellow/blue.

{the color purple - 107 yds, dk weight 2 ply yarn, 100% Merino wool}

and this one is Fleecemakers Fibers. this is one of the SOFTest Merino wools i've ever worked with. seriously, this yarn is like butter.

now, every time i've offered one of these circular needle holders in a swap they've been snatched up faster than you can say Malabrigo! so i got the bright idea to make a bunch to sell in my Etsy shop. this is the first one i've finished so far.

{golden flora - circular needle holder}

its my own modified design of a circular needle holder pattern i found in the original Stitch n Bitch book (look familiar Sarah? ^.^)

i also got the fabric for this in a swap, anyone else noticing a theme here? the ravelry swaps are like my own personal supply shop, lol :P

i'll probably be listing all 3 of these tomorrow, as well as working on a few more of the circular needle holders in a different fabric. oh yeah and my Etsy widget on my blog will be back up once i fill the shop out a bit more with the new merchandise. but for right now it's time to hit the hay, i'm just barely squeezing in with my blog post for today with 2 minutes until midnight.

peace & love everyeone ^^/

~Carla

sew...

yeah i know, not the most inventive title, but at least its relevant to my newfound love of sewing ^-^

the story goes:
my mom gave me a sewing machine for christmas last year in hopes that i would finally learn how to use one. until now i've been sewing everything by hand which translated into me not doing a whole lot of sewing. but my mom is pretty handy with a sewing machine, she used to sew all our halloween costumes by hand; and these were highly extravagant costumes. one year my brother was the Energizer Bunny, and she sewed a brother-sized bunny suit, without following a pattern mind you, out of this really really thick, furry pink fabric.

so a few weeks ago i finally asked her to show me the ins and outs of machine sewing and as my first project sewed this poorly constructed little practice purse:

my main reason for finally wanting to learn machine sewing was because i had this grand idea to make a handmade project bag and circular needle holder for my swap partner Sarah for our 10$ Swap on Ravelry. it was a perilous journey, complete with many stops, starts, ripped seams and re-sews. but in the end perseverence prevailed and i did manage to complete both patterns i found in the original Stitch n' Bitch book by Debbie Stoller.

the bag (yes that;s my hubby's arm holding it ^^):

the needle holder:

they both involved the use of iron on transfer paper for the patch on the bag and the numbers on the needle holder, which complicated things a bit more. when trying to sew the patch onto the bag the presser foot on my machine caught on the stickiness of the iron on patch and kinda ripped up a little peice of the design, and while trying to iron on the velcro for the needle holder i damn near transfered the numbers to my ironing board >.<

but all in all i'm glad i finally learned, and managed to make myself this cute little cover for my knitting journal below:

i'm not completely thrilled with the finished project, i'm thinking about ripping up the pocket and making one out of solid black fabric to have a little contrast and make it easier to see. also, it almost didn't fit on my journal so i may rip out the flap seams so i can add a bit more of an allowance. but all in all i'm still mighty proud of my accomplishments to date. considering i haven't sewed anything by machine since i was in Jr. High home ec, i think my projects so far are not too shabby.

and speaking of swapping, my swap package arrived last monday!!!!!

the theme of the swap was "all one color" and as you can see my favoritest color is GREEN!!!

i got a wonderful green (in more ways than one) tote, some cute froggy paper clips, honey-ginseng green tea, assorted green apple candies, green tea lotion, a green graph paper notebook that i'll probably need since i'm taking math this semester (yuck!) this really delicious looking home-made chip dip, and some beautiful stitchmarkers and hand-dyed yarn that Sarah dyed herself! color me spoiled xD

thanks again to Sarah from The Student Knitter for sending me such a lovely swap package. i've already used the stitch markers and marveled at their loveliness :)

oh yeah and on a last note, i am STILL working on my submission to Knitcircus Magazine, which was origianally due the 15th, but the deadline was pushed back to September 1st. since i had some extra time i decided to test knit the pattern and boy am i glad i did because i found a few really big problems with it that i've been able to correct. but it's got to be done before tuesday so be on the lookout for a new post with details on the finished pattern.

nighty-night knitters

~tehvache