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!

Egyptian Blessing

I have different ways of composing yarns. One of them is to think of a story, mood, music piece, character or whatever, and then collect all the colours and add-ins that I think would be apposite. Another way is to just choose some colours and start carding, thinking of a suitable name later. With my latest yarn, the latter was the case - but I didn't have to think of a name, it kind of hit me suddenly.

I started out with different kinds of fibre of blue, yellow, and a little white and black. The colour combination reminded me of the descriptions of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, as blue and gold are closely associated with them. And then something else came to my mind: Captain Sharidan of Babylon 5 (one of my favourite TV shows) cites a supposedly ancient Egyptian blessing: May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk.

I've always liked it, and I like the association of this beautiful yarn with this blessing. I've been meaning to find out whether it's really ancient Egyptian, but I've only googled it just now. If we can believe these people, writer Harlan Ellison made it up. I still mean to have a look in our library or ask one of my professors, though. When I googled the blessing, I also stumbled upon some suggestions as to how to change the line to be acceptable to an atheist. I'd like to share the link, just as a side note: here you go :-)

I hope to list the yarn during the next week, so look out for it in our shop :-)

Happy New Year!

I know the year is already nearly three weeks old, but since I didn't have the chance before, I'd like to wish you all a happy new year anyway :-) Mine started out rather mixed, to put it mildly. First, both our cats were ill and we had to cut our holiday a day short, then I had a touch of the flu, and when I thought I was well again I was overcome with a nasty bronchitis. I used the few days between the flu and bronchitis for spinning, but even that didn't seem to work: I had two custom orders both of which I messed up. Both yarns are far too bulky, and I don't know how I could spin away without noticing that. Something like this has never happened to me before, I am still bewildered *looking sheepish* But as long as there's enough fibre to try again, I won't be stopped. I am happy to say my customer is a patient one :-)

Oh - but I did spin some new yarns which turned out fine ;-) One is an assignment for a wonderful Harry Potter Ravelry Group I found the other day: The Harry Potter Knitting & Crochet House Cup.

Ring of Toadstools

 I have used these beads before, as some of you might have noticed, I just love them and bought quite a lot ;-) And I think they are perfect for the Herbology assignment (ravelry link, you have to be logged in to see).

The other yarn is comprised of my favourite winter colours and contains felt balls - handmade, but not by me. I am still happy I found some felt balls I could buy, since I honestly don't like felting much, but I do it if I have to ;-)

Well, I do hope you had a better start into the new year. I may have been delayed but am back in business from now on, and I am determined not to be hindered by anything as mundane as the flu or bronchitis ;-)

10% Off on Boxing Day!

We're happy to announce that you'll get 10% off your whole order when ordering on Boxing Day (26th of December) and entering this coupon code:

We'd like to thank all our customers for a wonderful Etsy year! We are as happy about our new customers as we are about our faithful, ever returning customers. We are delighted about the pictures of the things you've made from our yarns, we love seeing what you've made, and we love sharing the pictures on our blog. And we'd also like to thank our blog readers for following us, and our fans for supporting us on Facebook - and all the Etsians who featured us in their treasuries for doing exactly that. This was a good year. Thank you all!

Merry Christmas! :-)

More Things Made from Art Yarn

Two of our customers have made more wonderful things from our yarns and we are very happy to be able to share them with all of you :-)

Our "Paca ate the Flowers" became "Paca's Scarf":

 

 

Look how wonderfully the texture with all its bits and coils has turned out in the knitted piece:

 

The scarf was made by Softailstitches (Ravelry link), and the yarn was spun by me - this was it:

 

 Our "Cashmere Rose" was crocheted into this beauty here:

 

Isn't the texture beautiful?

  

This scarf was made by MagdaleneKnits - and is still available in her Etsy shop, by the way ;-)

Here's a picture of the yarn, which was spun by Twisted:

Thank you, both of you, for allowing us to share your pictures and links! :-)

Let the Festivities Begin!

I've already blogged about some Christmas/Winter yarns I've spun, and I am happy to say they've all made it into the shop now. I've also been busy spinning more yarns and making gift sets, each containing one yarn with matching stitch markers and bag. These items have all been hand made by myself, of course :-)

These gift sets will make a perfect Christmas present for the special knitter in your life - whether that's yourself or someone you love ;-) If you want some of our yarns and/or gift sets in time for Christmas, be quick! Usually, shipping overseas takes about 7 to 10 days, so there's still a good chance of receiving your parcel in time for Christmas if you order right away.

Christmas Opulence

 

Merino wool of different kinds of blue, stunning facetted bohemian glass beads with silvering, and TINSEL! Knit this into something funky, opulent and elegant!

Winter Star (gift set)

 Pure Alpaca fibre, spun into a beautiful, soft yarn of light fingering weight. It drapes wonderfullly and has a lovely halo. The bag is made from commercially embroidered taffeta, the cord is decorated with a handmade pendant of a white freshwater pearl on one end and a silver snowflake charm on the other end. The stitch markers are made from silvery-peacock freshwater pearls and tiny silver seed beads. 

The lighting of the first picture is nice, but the colours are not accurate - they are actually silvery-grey (bag) and grey (yarn), as you can see in the second picture.

 Red Roses (gift set)

Hand blended merino wool of burgundy red, linen of burgundy and bright red, white bamboo flocks and sparkling red angelina were spun into a wonderfully textured yarn. The bag is made from commercially embroidered tafetta and the cord is decorated with a silver charm on one end, and a handmade pendant of one facetted garnet and two bohemian glass beads on the other end. The stitch markers contain one blood red biconic glass bead and two small black bohemian glass beads each.

I'd really love to spin more winter and Christmas yarns, but I have a lot of stuff to do for University right now, so that has to come first - except for any orders during the next few days, which will be shipped immediately, of course :-) And I do hope to find the time for another blog post soon, as there are two items I'd like to show you - made from our art yarns by our customers :-)

Prague, Loot, and a Foto Tent

I'm back from a few wonderful days in Prague - very cold, very snowy, and very relaxing because we spent a lot of time in Cafés and Restaurants  ;-) I'd like to share my favourites with you:

Coffee Lovers (Kaprova 9)
good coffee, wonderful cake, kind of cozy/stylish/shabby, free wi-fi, nice place to spend an afternoon reading, knitting, surfing, playing games on various modern cell phones and the like ;-)

Pizza Nuovo (Revoluční 1)
fantastic antipasti buffet! And several all you can eat options, great food, fantastic service. We went there twice and would have done so again if we had had more days in Prague.

Taverna Pepino (Jugoslávská 11)
fantastic food, good service, located in a vaulted old cellar.

But apart from all the eating and drinking we did see some parts of the town ;-) We went to Charles Bridge, the Old Town Square, climbed the tower of the Old Town Hall, saw the Municipal House and the Powder Gate from the outside, went to the museum (terrible archaeological collection - they really need to revise that, it looks like it's been like this for eighty years or so and I've only started to talk about the presentation, not yet the "facts" they convey) and walked around the Jewish Quarter. Let me share some pictures with you :-)

On our way from the Jewish Quarter to Charles Bridge which you can already see in the distance

 

Charles Bridge Gate, and Prague Castle, far far away on the other side

 

on Charles Bridge

 the Spanish Synagogue

 looking down at the Christmas market (from the tower of the Old Town Hall)

The Church of our Lady before Tyn, photographed through pillars on the tower

 Museum Station - what does it remind you of? Any Dr. Who lovers here? ;-)

I also started knitting the scarf I already blogged about - and I frogged it several times because I am always too lazy for swatching, but I think I got it right now. I had meant to take a photo, but I forgot after photographing all kinds of other things. Such as the Czech glass beads I bought in Prague - aren't they beautiful? :-)

They are not exactly lower in price than when I buy them on Ebay, but I really wanted to take some nice things home with me, and it's always good to be able to touch what you're buying I think.

I've been very frustrated with the absence of light recently, as I might have mentioned. It's just not possible to take good photos - so I ordered a photo tent.

I am still trying it out (and I had to buy sufficient lighting first) but I am not really sure it's such a wonderful thing, really. But let me use it a while and try editing the photos a little, and then I'll tell you if it's the better option compared to putting the yarn out in the rain to catch a little bit of daylight ;-)

As for other news, I've been very busy last night and today - I listed some of the yarns I've already posted here on the blog, I've spun two new ones, and I am currently planning some more things. Keep in touch and find out! :-)