Twisted Fiber

2008-08-22T16:28:00.002-05:00

September 6-7, we'll be at the Endless Mountains Fiber Festival. Come by and check us out if you're going!

We'll be in spot #62!

2008-07-29T13:30:00.002-05:00

The Knitting Scout badges come for all sorts of things. This one happens to be for stabbing myself in the foot with an aluminum US3 DPN; had the resulting gash been much larger, I would have gotten the level II for having stitches.

I can't believe I forgot about the alpaca that I was spinning during the tour while my fleeces were being prepped! As soon as I process the 52 lbs of yarn that was delivered to me this morning, I'll be posting pictures of all my tour work.

Tour de Fleece - finish line!

2008-07-27T22:31:00.002-05:00

So today was the end of the Tour de Fleece. I managed to get 3 fleeces skirted, one whole one of those got washed... the Corriedale-Border Leicester cross (it's the grey one.) 1/2 of that one was beaten with a stick (not really, I use my dryer) and then half of that got carded. I'm half done with spinning the 5 batts that I carded up, at least in single form. I have about 4 oz spun up so far.

The singles are fingering weight (mostly!) The current plan is to make a 3 ply just-under-worsted (what I think of as worsted) that I can use to make myself a cabled sweater of some sort. The alternate plan is to make a two ply and make a thinner cabled sweater of some sort.

Tour de Fleece

2008-07-16T14:00:00.002-05:00

This past week, I've managed to get through sorting three fleeces.

This one is a really dirty grey merino with brown tips. The only reason I wound up with it is that it was super cheap.

This one is from a sheep named Brian, who was (I think) a corrie x. x what, I'm not sure, but it's *really* greasy. It's mostly a darker grey, also with brown tips.

how much of that brown is sun and how much is dirt... I can't wait to find out. part of me hopes it's dirt.

Here's a close-up of the second fleece, just for the color variation.... which I love.

This one is one of the few white fleeces I have. For some reason I'm drawn to grey fleeces, (I like grey, I'm just surprised i have as many grey fleeces as I do.) This one took first place, I'm not sure if it was first place in white fleeces or overall. Either way it was well skirted, unlike the other two.. that was somewhat gross. Thank goodness for rubber gloves. I don't remember what this one was either, but I also have it written down.

Next up, washing the fleeces. This takes care of one of the 3 or four shelves of fleece I have.

Near miss wit total disaster.

2008-07-07T13:53:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a good Fourth.

Early last week, my laptop started acting weird. The taskbar changed color, then Excel wouldn't open properly. Then about 2 hours later, it had 4 or 5 blue screens of death and would no longer turn on.

After 3 hours of tech support, my hard drive was pronounced fried. [insert ~~mild~~ frantic panic attack] Some weird black box thing and a new hard drive later, and about 4 days of work... and I'm almost back to normal. Though it wasn't my work, I only know enough to really screw up the computer really well, not fix it. I really need to be better about backing things up, I nearly lost all of my pictures from the last 2 years (yeah, I really need to back up more often) and all of my business info.

Now to finish installing all of my software so I can get back to dyeing.

Tour de Fleece

2008-07-01T12:42:00.003-05:00

The Tour stars this Friday. My goal is to thin the stash a bit... there is some major herding issues in there, and hopefully I can reduce the amount of raw fleece to manageable proportions, rather than the .... 50+ lbs that I think I have. (It's so bad, I don't even want to know. )

I realize my goal is rather generic. There will be a plan later. I think.

Baby ... Surprise!

2008-06-25T21:06:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine is due this coming September, and when I asked her what she'd like knitted, she told me a bunting. Hopefully, this fits the bill, because i just couldn't pass up this fantastic mod to the Baby Surprise Jacket. It's the Baby Surprise Snowsuit (ravelry link.)

It's knit up in the organic merino I recently got, which now, I must get more of. It will take all my will power to *not* roll in it when it gets here.

Cotton Plants

2008-06-24T16:54:00.003-05:00

"There grew there [India] a wonderful tree which bore tiny lambs on the endes of its branches. These branches were so pliable that they bent down to allow the lambs to feed when they are hungrie."
- John Mandeville, in 1350

More stitch markers!

2008-06-19T21:54:00.002-05:00

I knit a lot of lace. Here's a close up of one of the new glass stitch markers in action. This is a cobweb weight "raw" silk in a tweed-ish grey, knit on size 2s.

Eventually it will be a large shawl with a garter stitch center... eventually. I started this shawl about a year ago, and garter being one of the most boring things (especially on size 2!) I couldn't keep going on it, but it made for great sick knitting. Now I'm about 15 rows into the border (which gets 8 stitches larger every other row) out of what seems like 8000. It might only be 42. Then there's the edging. I predict I'll be done before the end of 2020. :)

Coming soon!

2008-06-19T14:48:00.001-05:00

Teeny tiny rainbow colored stitch markers. So far: pink, yellow, green, blue, pink-purple, cloudy purple, dark purple, light purple, black, grey, and clear.

2008-05-04T15:43:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that three years ago, I was over at the county courthouse registering Twisted Fiber. It's been a crazy few years, but we keep growing, thanks to everyone's support.

After a longer than expected recovery, I'm finally back to dyeing. First up is a superwash fingering weight (on the thin side) seen here knit up on size 0s and 2s. (24 sts wide here) A lovely squishy yarn, quite nice to knit up. But then I'm usually a sucker for superwash merino.

Coming soon: more superwash merino, some organic merino worsted weight, and bamboo.

Thrifting

2008-05-01T15:22:00.002-05:00

I rarely pick anything up at the local thrift store. They're only open Thursdays, and they're so tiny, that they keep what appears to be about 1/4 of their stock on the front steps. However, I checked them out this afternoon, and managed to pick up a loom (my 4th) for a whopping $2.

It is a Loomette King (if you couldn't tell from the picture!) and is placemat sized. It is similar in style to the 4" Weave-it that I have.

It came with a 14" needle and some patterns/instructions and some vintage non-shiny rayon yarn in yellow and green ... probably won't be using those.

Sheep!

2008-04-30T22:21:00.004-05:00

I enjoyed making it, I used 4" DPNs (size 0000, tiny!) which worked. 6" might have been a little easier in the first row or two, but I don't think it would've been significantly easier.

2008-04-18T15:19:00.002-05:00

Now that the scarf I wove is off to its recipient, here's a picture of it when I started taking it off the loom. (or it started taking itself off, either way. at least i was finished at that point. :)

2008-04-10T21:50:00.003-05:00

well, that's it, i've gone and lost my mind.

i just made myself an adjustable rectangle loom.

it goes up to 7'x3' (ish, i haven't measured the final dimensions, just the wood.)

first thing up is going to be about 1'x6', just to see how it goes.

2008-03-28T00:28:00.002-05:00

Lots and lots of new stuff.

Recovery from surgery having taken longer than expected (it's been 12 weeks today, and I'm still feeling it...) I'm really quite far behind. Hopefully, there will be a flood of new yarns up in the next few days, since I received a shipment of somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 lbs of yarn a few weeks ago. The mohair blends are all up, coming up next are the ribbon/tape yarns.

FSOT...

2008-02-25T10:19:00.003-05:00

Clover bamboo needles, all brand new in packages...

Circs:
16": 9, 10, 11 ($6.50)
29": 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10.5 ($6.30)
11 ($8.00)

DPNs:
7": 3, 3 ($6.50)
7, 7, 8 ($6.70)
9, 10, 10.5 ($7.05)

(not including shipping)

Special Orders....

2008-01-31T20:09:00.001-05:00

A lot of new fiber coming. For now, items that can be special ordered through Twisted Fiber:

Any of the patterns or kits from Strickwear

Fibers and tools including: (a full list of yarns and fibers coming)

Ashford Wooden Upright Swift
Ashford Handcards
Superwash Merino Top
Corriedale carded Sliver
Superwash BFL Top

Knitting needles by HiyaHiya:

Bamboo circs in US sizes 0-15, in lengths 9"-60" (not all sizes are available in all lengths)
Bamboo DPNs in US sizes 0-15, in 5", 6", or 8"lengths
Stainless Steel circs in US sizes 000000-15, in lengths 11"-60" (not all sizes are available in all lengths)
Stainless Steel DPNs in US sizes 000000-8, in 4", 6", or 8" lengths.

Just send an email to info@twistedfiberyarn.com with what you're looking for!

the good, the good, and the not so good.

2008-01-17T00:48:00.001-05:00

New Superwash Merino top, including:

The needles are all listed for now, any sizes we don't have on hand can be special ordered.

Unfortunately, our source for Superwash Merino top has been forced to raise their prices due to increased shipping costs. All existing stock will be on sale for the old price until mid-February.

Long time no post....

2008-01-10T02:55:00.000-05:00

The holidays were totally insane. Not that that's aby-normal, but not to this degree.

On top of the traditional 2 days of Christmas (both my family and the in-laws) that involves a total of 9 hours of driving without traffic... throw in hiring new contractors, firing/suing/filing reports on old contractor, not actually getting any Christmas shopping done until 3 days beforehand, and having surgery January 4th, it's been super duper crazy.

Hopefully everyone had a fantastic new year.

New knitting needles will be added shortly!

2007-11-28T23:11:00.000-05:00

Just submitted my wholesale application for knitting needles. I wish they had crochet hooks too, but one step at a time...

Sweater etc.

2007-11-24T00:59:00.000-05:00

I really dislike knitting with oiled yarns. I do however, like the result. Unfortunately, because I'm not fond of knitting with the oiled yarn, I tend to only work on the sweater that I'm knitting with it once in a while.

Tonight though, I just finished the first sleeve.

Obviously, that was taken before the sleeve cap was done.
It's off for its bath, then we'll see how it fits (the downside of making up the pattern) and start on the second. Only one sleeve and the hood left, perhaps it will be finished before the end of the year.... then I'll be able to get working on the next one...

Hopefully everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, and Black Friday was as fruitful (or quiet) as you wished it to be.
We made lots of pie,

spent the day with family, and watched some Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, much to the amusement of the in-laws.

New stuff, and custom orders....

2007-11-10T00:38:00.000-05:00

Custom orders can now be made for any Strickwear Kits or patterns.

A whole bunch of superwash merino fiber was just added to the shop.
Two of my favorites:

I love grey. And black as well, but I really like grey. I have 3 (or four if you count the fair isle) knitting projects going on that are various shades of grey. Two sweaters and a shawl, plus a fair isle sweater vest with grey being the predominant background color.

I have always liked red, but this came out so fantastically red. It's neither orange-y or pink, just a brilliant scarlet.

Coming soon:
Alpaca top, Corriedale top, and more BFL Aran.

decisions....

2007-11-06T00:29:00.000-05:00

I'm working on a shawl. The pattern gives three options for the edging, and I'm considering option one or two...

1: Knit entire thing in the round. This means that alternate rows are purled. This is the main reason I'm not really wanting to do this, as my purling speed is SLOW.

2: Knit the 4 sides flat and seam one corner. I'm not really excited about a seam in a corner, but can't decide if its preferable to having to purl every.other.row.

Rhinebeck

2007-10-29T13:32:00.000-05:00

Rhinebeck was fantastic. I have been in the area before, as my family has lived an hour from there for the last ... 97 years. Wow, that doesn't look right, but it is. I can't believe in all the times I've been up that way (average of 3 times a year for over 25 years...) that I'd never heard of the NY Sheep and Wool festival. Crazy, right? I mean, I've been knitting for 22 years now. Granted, I wasn't a Knitter until perhaps 4-5 years ago but even so. It would have been fun to go before this year.

I enjoyed it immensely. The vendors, of course, were great. Lots to see, lots of stuff to pet and ogle, lots of animals, and LOTS of food vendors. At least there was a great deal of variety. Of course, you could go the "everything fried" route, and have fried artichokes, pickles, and garlic for lunch (like my friends did) or you could have the hamburger or hotdog at 10 am (like my family did) along with the wine tastings, cheese tastings (there really was garlic goat cheese, I SWEAR!) and fudge tastings. I went with the Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee and Blackout Brownie for lunch and afternoon snack... probably not the best of ideas either.

In the middle of that, my child decided it was a brilliant idea to stand on the picnic table bench, and fall off and whack his head on the concrete (i wonder where that came from, perhaps it is now a family tradition?) getting a pretty big lump on his head in the process. At least he didn't need stitches (like me) and it was on the back of his head (unlike me) so it wasn't really visible at all. Apparantly, all injuries have to be recorded, and the first aid golf cart brought the worst icepacks i've ever seen; it only stayed cold for about 5 minutes. But as 3 year olds generally go, he was fine after he had some brownie.

Lots of sheep, alpaca, and bunnies later, I managed to finally pick up some wool (yarn) for a sweater for one or other of my family members. I also picked up some nylon to make sock yarn, and managed to totally forget to get some of the super short bamboo needles (that I'm sure I'll never find again) and I also missed picking up a felted indian corn kit. The mousies in my basement ate the real stuff, I figure why tempt them again!