Go, Team, GO!

Didja hear the news? I'm captaining a team for the Ravelympics & I want YOU! Team COLORBOMBers: there are prizes (!), a discount in my Etsy shop, a personalized Ravatar, & even a custom BOMBits colorway in our Official But Optional Team colors, (orange & pink) available only to Team members! There are 8 of us on the team so far, but the festivities don't start for another 2 weeks, and we'd love to have ya - join us today!

I also put up this NEW skein of handspun art yarn in the shop, 'Spruced Up', one of my Tufty™ style yarns with tufts of fiber wrapped like little presents of love and sprinkled throughout.

It's a whopping 132 yards of snow-on-evergreen goodness, in undyed BFL wool with silky green hand-dyed mohair locks from my friend Janet Heppler's Nebo-Rock Textiles in Covelo, CA, plied in with a coordinating cotton thread. Weighing in at almost a quarter-pound, I daresay there should be plenty enough for a hat or other small project, even a pair of matching kids hats!

This last pic I'm throwing in 'cuz it makes me giggle: this is my Day 26 Year in Pictures entry from yesterday, entitled 'Busy Week at the Bomb Squad.' Seems bomb threat #2 of the week wasn't any more threatening than the first one (which turned out to be a bicycle light, not a bomb). Maybe this chin-stroking Humboldt's finest is contemplating what this one will eventually prove to be?

Tags: Ravelympics, COLORBOMB, handspun, yarn, Arcata

Get COLORBOMBed on Ravelry!

I finally, finally started a COLORBOMB Creations group on Ravelry: COLORBOMBers! 'Bout time, don't you think? And at just under 24 hours after opening, there are already 45 members - holla!

This is the banner for our group, and I'm pleased that so many people like it. How do I know? I put it up on flickr, along with option #2, & asked people to weigh in on their preferred choice. I expected #2 to be the favorite, but it was #1, hands down. Just goes to show the power of market research! Happily, my instincts were on the money: I prefer this one myself.

And, after a bit of tweaking, I like the badge that goes with it. I'm going to make it into a blog button for members so if you are a member, just ask & I'll send you one! Not a member of COLORBOMBers yet? Sign up here! There's also a group on flickr of the same name: COLORBOMBers.

What are we going to do in our little corner of Ravelry? I've a few ideas -- Help for Haiti donations, Ravelympics -- but I am really hoping that it will be user-driven; what would YOU like to find there? Let me know via Ravmail, Twitter, Email (see my profile), or here in the comments.

Dark here, this storm-whipped night in Humboldt, working hard at my desk to make the group the best it can be. I'll leave you there, with my Day 20 YIP photo. Come, join the fun!

Tags: colorbomb, ravelry

My Stash Will Make You HOT!

I got nominated for a Ravelry Bobby Award again this year: 'Most Colorful Stash'! The competition is STIFF (heh, I said "stiff" ). I think I found my people in the other 9 nominees. I just want to crawl into their yarn and roll around nekkid in it!

The 2009 Bobbys people asked for a picture and a description of my stash for the voting process. I spent some time this morning taking screenshots of my stash and Photoshopping them into the collage here, then discovered that they'd already done that! Great minds think alike, I guess.

But this is how it looks in my craft room (read: giant storage nightmare hole, aka The Bitch Cave). Floor to ceiling tubs o' YARN!!!

I used to organize by color, but found that didn't work that well for me. I switched awhile back to a fiber content organizational system: silk with silk, mohair with mohair, etc. It works much better.

As for describing my colorful stash I have one motto: "Color Can't Hurt You!" - same as my business motto for COLORBOMB Creations, my handspun art yarns & hand-dyed fibers shop on Etsy. I live in Humboldt County, California, where it is gray and rainy much of the year, & color is my antidote to the dark, colorless skies around me and the bland, earth tone clothing favored by my neighbors.

I had a friend in college say she could always find me anywhere on campus just by scanning the crowd for the person wearing the most colors together! And that was before I discovered knitting and the plethora of indie dyers out there! I can't tell you how many times since then I've had people compliment me on a hand-knit I'm wearing, declaring how much they love the lovely bright colors, only to say that they could never wear that color themself. I always take that as an opportunity to encourage people to be less afraid of color.

When shopping for yarn, I generally seek out the brightest colors I can find. The ones I refer to as "retina-burn" -- acid green, international orange, neon pink -- those are my absolute favorites! I came home from Sock Summit with a whole list of new and new-to-me dyers and colorways to add to my wish list. Can't wait 'til I win the lottery so I can amass even more color! I also spend a lot of time stalking the trade/sell pages on Ravelry. So, if you have any truly LOUD yarn you want to unload: think of me first, I’ll take it off your hands!

Tags: yarn, ravelry

This Girl is Biz-AY!

Started out the day with some marketing research for my artyarn biz. I've purchased a few tips 'n hints-style guides from other Etsy sellers this week, and set about learning a bit from them today. Although I bought 2, only one was worth recommending: can't say enough good things about Norm, aka The Crafty Coach, and his Prosper on Etsy Guide. His shop is HERE, and his blog HERE - get on over there and check 'em out, they're both chock-block with useful tidbits for the entrepreneurial crafter. The guide, only 9 smacks (that's the same as ONE sixer of decent beer, my friends), has already helped me: I'm utilizing the tags fields better now. Oh, yeah - and he's a really nice guy, too!

Speaking of Etsy, my day was Etsy-full. Caught up on feedback; tried out the new 'Kiss and Make Up' feature for a listing I received neutral feedback on; weighed in on the Fiber Friday thread in the Forums; listed 'Autumn Leaves', a new Singleton™ style COLORBOMB art yarn (you're lookin' at it there, in the photo to your right). There are more pics here and here, and the listing is here, if you're in a shopping mood. It is 101 yards of wool/mohair goodness, plenty to make a last-minute xmas gift for someone.

Spent some time on Ravelry today, too. Added a new yarn to my stash, a COLORBOMB yarn I just can't part with: 'Irradiated Spiders', which is an Enwraptured™ style yarn, wrapped in over 1400 yards of thread around merino-x wool. It is tactile-y delicious! I think it will look fab paired with 'Chocolat Vert', the Bobblesque™ yarn I made earlier this year in similar colors. More pics on Flickr.

In other, non-yarn news, I joined Twitter this week, and I am thoroughly enjoying the world of micro-blogging. Any Velma's World readers on Twitter? Lemme know so I can follow you. I'm velmalikevelvet there, too.

That's all for today. Gonna work on some holiday gift knitting tonight.

Tags: Etsy, COLORBOMB Creations, Fiber Friday, Ravelry, marketing, handspun, artyarn, yarn

Black Sheep, Part 2: Shwag, Bingo, & Peeps

Couldn't cover everything yesterday, there was so much to see/do/buy at Black Sheep Gathering, so it's spilling over today into Part 2. I didn't make the financial killing I was expecting, so I didn't spend much (I think I got away with only parting with $55 of my hard-earned cash for everything), but I got a big return. It helped that my friend/driver/pee-breaker Elena/Knitopotamus trotted back to the booth the first day with this gift of a 2oz. bag of merino/mohair fluff from Rainbow Farms Northwest in one of my fave colors, international orange. Next year, I want to get some Pygora from them, which I hear is to die for.

This green/brown batt is from Superior Fibers, a mill that specializes in Shetland wool, which is much softer than I'd expected. They had some of these huge mill end batts in crazy Velma colors on Friday, but I forgot to go back to their booth with cash 'til Saturday, and they were all gone. But I think it's time for me to do some forays into more 'normal' colors, so I got this one, which is much prettier than it looks in my crappy photo.

I traded a skein of my LoopyDoopy yarn for this spectacularly soft Cormo-X batt (and $12!) from the lovely Linda & Lois at The Bellwether. I am recently in lust with Cormo, and just couldn't pass this up. I hardly ever spin undyed fiber, but I am a sucker for chocolate brown. Just want to eat it up! And I can't speak highly enough of the women behind the company (and their fiber groupie, Madeline); they were my neighbors outside the vendor building in the scorching heat, and they were just a blast, making my first time as a vendor just the most pleasant experience one could hope for.

I shared a booth with Veronica of Ronnie's Handspun, who sold the most scrumptious merino/Rambouillet/Targhee blend (look for 'Soft Wool Blend' on their website). I bought 2lbs. of it undyed, and 12oz. (all they had) of it dyed a screaming acid yellow-green (shown), another fave color.

I think I will spin all that I bought at BSG for myself, the little hoarder that I am. I think I have enough of each
(except maybe the orange) to do something substantial. Not sure what yet, though.

I also found a booth (sorry, can't remember which one!) that was trying to get rid of some cones of weaving cotton, marked at 25cents each on Friday. When I remembered to go buy 'em on Saturday, they'd been marked down to 15cents each, and I got all of these in the photo for the princely sum of $1.75, which is what I had left in my pocked after buying the Shetland batt. Score!

As for other BSG activities, local Ravelers Jodie/violinjodie and Bonnie/TheBon organized a game of Black Sheep Bingo, a la Rhinebeck Bingo, and it was a blast. Prizes were solicited (I donated a $25 BOMBucks gift certificate - congrats to Eliza/Fiberliza who won it, and who turned out to be the Official BSG Fiber Wrangler), and I won this lovely skein of handspun from Janet/jkplanet! Brenda/mythkeeper, came over to me and gave me a big hug from our friend Eva/atomHEART in Santa Cruz, which was really cool. I got to meet Mary/catmccall in the flesh, the woman I did the mondo seeds-for-fiber swap with several months ago; sad to say, many of the heirloom seeds I sent her from my mother didn't germinate, so I need to send her something else. Amelia/AskTheBellwether was not only there as a vendor, but she bought one of my BOMBits art yarn ingredient spinning kits! Can't wait to see what she makes with it; check the COLORBOMBers group on Flickr for her results. I met Wendy/Tortuga, who I really liked, but with whom I only seemed to bitch with about a person with whom we'd both had a bad encounter; I want to hang out with her again and talk about fun stuff sometime, so maybe a trip to Yreka is in my future. The crew from A Verb for Keeping Warm and Tactile Fiber Arts were really fun & friendly; hi to Kristine/KristineV, Adrienne/AdayKnits, Brooke/MissyB, Maia/Maia and Marcel the Bunny. Oh, and a shout-out to Adam/Knitguy - I had a blast chatting, hope I didn't talk your ear off; I'll email you about Twisted. I even met some folks from my own neck of the woods: Erika and her daughter Cecilia from Fortuna. Small world. I know I met a metric TON of interesting people that I haven't mentioned; if you didn't make the list it's just because I was so discombobbled and sleep-deprived that I've temporarily spaced your name. Never fear, I will remember you in time! Thanks to E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. who took the time to come say 'hi', fondle my wares, have me sign their bingo card, or otherwise interacted with me.

Tomorrow: BSG Part 3: Merchandising, and 'Why I Love Vending'...

Tags: Black Sheep Gathering, BSG, fiber, Ravelry, fiber, handspinning, handspun, bingo

It's Fiber Friday Again!

It's Friday, so it must be about the fiber! Since today is Day 3 of the Big Knit for The Big O (no new spinning since like Tuesday), I'm sharing the mosaic of yarns past that I created for the Yum Yum Yarn Collages thread in Novelty & Art Yarn Spinners group on Ravelry. (Don't forget: those links will only work if you are a registered Ravelry member.) Here's the links to the individual photos in the mosaic, if you want more info on one:

1. COLORBOMB 'Gender Wars', 2. COLORBOMB 'Right Off My Head', 3. COLORBOMB 'Happy Feet', 4. COLORBOMB 'Always Room 4 Jello' on bobbin, 5. COLORBOMB 'Eco-Groovy' detail, 6. COLORBOMB 'End of October', 7. COLORBOMB 'Gimme Grapes', 8. COLORBOMB 'Wrong Number' detail, 9. COLORBOMB 'Chocolat Vert', 10. COLORBOMB 'Fly Swatter', 11. COLORBOMB Handspun Artyarn, 12. COLORBOMB 'Spring Carnival' detail, 13. COLORBOMB 'Easter Bunny on Acid' Lockalicious™ handspun yarn
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

I also want to share the yummy Cotswold locks from The Speckled Ram that I got last week, in LOUD Velma-esque colors. The proprietress of TSR, Pepper, gave me exceptional customer service, and I can recommend her without qualification (although I temporarily cleaned her out of Cotswold with my purchase). Turned some of the locks into the 'Easter Bunny on Acid' Lockalickious™ yarn above. Love me some locks!

Finally, here's a peek at The Big O, after finishing half of the lining last night. Now, off to line the other side! Have a great weekend, all, and check back to (hopefully) see the completed bag by Tuesday.

Tags: COLORBOMB Creations, Ravelry, handspun, yarn, yarn pr0n, Fiber Friday

Who ARE You People?

Seriously, I don't know how you blogging freaks DO it! I go to your blogs, and I read your posts, and you're all like "Today I baked bread from scratch after I finished up the chemo hat I knit for charity and photographed the new yarn I spun last night and then I was on Ravelry helping a newbie figure out how to save link in posts, and by then the kids were asleep so I had the house to myself so I decided that I'd finish up that pesky UFO and start on Christmas gifts even though it's only March, and ..." Sheesh! How the frick do y'all manage to accomplish that much! Man, I feel like such a loser.

Not really. I actually totally rock. But sometimes, when I feel surrounded by superwomen (is that redundant?), sometimes I just want to say, "HEY, be a little less awesome today, will ya? I can't keep up!".

Can you tell I'm kicking myself 'cuz I haven't been so diligent in the blogging department? Not that I haven't had plenty to say, mind you (anyone that knows me IRL can tell you that I'm rarely at a loss for words, and lots of 'em). On the contrary, there's been all kinds of blog-worthy stuff going on 'round these parts.

Didn't have my camera with me at the time, but I saw a great blue heron fishing for her lunch in the marsh by the gym on the way to the post office the other day. Usually it's just full of red-winged blackbirds in the cattails and toads in the muck, all trying to get a piece of tail (it IS spring, after all). But that day I got to see the heron stalking it's prey, right there, downtown (if you can call it that), with the cars driving not 3 yards away. Lovely sight.

And I've been getting all kinds of love lately, courtesy of some outstandingly generous Ravelers and the USPS. There's a group on Ravelry called Random Acts of Kindness, where you can post a wishlist for things you would like, and/or peruse the lists posted by others to gift to. Gumbie of Strings and Things sent me a copy of The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook, lillysmum of Confessions from Tara sent me a big bag full of lovely silk fabric scraps, and jsandell sent me a ball of purple variegated mohair (ooh, that reminds me, must photograph mohair for stash). Thanks to all you lovely RAKers out there! And I've got a couple of packages to put together for peeps who are asking for things I can help out with...

So, we just experienced a leap year, did you feel it? Wouldn't it be weird if you were born on leap day? I wonder if those people celebrate the day before or the day after... I had a good Feb. 29 myself, selling several skeins of COLORBOMB Creations handspun that day. Sold both skeins of Lucky Charms that day, as well as Cousteau and Spring Thaw. Big day.

Missed Fiber Friday (or maybe it was a couple of Fiber Fridays). New COLORBOMB yarns are:

Madras Madness, Aegean Paean, Healthy Holly, In Vino Veritas, and 4 new Feltanschung™ (fulled) yarns: Stonewashed, Sunshine State, Wine Mold, and Mums the Word. Here are thumbnails of each; click on one and it will take you to more info, and all links are to Etsy:






Healthy Holly is special: I donated it to the fundraiser called "Circlin' the Wagons" for my friend HollyEQQ, who is having health problems and needs travel/lodging funds to have surgery this month. There is a benefit going on at Homestead Wool & Gift Farm to raise money for her, with handspun yarn, fiber art, and roving available for sale, with all proceeds going to Holly for her medical expenses. Healthy Holly is being sold auction-style through tomorrow, so you still have time to bid on it in support of a good cause.

Tags: COLORBOMB Creations, Ravelry, handspun, shop update

COLORBOMB Stats & New Yarn

Plugged the states I've sold to into this great little Google Hack, and here's what I got:



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.


Map showing the states I've sold yarn to (well, actually it shows states with customers I've sold to; I haven't actually sold yarn directly to any states yet, heheh). With a BA in geography, I find this entertaining. ;) To date: 13 states, 25% of the US. So, if your state isn't on here, go buy some yarn and represent! (International map coming soon.)

Oh, and I listed a new yarn on Etsy: COLORBOMB Creations (S)craptastic™ in colorway 'Clown Pants', in honor of Bubbo on Ravelry. (It's crooked, like her.) ;)


Yarn Style: (S)craptastic™ handspun
Colorway: 'Clown Pants'
40yds./36m., 4.6oz./130g., 4WPI

Domestic wool singles FULL of yarn and thread scraps! Full of texture, playful, colorful, and LOUD.

Tags: COLORBOMB Creations, Etsy, Ravelry, handspun, shop update, map

Snow Flurries in Arcata

A week or so ago, I spun up a new yarn for the January SAL theme, 'Snowed-in Colors', in the Spinners Central group on Ravelry. Even thought we *never* get snow here in Arcata (ok, in the 19 years I've lived here, I think it's snowed 4 times, but you know what I'm sayin'.), even though it *never* snows here, I spun one up and called it 'Snow Flurries'. And THEN, yesterday, it freakin' SNOWED! In ARCATA! How cool is that?

Yep, snow. That's my (dead) car there, covered in snow. SNOW! Cool. Cole even scooped up enough to make this snowperson. It is sitting in a sea of hail, after overnighting on the barbecue out on the back deck. Sadly, it's head just toppled over. But it was fun while it lasted.

Now, I'm not sayin' that I *made* it snow, no. BUT. It's a mighty big co-ink-ee-dink, donthcha think?

Anyway, we're just trying to stay warm here. Go buy 'Snow Flurries' so we can afford to buy more firewood! (It is one of the yarns from my Friday shop update; there's also a couple more for your shopping pleasure, at COLORBOMB Creations.)

Tags: COLORBOMB Creations, Etsy, Ravelry, shop update, snow, Arcata

BIG WEEK: Handspun, FiberFriday, Disc Golf, & Sun Spun!!

What a beautiful week we've had on the north coast! Sunny, clear, and WARM, around 60F. Whee! I took advantage of it (gotta grab those days w/o rain where you can up here), and spun in the sun! Inspired by the sunny weather, I finally tackled this skein I've been planning for my online friend ☆Ayako☆ in Japan, who I met through Ravelry. She makes the MOST amazing things, including beautiful art yarns on her spindle. She spun me a special skein, custy Velma yarn. You can read about it HERE. This photo is the skein I made for her!

Yarn Style: BOMBastic™ handspun
Colorway: 'Ayako Love'
17yds./15m., 2.6oz./75g., 3WPI

Uncarded Lincoln/Romney wool locks in deep rose, acid green, and turquoise blue (her faves!) + vintage lace scraps, sequins, tulle fabric, feathers, and pompom strands! Super-Bulky.

It's also Fiber Friday, so I've posted a *bunch* of new handspun yarns to both my Etsy shop and my Flickr '08 handspun set. Some are for sale, some I'm hoarding for myself!! Here are some details on them for you. (The first 3 are up for sale on COLORBOMB Creations; the rest are either spoken for or in my stash.)

Yarn Style: WoolyBear™ handspun
Colorway: 'Lipstick Stain'
44yds./40m., 3.1oz./87g., 5WPI

Nothing but wool here! 100% Cormo wool, dreamy Cormo wool, in uncarded fuzzy-felty singles in HOT PINK! Super-Bulky weight.

Yarn Style: Curlicuey™ handspun
Colorway: 'Caribbean Dream'
62yds./56m., 3.7oz./105g., 5WPI

Lofty 100% merino wool singles plied in beehives with a poly thread. in the aqua, lavender, gold, and copper of a tropical cruise. Super-Bulky weight.

Yarn Style: Barberpole™ handspun
Colorway: 'Lovers Leap'
66yds./60m., 4.7oz./139g., 6WPI

100% wool singles singles spun spiral-fashion with *5* different threads carried along to create the barberpole effect. Hot pink wool + butter yellow, mint green, pale pink, & 2 metallic fuschia threads. Sparkly! Super-Bulky weight.

Yarn Style: Curlicuey™ handspun
Colorway: 'Cranberry Detox'
44yds./40m., 2.5oz./70g., 5WPI

100% Romney wool singles, overplied w/ poly thread. Super-Bulky weight. Gifted.

Yarn Style: TnT Plus!™ handspun
Colorway: 'Love Lies Bleeding'
38yds./34m., 2.9oz./82g., 8WPI

Super-soft alpaca in black combined with silky red kid mohair locks. Can't let this one go! Aran weight. Stashed.

Yarn Style: Lockalicious™ handspun
Colorway: 'Love Lies Bleeding (Trim)'
5yds./4.5m., 0.9oz./25g., 5WPI

Silky-soft kid mohair locks in bright red! Coordinates with TnT Plus!™ in 'Love Lies Bleeding'. Stashed.

Yarn Style: Floofle-y™ handspun
Colorway: 'Cotton Candy'
25yds./22m., 3.8oz./107g., 3WPI

First in the new Floofle-y™ style, this is the fluffliest yarn you'll find. Clouds of corespun pink superwsh wool with loads of red sparkle spun in. Über- Bulky weight. Stashed.


Hey, remember the Bobblesque™ yarns I blogged about a few days ago? One of them, 'Pretty Bird', was selected for a hand-picked gallery that appeared on the frontpage at Etsy.com! I was so thrilled (thanks, dishkitty, for letting me know about it!), and I got a whole BUNCH of 'Hearts Me' as a result. It's still for sale, if you are a blue & yellow fan (any Cal Bears fans out there?)

Finally, if you are a fan of disc golf (aka frisbee golf or frolf), you MUST view this video. It is THE funniest bit of digital discing I've ever seen. No golfers were hurt in the filming of this movie.

Have a great weekend! (PS - check in Saturday or Sunday for deets on my FINISHED, 2+ years in progress, Central Park Hoodie!!!!!)

I've Been Nominated for a Bobby!

You may remember my WIP, the 'Band of Mystery Hat'. Well, I finished it yesterday, and just under the deadline wire, too. I like how it turned out, but even more fun is that someone on Ravelry nominated my project for a 2007 'Bobby Award'! If you're a Raveler, and you haven't checked out that group yet, head over to The Bobbys 2007, and check out the Most Unusual Project thread to see some *really* cool projects. Voting doesn't start 'til Jan. 14, but I've already chosen MY favorite project.

Once again, sorry to readers who aren't yet signed up for Ravelry, but you here are the details about the hat.

Pattern: improvised freeform crochet hat
Yarn: various handspun art yarns by Insubordiknit
Needles & Hooks: multiple sizes, G to M
Started: December 14, 2007
Completed: January 11, 2008

If you don't remember my previous post, let me fill in the details. Jacey, the genius behind Insubordiknit.com (you know, the woman who makes the Vitreous Humor eyeball yarn!), put out a "call to knitters" for a project she's working on. The deal was, she'd provide the yarn, I'd provide the labor, and the project was to create a garment out of her art yarn to be worn by a member of an as-yet undisclosed band in their upcoming video. At the conclusion of Jacey's project, she'll send the items back to their creators to keep. So I get to play with some very cool yarn, get some name exposure (I hope), and end up with a faboo hat out of it! Win-win. This hat is what came out of that.

Like the arms that emerge like they're struggling to get out? Me too. ;)

Tags: FOs, Ravelry, handspun, crochet, freeform, hat

Cormo Love

My first new fiber experiment out of the Big Pile O' Fiber (see yesterday's post) was to try the Cormo wool. After following jsandell around Ravelry, hearing her extoll the virtues of Cormo, and drooling over her beautiful Cormo batts, I decided that was a good place to start. So I pulled out the bag that contained red dyed, unpicked locks and sat down at the wheel.

Not red as much as it is a lovely salmon pink, as it turns out, the wool still has a bit of lanolin in it, so I spun it "in the grease" to yield a water-resistant yarn. The small amount of VM came out pretty easily, too, as I teased it open a lot as I spun, because it was fairly well-felted. What a dream though! It is soooo soft, with a cotton-y hand, and spongy (I think that is due to the high crimp, which I tried to show in this photo; it can be seen best in the large version).

After reading this thread on Ravelry, I'm wondering if maybe my prep-method and style of spinning for this yarn didn't really take advantage of the wonderful properties of Cormo. I think I might card the rest of it before spinning. But I still like the yarn that came out of it. The Cormo yielded the lovely WoolyBear style yarn shown here on the bobbin. (Sorry the color seems to be off slightly; its not such a deep pink.)

Wanna try it yourself? Here's a list of breeders in the US, which will provide some links to farms selling Cormo fiber. Have fun!

Tags: Ravelry, handspinning, handspun, Cormo

St. Distaff's Day SCORE!

Today, as you may or may not know, is St. Distaff's Day, aka Rock Day. Traditionally celebrated on January 7, the day after the feast of the Epiphany (the last of the 12 Days of Christmas, for you trivia nuts), it was the day that European women returned to their household work. The spinning distaff or rock was the medieval symbol of "women's work", and on this day, according to the Robert Herrick poem "Saint Distaffs day, or the Morrow After Twelfth Day", men and women would play pranks on one another. These "pranks," by all accounts, consisted of the men setting the women's spinning fiber on FIRE, and the women spraying the men with water. Sounds to me like the women should've "pranked" the men a little harder. But the first 2 lines of the poem say:

"Partly work and partly play
You must on St. Distaffs Day"

So that's what I did today: a little work, a little play. I took advantage of the break in the weather to get some natural light photos of yarn (up tomorrow), and then spun a new type of yarn (tease!). The play involved sorting through this MASSIVE stash of fiber that came in the mail today. It is somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 POUNDS of wool!!! There's Romney, and Jacob, and Cormo, and more Romney, and Corriedale, and Shetland, and Merino, and alpaca, and some hemp and a little bit of something called "breeder's cotton". All packed in these great muslin bags, too. (And don't you just lurve the 'Beaver Feed' sacks? Gotta find something to do with those.) WOWZERS! This is my introduction into the world of barter... And I'm hooked! Thanks, Mary!! Now I've *really* got to come through on my end. I sent her a big ol' box of heirloom seeds from my mother's garden so far, but, clearly, there will be more. Much more. Off to fondle fiber. Happy St. Distaff's Day All!

Tags: barter, fiber, ravelry, holidays, St. Distaff's Day

Do You Ravel?

I have fallen into the vortex that is Ravelry. Big time. It is just a carnival-ride of fiber fun! Are you in yet? Yes? Look me up and add me as a friend -- I'm velmalikevelvet there. No? Get thee over HERE and put your name on the waiting list, pronto. It's still in beta, and they are adding wannabes as fast as their nimble fingers can type in email invites.

If you have somehow managed to avoid hearing about Ravelry (like, you've been in Estonia learning to make folk socks or something), check out the "What the hell is Ravelry?" sneak peak, complete with screen shots. And there's more info here.

What you have to look forward to once you're in:

• index of your knitting/crochet projects
• project queue
• stash inventory
  
• massive group forums
• pattern and yarn browsers
• so much more (!)

That sounded bor-ing. It's not, but you'll just have to trust me 'til you're in.

I know you're wondering what I've been doing over there (admit it, you're curious). Well, I started two forum groups, Purl 'n Hurl Humboldt (the Rav-presence for our local SnB) and Shoes + Socks = LUST (for lovers of shoes and handknit socks; we share shoe porn links). My yarns are there too (I even bought my first adverts; that's one down at the bottom of the post). And there's yarn pr0n! I've just bought Yarn Pirate, Vesper, and Lorna's Laces sock yarn from 3 different destashing Ravelers. (Beware: this site can be dangerous to your pocketbook). I've found the motivation there to finish a couple of UFOs, too. You're looking at a picture of 'Obnoxious Hat', made from Material Whirled handspun I've had sitting around for a couple of years. I winged it, no pattern, just an idea, in crochet. I love the look of the brim; makes me feel like a baddass snowboard-punk when I wear it (which, of course, I am emphatically not). And I'm almost done with my Central Park Hoodie, which has been languishing on the needles for 2 YEARS waiting for me to pick up 316 stitches for the button bands. Which I've now done. Yay me! And done the buttonholes, a first. All that's left is seaming, so look for another FO shot soon.

DETAILS:
Name: Obnoxious Hat
Begun: October 26, 2007
Finished: October 27, 2007
Tools: K/6.5mm crochet hook
Materials: Material Whirled handspun, 'Obnoxious'
Pattern: Improvised.

Tags: ravelry, knitting, FO, CPH