yarn

Dyepot Stories: My Newest Crush

Nicky13 Comments

 errrr … fiber.  That’s all I can really say.  I know I should be dyeing yarn more than I have been but man, fiber is a new awesome medium and I’ve been having a blast.   I have been dyeing yarn too; right now I’m working on a custom dye color for a client.    But fiber …  LOLOL!  I want to think that this spinning obsession love I have is driving even my dyeing escapades.  If you’ve been on IG, you would have seen these before, but I’m putting them on the blog for posterity.

First Dive BFL

This first braid is 100% bfl (bluefaced leicester).  I called this one “Mud Pie”.  It’s amazing the end result when I look at the colors I started with.  This is non repeatable because basically I just went to town with the colors.  LOLOL!  I can’t wait to spin this up in the Fall.

This one is a 100% Falkland (the breed that doesn’t exist as a sheep breed, but that’s another story) braid.  I call this “Elisa The Beach Bum”.  It was inspired by a beach photo posted on IG by my friend Elisa Dallomo.

This is “Crown Jewels”.  Another Falkland braid I did for my friend Kathy who’s been amazing with her encouragement for my spinning adventures.

Disco Was Murdered Falkland

And this neon psychedelic was inspired by two of my favourite T.V. guys — Shawn & Gus — from T.V. series Psych.  This one is named “Disco Was Murdered”.
Not to worry … some yarn got dyed solid,  the dark garnet was over from a natural dye experiment that faded fast and the hand painted one was just fun trying out a new hand painting technique.

Yarn Dyeing July 2015

So it’s not that I’ve been a slacker with the pots … just in posting here.  😉

30DOC: Day 2 — Stash

Nicky2 Comments

EVERY crafter has a stash. No matter what the hobby is, we have a stash!!!  That is without dispute, undeniably true and I’m no different.  It doesn’t help that I ‘m a process knitter instead of a project knitter.  Meaning — once I get new techniques down pat, I lose interest in the project.  It ends up in my WIP (work in progress) basket and I’m on to the newest project.  To that end, my stash has grown exponentially.  Then add gifts, swaps, purchases, trades, afghan planning, blanket planning, sweater planning, trying techniques out and not finishing projects,  it’s safe to say that I have a fairly decent sized stash.  Now, I cannot say that I’m at S.A.B.L.E  (stash amount beyond life expectancy), but I have a sizable stash and honestly, I don’t want my stash to grow to proportions like the stash in the image below.  I can’t afford it and I want to be able to use what I have — in this lifetime!!!!  Seriously, I don’t know what I’d do with a stash like this!!!This image is from a listing on Craigslist.  The crafter was deceased and her children were selling the contents of her stash.  I can’t even begin to estimate the cost of the above, but what I do know is that I don’t want to die and leave all that.  What would the point be?  Yes — I can attest to the “ooooooh pretty” impulse purchases but at the end of the day, I personally don’t feel that it’s worth it for me to have a SABLE sized stash.

Right now, I have enough for me to make 3 full blankets/afghans, one sweater and a fair amount of socks and other accessories.  While I can’t say that I wouldn’t buy more yarn this year (hellooooo Rhinebeck!!!! :D), I can say that I have more than enough yarn in my stash to knit and crochet to my heart’s content — at least up until the end of the year.  😉  Ain’t it purrrrrrrty?!!!!

I know some crafters have rules … you know, like:

  • Number of skeins in = same number of skeins out — either by using skeins for a project or by giving away.
  • Yarn diets — which in my opinion are just as hard to maintain as food diets.  😀
  • De-stashing — trades or sell

We all stash for different reasons.  What works for one crafter may not work for the other, but at the end of the day, I suppose what’s most important is stashing what we love, stashing what we’ll use.  At least until we get sidetracked by the pretty yarn that’s haunting us in our dreams.  😀

How do  you keep your stash in check?