getting back into the swing of things

 

  This week (is it Friday...I think so) has passed at a remarkable pace. I've been busy doing lots of little things. The sort of things that you think won't take any time at all, and then hours have gone by...there are so many ends to tie up for Kickstarter, whilst trying to carry on with the main task at hand (dyeing yarn!) Needless to say, things have been bonkers. Still a good and exciting type of bonkers, but I truly have no idea what day it is today.

I've started to send out backer surveys. So anyone who pledged in the Kickstarter campaign will be hearing from me soon if you haven't already. It's been so much fun to hear back from you about your colour choices. I always love to know who wants which colour! I forgot to mention in Kickstarter that 'Soft' is listed as the colour option in a few rewards, but I've shown Wild Rose. This is  my fault...there was a time when I was going to switch them, and I FORGOT! So There's a big picture of Soft at the top of this post, on Mooresburg DK. I dyed up lots of Soft yesterday, on Sock too...beginning of the kits! 

There has also been rather a lot of painting and drawing. I am so happy with the way my sticker illustrations have come out. I love stickers, I always want them even if I don't stick them on anything at all. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but here's the original of my favourite sticker design. It's all about the socks around here, don't forget!

I've been running around so much that knitting time has been rather hard to come by. Don't worry, my sock addiction is showing no signs of waning, just paused for a moment. As I am still knitting the last of my test socks, ironing out any kinks in the Favourite Sock Pattern, so all spare time has gone into knitting those guys. When some time frees up though, I'm casting on with the Mooresburg colourway for a pair of socks for me. I simply could not resist a skein of this colour - I love it more every time I look at it!

 There are a couple of other projects waiting in the wings too...

 

I've had my eyes on the Karusellen hat from Pom Pom issue 14 for...well, since it came out. I've seen a few in person. Loved them all. It's time I knit my own! Whilst trying to focus on something less exciting, these 2 skeins of Mooresburg DK announced that they would be the perfect hat and that now was the time to cast on...I cannot argue.

And then there is this...I've kept it quiet because it features something new(ish) and very exciting. A bit of a surprise...MOHAIR! I'm knitting a shawl for my mum. She requested a very plain and simple, no nonsense, Tasha Tudor-like shawl. I'm doubling Ghost Merino Lace with some old Viola Mohair Lace. This is just about the most dreamy thing I've ever met. It is so soft and warm and substantial, but light and delicate all at the same time. I think it's also a great way to use lace weight yarn in a non-scary way. I'm using 5mm needles and the knitting is going by super quick. Anyhow, the big reveal won't be far off...

Last, but not least, here I am in my Speckled Mist creation. It's been neglected of late, due to busyness and indecision. Now that I'm getting back into the knitting groove, I've returned to contemplating my options here...how long should it be? One friend (you know who you are) has suggested that I knit it super long, like to my KNEES. I just have no idea where to stop. Transitioning from rust to purple was lots of fun, although I do not want to think about all the ends in there...

So I've been wearing the partially knit jumper/dress/thing around all afternoon (right now, as a matter of fact) just to get a feel for it. Who knows what it will become...I certainly don't, but I love it all the same!

Shop Update!

The next shop update is scheduled for...

Tuesday, July the 28th at 4pm EST

...I'm really excited about this update, mostly because there is a lot of stuff that I reeeeally want to keep in here! But I'm being strong, and sharing my favourites. Hope you like them as much as me!

My main source of excitement is the fact that there are lots of big jumper quantities of ECLIPSE colourways, on my Merino Fingering base. Truth be told, there was a point this week when I had convinced myself that it was possible to knit a few dresses out of these 4 ply lovelies...I have since reconsidered.

You'll also find Merino Singles 4 ply as well as jumper loads of MCN worsted.

Hope you enjoy!

Regarding shipping charges, I am changing the way that I combine and charge shipping. The charges on Etsy have been updated - making single skein cost less! As many of you must be aware of already, etsy does not allow for very accurate shipping estimates. I have done the best I can with the changes I made. Going forward I will be combining shipping on all multiple orders from the same update. If you have been overcharged on shipping, I will send refunds based on the totals from the post office receipts and not the etsy estimate. If this sounds complicated to you, it is! This will only be a short term solution, as I am sorting out a better shipping calculator. If you have questions / concerns please send me an e mail at violafibers@gmail.com

In other news, Construction is finally beginning on the new (but very old!) dye studio. Within the year, Viola is going to be making a big move from Toronto to Mooresburg. This weekend, conversion of a little shed is beginning! I can't wait to see it all take shape, and build a more spacious and efficient workspace!

First off was clearing out all the bits and bobs that previous owners have distribulted (we've found some real treasures so far!) The best, obviously, are a selection of deer bones that were swept into a corner, sadly they have been trampled a little bit.

Now we're moving along to digging out the old earth floor (looking forward to unearthing a few more treasures!), filling in with gravel and preparing for concrete to be poured.

More updates to come when I return from my week of digging. Feels nice to be putting in some hard work...

lots of knitting and reknitting

I believe that I mentioned in a previous post that I have been SUPER inspired with the knitting these days. I suppose that dyeing yarn again, and thus being surrounded by yarn most days is bound to inspire...if not I ought to be thinking of a job change. Phew, a sign that I'm on the right track! 

I seems, however, that I have become slightly over confident. All of a sudden, I think I can knit a new jumper every week...at the same time as socks, shawls and I don't even know what else. The result of this enthusiasm has been a lot of making mistakes, ripping back, re-knitting, ripping back again, re-knitting and so on. Oh well. Meanwhile the to knit list is consistently growing and growing and growing. 

Rather than grumble about it (more than I already have done just now) I think it would be much more fun to share some of my wonky knits and knitting dreams. So here it is, comin' at ya. All the knitting thoughts that have kept me awake at night...it's all too exciting!

First off, my Norn! I've loved this pattern for ages, well since the magazine came out (2012!) and just never got round to knitting it. I realized a couple of months ago that I've been hoarding Pom Pom magazines since the beginning, but not knit a single project from any. Well, I can say with certainty that all of that nonsense is about to change! I love this simple little crop top. Garter stitch, a little cable, hand dyed yarn. I love it all! The pattern calls for the Uncommon Thread DK. I have some, I love it, but I chose to knit this is my own MCN Worsted. These 3 skeins of Raven were sitting in my stash when I came home. They had already been knit into some failed projects and I felt it was time to give them a good home...final resting...shape, if you will. The pattern is simple and clear, I thought I'd be able to knit this up in a couple of days. Well, I have messed it up countless times by now (all because I'm not paying attention and/or rushing). Here she is, in what I hope is going to be her final stage of re knitting. Fingers crossed that the next photos of this project will be on me, finished.

 

My next tale of woe is a great one. I shared some progress pictures of this mohair cardigan a little while back, in this post. Well it was a slog to knit...but I pushed on because I was so excited about having a brioche, mohair, batwing, colourblock cardigan (as anyone would!) Here is the cardigan, almost finished. I just had a wee bit of sewing up left to go when I tried it on at last...and learned that the sleeves hang like giant, pucker-y, crumpled, lumpy capes. Sad. So I have now begun the painstaking process of pulling out all of that knitting in mohair and am pondering what on earth I can do to use the little bits of yarn that now remain. Sad day.

There has been a success, I knit this lovely Lila jumper in Noro Silk Garden Solo. I wore my Lila to the Toronto Knitter's Frolic this past Saturday and  attracted rather a lot of attention. Never have so many people wanted to stroke me before! It seems that many people have been slightly dubious about just how this beautiful colour would knit up. I'm feeling well chuffed with myself for being the bold person to go forward and knit an entire mental birthday cake jumper in the stuff!

Plans for this afternoon are a fun adventure walk to the lake and taking some proper photos of me in my 'mental birthday cake jumper' !

Next up in the cast on queue are a couple...a few shawls that I've had my eye on...

I couldn't help but hold onto 2 skeins of Dusk Merino Lace that I dyed up for the Knitter's Frolic...sorry folks, but it was my favourite.

So, the lovely merino lace is going to become one great big Halligarth shawl! It's been ages since I did any serious lace knitting, so I'm really looking forward to getting into this one.

Next up, some Wellington Fibres 3 ply. It's a lustrous, soft and fluffy combination of their own beautiful mohair and wool. I could not leave this behind when I visited the mill and farm at their open weekend a little while back ( more to come in this later). Anyhow, I cannot wait to cast on a 006 in this yarn...garter stitch AND tassles. I cannot want for anything more!

And last, but not least I have specially dyed some of my favourite colours of Polwarth and Alpaca to knit up a really, really big Quill Shawl. I have wanted to knit this pattern since the beginning of time it seems, but never had enough of the right yarn. Well, I've finally fixed that problem by MAKING exactly the right amount of the perfect yarn!

There are so many more ideas and projects to share, but you must be getting a little bored of me by now. I shall save it for next time!

fibre a comin'

I've done a lot of rediscovery since returning to dyeing and Canada. Rediscovering my own yarn stash (whoa, so overwhelming!) rediscovering techniques I liked to use (and NOT) rediscovering how etsy works (that was scary considering how technologically challenged I am - most days I'm amazed when I manage to log into my e mail). Lots of rediscovering is the point. At the forefront of my rediscovery has been fibre dyeing!

I discovered a bunch of fibre tucked away in a safe hiding place about a month ago. Dyeing yarn has always been my preference - but I couldn't resist the chance to put more colour onto something, so I set about dyeing it all up. Well, I have also rediscovered why I don't dye fibre very often, I make a right old mess of it! 

Some utterly brilliant (I think) colours emerged, but they are not the tidy tops that I stuck into my dyepots. They are perfectly spinnable, however. SO, what I have decided to so (after a brief period where I considered being very greedy and keeping it all for myself - so bad!) is to offer what I have, but make sure that everyone knows to expect a slight mess. 

Some tops have broken, and I will state that in their listings. Some are just a bit lumpy. For this, I apologize. I will offer all of these tops at a hearty discount, to compensate for their slightly tufty and unkempt state. But if you are anything like me, you may enjoy tidying those oddments of fibre chaos into a lovely handspun delight!

 Without further adeiu, here are just a couple of my favourite colourways. There are plenty more for the update (data and time TBA)...

superwash merino in white caps

merino top in sunset

 

merino/silk top in liberty

 I delight in nothing more than turning odd bits of things into one beautiful finished product, so in case you want a bit on inspiration, here's a look at what I've been spinning. I took 3 different hand dyed tops (2 superwash merino and 1 corriedale...very different, I know, but I decided to go there). I've spun each superfine and with lots of twist. Am now thoroughly enjoying folding them together into this beautifully bonkers marl. The finished yarn is a light 4 ply weight. I'm chuffed and can't wait to cast on something in my 'crazy tiger' yarn...that's what I'm calling it!