pressure drop

I love dyeing! I can't stop! I got 2lbs. from Ms. Hello Yarn, 2 pounds from the fiber fest, and I've been going to town ever since. I love it! Oh, and I ordered another pound of BFL yesterday, and more dyes.

This is what I've been up to recently:


I think this one is by far my favorite. I'm calling it "Pleased as Punch"! I dyed 8 oz of it (South African Fine Wool) and kept 4oz for myself. The other half is up on etsy. Part of me doesn't want to part with it, but I need funds to keep this addiction going. South African Fine is really nice! It was really nice to spin up.

Here's some more South African Fine, which you find on my etsy shop:


I've also been spinning what I've been dyeing too. Yeah, all my free time is pretty much consumed with spinning, dyeing and going to Trader Joe's (which just opened up here - I'm completely smitten).

This is some Corriedale I dyed and spun up (the first test run in my new, well, old, Crock Pot):


And here's some hand dyed and spun Shetland which is delightfully soft (and will probably be a Christmas present for my knitter sister-in-law):

Oscar the Yarn

Hello, all!

More spinning up in this piece! Seriously, I'm addicted to novelty yarn. I didn't think I would love knitting with it, but it was a lot of fun! I took the Peas and Carrots and made a GIANT cowl for myself (pictures to follow). It's neat, even if it is the color of dinner's vegetables.

Here's the latest installment of Molly's Wild and Crazy Adventure with novelty yarn:

It's about 37 yards of beehive and coiled goodness! I have another skein of this too, which is very similar (I added some natural romney rolags to the mix). I really don't know what do with it, now that I have made myself the cowl to end all cowls. So, I've taken Rachel (aka Porpoise) and I'm throwing it up (metaphorically, not vomiting) on my new Etsy shop to see what will happen! Go and have a look!

mellow yellow

Help! I think I'm addicted to spinning beehive yarn! It's so much fun!

I learned how to do these fancy tricks at Yarn School (I even dyed some of this roving there, the more orange stuff was kettle-dyed at last year's Dye Day). My wheel is not loving the new techniques immensely (the orifice is a bit small and the hooks, oh, the hooks). But, no bother. I keep going and making the fun beehives.
I'm pleased as punch with this stuff. I really have no idea, though, what I'm going to make with it. Suggestions appreciated.

Yay, beehives and coils!

Yarn School!

So, I've been meaning to post about Yarn School for some time now, but things got in the way, like illness (stomach virus THEN sinus infection), but I'm back in business now!

Yarn School was absolutely fantastic! I had the best time! Everyone was so lovely and I learned so much. Kansas! The town of Harveyville (pop. 250) was really great and we were treated to the Spookyville parade!


The Harveyville Project, run by Nikol and Ron, is really quite awesome. The school itself was just completely badass and really just amazing. I'm so happy I got to go!

So, the first day we arrived we had a meet and greet. The next day we split up into 2 groups (the Sharks and the Jets - a certifiable knife fight!) and my group went off for dye class; crockpot dyeing, microwave dyeing, handpainting, you name it. It was fantastic.

For lunch, we took a field trip to Wildcat Hollow Alpaca Farm to meet alpacas and buy lots of wonderful alpaca related goodness. I ended up buying some raw alpaca fleece that I ended up washing, carding and spinning (which Deb named Chewpacca, as it really looked like I skinned Chewbacca).

The next day was spent learning spinning techniques, relaxing, carding, etc. It was grand. I had absolutely the best time. I learned such fun things as Navajo plying and spinning novelty yarns, and seriously, I haven't been able to stop since. I'm not kidding. I'm addicted.

I cannot stress how lovely everyone was and how much I learned. The food was absolutely fantastic and I'm already scheming to see how I can go again next year.

I have plenty of more pictures from the event on my Flickr page!

Motor Away

We're having a little problem here in Middle Tennessee with a gasoline shortage, so my trips outside the home this weekend have been severely limited. 50% of the gas stations in Nashville are without gas, and those that do have gasoline have lines down the street. I've always been one to stay out of a panic, so I've been home this weekend knitting THIS:



I love this pattern! I'm using Spun 2 Ways : Socks at Any Size and Any Gauge from Spin-Off magazine! Yes! This is the 391 yards of handspun I successfully spun up! I'm so proud! Thus far, it's smooth sailing. Also, I love this pattern because if you're like me, and your yarn has some unsightly unevenness to it *cough cough*, it magically hides it!



Yarn School is in a couple of days, and I'm so giddy I can't believe it. Seriously. I'm like a little kid.

A Summer Wasting

I'm still alive! I promise! I've been swept up in a world of presidential elections, spinning, knitting, and cleaning my house. Truth be told, I'll be happy if I don't have an aneurysm by the time this election is over.

On a happier note, I'm going to Yarn School in a next week! It starts on my birthday! I'm thrilled!

On the project front, here's something I have been working on for a friend's wedding. It's gotten considerably bigger, but alas, I don't have a more recent picture. It's a log cabin blanket out of Cascade Ecological wool.

I've also been knitting the Morning Surf scarf from SpinOff magazine for my sister's birthday. I just finished it last night, and will be blocking it soon! Obviously, dear reader, her birthday was last week, and in Read It and Wheeze form, I am terribly late.

And hooray me! I successfully spun 391 yds of sock yarn! YES! That will cover my gigantic lady feet! VICTORY! I shall take pictures of that soon!

Who knows where the time goes?

Hello all! I'm back from wedding celebrations and drives across the country! I'm now officially Mrs. Wheezy and all is well! The wedding went off spendidly, and I'm happy to announce that both celebrations in TN and Buffalo are over. HUGE RELIEF. Things on the knitting and spinning front have been relatively quiet as I try to regain some composure to my life. I'm working on some socks for my dad, that were a belated Father's Day present *cough cough* (the man has size 13 feet-- they take a while!).

On the production front, however, I've made some amazing BREAD from a recipe given to me as part of a wedding present from my friends Mark and Amy. It's absolutely stunning bread! All you need is a large dutch oven (5.5 L or bigger) to bake it, and you're good to go!

The dutch oven keeps the bread so nice and moist, and you get to put your choice of flour, whole wheat or corn mean on the outside to give it that nice artisan glow on the outside. Give it a go! You won't be disappointed! Delicious fresh bread without all the crazy preservatives that only costs you about $1! Less than that! Insanity! I actually made bread with my amazing new bread machine this morning for Mr. Wheezy, as per his request (he's getting his wisdom teeth out today), and I have to say, it's not as good as this stuff! No way!

And there are all sorts of ways you can mix it up! Add some beer! And some whole wheat! Go nuts!

Le Wimple

Better late than never for a Mother's Day present, eh? I finally finished weaving in the ends of the wimple I knit up for my mother. It gets cold up there in Buffalo, and she needs something to cover up her ears when she goes out walking! I ran a little bit short on yarn, but no biggie. You can hardly tell, right? Right.

Here are the stats:

Name: Wavy Feathers Wimple

Yarn: vanCalcar Acres Jennifer's FlockSock Sock Yarn

Needle: US 5

Colorway: Leaves of Grass

I received this in a yarn swap from Ravelry and wasn't so sure of the yardage, so with my large feet, I decided to go the route of the wimple instead of being devastated by having too small socks. I'm quite pleased with the results! This was pretty easy knit!


Now I'm off to finish my dad's socks for Father's day and catch up on emails. Ahem.

A Nice Day for a White Wedding

THE WEDDING IS OVER. I am so happy about this. It was a grand time, but I am utterly exhausted, even after our trip to the mountains. But, dear reader, I am happy to announce that I am done talking about wedding-related activities and can get back to the fun stuff: knitting, spinning, crochet, etc.

That being said, I really didn't get that much knitting done on our trip to Gatlinburg. The view was pretty outstanding, and I managed to get a new digital camera (a Canon Powershot 720 IS). I love the mountains! And, the temperature was at least 15 degrees cooler up there. It was around 95 degrees on the day of our wedding (did I mention that?) Gross.

I'll definitely have more pictures of the wedding on my Flickr in the near future if you'd like to check those out.

And finally, I'll leave you with the best meal we had while in Gatlinburg, at The Trout House:

Am I the Same Girl? (yes I am)

So, I decided it was time for a new look! I couldn't find a free Blogger template I was happy with, so I sort of came up with one of my own (with the help of Suckmylolly.com) and my pretty basic CSS coding skills.

So, let me know what you think! I've always had a soft spot for gingham table cloths!

xx
molly