Finished yarn and more markers

I put together a couple more sets of stitch markers last night. I'm thinking that maybe I am going to have to invest in a small soldering torch eventually so that I can join these jump rings and make them seamless. I was researching some jewelry making techniques and learning about it. Here's pics of what I made:

****************************

I plied together my 2 bobbins of the "kites" yarn that I spun up. It didn't come out exactly as I had envisioned but it's pretty for a beginner's yarn I think. Here's a picture of it after I washed, dried, and wound it into a skein:



And here is a picture of the same colorway that was spun as a thicker single on my drop spindle after washing etc:



And a comparison shot of the 2:



I kinda have a preference for the singles, I like how even they are. I guess if my 2-ply was more uniform I might lean toward it. I really want to get better at making a really nice barber-pole like plied yarn.

Here's a close up of the first 2-ply I did after getting my wheel, now that it has been washed, dried and wound up:

****************************

I got a few more rows knit on my "experimental sweater" this week, but not a lot. There just hasn't been time what with all the stitch marker making and the spinning. So many hobbies, so little time!!

Last night's stuff

Well last night I put together a couple more stitch marker sets. Here's a pic of the first one:



The second set I made with a lobster clasp at the top instead of a jump ring. I figure they could be used for knitting and crochet. I have not tried it out yet but it seems like it would work.



I was toying with the idea of putting some of these up for sale on Etsy. I think that $4 or $5 would be a good price for set of 4. Maybe less than $1.50 for shipping as these are really small and light. But I looked on Etsy and there are already hundreds of them for sale. I don't know if I will do it or not. It costs $0.20 each item to list it for 4 months I think. Anyhow, it's just a random idea.

For spinning, I worked on that "kites" roving last night. I got 2 bobbins worth of singles.



Today I am going to try and ply the 2 bobbins together and see how that works. The spinning went a lot easier last night. They aren't perfectly uniform by any means, but they are pretty decent and they are my own handiwork :)

Spinning wheel!

My new wheel was delivered yesterday afternoon! It is a beautiful Kromski Symphony in unfinished wood. It took me a couple of hours to unpack it, watch the assembly DVD, and put it together. Here's what it looked like before:



And after assembly:



It came with a tensioned "lazy kate", 2 extra bobbins, a niddy noddy, and 2 pounds of wool. I was really happy with the bonus items!



Of course Merlin had to examine it.



For my first try, I decided to use some natural grey/brown corriedale wool that I got last year when I bought my spindle. It's an inexpensive fiber and it is supposed to be one of the easier types to start with. I spun a little bit of it onto 2 different bobbins, fairly thin.



Then I put those 2 bobbins on the lazy kate and plied them together. This bobbin was the result:



Then I wound the yarn around the niddy noddy. Each full loop around the niddy noddy equals 2 yards of yarn.



Then I twisted the yarn up to show what it would look like in a little skein.



I ended up with a 36 yard sample. Not bad for a first try I suppose.

I also started working on spinning some of my "kites" colorway BFL roving, but I couldn't get it to come out quite the same as the 40-some yards that I had already spun on my spindle. So instead of trying to match it up, I decided to start spinning it thinner so that I can try to ply it and see what that looks like. Spinning it was not going nearly as smoothly as spinning the corriedale. I don't know if it was because I was really tired by that point or if it was all due to the difference in the fiber and the fiber preparation or what. But practice makes perfect. The more I work with it the better I will get. I have a few pounds of wool left to work with.

Eventually I plan to put a finish on the wood. I haven't decided yet if I am going to leave it natural looking and just put a clear coat on it, or if I will stain it a different color.

Today I used a couple coupons I had for Michaels' Craft store and got some more beads for making stitch markers with. I'm pretty excited about that. I think I am going to improvise some stitch markers that I could use for crochet. JoAnn is having a 40% off bead and jewelery supples sale this week and I have a couple 50% off coupons for there so I will probably check that out this week too.

Stitch markers!

Yesterday I took the kids shopping with me at the craft stores. I went looking to find size 8 seed beads to decorate a shawl I plan to knit, but I didn't find what I needed. But I did get some inspiration from hanging out in the bead aisles and decided that I wanted to try my hand at making some stitch markers.

I bought some inexpensive bead variety packs, some jump rings in 7mm and 10mm sizes, some pin things and a beading tool that is similar to needle nose pliers with some extras on it.

Last night I sat at my desk for a couple hours having a great time putting these things together. I ended up making 20 markers, which I had divided up into 5 sets of 4 by coordinating colors/styles. The 7mm will fit on knitting needles up to size 7 and the 10mm ones will fit needles up to size 10.75. Each of the markers is roughly an inch long. Here are some pics:











And a size comparison:



The stitch markers in use on a new sweater I am making:



I still have tons of supplies left over so I will definitely make more. I think next time I am at the store I will check out what other size jump rings are available. I'm really proud of the ones I made so far, I think they are really pretty and the project was really fun! =)

Josephine set - completed and worn

I finished the triangle hip scarf on Wednesday. It took me 2 evenings to attach all the fringe and then I steam blocked it to stretch it out and hold its shape. The scarf pattern was just a series of chain loops, I didn't make the actual "Josephine Scarf" pattern because the last time I made it it ended up being really too big for me. I just wanted something simple to match the halter and the gloves.

I wore it to the monthly hafla I always attend, and I got a lot of compliments on it and ladies asking me how I made it etc. I directed them to where they could find the pattern on the internet.

Here are a few pictures I took of the outfit when I got home from dancing last night:






I did have some problem with the gauntlets slipping down my arms a lot over the course of the evening. I think I will need to use like a drawstring tie at the top opening or something to fix that. But overall I think the outfit looked good :)

Matching gauntlets completed

I finished up my purple sparkly Josephine Gauntlets this afternoon. They are really nifty. I had to make them a little smaller around the top so that they would fit more snugly, and I used a smaller hook overall to make them smaller to fit my thin arms. I am not sure how much they will slide down while dancing, I will have to test that out. But right now they are comfortable and not too tight.

Yay for FO's!

Well this week I actually have a few finished objects to talk about. It's been a little while since I updated, so here is what I've been up to:

I made this awesome Hello Kitty angel as a going-away present for my friend Rebecca who just left for Florida. I used baby yarn for this one and a smaller hook. She came out really good I think.

So I have now created a trio of Hello Kitties :)

********************************

After I finished that, I decided to work on this pair of socks that I started like 2 years ago and then buried in the bottom of my knitting bin. It's a really simple sock with some inexpensive acrylic/wook yarn. Nothing terribly exciting about them, but they were the first pair of socks I ever tried knitting. They just happen to not be the first pair I ever completed... Feels good to finish up an old project that has been in limbo for a long time.

********************************

Tonight, I finished up my purple sparkly Josephine Halter. I made this one smaller than the black one that I made last year. I also sewed in some bra cups that I got from JoAnn fabric to give it a smooth shape. It looks really pretty, but this sparkly yarn doesn't photograph well. I have yet to get a picture that really represents the color of this yarn faithfully, but these should give you an idea. The true color is a darker shade of purple.


My goal is to make a set of long gloves to match this. And depending on how much yarn is left over, maybe a triangle scarf to go with it.

********************************

I also started spinning my "Kites" colorway of BFL fiber from Spunky Eclectic on my spindle.



And I received a new roving that I ordered. It's called "Gypsy" from Enchanted Knoll Farm. If I end up buying the spinning wheel I want, this will give me something else to play with :)