Bonfire Projects

Back in May/July, I had spun up some beautiful Abstract Fibers merino/silk blend called BonFire into 205 yards of sport weight yarn.

Subsequently, I had finished up two projects with the yarn. (I love knitting with handspun!)

Firelands -- a cowl of my own design. And I had a used about 159 yards of the handspun to create it.

I had left over yarn, and I really wanted to use the remaining yardage up, but didn't have enough to really do much of anything else unless I wanted to mix it with commercial yarn.

Then the latest fall version of Knitty appeared and they had the pattern, Pretty Twisted, which used left over yarn to make some pretty bracelets.

I named it "Embers" to reflect the leftover parts of Bonfire, and I found some cute buttons to match as the colors also reminded of an autumn day.

Episode 2

Episode 2 of the Geek Girl Crafts Podcast is up!

So, give a listen!

Fleeces!

I love getting packages in the mail, especially those that come from Morro Fleeceworks. Previously, I had two fleeces sent to them: a white hogget fleece and a dark grey ewe. They look absolutely beautiful in the box.

Sherri put a note in with the fleece. Apparently, the hogget fleece had a lot of VM (which I was told), but also a lot of 2nd cuts (usually, a fleece is sheared off with one fluid motion; and 2nd cuts are when they have to go back to recut the fleece and is not necessarily desirable in a fleece). I'm a bit disappointed in the shepherdess who didn't tell me about the second cuts although she did warn me about the VM (veggie matter) that was in the fleece.

However, not withstanding, the fleeces are beautiful and so very well done that I can't wait to start spinning it....Sometime after I finish spinning everything else that is on my 2 wheels.....

Superwash Hair

Superwash wool is wool that can be run through the laundry (washer/dryer) without the wool shrinking. Wool shrinks when the scales lift up and rub against each other, thereby locking down on nearby fibers and "felt"; hot water and agitation (i.e washing through the washer/dryer) are the usual culprits that cause felting. As a note, the number of scales on a given strand also give a certain amount of curl.

There are two ways to get superwash wool, but either way reduces the number of "scales" ( or the cuticles) of the hair by either:
1) shaving scales off each strand, thereby reducing crimp and the potential for felting and shrinking.
2) glueing the scales down by coating it with a special polymer

Superwash wool often has a "smoother" feeling than regular wool.

Recently, a friend of mine who is a hairdresser told me how the new "Brazillian Blowout" straightens curly hair --- essentially, each hair strand is "coated" with a glue (much like superwash wool) to straighten it.

It also feels "smoother" than regular hair.

Basically, the Brazillian Blowout creates superwash hair.

We have a podcast!

So, I mentioned previously that I was working on a podcast in the works. Well, that's become a reality!

Introducing the Geek Girls Crafts podcast -- a podcast by geek who just happen to be girls, talking about geeky topics from books, movies, technology, science fiction, cosplay,  conventions that they attend, and all of the geek events in the SF bay area. In addition, they talk about their DIY and crafting projects and how it fits into their geek lifestyles.

Listen here:
Geek Girl Crafts Podcast