The Yarn Side

Restless - Or what Brianna does at 2 in the morning

I'm sitting here, a quarter to two in the morning, still wearing my dyeing apron. I'm keeping an ear out for the washer to slow its whirl, letting me know the fiber is done having excess water being spun out. Mostly, I'm in the middle of a moment where I'm content. Day 2 of my 5 day vacation from the real world has ended, and so far I've taken the dog to the vet, picked her up post-surgery, watched her come down from the sedatives, ran some tests on a new fiber (more on that in a bit) and a new yarn, and am preparing for a day trip to the local-ish yarn store, She Sells Yarn.

Several pounds of fiber arrived today, as well as a possible replacement for Glorificus, the previously released MCN base. Sometimes I think "Glorificus" is such a ridiculous name, but then I'm reminded of its connection to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I can't help but chuckle. Still, it's entirely possible that, after some testing, I'll be replacing the current Glorificus with a new Glorificus. I'm half-tempted to call it "Ben" instead. (And this is the part where all those in-the-know either moan from humiliation at my attempt at humor or chuckle along.) In truth, I am 65% certain that I am changing bases, as this new one has a bit of a tighter twist and feels...more. I don't know how else to put it.

While I love MCN bases, I can't help but feel that my Lorelai's beat them, hands down in the "I would totally have sex with that yarn, were it a person" contest. Not that there's really a contest like that. Not that I would ever have any knowledge of that. Back to my point--the Lorelai's are amazing, and I'm proud to be introducing a proper fingering weight version soon. This means I will be offering a Lace, Sock, and Sport version of the Baby Alpaca, Silk, and Cashmere blend. It will be like Heh-vahhhn (to be said in the voice of Shawn from USA's Psych series) in here when everything arrives. Bless me, for there may be a lot of sinning up in these parts.

Ahh, 2-AM humor, you never fail me.

This new fiber that arrived today is just more luxury. I proclaimed to my girlfriend that I would very much like to lay all of this fiber across the bed and just roll. It's an 80% Superfine, Superwash Merino (we're talking a 19 micron count fiiiiine) and 20% Cashmere blend. This is just too much for me to handle lately, but I am definitely ordering more of this so that my body can explode from sensory overload in the future. Just you wait, as soon as I list some bundles of this fiber, and you get a taste of it, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

Cutting this shorter than I imagined, as I no longer hear the washer. Time to hang some fiber to dry...

Yarnography - January Installment Launched and Received!

I can barely believe it myself, and if I hadn't packaged, taped, labeled and shipped everything myself, I wouldn't believe that the January installment had been unleashed to the masses. Did you read that? UNLEASHED. They're out there, and if USPS Tracking is to be trusted, all but one has been received. Since that one is international, it'll likely be another week before it's in the hands of its owner.

Truthfully, I want everyone to take photos of their SQUEE faces with everything around them. Ha! I will settle for shared experiences at the Ravelry forum. So much excitement in me!

This all just means that I'm super stoked about getting the March box underway. I've already lined up some delightful items, and once registration closes (March 1st), I'll be notifying the extras suppliers how many I need. I want to tease and taunt everyone, but all I'll say is that one of the items is being provided by someone well known in the podcast world. Guesses are welcome, but my lips are sealed from this moment on.

If you want to sign up for the March installment, but aren't sure you'll be able to register before the spots fill up, click the "contact" link and we can discuss reserving a spot for you. :)

Yarnography - March installment is open for registration!

Registration is open for the March installment of Yarnography! If you need a reminder about what Yarnography is all about, please read more or click the Yarnography image to the right.

Month: March
Title: Gush
Photo Credit: Caryn Drexl

March features the photograph "Gush", by Caryn Drexl. This is one of my favorites from the group of images that will be inspiring me in Yarnography, and I can't wait to get started! March is already a fantastic month, and this will make it all the better! :)

Make sure you sign up soon as registration closes March 1st!

To register for Yarnography, please click below...

 registration is closed for March's box -- thanks!

Hand-painting Roving - Steaming, Drying, Braiding

When last I left, we had a coiled bit of dyed roving, waiting for a good steam. You can choose to steam in several ways:

• steamer basket inside of a pot, inch of water, burner on medium, lid on pot, steam for 30-40 minutes, making sure to add a bit more water if it gets low, but never so much that it touches the fiber.
• handy steamer bags in your grocery mark aisle, made for one-time use vegetables.
• placed inside microwave-safe dish, then microwaved on high for 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off, 2 minutes off.

There are plenty more ways to steam, I'm sure, but 2 of the above are quite popular, and the other will catch on with all the other reduce-reuse-recycle crazies out there, myself included. (note: I tend to not mind a little more blending in my roving, so I will often use the ziploc steamer bags repeatedly for yarn and roving, letting any loose dye migrate a bit, but this is a personal choice. If you prefer more control then you can take additional steps to do so.)

With your steaming method of choice, pop that sucker into steam mode and then take a look around you. What do you see first? I bet it's these guys...

Hand-Painting Roving - Ready, Set, Paint...

We left off with the fiber all prepped and our supplies all gathered. We're readying ourselves for part two, where the real fun begins! And, no, I'm not being sarcastic. I really enjoy this next part. It may make me do a dance, not unlike the one that Tom Cruise does at the end of Tropic Thunder. Now that I've given away a trade secret of my own, let's get into what's next...

Check your supplies--are you forgetting something? Since I forgot to mention it in the previous post, you probably are. Saran wrap, or plastic cling wrap. Have you heard of the "facepalm"? Well, you'll want to acquire some cling wrap and lay it out on your work surface. Me, I like to lay out a 13 gallon trash bag that I've split down the side and bottom. This has a bit of static that makes it stick to the work surface, and helps the cling wrap to stay in place when I'm trying to roll it out. Overlap 2 sheets of cling wrap by 2 inches. Now we can begin. No, really. Nothing else has been forgotten...I think.