BRB

I'm at my dad's right now, so not a lot of fiber stuff right now, I've done a couplea rows on my cardigan, but thats about it.

... KITTENS!
this one is sleeping on my lap right now :3

sorry about the bad quality picture, webcam photo.

soysilk

Did some experimenting with soysilk today, carefully painted on the colors and tried steam setting. So much of the color ran out! went from much bolder coloring to a pastel. Pretty, but not what I was aiming for!
This is what I was aiming for : (this lovely lilac-breasted roller was photographed by hvhe1 here)
And I managed a very nice approximation, but unfortunately the dye didn't set properly. I seem to have this problem with soysilk, it require abnormal amounts of vinegar to set colors! Now I have a pretty pastel top that doesn't have quite the same coloration as the bird. I'm debating touching up the blues; its lovely as a pastel, but I think bolder blues might make it really pop. This is it in the pot, resetting. I really do love how soysilk looks, its just such a pain to dye.

My recent spinning

I've been doing some spinning the last little while, trying to go back to making a thicker single. Working with two materials, East Friesian, a coarser downy type wool, which I'm plying and making into a foot rug, and merino - I don't know what I'm doing with those singles yet.

The first yarn I made for the rug was a bunch of colors, with a predominance of green and browns that was then plied back on itself
after a few more yarns were spun, this is the rug so far
a bit lopsided in this shot, but it tugs out to a more normal shape well, so blocking should help :)
The two green balls here are the next yarns to be plied and crochet into this rug - but I still haven't decided If I should overdye before or after plying. overdying will set the twist, so dying after plying should be better that way, but aesthetically I think I'd like a higher contrast between the plies.
The pink and blue is a merino roving that was originally supposed to be a bluebird colorway, but I just couldn't wait to pour the dye on. sigh. so instead of a bit of red, there is a lot of pink, however I'm quite happy with the spinning, 6oz of a lovely thick and thin using longdraw teqniques, testing out the spindle I sent to my8kidsmom, of course.Prior to this pink and blue, I also spun up some other merino in the same fashion, on a slightly heavier spindle, and I like the colors much more! and its oh so smooshy! <3
lastly, heres some of the merino/cashmere/nylon top (the same material I sent to my swap partners) I grabbed, It was an absolute dream. I also spun this on the spindle I sent to my swap partner. You know, see if it was half decent for a thiner yarn as well as a thicker one :3 Its less than an ounce, but I didn't want to stop spinning this lovely material. I'll have 2oz of this same colorway up in my store soon, along with a coordinating color soon.

I'm also currently crocheting a cardigan that is gorgeous, but I'm finding the pattern could use a lot of work unfortunately, so I have to keep redoing and altering parts. I should take a photo soon!

Store!

I've set up most of my artfire store now (here), and I've posted one 8oz top for sale, a bit of a tester really.

It's "Kingfisher" a bamboo/merino colorway
my next put-up will be the "Purple Martin" colorway in merino/tencil, also 8oz

I plan to have more fiber, yarn, and stitch markers for sale. Possibly also some toggles/pendants as well.

SWAPS

Finally, both my swap partners have received their packages, and I can post! :D

For the "in the dye pot" swap I sent:
a skein of 50/50 merino/silk "Anna's Hummingbird"

photos of this bird can be found here and here (these are female, or juvenile, as they lack the rose colored iridescent throat/head)

6oz of cashmere/wool/nylon "Blue Crowned Motmot" - here
Two sets of stitch markers, blue yarn and a cat set (this swap partner has a pet cat)


As we had talked some about wanting rabbits, I of course had to make one! This piece is pretty open ended use-wise, it could be a pendant or toggle, or something else :)
I also made another cat

Both of these ended up needing post-baking surgery! their weight smooshed their faces a little when baking, and made some very interesting expressions!



The other swap I participated in was a handmade polyclay spindle swap! This swap was a chain-style one, rather than a back and forth between two people. I'm waiting for my package (It has to come all the way from Singapore!)
I sent my swap partner:
Fiber to spin, also cashmere/wool/nylon, this time in a Goldfinch colorway
a gorgeous shot of a stationary goldfinch is here and the inspiration to do a goldfinch dye here

A spindle of course - it was just under 2oz, and oh, does it spin lovely! I didn't want to send it away - I spun up a little test sample to see how it span, and just didn't stop for a while! :3

Red yarn stitch markers (with golds and bronzes dusted on top)

And two toggles (or large pendants, etc) as blackface sheep, one silver on pearl and white fleece, and one gold on brown and gray wool

Inspiration

My crock pot has come back to life! Woo!

I think I'm going to try and capture this beautiful bird in a merino/tencel blend, there's so much shine to the purple martin! - This absolutely gorgeous photograph was captured by tinyfishy on flicker


I've also been wanting to do a bee-eater for a while, I think I might do this one as a yarn though.
And does anyone know what this gorgeous guy is? I love its coloring! - (I've now found out that this is a Lilac-breasted Roller! or somthing similar)

I've been spinning up some merino/cashmere/nylon, and oh, does it ever feel beautiful and soft.

EDIT: added Purple Martin photo and credit, and mystery bird name!

I'm just touching up the final color for my swap partner, and my crockpot dies on me. I hope its still warm enough in the pot to set the touch up properly :x
I can't post pictures yet - It'll have to wait until my swap partners receive their packages!

FIBER!

I just got my yarn and fiber order! :3 10lbs of the stuff! most of it is fiber, with a couple different types of yarn.