Drumroll, please

Ok, all of you waiting with bated breath for the contest results...

First of all, thanks to all of you who delurked (let me delude myself into thinking you actually stop by to read my blog on a regular basis, and just don't feel like commenting, please?) to comment! I figured free stuff would get y'all out of the woodwork!

Ok, so I let my daughter Ella pick the winner - which I forgot to take pics of as she chose. Here's what I settled on...



And our winner is...





KAT! Hey Kat! Want the fiber or the yarn?

Karen and Marisol (blogless? Let me know, and I'll link on over!) had the other correct guesses...whichever one of you emails me first gets whatever Kat doesn't pick, how does that sound? My email addy is talamorgan at erols dot com.

Here's some spinnin' I've been doing lately. I hope to have an update on Yarn Rescue by the end of the week. And I have more batts to post on Etsy, but for some reason, I can't connect to Etsy at all! I have no idea what's going on, but it's upsetting me!



Dad's Flannel, from domestic wool dyed by Lynn at the Yarn Wench. Love Lynn - wanna marry her!



This is Grapevine (couldn't think of a better name right now) from fiber dyed by Ashley at Neauveau (I feel like mourning, she's posted a note that she's taking a break from fibery things to get her realtor's license. I wish her the best of luck, but man, am I going to miss her fiber - especially the hand-dyed locks! Must. Hoard. What. I. Have.)

And here's a gratuitous catslut pic - Groucho is a lazy whore!

BLOG CONTEST!

So much for having this done the next day, huh? Well, I guess it's a good thing, because I know what I want to do! I have made good progress in the Erte cloche. I am almost done with the straight area before the repeats, so I figure I can get it done by Friday. Because on Friday, I'm casting on for Anemoi. And that's where my contest comes in! I want you to DELURK! COMMENT! Let me know I have more than 3 people checking in!!!

Ok, here's the deal. I have 3 different combinations of yarn for Anemoi. Here they are (all are from Elann).

This is Elann Baby Silk in Parchment and Moroccan Olive:


Here's Elann's Baby Cashmere in Morning Mist and Tapestry Blue:


And the final possibility is Elann's Baby Silk in Aubergine and Lotus Blossom:


So here's the deal. Comment on this entry with which combination you think I'm going with. You've got till Friday to enter. On Friday I'm casting on (don't worry, I've already decided which combination I'm using!) and what I'll do is go through the comments and pick the right choices. I'll throw the names of those people in a bowl and let Hurricane Ella choose the winners. If you're a spinner, you win this:

About 2-3 oz. of Falklands wool handdyed by me, and a handful of Cotswold lamb locks dyed by Frene Creek Farm.

If you're a knitter, you win this:

134 yards of a soft wool blend (there's gotta be merino in here, it's really nice and soft!) spun slightly thick and thin, in purples and pinks. Yes, it's blurry, all my pics are blurry lately. I hate my camera - someone want to trade me a good one for mine?! Hee hee!

So there you go. Delurk. Comment. Pick the right combo, get entered. Ella picks you, you pick your prize! Let me know in the comment if you're wanting the fiber or the yarn!

Oh, and don't forget about my destashing sale!

And now we are one

Well, the blog is one. It's my first blogiversary!

I had grand plans for a contest and a destashing sale and a whole bunch of FOs and WIPs. But I still have a fever after 4 days, and really just want to crawl into a hole and drown in mucus. I will chatter on a little bit, but the contest will have to wait until tomorrow.

Here it is, a blog entry in 4 movements.

I. Reports of Clapotis have been greatly exaggerated.

Remember way back when when I bragged all over my skeelz, that I would have Clapotis done by that weekend? Yeah, well, that didn't happen. In fact, it's still not done. Case in point:



That would be Clapotis, 3 skeins of Manos down, and just about halfway done. HALFWAY. Over a MONTH later. I blame it on project polygamy - I can't have just one project going, and sometimes the new projects are just, um, better (ask me if Kepler's been blocked and seamed yet...)

II. FO's




Here is yet ANOTHER pair of socks, and the first FO of the new year! Monkey! LOVE LOVE LOVE me some Monkey socks! Knit in Socks that Rock Chapman Springs lightweight. I knit them on my Crystal Palace size 2 DPNs, and the only change I made was using a knitted cast-on (which takes longer, but I like because I don't need to estimate how much yarn to use!) Are there 2 socks, or just one sock on 2 feet? Well, I couldn't rest BOTH feet on the back of the chair to get natural light, could I? Trust me, they're both done! Look at that detail:



And check out that heel! Wow. Perfection! (The other heel is too!)



I LOVED this pattern and will definitely knit it again!

III. WIPs and stash enhancement

Because I can't resist having more than, um, 4 projects on the needles at once, I started the Faux Fair Isle sweater in Spin to Knit. I am using yarn handspun by Misshawklet for the yoke, and I added to my stash through someone else's destash 3 skeins of chocolate brown Cascade Ecological wool for the body. Loverly!



Here's a closeup of the color change (I'm loving it!!)



And I have added to my stash for Eunny's GORGEOUS Anemoi mittens. I have 3 different color combos, but I think that's going to be my contest, so I'll share them (and the prizes!) tomorrow. My camera is on the fritz, and only holding a little bit of charge, so I have no pics of the prizes yet.

And I bought some Rowan 4-ply at Jimmy Beans Wool (it's on saaaale!) for the Erte cloche by Marnie Maclean. Ohhh, tweedy goodness!



I love tweed!

IV. DESTASHING SALE!!!!

I've saved the best for last, I guess. I am having a bit of a destashing sale. There is a flickr set here, and each item has a comment by me giving details about the yarn, and costs. I accept paypal only. I guess if you want anything, email me at talamorgan at erols dot com. Put "destash" or something to that effect in the subject line so I don't delete you as spam! THANKS!

Well, that was a bit of a let-down since I really wanted to have a first blogiversary contest, but hopefully by tomorrow my camera will have some charge (anyone have a Kodak DX4530 with charging problems?) and I can take pics of some prizes - for spinners and knitters!

Cough cough cough - I'm off to drown in mucus!

We have a winnah!

Me!

I won a contest over at Mama-Scrapalotta! I never win anything, and I keep entering contests on people's blogs, but never win! This inspires me to have my own contest. My first blogiversary is Jan. 18, so I will be posting a contest that day for either handspun yarn (for knitters) or handdyed fiber (for spinners). Hopefully by then I'll have shaken the headcold from hell I picked up from my daughter!

And I am also going to be having a DESTASHING SALE on my blog this week - as soon as the clouds clear a bit and I have the energy to take pics!

Gratuitous yarn shot - "Wood Nymph", a new skein at my Etsy shop - 134 yards of Falklands dyed by the lovely and uber-talented Yarn Wench, spun with Cotswold lamb locks from Frene Creek. Yummers!

Lime n Violet present...

An Etsy customer of mine mentioned that Lime n' Violet had mentioned me on their podcast. Now, I've never listened to a podcast before in my life. I knew about Lime n' Violet (hell, I bought a skein of yarn - Violet's Pink Ribbon - for Miss Violet's boob fund) but I'd never listened to a 'cast of theirs. Well, they did a rundown of yarn porn sites they love, and they mentioned me! They were talking about Yarn Rescue (Lynnell has some cool new art yarns up they were giving a shout-out to), and one of them says "Well, I knew about Black Cat" like I'm a freakin' household name or something! It was sooooo cool!! She wants to roll around and lick the batts in my Etsy shop! HOW AWESOME!!!! I feel like a minor celebrity or something (only in my head, dahlinks, only in my head...)

Wootwootwootwoot!

Or should I say "Squeeeeeee!!"

Or maybe "Hell, YEAH!"

I just got my unsold inventory back from Craftland. I sent 45 skeins, and got only 18 back! And most of what I sold was the slightly more expensive stuff! I made some pretty nice dough, let me tell you!! I am SO totally stoked!!! Of course, it has to go to defray my credit card purchases as of late (and is only a tiny drop in the bucket, let me tell you!) but it renews my faith in what I'm doing! Hopefully it will drum up more business at Yarn Rescue, and if I expand to consign anywhere else. Etsy sales are so-so - I'm selling more fiber than yarn (which is nothing to sneeze at! I'm having a ball with the drumcarder!) but it's SO flooded with handspun yarn. I must find new places to sell my stuff!

So, go me, go me! A little pat on my back from myself. I'm feeling good right now!

Oh, and hey Col, remind me to take a pic of my CROCHET SWATCH!

What have I gotten myself into?

Ok, so Rachel over at Yarnagogo had this great idea to get us knitters off our tushies (or tusies as my daughter calls it) and get us running - or walking, or Nordic Tracking (great for my knees) - 100 miles by April 1. ONE HUNDRED. Not 10, not 50, 100. And what did I do? I joined up! I joined up the other day, and STILL HAVEN'T WALKED A MILE. I think I had better get my arse in gear, no? I can't run, my knees are too crappy. I can walk, and I have a course mapped out (Rach is right, Google's Pedometer is AWESOME! So now I know how far I have to go around my neighborhood to do a mile. It's doable, totally, I just haven't actually done it yet. I'm the queen of lame-ass excuses, basically. Throw off the idea I have in my head of what I need to do or how I want to do it, and I will promptly cut the thing I want to do least. I was totally planning on starting with 1 mile 7 days a week (walking outside, since my Nordic Track computer is on the blink, and I have no way of knowing how far I've gone on it), since that allows my knees to ease into it, and I figured that would allow some wiggle room if I have to miss a day. But I don't feel too optimistic about it so far, since I have already put it off about 3 days. Someone kick my butt, please? Please?

New wheel...

Ok, so this is a bit of a survey post. I have had a decent amount of handspun sales lately, and find that I am about halfway or less to getting a new wheel. Yes, I know I have my Lendrum complete. It rocks, and I would never want to part with it! But I have a lot of spinning ideas that would tie it up and I don't want to have to be without it if I need to spin up a custom order or if I find I need to replenish one of the several sites I sell on. So I want a wheel that's good especially for spinning plied yarns, like sock yarn (I have this insane idea that I want to start spinning my own sock yarns) or yarns that are plied, but with locks and stuff (it would be nice to have an extra wheel to practice some things like corespinning on). So, any lurkers out there who want to give a shout out to their own special wheel? Don't need to spin anything too bulky, so it doesn't need any special features, but I want something that I can sit at for a long time comfortably, double-treadle, relatively compact.

Any ideas?

Oh, and just so there's SOME kind of eye candy, here's Danica! My first stab at entrelac - I LOVE IT!!!! Lady Eleanor, here I come!