The October box is out and we’re second in the third video
This is what the full size “Nixie Tubes” looks like. If you would like one, Please email us and we will redye them for you! Shenanigansyarn@yahoo.com
I boiled down my parking lot booty this morning. I’ve been trying to research exactly what type of mushroom I have. I believe them to be poisonous Boletes. They were growing under an oak tree. They have no gills. I assure you i didn’t taste them, but they bruised blue when I cut them. I have two lovely jars of honey colored water now. The next step is to choose a mordant and a fiber.
double double boil and bubble
don'don't drink the water
those of you with good eyes will notice that there are some tiny mushrooms with gills in the middle. I haven’t identified them yet. I don’t think there were enough of them to do much.
Just finished a pair of socks for Joscelyn. She picked out this yarn from Sip and Knit when she was here last December. The yarn looked like it would stripe, so I tried to find a pattern that would shift it. I started with Skew from Knitty.com, but it’s knitted entirely on the bias, so it’s really hard to size. I’m going to have to read her blog because the knitty version even after shortening the toe was at least an inch too wide and really baggy at the heel. So RIPIT and I started over with Outside-In…it’s a really simple stitch pattern and it looks great inside-out or v.v.
I’m starting an illusion sock next but it’s a surprise, so I’ll be posting pics after the holidays.
I’ve been eyeing these fungi for the last year. They actually grow in one of the parking lot islands at work. I kicked them one day and got yellow goo on my shoe that was difficult to remove. I have a sneaking suspicion that they’re going to be good for dying yarn. We had a nice rain and they finally popped up again. I had the forethought to bring a ziplock so i could pick them this time. I’ll keep everyone posted when I boil them down tomorrow.
I we are now an authorized Louet dealer! We will soon have Wenslydale fiber up for sale as well as batts, because we now have the Elite drum carder from Louet. I had fun with it the other night combing some pink and purple roving that we dyed.
before
after
after
Kiara also had a good time rolling around on the packing paper. She needs to send Louet a “thank you” letter for all the empty boxes they sent just for her.
being helpful
I’m slightly belated in talking about the 2010 Fiber-In, but all my photos were out of focus. I’m borrowing one from Lorena who owns Haldecraft on etsy. Thanks Lorena! It was a really cozy show with about 6 vendors. Some were representing a few companies. Hank’s (which I’m just sick that they closed their brick and mortar store) was there with their hand dyed as well as Rocket Yarn. We brought our pair of ladybugs and sat and chatted with Continental Kim. I got a lot of mileage done on my latest batch of alpaca/superwash merino blend. It’s drying in the bath right now, but should be out and about in a few days.
I picked up a little Angelina, and some dyed locks with a new drum carder in mind. That should be a fun addition!
I forget sometimes that we live in the middle of tourist mecca. Some relatives came to visit so we had the required trip to one of the theme parks. I do admit I’m a big fan of Sea World even if I’m not so much of the others. They’ve added quite a few roller coasters since I was there last, but luckily they still have my favorite exhibit in which you get to feed the sting rays. The sting rays know exactly what’s going on too, and come flap at you the second you have a fish for them.
sting ray grin
I also sent them to Gator Land which is one of my favorite tourist traps here. The alligators they raise jump high in order to grab chickens off of a clothes line. Its impressive and completely explains how these guys end up in people’s swimming pools here. In fact, we have a couple of wild ones in the pond behind the house. Don’t get any crazy ideas about training them to dye yarn for me. It’s illegal to play with a wild gator.
awww! baby gators
I’ve been working on a to-go bag for small projects for more than a year now. The first prototype had a good shape over all…it sits up-right, it was comfortable, it was a good size, but it really needed lining so that my needles didn’t poke through the fabric. Well I’ve added a pocket to the back and I think I’ve almost got it down. Tadah:
As soon as I get some more of these zipped out, I’ll post some on Etsy
I just gotta say Hi! to the High Fiber Diet goddess,
KaRi! Thanks for mentioning us 
I’ve had fun listening to her podcast for the past few weeks.
Sorry for a sad note, I haven’t been able to find cheap mailers to safely mail these babies, so the Ladybugs
are going up a dollar just to cover that expense. Here’s the break-down:
Basic set of 4 knobs in stars with 3,4, or 5 legs and bugs in solid colors (blue,pink, red) are $6
Other shaded colors will add a $1 – the shaded colors are made of hand-dyed plastic.
Please inquire about what colors are available. They’re bright translucent shades.
Thanks to Medussa55 on Ravelry, we now have black rhinestones that are press fitted and
lightly glued for security into the spots that is also an extra $1
If you buy them with fiber, I’ll knock off that nasty extra dollar
We do currently have a back order list, so if you would like a set, please send us an email. Also,
be thorough with your email and tell me what you would like. I won’t guess and as much as I want
it, I don’t have ESP. These are all for the Ladybug lazy kate, so it’s not obvious to me what choice
you are making. The Cupcake Makerbot is a diy CNC machine for the home-hobbyist. It makes
exactly one item at a time and it’s very slow, so please be patient with us. We are also developing
some new shapes, so stay tuned.
I just finished spinning a fantastic batt from a fellow Raveler, einsteinslogic. It’s a carded blend of wool and ginned cotton. I’ve never spun cotton before. In fact i really don’t like knitting with cotton at all, but this was a real dream. And on that note, we’re getting a drum carder too! We’re also going to have shiny Wenslydale wool.
