"You should sell that!"

Don't you love when people ask you if you sell the stuff that you make? I do. Mostly because they have no idea what really goes into making the item. Not to mention that I think it would be harder for me to knit things for other people than it is for me to knit for myself. Or for gifts, you know. I'd have to make sure there were no mistakes, and that I made it up perfectly, and... well, take more care than I sometimes do when I'm knitting for myself.

Anyway, today I was spinning, and one of my brother's friends said "You should sell the yarn that you're spinning! You could call it... Lily's yarn stuff!" I just laughed.

Admittedly, it would be something to do with my handspun. God knows I don't know what to do with most of it. I've started packing up for my impending move back to Golden. It's a little alarming how much stuff I own. Especially the yarn and fiber stashes. They're not as bad as they could be, but they definitely take up 2 rather large bins. And there's a significant amount of stuff that I haven't packed... I think I need another bin.

Anyway, this is what I've been up to lately:

I spun up some Anzula BFL fiber that I purchased at the Fancy Tiger a while ago.

I turned this BFL/silk from Funky Carolina:

Into some rather lovely 2 ply. I really like how shiny it is. I really think I'll use this for something. Possibly a cowl?

















Then, in the process of packing up my stash, I came across 2 little bitty BFL rolags from Cloud City Fibers, which I brought home from last year's Wool Market.











Which I quickly whipped into some little singles, since there's not really enough to make anything out of them. They were really just for testing out the idea of spinning from a rolag, and for trying the fiber.







And, last weekend, I dragged Caitlin to Fort Collins on a yarn hunt for Tosh Merino Light for a Color Affection shawl, for which I blame the lust on the Yarn Harlot.

The stripes are abso-freaking-lutely charming. I love them. I keep making people admire them. Frankly, I'm pretty sure my family is trying to figure out how to deal with the craziness. Oh well. Screw them, they have no idea how clever little short-row stripes are. And the garter stitch is surprisingly zen, rather than obnoxious. I like it.

Tomorrow, I shall endeavor to obtain some more bins, and pack more things, and spin some more fiber, since it's become apparent that I really need to work on the stash.

The stash is getting out of control

I have to confess to a fiber-buying binge recently... I don't know what happened, but last weekend I fell hard off the fiber diet wagon. It started at the store where Caitlin works. They had this brightly colored bump of BFL from Mountain Colors. And they were having spin-in that night... and I'd magically brought my spinning wheel without being asked. Man. It was just serendipitous all the way. So I bought it, finished the alpaca that I'd been fighting with, and started spinning the new bump of fiber, even though I had brought a different braid with me, just in case. Anyway, I finished that bump this week.

Pretty, right? It's gorgeous, and it's BFL, which I adore, and I'm trying really hard to think of something luscious to knit with this. Something that will really show off the colors. Otherwise, it might have to be some kind of yarn art for a while. The colorway is called Springtime, which I think is pretty perfect, since the weather is acting pretty spring-like lately...

Then, Caitlin and I spent Saturday on a button hunt. I required buttons for the February Lady sweater that I intended (and did!) finish last weekend. Well, we ended up going to the Fancy Tiger, in Denver, which has a great selection of fibers. I may have fallen down in there, and accidentally purchased 2 braids of fiber from them.

As I mentioned, the alpaca fiber is done. It was a labor of love. You know how much I love alpaca. It's one of my favorite fibers, and it feels so pretty, and this bump of fiber had been taunting me from the top of my yarn bureau (yes, I have a yarn bureau, you don't?) since November, when I lost the battle to not purchase it in the face of a massive sale.





Alas, I fear that I'm not quite ready for non-sheep fibers. I just haven't had enough practice. By the end of the bump, I think I was doing pretty well, but starting out was painful. Anyway, the finished yarn is luscious and wonderful, but I'm not ready to get back on the alpaca for a while. (See what I did there? Like getting back on a horse, but with a fiber animal. Hahaha, I'm hilarious, I know. You don't have to tell me.) I'm thinking of turning the alpaca handspun into a cowl or hat or something that I wear next to my skin, it's so soft and pretty. I love that it's kind of an oatmeal color, and looks a little rough. We'll see what it wants to be next winter. I can't knit alpaca in the summer.

Finally, this week I found myself tempted by several braids of fiber by various online sellers. I bought a braid of merino/silk from a destash on Ravelry, and some merino/bamboo from Etsy... well, it just got me in the mood to make an effort to restrain the spinning stash. So I've made a new resolution: when at home, I'm going to spin spin spin spin spin. I finished the sweater, and haven't really got any knitting that I want/need to do until the test yarn for Mariah's chuppah (did I tell you that I'm knitting a chuppah for a Jewish wedding next summer?) comes in. Since I'm feeling uninspired on the knitting front, I shall apply my efforts to spinning. Already I've made a pretty good start, I finished the Mountain colors bump, and have started a new braid of merino.

It's very pretty, very easy to spin, and I'm enjoying it. The colorway is Rue (from the Hunger Games), and it's from Storied Yarns. Pretty awesome.

Wish me luck in keeping the new resolution. I'm really hoping I can make a dent in the stash before I run out of oomph. We'll see. Next time I'll post a picture of the new sweater, and hopefully something newly spun.