Shop Update 2 Oct12

It's been a busy week, as I was filling mostly custom orders.
But I'm excited to introduce a new base: Vampire!
It sparkles...

Party Elephant

Festival Night Sky

If I Was A Rich Girl

Shop Update 18th September

This week's shop update sees the return of our lovely Aussie merino top. It's such a squishy fibre. And it now comes in a larger put-up for your spinning enjoyment.
Prefer something with a bit more grip? Try the Corriedale!

There are also some lovely stripies and variegated yarns.

Shop Update 21st August 2012

 The shop is back!
There are some old favourites as well as some new things today. We've got some self-striping balls in several bases, a new-to-me Corriedale fibre and some brand-new colourways, both semi-solid and variegated.
And I've been playing with some luscious silk-merino blends for some stunning one-of-a-kind colourways.
What's your favourite today?

Swap-tacular

 Today, a squished-up but well-sealed box arrived. All the way from Colorado.

Oooooh! inside were some lovingly wrapped parcels.

 Six, to be exact, and cards to go with them.
It's my Loopy swap package!

 My wonderful swap partner chose travel & stories as her theme. For those who know me, you know this couldn't be a more perfect theme for me.
She started off with a handmade card featuring maps, explaining her choice of theme. I'm loving this already!

But let's get to package number one.

 Each parcel contains a little sheepy note, explaining why the pressie was included. Number one states that all journeys start with comfy feet. So I got Heel cream! The best foot-pampering cream in the world. This is so coming to the snow with me.

 Next up, some adorable stitch markers (a unicorn, a mushroom, a wizard and a rainbow) and tab markers in an awesome little case. These reminded my partner of stories and the sharing thereof. As a writer, I never have enough tab notes. And as a knitter, I never have enough adorable stitch markers.

 Next was a big, squishy parcel.
It's socks!
Not just any socks. Firefly-colored socks knit into the "Intrepid Traveller" pattern. Gorgeous and comfy. I'm wearing them as I type this.

 But wait, there's more! There is Colorado chocolate with a fridge magnet (I love travel magnets, don't you?) and Jolly Ranchers, which I'd heard of, but had never tried. Until now. They are so good!

 Of course, swap packages come with yarny goodness. The photo does not capture the fabulous glow of this gorgeous madelinetosh sock yarn.
How much do I love MadTosh? Oh yeah, it's lots. And lots. This is a wonderfully complex pink-and-purple. LOVE!

And finally, because Australia can be difficult to send tea to, my wonderful swapper sent me a tea mug to put my own tea into.
I've been coveting my colleague's awesome tea travel mug (exactly like this one!) every time she brought it to work.
This is beyond fabulous!

 So here is the fantabulous package in all its glory.
Am I spoilt or what?

Oh yeah. Lucky, lucky me.



Win!

Life is perfect.

Shop update 17/7

Today's shop update is wee but fun.
Some colors are making a come-back and a new color flies in: Blue Macaw!

According to my friend, whose glorious rescue bird is the inspiration behind this colorway, red parrots get all the glory.
So here's to blue, the second-most popular parrot out there.

Shop Update 10/7

Possum yarn!

Lavender Dreams

Today's shop update is live!
It's a small one, but I'm introducing a new base, made with 10% New Zealand possum!
it’s like angora’s tougher cousin. 
Once you wash and dry your finished item, it blooms and softens with a lovely halo.
I made mittens out of possum yarn and alpaca, and they are the softest, most hand-hugging thing ever!



Of course, there's also some lovely new self-striping colors (I especially love the lavender colorway) and a one of a kind blue variegated skein that I'm tempted to keep for myself because I love the interplay of colors so much.

Pink Parasol

Feeling Blue OOAK

Playing with colours

I love colours. I love yarn.
Combining the two is one of the great pleasures I'm discovering since I opened my sweet little Etsy shop. It's given me an opportunity to really assess what colours I like, how I like them, and how to translate this vision into something visible.

In a lot of ways, to me, dyeing is like writing. You start off with an idea, and you don't know if it's a good one. You start out. Sometimes, things go great. Often, you have to change tracks. Most of the time, you need to touch up and edit. And then eventually, you're done. Or done-ish, at least.
Then it's time to release your work into the wild and hope that others will love it as much as you do.

Which is why I love when you all tell me you love the yarn I dye for you, or share with me the projects you're thinking of making, or show me your wips.
It makes me feel like my little dreams in colour are growing up and gaining wings on your imagination. Like I'm part of your vision.
And that's a very special feeling.

Grand Opening!

Grand opening of my Etsy shop today!

Come check out the goodies at http://www.etsy.com/shop/yarnvszombies.

I've got self-striping sock yarn, variegated BFL, some luscious cashmere-blend sock yarn and even a rustic DK base going up.

Peachy Keen - MCN

It was a dark and stormy night - BFL

Stormy Beaches - BFL

End Credits

You're in my spot!

Big on Stripes!

Things have been happening around here. Yarny things.
But more on that later in the week.
What's on the needles this week?
Vivian is still not done (mainly because when I have time to knit, I don't have the brain power), but I'm about half-way up the hood. The end is in sight.
Still lots of yarn left over though! Hm.

But I needed something easier to knit, so I cast on some vanilla stripey socks. Because stripes have been on my mind lately.
The yarn is Austerman Step, and it's a nice yarn, except for the flecks of dye that have sprinkled into neighbouring stripes. Not the look I was going for.

Knitting while Japan

 Happy leap Day, everyone!
I've finally gotten my act together after travelling to Japan.
I had grandiose ideas of how much knitting time I would have.
You know. A one-hour flight, one hour layover, then a mammoth 10-hour overnight flight, followed by two 1 1/2 hour train rides just to get to Nagano... I was feeling ambitious.
I packed my lovely fuzzy yarns I intended to use for my Deep In The Forest mittens, and a set of bamboo circular needles, just in case flying with knitting needles was on the no-no list again.
Turns out I can't count to 70 though, so I got to do the cast-on again.
And that was pretty much all I got done, since I managed to sleep for a surprisingly large amount of the flight, and once on the train, i was too busy taking photos of everything.

in the end, I got one mitten done. in fact, i closed the thumb while everyone around me was hustling for our waiting taxi.
I had to run, but hey, I can't just stop in the middle of kitchenering!

That wasn't the only project I had with me though. I didn't know how tiring/complicated doing a colorwork mitten would be (turns out, quite), so I had an easier project, too. A mainly-garter shawl called Clockwork, by Stephen West.
great pattern, but onca again, I failed at directions, and a bus trip's worth of progress was ripped back because I forgot to do increases when I should have.

I took some little birdies with me to take action shots in the snow. I also had ideas of taking more pics of my knitting and me knitting in the snow. Didn't quite happen. I only have this one shot.
there sure was a lot of snow...

Of course, once we got to Tokyo, I was on a mission to buy yarn. not just any yarn. i wanted Noro, and I wanted it in the colorway 95 that I'd seen in a knitting book a while ago and was in love with.
After I finally got the chance to duck into Yuzawaya, I found my Noro, and two little Melody skeins.
Success!

What have I learned form this first big trip with knitting?
It's good to pack enough knitting, but don't be too ambitious.
Chart reading and following directions may be harder than it looks.
Always take a garter or plain stockinette project for long bus/train rides where you still want to see what's going on.
Have a yarn plan to make sure you get some crafty shopping done while travelling with non-crafty people.

And finally, Japan = awesome. But we knew that already.

Points of Feeling Clever

Knitting on double-pointed needles makes me feel smart. It's a bit like juggling with toothpicks, but it's worth it.
Usually, when knitting in the round, I knit on one circular needle and magic loop* it.
When knitting hexipuffs, I use two shorter circulars because it goes a little bit quicker for me, and the cable of the needles I use (inherited from my maternal grandma, with love) are a bit stiff.

But for very small circular projects, like, say, the fingers of gloves, i find DPNs to be the best option.
I have a set of 5 bamboo DPNs in size 0 (2.00 mm) and they are slightly bent to my hands, making the knitting fly round and round and round.
Love.

*Fun fact, I was magic looping before I'd ever heard the term, and I felt incredibly clever for coming up with it. Then I started to read about knitting online and saw that I had just un-vented a thing that existed in book form. Go figure.

No Penguins at the North Pole

 I love amigurumi.
Correction: I love the idea oif being able to make cute little amigurumis and take them on photo expeditions.

I kind of sort of know how to crochet. I know which end goes into the yarn, and I can usually guess where in the yarn the hook should probably go.
I can follow instructions to a point.

I can not, however, count stitches in my crochet. it's beyond me.
Which on something where knowing where in the round you are is desairable, yeah, not so much.

But not knowing something hasn't stopped me before, right?
So when this round's Nerd Wars had us challenge ourselves by trying a new technique, I knew crochet amigurumi would be it for me.
Armed with my bamboo hook (the one with the deepest head groove) and some baby blue acrylic, I set to work on the promisingly named Ow'ly's Beginner Amigurumi by Abigail Bailey.
The instructions are clear and straight-forward. And best of all, her blog comes with step-by-step video instructions!

So it's certianly not the pattern's fault or the designer's fault that my poor little penguin came out loose-stitched and lopsided, an affront to penguins and stuffiers everywhere.

Alas, he was not long for this world.
A shame, since he actually turned out to be quite photogenic in the end. When posed in the right circumstances, at least...

No-Hayfever Watercress Mystery Socks

My first ever mystery sock.
What's a mystery sock?

It's a sock pattern broken up into clues. In this case, four clues over four weeks.

You get the pleasure of watching the pattern unfold without quite knowing where you are going.

It was certainly fun, and I love the finished socks. Except for the cuff. it's very ruffly and floppy, so I'm not sure it's my thing.

I absolutely adore the color though. Happy green spring socks!