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Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you enjoy a wonderful day with family and friends. We have so much to be thankful for!

And tomorrow officially kicks off the holiday shopping season! I will be having a Black Friday sale in both my Etsy and my ArtFire stores tomorrow! Use code BLACKFRIDAY10SALE to save 10% off everything in the stores!!

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Handmade Purses

What's on the Spinning Wheel - Finished Yarns

I've had several custom spinning orders lately so I've been pretty busy at the spinning wheel. I love to record my favorite shows and then watch them while I spin and fast forward through the commercials. It really saves time when watching TV shows and gives me something to do while I spin.

First up is a 50/50 Superwash Merino/Tencel roving in my India Spices colorway spun two-ply into a DK weight yarn.

Here is the roving.

And here is the finished yarn. I love how this turned out!

The next custom spinning job was to spin 4 ounces of my Treasure Chest custom fiber blend batts (romney wool, yearling mohair and tussah silk). I ended up with over 300 yards of sport weight yarn and I love the luster and drape to this!

Here are the batts before spinning

And here is the finished yarn

And now on the wheel is Chocolate Cherry Delight - a mixture of milk chocolate merino and cherry bamboo.

Next up is a custom dye order in my Fall Leaves colorway on Polwarth roving. Then I'll spin 8 ounces of it up into a two-ply yarn and 4 ounces into a navajo-plied yarn.

What are you creating?

New Handspun Yarns

I've been busy spinning lately and finished up three skeins of yarn.

First up is a merino/bambo/silk 50/25/25 roving handdyed by Coby Kopec of CJ Kopec Creations in her White Cap colorway. This roving was a joy to spin - so soft and easy to spin thin - I ended up with a light DK weight 350 yard two-ply skein that weighs 3.7 ounces and then navajo-plied the remainder of the yarn into a 24 yard skein that weighs 0.3 ounces. This yarn is incredibly soft with amazing drape and luster. White Caps is available in my Etsy store.

Here's the roving before spinning

And here are the finished yarns

And here is the second set of yarns. I spun up a beautiful batt called Peacock created by Esther at Jazz Turtle Creations on Etsy. The batt contained: merino, milk protein, bamboo rayon, kid mohair locks, border leicester locks, glitterati, sari silk tangles, angelina and are plied with a cotton yarn/thread in coordinating colors.

Here is the batt before spinning

I spun this one thick and thin and plied it with a cotton yarn/thread in coordinating colors. I had so much yarn that it wouldn't all fit on the bobbin so I had to make two skeins of Peacock yarn. The first skein is 89 yards and 3.3 ounces. The second skein is 85 yards and 2.4 ounces. Both are worsted weight yarns. The second skein is a bit thinner than the first one. Peacock and Peacock II can both be found in my Etsy store.

Back to the Grindstone...I Mean Drum Carder!

This week I dove into my enormous stash of custom dyed fibers and created three new Custom Fiber Blend batts. The first one I made is a recreation of a similar set of batts I created a year ago using some of the same fibers and adding additional fibers.

First up is Butterfly Garden. Blue/greens, golds and rosy pinks carded up in stripes. Very soft custom dyed BFL wool along with uber soft custom dyed tussah silk, mohair top and kid mohair locks with a generous dollop of Angelina to add sparkle and bling to the mix.

Next I carded up some custom dyed merino top with some commercially dyed multi-color merino top and added some custom dyed mohair and tussah silk then added a generous helping of Firestar and Angelina in a variety of rich earthy colors to really spice things up. This first batt I carded up in stripes similar to Butterfly Garden. This one is Canyonlands (stripes).

And finally, because I love these colors sooo much and because I had plenty of fibers, I decided to do Canyonlands again using the same fibers only I used a layered technique of applying the fibers to the drum carder, resulting in a more blended version. This is Canyonlands (layered).

I think I need to make another set of Canyonlands for myself to spin up. I love these colors!

Another Art Yarn!

I recently traded some dyed fleece for this fabulous fiber batt from JazzTurtle on Etsy. The batt contains: merino, bamboo rayon, soy silk, milk protein fiber, corriedale fleece, targhee fleece, merino/cormo fleece, kid mohair locks, bamboo noil, silk noil, sari silk and angelina. I stripped the batt into several thin strips and then started with the tan and worked my way through to the blue fibers. I spun it thick and thin (although I wish I had spun it a bit thicker) and then plied it with an organic cotton thread in coordinating colors and formed coils and beehives by pushing the fiber up onto the cotton thread as I plied it.

The batt started out like this: Day at the Beach fiber batt

And the finished yarn looks like this: Day at the Beach Art Yarn

This yarn is available in our Etsy store. 84 yards and 4.0 ounces.

ICE PRINCESS - Handspun 2-Ply Yarn - Merino, Tussah Silk and Bamboo - 260 yards

I found this gorgeous roving in my fiber stash this past week. It was the January 2010 Roving of the Month from a fiber club I joined from Cloudlover69 on Etsy so I don't have a photo of the roving before spinning. I started spinning this one very thin, thinking I was going to navajo-ply it (which is basically where you chain ply almost like crochet and ply the yarn back onto itself, making a three ply yarn) but decided that it would be easier if I just split the roving in half, stripped each half into thinner strips for spinning and then two plyed it. I love how this turned out. At first I thought there was too much white in the roving for my liking and thought I would end up with too many long white runs in the yarn, but after stripping the roving into much thinner strips the white just blended in with the blue, aqua and turquoise and made pastel colors. I had some yarn left over on one of the bobbins after I got done plying (since I started spinning it much thinner on the first bobbin) so I navajo plyed that bobbin and ended up with another 21 yards of 3-ply yarn for a bonus skein.

I photographed this yarn yesterday morning (after steaming it Thursday night) and listed it in my Etsy store and then posted it on my Split Rock Ranch Facebook page. It sold within minutes of listing!

Spinning up a Storm!

I have been spinning up a storm this week! I just listed two new skeins of handspun yarn today in my Etsy store.

First up is the Reggae on the River BFL roving that I showed you yesterday.

First the roving

 

And the finished two-ply yarn

 

I may buy another one of these rovings in merino/silk or merino/bamboo so I can spin it even thinner and then Navajo 3-ply it which keeps the color runs cleaner. I think the colors were somewhat muted by doing a two-ply yarn and mixing the colors. Any thoughts on that?

And next a boucle yarn made from a fiber blend batt of BFL wool, silk, bamboo, glitz and angelina in greens, purples, turquoise/aqua and white plyed with purple and turquoise cotton thread. I love how this one turned out! It is so soft and poofy and fluffy.

Pansy

On the Spinning Wheel - Olivia's Pansies

Last week I spun this roving up (a super fine merino roving from Poppy Flower Fibers in Boulder, CO) and called it "Crocuses". A friend of mine who has been trying to decide on which yarns to buy for her crocheting needs immediately spoke up for this one before I was even done spinning it.

And here is the finished yarn.

And now on the spinning wheel, a 80/20 Merino/Tussah Silk roving from Cloudlover69 on etsy. Natalie called this colorway "Olivia" and I am calling the yarn "Olivia's Pansies". I'll get photos of the finished yarn posted when I've completed the spinning, plying and steaming.

 

This one should end up looking similar to the Crocuses yarn but the shades of blue and green are different. This one is spinning up lighter in color than the Crocuses roving and I should have longer runs of color in the Pansies yarn. The fiber is super soft and a joy to spin and should be uber soft and lustrous when I'm finished with it.

My Rio Scarf is in a Treasury!

My handknit Rio scarf made from a gorgeous wool novelty art yarn is in a Treasury! Thank you so much to MOMGEN for putting together this beautiful Treasury.

 

 

Thank you to everyone who took advantage of the sale in my Etsy store over the long holiday weekend. Sales were very slow the first couple of days - well, non-existent actually...but I made enough sales to be pleased overall with how the sale went.

I, on the other hand, took full advantage of the great sales in a variety of on-line stores carrying handmade goods! I can't wait to see all the goodies I ordered. I'm trying very hard this year to make it a mostly handmade Christmas so I hope my friends and family enjoy the handmade gifts I selected for them or made for them myself. I think unique handmade gifts are so special and tell the recipient that you really gave some thought into choosing a nice gift for them.

And, I got an email this morning telling me that I am the Featured Crafter of the Week at My Craft Corner! I prefer to think of myself as an artist, not a crafter, but I'll take it, especially since this is now my full time business! Please pop on over to My Craft Corner to have a look.

SALE in the Split Rock Ranch Etsy store extended through Cyber Monday!

I have extended the sale in my etsy store through Cyber Monday.

SALE in the Etsy store this weekend!

SALE in the Etsy store this weekend! 10% off any order. 15% off orders over $50. 20% off orders over $100. 1/2 price shipping on every item after the first item. Just complete your order and I will either refund your discount via PayPal or convo me to request a revised PayPal invoice. Use code THANKSALE to receive your discount! Sale ends Sunday night at midnight MST.

And remember, I loaded up the store with lots of brand new Custom Fiber Blend batts a few days ago so there are lots of fibers, yarns and finished fiber accessories to choose from. 

I will also be restocking the store on some items and may have more than one available so if you need more than what is listed, please let me know and I will list additional items or do a reserved listing for you.

WW - Snow Drift

Snow Drift

I'm Stocking the Store Just in Time for Holiday Shopping!

I've been busy lately carding up Custom Fiber Blend batts for spinning, felting and other fiber art. I'm going to quickly share with you a few photos of my latest and greatest creations and then I'm off to card up more batts. Some of these batts sold right away and I'm busy recreating similar batts, so there will be no links to the individual batts in the store but I will put a link to the etsy store so you can take a look and see what's left. I may even do a Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday sale on the site...it depends on how much inventory I have and how organized I manage to get...

First up is Treasure Chest: wool, kid mohair and tussah silk

Next is Precious Calico Kitty

(This one sold right away so I made a second batt)

Alpaca, Camel Down, Yak Down, Silk, Wool

Precious Kitty II

Rose Garden - Merino wool and Bamboo

More to follow, depending on how my day goes...

Fresh off the spinning wheel.

Both of these yarns are spun from superwash wool rovings dyed by CJ Kopec Creations for the CJKC Ravelry Spin Along. For a Spin Along everyone gets the same fibers and then puts their own twist on it and posts photos of the resulting yarn, then everyone votes on their favorite yarn that month and the winner gets a gift certificate to CJ's etsy store. FUN! I couldn't choose between the rovings so I got one of each - one cool roving called "Take a Leap" and one warm roving called "Trust Me".

Both yarns are available in my Etsy store. I renamed them. "Take a Leap" became "Poseidon" and "Trust Me" because "Pumpkin Spice". I'm wishing I would have bought two of each roving so I could have enough yarn to make a pair of socks. Maybe I'll mix these two skeins (if they don't sell) and alternate stripes to make a cool/warm pair of socks.

I used Picasa photo software (a Google free software!) and created the awesome collages. I want to play with the Picasa software and llama photos...here's another time gobbler, I can see it now!

UPDATE: Coby is going to dye up another 4 oz roving in each colorway so I can spin another skein of yarn in each color - these will be perfect sock yarns!!!! I only wish I could get the nerve to finish up the heel of my first sock, which has been on the needles for a year now!

Mums The Word - October Roving of the Month Club colorway

A sneak peak at the Split Rock Ranch October Roving of the Month Club colorway - Mum's The Word. Rich Autumn colors of Burgundy, Golden yellow, Crimson, Yellow Sun and Burnt Orange combine to create these awesome rovings. I planted some Mums in my garden in these colors and just had to reproduce it on fibers!

I sent a sneak peak of the New Zealand Wool yarn dyed in Mum's the Word colorway to one of the club members and she thought it looked just like a Tequila Sunrise - she has never actually seen Autumn leaves before (she lives in Florida). And it certainly does look like a Tequila Sunrise (although it has been eons since I've had one of those!)