Rocket Yarn

Tour de Fleece Update

2010-07-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

I've been spinning every day but have slacked a bit on the blog posts. Oops!

TdF Day 3 - Supercoils-to-Be

2010-07-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

Small update for today. Need to finish spinning the yarn and then send it back through the wheel to add more twist. It's slightly thick 'n thin for the coils but needs to be overspun, which it is not. Nothing I can't fix though! ;o)

TdF Day 2 - Corespun

2010-07-04T23:57:00.000-07:00

In honor of the 4th of July I started the day off by making a couple of red, white and blue Rambouillet batts with plenty of sparkle in them.

Corespinning went very well today. This is probably the easiest way to spin yarn. I love the results and you get great yardage from small amounts of fiber. What's not to love?

I ended up with 147 yards of corespun. It's really soft yet extremely sturdy. I think I'm going to make a Dream Swatch Head Wrap out of it to wear next 4th of July.

TdF Day 1 - Thick 'n Thin

2010-07-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

Off to a good start! Finished a full bobbin on Thick 'n Thin yarn. I haven't weighed or measured it yet. This was a little rough going at first. I was getting a bit frustrated but then I found my rhythm.

Le Tour de Therapy, er I mean Fleece ....

2010-07-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

What? You were awaiting my series of posts about the awesome Insubordiknit Workshop? Oops.

It's been what can best be described as an emotional roller coaster around here these past two months. I had great plans of practicing all my new art yarn spinning techniques and posting about everything I learned at the workshop. Yep, great plans of a new yarn every day or two with plenty of pictures and such to really get those skills down. Apparently the universe had other plans for me.

Shortly after the workshop hubby and I decided that we wanted one more little set of feet running around here and as it has gone before ... we think about it and "poof" ... we're pregnant. Just like that. Okay well almost ... you know how these things really work. So I had the usual too tired to stay up past 8pm thing going on which since that is the kids bedtime I had no peaceful quiet time at night to spin. Things were going well and I was really excited and getting my mojo back to start spinning again and then just like that "poof" ... miscarriage. That's what it felt like anyway. Like my baby was just ripped right away from me. There growing in my belly one day and then gone. My body dealt with things very quickly while my heart and mind are still trying to adjust and catch up. I've never dealt with this before and I really hope I never have to again. It's been extremely difficult on me. The good news is that I'm surprised at how much better I feel today than just a few days ago. I can actually type this without crying which is a huge step up from where i've been.

So enter le Tour de Fleece 2010. To be honest I completely forgot about it until about three days ago. I've pretty much been moping around this week and avoiding everyone I know except for my husband and children. I happened onto Ravelry and was reminded about the tour and decided this would be a perfect opportunity for me to get in some spinning therapy (good for the soul, i do believe), practice those new skills I mentioned and start communicating with the outside world again even if it is only through the internet to people I don't know in real life. Baby steps, right?

I participated in the beginning of the tour last year but was derailed by a class reunion trip. I totally lost my mojo that weekend and I don't think I did much after I returned home. So here's hoping I can stick it out and accomplish my goals. This will be good for me in so many ways.

Tour de Fleece 2010 Goals:

A. One skein of each artyarn technique I learned at the workshop. Probably between 2 - 4 oz of fiber for each.

1. Thick 'n Thin (done)

2. Coils

3. Trapped Foreign Objects (using Turkish Knots)

4. Racing Stripes

5. Corespun (done)

6. Cacoons

7. Twists & Halos (singles done)

8. Supercoils (done)

B. Fleece to Felted Bag

I've been on a roll with felted bags lately and that may even be a big part of the new direction for my shop when I start selling again. I have quite a few Dorset-Suffolk fleece in my fiber room and I want to turn one into a felted bag or two. I've been kettle dyeing batches of this fleece to spin into fat singles for knitting another felted bag. So as I go along in the tour I'll be working on this along with my art yarns. Should make for good warm up and cool down spinning. Good thing I have two wheels and plenty of bobbins! :o)

Workshop

2010-05-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

I have so much to blog about regarding the Insubordiknit Workshop I attended last weekend. I will probably spread it into several posts because there is just that much to share. The weekend was amazingly inspiring. Everyone was very nice and Jacey was fantastic. She's such a great teacher and a very cool, very sweet person. I loved all the little stories she shared with us while we were practicing our new spinning skills. I'll post a few pics but if you want to see the rest you can visit my Flickr set here.

The Group

Me & Jacey

Insubordiknit ...... Yippeeeeee!!!

2010-04-30T07:37:00.000-07:00

I'm going to the Insubordiknit workshop this weekend down in Sarasota. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Spinning funky yarn with great people in a house on the beach. Sounds just perfect! I'll be sure to take lots of notes and pictures and report back. I stayed up late last night making some fun batts to bring with me. Can't decide which spinning wheel to bring (S10 or Julia) so I decided to stop stressing and just bring both. ;o)

Also have some Rocket News coming soon regarding the Florida Fiber In and some possible Rocket Yarn goodies.

Wicked Done!

2010-04-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I never blogged about this. I finished my Wicked Sweater and I love it! I still need to get some better pics of it as I had my five year old son take this one and it's not that great. I'm so happy with how the knitting and the colorway of the yarn worked out. I added quite a bit of extra length to the sweater and used a twisted rib for the bottom cuff instead of the seed stitch called for in the pattern. I would definitely knit this again. I'm thinking of making a long sleeve version next.

Wicked Progress

2010-02-21T06:19:00.000-08:00

There's been a lot going on around here these days, including some knitting. I'm so close to being finished with this sweater and I'm super excited about it. This has been a very quick, very enjoyable knit. I love how it is knit so I can try it on as I go. I added about three inches to the length and plan to repeat the neck crossover pattern at the bottom instead of the seed stitch hem called for in the pattern. This seems to be a common modification made by many people on Ravelry that have knit this sweater. I love this so much that I think i'm going to make another one. Next one will be long sleeved and a bigger size. This is a cute fitted knit and I want another long sleeved, slightly baggy version. Hoping to get this finished up today.

I'm really happy with how this dye job came out. So far I can't see any difference in the different skeins. For this sweater I fingerpainted four skeins of worsted in purples and then did a grey immersion dye over top to darken it up a bit. I'm super pleased with how even I was able to get this yarn.

Stayed tuned for some news/updates regarding my plans for Rocket Yarn...

The Known Universe

2010-01-29T09:47:00.000-08:00

Just found the most amazing video on the Astronomy Picture of the Day site. Take 6.5 minutes and go watch this. Amazing.

Leaving the Biz

2010-01-07T06:13:00.000-08:00

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook or are a member of one of the various fiber groups on Yahoo you probably already know this by now. I am leaving the fiber arts business, at least for a while. Who knows what the future holds but my family has a new plan ... one that I am very excited about. Unfortunately it does not include the time and space for Rocket Yarn. I've had a great ride these past few years. I've met a lot of great people and learned a whole lot along the way. I really appreciate all the encouragement and support I've received throughout this time.

I marked everything in the shop down 20% and surprisingly enough, most of it has already sold. As soon as it warms up around here I will dye up the rest of my undyed stock and list that in Etsy at 20% off as well. It has been unusually cold here in Florida for an unusually long period of time. This Florida girl just can't work out in that cold. See picture of frozen dog water below ... taken about noon. I still can't believe it myself. I may get some batts made up and listed in the meantime. We'll see how it goes. I have a part-time teaching job that starts on Monday and I have no idea what kind of time will be wrapped up in that. I'll also be spending a lot of time researching and planning for our future. Being an aerospace engineer in this economy with the uncertainty hovering over the space program is not going to be easy but I have to try. At least we live in a good state for it and my husband is willing to move. We are actually looking forward to moving because there is just not much going on in this little town we live in. It's time we move somewhere so we can put both of our engineering degrees to use.

More updates to come ....

~SALE~: 20% Off Everything, Spend $50 and Get Free Shipping

2009-12-26T08:19:00.000-08:00

Just marked my entire shop down 20%. Help me clear out current inventory and make room for new things coming in January. Also, spend $50 or more and I will refund your shipping cost. Note all prices in my Etsy shop already reflect the 20% discount. Sale ends 1/1/10.

Rocket Yarn on Etsy

Be Part of the Revolution

2009-12-18T09:54:00.000-08:00

Lexi Boeger, aka Pluckyfluff, made a big announcement on her blog ... a handspun yarn exhibit at Galleri ZINK in Lillehammer. She is looking for people to contribute skeins of handspun yarn. Check her blog post for details. I will definitely be contributing a skein.

Phat Fiber Secret Santa Swap Package

2009-12-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

I received the most wonderful swap package yesterday from Maple of North Star Alpacas.

My swap package contained:

- 4 oz of alpaca roving

- lovely white alpaca/merino yarn

- tencel fiber

- soysilk fiber

- a sachet that smells wonderful

- yummy smelling tea

- Creative Spinning book (has some gorgeous pictures in it, really a great coffee table book)

- and the cutest little sheep necklace you ever did see ...

Thank you Maple for the wonderful swap package. I love it all! :o)

Wicked Knit-a-Long

2009-12-11T07:16:00.000-08:00

I dyed up some of my new worsted weight superwash merino base yarn to knit Wicked with. A friend of mine has this pattern in her queue as well so we decided we would start our own little KAL right after Christmas. Anyone is welcome to join and you don't need to use Rocket Yarn to participate. I started a thread in my Ravelry group for us to use to post progress and share tips and tricks, etc. You can find the Ravelry thread here. You can also post progress on my Facebook page here if you are not on Ravelry.

Here's the yarn I dyed for my sweater. The skein in front has been reskeined.

More Mini Knits

2009-12-11T07:10:00.000-08:00

These are so much fun!

The larger of the two blue socks is knit from the mini sock pattern I linked to a few posts ago. I like the size a bit better than the small one. I think I'm going to add a cuff to it next time.

Facebook URL

2009-12-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

I achieved 100 fans on facebook and now have my own shortened url: www.facebook.com/RocketYarn

Yippeee! :o)

Mini Knits

2009-11-29T19:52:00.000-08:00

I've been on a mini knits kick here recently. Great for using up leftover sock yarn, great for Christmas ornaments and just plain fun to make.

Free mini knits patterns I found online:

Mini Mittens - I haven't made these yet but I plan to soon.

Mini Sweater - This is the pattern I used for the sweater in the picture above.

Mini Socks - Different from the pattern I used for the sock above but I plan to knit this one too.

Have fun and as always, Happy Knitting!

Cyber Monday Sale

2009-11-29T18:26:00.000-08:00

Enter "CyberMonday2009" in message to seller box during Etsy checkout and I will refund 20% of your purchase including shipping. Sale runs until Midnight on Cyber Monday in whatever time zone you are in. Happy shopping! :o)

New in the Shop: Satellite Sets

2009-11-21T20:28:00.000-08:00

New product: Satellite Sets are 4 skein sets of matching hand dyed yarn. I use 3 skeins of worsted weight superwash merino and 1 skein of sock yarn and dye them together using my fingerpainting method. You can use these sets to make a unique set of coordinating knits. A pair of socks with matching hat and scarf or hat and gloves would make a great gift for someone special. So far I have two of these sets up in the shop but will have more up soon. I have a blue set that just needs to be reskeined and listed and I will be dyeing a few more of these sets in the next day or so.

Fingerpainted Browns Satellite Set (takes you to Etsy shop)

The sock yarn in this set is superwash merino nylon. This is a very sturdy sock yarn and I chose it for this brown set because I think it's good yarn to use when knitting socks for men.

Fingerpainted Purples Satellite Set

The sock yarn in this set is my new 2-ply superwash merino with a high twist. It takes the dye a little different than the worsted weight so the sock yarn in this set is ever so slightly darker than the worsted.

I'm really pleased with how these sets came out. I hope you like them and I would appreciate feedback on yardage, price, colors, etc.

Go Atlantis!

2009-11-16T08:18:00.003-08:00

Atlantis and crew are set to launch at 2:28 pm EST today. Here's hoping the weather holds up.

Godspeed Atlantis!

Holiday Shopping & Crafting - Round 2

2009-11-12T06:30:00.000-08:00

And the gift guide continues ...

Sheep Incognito Calendar - $19.95 + shipping. This artist, Conni Togel, is very talented. Sheep art, what's not to love? I love this calendar but would be happy to have any of her sheep art hanging around.

How about some knitting patterns? There are several I've had my eye on but these two are leading the pack for me right now.

Sylvar by Jordana Paige

Wicked by Zephyr Style

Gift Tags from Knit It Up on Etsy $10 + shipping. I love these tags so much. She has tags for knitting, crochet and general crafting. I plan to buy some of these to use on my handmade gifts this holiday season. They come in their own little tin and some of them have really sassy little phrases on them. This is one of my favorites:

The bottom reads "Just tell me if you don't love it... I'll keep it for myself!" .... isn't that great? Love it!

And just for the fun of it, I thought I'd share my Elf Yourself video of my family. Need a laugh? Check it out: See it here.

Rocket Spun

2009-11-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

I spun up one of my Astrobatt sets last night into a thick 'n thin art yarn. Fun stuff! Here is the fiber:

And the yarn:

Holiday Shopping & Crafting

2009-11-04T17:13:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about the upcoming holidays. The state of the economy coupled with the fact that our sole source of income is self-employment income has me thinking a bit more than usual about how and where I want to spend my limited gift budget this year. It is going to be a homemade holiday for sure. I always make a lot of our gifts because I love to make things and give them away. This year our budget is smaller than ever so I plan to make most, if not all, of the gifts we give. Sure I could go spend a little here and there and cover everyone on the list but I don't want to spend money that way. I prefer to give everyone something special, even if it is small. I've been working on my handmade gift spreadsheet (this is how i maintain sanity) and thought I would share some of the small gifts I plan to make this year. Here is a snippet:

Knit Coffee Cozy - easy, quick knit, lots of coffee drinkers in my family
Needle Felted Christmas Ornaments - using small cookie cutters in holiday shapes
Knit Cotton Dish Scrubbies - quick knit, everyone washes dishes right?
Hats - sort of small, can be fun and quirky
Funky Fashion Scarves - aka the skinny scarf knit with funky, chunky handspun yarn, super quick knit and fun to boot!

So where do I plan to spend my money on supplies and the few gifts I don't make? Two places:

1) Any locally owned business in the small rural town we live in because they are hurting just like we are and I want to support my town. I've seen so many businesses have to shut down over the past several months and I want to help out in any way I can.

2) Any Etsy shop (Artfire, HyenaCart, etc are also options) because I know a lot of those sellers are stay-at-home-moms trying to make some extra money for their family. Last year Rocket Yarn sales funded our entire Christmas. Without it Santa might have had to skip our house.

For those of you with money shopping for a knitter or spinner I've compiled a list goodies that I would love to see under my own Christmas tree.

Sit & Spin DVD by Jacey Boggs aka Insubordinknit $43 (includes shipping to the US)

Goods for Knitters from WineMakersSister on Etsy $13.95 + $4.95 shipping. She has tons of great stuff in her shop but this mug is my favorite because boy oh boy is it ever applicable right now:

Spinner's Control Card from Mielke's Fiber Arts $12.50 + shipping. I have one of these and I absolutely love it! Very useful little tool.

Toe-Up! Patterns & Worksheets to Whip Your Whip Your Sock Knitting into Shape by Chrissy Gardiner. I would love to get my hands on this book. Knitting + worksheets makes me all happy. $24.95 + shipping but this is on Amazon so if you spend $25 you get free shipping.

Well that's it for now. Look for more posts coming soon as I find more goodies to share. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment on this post. Thanks & happy knitting!

Update: New Products & Sock Yarn Sale

2009-11-01T09:12:00.001-08:00

Shop Update: My remaining stock has returned from SAFF. I will get the Etsy shop back up by then end of the day today. To celebrate the reopening of my shop and to make room for new products coming soon I am going to have a sock yarn sale. All sock yarn in the shop will be on sale for $16. Sale will run for three days. Several new Astrobatts will be listed soon as well.

New Yarn Update: Coming soon to Rocket Yarn is superwash worsted weight merino yarn. Skeins will be 215 yards each. This is a new item for me so I'm up for suggestions. I usually dye each skein one-of-a-kind but I'm considering dyeing the worsted weight in batches of two or three so you can buy a matching set. For those of you who buy hand dyed worsted weight yarn, what do you look for as far as yardage? Do you mostly buy for one skein projects or do you look for lots with two, three or more matching skeins? Input greatly appreciated! Also coming soon are two new sock yarns. A tightly twisted two-ply superwash merino and a merino-cashmere-nylon blend.

New Fibers Coming Soon: Rambouillet combed top and a lovely superwash merino/silk blend pencil roving. Yummy! I'm also making up some Astrobatts with a Rambouillet, silk and BFL.

Knitting Update

2009-10-18T14:43:00.001-07:00

My first fleece to finished item project is finally nearing the end. It feels like I have been working on this project forever. I love the results though. I came to the end of the pattern and still had quite a bit of yarn left and really wanted to see all the colors I planned out so I've been adding to it. I've added an additional 20 rows so far and will probably add another 40 before it's all done.

S'mores Alpaca Revontuli Shawl

I started a new project this weekend because I wanted something mindless and quick to work on while I recovered from some medical stuff. I've had a pattern sitting on my desk for about two years now from one of those knitting pattern a day calendars back in 2007. It's called the Math Geek Scarf. Here's a link to my Ravelry project page. Well I finally picked it up this weekend and decided to give it a go. I found some funky yarn I had in my stash that I thought might be fun and started knitting. Let me tell you ... I have never knit a scarf so fast in my life. The pattern is great fun and the chunky yarn is making it a quick project. I took it to knitting group today and it was very popular.

Found Another Great Pattern

2009-10-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

It's called Sylvar by Jordana Paige. You can find her website here where you can purchase the pattern. The Ravelry page is here. I had not heard of her until I ran into this pattern today. I definitely plan to look around and see what other designs she has out there. I just found her Twitter page here.

I borrowed this picture from her Flickr page. Isn't it just gorgeous? I really love the neck line. Definitely adding this to my queque.

Shop Going to SAFF

2009-10-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hanks Yarn & Fiber is taking my shop with them to SAFF. If any of you are going, make sure to check out the Hanks booth. My shop will be on vacation mode from 10/20 or 10/21 until at least 10/28. I have some new products coming along with the re-opening of my shop after SAFF so stay tuned!

Free Pattern: Peasant Blouse

2009-10-16T07:09:00.001-07:00

I just saw this free pattern on Knitting Daily. I love it so I thought I would share. You can get to the download site here.

Photo borrowed from KD website.

BFL it is!

2009-10-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Okay so even though some of my fellow Floridians think I'm a bit nuts, I ordered four pounds of natural colored BFL to spin for the Clasica Coat. I'm really excited about this project. It may very well take me an entire year to finish but at least I have goals right? :) I ordered the Extrafine Natural Dark BFL from the Copper Moose. It should be here on Monday. I can't wait to wrap myself in the yumminess. I may go around the house wearing some combed top for a few days. Then my family will really think i've lost it! :oP

In other news, my Fiber Arts Club started at the Blake School yesterday and it went really well. I think a good time was had by all and the students are really excited to get started on their first projects. One of my science students who joined the club came in to class today all excited because she knit her way home from school and was so surprised and excited at how fast the time passed. She usually gets impatient on the ride home and just wants to get there but now thinks she may appreciate the knitting time. I said "welcome to the world of knitting" and smiled. I think I have inspired another to knit and that my friends ... is good stuff.

Help Me Pick Yarn ... or Fiber

2009-10-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the current issue of Interweave Knits? I just adore the sweater/coat on the front cover. It's called the Clasica Coat.

I've been sitting here looking up yarn options online for at least an hour. I like the yarn it's knit with. Handspun single ply, slightly thick and thin, natural colors ... beautiful yarn. With the sweater requiring 12 or 14 hanks of yarn it is quite a bit out of my budget. Then I got to thinking ... Aran weight single ply yarn is my favorite yarn to spin. Should I spin for this? How much fiber would I need to spin 2,000 yards? Am I crazy for even contemplating this? My current spin to knit project is in month six and it's only a shawl. Now granted I haven't spent much time on it over the past month or so but I am almost done. It was only 700 yards of a lace weight single but it didn't take me long to spin for it. I worked on it a lot over one weekend and then finished it up sometime during the next week. It's the knitting that is taking me forever. It doesn't help that this is my first big lace project and my first real chart reading project.

So I've been looking over yarn options and reading about all these pilling problems with some of the single ply yarns. I'm wondering if I have something with a longer staple length than merino, will this reduce the pilling? What if it is something with a longer staple length than merino and it's blended with silk or tencel? I found several single ply yarns that had either silk or tencel blended in and they looked absolutely drool worthy. Now I'm wondering if I can find the fiber/color combo to spin this. And then there is the pull towards Rambouillet or CVM. Oh the decisions. I need to get busy on that shawl so I can move on to my next project. :)

So anyone have a recommendation for a source for natural colored Rambouillet, CVM or BFL combed top???

Florida Fiber In Demo & Booth

2009-10-09T05:40:00.001-07:00

Photos of my booth at the Fiber In. My plan for hanging the banner didn't work out so well so I had to make do.

I was really nervous about my demo at the Fiber In but it went great and I received lots of positive feedback. I'm glad I decided to offer this demo and will definitely do it again if asked.

Teaching Kids to Knit

2009-10-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the silence around here lately. I've started teaching again on top of everything else I have going on and am up to my eyeballs in things to do. It's all good though because i'm really enjoying it. My friend Teresa volunteered to help me sponsor a fiber arts club at school. Our first meeting is this coming Tuesday. We're putting together a kit for everyone containing knitting needles, crochet hook, an assortment of yarn for chosen projects and a notebook. Teresa has the crochet projects sorted out (washcloth and skinny scarf) and I'm working on the knitting side of things. I'm thinking coasters for the beginning square project but I haven't figured out the next knitting project. Maybe a hat? Any suggestions? Age range is pretty wide but I definitely have at least five students who are old enough to learn whatever I throw at them.

Also curious as to the availability of some basic knitting instructions to put in the kids folders. I don't want to infringe on anyones copyright so I'm being cautious about this. I wonder if someone has put instructions out there that can be freely copied for educational purposes. I did a quick search but didn't find anything yet. Hoping to avoid reinventing the wheel by drawing out the knit and purl stitch again myself. Any suggestions appreciated!

Quick Update

2009-09-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Between travelling for the Fiber In and a family wedding and my new teaching gig, I have not had time to update my sales and get the Etsy shop live again. Hoping to have it back up and running this weekend.

Shop Going on Vacation Mode for the Fiber In

2009-09-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

My entire shop will be on vacation mode starting this Thursday evening or Friday morning. I am taking all of my items to Sarasota for the Florida Fiber In. I will update my shop with what is left sometime after I get back. It may end up being down for a whole week due to the new job I have teaching school. I don't get much fiber time during the week anymore. If there is something in my shop you have had your eye on, now would be a really good time to order it. No guarantees it will return from Sarasota.

For those of you going to the Fiber In, I will have a special price structure good for this event only. Details at the Fiber In. :)

Made The Front Page!

2009-09-10T15:51:00.000-07:00

My Florida Gator themed spinning fiber was featured in a treasury that made it to the front page of Etsy. How exciting! Not sure if this link will work for everyone but here is a link to The Vault. What a gorgeous orange and blue treasury ... my favorite team colors. I'm a graduate of The University of Florida so to have my first item ever on the front page be a Gator themed item is extra special.

Labor Day Weekend Sale

2009-09-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sale in Rocket Yarn shop: 15% off your entire purchase

Offer good until Monday night at midnight

To receive 15% rebate enter code "laborday09" in the note to seller box during purchase and will refund the 15% to your paypal account.

Where Am I?

2009-09-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed my lack of blogging and posting new items. I just started teaching again at a local private school and am preparing for the Florida Fiber In coming up in about two weeks. Busy, busy, busy! My shop is pretty well stocked and I am dyeing up some new sock yarn and seawool pencil roving in preparation for the Fiber In. I'm focusing my time and attention on my new job and Fiber In prep for the next couple of weeks while I get things figured out. If you are looking for a base yarn or fiber in a certain method or base color and can't find it in the shop just send me an email or contact me on Ravely and I'll see if I have it available. My shop will be on vacation mode from 9/18-9/20 and I will update it with my new items as soon as I get back from the Fiber In.

Happy Knitting & Spinning! :)

Phat Fiber Giveaway!

2009-08-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

Go check the Phat Fiber blog for your chance to win some Rocket Yarn Astrobatts. Many thanks to Jessie for all she does with Phat Fiber and her kind words about my shop. I especially love her Rocket Yarn version of the song Rocket Man. :)

Rocket News

2009-08-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

I've been toying with the idea of starting a newsletter for a while now. I just wasn't sure I could come up with enough material. Well that is no longer a problem. I have almost a full notebook page of newsletter item ideas. I'm not completely sure if it's going to be quarterly or a little more frequent but if you sign up I assure you that you will not get more than one email a month from me. So ... if you would like to sign up for "Rocket News" please send an email to celena [at] rocketyarn [dot] com with "rocket yarn mailing list" in the subject line. The newsletter will be sent in PDF form to your email address. Here is a small sample of things you may see in the newsletter:

Upcoming Events
Customer Photos & Product Reviews
New Products Coming to Rocket Yarn
NASA News
Upcoming Shuttle Launches and Mission Updates
Contests
Coupon Codes for RocketYarn.etsy.com
Free Patterns
Space Trivia

I hope to get very creative with this and keep it interesting. If you would like to submit a product review or a customer photo please send it to the above email address. It can be of something you've made using my hand dyed yarn or yarn you've spun using my fiber. It can also be a silly customer appreciation photo of you wearing some Rocket Yarn goodies like Angel sent me. (See the post below.) I love the silly! :)

Customer Appreciation Photos

2009-08-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

I've been selling yarn & fiber on Etsy for over two years now but have never received any customer appreciation photos until a couple of weeks ago. They were so much fun I just had to share them with you. Angel looks like she would be a blast to hang out with. Check out these photos:

And yes, that is my hand dyed fiber on her head! What a hoot!

I noticed that Angel was also an Etsy seller so of course I had to go check out her shop. Turns out she actually has two active shops:
Angel's Purple Pantry of Paper & Yarn
Angel's Purple Pantry of Handcrafted Baby Treats

I personally love this hat from the first shop. And check out her adorable baby props in the second shop. What a great combo of funky yarn and cute babies. This photo is just too cute for words.

Angel is actually very new to spinning and sent me photos of hats she made from her handspun yarn. Aren't they adorable? She is obviously a natural born spinner because these hats are made from some of her very first handspun and they look great!

Thanks Angel for the great photos!

Florida Fiber In

2009-08-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Well it's official ... I am doing a demo at the Florida Fiber In this September. I was a little nervous about it when they first asked so I politely declined and said that I would let them know if I talked myself into it. It sounds like a fun thing to do but I've never actually dyed yarn or fiber in front of anyone but my family. I'm not sure why this makes me so nervous but it does. Well I've had quite a few requests to start teaching dyeing workshops and finally decided that this fall would be a good time for me to start doing so. I emailed the Fiber In folks and told them I would be willing if they would still have me. I'm the first demo of the day which I'm very happy about. I can go ahead and get it over with early and then relax for the rest of the day. Here is the info from the demo schedule:

Florida Fiber In Demonstration Schedule – Sat. 19^th, 2009

9:00 – 9:45 – Two Sock Yarn Dyeing Methods – Celena Crews, Rocket Yarn, Lake City, FL

Come see Celena share how she creates yarn to "Dye" for! Two of her sock yarn dyeing methods will be demonstrated and she will explain her "method vs. colorway" system of dyeing yarn. Question and answer session about yarn and fiber dyeing after the demo so bring your questions.

Phat Fiber Giveaway

2009-08-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

Check out the latest Phat Fiber Giveaway. It's a spot in the Moonwood Farm Moonbeams Fiber club ... Yummy!

From Moonwood Farm listing:
"Moonbeams consist of a soft array of fibers, mainly alpaca, but also generous amounts of bamboo and milk protein fiber. Sometimes I may add some baby angora goat (kid mohair) or some satin angora bunny fiber."

Sounds heavenly!

And if Phat Fiber is new to you ... go check out the website and read all about it at PhatFiber.com.

October is for Spinners KAL

2009-08-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

There is a knit-a-long started on Ravelry that I wanted to share with you. My very talented friend Sharon (aka Idyllicchick) is one of the owners of Hanks Yarn & Fiber in Gainesville, FL. Aside from being a talented knitter, spinner and LYS owner, she is also one of the nicest people I've ever met. And now it turns out, she is an amazing pattern designer as well. Who knew?!?! :)

I fell in love with this pattern when she wrote it last fall and the KAL starting on Ravelry reminded me that I wanted to blog about it. Check out the pattern October is for Spinners. It's a free pattern from Hanks Yarn & Fiber year of free scarf patterns. And while you're at it, check out all the patterns from 2008: A Year in Scarves. Lorena wrote some beautiful patterns as well. I see at least two I plan to make for gifts this year. Very talented LYS owners indeed! This year they are doing afghan squares. You can see them here 2009: The Year of the Afghan.

There is a blog post about the October is for Spinners scarf here on the Hanks blog. Believe it or not, this amazing pattern is Sharon's first published knitting pattern! The pattern starts out with a spider and ends with a web. It is knit with 4 strands of lace weight held together and you gradually drop a strand as you go so you end using only one strand for the web. So creative!

(photo borrowed from the Hanks blog)

I'm going to knit this up myself as soon as I finish my S'mores Revontuli Shawl. I dress like a witch at halloween every year and I think this scarf would make a fantastic addition to my costume. I'm thinking of dyeing up some pencil roving in a progressive dye so I can spin yarn resulting in a scarf that starts out with an orange spider and ends with a black web. Or should it be a black spider and an orange web? Or how about black to purple? Black to gray to purple? Hmmm ... so many ideas floating around for this! What do you think?

Shuttle Rolling Out to the Pad

2009-08-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

A friend I worked with at NASA sent me these photos of the shuttle rolling out to the pad.

Method vs. Colorway & Finger Painted Yarn

2009-08-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

So if you've read any of my yarn listings, shop policies or rocketyarn.com you've seen my mention of the fact that I dye in methods rather than colorways. Well I had an idea for a different method of yarn dyeing recently and I wanted to share the results. I decided to name this method "finger painting" because of the way I manipulate the dye with my fingers after applying it to the yarn/fiber I'm dyeing. I also use dyes that have not been reheated. Acid dyes often fall out of solution as they cool, some colors more so than others, and often have to be not only reheated but filtered as well to avoid what I call "the speckles". Well I was thinking about this and I had an idea to try a sort of messy way of dyeing yarn involving not reheating and filtering my dyes. A method that would allow the color to sort of be all over the place. A method that would require a lot of manipulation with the fingers after the dye is applied. A method that was truly art. So I tried it and was very happy with the results. But what do I call it, I thought? My first idea was something like "random pour and smoosh" but after watching my kids do some finger painting I had one of those "aha!" moments. And thus "finger painting" was born here at Rocket Yarn.

Let me go down a side path for just a minute. I've been blogging for years but due to the increased attention on Rocket Yarn and my family constantly bugging me to stop with all the yarn talk and to get back to posting about the kids, garden, etc on my personal blog I decided that Rocket Yarn needed a blog of its own. I'm not sure why I didn't decide to do this sooner. Probably because I feel a little spread out this way as I feared I would. I'll post something here and then I'll go post on my personal blog to go read the Rocket Yarn blog. Seems kind of silly but alas, I'm getting off track again. Ah yes, another blog ... so I've been working on a list of things I want to blog about here. If any of my trusty three readers have suggestions please email me at celena[at]rocketyarn.com. I'm always open to requests and suggestions. :) Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Methods vs. Colorways - what does this mean anyway?

Some dyers come up with a specific color combo dyed in a specific pattern with dye they have measured and mixed to a certain concentration and they repeat this specific dye job many times over. That is a colorway. That is a great thing for those who do it. That, however, is so not my gig. I'm an engineer by education and day job and I use my yarn/fiber dyeing to fulfill that side of me that screams with artistic ideas and loves color ... that artsy side that needs to get out. That artsy side that is boxed in by being an engineer. When I break out the dye bottles there is no specific weighing and measuring. It's all art, baby! ;)

So what do I mean when I say "method"? To me, it's the way I apply the dye to the skein of yarn. When I set out to dye something I first decide two things. What is my base color going to be and what method am I going to use? For example, my "plasma dipped" method of yarn dyeing involves selecting a color (purple) and a few dyes to slightly shift that color (yellow, black, gray). I then fill containers (chinese take-out soup containers ... the best!) with the base color (purple) and then add a seperate shifting color to each container (purple + black, purple + yellow, purple + gray). Then starts the dipping ... overlapping sections dyed multiple times allow me to create a skein of yarn in which the colors gradually blend/fade into the next rather than changing abruptly. I think this gives the finished knitted item a more smooth look to it as far as color goes. It may end up being a true semi-solid or it may be more variegated. Just depends on what colors I used, how many times I over dipped and what end effect I was going for.

This dyeing philosophy is what makes my items mine. There are a ton of very talented and unique fiber artists out there. We all have our own way of doing things. You could put ten of us together with the same three bottles of dye and the same base yarn and you would have ten completely different skeins of yarn at the end of it all. That's one of the things I love about being a fiber artist. They say dogs resemble their people ... well I think skeins of yarn do as well. :)

So what was the point of all this anyway? I was going to introduce my new method of yarn dyeing but decided this would also be a great opportunity for some explanation. Now you know what I mean by "method vs. colorway" and will know what to expect when you see me list ten different yarns that say "plasma dipped purples". Please note that this only means I used my plasma dipped method of dyeing and the base color I started out with is purple. It does not refer to an actual colorway in which you could expect all ten skeins to be nearly identical. My yarn is art and no two items are ever exactly alike. Well slight caveat with the Astrobatts. Some of those will be mostly the same. But again, I digress ...

Happy Fiber Friday!

2009-07-31T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is shaping up to be the best Fiber Friday yet! I found out Jacey Boggs aka Insubordiknit was coming to do a workshop in Florida. Better yet, in Sarasota, FL which is right next to my hometown of Bradenton. My family still lives there so I have plenty of places to stay for free and Grandma to entertain the kiddos. A friend of mine came over a few days before I found out about the workshop to have me spin up some trash bags and some t-shirt strips. She's into recycling whatever she can into hand knit and crocheted items. Well when she was here we were thumbing through Intertwined (an art yarn spinning book) and I was talking about how much I wish either Jacey or Lexi Boeger (author of Intertwined aka Pluckyfluff) would come to Florida. It seems as though people assume Floridians don't knit/crochet/spin much because of the warm weather. Well imagine my surprise when less than a week later I see Jacey post about a Sarasota workshop. I couldn't believe it! So I reserved a spot as soon as it opened up and decided to drop a note of thanks to Picasso's Moon, the yarn shop in Sarasota that is sponsoring the workshop. Turns out Debra is very nice and we ended up exchanging a few emails about the workshop and the upcoming Florida Fiber-In that is being held in Sarasota in September. Well imagine my surprise when I got an order of two skeins of sock yarn from Debra herself. This woman has a yarn shop ... is surrounded by all the yarn and fiber she could ever want ... and she buys two skeins of my hand dyed sock yarn. This is such a great day! :)

A Sneak Peak ...

2009-07-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

... at things to come. A new sock yarn dyeing method I came up with and am loving, "space junk" Astrobatts (for artyarn) and some tie-dyed fiber. More on all three of these things soon. :)

Group on Ravelry

2009-07-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

For those of you on Ravelry, I started a group for Rocket Yarn. Come join us!

40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

2009-07-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

July 16, 2009

NASA PLAYS AUDIO "TIME CAPSULE" OF HISTORIC APOLLO 11 MISSION

NASA will provide a unique audio "time capsule" in observance of the 40th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon. Audio from the entire Apollo 11 mission will be replayed and streamed on the Internet at exactly the same time and date it was broadcast in 1969.

The audio retrospective will begin at 7:32 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 16, two hours before the spacecraft launched. The audio will continue through splashdown of the mission at 12:51 p.m. EDT Friday, July 24, and recovery of the crew shortly afterward. The Web stream will feature the communications between the astronauts and ground teams, and commentary from Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

To listen to the replay, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/apollo11_radio

For historical information about Apollo 11, visit: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo11

NASA's Apollo 40th anniversary Web site provides easy access to various agency resources and multimedia about the program and the history of human spaceflight, including a gallery of Apollo multimedia features. The site is online at: http://www.nasa.gov/apollo40th

************************************

The following is a link to a short video created by KSC Public Affairs in honor of the Apollo 11 40^th anniversary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub-38qoq1_0

***********************************

For a list of Apollo 40th anniversary events and more information about the anniversary, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/40th/events.html and http://www.nasa.gov/apollo

Go Endeavor!

2009-07-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

The crew of Space Shuttle Endeavor is once again suited up and ready for launch. Let's hope they get to launch this time. This site has lots of great info as well as a launch countdown clock. Go check it out!

Tour de Fleece Yarn #3

2009-07-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Mmmmmmmohair!!! :)
Fiber: 100% Texas Yearling Mohair top
Colors: earthy greens and blues
Spun single, about DK weight, 197 yards
This was my first experience spinning 100% mohair and boy was it fun. I think I'm going to spin more of this on the Tour. I love the way it handles and spins. I have some listed in the shop if you're interested.

Tour de Fleece Days 3 & 4

2009-07-08T11:33:00.000-07:00

I made a space inspired batt. Spun it slightly thick and then and then plied it with metallic needle punch thread. Spun with a twist and a few coils here and there.

Tour de Fleece Yarn #2
Space Batt: sw merino in black, dk navy, denim blue, light gray
Add-ins: blips of silk, angelina and firestar

Tour de Fleece Yarn #3
hand dyed mohair top
spun at about a dk weight single, i think

Tour de Fleece Day 2

2009-07-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

I completed my first yarn of the tour.
Fiber: Punta Wool (dyed by me)
Yards: 106 yds
Method: coils with some funk between the coils (different plying angles)

Tour de Fleece Day 1

2009-07-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

Hand dyed Punta wool in "condiments". I finished the second single and started plying with some coils to make an artsy yarn.

Tour de Fleece Starts Today

2009-07-04T06:44:00.000-07:00

As the Tour de France begins … so does the Tour de Fleece. They spin, we spin. They have goals and so do we. I’ve had a lot of art yarn ideas lately so I joined Team Breakaway (art yarn spinners). Here are my yarn goals for the tour:

Coiled Yarn – “Space”

- 4 oz hand dyed deep blue Romney

- Silver metallic thread

- Plied together with coils

Coiled Yarn – “Sky”

- 2 oz hand dyed white & light blue Merino

-2 oz hand dyed grey & blue Merino

- Plied together with lots of coils

Corespun – “Deep Space”

- Astrobatt corespun around crochet thread or fingering weight wool

- Merino/Bamboo or Merino/Nylon

- Deep purple, blue and black with angelina and firestar

Add-Ins – “Bejeweled”

- Jewel colored batt with firestar and Angelina

- Plied with metallic thread and multi-colored beads

Regarding the Polls Above ...

2009-06-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

If you have comments to go along with the polls above, please add them to this post. Thanks!

What I've Been Up to Lately ....

2009-06-29T06:33:00.000-07:00

I dyed up several pounds of fiber this weekend. I played with some different colors than I usually use. I actually used both turquoise and yellow which I never do unless I'm mixing them into something else. I'm pretty happy with the results. I also dyed some 8 oz braids and then split them in two. This way I actually have several matching sets. I listed them together on Etsy so if a listing says there are two available they are actually a matching set.

Here is my first attempt at dyeing mohair. This is Texas Yearling Mohair Top and it is a blast to dye. I know some people love this fiber and others hate it with a passion. I just hope I am able to sell it because I want to order a lot more of it.

And here is a sampling of the Falkland Wool Top I dyed up. This fiber is very nice. It is next-to-the-skin soft but not quite as soft as Merino. It is great for felting too.

And then there was a wee bit of seawool pencil roving ...

New Things to Come & Wholesale Order

2009-06-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited about some new products I've decided to add to my shop. I have some new lace weight yarn and several new breeds of spinning fiber. More to come on these very soon. In the meantime, here are some pics of the yarn and fiber I dropped of at Hanks recently.

I've Seen It All Now ...

2009-06-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this yet? The Knitting Machine

This guy, Dave Cole, knits with all kinds of crazy stuff. Baby clothes knit from cut up strips of Kevlar vest. A huge teddy bear knit with 185 rolls of fiberglass insulation. Another bear knit from strips of lead. A dress knit out of money where he used over $1000 cut into 1/8th inch strips. Unbelievable!

Do You Have a Favorite Knitwear Designer?

2009-06-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

I sure do and it happens to be Connie Chang Chinchio. Besides being cute as a button, Connie produces some beautiful knitting patterns. My next three projects in waiting all happen to be Connie's patterns. You can find her blog here: physicsknits

Here are some of my favorite PhysicsKnits patterns:
Versailles Shell (i cast on for this one last night, pictured above)
Apres Surf Hoodie (i think this is next)
Varese Hoodie
Soap Bubble Wrap
Riding to Avalon
Uhura (just purchased this pattern, feeling the need to cast on too)
Henley Perfected
Trellis & Keyhole Tank

Here's a link for those of you on Ravelry: Connie's Patterns on Ravelry

New Raffle Code Drawn

2009-06-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

If you have a goody bag from the Jacksonville Suns Stitch 'n Pitch make sure to check the shop announcement for the winning raffle code. The first code was not claimed so I drew again. I will draw again on Friday if nobody claims this number.

Facebook

2009-06-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

Rocket Yarn now has a facebook fan page. Come on over and share with me. Pictures, comments, color suggestions welcome.

Which Ewe Are You?

2009-06-11T04:41:00.001-07:00

Take the quiz here.

World Wide Knit in Public Day

2009-06-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

When: Saturday June 13, 2009 from 1-3 pm
Where: In front of The Coffee House in the Lake City Mall on US HWY 90 in Lake City, FL
Bring: Your knitting and/or crochet project, a folding chair if you have one, some cash for drinks and snacks, extra yarn and needles to teach passers by to knit. :)

I will have extra goody bags from the Jacksonville Stitch 'n Pitch. One can be yours for a $2 donation to the Needle Arts Mentoring Program

Blueberry Festival

2009-06-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

I will be at the Blueberry Festival in Wellborn, FL June 5th & 6th (Fri & Sat). My Etsy shop will be on vacation mode during that time. Please come see me if you are in the area.

On the Drying Rack

2009-05-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

Superwash BFL Top

Superwash Merino/Nylon Sock Yarn

Some Recent Dye Work

2009-05-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

Re-Think the CPSIA

2009-05-22T07:19:00.000-07:00

I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:

"Re-Think the CPSIA"
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/rethinkthecpsia?e

I really think this is an important cause, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes less than a minute of your time.

Thanks!

Look Who Knits

2009-05-21T11:21:00.001-07:00

John Glover

So Many Things to Blog About, So Little Time

2009-05-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

Important news on the Jacksonville Stitch 'n Pitch coming soon. Think goodies bags, coupons and raffles. :)

Wanted to share a few of my latest dyes with you.

He was a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater ...

2009-05-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

Check out my latest Etsy Treasury.

My Little Rocket Helpers

2009-04-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I let the boys dye their own fiber. They had a blast with it.
I think we might be on to something here. Now Houston wants to spin his on his new spinning wheel. (more on that later) I'm actually thinking of ordering them a bunch of superwash wool roving that they can dye up and I'll list it in the shop. All the money they make will go to their college fund. Don't know if anyone would buy it but I'm looking forward to spinning some of it up into a nice fat singles yarn.

I think it turned out pretty good for a two and four year old. What do you think? "Little Rocket Roving"????

Logo Fun

2009-04-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

So I found this new program called Inkscape. It's awesome and it's free. What more could you want? The only thing it lacks is an eraser tool but apparently they are working on that. Anyhow, stayed up way too late last night tinkering with my logo and shop/blog headers.

Twitter, New Website & A Festival

2009-04-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

A few things to share for today:

Twitter - You can now follow me on twitter here.
Dot Com - I launched the bare bones version of RocketYarn.com last night. I wanted a place my customers could go to find out about all things Rocket Yarn. From the dot com you can find links to my Etsy shop, this blog and my twitter profile as well as info on Rocket Yarn products and appearances.
MADD Fest - I will have a booth at MADD Fest here in Lake City on Saturday May 9th. They are still accepting vendors so if you want to join in contact them or shoot me an email and I can forward you the vendor form. More details on this to come soon.

As always, Happy Knitting, Spinning and whatever other crafty thing catches your fancy,
~Celena

Happy Earth Day

2009-04-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

I got lucky enough to snag an Etsy Treasury today and since it's Earth Day and I've been slightly obsessed with green lately I decided to put together a Spring Green for Earth Day Treasury. Go check it out and let me know what you think.

My Latest Inspiration

2009-04-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

I've been spending a lot of time outside lately. I just love growing things we can eat. In the past month I've planted three apple trees, a fig tree, a blueberry bush, muscadine grapes and then there is the garden. In the garden we have tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, corn, green beans, wax beans, lima beans, zipper peas, cream peas, watermelon, cantelope, cucumbers, butternut squash, pumpkin and okra. I also have three earth boxes that are planted with grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers and collard greens. I love this time of year when it warms up and we start spending so much time outside. There is something that is so satisfying about planting things and watching the green emerge. Maybe that's why my dye pot keeps coming out green. Either that or I was bitten by a leprechaun. :)

New Plan for Rocket Yarn

2009-04-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've noticed my lack of blogging and listing new items to the shop. I've been working on some new products and a new plan for Rocket Yarn. The recession seems to have people less likely to take a chance on purchasing online. However, Rocket Yarn goodies have been selling fabulously (is that a word?) at Hanks Yarn & Fiber and generally sell really well in person when buyers can put their hands on the fiber. Because of this I'm taking my shop in a slightly new direction. I will still have a presence on the web and the Etsy shop will still be active. I am adding a .com and will be going to shows throughout Florida and maybe some in Georgia and the surrounding area. I'm not going to give out all the details just yet but there are four of us working on a fiber collective and I'm really excited about the prospects.

New Sock Yarn Coming Soon!

2009-03-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

I now have BFL and merino/tencel sock yarn. I dyed some up this weekend and will be listing it throughout the week.

Did She Say SIDEWAYS?????

2009-02-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

So if you haven't read or heard about the Yarn Harlot's post and have no idea what I'm talking about ... go here first. Then come back and see me. :)

So I've always fed my fiber into the drum carder tip first. In thinking back, I'm not exactly sure why but I do know I've thought about feeding it in sideways. It's just that when I thought about it I was sure it would make a big tangled mess. Oh boy how wrong was I!?!?!? A sideways fed batt is a beautifully wonderful thing indeed. It's so lofty and squishy and yummy!

See anything different about these two batts? The longer skinnier batt was created with the fiber being sent into the drum carder tip first. The shorter loftier looking batt was created with the fiber sent in sideways. Both batts are the same amount of the same fiber. They were both carded by the same person (that's me) on the exact same drum carder. Interesting, no? It makes total sense if you think about it though. I could get all scientific here (and don't think I haven't thought about it) with diagrams and all but I'll spare you that for now. I can tell you that I have spun both types of batts and I am amazed at how much more pleasant the sideways batt is to spin. It makes a very lofty woolen type yarn. Look for more on this in the shop.

One more thing to note here, this applies more to people (like myself) that card already processed fiber. I tend to use roving/top/sliver because it is easy for me to deal with handling and dyeing it. I've spun some batts from fiber artists that start with raw fleece and their batts tend to resemble my sideways fed batts due to the nature of the fiber being processed commercially versus being processed by hand. Also, feeding processed fiber sideways is essentially creating a woolen preparation, meaning the fibers are not all lined up parallel to each other. Those of you that prefer to spin top (fibers are lined up parallel) over a batt or true roving may not like this preparation as much. Either way, it's definitely something to try out so you know which way you prefer.

I'm creating listings that contain one 1-1/8 ounce batt of each type. It's not a big amount of fiber, just more of an experiment you can try out without making much of an investment. If you are interested in this experiment and want a certain type, color or amount of fiber ... please email me (celena@rocketyarn.com) and I'll let you know what I have available.

More Friends of Rocket Yarn

2009-02-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

Jane's Shop: Princess Froglips

Jane is super crafty and very talented. She makes the cutest little bags all from recycled thrift store and yard sale fabric and zippers. She also dyes spinning fiber and is a fabulous spinner herself. I love the fabric and the colors she uses in her craft projects. Go check out her shop and I'm sure you'll find something you like!

Lorien's Shop: Silverleaf Designs

Lorien is actually the person who inspired me to learn to knit several years ago. I met her, along with Dana, at The Birth Center of Gainesville. She is a great fabric artist and has an Etsy shop where she sells the best little hand knit cottons dish sponges. These make great gifts for those people you don't know what to buy for because they already have everthing. She offers free gift wrapping with all orders and has received great feedback from all of her customers.

New Item Updates & Shipping

2009-02-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

Sock Batts

I've had some snafus with some of the fiber I have so I've been spending a lot of time in the R&D phase of things. I want to make sure my customers are happy with what they purchase from me. My merino/nylon blend is turning out great so I finally got a batch of those sock batts up in the shop. They are 80% superwash merino and 20% nylon. The weight came out a little lower than planned so the price reflects this. I have more to list sometime this week (maybe even tonight) that turned out really great.

Handspun Yarn

I've decided to offer some of my handspun yarn in the shop. Most of this yarn has been spun from fiber I dyed myself. I've spent a lot of time on this yarn and the price reflects this. I can promise you will not be dissappointed in any of my handspun yarn. I am very picky about what I've decided is worth enough to list. I went through all 20+ skeins of handspun and found four that are truly worthy of the Rocket Spun tag. :)

Shipping Changes

Due to economic changes I've made the decision to start offering international shipping on Rocket Yarn purchases.

Friends of Rocket Yarn

2009-02-04T07:17:00.000-08:00

A couple of my friends (and fellow fiber artists) started Etsy shops recently so I thought I would share them with you. They are both amazingly talented fiber artists and you should snag up some of their great yarn and fiber before it gets away. :)

Dana's Shop: Goble Warming
Dana is an amazing spinner. We met back at the Birth Center of Gainesville in 2004 when I was pregnant with my first child and she had just given birth to her first child. We were obviously meant to cross paths as we both found our way to knitting as well and ended up at the same knitting group. Then about a year ago we took our first spinning class together. I'm still amazed every time I see her yarn. She can out spin me by a long shot. Amazing consistency in her spinning and I love her color choices.

Tessa's Shop: Fluffalicious
Tessa is a very talented artist and a great spinner as well. She sells art yarn and spinning fiber as well as other knitting related goodies. She teaches knitting and yarn dyeing classes at Hanks Yarn & Fiber in Gainesville. She also has an etsy shop How to Use Art where she sells screenprinted clothing, bags, prints and more. You can read more about her art education and experience here.

Look What Katrina Made ...

2009-02-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

... out of Rocket Roving. It's a Mother Earth Shawl and it is absolutely gorgeous! Thanks so much for letting me share the photos! You can see her Flickr stream here and her Etsy shop here: Fresh from the Needles.

Fiber for Hanks

2009-01-22T07:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of the Rocket Yarn spinning fiber Hanks Yarn & Fiber took to the Spin-In in Destin this week.

Spinning Batts on the Way

2009-01-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

My drum carder arrived and i've been doing some experiments. I should have several batts up in the shop by the end of next week, maybe even sooner. These batts are being designed with socks in mind but can be spun to make anything you like. :)

Batts coming soon to Rocket Yarn:

Luxury Sock Batts
Merino/Cashmere
Merino/Cashmere/Nylon

Mighty Sock Batts
Superwash Merino
Superwash Merino/Nylon
Superwash BFL

Something Exciting This Way Comes ...

2008-12-22T07:23:00.000-08:00

My drum carder is on the way and I have about 22 pounds of loose fiber waiting to be made into luxury sock batts. Hopefully will have some added to the shop just after the turn of the year, maybe even before. Here's a sneak peak at some of the merino/cashmere/nylon I've been kettle dyeing. I'm really excited about this new adventure and have a ton of fun ideas in store for my customers.

Fun & Funky Sock Balls

2008-12-10T07:20:00.000-08:00

Got more of these made up. Two of these are up in the shop now and the other two will be added later today.

Shop Update

2008-12-07T08:46:00.000-08:00

All are 4 ounces of imported British Blue-Faced Leicester (BFL). Yummy soft!

New Ravelry Marketplace Ad

2008-12-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

Seriously I think I should have been a graphic artist/designer type thing. Not saying I'm any good at it ... just that I can sit here and play with a graphics program all day long and not get bored. Here's my new marketplace ad on Ravelry ...

I also made a new holiday banner for my etsy shop and my family blog. Next stop will be adding some Christmas cheer to the Crews Engineering Services website.

Those Funky Sock Balls I Mentioned Earlier ...

2008-12-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

Fun & Funky Sock Balls

2008-12-04T08:10:00.000-08:00

Another new item for the shop. I came across the opportunity to buy several pounds of mill ends of my popular merino/nylon pencil roving. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to find something fun to do with them. Here's what I came up with ... from my listing on Etsy:

Something fun and funky for yourself or your favorite spinner. This listing is for a full 6 oz of spinning fiber. It is an 80/20 merino/nylon blend. This hand dyed spinning fiber is made from superwash merino nylon pencil roving mill ends. This fiber will make some really fun and funky machine washable sock yarn. Just pick up a ball, unroll it and separate the two halves and start spinning. No pre-drafting required. Randomly pick another ball, join and keep spinning.

I have one set up now (blue & purple) but the pictures didn't turn out so great. I'm going to change the bulb in my light box and take some more pics today. I also have a green & brown set to list and will be dyeing many more of these today.

Fall Fiber Festival in Trenton

2008-12-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

Here are links to a blog post and an online newspaper about the fiber festival last month. Had to get a let shot didn't she? ;)

Paletteable

Truth Seeker Times

New Item!

2008-12-02T06:39:00.000-08:00

Rocket Yarn stash sachets. Keep them in your stash drawer, container, bag (or whatever you use) to keep your stash smelling fresh and to discourage moths. You could even toss one in your knitting bag. I have one set of stash sachets up in the shop now and will be adding more today. I have two fragrances ... Rocket Yarn Blend & Lavender. The Rocket Yarn Blend is a mix of several different herbs, including Lavender. Lavender is a natural moth deterrent so it's a great thing to keep with your wool and cotton fiber and yarn. I sent out a few of the Rocket Yarn blend to some of my customers to get their feedback and everyone really loved them. The herbs I use are all grown naturally with no pesticides. I buy them from someone here in North Florida.

Seawool Pencil Roving

2008-11-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

Black Friday Sale

2008-11-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

***BLACK FRIDAY SALE ... ALL WEEK LONG ... 11/21-11/28***
Details:
Entire order ships for only $1!
$2 - $5 off all spinning fiber (excluding pencil roving)
$1 off all sock yarn
$2 - $4 off all project bags
Receive a free gift with purchase of $50 or more
Item prices already lowered to sale prices so you don't have to wait for a refund or an updated invoice

Visit the shop.

Rocket Yarn Table at the Fiber Fest in Trenton

2008-11-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

Fall Fiber Festival in Trenton

2008-11-14T22:22:00.000-08:00

Rocket Yarn

Tour de Fleece Update

TdF Day 3 - Supercoils-to-Be

TdF Day 2 - Corespun

TdF Day 1 - Thick 'n Thin

Le Tour de Therapy, er I mean Fleece ....

Workshop

Insubordiknit ...... Yippeeeeee!!!

Wicked Done!

Wicked Progress

The Known Universe

Leaving the Biz

*~*SALE*~*: 20% Off Everything, Spend $50 and Get Free Shipping

Be Part of the Revolution

Phat Fiber Secret Santa Swap Package

Wicked Knit-a-Long

More Mini Knits

Facebook URL

Mini Knits

Cyber Monday Sale

New in the Shop: Satellite Sets

Go Atlantis!

Holiday Shopping & Crafting - Round 2

Rocket Spun

Holiday Shopping & Crafting

Update: New Products & Sock Yarn Sale

Knitting Update

Found Another Great Pattern

Shop Going to SAFF

Free Pattern: Peasant Blouse

BFL it is!

Help Me Pick Yarn ... or Fiber

Florida Fiber In Demo & Booth

Teaching Kids to Knit

Quick Update

Shop Going on Vacation Mode for the Fiber In

Made The Front Page!

Labor Day Weekend Sale

Where Am I?

Phat Fiber Giveaway!

Rocket News

Customer Appreciation Photos

Florida Fiber In

Phat Fiber Giveaway

October is for Spinners KAL

Shuttle Rolling Out to the Pad

Method vs. Colorway & Finger Painted Yarn

Happy Fiber Friday!

A Sneak Peak ...

Group on Ravelry

40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

Go Endeavor!

Tour de Fleece Yarn #3

Tour de Fleece Days 3 & 4

Tour de Fleece Day 2

Tour de Fleece Day 1

Tour de Fleece Starts Today

Regarding the Polls Above ...

What I've Been Up to Lately ....

New Things to Come & Wholesale Order

I've Seen It All Now ...

Do You Have a Favorite Knitwear Designer?

New Raffle Code Drawn

Facebook

Which Ewe Are You?

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Blueberry Festival

On the Drying Rack

Some Recent Dye Work

Re-Think the CPSIA

Look Who Knits

So Many Things to Blog About, So Little Time

He was a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater ...

My Little Rocket Helpers

Logo Fun

Twitter, New Website & A Festival

Happy Earth Day

My Latest Inspiration

New Plan for Rocket Yarn

New Sock Yarn Coming Soon!

~SALE~: 20% Off Everything, Spend $50 and Get Free Shipping