Bloomington Spinners and Weavers Guild Holiday Sale

In just two days we'll be all set up for you to come to the 2017 Bloomington Spinners & Weavers Guild show and sale.  We hold this show in conjunction with the Glass Guild and the Local Clay Pottery Guild as part of a larger Artisan Guilds of Bloomington event.

This year, as always, I'll have a booth full of hand dyed yarns and handwoven lovelies, like the handwoven / hand-dyed silk scarf above. 

Our area is downstairs to the left [west].   We have two whole rooms - make sure you get to them both.  So many beautiful things.   Sign up for our very generous door prizes when you arrive.

Artisan Guilds of Bloomington
Holiday Sale
Friday, Nov 3  4-9pm
Saturday, Nov 4  9am-5pm 

Bloomington Convention Center

Corner of 3rd St and College Avenue.

Free parking and admission

Early Fall Color from the Dye Shop

Things have been as busy as ever around here.   This week, I dyed a whole bunch of yarn in one of my favorite fall colorways - 'Old Brass'.

Here's Moonbeam - a very shiny rayon knitted tape ribbon. It almost glows!

Look for all of these yarns to go up in the Etsy shop in the next few days. As always, if you've got your eye on something specific, let me know and I'll set it aside for you.

Even More Handspun Yarn

This is some of my favorite yarn of all this year.  I made the first skein and loved it so much I spun a bunch more.  Not my normal colors, but so so pretty in person.   It has a delicate sparkle but reads as pretty neutral from a distance.  Like a frosty field.



This is a 3 ply yarn.  The first single is straight gray alpaca.  The second is a strand of superwash tencel yarn spun from a roving I got from Yarn Barn in Kansas, in a very subtle grayed-rainbow colorway.  The third is a silk single spun from my own hand dyed silk in Deep Woods.   The singles were all spun pretty fine, so the final yarn is just barely a sock/sport weight yarn.   This stuff is definitely going into a handwoven shawl. 

More Handspun Yarn

I spin during shows, but never end up with much, so I end up with a collection of smaller bobbins of yarn in pretty colors.   This winter I pulled them out and started pairing them up.   I love this combination [It looks better in person].  So cheery and fun.

It's a 3 ply yarn.   The first single was spun from a hand dyed alpaca batt in turquoise with lots of sparkles.   The second was a lime green alpaca batt with lots of sparkles.   The third was spun off a hand dyed silk roving in bright colors. 

It has a good weight to it because of the alpaca, but it's a sport weight yarn.   I'm trying to decide what to do with it.   Maybe a cheery shawl?  

Deep Blue Handspun Yarn

This is the next batch of this winter's handspun yarn.    I love this deep blue hand dyed superwash wool.  

It's a 3 ply - my favorite - in two different colors.  I start with fine singles so the finished yarn is a sport weight and not too heavy.

A Little Handspun Yarn

One of the nicest things about fall and winter is that once the garden is done, then I have time to sit at the wheel and spin some yarn.

Like this stuff.   I spun it over Thanksgiving.   It's a 3 ply superwash wool yarn.  I started with three colors of my hand dyed roving [deep blues, vineyard, old brass].  It's mostly blues, but it's got some glorious golds, rust, eggplant and russet as well. 

I think there are more than 9 ounces of the finished yarn.  Enough for a nice warm handwoven shawl. 

I get all happy just looking at it. 

In the Studio

I've spent some time this winter in the studio, dyeing up some ribbon.   Since it has to be steamed, it heats the studio a bit and helps keep things humidified.  

Plus, when I'm done, I have all this gorgeous yarn to sell.  If you haven't seen my Etsy yarn shop, then here's the link:  www.robinjedmundson.etsy.com.


Photo:  Party ribbon.  Deep Woods.  395 yds, $35.   Available here on Etsy.

I'll also be at our regular fiber festivals this year.  Here's a list of where you can find us.   Please stop by and say hello.   I love meeting you!


Photo:  Frost ribbon.  Forest Fire.  200 yds, $12.  Available here on Etsy.

Giveaway - Crochet Shawl Kit

It's time for another July Celebration Giveaway!  

This giveaway is especially for my readers who love yarn.   I'm offering one of my hand dyed yarn kits that includes 4 skeins of gorgeous hand dyed cotton yarn [More than 1000 yds total] and a pattern for this beautiful crocheted ripple shawl.   It works up fast and easy.  [If you don't crochet, you can knit a simple ripple using large needles and you're good to go!]

This is a perfect summer project for traveling.  The finished shawl is light and lacy and good for summer evenings and air conditioned restaurants.






Winner gets her/his choice of these colors:

Nepeta works up like an impressionist painting.  Think Monet's garden.

These are the blues and lavenders of Cool Water.  [My personal favorite!]

And for those of you who prefer warmer colors, I've got a kit in all the tonal shades of Golden Sands.







To enter, leave a comment on the blog before midnight, Sunday, July 14th, 2013 [EDT].   Tell me what your favorite summer projects are.

[Giveaway open to residents of the US only.  Please watch the blog and contact me immediately if you are the winner.  Prizes must be claimed within one month.]

Hand dyed Ribbon Yarn, Frost - Vineyard

 

Click the small pics to go the Etsy listing.  

I've had this yarn for a while but this is the first time I've put it on Etsy.   It's versatile and beautiful.   Great in all kinds of projects:   Scrapbooking, jewelry making, knitting, crochet, weaving, etc.   

$12.  200 yd skein of hand dyed, hand painted nylon ribbon yarn. Appx 1/4 inch wide. Frosty finish.  Makes beautiful knitted scarves [garter stitch] on size 13-15 needles.

Available in many colors. See the other Etsy listings.

Knitting needles: size 13-15
Crochet hook: size M-N
Weaving: Looks best mixed with other yarns 8-12 epi. Looks great as weft.

Care: Hand wash cold water. Hang or lay flat to dry. Bright or dark colors may bleed. Avoid using any hand dyed yarn in projects where bleeding could cause problems.

Fairy Tale Novelty Yarn

[If you click the pics above, they'll take you to the listing on Etsy.] 

I've showed you this yarn on the blog before and it was a big hit. Now I've got it listed on Etsy!

150 yds of three yarns stranded together. 1 strand hand-dyed rayon, 1 strand hand-dyed nylon ribbon, 1 strand mohair [not hand dyed].  $35

Color: Teal/Turquoise. Teal mohair, Aurora rayon, Iris ribbon.

This is one of the most versatile yarns we offer. Knit all three strands together for a gorgeous and quick project, such as the scarf in Lt Blue [size 19 needles], photo 3, or you can separate the strands as you go knitting only one or two at a time as we did in the orange triangle shawl in photo 4 [size 15 needles]. Both of the projects were done with only one skein of yarn.

Available in several colors. Photo 5 shows some of them.

Knitting: size 15-19 needles
Crochet: size T hook or larger
Weaving: separate the strands 8-10 epi

Hand dyed yarns should be washed gently in cold water. Lay flat to dry. Bright or dark colors may bleed. Never use hand-dyed yarns in projects where bleeding could cause problems.

Hand-Dyed Yarn Grab Bags

I have some gorgeous hand dyed yarns in my studio.   Some of them are smaller quatities of yarns I can't get more of.   I thought it would be nice to share the bounty with you guys - at a nice savings, so I have combined them into grab bags of 5 skeins.   Details below.

I have just listed these Hand-dyed yarn grab bags in my Etsy store.  Get 'em while they're hot! 

 

If you click on the pics above, you'll go to the listing on Etsy.

$38 each

Each grab bag contains 5 skeins of hand dyed yarn: 1 skein nylon ribbon [Frost] 200yds, 2 skeins rayon or rayon/cotton yarn [Rayon Spiral, Rayon Overtwist, ZigZag, Cott/Ray Tonal] 150-225 yds each, 2 skeins cotton or rayon/cotton yarn [Warbler, Nuthatch, Fine Cotton Boucle, Cott/Ray Tonal] 200-300 yds each. Each bag will have at least 4 different yarns and 4 different colors.

Color groups [Same order as lower photos]: Bright Cool, Bright Warm, Earthy Cool, Earthy Warm. I am happy to consider special requests, but cannot guarantee availability of yarn/color. For example, you may request 'no all green skeins', or 'heavy on the blue'. Please be reasonable. No returns accepted on grab bags.

The price of the grab bag is 40-50% off the regular retail price of the yarn. Each skein should have a tag with fiber content and pre-dyeing yardage on it.

Hand-dyed yarns should be washed in cold water. Bright or dark colors may bleed. I do not recommend using any hand dyed yarn in a project where bleeding would cause problems.