To give...

...or to keep. That I just cannot decide. When I started knitting I intended to give this to a friend, but I love it so much! It's handspun yarn and I didn't spin it. It was well worth every penny I paid. It was beautifully spun and I enjoyed knitting with it so much. It's one of a kind, so I want to keep it. But then I ask myself: Do I really want to knit the same sweater again, but with different yarn? Maybe, maybe not. That will all depend on the yarn, it could make or break the knitting experience. I know, I could find another sweater, nothing hit my fancy and I know this will fit next year.

The Pattern: It's a one size pattern with no gauge given...not my kind of pattern because I always change something. I figured out the gauge by figuring out how many stitches for the chest and went from there with my gauge for my handspun. It's was such a cute and easy pattern I went with it.

The Yarn: It was 150 yards per 4 ounces. Gotta love a bulky yarn once in a while!

It took me a week to make this sweater. That is all I wanted it to take, after all it was suppose to be a gift and I had 2 other projects on the needles.  The sweater will fit the child next fall/winter, so I have plenty of time for another. One more reason to keep it :)

Here is my little sweet modeling it for me. She just turned one!

Your LYS, Free Yarn....

Would you like to see AFLoY in your LYS (local yarn shop)? If Yes, click the link to find out more information. There is free yarn involved :)

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/all-for-love-of-yarn/2708612/1-25#5

Name this Yarn Contest!

I need a name for a new yarn that I'm going to be carrying.

It is 80/20 BFL (Bluefaced Leicester)/Nylon

I have a BFL/Nylon (Seella) yarn already, but this one is distinctively different and will be less expensive.

It is a 2 ply, with a nice twist and super soft. 

4 ounces - 115 grams

400 yards

If I choose your name you will get a skein of the August colorway, which the yarn is featured in here:

I have a kind of theme with my names....
The more luxury yarns have luxurious names like, Opulence, Resplendence, Sumptuosity, etc. and the others I used a Russian theme, Lublu = love, Nogi = feet, Seella = strong. I'm willing to go off the themes, but if you think of one like this that would be great, too!

To enter leave a comment with your name suggestion and also your Ravelry ID, so that I can easily get a hold of you if I chose your name. I'll give you until the end of August!

Have fun!
Angela 

Cyber Monday...

...sale. Ends at Monday at midnight! In case you didn't get in on Black Friday's sale this is for you! You'll get 25% off the entire shop with coupon code THANKS12. Enter the code at checkout for an automatic discount, no need for PayPal refunds.

Cannot be used with on the 4 month Tea & Yarn Club, it's already marked down $25.00.

I'm sorry for not posting much lately; my camera was stolen and it has not been replaced. It's a long ordeal! I have projects that I want to share with you and totes full of new yarn and fiber for the shop! Updating the shop is the first thing I'll be doing when I get a new one, promise!

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! We did spending time at my parents home with Mom and Dad and 4 of my 5 brothers and sisters.

Angela

BlackFriday SALE

Black Friday Sale! Get 25% off with coupon code THANKS12.

Not valid on 4 month Tea & Yarn Club, but you can use it on the 2 month club.

Enter code at checkout for automatic discount. No refunds via PayPal needed.

There is a bunch of new items added to the sale section, too!

Enjoy,
Angela

My new...

...favorite, inspired by David's shirt. Just love it! I think I will have a test knitter knit it into a pair of socks for me. I dyed it a little differently than usual and would like to see how it turns out. I think it will be great! I call it Ocean Burst and it's available in my shop.

Fiber...

...dyeing is so much fun and rewarding...I'm imagining it all spun up!

This way...

...or that? Not sure what I like better, I guess it all depends on the yarn. For more details about the yarn see each individual page. Nogi and Soleful Sock

Bliss...

...pure bliss! I had a blissful morning arising at 6:30 am without the kids! I made breakfast and ate it while I listed a few yarns in the shop. By 7 I was mixing up dyes for a batch on my new yarn, Soleful Sock. It is wonderful, it takes the dye so beautifully! It is 40% Baby Alpaca, 40% Superwash Merino and 20% Nylon. A super duty yarn! Great for socks, so wonderfully soft and warm! Best yet, you can machine wash it, but dry flat. As always I recommend hand washing, your knits will last all the longer, we spend so much time on them, we need them to last a long time, too!

How could I forget, I also dyed merino top today! What fun, so it's the second time I've dyed any type of roving, top, etc. It was fun, and I have more to do. It will be available in the shop soon as well. I did the same colorway as the Soleful sock yarn, but it looks so different. I love it, I wish I could spin it myself.

In case you're wondering David got up at 8:30 and Katya at 9! It was wonderful. On Thursdays my dear husband takes the kids out for a while so I also had some time to knit my shrug I'm wearing for my brother's wedding in June.

The kids and I went to the park later on and now they are in the tub. A great day, I'm tired and hopefully they go to bed soon. A cup of tea and I'm off to bed soon, too.

Fiber, fiber...

...everywhere, from the beginning to the end. Gorgeous! I love it. I'm going to save it for myself to spin someday. A dear friend of mine wants to teach me to spin. At first I said no way...I have no time...after a few weeks I started to realize how cool it would be if I could make my own yarn! I dye it, why not spin it, too. I can learn slowly, as if I have nothing else to do! Why not learn while I'm young and then when I'm old, or my kids are older I will be able to actually do it and not learn it then. Sounds better to me after I thought about it for a while, makes sense. So, yes, she talked me into it, pretty easily I must say. Today she dropped off her spinning wheel to let me practice! Now, I just have to get the kids to bed, they are night owls lately! One down, one to go, David is sleeping in my lap right now and Daddy is trying to get Katya ready for bed, she is trying to play instead! 

I hand painted the pencil roving in 6 different colors, some left overs, but I think I can repeat the colorway on some yarn. Dyeing roving was fun, a bit more work than yarn.

It's all dry and I'm not sure what to do with it, wind it in a ball maybe and save it for later. It will be my inspiration for learning how to spin!

My socks are coming...

...to life! Take a look, I love them and they are fitting well. I love the yarn and it's been a joy to knit with. I don't get tired of the colors, there seems to be new colors emerging with every stitch. It is really fun to see it take shape into something I will wear! I can't wait to get them finished and put them on my feet! Defiantly no pooling in this colorway...I love the overall effect and dispersing of color which I try to do with all my colorways. You can find more information about the yarn Ravelry. I currently don't have any of this colorway for sale, but will soon. If you would like it on a certain base yarn please contact me via Etsy or Ravelry.

Soon to be...

...socks! I've been dying to make socks from some of my own yarn and I've started some out of Lublu sport weight in colorway Mexican Fiesta. More photos coming when I get farther on the socks!