2013 Spinning, So Far

After taking the below pictures, I had a shocking revelation: this is the only spinning I've done all year! I usually spin more during the summer than winter because I tend to spend winters huddled under a blanket on the couch. I also hear that taking care of a newborn is not conducive to spending several hours sitting in front of a wheel, so I must spin all of the things in the next 2 months.

This yarn was finished most recently: 2-ply Polwarth from Into the Whirled, in the "Captain Tightpants" colorway, which is apparently a reference to Nathan Fillon in the show Firefly. I'm old now and out of touch with popular culture, so maybe one of you young-ins will know what that is.

My other finished yarn is a Merino/Silk gradient from Fiber Optic. I spun the single super thin, and chain-plied to keep the gradient intact. It took for.ev.er. which might explain my 2-skein total for the year. It paid off, though! Not only am I super happy with the yarn, it won Best in Show at both the Montgomery County and Maryland State Fairs this year! I'm feeling a lot of pressure about what to knit with it.

My awards paid off monetarily as well, and per my annual fair tradition, those winnings are directed straight back into the yarn/fiber fund. As the anti-enabler (I can talk you out of buying anything!) I'm sort of at a loss when intentionally wanting to stash yarn. Any suggestions? I'm interested mostly in independent dyers; I've already bought a skein of Vesper Sock. My mom thinks that I have a big yarn stash, but I can count on the knitters reading to confirm that one small and one large plastic bin is a small stash!

Halloween Wreath

This weekend I hosted my crafty co-workers for a Pinterest Party, which we hold every few months. One of the benefits/perils of an office job is that we spend too much time on Pinterest at work are too busy to pin at work, so all of that inspiration is pent up and eventually explodes in a cloud of glitter and felt.

For my Halloween wreath, I used this Etsy wreath as a jumping off point. Instead of wrapping the wreath form (I used a straw form instead of foam because it was cheaper) in fabric, I used yarn (acrylic yarn, THE HORROR). It probably took about 2 hours just to wrap the wreath, and I'm pretty sure I gave myself the crafting equivalent of tennis elbow in the process.

I bought the felt bat from Michaels, and for the flowers, I used several different tutorials (mostly this and this). Several glue-gun burns later, I had a wreath that I totally love! Fall is my favorite crafting season (and favorite season), so I don't care if it's still 90 degrees out, I'm milking every minute.