Still waiting...!

Well, the shipping is taking longer than we'd expected - it's just landed at customs today. Maybe we'll have it by next week...? I miss my spinning wheel!

Sheepshape Spinning will be returning just as soon as we get our belongings back. Right now the shop is in Vacation Mode, so you can sign up to be notified when it's back!

In April we are moving to our new house, and I will be able to re-establish my dyeing activities and begin producing new fiber braids and batts. I am also planning on expanding to wooden spinning supplies later this year, as the new house will have a wood shop! Please feel free to suggest items that you'd like to see!

Still in a state of limbo...

Just writing to let you all know that I'm still around, but all of my craft gear is still on a boat somewhere in the Atlantic. The expected retrieval date is January 18th.

Thank you, loyal readers!

Hi everybody,

I'm so sorry that it's been over a month without an update, and I want to thank everyone who has continued to visit this blog. Our international move is progressing on schedule, but a side effect of the move is severely curtailed crafting time. My spinning wheel has been packed away since August and I won't have it back till at least January; my sewing machine and dyeing equipment have been sold (since it's electrical it won't work in America) and the only thing I've got left - when I have a few minutes spare - is knitting. And blocking!

So here are some projects that you may not have seen. If you are on Ravelry you can see more details about any of them from my Project Page.

First up is my first-ever shawl, which I decided to make when I spun some lovely and soft grey Gotland fibre last year. It's taken forever to do - I kept adding more yarn to it! I finished it off back in May but never blocked it until this weekend. Here's the best picture I could manage without standing on a chair for height - all the chairs are packed already...



It's funny, I've never been a shawl person, but I've enjoyed wearing this today very much. It was cozy, if slightly chilly as I was using body heat to get rid of the last of the blocking moisture!

My next most recent project is the Elizabeth Zimmerman Adult Surprise Jacket. I found this an excellent pattern for using up medium lengths of handspun - I had lots of 100-200 yard skeins but nothing big enough for a whole jacket on its own. Here's a photo from when it was nearly done being knit:



Since then I have lengthened the sleeves and finished off the edges. I blocked it and the sleeves were too long, but they seem to have resettled to a reasonable length. More worrying, though, is that the collar is huge. It's far too big to wear comfortably. I need to sort it out but I have decided to wait until after I have moved and consult the experts at my (new) local knitting group for advice.

The other project that I have finished recently is one that was featured here not too long ago. It's my Sheep-to-Shoulder top made from wool that I brought back from Ireland and processed by myself every step of the way. I sewed it together, which was quite a learning experience and required a couple of restarts, and I am very pleased with the result. I might reblock it at some point to make it a little longer in the body but it works as it is; I'm just used to wearing longer tops.



I love it. It's very warm and smells delightfully sheepy. My husband is getting used to 'sheepy', fortunately.

Now for a bit of news about my Etsy shops, Elizabeth's UK Craft Shop and Sheepshape Spinning. The first one has been put into vacation mode for now. I will need a new name for it once I'm not in the UK anymore! I'm happy to take suggestions, and if your suggestion is the one that I choose I will give you a $10 gift certificate to anything in either shop. The second shop is still open for now, but all of the yarn and fibre will be suspended in late November, no later than the 29th of November, because it's got to go on the boat to America! I will try to keep most of the stuffed animals available for December in case you want to do any last-minute gift shopping, but I will probably need to shut everything for a few days in mid-December while I'm flying to the states and getting settled in our new place. All part of the adventure!

Moving update

Hello everyone!

Be advised that Sheepshape Spinning will be shutting down a few days before Christmas, in order to facilitate my move to America! I expect to be able to reopen at the start of February. While my shop is down it'll be in vacation mode and you can sign up to have Etsy notify you of when it is open again.

When it reopens my new location will be Eugene, Oregon! That will mean cheaper shipping for you US-based buyers. As a nod to my wonderful UK customers I will be offering subsidised UK shipping on my items - we Brits must stick together, after all.

Be sure to get your holiday shopping done before it's too late! Closer to the time I will be able to give an exact date of closing - it'll be one day before the shipping company arrives to put everything on the boat... It will be a while before I can start making new items again so if something you like gets sold before you get to it, I won't be able to make another like it for a long time...

Congratulations Maureen M!

The Phat Fiber giveaway has finished - congratulations, Maureen M! Please get in touch with me so I can activate your gift certificate - I can’t contact you through the blog because your Blogspot profile is private.

Progress on the (seemingly) never-ending jumper

The never-ending jumper is nearing completion!

For those who haven't been following the saga, I brought some fleece back from Ireland in summer 2008. I lugged it home, dyed it, carded it, spun it, chose a pattern, knitted it, and discovered it didn't fit! So now I am attempting my first blocking session. It's pinned out on a beach towel in the living room:



I am hopeful that it will fit better after the blocking. First, though, I have to learn a better way of seam sewing - my first attempt was rather...rubbish.

Giveaway at Phat Fiber!

Sheepshape Spinning is taking part in a giveaway! One lucky commenter will receive a project bag and a $10 Sheepshape Gift certificate. To enter go to the Phat Fiber blog today and leave a comment!

(For a chance to double your winnings, check out my Etsy Shop Announcement!)

New Ravelry Group!

Are you a member of Ravelry? If not I highly recommend it.

If you are, you might want to check out my new Sheepshape Spinning Group there! It'll be a great place to talk about your projects and yarns, ask questions, make custom order requests and also find special coupon codes. In fact, there's a $10 off code there now!

Less spinning, but more knitting

As our packing progresses, I find that I have less and less spinning stash yet more and more knitting stash. I have packed my favourite fibres and been spinning up my I'll-get-round-to-that-someday fibres. They are turning into very nice yarn, but maybe not quite as nice as the stuff I put on my Etsy shop. But they're great for personal stash.

So I've been looking at a slowly growing pile of personal stash and wondering what to do with it.

I've got the 2009 knitting-pattern-a-day calendar, which I love, and it's on my desk here at work. I think I'll take it home and run through some of the patterns from this year...I'm sure there are some in there that will occupy me and my stash during the next few months while we wait for the house to sell!

I've nearly finished my Chain Cable Aran Scarf - it would have been finished ages ago but I keep adding yarn to it! I've decided to use some matching glow in the dark yarn to finish it off, so it will have the softness of Corriedale throughout and then one end will be a fun glow-in-the-dark-Corriedale end!

A spider amongst the dye pots!

I got a start this morning when I went to set the next batch of Shetland dyeing. In the plastic bucket that I keep my dye jars in there was a big spider! *shudder* I hate spiders, and the resident spider catcher was away on a trip, so I forced myself to deal with it...I'd rather deal with it now than come back in the afternoon and find it had run off to some unknown destination.

I managed to take a picture before removing the dye pots and putting the spider out the window, but even looking at the picture gives the the creeps! if you want to see it, Google for UK "House Spider" and you'll find a picture. If you REALLY want to see my pic let me know and I'll send it to you without looking...

And fear not - all my dyed rovings are 100% Spider Free!

A Marathon of Dyeing

Whew, this has been a busy weekend for dyeing. It'll continue through the week, day job permitting, as on Saturday my dyeing equipment goes bye-bye in preparation for the move. No sense in taking it with me when the electrical systems will be different there!

This weekend I have dyed about 400g of Norwegian top, 200g of Jacob fleece and one skein of sock yarn. Most of that is now on my Etsy shop. Here's a peek of some of the Norwegian!


This is the yellow and teal batch of Norwegian wool top. This wool seemed to take the dye very lightly so I ended up with more pastels than I expected. It's a nice change though, as I don't do pastels that often. I still have a short length of this left to dye, so I'll likely be doing it tonight.

I also dyed some commercially spun Merino, chunky weight. Most of it is yellow with one end of black. I don't know what I'll make with it yet, but it will be bumblebee themed!

Pop over to the Fibreholics Blog for a peek of the samples I have sent in for September!

Blueberry muffins anyone?

This was a fun photo to take!