Put on Your Party Hat

Howdy!

I'm sorry I haven't been good at blogging regularly. Life is insane here, with school just starting and lots of goings-on at Storied Yarns Central that I'm not quite yet ready to reveal.

I have been plenty busy playing with yarn, though, so don't worry about that! I've got a Hunger Games themed update planned for Saturday in the Storied Yarns Shop. To keep you busy until then, today and tomorrow you can save 16% using code BigTen in honor of my 10th wedding anniversary on August 16th!

Most of the knitting I've done lately is still in top-secret stages of development. However, there is one project I recently started and finished that I'm ready to share!

I should preface this with a brief apology. The only other person home right now is 3 years old and not so great with a camera, so I had to take some not-so-fantastic self portraits in my bathroom today, ha! I'll try to get better pictures later, and I might even weave in the ends first! ;)

Anyway, here's my recent FO - a slouchy hat:

One of the things I hear a LOT in the knitting community is that nobody knows what to do with 4 ounces of handspun yarn. They take one look at the uneven gauge or the low yardage and they run for the hills. I think this is a real crying shame, because one of the greatest joys of my life is knitting with handspun yarn (oh yeah, and motherhood and all that stuff, lol)!

It IS the uneven gauge that I find so interesting about handspun. You can take a basic stitch pattern and instantly transform it into something magical and awesome with the use of a fabuous yarn like the one pictured above. The fiber I used to make this handspun was from the Fiesta Spin-Along from CraftyPuppyLover's shop, and this yarn was definitely a party to spin. Just look at the way the texture worked up in the stockinette fabric of the hat:

There were only 68 yards in this skein of handspun, and it weighed in at 3 oz. I added just .6 oz of a 2ply superwash merino handspun to make the brim, so overall the hat still weighs under 4 oz.

Here are some tips I've learned about knitting with handspun yarns. These are tips that apply specifically to knitting a hat like this one:

- Use needles that are bigger than you might think you need based on the yarn's weight. This yarn was a pretty standard bulky weight, but I used size 15 needles. This gave the thicker parts of the yarn room to spread out in the stitching and also helped only 68 yards of yarn go a lot further.

- Knit hats from the top down. This helps with customizing the size as you can just stop increasing when your hat is wide enough (or too wide, if you want it to be slouchy like mine). Also, if you happen to run out of yarn then you can use a contrast yarn for the brim and not the top.

- Don't be afraid of the yarn! Embrace it for all its beautiful and unique properties. Put it together with a simple stitch and a basic pattern and watch it become something extraordinary.

Hopefully by now you're all fired up to work with some awesome handspun, too! I challenge you to put some handspun on your needles this weekend. I promise you, it'll be an instant mood lifter (trust me, this week I know a mood lifter when I see one!). If you don't have a big drawer full of handspun like I do, I happen to have a shop full of yarn that can help you out with that. (Don't forget the coupon code, and remember I offer spinning service if you buy my fiber!)

If you're not sure what to make, PLEASE feel free to ask! I'm happy to help you pair up a gorgeous skein of yarn with just the right project. Just leave me a comment here or on Ravelry or Etsy!



I'll leave you with one more photo of me posing like a nerd. HA! Happy stitching, everyone!!

Color Inspiration: Stock Characters

Happy Friday, everyone! It's time for another post of color inspiration stories!

Today I want to introduce my new line of semisolid colorways - the Stock Characters line! Here are the first few colorways and the stories behind them:

This electric-blue skein is called The Time Traveler. It's bold and adventurous; a blend of royal blue with a hint of turquoise for a sort of peacock blue result. Wouldn't this one be great for Bigger on the Inside?

The Ingenue is subtly gorgeous. She blends in and stands out at the same time; she's a seashell-blue shade that would make an absolutely stunning lace shawl. How about Rough Sea Shawl?

The Harlot is bold and super feminine. She's a rich, bright shade of magenta that's sure to turn heads wherever she goes. Can't you just see yourself wrapping her around your neck as a Romance scarf?

The Damsel in Distress is sweet and feminine. She gets herself into some tough situations but she always manages to find a brave hero to rescue her. She could find her match made in knitting heaven with a Princess Cut Diamonds scarf or even a BAD fairy princess stole!

The Vampire is a true prince of darkness. He's a rich, black cherry shade that is a customized blend of red, burgundy and black. He will lure you in with his silky smoothness and his deep tone will bring a true luxury to any knitted item. Wrap your feet in a pair of Gothic Spires Socks made out of this yarn and you may never want to get out of bed again!

All of my stock characters are custom blended colorways, so you won't find their equals in any other shop. I think these colorways would be ideal for lace or cables and would also work really well in large quantities to knit a sweater. Contact me in the Storied Yarns shop if you'd like a custom order in a larger quantity, or if you want me to dye up a custom color blend of your favorite shade!

While you're there, I just updated the shop today with plenty of rovings and yarns to suit your fancy. There are plenty of yarns and fibers to get you through a long, hot summer and you can even use the code Tdf12 to save 12%!

Happy Friday, everyone!!

Shop Update!

I updated the Storied Yarns Shop last night with a pound of Polwarth and some merino, too! :)

Here are the items I added:

Artemis Fowl on Polwarth

Jack and Sally on Polwarth - there are 2 of these sets in stock!

Nobody Owens on Polwarth. This one is graduated from dark charcoal/black to grey to white!

Sarah Sanderson on Merino (Hocus Pocus)

Nucky Thompson on Merino (Boardwalk Empire)

Remember, use coupon code Pumpkin to save 15% in the shop this month! I will be heading to my first ever fiber festival at the end of October, so if you have a favorite item you'd better snag it now before it sells out! :)

Fiber Arts Friday: Blog-Warming Party

Hi there, and welcome to my new blog! I had a lot of fun blogging at my old location, but it was time for a change and some positive moves in a new direction. So, here I am!

In celebration of Fiber Arts Friday, allow me to welcome you to my little corner of the blogosphere! Here at the new Storied Yarns blog you will find updates on my Etsy shop, new colorways, progress on my knitting and crocheting and spinning projects, and other crafty tutorials and fun. Check out the side bar - you'll find links to my free knitting patterns, free crochet patterns and my Storied Yarns shop.

While you're thinking about my Etsy shop, I want to invite you to join me and some of my friends in spinning and knitting to celebrate Halloween this year! I'm hosting a Trick-or-Treat Spin-Along and Knit-Along.

You can read more about it in my last blog post or in my Ravelry group. Then head over to the shop and purchase your listing for roving or batts or yarn! I will dye up a Halloween colorway inspired by your favorite things about the holiday and send it to you along with other fun seasonal goodies. Then you can spin or knit up the contents of your package and post in the Ravelry group to enter to win prizes!

As an extra special "thank you" for visiting my new blog, use the code Blogwarming to earn 15% off in my Etsy shop! This code will be good for ONE week only and will work on anything in the shop, including this SAL/KAL, my fiber and yarn clubs and any in-stock or custom order listings!

Happy Fiber Arts Friday, everyone! I hope you'll add my new blog to all of your blog readers, RSS feeds and e-mail lists so you can join me on my crafty adventures from now on! When you're finished with all of that, visit Andrea's blog and say hello to the rest of the Fiber Arts Friday participants!