what a trying few months it has been since i last posted here. i've been battling a back injury for the past few years now, but i ended up getting seriously hurt at the end of May this year and have been completely sidelined, unable to work and on disability. at least this time i have a darn good excuse for not keeping up on my blog lol. i don't know if any of you out there have ever had to deal with a slipped disc, but i tell you it's been the most painful experience of my life. my particular slipped disc was putting severe pressure on my sciatic nerve and for a few months i was in so much pain i literally could not sit for any period at all, and couldn't sleep but a few hours at a time without waking up in extreme pain and having to hobble around for hours before it subsided enough for me to get back to sleep. i'm really not the kind of person to seek pain medication, but the pain was so bad it was just unbearable and i ended up in the ER 5 times over the course of just a few weeks before my mom offered to pay for me to see a real doctor who prescribed me something for the long term pain i faced.
however, i'm doing much better now although still not 100%, but i'm waiting on a county sponsored insurance before i can see if i'm going to need surgery. at the very least i'm not in constant excruciating pain anymore and can sit for reasonable periods of time to keep up with my blog again.
{"Gangrene" socks}
during this period of disability i've come to realize i just don't knit as much as i used to. and since this did start out as a knitting/crochet blog i figured i'd share my latest knitting FO, my Gangrene Socks. it's really the "Peacock Rib Socks" pattern by Jocelyn Blair, but of course i almost exclusively knit with my own handspun these days so i named my socks after the yarn i spun for them which i had already named Gangrene.
{Peacock Rib}
below you can see one skein of my handspun gangrene yarn. spun from a nice blend of 75/25 Merino/Nylon from Heavenly Fibers on Etsy. Leilani has got some wonderful fiber in her shop and i snagged this lovely stuff at the beginning of this year specifically to spin for socks. this is my 3rd pair of handspun socks and i'm really proud of how both the yarn and the socks turned out .
{Gangrene handspun}
i'm also really excited that i'm finally well enough to do more dyeing. i've really gotten into dyeing and fiber prep this year but sadly was injured shortly after my first few dyeing experiments so i haven't been able to add much to the shop recently. yesterday i had a wonderful day dyeing and added 4 new braids to my shop in various fibers. below is some Shetland, my first time dyeing this fiber and i have to say i love the way it takes color.
{Shetland variegated gradient in greens and blues}
{Shetland variegated gradient in reds browns and purples}
i did have my first dyeing mishap though on the braid below (of course it had to be the Merino/Silk right?) you can't see in this particular picture but a few drops of the purple made their way into the green sections so i'm practically giving that one away. i couldn't in good conscience charge full price for a braid with such a big "oopsy"
{80/20 Merino/Tussah Silk in a green to purple spoted gradient}
it's funny, i always have an idea of what i want the dyed fiber to look like in the end, and usually i get there but sometimes i'm a little surprised by the finished product. that was the case with this fiber here which i've dubbed "Giraffe Gradient." i had no idea when i was finished dyeing it that it would look so much like a giraffe hehe. i think it's probably my favorite dye job of the day.
since it's a holiday weekend i've got a sale going on at petite vache designs on Etsy right now, just use coupon code LABOR10 to get 10% off your entire order, less shipping, now through Midnight on Tuesday the 4th. and now that i'm finally able to sit again i'm also planning to sew up some more of my boxbag sets because those things went like hotcakes! if you liked them and missed out be on the lookout for more coming soon.
i hope everyone's having a great holiday weekend, happy knitting, crocheting, spinning, dyeing and fiber prepping to all!
~carla
