2 Year Celebration!

On April 11th 2 years ago I opened our Etsy shop so that is what I'm considering the anniversary date of Hello Purl, fiber arts with a spin!  To celebrate we are giving away a 4 ounce Card it Kit.  The very one pictured below.  The kit contains Blue face Leicester top, Coopworth wool, Border Leicester wool, faux cashmere, milk fiber, rayon, raw silk, recycled sari silk and Angelina.

*If you are the winner and don't have a drum carder or blending board and want it carded just let me know and I can run it through my drum carder to make you a batt.

4 ounce Card it Kit

Enter to win it:
Just leave a comment on this post letting everybody know why you LOVE us!

I will pick a winner on Friday morning so you have until Thursday April 11, 2013 11:59 P.M. central time to enter.

PSST.... We will give another Card it Kit away if we reach 600 fans on our Facebook Page so remember to share!

Felt Egg Tutorial

Sneak Peek: Card it Kits

I've been making Carding Kits, they would be so fun for felting too, for our Art/Fiber shows.  Since not everyone can't make it to the events we sell at I decided (after a few requests too) that I should put some in our Etsy shop.

These kits contain a variety of fibers including fluffy farm fresh wool and super fun add-ins like angelina, silk noil and milk fiber.  When I do carding sessions at home I will create fiber groupings like the kits, like 10 at a time and card them up into batts.  So now you can create amazing batts of your own at home with these kits.

Without further ado here is the sneak peek for the shop update tomorrow:

If you guys love the kits as much as I do I will be adding them to the shop on a regular basis.

WANTED: Rustic Industrial Decor

Modern bedroom seeks rustic industrial decor to complete it.  Newly painted room in a blue gray, with teal curtains and oak hardwood floors would love some rustic, vintage, industrial accents.  OK not really, well maybe. 

My bedroom is currently under construction.  Nothing super major, we aren't removing any wall or anything like that.  Carpet is currently going to hardwood laminate flooring, I just painted the walls and trim and the hubby hung the curtains I picked out.  I've been perusing (yes I do use this term in real life, just kidding) Etsy for some great decor to accent the room.  I'm really drawn to a modern meets rustic industrial design.  Don't believe me just check out my Pinterest board on interior design or just want to see my decor style.

So I created a treasury with the thing I would LOVE to get.  In reality I'll  be doing some DIY things like the art work, lamp and mirror revamp and the hubby will be building a couple shelves, a headboard, nightstand and desk.  I'll show you all the room when we finish.

Vintage Metal Pulley / Indus... havenvintage $24.00	Antique Kerosene Bottle Coll... ethanollie $195.00
Industrial metal farmhouse l... theshabbyKat $30.00	Large Vintage Letterpress Dr... BrightWallVint... $40.00
Croft House Live Edge Platfo... robrray $2900.00	Industrial Style end table/ ... HillcrestDecor $495.00
Vintage Industrial Yellow Ex... LuccaBalesVint... $48.00	Vintage Mid Century Teak & G... kibster $20.00
Industrial Black Metal Wire ... simplychi $30.00	Dovetail Work Table - Modern... KithandKinStor... $1200.00
Pair of Industrial Vintage M... BrightWallVint... $32.00	STORE CLOSING SALE Yellow Li... AvaBeanStudio $2.80
industrial shelf / display ... ohalbatross $68.00	Darigold Farms Industrial Da... marybethhale $22.00
Vintage Wood Type Letter Pre... AnelaAndElDiab... $7.75	Pope Pipe Industrial Lamp wi... EarthSeaWarrio... $2480.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Made it! The Elk Tooth Shawl

Me in my Elk Tooth Shawl.

So I was almost finished knitting the Elk Tooth Shawl when I realized I wouldn't have enough yarn to finish the pattern.  So I spun up some milk fiber in a bright blue for some nice contrast.  I wanted to put a stripe in the middle and not just use the blue yarn at the end and make it look like I ran out of yarn and just put it in to finish.  That meant I had to undo or frog (rip it, rip it, rip it) some of my knitting.

Blocking the Elk Tooth Shawl I knit

I didn't know for sure where I was in the pattern so I knit a few extra rows just in case.  Well that didn't help at the end because after I added the rows of bright blue and knew I wouldn't have enough yarn to finish again.  I didn't want to start over and didn't want to add a new color.  I spun up all of the bright blue milk fiber.  Jessie could have dyed me more but I wanted to finish it so I could wear it too my husband's work Christmas party.  So instead of the seed stitch at the end I knit stockinette to keep the same look as the top and make a smaller trim.  If I had more yarn I would have liked to keep the pattern because I like the look of the seed stitch.

I added bright blue milk fiber yarn.

I have never blocked a shawl before and wasn't sure it would turn out but I think it looks nice.  I just soaked it in warm soapy water (non rinse soap).  Gently squeezed and laid it on a towel that I put over a piece of cardboard.  I pinned it down so it wouldn't curl up.  Blocking it also helped show the YO (yarn over) stitches better.

Back view of the Elk Tooth Shawl I knit.

So what do you think?

Elk Tooth Shawl Sneak Peek

I'm currently knitting a shawl called "Elk Tooth" by Caitlin ffrench on Ravelry.  I'm using my hand-spun yarn from an art batt by lanitiumexmachina on Etsy.  It's one of her GLAM batts and is called "One Mind".

Elk Tooth Shawl

Elk Tooth Shawl

I'm almost finished and have found the pattern easy and fairly quick to knit.  But I've been told by multiple people that I knit fast.  I spun the batt thinner then I normally spin but it has worked well for the pattern.  I've never blocked anything so I'm hoping that part goes smooth and will have it finished with photos on Monday.

A New Year!

A little glitter for the New Year!

I'm excited for the New Year and what it has to offer us and Hello Purl.  It's looking good.  We have new fiber fairs and art shows booked.  We are going to offering new hand-dyed fibers like panda top, soy silk, milk and icicle!   I'm experimenting will hand pulled rovings too.  I've been working on my lampwork skills so we can bring you glass bead spinning wheel hooks and stitch markers.
We are looking into getting our yarns and fibers into more local yarn shops.  For those that are close to us we are developing another way for you to create with us and your friends by hosting Hello Purl classes/parties!

The plan is to blog at least twice a week and have a shop update once a week.  I made a schedule to help me stay on track.  Here it is:

Monday: Made it!  This is where I will be sharing some finished projects that I've been working on.

Tuesday: Tutorials and Patterns.  I will be sharing some how to's and DIY projects that are mostly fiber related.  As well as knitting patterns.

Wednesday: Wordless.  This is where I will just post a photo that I took.  I'd love to share more of my photography work with you.

Thursday: Things I love.  This could be a product I love (fiber related or not), a business shout out, a favoritve pattern I've tried or just anything that I would love for you to know about.  I may even put it in a fabulous Etsy Treasury.

Friday: Fiber Arts.  Friday will be a post about fiber because that is what Hello Purl is about.  We are fiber arts with a spin after all!

Saturday: Sneak Peek.  This is when I will show you a sneak peek of what I'm knitting, spinning, felting, creating.  Or of the shop update.

Sunday:  If we don't have a show I will be doing a shop update.

Panda Top in our "Hawaiian Punch" colorway

As always I look forward to sharing more with you this year and hope you enjoy finding what we have been up to!