What's up??

So I'm sure you'd like to know what's been going on with me right? Well I don't usually blog personal stuff anymore but here's the scoop..

We've moved to Austin, Texas! My husband, Cody, works for a company that was shutting down its office in New Mexico and over the last year he was put in charge of the whole office and closing it down. There were all kinds of crazy responsibilities involved (like calls at three am or working 26 hours in a row) but there were benefits to doing it believe me. We've all learned our lessons about underestimating the geeks now haven't we? He did such a great job they offered him a cool position here. We had three weeks notice before he started.

I'd never been to Austin in my life and I found myself here for three days picking out a house to buy. Talk about scary! Anyway we managed to pull the whole thing off - we bought a house, got movers, packed everything after living in the same house for ten years, drove across Texas with the pets, and I've been trying to settle into this big house, deal with all this stuff (like HOAs, finding a bank while having two in two other states, prescriptions transferred, getting FURNITURE actually delivered to the house so we could sleep on our bed instead of air mattresses), and make sure Cody's not worrying about too much so he can concentrate on the new job - yes I guess that does sound rather Eisenhower-era but we moved here for his job so that's the priority at the moment. It's all very intimidating. I've lived other places but this is the first time Cody's lived outside of New Mexico and I'm really trying to make sure he's happy and comfortable.

We're still not totally settled in. There are still some boxes and we still have no idea where some things are. We had people who came in and packed stuff for the moving company which was great but that adds to the confusion. We were very careful with our office and my studio stuff though! I packed my studio myself!

Because we knew that Spin Off was going to feature the countinator in their neat things feature page! I haven't seen it yet but the emails have been coming in! We had hoped to be settled in already and have a whole bunch already in stock waiting for this but..life and stuff happens.

Now Cody makes these things himself so he'll be coming home from work and soldering them. I'm going to help as much as I can. Of course I do the packing and shipping. We're going to make as many as we can while still making sure that they all work and are good quality counters for everyone. We're already putting disclaimers on that they may take up to a week to ship. Right now we have enough parts for about 40 countinators. We're going to order more. Cody keeps underestimating the power of a quiet counter lol

Oh and here's a photo of our new house. We really like it.



Anyone want to buy a 1971 house in Albuquerque? It needs updating but it's a great quiet neighborhood!

Countinator Frenzy!

Hello!

A quick note about the countinators:

We have the parts on order and should be getting them this month. We had no idea they'd be this popular!!

We're aiming to have some more ready to sell the week after Christmas. If you'd like to be placed on a list to be notified when the counters are ready or to reserve some please contact me at countinator (at) gmail (dot) com

Have a Happy and Safe Holiday!

Did You Know?

Here are a couple of things about me and my company that you may not have known about that I thought you might find interesting. Some of these things cost me a little bit more or take a little more time but they're things that I want to do to make sure that everything is just how I want it to be.

I use recycled paper to print all my labels and receipts.

I insure every package I send using a private shipping company.

I skein, dye, reskein, photograph, label, package and ship each skein of yarn myself.

All my handspun is spun on my Lendrum Double Treadle wheel that I bought in 2005.

All my yarn and roving is dyed by me in my kitchen.

I design all my own graphics, including ads.

I use Etsy artists to print my labels and stickers.

I blend my own herbs for the sachets and sew or iron the patches on myself.

Sometimes my husband helps me name yarn colors when I'm feeling blocked.

Usually his handwriting is on the labels because mine is awful awful.

Those who have received thank you notes can attest to my awful handwriting.

Noelle's Noodle was the name of my first personal (and handcoded) website in 1997.


That's all I can think of for the moment. But I thought you guys might find it interesting anyway.

Unbiased scarf for Father in law

Unbiased scarf for Father in law, originally uploaded by Noelle Noodle.

taken and uploaded using my blackberry

Makeshift tapestry needle

Makeshift tapestry needle, originally uploaded by Noelle Noodle.

At the office with cody today and I'm grafting the unbiased scarf using a pen top as a yarn needle :)
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

taken and uploaded using my blackberry

Opposing Biases Scarf (Reverse Engineering Edition)

I'm well into my holiday knitting here while I wait anxiously for a delivery of aran weight yarn blanks. Take your friggin time Fed Ex.

So I'm to my father-in-law on the list and since he's never received a scarf from me and that's what they heavily hinted he needed during their visit last week that's what he's getting this year.

Back in 2005 I made this great scarf for myself from a free one sheet pattern that was at my LYS. It was made with a thicker rough spun wool/silk/mohair blend yarn from Japan that most US knitters are familiar with called Noro Iro and was my post-holiday easy to make for myself celebratory knit.

I love this scarf so much I still wear it pretty much every time I go out when it's cold. Seriously. I love all the freaky little colors in this scarf there's just no comparison. You know it's an Eisaku Noro yarn when you see this combination of colors.



I used to talk only about painters and sculptors this way. Now I talk about yarn artists too.

And I still get compliments on it! Even at my LYS last winter someone who worked there said that it was beautiful. Now that's pretty cool. I told them I got the pattern from there but they didn't remember it. Someone on Ravelry wrote to me asking about this pattern last week too.

So this week as I dug unto my stash looking for yarn to knit holiday gifts (I'm knitting from my stash so go me) I ran across some more masculine Noro Iro that suits my father-in-law really well. I looked through all 900,000 pages of my printed patterns to find this old pattern from almost four years ago. No luck.

So I sat and looked at my favorite scarf and reverse engineered it instead. Here's what I came up with.

It's not that complex and I haven't written a pattern in years but at least it gives a good idea of what to do :) Eventually I'll PDF it and everything I just wanted to type it out while it was fresh in my mind.

Opposing Biases Scarf (reverse engineering edition)

I made this scarf in January 2005 and it is STILL my favorite scarf to wear. Because it's knit in stockinette stitch even after blocking it will roll up sometimes (the slipped stitches will help a bit) but this makes it a very cozy scarf.

This scarf is long enough to double up around the neck too!




Yarn:
2 skeins Noro Iro

Size 11 needles
tapestry or yarn needle
Optional Crochet Hook for fringe

Terms
WYIB - With yarn held in the back
KF&B - Knit into the front and the back of the same stitch
K2tog - Knit two stitches together


Instructions

CO 22 stitches

Row 1 - WYIB Slip first stitch as if to purl, Kf&B, K to last 3 stitches, K2tog, Knit the last stitch

Row 2 - WYIF Slip first stitch as if to purl, purl to the end

Repeat until you use most of the first skein and/or have enough to make optional fringe place live stitches on stitch holder

Use 2nd skein of yarn to make an identical scarf, leave enough yarn to graft two scarves together and/or make optional fringe.

Soak and pin out the scarves to block to a shape you prefer. This softens the yarn too which can be a bit rough.

Use a Kitchener stitch or 3 needle bind off (or even a mattress stitch) to graft scarves together to make one very long scarf.

Use your favorite technique to make an optional fringe (I love wrapping yarn around a dvd case to make mine long and scraggly) and use a crochet hook to add to the ends of scarf.

Colorized Countinators

So Cody worked over the weekend to make some new Countinators with the new colors that we have. We can order more white parts if anyone's interested this was just what was easy to get.

There are a few improvements that Cody worked on that had been bugging him. He soldered an extra reinforcement to the wires where they came out of the unit but only to one side - so the back can still come off to replace the battery. He also added a larger sensor to the counter so it would be easier to set up. We're also going to start including a replacement battery with the package. No complaints so far! We're just refining and working on how we think it should go :)

So here are the new ones! Choice of Red, Blue, or Green translucent colors!



I'm going to list them in the Etsy shop's tools section in a few minutes. I have three blue ones, four green ones, and seven red ones.

You can has Countinator!

So we're sold out of the Super Revolution Countinators! for the moment. Talk about surprise. I wasn't, I knew there were lots of zoned out skeinwinding people out there just like me who were waiting for a nice quiet thing to count the revolutions for us.

Cody didn't really think so. He thought surely I was the only freak who wanted to count how many times a winder went round and round and round. He has nooo idea how many indie dyers there are out there going deaf and crazy from the clickclickclick of those bale counters.

So he made five of the original model - one is on my winder. One is on its way to Utah, another should already be in California. Two were overnighted to Iowa yesterday for a winding emergency. Yeah, I'd say we have a market for them honey.

He's delighted by this. So we're going to order more parts and make more of them. The digital counter might be different than the original white model. So people will even have a choice of blue, green, or red soon.

October roving on Etsy

The biggest challenge with dyeing one of a kind colors is coming up with new names all the time. Some people give up and just name their yarns and roving a combination of numbers and letters. I find a good naming session late at night on cold medicine usually does the trick. Having done some recent genealogy research provides a whole new world of names too.



1. Ragnarok, 8.05 oz Corriedale
2. Ragnarok 8.05 oz Corriedale

3. Clement Felice, 6.05 oz Corriedale
4. Clement Felice, 6.05 oz Corriedale

(Kaffe's on hold for the moment until I hear back from a customer that wanted this kind of green roving)
5. Kaffe, 5.7 oz Corriedale roving
6. Kaffe, 5.7 oz Corriedale roving

7. Leatherwood, 5.2 oz Corriedale roving
8. Leatherwood, 5.2 oz Corriedale roving

9. Croyton, 4.45 oz Corriedale
10. Croyton, 4.45 oz Corriedale

11. Sterling, 4.3 oz Corriedale
12. Sterling, 4.3 oz Corriedale

(Haydenten's on reserve)
13. Haydenten, 4 oz Corriedale
14. Haydenten, 4 oz Corriedale

15. Caitland, 2.9 oz Corriedale
16. Caitland, 2.9 oz Corriedale

As usual these are all totally one of a kind and for sale for 3.50 per ounce with the option to make it a spinning kit for an additional 12 dollars.

Let me know if you want me to put anything on hold for you! The roving has been selling out pretty quickly, at least it was until the crazy insane economy so get it while you can :) I'll be listing them on the Etsy shop this week.

Introducing the Super Revolution Countinator!

This is Cody's name for the magnetic digital skeinwinder rotation counter he made. So far we have five but can make more. Here's a photo of it on my skeinwinder.



And here are the parts by themselves.



Basically it comes with a digital counter and two magnets that will need to be attached to the winder. Screws and foam tape are included for this. I've also typed up some brief instructions on how to operate and troubleshoot installation.

It's a very simple little thing and a very specialized tool - just for anyone who needs to know how many times something goes around - like a professional yarn winder. But it's quiet (which is great) and cheap (which is great too).

Sock Yarn at the Etsy Shop

Hello! So I'm back from visiting my parents in Alabama for a week and back to work right away.

I had tried to get all my sock yarn listed before going on vacation but didn't get it done in time so I have a few more skeins to list. Here's all the yarn that's going up on the Etsy shop this month.

It's all superwash fingering weight yarn. All except the solid yellow yarn are 22 micron merino and have multiple skeins available - that means sweaters!


Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Lachesis
Clotho
Atropos
Pretty Little Raincoat
Goldenrod (single 324 yds seconds skein)
Raspberry Barrette
Bright and Shiny
Blue Steel

I'm knitting a sweater for myself out of some of this 22 micron and it's coming out beautifully. I'll write a post with some tips for knitting with multiple skeins of handpainted yarn sometime! I've heard all about how much people hate the dreaded pooling and flashing when knitting with handpainted yarn and I do some special things to avoid that.

I also have photos and an instruction sheet for the rotation counter ready to go now. Expect to see a post with a link to the page for that soon, like in a few minutes. And I'm editing photos of the roving right now too. Busybusy!

New Sock Yarn at Eat Sleep Knit!

Hello! August was a crazy month of family commitments and travel so things were quiet in the studio for a while.

I also had some trouble with my equipment so we had to make some of our own. The good news is now I can sell our own handmade digital rotation counters at the Etsy shop too! It's digital, not mechanical so there's no 'click click click' to drive you crazy. It can count up to 999 rotations, has a convenient little reset button and comes with its own screws, stickers, and a clip for attaching to the skeinwinder! Let me know if you want to reserve one!

I finally got a bunch of fingering weight sock yarn sent to Eat Sleep Knit last week and it's up in her shop now!



1. Painted Horses (8 skeins)
2. Maple ( 7 skeins)
3. Goldenrod (1 skein)
4. Juicy (8 skeins)
5. Sour Candy Rock (7 skeins)
6. Mardi Gras (8 skeins)
7. Silverleaf (8 skeins)
8. Blue Corn (8 skeins)

image created with fd's Flickr Toys.


I have two seconds from that batch (one goldenrod, one maple) with too many knots I'll put up in my shop and I have Thirty three skeins of gems fingering weight ready to photograph and list anytime now! So keep an eye out for that!

And I have a bunch of roving to process and braid! Whew!

Humid house of yarn

Humid house of yarn, originally uploaded by Noelle Noodle.

taken and uploaded using my blackberry

Rustic Natural Yarn @ Etsy

It took me a little longer than I had planned to get it together and list the Rustic Natural yarn labeled and listed on Etsy. They're all ready now and listed up on the Etsy site.



1. 63.9 yds bulky handspun navajo churro dyed with cochineal
2. 63.9 yds bulky handspun navajo churro dyed with cochineal
3. 59 yds Bulky handspun Navajo Churro dyed with Brazilwood
4. 27.8 yds handspun navajo churro dyed with sassafras
5. 106.5 yds handspun romney dyed with madder root
6. 122.9 yds handspun romney dyed with madder and chrome
7. 45.8 yds Romney wool dyed with Brazilwood
8. 77 yds thick n thin handspun romney wool dyed with madder root
9. 51 yds bulky handspun navajo churro wool dyed with madder root
10. 73.75 yds bulky handspun navajo churro dyed with rosewood

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Blog Special!
If you'd like to buy all nine skeins together as a group (they would knit together beautifully that's what I'd planned on doing with them) I'll sell you the set for 60 US Dollars plus 4.75 shipping. On Etsy they all add up to 84.03 so that's just under a 29% discount! Email me at noellenoodle @ gmail.com and I'll send you a paypal bill. To keep it fair, if one of the others sell and you still want to buy what's left, I'll still give you 28.5% off. Sound good?

Oh and Winter's doing great! She's annoyed with all the pills and ointments but likes getting her pills hidden in peanut butter. It's a hard life.

Handspun added to the Etsy Shop!

I added some fresh handspun to the Etsy shop yesterday. There are a few mini skeins, some super crazy art yarn, some thick and thins, and one shiny handpainted mohair boucle that I dyed last year and just ran across in my personal stash. Something for the whole family!



1. Dandie Lion - 61 yds superwash merino handspun

2. Banana Pudding Pie - 30 yds of 2 ply handspun supersoft finn wool. I was watching Waitress when I spun this.

3. nubbins - 63 yds of handspun needle and wet felted art yarn I love this one.

4. le petite rouge - 35 yds superwash worsted weight corriedale

5. Que Vaya Loco - 14 yds of crazy insane superbulky kitchen sink handspun yarn for knitting or crocheting or simply admiring on your shelf

6. Strawberry fields - 85 yds handspun thick n thin corriedale

7. Think Spring - 121 yds thick n thin handspun south african fine

8. Falling Leaves - 122 yds handpainted mohair loop boucle yarn

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

I have some really great rustic handspun then dyed with natural dyes like sassafrass and cochineal that's drying on the rack today! Really cool stuff.

If you're wondering why I've been doing so much listing lately it's because our dog had to have surgery on Tuesday and I'm trying to make up some money to offset the crazy expenses from that.

So I'm clearing out my roving inventory, going through my commercial yarn to do some destashing, that kind of thing. I've got plenty to list that will help the bills out :)

She's doing fine today, clearly feels a lot better. She's turning seven next month and just had a bunch of medical issues come up at once. And now she's hypothyroid like me. Let's hear it for the hypothyroid gals!

Roving Sale on Etsy Shop!

I've put up nine new braids of handdyed roving at the Etsy shop for only 2.50 per ounce.

Usually I list my roving at 3 or 3.50 an ounce depending on the fiber but it's all 2.50 this week. That includes Finn, some BFL, and a few Corriedales.

Here are previews of the brand new ones I just listed this morning



1. sunny girlfriend
2. Somnambulant Machine
3. Set em up joe
4. Selma
5. Quitting time blues
6. Pennyslippers
7. Lilypad
8. Hurdy Gurdy
9. Cucko Bananas

Remember each roving is totally one of a kind, couldn't recreate it if I wanted to!


I also did a whole lot of spinning over the weekend so I'll have some handspun yarn to list as soon as it's dry. I'm guessing Wednesday.

Motivation

Everyone needs it. I've sent along some motivation for the Yarnathoners at Eat. Sleep. Knit. today.



This is a special sock yarn color for Yarnathon Members only for reaching (I think it's) the 20 mile mark!

Also, my handdyed Aran weight yarn is a power boost yarn this month! So that yarn's yardage gets counted an extra 50% too!

Go Yarnathoners go!

Free Pattern: Kitten Mittens

continuing to move patterns from my old blog



Basic Baby Mittens in the round

You’ll need:
size US 4 double-pointed needles (dpn) (I used bry-flex plastics)
about 200 yards of worsted weight yarn (I used some unknown but fairly soft cream acrylic)
a tapestry or darning needle

note: These mittens were knit specifically for a small one year old with approx 5 1/8 inch wrist circumference and a wrist to fingertip length of about 5 inches. At the mom’s request I made these a bit small at the cuff so the baby couldn’t slip them off that easily. So I’m going to give the numbers I used then the recommended number for a slightly larger size in parentheses. The smaller size should work for a large six month old or average 8 month old. The larger size should comfortably fit a one year old.

on one dpn CO 20 (26) stitches

divide evenly over three dpns.

Join stitches and knit in a knit 1, purl 1 rib stitch for 1-1/4 inches.

Knit 6 rounds in stockinette stitch (knitting every row in the round).

Put first 4 (6) stitches on a holder.

Cast on 4 (6) new stitches. (I used a cable cast on but whatever method you’re comfortable with should work)

Continue with Stockinette stitch until the mitten measures approx 3 3/4 inches overall.

*knit 2 stitches together, knit2* repeat between asterisks to the end of the round - 14 (20) stitches remain

(larger size only repeat previous *k2tog, k2* row (14 stitches remain) )

k2tog all around - 7 stitches remain

break yarn and use a tapestry needle to run through the remaining stitches.

Bring yarn through small circle, turn mitten inside out and sew in ends.

To make thumbs: kitten mittens

Still using size 4 dpns, pick up 4 (6) stitches on the holder



Using additional dpns pick up 2 (4) stitches on opposite side of thumbhole and 1 stitch on either side - totalling 8 (12) stitches spread evenly on 3 needles.

knit 8 (10) rounds

knit 2 together all around - 4 (6) stitches

(larger size only, knit 2 more stitches together)

Break yarn, use tapestry needle to thread through remaining stitches, sew yarn through, turn mitten and thumb inside out and sew in ends, reinforcing any loose areas or holes.

For opposite hand: put the middle 4 (6) stitches on the holder instead of the first 4 (6)



Adding the Kitty Face

You’ll need:
1 pair US 1 straight needles
the same yarn you used for the mittens, but not that much at all
a darning or tapestry needle
Scrap yarn for face - I used blue ( cotton left over from ballet t) for eyes, a dark navy blue acrylic for the pupils and whiskers, and a pink acrylic for the ear highlights and nose.

How to make ears (make four)
Using same yarn as mittens, CO 2 stitches onto US size 1 needles
Knit in the front and back of the 1st stitch, K1 - 3 stitches total
K1, KF&B, K1 - 4 stitches total
K2, KF&B, K1 - 5 stitches
K2, KF&B, K2 - 6 stitches
Bind Off all stitches, break yarn leaving a long tail to sew onto mitten.

Using tapestry needle, sew the yarn from the cast on “tip” of the ear down to the base, on the opposite side from the tail left from binding off.

Using yarn tails sew ears onto the top of the mittens, with the inside of the ears facing the fingertips - with the base of the ears approximately in line with where the thumb starts.

Optional: Using pink or white yarn (or whatever you choose) sew a few stitches that will show only on the front of the ears, to give it a little depth.

Turn mitten inside out and sew in remaining ends.

Shape ears to suit your taste.

Nose: using pink yarn (or whatever color you chose) and tapestry needle, sew a series of parallel stitches in the middle of the top tip of the mitten, I made the stitches smaller the closer they got to the tip for a triangular kitty nose effect.

Whiskers: Cut two strands of dark yarn approximately 6 inches long. Using needle, at roughly 90 degree angles from the nose or wherever you think the “cheeks” should be, tuck both ends of each yarn to the inside on each cheek, by basically sewing two very small stitches on each side. Think of these as tiny dimples. Turn mitten inside out and tie ends of each strand in a small knot, then thread the yarn ends back through the exact same holes they came in. This secures the whiskers from the inside. Trim the whiskers to your preference.

Eyes: Using blue yarn (or whatever you chose) and needle, sew a series of parallel stitches below the ears in a cats-eye shape. Or round if you want a round-eyed kitty. Then use darker yarn to sew a single vertical line for the cat’s pupil. That vertical line makes this really look like a cat. Without it, it looks a bit more bunny-like.



Make sure the ends are knotted and sewn nicely. Put mittens on their hands and watch the kitten mitten fun begin.

Let me know if anything is unclear or I’ve royally screwed up the larger size - I’ve only knit the smaller size so there’s a chance I’m way off with that one.

A tour of my craft room

Cody was really helpful over the weekend! He fixed my spinning wheel so it can stand upright. It's not a travel wheel anymore but I can accept that. I don't really travel much with it anyway.

He also bought some really nice wire shelves for my studio/craft room so I can have more storage space!



Don't they look great? Somehow putting the cones of yarn on them made them look really useful and professional to me. I actually had a chance to reorganize a few things Monday and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to take photos of my craft room for the blog. It's not super fancy but I like it.

This is my comfy hand-me-down chair from my in-laws. The skeinwinder is on the matching ottoman on wheels and I roll it around where I need it. The smaller bookshelf was a hand-me-down. So was the desk and the desk chair. And even the bighuge crazy hdtv was a hand-me-down! I don't have to feel guilty about a thing if I mess something up.



This is my dye studio on wheels


All my dyes and pots, dropcloths, gloves, and everything are in these bins with wheels on them and I just roll them into the kitchen to dye. When I'm done I roll everything back in here. Someday I'll install sinks and heating elements somewhere more permanent but since it's just me and my husband in the house - nobody cares really.

Since I'm sure you're wondering: of course I have a crazy personal yarn stash! And a fabric stash. And a bead stash. And a spinning fiber stash. I can usually get it all in this closet and even close the door. I've been trying to be a lot better with the purchases this year though. I think I definitely have that famous "stash accumulation beyond life expectancy" thing happening.



I have several other photos of the room in order with some more descriptions in a flickr set I created.

This time last year we called this The Scary Room. It was full of junk and an old treadmill and we couldn't get more than four feet in the door. Now I actually run my small business out of it and have a lot of fun spending time in here.

Summer Colors sent to Eat Sleep Knit

First off, the fingering weight sock yarn is up at Sonny and Shear now so yay!

I'm sending a big box of 74 skeins of sock yarn to Eat Sleep Knit today :D I tried to make some nice summery colors and (do my best to) repeat some of the old favorites - including Garden Party in sock yarn for the first time!



Here's a guide to the colors
1. Tasty Candy (6 skeins)
2. Eat Sleep Knit (10 skeins)
3. Green (5 skeins)
4. Topiary (5 skeins)
5. Mint Chocolate Chip (6 skeins)
6. Baby Girl (4 skeins)
7. Around the Bend (6 skeins)
8. Around the Bend (6 skeins)
9. Man with a Guitar (5 skeins)
10. Garden Party (6 skeins)
11. Cute Bikini ( 3 skeins)
12. Sour Candy Rock (6 skeins)
13. Grapefruit Breakfast (6 skeins)
14. Berry Tart (6 skeins)

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Cody helped me name some of these and I think he was hungry. He also fixed my spinning wheel this weekend so I finally get to spin some yarn again!