Therapy Friday-ish

Whew, ok, I put my first pattern on Ravelry, and let me just say, I am surprised, humbled, delighted, and a little bit bubbly at the positive response so far.   Part of me says Oh, but it's just a little sheep... But it's a sheep I was able to make and then share with others.  How giddy!  Thank you. :)


It's been an exciting week(s) over all, I met my first Phatty, that I know of, at Mayday! Underground Indie Crafts + Arts Festival.  At first I was all angsty over the fact that a venue selling only handcrafted things was a silly thing to call indie (I suppose there are handcrafting franchises, but I don't think they are the norm) or underground (it wasn't really clandestine, that would be terrible for sales), but then it actually turned out to be in a (positively awesome warehouse) basement.  Truly, that is the best meaning of underground craft + art festival I can think of.


I was allowed to touch all sorts of fibers/yarns/soaps at the Fuzzy Bunny booth and I wasn't even chased off before I could buy several things.  As a bonus we got a quick spinning wheel demonstration, and met someone really pleasant. Plus, oh my gosh, the fibers. The fibers!


Plus, now we own a mini-lathe,  so I can do some really high speed spinning.    Har har.  (Seriously though, I've been going to bed thinking of making drop spindles and waking up thinking of making chip carved turning bowls for the supported spindles I'm saving up for.)


Anyway.


Fiber.


I left a bag of it on the couch and President Nixon was there in a flash, kneading away, with the biggest, happiest cat smile.  Truly, that must be the real way to make neps.


Ok, wait, back to fiber.   Honestly, that's where I've been trying to go this whole time!

I promised way back when I bought my first Phat Fiber box that I would write more about each little sample.  It's fun for me to flex my writing-about-things muscles, and maybe it will point one or two people towards shops with their dream fibers/stitch markers/patterns.   Win-win.

This is getting wordy, so I will keep it to the feeble amount I have spun so far.

Yeti Wears a Party Hat

Merino, faux angora, banana fiber, angelina, mohair, BL X, cashmere, nylon, sari silk, firestar 

This is a very funky batt!   It was a sample from Atomic Blue,  and when I first saw it I felt something similar to panic.   I barely know how to spin, and here was a batt that looked like it might fight back.   But in the end, it was very educational!   Some of the fibers I couldn't place, but the merino, angelina, and sari silk were all pretty easy to peg.   Now I'm not scared to spin the merino I've bought.   Or, less scared.  Yay! (Why would I be scared to spin merino but not alpaca? I don't know!)

Home grown Natural Colored Kid Mohair  locks from Farmgirl Chic

These are unbelievably soft.   I wasn't sure what to do with them, so I took just one (1!!) lock and spread it out over some (about 1/4 oz.) coopworth roving.  A little went a long way, and the yarn it made was, well, worth making!  I like that they were pretty long, which meant instead of just flopping out of the yarn, in little sections, I could easily, much more easily than I expected, incorporate it with the roving.

The end result.

"Spring Peepers" 100% alpaca fiber, locally raised, from FiberDiversions 

According to Lisa the way she prepares her fibers makes the small bits fall off.  Sadly, I don't have enough experience with alpaca (yet) to really vouch one way or another.  I will say that even though I'm a beginner, I was able to spin my finest yarn, yet:





Mmm...soft and silky 3 ply!

Therapy Friday - "Hunka" review - fruity

Oop, a short post today, I got involved in trying to figure out a new pattern to give you guys, plus various other on-line things, and I lost track of the week!

Fruity Little Drink
Peach colored
smells like Hawaiian Punch mixed with peaches
very strong scent - even touching dry soap leaves fingers smelling cheerful
incredibly creamy feel to the wet soap, and lathers very well

Peach Fizz
Tangerine colored
The same creamy and comfortable lather as Fruity Little Drink. Just a little bit on a washcloth lathers up the whole thing, and it looks like one little hunka would be good for around a week, if I let it dry outside of the shower.
Smells like fresh peaches, with maybe a touch of lemon to liven things up. Nice!

I Wanda
Smells like olive oil and some sort of girl-y lime flavored drink. It's actually very clean, and refreshing smelling.

All of these soaps have a nice fruit-stand sillage away from the soap, but up close it smells like clean, comforting, olive oil soap. I don't know if the soap smell overpowers the fruit smell up close, or if there is something about the fragrance that only works when they are actively wafting. Either way, I enjoy the effect - clean, natural, with enough fragrance to make for an interesting bubbly mini-vacation but not so overpowering that it's gag-me artificial.

My Latest Loot, October/November edition

One of the reasons that I loved Halloween as a child (and adult!) was the loot.

Ahh....loot.

New Ponyville ponies for me! Showing off some fall fashions...

I finally bought the Toys R' Us tube of Ponyville ponies. I tried to convince myself that I could just live with an itty bitty Triple Treat, but I was so wrong. I needed a Flippity Flop in my life. And a Breezie Dreams! Oh and a... well, you get the idea.

Now they can get together, have some fancy dress cocktail parties, and talk about how aggravating it is when President Nixon knocks them to the floor and chews their heads. I gotta say, it is more fun with (small, plastic, pony) company.

There's a lot of collectors out there who just don't like Ponyville ponies, and in some ways I can see why. Their hair doesn't move. They are mostly just repeats of big ponies, except with much better playsets. Lately, there doesn't seem to be much attention paid to decent NEW ponies...

But, look at how CUTE they are!

Kaylazilla demands cute!

Well, Kayla was more of a planned purchase. I have failed in Mission Convince-Hubby-That-Tiny-BJDs-Are-NOT-Creepy. However, for some reason he thinks Kelly dolls are cute. And I think spiders are cute. So, say 'hello' to Kayla! I can't wait to have time to crochet her some little outfits. And, as far as I know her dresses will fit Felix Brownies and Pukis, so maybe she will help spread the BJD love, after all. Er, to DOA and Etsy, if not to my hubby.


Speaking of crochet....

I am happy to be working on yet ANOTHER crochet project. I did finish the previous choker and it just didn't suit me as well as I hoped. So, try, try again.

I think this necklace will be more of a lariat...but I'm not sure.

But gosh darn it, it is soft and it has an itty bitty President Nixon-esque cat, so it's bound to be loved by my neck!

And yes, I'm pretty sure it counts as loot, even if it has taken many hours of work to crochet up that lacy pattern so far.

No, I don't think Collette hunted down any ostriches...it's the colorway!
Etsy: Epicurus

Speaking of soft... here's the heavenly extra fine lace weight yarn in question. If I wasn't already married, I'd give this yarn some serious consideration. It's creamy, but with still enough natural texture that it doesn't give me the heeby jeebies.

I fell in love with it as soon as I opened the envelope, because the colors were exactly what I was hoping for. And then of course immediately wrapped the silky, opulent hank into a ball, because I'm neurotic like that.

I still love cotton thread, but I gotta say... silk blends are looking (and feeling) like an excellent choice for jewelry...

Newton, Armando (who is actually blue gray), and Aleen
Etsy: TeriPersing

CATS! FatCats, to be exact.

Before Etsy, I had never heard of Lampwork beads, now I can't get enough of them. Oooohhh...Etsy, you frisky thing, you!

I just love these beads, they are so freakin' adorable in person. I would still have bought heaps and heaps of them except maaaaaaybe I should see if I can make nice jewelry with them.

I'm planning on keeping Armando, because President Nixon is a blue cat (though not at all fat) and using Newton for a gift. So that leaves Aleen for my Etsy shop. Unless I keep her, too.

And, finally, because all that looting and pillaging and purchasing can lead to the body stink...

The closest to "foody" I can get without fearing land sharks
Etsy shop: naturallyamy

Mmm...violet. One of my favorite scents. And soap that doesn't make my skin rashy? That is also high on the list of "Nice Things."

I'd never really tried hand crafted soap before, and I think I should have invested much much sooner! It's creamy, and of course it stinks real pretty.

I had expected a subtle woodsy anise and violet scent, but it's really Violet Mints and Allsorts. Which sounds like a blast to the face, and maybe it is, but it's still clean and refreshing. And nostalgic. So nostalgic, in fact, that I find I can't really use it every day.

Violet Mints and Allsorts were very much "special event" candies, and obviously I enjoyed them because I keep a small stash in the house for pick-me up emergencies.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up keeping a stash of this soap around, too!