A beautiful day after Black Friday

How nice is to have a couple of days off ! I have invested my time in good food, great company and beautiful spinning. There has been minimum shopping. I tried my luck at the Eat.Knit.Sleep Black Friday random sale. Got a 15% discount on my order. Learned that I am not the luckiest person in the world.

Today I finished the first two ounces of a beautiful BFL roving from Unwind Yarn Company. The soft tones have me dreaming; the colors are so delicate...so calming!

--Enabling: There is 15% off coupon from Unwind Yarn Company in this Ravelry thread. Coupon is good until December 1st--

Remember my three-ply test? Well, I plied the singles and ended up with approximately 550 yards of heavy fingering weight. Yay for very round handspun!

I also finished knitting a top, a cardigan and a shawl. I am just procrastinating on the blocking part. I blame the winter temperatures...who wants to play with water when it is so cold? I am waiting for an Elf to come and wash these..

What have you done since we last "talked"?

Weekend plans

I am ready to ply my first ever three-ply yarn. The fiber was a souvenir from a recent road trip. Bought it from Northwoods Farm in Inman, South Carolina. 

As a self taught spinner, I rely heavily on the "webs" for instruction/demos. These are fabulous plying resources:

• Laura Lineman's three-ply video tutorial

• Abby Franquemont's two-ply tutorial
• Jillian Moreno's Craftsy class "Ply to Knit: Spin the Yarn You Really Want" 

Sometimes I wish nothing more than to take my knitting/spinning endeavors to a secluded area--where I can enjoy my music, breathe fresh air, and indulge in some kind of bbq lunch.

With the temperatures averaging the 30-40's, looks like I will have to ply the yarn inside my home--with the dirty laundry starring at me.

(Edited to correct farm name)

Graceful and Beautiful

I am super excited to spread the word about a noble fundraiser. The talented Maria Yarley, from Elegant Economy, will donate 100% of the post-pay pal/printing proceeds of "Graceful Pullover" pattern to a family in need. You can read about Maria's inspiration and the cause in the pattern page (here).

Photos credits (left to right): Graceful Pullover from pattern page (copyright Misi Photo); Copper Corgi "Pirouette" fingering yarn (from Copper Corgi Etsy Shop); Graceful Pullover from pattern page (copyright Misi Photo)

The pattern comes in girls sizes ranging from 2-10. The pullover is constructed flat, button up. I adore the yarn on the sample; it is fingering weight from Copper Corgi in "Pirouette" - a color way specifically designed for this pattern.

Please consider supporting this cause. Perhaps is the perfect opportunity to try out Copper Corgi's  yarns. Her yarns and fiber are pretty darn beautiful!

Hope you are having a great week!

Shiny new handspun!

I am so happy to finally have the time (and energy) to show this blog some love!

While on blogland hiatus, I indulged in "free spirit" spinning. The kind of spinning that involves letting the wool be as happy as it wanted to be. No plans, no heartbreaks.

On the basket, from left to right: Unwind Yarn Company BFL in Sanibel, Knitty & Color Merino (no color name) and Julie Spins Wensleydale in Starry Nights.

I really, really enjoyed spinning the long staples of Wensleydale. And, the color work from Julie Spins is beyond amazing. It bled quite a lot but the many washes are all worthy. That skein is one of my all time handspun favorites. Can't wait to get my hands in another top or possible skein from Julie Spins...