handmade by stefanie

I started a few projects since last week, but I promise that I had really  good reason for doing so. For instance, I realized that I had just one gift knitting project I needed to make, and that time was running out to knit said project if I was going to ship it to the intended recipient prior to Christmas. Also, one of my Spinzilla prizes arrived - a custom set of Kollage needles from my team host, Louet North America , who is the new owner of this needle company. All signs pointed to starting a new project ! (note: close up shot to avoid spoiling the surprise) Here's another photo of my fancy customized needles: If you're a bit jealous, you don't have to be - you can get your own customized set in 2017 ! I also started a hat because I wanted an instant gratification project - and Woolly Wormhead did a one-day promo last week offering a free pattern with a coupon code. I ended up buying an additional pattern along with this on in my small bid to pay it forw...

Spinzilla is just one week away - gulp! Between a very busy month for work and the unexpected week-long trip to KC earlier this month, I find that I am feeling quite unprepared for a week of spinning. This past weekend, I did at least find some time to dig through my fiber stash and make some plans. I've heard that Spinzilla is a great time to spin a sweater's worth of yarn, something I have never attempted, but I have been working off and on (mostly off) to spin through a large quantity of Louet Light Gray Swalesdale fiber with that purpose in mind. I've got about 2 pounds to go, and have been saving it for Spinzilla. While I love natural colored fiber, I sometimes get bored spinning with it, so I raided my stash to see what else I could spin to keep things interesting. I pulled out a half pound of Louet Dyed Merino in Brick, A braid of Nerd Girl Yarns Panda Blend Fiber in Parrotfish, and two BFL braids from Cloudlover in the Ginkgo colorway. For me,  getting t...

The results won't be in for the team totals til later this week at the earliest, but last night I finished up my final Spinzilla project and tallied up my finished yardage for a grand total of 3372 (unofficially; I will probably be checking my math before submitting my final tally!). During the course of the week, I spun approximately 3 pounds of fiber total, most of which I plied, though some of I decided to leave as a single ply. The cats were not terribly thrilled that I was spinning so much this past week; when I knit, they often snuggle up to me on the couch, but it's a bit tougher to snuggle whilst I spin - not that they didn't try! Spinning with cats: is there any other way? I began the week with some easy projects to get back into spinning: pencil roving (Louet Northern Lights), Louet Cheviot, and a Corriedale Cross braid from YarnHollow were among the first projects I embarked upon. The Malabrigo Nube roving took longer than I was anticipating because ...

Spinner registration is open now for Spinzilla and we're saving a spot for you on #TeamLouet ! Last year, we cracked the top 10 for most yardage spun together as a team , and this year we'd like to exceed our 2013 total and unseat Team Fancy Tiger Craft! To join our team for 2014, just click here to register via the TNNA website . The cost is $10, and it goes to an excellent cause  to foster the spinners of tomorrow! If you have a Louet wheel or some Louet fiber , that is great -  however, it is not a requirement for joining our team, and you'll have plenty of chances to win Louet fiber during the competition itself! This year, we'll be introducing several new awards within our own team for categories such as spinning the most natural fibers, taking the prettiest finished skein photo, and most adventurous spinner. This year, spinners who choose to ply their singles will receive a credit which counts towards their total yardage, which is a change I myself am ...

This week has been all about the spinning - at least, more so than usual. First, I finally got the bulky flyer for my Ladybug wheel that I've been wanting and was able to ply the 3 singles of Nerd Girl BFL together into one mega-skein! That was pretty exciting on its own, but the next big news item is the Louet Victoria spinning wheel (the one I borrowed last year for the Tour de Fleece and Spinzilla, in fact) which arrived on my doorstep on Wednesday. My craft room will be its forever home; it's official, I now own 2 awesome spinning wheels! With it came some lovely spinning fibers, too: Cheviot and Jacob , which I have been dying to try ever since reading the rave reviews over on the Knitting Sarah blog , and more pretty Northern Lights Wool Top in Icy Winter, which you may remember from my spinning experiment last month in which I compared various fiber samples spun from both rolags and straight from the top. I'm trying to save these fibers for either the T...

It may be counterintuitive, but there is something about summer that makes me want to spin more! My fiber stash is overflowing, and everywhere I look, I find amazing spinning inspiration. Some of my favorite bloggers have been enabling sharing their spinning projects; the latest examples would be this comparison of Top & Sliver on the Knitting Sarah blog and some absolutely gorgeous spindles and fibers on the Woolen Diversions blog . Not only that, but we're entering the final month of Spinning Spring Training over in the Louet Ravelry Group , the Tour de Fleece will be happening in July, and my fiber stash is overflowing with my latest acquisitions from YarnCon and TNNA . Conditions are just right for a Summer of Spinning! Spinning in progress: Merino top from  Abuelita Yarns . I've been spinning for about 4 years now, but I still feel like I have much to learn. I have subscriptions to both Spin-Off and Ply Magazine , and I find I am constantly referring back t...

First, I'm super-excited about finishing what I've lovingly dubbed the never-ending spinning project . Last month, for Spinning Spring Training, I began spinning a pound of lovely Dorper fiber from Louet. Turns out, a pound is an awful lot of fiber (duh!) and I didn't finish spinning my singles til the beginning of this month....and then the plying began! At long last, I have my finished skeins. They are chain plied to match some dorper I'd spun last fall for Spinzilla, and the total yardage is 484 yards. I know, right - a month an a half to make just shy of 500 yards of yarn? That is pretty insane, but chain plying give you 1/3 of your total yardage spun in singles, so if I want to feel better about myself, I really spun 1,452 yards of yarn in that time. In other news, I picked up several samples of spinning fibers at TNNA, and I thought it would be fun to split each sample in half to spin up in two different ways: first, directly from the roving without any prep...

My needles are spoiled this week! I'm (still) working with some heavenly yak yarn from Bijou Basin Ranch and making sloooooooooow progress on my chevron socks : As if that weren't enough, I was given a skein of Zealana AIR Chunky at TNNA, which is pretty much the definition of luxury. It's a blend of cashmere, possum and silk, and as the name would imply, it truly is light as air. It's also incredibly soft and warm! Late last week, I decided to make a pair of fingerless gloves and cast on for a pair of Maine Morning Mitts by Clara Parkes from the Knitter's Book of Yarn. Little did I know that tagging Ms. Parkes herself on instagram would elicit a response ! This simple knit is just flying off the needles - all I need is to make the thumbs and I'm good to go! 90% of mitt #2 was completed last night at knit night, if that gives you any indication to just how quickly these can be made. In other news, I have - at long last - finished spinning the singles ...

In the wake of finishing several WIPs over the weekend, I was on the prowl for a new project I could start in addition to the MANY top-secret projects which are currently on my needles. Yes, there are exciting things afoot (pun intended), and I can't wait til I get to share them with you! Alas, that won't be for a while...next month at the earliest, to be exact. Until then, I'll be ever-so-slowly knitting on my new WIP, the Spindleberry Shawl by Joanna Johnson. I'm using a skein of Skein Merino Cashmere Fingering in the Ochiba colorway; I realized that I didn't have a single grey shawl, and this just happened to be in my stash!  I was able to snag the pattern for free when it was first published thanks to my Ravulous Hot Right Now widget that I have on my phone ( click here to read my review ). I've never made anything with fringe, and it's not something I would normally be into....but for some reason I like it in this design. Bonus: the fringe ...

Last night at midnight EST (which is 11pm my time), I started spinning some alpaca that's been in my fiber stash for a few years now. It only took an hour to fill up my first bobbin - and thus, Spinzilla has commenced! Natural black Alpaca single - so hard to photograph! Tomorrow I plan on finishing this alpaca and then starting on one of the many pretty handpainted rovings I've earmarked for this event; I believe I've neglected to mention two very recent acquisitions from last week when I succumbed to Cloudlover's special Spinzilla deal for 15% off orders. I couldn't resist this dyed Polwarth in special colors inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas. Since they're local, I also got my fiber super-fast - as in, the very next day! Cloudlover  Dyed Polwarth Roving in Sandy Claws & Zero. I'm quite excited to be the team captain for Team Louet during this first-ever event celebrating Spinning and Weaving Week . We have a fantastic team fill...

By now, if you're participating in next week's Spinzilla event, you already know what team you're on. Whether you're joining me on Team Louet or competing on any other the other many teams, here are some quick tips to help you get ready for a monster of a spinning week! 1. Clear those bobbins! If you're going to be spinning up your fiber stash, be sure to have plenty of empty bobbins to get the job done. 2. Perform routine maintenance. Check your spinning wheel's manual to make sure your wheel is in peak performing form. If you are using a Louet wheel , there is a handy online support center where you can troubleshoot various issues and download PDF versions of wheel manuals. 3. Wax on! Put the perfect finishing touch on your wheel with a nice coat of wheel wax to clean and condition the wood and any leather parts, too. I'm a fan of the wonderful-smelling herbal organic wax from Heavenly Spinning. 4. Take inventory of your fiber stash. No...