One door closes and another opens...

Today is the last day of the 2009 Calendar Year and with that comes the tried and true New Years Resolutions. For me, I have set several fiber related goals that I would love to complete in 2009. Honestly, I would happy to have 1 of these completed by the closing of 2010.

For my birthday this past year my mother gave me two gorgeous alpaca fleeces. One is a fawn (light cinnamon brown) and the other is a combination of blacks, browns, and grey. They are gorgeous and they are all mine. They will not be used for my business in any way shape or form. I have been practicing with other fibers a lot lately spinning finer and finery 3-ply yarns. First it was an aran weight, then a worsted, and now I just finished a sport weight! I think that's thin enough for alpaca, right? My goal is to spin the fawn fleece into a sport weight 3-ply yarn and then knit a sweater from that yarn. And not a cropped sweater either. So far that's all I've been able to knit (see left) and it just won't due. I need a real sweater, a sweater that requires 1800 yards of yarn, and I've already begun to drum card the fiber for it.

I want to knit something lacy, like a shawl or table cloth. I never have, and I feel like it's a huge milestone for a knitter because it requires a lot of patience, attention to detail, and commitment to a time consuming project.

I want to knit a pair of socks. I want to knit a pair of socks purely because my mother in law suggested that I might want to consider a career change if I can't manage to knit a pair of socks. Well. I'll show her, won't I? LOL

I have a very short attention span, I hate long projects and tiny needles. I'm hoping that these 3 projects will change all of that.

Look at all the Pretty Handspun

Now that the holiday market is over here in Corvallis I was able to get back all my hand spun. Quite a bit sold, but look at all that's left to go in my etsy shop. I can't believe I spun so much in 1 year!

Who is this mysterious woman?

I found my dream pattern! The new issue of Knitty featured a pattern, Incognito, that may have made my fingerstashe tattoo unnecessary. Within a few days of being published I had knit myself a mustache cowl out of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino and I couldn't be happier! See?

Are you my fan yet?

I've created a Fan Page for my small business Bohoknitterchic Spins. Become a fan for yet another place to catch the latest news on my shop and Ravelry group!

Spin-a-long: Success!

The All Hallow's Eve Spin-a-long that I hosted through my was such a success! There were 22 yarns spun and each one was so different!

There was a random drawing for prizes, and also voting on the yarns for other prizes. The top 3 were so close that I decided to offer 3 prizes!

Here are the top 3 winners (and their ravelry ids):

atwhittzend:



phatfiberlady:



tracethekat:




And I have to show off mine too. I've since knit it into several i-cord scarves and a neckwarmer to sell at the Artisan's Market Boutique:


I also want to announce my next Spin A Long and Fiber Club! It's the Warm Up Winter Club and it's available in my etsy shop now!

SAL in Motion

I want to thank everyone who is participating in the All Hallows Eve Spin-a-long put on through my Etsy Shop. The batts and other goodies are all on their way to everyone and I just can't wait to see what everyone does with them! For those who are participating, or if you just want to follow along and see everyone's projects check out the thread in Ravelry here.

All the batts lined up on my picnic table:



My favorite colorway still on the drum carder:

I'm Shearlock's Choice!

Phat Fiber has a new little felted buddy, Shearlock the Sheep, who is traveling around to a new box recipient every month. But- he only travels to vendors so that he can learn all about their business and what makes them who they are.

Well this month- I got him! So be sure to check the Phat Fiber Ravelry Group and my shop for my adventures with Shearlock and for my No Sheep Wool Shop updates, because Shearlock is the only sheep in my house this month!

All Hallow's Eve Spin A Long

Since Halloween is my favorite holiday and October is my favorite month I decided to start celebrating early by opening signups for an All Hallow's Eve Spin A Long at my etsy shop. Buy the batts now and I will ship them all around September 22nd. Then we can spend the month of October spinning and celebrating the best month of the year!

Yarn Bombing

Every once and a while my "secret life" is just so cool that it has to spill over into my real life. About a year ago I gave permission for some of my photos to be used in an upcoming book Yarn Bombing about Knit Graffiti and they used some of them! It's so exciting! I got a copy in the mail a few days ago and have flipped through the pictures 3 times and have read up to page 100. It is fantastic!

This book is for anyone who loves the concept of Knit/Crochet Graffiti. It is part coffee table book, part historical and biographical, and part instruction manual.

There are basic instructions for people who haven't knit before, and patterns/instructions for those who have. Even if you don't have plans to decorate the great outdoors, there are some great garment patterns and you could always decorate your own home with the patterns intended for trees and poles (I'm contemplating some monster feet for my dining room table).

I highly recommend that anyone who loves fiber arts should check out this book!

My First Time Entering In the County Fair

I entered some yarn and knits in the Benton County Fair and I did surprisingly well!

Top Row:
Glass Beach Hat made of my very first handspun
Lemongrass Necklace
and the unappreciated Drop Everything But the Sparkle Scarf.

Bottom Row:
“Carnival” Flax
“Bark” natural merino
“White Wine” bamboo/silk
“Neon Rainbow” wensleydale wool
“True Romance 2” blended fibers art yarn
“Greed and Envy” a shredded money art yarn

Next year I think I'll try to enter yarn in each category :-)

Revamping Pattern Posts

Today I am hoping to revamp a bunch of the posts on my blog that include information about my patterns. I'm going to make sure that all the free patterns include the pattern, that all for sale patterns include a purchase link, and that all patterns include a Ravelry Projects link.

So check back at the end of today for thorough information about most of my patterns!

I just realized that a bunch of my free patterns aren't here on my blog! Over the next few weeks I will be sure to change that!

Check back for the free patterns:

Duke of Devonshire: Masculine Cowl
Bree: Retro Inspired Hat
Puzzled: Plush Puzzle Pieces
Cycles: Tampon Holders
Uprooted and Deflowered: Menstrual Cup Cozies
Reign in the Boys: Condom Holder
Circlet: Sunny Scarf

New Pattern: Wonky

Knitty published my pattern Wonky! It's a really fun and quick cowl that could be knit for kids, adults, men, women, or even dogs if you wanted to.


Here's a little info about the pattern, but you'll have to go to Knitty to see the rest:

Sometimes life is a little wonky, a little off kilter. Sometimes things happen at the most inconvenient of times, but this cowl makes it okay, and even fun to be out of balance.

It’s a traditional stitch with a twist. The pattern is shown in 3 different cool-toned yarns, demonstrating its versatility without them being wildly different. If you like living on the edge, make it even more discombobulated with a color that screams or a funky handspun art yarn.

SIZE
One

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Circumference: 19 inches
Height: 6.25 inches


MATERIALS
[Brown] Sirdar Click Chunky with Wool [70% acrylic, 30% wool; 82yd/75m per 50g skein]; color: #143 Duffler; 1 skein
[Pink/Purple] Crystal Palace Yarns Kaya [100% wool; 65yd/59m per 50g ball]; color: #0110 Potpourri; 2 skeins
[Blue] Sheep Shop Yarn Company Sheep 2 [100% wool; 90yd/82m per 100g skein]; color: #F111 Navy; 1 skein

Recommended needle size:
16-inch US #10/6mm circular needle
4 stitch markers – be sure that one is different from the others
Yarn needle

GAUGE
13 sts/18 rows = 4 inches in stockinette st

I feel like a broken record

I'm such a bad blogger, and it's all Ravelry's fault! And I rarely knit anymore- and that's all spinnings fault! So I guess until I can come up with something better to say, I will just have to leave you with some major fiber porn- pics of most of the yarns I've spun in the past few months. And even they aren't great pics, so maybe I should have waited to blog until I had something better to say...

Oh! And I broke down and signed up for twitter. Follow me (especially to hear about shop updates). I'm Bohoknitterchic there too.

New Pattern: Sweet Georgia

I have a new pattern in the Summer 2009 Popknits! It's called Sweet Georgia and is the perfect stretchy summer lace hat! You can wear it as a beenie, slouch, or snood.

Stone Soup Challenge

I just signed up for the Stone Soup Challenge and I encourage all of you to do the same!

The Stone Soup Challenge was developed for artists and crafters to commit to helping other artists and crafters by using a portion of their income to shop with other "starving artists". You choose what portion of your income you could commit to shopping with other artists, and then list your website so other artists can find you!

And to encourage you all to participate, those of you who mention Stone Soup when you shop at my Etsy Shop will receive 10% off your purchase (before shipping) that I will refund after purchase!

Also: list your shop url here in the comment section!

I had to edit to add, I went through the Stone Soup Shops list and here are all the fiber shops that are on the list thus far:

Feeling Sheepish
My8kidsmom Hand Dyed Yarns and Fiber
Desert Garden Farms
HandCraftedGifts
Serendipity
Infinity Yarn and Fiber
Extreme Spinning
Knit It Up

If we all contribute a little to the pot of Stone Soup, we will all feast.

My April Phat Fiber Box

I think that this was the best Phat Fiber Box EVER! But that may have had something to do with the theme. April's theme was "Green: Eco/The Color" and I was really glad to see that so many people went with the eco theme! I wish I had time to talk about all of the samples I received, but I do want to feature a few of them. If you have questions about any of the samples you see in the picture, just post a comment about it and I'll get you the info.




I got samples from two of my favorite ladies: a magnet from Banana Migraine and recycled fabric spun yarn from Dawning Dreams:


Look at this beautiful, soft, and fluffy angora from Desired Haven Farm:



I'm really excited to try this plantable paper from Winemakerssister. It's a sample that will last all season! And the shop has some of the cutest sheep stamps!



Plum Crazy Ranch donated fun samples of 3 different fibers, tussah silk, silk noil, and Optim. I'd never heard of Optim before so I looked it up: it's wool that has been treated to feel like silk- isn't that neat?



The next two samples were my absolute favorites and I spun them up immediately!

Milk fiber from Moonwood Farm:


And wool/ecospun (recycled soda bottles) from Wild Hare Fiber Studio:


They became this "Ahoy Matey!" 2-ply:

Year of Natural Fibers

I've got a few links for the devoted fiber artist to check out!

For me, fiber arts isn't just about knitting, spinning, fun colors and textures. It's about learning about the animals that create the fiber I love, and the traditions that helped the industry become what it is today.

2009 is the International Year of Natural Fibers.

One of my favorite magazine's is Wild Fibers. For me, it's like the National Geographic of Fiber Arts.

Keep the Fleece was put together to celebrate the International Year of Natural Fibers, to raise money in conjunction with the Heifer Organization, and they are holding a Natural Fiber Contest (submit your entry by September 1st 2009).

I am really hoping that I can tuck my spinning wheel and knitting needles away long enough to write about some of the sources of natural fibers this year, so check back though out 2009.

2 New Patterns

I have 2 patterns that have been published in the Spring/Summer 2009 Metapostmodernknitting issue! Check them out!

"Electrochok"- a fun, hip, sporty hood that's great for summer and winter wear!






"Slouchy Shortrow"- a hat with just enough slouch to make it fun, but not long enough to trip over! LOL

It's that time again...

The April Phat Fiber Box will be for sale soon. Would you like to see what I contributed? You can purchase most of the things I sent sample sizes of at my etsy shop.

And the Winner is...

Jessica11865! Congratulations!

I used Random.org to generate the winner.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Blog Giveaway!

In honor of my major shop update, and the introduction of lots of new products to my shop I thought I would do a giveaway of one of my supercoil fiber necklaces!

First: check out my Etsy Shop for all the new products

Second: Come back here and post a comment about something that you liked in my shop. Don't forget to post your name, or Ravelry name when you come back here and post a comment so I can find you if you win.

I will announce the winner on April 11th.

Now for the prize. The winner will win the necklace below. This necklace is what’s called supercoil art yarn. It is a spun yarn that has been spun around cotton crochet thread. It is very labor intensive but so worth it! The fiber content is pink/green/yellow/brown/black superwash wool so it is a little fuzzy, but mostly smooth. It weights 0.5 oz and is a small sized necklace, but it’s a long necklace.

New Home!

Things have been hectic lately. The first few weeks were were in transit from Grand Junction, CO to our new (permanent) home in Corvallis, OR. Things are so great and we're getting all settled in! I hope to get some blogs up in the next week, but I guess I'll start by giving you some eye candy from my latest etsy shop update:

My March Contributions to Phat Fiber

It's almost that time again! Here's a sneak peak of what I contributed to Phat Fiber for March:

Take Me To Paris- New Pattern in Spring '09 Popknits

I have a new pattern that has been published in the online magazine Popknits. Popknits focus's on vintage inspired knitting patterns. The pattern is free and you can see it Here!