Newly Listed Skeins and some knitting

Well, my newly dyed yarn is all dry, labels are made, and all 4 skeins are now listed.

Pink Handspun Alpaca Yarn 179 yds.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152&products_id=581&zenid=8079d0fae3669a79e2be02d90906e82a

Pink Handspun Alpaca Yarn 178 yds.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152&products_id=582

Kelly Green Handspun Alpaca Yarn 200 yds.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152&products_id=583

Kelly Green Handspun Alpaca Yarn 195 yds.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=152&products_id=584

Once I had all these skeins listed, I sat down and did some knitting on the new Handspun Knitted Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Half Circle Shawl.

I now have 103 1/2 rows completed.  I still have 56 1/2 more rows to go before I start on the border edge.



Its Dyeing Day once again

Its dyeing day again!  I've got my 2 different colors of dyes and my tools set out, so I think I'm ready to play.

The first 2 skeins that I'm going to dye, will be dyed pink.  My dye stock is all ready, I just need to pour it into my dye pot and add the first skein of yarn.  Here we go!

Oh boy!  I just get so excited when I see the yarn absorb the dye so fast.  This is going to be a really pretty pink skein of yarn.  I have 1 more skein to dye in this color, as I like to have at least 2 skeins of the same color.  So when this skein is finished I'll be dyeing up another skein in the same color.

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day! This skein of yarn is fast absorbing some Kelly green dye.  This is going to be a brilliant green skein of yarn.  I have 1 more skein to dye in this color and then all 4 skeins will be dyed up. 

 



More spinning and knitting once again

Well, lets see now........what can I show you today!  Well, yesterday I almost had the first bobbin refilled after 2 hours 1 minute 4 seconds of spinning.



I should have this bobbin filled up today and the second bobbin started being refilled, once again.

This morning the knitting needles were clicking away and another 10 rows was completed in 2 hours 20 seconds.

There is now 96 rows completed, I know it doesn't look it, but it is getting bigger.

 

 

Lots of plying yesterday and some knitting today

What more can I say?....should I gloat?....should I rejoice over my success yesterday.  Yep!  I did it!  I finished plying up the second skein, that I had started plying up on Monday.

I wound it off onto my niddy noddy, washed it, hung it to dry and headed back to the spinning wheel and plied up a third skien.

Then I wound it off, washed it, and hung it to dry and headed back to my spinning wheel.  I changed out my bobbins and began refilling the first bobbin.

I did all of this in 2 hours 4 seconds.  I now have 4 skeins (1 was from last month), that I can dye up.  I'm thinking Pink for 2 and Green for the other 2.  What do you think?

This morning I was up bright and early, as I wanted to get back to my knitting on the Handspun Knitted Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Half Circle Shawl.  I finished another  8 rows in 1 hour 51 minutes 3 seconds.

I now have 86 rows completed. 

 

Lots of spinning yesterday and some knitting this morning

Well, yesterday I got a lot of spinning done.  I managed to finished refilling the 3rd bobbin,

then I started in plying

This was all done in 1 hour 49 minutes 56 seconds.  I took a bit of a break and then came back, to finish plying up this skein.

I wound it off onto my niddy noddy, then washed it and hung it to dry.  Then I returned to my spinning wheel to start plying up a new skein.

I came awfully close to filling this bobbin.  It took my 1 hour 50 minutes 45 seconds to finish the first skein and start plying up this skein.  All in all I spent 3 hours 40 minutes 41 seconds in the spinning room.  Not bad for a days worth of spinning!

This morning though it picking up my Handspun Knitted Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Half Circle Shawl and started in knitting.  I knitted 10 rows and started on the 11th row.  I now have 78 completed rows with 1/4 of the 79th row started.

The shawl isn't laying flat, due to my beginning a new row.  However, the pattern is starting to show up.  I need to get a closer picture of what I call shells,......the pattern calls them fans.



Relaxing Sunday, Knitting on new shawl and maybe some spinning later today.

Yesterday was a quiet relaxing Sunday with my husband, Sue-chi.  We were hoping for some warmer weather, so that we could start leveling the ground and cinder blocks to get ready for erecting, our greenhouse.  However, we didn't get the warmer weather, so instead we relaxed and watched some old movies (Flight of the Phoenix with Jimmy Stuart, The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio).  Today though, I started off knitting on the Handspun Knitted Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Half Circle Shawl.  I was only able to knit 8 rows though, in 1 hour 48 minutes.

However, I have a total of 68 rows knitted so far and that is not bad, since I started knitting on this shawl last Wednesday.

Now to head upstairs and do some spinning.  I'm hoping to finish refilling the third bobbin and then start in plying up a new skein of Handspun 3 ply White Alpaca Yarn. 



Spinning is a major part of my life

Spinning is a major part of my life.  I spin everyday, sometimes for an hour and sometimes for 2 or 3 hours.  On days where I only get an hours worth of spinning done its usually because life outside of spinning intervenes.  The days where I get to spin for 2 or 3 hours are rare but nice, because I get lots done.  I may even get a bobbin and a half filled or even 2 skeins plied up.  Today I was only able to spin for 1 hour 47 minutes 34 seconds and almost had my 3rd bobbin filled.

Knitting is also a big part of my life and whenever, I can find some spare time to knit, the needles come out and start in clicking away.  Since I was up really early this morning with Sue-chi, because she wasn't feeling well.  I pulled out the shawl I started on 2 days ago and knitted 9 more rows in 1 hour 47 minutes and 23 seconds.

There's a total 60 rows knitted now and a little over 5 hours worth of knitting time.  I've place markers after each repeat, in order to keep track of the pattern.

 



Sunshine in my eyes makes me feel energized.

Each morning the sun rises earlier and I find myself waking up to the sun shinning in my eyes.  This gives me energy to climb out of bed and head into the spinning room to do some more spinning.  I was so energized this morning, that I finished refilling the second bobbin.

Then because I was so into my spinning, I started in refilling the third bobbin.

Its really hard to believe, that all this spinning was done in 1 hour 46 minutes 43 seconds.

You'd think I would be tired after doing that much spinning, but I wasn't and so I moved on to my knitting.  The Handspun Knitted Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Half Circle Shawl is growing.

I now have 51 rows knitted and there's 162 sts on my needles.  This is only the second day of knitting on this shawl too.  Yesterday I knitted 35 rows, but today because, more stitches were added, I was only able to knit 16 rows in 1 hour 46 minutes 30 seconds.  The pattern is starting to show a little bit more in this picture too.

 



Ideas form for some new products while spinning early in the morning.

As you all know, I really love to spin wool into yarn, knit it into products and even play with dyeing the yarn.  So this morning, when I was sitting at my spinning wheel, at 6:11 am, and spinning up more white alpaca, ideas started forming for a new product to knit up.  My spinning time went by so quickly, because of the ideas that were flowing and 1 hour 46 minutes 17 seconds just flew by.  The second bobbin was almost filled.

So when my spinning time was done, I pulled out a skein of Handspun Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Yarn, that I spun up a few years ago as a single ply yarn.  I placed it on my umbrella swift to wind it into a center pull ball.  Then I pulled out my size 8 circular needles, that I just recently bought and started in casting on for a "Handspun Knitted Mountain Sunset Colonial Merino Half Circle Shawl".  Here's how much I have done so far.

35 rows finished in 1 hour 42 minutes 59 seconds.



Getting into a rhythm and new listing

I think I'm getting into an early morning rhythm, because its 6:10 am and I'm in the spinning room again.  Sue-chi is once again curled up and snoring away, in front of the spinning wheel.  I think the fresh air, now that the snow is melted and she's roaming around more outside, that and her age, is what makes her sleep more.  Anyways the spinning wheel is up and running again this morning and the second bobbin is now a little over 1/2 of the way full.

           I also have a new listing for today.....its a simple and fast knitted White Dish Cloth, that I call "Get the rhythm".  Do you like it?

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=121&products_id=580

 



Refilled first bobbin and New listing

It's 6:09 am here at Spinning Ginny, the light is on in the spinning room and I've fixed my squeaky spinning wheel.  Sue-chi is asleep on the rug, just in front of the spinning wheel.  I finished refilling the first bobbin.

Now I'm starting to refill the second bobbin

 I have a new listing today as well, its not much, but its something all the same.  It's a new Dish Cloth.  Its my own pattern and I named it "Aunt Alice Dish Cloth".  I used Peaches'n Cream Tangerine Cotton Yarn.

http://www.spinningginny.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=121&products_id=579