On the mend

I am off the crutches, but my foot is still sore. I think I am ready to let my chiropractor touch it:). I have fallen arches, so foot pain isn't an entirely new thing to me...that is probably much more than you really want to know about me, isn't it?

The "Ocean toes" sock is progressing nicely. It is pleasant enough to knit, as long as no one is vying for my attention! I just have maybe half of the foot, then the toe left. I'll have a picture soon.

Actually, the exciting thing for me today, is some of my handspun yarn was selected to be in an Etsy Treasury here:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=28169

You have to look fast, this one expires on Wednsday. It features EtsyFast artists. I have enjoyed my time in EtsyFast (fiber arts street team). I do love all things fiber, so it is fun to check out what everyone else has been making!

Have a great day!

Brenda

p.s. Here is a photo of the selected yarn. I wish I could include everyone else's stuff too!

Fun Yarn

I have been having so much fun playing with this wool! It started out as undyed Fine African Top from Louet. I hand painted it with fuchsia, yellow, turquoise, and blue, repeating the sequence around the loosely skeined top. I let the colors blend where they met. After the top was rinsed and dried, I divided it into five color groups:fuchsia, blue, turquoise, green, and yellow/orange.

Next, I took each fluffy pile and spun it seperately. Each color has bits of its neighbors, so the yarn has a lot of complexity. It is so much fun to watch the blending as I spin, and to examine the finished yarn once I am done. Anyway, I wound each color off the bobbin into a center pull ball as I finished it. The picture of the five yarn balls is the singles yarn.

When I had all five balls of singles ready, I went back to my wheel (which is a double drive Asford Traveller that I assembled from a kit) and plied each ball back on itself using the end from the outside and the one from the middle.

I just love this yarn. It has been so much fun to make. It makes me think of tropical colors (because of the fuchsia and turquoise?). I found myself thinking of the green as "lemon-lime" and the fuchsia as "sunset". The orange/yellow one I wasn't sure I was going to like. The bits of green mixed in with the orange and yellow had me worried, but as I plied it, I fell in love with it. It really reminds me of autumn leaves. Often we will find maple leaves colored with incredibly rich fall hues and flecks of green like this.

I posted these yarns on Etsy. I wasn't sure I wanted to, but I find that I don't want to knit it anyway! I just want to look at it (and feel it, it is rather soft). I love to knit, and I love to knit handspun, but I can't keep up with it all. I am really enjoying the freedom to experiment with color that having my own little etsy business has allowed me.