all knit up

Greenwood Fibers Polwarth in Coral

Greenwood Fiberworks Polwarth in Figs

Ann Budd's basic mitten pattern adapted.

Improvised mitts to use up the rest

Warm and cozy!

Handspun at last

Polworth fiber from Greenwood Fiber works. In Coral and Figs. this is a3-ply. About 120 yards of the Coral and 85 yards of the Figs, plus the extra. The little ball of singles were spun in a different direction on a drop spindle, so they could not be incorporated into the yarn. I'll try chain plying that on the spindle for fun later.

The last time I spun yarn was the end of June. I have finished all the sample knitting, and all the Christmas knitting, and now it's fun time again.

Some projects

Large bulky mittens

Small bulky mittens

Blaze Orange!

Sophia's photo

Dobby socks to match the Fred sweater

All the stockings in use. Sophia made those second from the right.

The snitches

The broomsticks

slippers and mitts

More of G's work

Made these slippers using S's handspun.

Made these mitts from an old sweater and some felting fiber.

more photos

Ist pair of four, and Aster Nyx for the very last time.

Socks

 Something's Rotten in the State of Denmark, that's the colorway from Canon Hand Dyes--the base is Charles.

As soon as he saw that I was finishing a pair of socks, Gavyn insisted that I start his Christmas stockings.  He's lucky he's small--the first one is already done!

I'm almost done the shawl sample that I'm knitting. I'm having a lot of trouble finding time to knit without kids around--too much work, and not enough time at night. But I am going to try to finish this week, because I have a sweater sample to knit when the yarn arrives, and three and a half pairs of stockings to knit before Christmas. Must get to it!

G's work

And the Spindles go to. . .

Thanks to everyone who donated to the VYOA. I have just run the RNG, and as you can see, the winning number is 26, T. Sommer. 

This fund-raiser has raised $255 for the VYOA, and I'm so grateful to everyone for their help, and hope to hold a bigger, better giveaway later in the autumn.  I have a few things up my sleeve, and I think it will be great!



Ill be contacting the winner momentarily.  Thanks again to all!
Sylvia

Giveaway Number One--Beautiful Tools

As part of my independent fund-raising campaign in support of the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, I am giving away this set of two Tibetan style supported spindles and a lap bowl, custom made for me this summer by Neal Brand.  These are made of Tulipwood and Ebony.  They have never been used. I only unwrapped them long enough to take these photos, and then put them back in the box they came in. Together, these are valued at $140.


To understand why I am giving away these beautiful tools, please read this post, Extending the Giving Circle.


This description of the spindles is from Mr. Brand's Etsy shop, where you can also see more and better photos:

"These are two Tibetan style support spindles and a matching lap bowl. They are used to spin yarn. The larger spindle is approximately 11 inches long, its diameter is approximately 1.75 inches and it weighs 1.4 ounces (40 grams). The smaller one is approximately 8.5 inches long, its diameter is approximately 1.7 inches and it weighs 1.3 ounces (37 grams). Tulipwood was used to make the whorl and the shaft was made of ebony. Tulipwood is native to Brazil and ebony is from West Africa. I finished the spindle with carnuba wax."




I purchased these spindles for my own use. I waited nearly two months for them, as Mr. Brand's work is in high demand, and custom work takes time.  During those two months, I realized that with certain changes in my work life it is unlikely that I will be able to actually learn on these spindles as I had intended to. It would be months before I could get to them, and that just seems silly. Since in the meantime I had decided to independently raise funds for the VYOA, it makes sense to me that I should give up these beautiful tools as part of that campaign.

So, this is how it works:

The giveaway recipient will be determined by a random drawing, using this online  random number generator, on September 9, 2012, sometime in the morning, EST. I will announce the winner on September 9, and will post the spindles within a week of the announcement, as soon as I have contacted the recipient and confirmed the mailing address.  I will ship them anywhere in the world, but I will not be able to cover insurance for shipping. If the recipient would like insurance, we can likely work that out.

To have your name entered in the drawing, please go to the VYOA website and make a donation to this wonderful organization by 12:01 am EST on September 9.  Then forward a copy of your donation receipt to me at

sligosmuse@gmail.com

For every $5 donation, your name will be entered once. Donate $25, and your name goes "in the pot" five times, and so on.

I'd love it if you would help spread the word about the giveaway.



As I have never done this kind of thing, this first giveaway is limited to one item, to keep things small simple. I plan a much bigger giveaway in September, if all goes well with this one, so do check back.
Thanks so much!


Update: 8-26-12 The VYO has received $15 in donations so far. Not as much as I would like, but it's a start. Now to try to talk it up without irritating people, eh?

8-27-12  I am so happy to say that the  VYO has now received $55 in donations.  I'd be delighted if we could at least raise the value of the spindles, but I'm happy for any amount.

Also, today, August 27th, is the Vermont Youth Philharmonia's first full concert! My daughter, who is 12, gets to play Wagner, Copland, and Bizet. What a wonderful thing! I am unable to go to the concert myself as I have to stay home with the boys. It's my husband's turn to enjoy.


8-28-12 update--we're up to $110.  Getting there! (I'd love to raise at least the value of the spindles, but I'm delighted we've gotten this far.)

8-30-12 update--we're up to $170. Yay!

9-2-12 update--donations have reached $190. Wouldn't it be great to pass $200?  I'm hopeful! Thanks so much to you all!


9-5-12  Up to $225 today.  And I realized I'll be driving Sophia to orchestra rehearsal Sunday, so the drawing will be in the morning on Sunday September 9. Yay!












































This is a great opportunity to give to an organization that helps not only musical children, but also their communities now and in the future, as the gift of music does keep on giving.  I realize however, that not everyone is in a position to donate. If you are a support spindler and would like to have your name entered in the giveaway but can't afford to donate just now, please e-mail me at the address above, and I will enter your name in the drawing. All I ask is a bit of history about your personal history with spinning or with music.

Extending the Giving Circle.

These are a few of my favorite things:

live music of all styles
handmade gifts
beautiful and functional tools

These are a few of my goals as a parent:

provide my children with my favorite things
teach my children to provide others with these things

In other words, I want my children to cherish and to give handmade items as gifts.  I also want them to cherish and to give live music as a gift. Live music and handmade gifts require beautiful, functional tools.  And skill developed over time. And they require generosity.

My kids are all studying music, and they are all learning fiber arts. These are gifts my husband and I give to them. They have made lots of items to give away to friends and family. And my husband and I always encourage the kids to think of the music they play in public as a gift for the audience.

So, this post is about extending the giving circle a bit wider.  This year my  daughter was accepted into the Vermont Youth Philharmonia, a program of the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, or VYOA.  The organization offers her a chance to push herself technically and musically, at a time when she can really benefit from that.  It's a wonderful program, and I'm so grateful that she can be a part of it.

In order to provide access to as many Vermont youth as possible, the VYOA provides a great deal of scholarship assistance to its members. And I've decided to do some independent fund-raising to help them provide that gift to children, my child included.  My feeling is that they give this gift to the children, and the children then give the gift of music to their families and communities. It's a rich circle.

So, I will be selecting items from my personal collection of tools, fibers, and yarns to give away over the next few months.  My  goal is to raise $2,100 for the organization before 2013.

Want to see a picture of my daughter? Check out the VYOA Facebook page. In the "wall" photos, she's in the first two photos, on the far right in both. (Of course she is also featured on this blog modeling many of my creations.)

So, look for giveaways here over the next few months. I'll try to offer something for everyone, from tools to fiber to yarn to handmade items, including some beauties made by my daughter herself.

These are a couple of things Sophia and I have made. On top is a little tree tapestry made on a peg loom from Harrisville Designs. It was my first ever tapestry, ad I still love it!

Second is a shawl knit by Sophia from a pattern I wrote for some yarn I spun. This was a wonderful collaboration.