Just a quick note...

and picture of my freshly knitted Cupido cowl :-) I found the pattern on Ravelry, but there's also a blog post about it on Please Don't Eat the Daisies if you'd just like to see a few photos. I finished knitting the baby blanket some time ago (but haven't blocked it yet, and time is getting short...) and there were two skeins of yarn left. I had had no idea how much I'd need and decided to be on the safe side. I thought about putting the two remaining skeins in the shop, but when I saw the pattern for the Cupido cowl, I just had to knit it and the yarn seemed perfect. I absolutely loved knitting with the yarn (it's so fluffy and soft!), but since the colours really don't look so good on me I hope to trade the cowl for something I can't make myself. I might put the last remaining skein in the shop, though, which is white, blue and yellow. I'll need to take photos some of these days.

In other respects I'm spending pretty much of my time studying, my first oral exam will be at the end of the month. It's freaking me out and alternately filling me with joy since it will bring me closer to the end of my student days...

Meet Anna! :-)

Anna's alpacas Galax and My

A while ago we got a message from a very friendly knitter from Sweden who - apart from flattering us very much indeed - told us she had alpacas. This really got my attention, as well as the small and beautiful word Sweden ;-) I just love Scandinavia, and I took Swedish classes a while back, and with these things and the fact that Anna described herself as crazy about yarn and knitting we had something to talk about :-) Turns out we are interested in similar things, like mythology, Star Trek and Harry Potter, and there were some long letters going back and forth. I asked her whether she had a blog, for I'd love to follow someone who wrote about alpacas and knitting, even if it was in Swedish (I have forgotten nearly everything from my classes), as long as there were pictures ;-) Anna told me she had actually thought about writing a blog, and now she felt was the time to get going. I promised to tell you about it, so she could get some readers (and at-picture-lookers ;-)) - so here I go:

Please stop by Annas aviga maskor :-)

I've rediscovered google translate in the process, so now the Swedish isn't too much of a problem, and also the google translations turn out to be quite hilarious at times (yeah, it's still a machine, and for that it's pretty good). Just give it a try if you like creative stuff and alpacas!

Anna has also kindly sent me pictures of the cowl she made from our Dark Secrets art yarn, which can be worn in more than one way:

I love the versatility of this piece, and also this was one of the yarns I thought twice about putting in the shop, so naturally I like how it turned out as well :-)
Thank you for sharing, Anna!

Lametta, Soap, and Snickerdoodle Cookies

I've so wanted to post a few Lametta photos, but I was in bed with a bad cold nearly all week. I don't have many pictures, but I'd like to show them to you anyway :-)

 

Did I mention we brought the spinning wheel with us? Here you can see Twisted in spinning action.

We didn't spin the whole time, but quite a lot, and there were always lots of children around, watching, and many adults, too. People were very interested in our yarns and asked many questions, and I for one was a little hoarse after two days. It was a wonderful experience, though! :-) We also brought some knitted and crocheted pieces made from art yarn, just to show people, not to sell. This was a really good idea since art yarns seem not to be that well known in Germany and many people couldn't imagine how things would look in the end, or what you can do with art yarn. Which reminds me: I've been working on a post about knitting with art yarn, which is getting rather large, and I hope I'll find the time to complete it soon.

 

Here is the stitch marker display which I already blogged about, along with some wonderful earrings Twisted made recently. They all contain art yarn or silk fibre, and some of them also feature beads.

This is one of the yarns I spun there, I've already taken photos and hope to list it soon. I'm a little behind with things due to my cold, but I think I might be able to list a few yarns some time next week. I also have a grey one with ribbons, pearls and labradorites, a pink and black one wiht skulls (these were the ones I spun live at the fair), and of course lots which I spun during the weeks before the fair. I am really looking forward to show them and to list them :-)

Here you can imagine rather than see some of the necklaces and neck rings Twisted made for the fair. It also shows the warm light and nice atmosphere of the fair, if just a little.

There are two more things I'd like to share with you: When I was in bed, miserable and sniffing, my day was brightened by the arrival of a parcel: My friend and trade partner Goodgirl sent me two soaps! :-) One was part of a trade from last year, and one she sent because she knew I liked it so much. I was so happy, I still am, as a matter of fact :-) The smell SO good!

The Ice Princess (on the right side) features a piece of yarn I spun for Goodgirl. I promised her two small skeins of scrap yarn and ended up with three because I couldn't decide with one of the themes - and this way I kind of made her invent a new soap, fitting the yarn. I love it :-)

And the last thing I wanted to share is this recipe for Snickerdoodle cookies, which I found on a blog and traced back to where they came from originally. My husband made them yesterday (I helped a little, but since I don't enjoy baking that much and he loves it, it was his project) and they are heavenly!

Awesome Art Yarn Cowl

A while ago, I traded two skeins of custom art yarn for a whole box of wellness goodies, like soaps and bath bombs. Today I found a message from my wonderful trade partner Topaz, linking to the finished piece she knitted from my yarns - and she kindly allowed me to share the photos with you!

If you'd like to pay Topaz a visit, please go to http://vom-sonnenfels.blogspot.com/

And here's what I got - not only are the soaps and bath bombs amazing, but Topaz also made these wonderful wrappings/packages, so they are beautiful, too :-)

(sorry the photo is not so good, the light was bad that day, and I couldn't take another one because I had already started using these goodies ;-))

The Colour Of Tea - Part I

Quite some time ago, one of our friends from Authentic Fiction blogged about dyeing with black tea. I loved the colours and thought about trying this myself, but somehow I never got around to it. Today I received my copy of "Harvesting Color" by Rebecca Burgess, and I SO felt like trying out some plant dyes! I don't know whether I will keep the book, as some or maybe even many of the plants can't be found where I live (the book is really beautiful, though!), and when I looked at my supplies I returned to a German dyeing book for the recipies. As it turned out, all the leaves I could use would have to be soaked over night, so I desperately thought about what else I could use and the tea came back to mind. I've had a huge package of black tea for ages, and it wasn't that tasty in the first place (I used small amounts for my henna hair dyeing sessions, but 500 g do go a long way), so I decided to have a go.

I had previously (one or two years ago) spun some white fibre into yarns I wanted to dye - so you can see how long it can take me sometimes to actually realize my plans ;-) It took me a while to sort through the yarns and to label them. I put the details on pieces of paper, laminated them, and fixed the info to the yarns with thread, so I won't have difficulties knowing which is which after the dyeing process. I have lambs wool, a gorgeous blend of kid mohair and bluefaced leicester wool, merino/bamboo blend, and bluefaced leicester wool on its own. 7 skeins altogether.

I decided on using the dye bath twice, first with 300 g of yarn, and then again with about 200 g. I googled about dyeing with tea, found this blog entry (and the one by Authentic Fiction already linked to above) and some reference in German. I decided to just experiment with the amount of tea I needed. I took out my sewing machine and made a very simple bag which I filled with about 150 g of black tea.

I stitched it up, and now I had my very own, handmade tea bag ;-)

I put the tea into hot water, and I think I let it boil for about 20-30 minutes. Then I turned off the stove and let the dye bath sit for a while because I had other things to do

After about an hour, I put my first four skeins into the dye bath, without washing or even dampening them first. They didn't need to be washed because the fibres I used were commercially processed and thus without any grease or plant matter or anything.

I plan to simmer the whole lot for about an hour (which is nearly over, since I've taken my time writing all this) and then removing the yarns and putting the second lot in for another hour. I am so curious how the yarns will turn out, I do hope to get some gorgeous copper, though I am afraid they will be just brownish... We'll see :-) I'll take photos of the finished yarns when they are dry and when there is more suitable light.

Feature - Tour de Fleece - Halloween

There's quite a lot of news :-) First of all, we're very proud and happy to have been chosen for a feature on My Day is Friday. We documented one of our days for you, complete with text and photos, which you can read and look at here. Morrgan, thank you so much for the opportunity, we had lots of fun documenting! :-)

Last week, I had a new idea for Halloween ghosts, so I prepared them and spun them into a yarn. There's gorgeous black and violet fibre in it, as well as some glow in the dark fibre, and - of course - the little cloth ghosts. Here's a quick peek until I can take better photos:

Halloween is still a while off, but I just love creating new Halloween yarns, and I think you can never start too early ;-)

Then, there's the Tour de Fleece which started yesterday. Since I've been feeling a little under the weather lately, I didn't spin yesterday and I might not be able to participate every day, but I will try. Today, I spun a yarn which I'll be knitting into a scarf for a good friend:

And now, I'm off to watch the rest of today's game of the Women's World Cup. By the way - do any of you follow the WWC?

Snape and the Pirate

Hi everyone, it's been quiet here on the blog for a while now. I've had so much to do I was hardly able to keep up with it all (well, *not* able to keep up with it all, as my absence here shows), but I've wanted to show you two finished pieces by one of our customers for so long now, and now I finally can:

Severus Snape

Heather combined our Snape art yarn with mohair and made this stunning hood. She let her daughter wear it for the photoshooting, and she told us 

"I can't wait for cold weather to see the silk fluttering in the wind!"

 What a wonderful thought! :-)

A Pirate's Life for Me

What a gorgeous piece, and how fitting for the pirate yarn! Here's what Heather says:

"I added a little bit of a gray and black yarn at the top that had long locks spun into it that matched your yarn perfectly! This is the link to the pattern I used: www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hole-y-triangle-scarf
It's a great pattern to use for this type of yarn, I think it really shows the textures and the add ins!"

You can find Heather as ThePinkPirate on Etsy, or visit her blog. Heather, thank you so much again for the pictures!

Special Feature - Tales of the Firefly

A few months ago, my husband and I suggested to my sister-in-law that she open her own Etsy shop. She had been making beautiful chains of lights for some time and we thought it would be great for her to spread the beauty around the world :-) It was not that hard to convince her; actually, she was hooked nearly straight away. She and I met in order to set up the shop, to try out how to photograph the items, and to design the banner, avatar and business cards. I was involved a lot (I wouldn't have wanted it any other way), and I love what she does, so I really want to tell you more about it!

Tales of the Firefly

Eisprinzessin - Ice Princess

The Firefly takes ordinary, plain chains of lights and transforms them - almost magically - into stunning works of art. They create a beautiful atmosphere when they are switched on in the dark, but that's not all: they are also beautiful decoration in daylight.

Bride's Pride

Not only are they equipped with flowery-looking lamp shades, but the Firefly also lovingly adorns every chain with beads, bast, ribbons, charms, or anything else that fits the theme. This is hard work, since the wrapping and beading is done by hand, of course. I have seen her beading wire for some of the lights, and she recently counted the beads on one of them - she put well over two thousand (!) seed beads on about 3 m of wire for a single chain. Imagine all the time and effort!

l'aubergine

When she can't find enough decorational items to match a theme, the Firefly doesn't hesitate to create her own: look at these little aubergines made from seed beads!

This chain is wrapped with green bast, making the aubergines and the purple lamp shades stand out even more.

To be perfectly honest, I have wondered recently whether art yarn would make good wrapping material for these chains ;-)




The lamp shades are made of colourful paper. The Firefly carefully lubricates it with oil before cutting it and folding every single lamp shade by hand.
The oil is necessary because otherwise the paper won't really let the light shine through. The firefly has already blogged about this, with pictures and all. Go over there and have a look if you're interested! :-)



The Firefly opened her shop in February and has been working hard ever since in order to fill it with her beautiful creations. You might be able to imagine how long it takes to make even one chain of lights, with all the wrapping, oiling, folding and beading. There is already quite a variety of colours and themes, ranging from fairy tales to garden and nature. And there will be many more, of course! :-)


Maybe you're wondering whether you'll be able to use the chains of lights outside continental Europe? Don't worry - the Firefly has thought about everything and will provide you with a free adaptor for the plug if you're in a different country! Just let her know you need one when you order.

Now, I am sure you'd like to know where you can find the Firefly and her beautiful work?
Visit her shop on Etsy: talesofthefirefly.etsy.com - use coupon code 20117 on checkout for 10% off your order! (Valid until May 22)
Visit her blog: http://talesofthefirefly.blogspot.com
Fan her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tales-of-the-Firefly/182611118455816
Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/fireflytales

Divaesque Wellness Dreams

This is one post long overdue! Maybe some of you remeber the Divaesque Scarf I was working on for a trade. Well, I finished it quite a while ago, and I already received a packet full of gorgeous handmade soaps and shower melts from aforementioned soap sorceress Goodgirl (who, in fact, was much quicker to send her part of the bargain than I was). Since part of the parcel is supposed to be a gift to someone who might be reading this blog, the picture shows only some of the delightful items I received:

I've already used up one shower melt, gave two away (one to my dear friend and shop partner TQ/Twisted, and one to my sister-in-law), and just started another one yesterday - and they are pure heaven! I requested pure essential oils instead of perfume oils for all the bars and melts, and I am so happy about the fragrances! Thank you again so much, Goodgirl!

Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry to send the scarf on its way that I completely forgot to take photos once it was finished *ashamed* But here's photo of a part of it, anyway:

 

It's about 2,20 m long, between 20 cm and 25 cm wide, and I knitted up two full skeins (which means I've still got about half a skein of gorgeous yarn left, ha! ;-)). 

And the Lucky Winner iiiiiis...

At the beginning of March we announced a giveaway, with the deadline for entries set for March 31. 

Sooo - it's time for the drawing:

Congratulations, Grace (HomespunHandmaiden)!  

We'll also send a convo to your Etsy account, of course.

As was the condition for participating in our giveaway, Grace has linked to our post and then posted three inspirational photos on her blog. You see them here, along with a fourth picture - a teaser showing some of the materials we've already selected for the prize art yarn :-)

We're looking forward to selecting a few more materials, and to spinning this special art yarn. We will ship it some time during April.

Thank you all for participating, it was fun and interesting to see all your inspirational pictures!

New Project: Yoga Socks

When our good friend and fellow spinner Fibre Piratess visited with us last week, she gave Twisted some hand knitted yoga socks. I was instantly taken with the idea, and I knew I had to knit a pair, too. I wanted to spin the yarn myself, rather than buying sock yarn (I always HAVE to spin the yarn, since I enjoy spinning even more than knitting), though I knew from the start this would be tedious work and I'd probably hate it in the end. The thing is, sock yarn should be far sturdier than any yarn you'd use for a scarf of a hat or things like that. One thing to ensure that is to use synthetic fibre, so I did - but I blended them with wool, silk, and bamboo. The next thing to ensure robustness is to ply the yarn instead of using it as a single. I decided on spinning really, really thin yarn and then trying the Navajo plying technique, which I never tried on the wheel before, though I practiced on the spindle some years ago. It went astonishingly well, I came to enjoy the plying more than the spinning, and I thought it to be quite meditative. The outcome: more than 150 m of threeply yarn, more than 80 g, still about fingering weight (15 wpi). It took me very, very long, but I finished it...

...and I also started knitting

I usually don't like synthetic fibre, but mixed with other fibres they're not so bad, and the yarn does feel quite good, stury yet still soft enough.

I think the first picture shows the colours best, at least on my monitor. I still haven't finished the first sock since I didn't really have much time this past week, but I am in no hurry :-) I modified the pattern I found on FibrePiratess's blog (which was in German, anyway), but I might try to post it when I'm done.

WIP - Divaesque Art Yarn Project

I've already blogged about the scarf I wanted to knit for a trade with the talented soap sorceress Goodgirl.
(as I have no idea how all that wellness stuff is made, I am most impressed and it does seem like magic to me - and I do like the alliteration ;-))

I started knitting when we went to Prague (here's the blog post about it), and I also worked on it during the Christmas holidays. Then I was ill, and then I wasn't sure whether the scarf was already long enough. I wanted to take pictures to show to Goodgirl, so she could decide whether she wanted it to be longer - but I never managed. So, this is still a UFO (unfinished object), but I finally wrote a message about it to my patient trade partner and hope to finish it sometime soon. It's been fun knitting so far - I absolutely love knitting with art yarn, as you might have guessed ;-) It's fascinating how even the simplest pattern is transfigured by the yarn. Just a bit like magic, too!

Ladybugs - A Special Art Yarn with Handmade Glass Beads

It's been quite a while since I wrote about a trade I took part in. I received two sets of handmade glass beads, then, one of which I spun into a yarn very soon. I'd been looking forward to make a yarn with the second set of beads, but it was only last week that I was finally able to decide on colours and fibre types for this special yarn. There was also the question of the spinning technique, since I dind't want to make this yarn the same way I made the other. I decided on the corespinning technique, which always results in a very lofty, highly textured yarn and which is also suitable for beads this size. Here it is.

Ladybugs in the Meadow

It's already listed in the shop :-)
I'd like to thank the maker of the beads again, they are so amazing: Danke, potzblitz!

New Art Yarn - and Interim Result of the Year End Spinning Challenge

Finally I found the time for a blog post - I've been quite busy working and writing my thesis, the usual ;-) But luckily, I also found a little time for spinning here and there, and I really needed that for balance...

I've spun a yarn which I will knit into a broad scarf, and which I will then trade for gorgeous bath bombs, shower melts and/or other wellness stuff handmade by the wonderful goodgirl :-)

(The pictures are crappy, but it just isn't possible for me to take good ones, so these will have to do)

 Preparing, getting all the things together:

The first skein of yarn - I love the colours and the texture, and even the flowers although they're light pink ;-) I think the go well with the black. I also added tons of sparkling angelina, as well as the beads and sequins from the picture above.

 

... but there's more: I have spun two and a half skeins of this wonderful yarn, hopefully enough for a scarf measuring 1,75 * 0,25 m

The total of these three skeins is 346 m, 349 g!

I also wanted to take a photo of all the yarns I've spun for the challenge so far - but I forgot two and added one. So, here's the photo, but the third from the right is technically not part of the challenge, and there should be two more. I also calculated the sum of yardage and weight of all the yarns I spun in November:

1208 m,  893 g - not too bad, but I bet there are many people who managed more than that ;-)

My wonderful husband and I will be going to Prague tomorrow, so I won't be able to ship any yarn orders - but you're still welcome to order, and I will ship your yarns after my return :-) Have a wonderful week, I'll be back on the 6th or 7th.

The Strange and the Divine

I promised photos of my latest yarns which you have already seen on the bobbin, during the spinning process - and here they are :-)

Luna Lovegood


108 m / 97 g
I used fine merino wool of yellow, peach and light blue, as well as white mohair for a fine halo and white Bluefaced Leicester wool for extra softness. I spun in sunflowers and wonderful handmade glass radishes Potzblitz made for me:

Aren't the amazing?

And here's the other yarn:

Athena

191 m / 90 g
I used a wonderful merino/bamboo blend I had dyed quite a while ago. It was sitting in my dyed fibre box and for a long time, I couldn't decide what to make from it. Sometimes, when I like some supplies a lot, I don't want to use them too quickly, I usually wait for the perfect project. Now that I found it I am very happy that it turned out as beautifully as I wanted it to be :-)
I spun in two types of a kind of leaf garland, the green one clearly alluding to the olive branches associated with the Goddess Athena, and some silver-coloured owls - Athenas associated birds.
Athena is - besides other things - considered the Goddess of spinners and weavers.

Both yarns are to be listed in our shop very soon :-)

Mysterious Project Revealed

A short while ago, I hinted at a secret project I was planning for myself. Well, now - here it is, or at least, here is the plan and part of what I'll need :-)

When I saw some beautiful, drilled sea glass on Etsy, I started day-dreaming about an ocean-themed shawl. I don't like spinning lots of the same yarn (it gets boring far too quickly ;-)), so I thought about spinning a variety of ocean-themed yarns, spun in different styles, textures and colours. I thought a shawl made from them would be marvellous - but then I looked at the prices for drilled sea glass and postponed further thoughts about the shawl.

It came to mind again when the wonderful potzblitz, with whom I had already traded cute toadstool glass beads, offered to make some more glass beads in exchange for a skein of art yarn. I requested glass beads looking like sea glass. I wanted them to be irregular, colourful and frosted - and here they are:

Aren't they wonderful?

After I learned I would get them, I started spinning the first yarns for my project. Before I can spin a yarn containing the beautiful glass beads, however, I'll need time to dye some fibre. I'm thinking dark, stormy grey-greenish-turquoisish, and I won't add much else than the beads, so they will stand out.


So far, I've spun four yarns for the shawl: two small skeins and two regular ones.

The small ones are corespun yarns, the core of which consists of glow-in-the-dark-thread. One is of light turquoise and contains dark sea shells and large peacock freshwater pearls; the other is of dark grey and dark teal, and contains lots of angelina and shimmering sequins.
I spun one of the larger skeins from hand dyed wool/silk blend, adding lots of freshwater pearls, frosted seed beads and sequins. For the last one, I carded and spun up a batt from merino wool of many different shades of teal and turquoise, orange highlights and sparkling angelina. It also contains lots of seed beads, some white sea shells, and commercial eyelash yarn.

More Toadstools

Some weeks ago, I traded a handmade shawl pin for two sets of handmade glass beads. I had mentioned this before, but that was before the trade took place. By now the beads have arrived and I absolutely love them! I am stunned there are people who can actually make something like that with their own hands. Well, some people out there probably think similarly about yarn, I guess ;-)

I have already spun one set of beads into a yarn - and here it is:


The other set is also red, but with black spots and I intend to spin a ladybug yarn from light green wool or maybe wool/silk blend - and I am really looking forward to it :-) I'll post a photo as soon as I am done.

The beads were made by Potzblitz - viiieeelen Dank nochmal! :-)