Well, I have decided to start this blog again!

I realize that losing Sasha was a necessary part of life and that ignoring it won’t make it go away. This blog is an important extension of my shop and life and I need to have it for everyone.  So without further ado, my first post in forever!

I finally was able to snag a Phat Fiber box this month and it just came today!  Phat Fiber is a box full of yarn & fiber samples, along with patterns, stitch markers, buttons, coupons & other fibery goodies!  It is very similar to the Sampler boxes, but geared towards us fibery geeks!

SPOILER ALERT!!!! 
Following this is photos of what I received in the June Phat Fiber box, don’t look if you haven’t rec’d it yet and don’t want to be spoiled!!

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Here is what I got in my box!!!  The theme this month was Oceanic, so it was right up my alley!!

Opening the Box:

Inside the box:

Cute little message in a bottle:

Gorgeous handmade button:

Fish Stitch Marker

Cute purple stitch marker

All the amazing fiber samples!

And all the awesome yarn samples:

I also got two amazing patterns, a ton of coupons and lots of new vendors to buy from!!!  I just signed up to become a contributer myself, so look out for Mandalinn Knits & Spins coming to a Phat Fiber box someday in the near future!! Probably the August box, but I will post here when I am sure.

There are many new and exciting things that I am working on lately, including getting ready for SAFF…which will be my first fiber festival ever, starting a Mandalinn Knits & Spins Batt Club (yup finally!!!) and other various interesting things.

I have also been having fibery fun days here with my buds lately and will continue to do so and share the fun here.  We do everything from carding, to dyeing, to knitting, to spinning and more!  Gnat (barknknit), Krisha (susie190) & Monica (BeltwaySpinner) were here on Sunday for like 7 hours of awesome knitting & spinning!  It was the best day in a long time!

I am also quite active on Twitter lately, so please add me if you Tweet!!

And finally, I have been KNITTING like mad lately.  I have many neat projects lined up, including a sweater out of my own handspun!!!!

So I hope you will stick around as I will be adding a lot more in the days to come, I am so glad to have this going again, it is a great way to keep motivated!

Happy Knitting & Spinning!

Read Full Post »

Whew it has been a while….

For some reason I have been totally “down in the dumps” lately and I have no clue why.  It sucks and I have been neglecting my friends, family and blog.  Hopefully I can get out of this funk soon, because it sucks.  Meh!

 Well today is Miss Bella’s surgery for her spay, microchip and softpaws, she is there right now having it done and I hope to hear something soon.  I know it has to be done, but I just worry since she is such a tiny baby still.

Hopefully she will be home soon and purring away.  And content so I can go to my SnB meeting tonight, I need some away time.  LOL!

Speaking of SnB, here is the latest project I am working on!  I finally casted on my Lady Eleanor and I love how she is coming out.  Entrelac is so much fun to knit and really keeps your interest!  It is going so quickly so far and I am loving the Noro Silk Garden I chose.

Here is my latest spinning!  Flamingo Bay—252 yards of fingering weight….65% Merino, 15% Colonial and 20% Tencel from Copperpot on Etsy!

I am really happy with how it came out.  I am work on another yarn right now that I can’t wait to put up, it will be fantastic I think!

I also have been updating my Etsy shop with 6 new rovings and 2 bags of locks.  Here are two of my faves!

 Love Bites—-5oz of Falklands roving

And Psychedelic—3 oz of Mohair Locks

Along those lines, I had to reorder wool today for my shop since I just sold off the last pound to a buyer in Romania of all places!!  🙂  So I went ahead and finally ordered a full bump of the domestic wool roving.  A full bump consists of TWENTY-SEVEN POUNDS!!!!!!!!!  I think I am freaking insane!

Also on the insane front, I just ordered a new carder, yup not too long after my first one, I ordered a new one.  AAAAHHHHH!!!!  I love my Louet Jr…..but a production model it is not and it just wasn’t fitting the bill for what I needed for my shop.  So I ordered one of these!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yes it is a freaking Strauch’s Finest!!!  OMG I am drooling over the photos and cannot wait for it to be here.  And best of all, I ordered it from fellow Etsy-er, Artclub and she is throwing in 2 pounds of mixed fibers to boot!  I am so stoked!!!  Crazy, but stoked!!!  🙂

So be on the lookout for new fantastical batts to be coming to my little shop soon!  YEAH!

Read Full Post »

Feeling so much better and drowning in WOOL!!!!

First off, thank you so much for all the well wishes, emails, etc.  It means so much to me.  I went to my family doctor yesterday and all is looking well.  He says I still need to take it easy and that it will be a few weeks before I am 100%, but I should be fine.  In 6 weeks  I will go in for a lung function test and follow up, but he doesn’t expect any issues.  So with that out of the way, I am starting to get back to normal around here.  And my swap package is in the mail, I cannot wait until she gets it.  I can’t wait to share photos and I hope she likes it as much as I do.  🙂

 I just had UPS drop off a box with FIFTEEN pounds of wool at my door, the undyed is back in my shop and I hope to get some dyepots going here either later today or tomorrow.  I am also finishing up a gorgeous skein of merino/colonial/tencel in shocking pinks, blues & shiny white….I know not exactly a fall color, but it is gorgeous!

Here is the latest skein up in the shop, perfect for this time of year:

Sangria—206 yards of merino/colonial/tencel.  Thick & Thin, perfect for a hat, scarf, small bag.

Well off to hopefully get the dyepots going and maybe some cleaning done; the cleaning lady is coming tomorrow for my big Thanksgiving cleaning, so you know I have to clean before she comes, LOL!

Read Full Post »

Another FO to share…..

Here is “My So Called Scarf” that I did for my Grandma for Christmas.  I had started it a long time ago and frogged it, but restarted it and finished it in a couple of weeks.  Super easy pattern and fun to knit.  I used 1 1/2 hanks of Manos del Uruguay in an old discontinued colorway that I had in my stash.  My grandma is petite, so using it all would’ve been too much.  I am very happy with how it turned out, I just need to weave in the ends and block it (the ends flare a bit).

I also have my first finished yarn done on my new Rose…..

Autumnal–190 yards of sport to worsted weight, 2oz.  This roving is Corriedale from TravelingRhino’s kit last month (I ended up with 3 skeins from that kit, not bad!)

It isn’t as even as I would like, but for my first skein on my new wheel, I am pleased.  I am working on some BFL from Spunky Eclectic in her Burning Embers colorway and it is coming out nicely.

I packed off the Lendrum today and it is on its way to her new home in Arizona, I am sure she will be much loved and used.

Off to finish off my OTT (one tiny thing) swap on Craftster, need to get it in the mail.  🙂

Read Full Post »

Hey there Delilah…..

I love that song and better yet, I love that colorway….Delilah that is from the fiber of the month club offered by the one and only Carrie of Funky Carolina.  It is scrumptious.

Details:

Delilah–BFL roving dyed by Funky Carolina
160 yards
2-ply
4oz
worsted to bulky
Available in my Etsy Shop!!!

Right now I am spinning up the awesome batts from Traveling Rhino’s batt of the month club for last month, they are very Halloween-y and fun to play with.  It will probably be the last spinning I do on my Lendrum as my Rose will be here on Monday, we will see though.

 I need to get offline before I buy anything else, I really didn’t need that laceweight yarn that I just bought from Carrie, but it was too gorgeous to pass up.  LOL!  Link to the pattern I will probably use:  Flower Petal Shawl  Link to the gorgeous yarn:  Pool Laceweight

Read Full Post »

First handspun FO!

Well here is my first handspun, knitted FO.  It is just a simple garter stitch scarf, but I made it and it is all mine.  LOL!

Sea Treasure scarf—made from 100 yards, 3oz of alpaca, merino, silk and glitz blend with recycled sari silk .  Roving was from Loop on Etsy, spun by me on my Lendrum ST.

 

It isn’t the longest scarf in the world, but it is more of an accent piece and will be great once the temps drop, oh in December or January sometime.  😉

My wheel will be here Monday, so I am just waiting, not so patiently, talk about quick shipping!  Woot!

Read Full Post »

Well it is on its way…..

 

A brand new Majacraft Rose spinning wheel is on its way to me.  My husband finally told me to just go ahead and purchase it, since it will work for everything I need, so I did.  Along with the plying kit and 2 extra bobbins.  I am so beyond excited.  I still haven’t sold my Lendrum ST, but will start to take offers on her, so please email me if interested @ mandalinn@gmail.com .  I cannot wait for my new wheel, hopefully she will work like I am hoping, I have heard nothing but good things.

 I have 2 new yarns to share today, including my first “art yarn”.

First up; Sea Goddess 192 yards, worsted to bulky weight, 3oz.  Fiber is Falklands Wool,Fine Merino Top, Wool/Mohair,Purple and Green Sparkle fibers and Glitz from TerraBellaSpun www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=110528 , spun by me on my Lendrum ST.  This one will probably be up in my Etsy shop shortly, I do love it to death, but have so many worsted weight yarns right now.

 

Next up is my first art yarn, Girl Gothic, the fiber is from HollyEQQ’s Batty Babes Club (wool, mohair, angelina, romney, BFL and silk noils) with novelties added in from my scrapbooking stash.  It is 100 yards of worsted to super bulky yarn.  Tons of sparkle on this one and super soft!

I learned a lot doing this yarn and will do much better the next time around, although I am happy with it and it will soon be a scarf for me.  🙂

Read Full Post »

Getting closer….

Found you!

• You signed up on August 5, 2007
• You are #23307 on the list.
• 5464 people are ahead of you in line.
• 12890 people are behind you in line.
• 49% of the list has been invited so far

Soon, soon I will finally be on Ravelry.

Off to work on orders and dyeing.  It is hard to get back into the swing of things, that is for sure.

Read Full Post »

So I didn’t know about Ravelry….

Until last month and I am so sad.  It will be a long time until I am there.

Found you!

• You signed up on August 5, 2007
• You are #23307 on the list.
• 11206 people are ahead of you in line.
• 9017 people are behind you in line.
• 36% of the list has been invited so far

Oh well, what can you do?

 I leave on Tuesday for Chicago, for my cousin’s wedding and to see my neice, we come back that Sunday.  I am happy to see my family, but tired of traveling.  Hopefully it won’t be too cold, you never know this time of year up there.  That is why I moved here.  LOL!

 Well I have a swap package to work on for the Hello Kitty & Friends swap on Craftster, I need to get it out soon, before I leave. 

Read Full Post »

Sea Treasure becoming a scarf…

Sea Treasure, originally uploaded by mandalinn.

Well I am almost done with my first knitted item from my own handspun. I took this skein of Sea Treasure, which is 3oz, 100 yards, spun thick & thin from a Loop batt and made it into a simple garter stitch scarf, which I think shows off the fiber the best way.

When finished I may add on some dyed silk ribbon fringe to add a bit of interest and length.

I think it is turning out very nice and it is so soft and fuzzy. Woohoo knitting again, on to my neglected Ms. Marigold next.

Read Full Post »