Girlfriends Knitting

(The following events may or may not have occurred in the creation and publication of my podcast. I refuse to say in order to protect the guilty.) You decide you want to do a knitting podcast. You have a webcam on your computer. You could just record on there, upload it (somewhere, you don't even think about the where really) and tell everyone about it. Done. This will be easy. Then you get started. You sit down to record and realize that you aren't even quite sure what you want to talk about. You look around frantically for your works in progress. But wait, are you really prepared to admit on camera you have 20 WIPs? Not even your knitting circle know this shameful secret. (Actually, you didn't even realize this until you started counting them.) What about yarn, didn't you buy some yarn this week that was really cool? Ok, grab it. Share that, too. Segments - should you have segments? The cool podcasters all have cute segment names that go with cute them...

I have been doing lots of spinning lately. It began because Amy wanted me to spin up some of the fiber she had dyed so she could see how it might look. I picked the purple Peruvian wool because I loved how it changes tones. I pulled out my beloved ladybug and spun it up as a simple two-ply, dividing the fiber down the middle and spinning each one on a separate bobbin. Very pretty if I do say so myself. I had so much fun with that project I decided to finish up a few things I already had on a bobbin. I pulled out this luscious grey 80% Merino 20%silk from Cute Bunny Farms that I purchased at Rhinebeck in 2012. (No, it had not been on the bobbin since then!) I spun it onto a single bobbin, then chain-plied it to create a 3-ply sport-weight yarn. Spinning was putting in me such a relaxed and zen-like state, I had to keep going. I pulled out some Merino in the "I'm a sexy squash" colorway from Knitters Nightmare . I had grabbed it up from Sadie at this past SSK in Nashville....

Amy here -  While Carolyn was busy spinning the fiber I dyed last week, we received a shipment of 80% merino 20% mohair fiber we had processed at the Wild West Fiber Mill in Colorado. The mohair is from the fleece Carolyn bought a while back - the cute goat Eloise. Dying this fiber was a challenge. The mohair content made it, well, hairier. In other words, there were colorful bits of hairy fiber all over me, the kitchen, and our dogs for a few days. Though this doesn't make for the most pleasant dying experience, it makes a beautifully haloed yarn when spun (which I had Carolyn do to a sample so I could see what it would look like.) I want to be able to produce a nice solid, as well as tonal colors, so I keep doing both. The Sun Yellow is a nice solid in a yellow that doesn't look like French's mustard (at least not when you see it in person. We really need to work on getting some lighting.) Carolyn likes the orange and named it Autumn Sunrise. (10 points for anyon...

We can't tell you how excited we are to be working toward offering beautiful alpaca roving and yarn in our store. We have been working diligently toward perfecting our processing, as we want you to have the absolute best quality product. At the mill this week are the fleece from these two charming young girls - Raven and Ripley. As you can probably guess from the name, Raven is the cute black alpaca in the front with the white specs on her nose. Her fleece is a deep true black and some of the softest stuff I have ever felt. Ripley is the sweet girl in the back that looks like she has been drinking chocolate milk! Her fleece is an extremely light beige/white, and we plan on dying it up into mounds of glorious color. Now off to process the next batch - Claire and Angel!

They are cute. They are funny. They are oh so soft! Alpacas, a cousin to the llama and camel, have fiber that is extremely soft and luxurious. The huacaya alpacas raised on Grace Farms and Alpacas of Center Hill are beautiful animals that are loved and tended carefully by Jon and Pat to produce beautiful, show-quality fiber that is great for the spinner or knitter. In fact, fiber from these animals has won competitions for its crimp, softness, overall quality, and great spinning qualities. The best part is that Girlfriends Knitting is teaming up with these wonderful farms to begin providing 100% alpaca fiber and yarn. The beautiful fleece will be on its way to the mill this week and we will keep you up-to-date on when it will be ready for purchase. Get those alpaca knitting patterns ready!

We are very excited to begin this joint venture. Our first vending experience was at the Arkansas Fiber Extravaganza in December 2013, and we had a blast. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make that first show so wonderful for us. If you signed up for our newsletter at that event, thank you. The newsletter will contain knitting tips and techniques, jewelry-making ideas, coupons, patterns, and more…but maybe not all in the same issue! If you have not yet signed up, the subscription link is on our Welcome page.

We were back after a four-month break! Amy joined me as my permanent co-host for what we hoped would be a new format. However, we never recorded it again. Too much life and illness getting in the way. Join us one last time as we draw for several prizes and talk about upcoming goodies in the shop!