That's What Friends Are For

I think it's pretty obvious that I love yarn and fiber and knitting and spinning and weaving. But something I have neglected to write as much about is one of the things I love the most about my hobby...the awesome people I've met who love yarn and fiber and knitting and spinning and weaving as much as I do. It has been incredible to me how many people from all over the world I have met and am now lucky enough to call my friends because of my hobby.

I started this crazy fundraising effort for the Make A Wish Foundation a couple of weeks ago and I have been overwhelmed (but not surprised) by the generosity of all of my friends. Something I really didn't expect was the offers to help entice others to give. The Knit Girllls, Laura and Leslie have mentioned my giveaway on their fantastic podcast (if you haven't checked them out - go now... this post will still be here when you get back) and I've had several generous offers of additions to the prize pool. I don't have photos of everything yet, but I'm so excited I have to share.

1. A hand sewn bag from Sharon, who I met at The Loopy Ewe Spring Fling. No photo yet, but I've seen some of the bags she's made and they are fantastic!

2. Hand-dyed sock yarn by Laura of the The Knit Girllls - again, no photo yet, but she's a talented dyer. You can see some of her yarn by clicking here) (Ravelry link)

3. A Piddleloop triangle project bag donated by Jen and her sister Wendy. I LOVE Piddleloop bags. They are so well made and they use gorgeous fabrics. I think the triangle bag is perfect for a small project and some lucky donor will get this fabulous bag! So cute!



4. Last, but not least is something that even the non-knitters should be excited about! Leslie of The Knit Girllls, has offered to donate one pair of handknit socks made specifically for the winner.  Choice of sock yarn (see the photos to follow. Since this is such a huge prize (for the non-knitters, knitting socks is not a quick endeavor) you will be entered in this drawing with a $25 minimum donation. Every $5 past $25 will get you additional entries in this drawing. Leslie will knit the socks according to your specifications...size, plain foot, plain or patterned cuff, etc.  These socks will be mailed priority to winner's home no later than 30 days after the drawing.

If you have never had the pleasure to wear handknit socks, you don't know what you are missing. This is your chance to have socks custom made to fit your feet in your choice of gorgeous yarn! Anyone out there with really big feet? Make a donation and let's try to give Leslie a challenge! Here are a couple of the yarn options. I'm working on a separate page for the fundraiser and will post all of the options there.

Perfect Day Yarns Free Verse Sock Yarn


Numma Numma Baby Boo


Thank you so much ladies for helping make my fundraiser a success! I hope this will help even more kids have their dreams come true.

And don't forget the handspun yarn I posted about in an earlier post!

Are you ready to donate? As a reminder, for all prizes except the handknit socks, you'll receive one entry in the drawing for every $5 you donate (i.e. make a $10 donation and you'll receive 2 entries). For the handknit socks, if you donate $25, you'll receive one entry for the socks an additional entry for every $5 over $25 (i.e make a $35 entry and you'll receive 3 entries for the socks).

To donate, click here. Select Denver, then Team Cupcake Mafia and Lynn Zimmerman.

Thanks again for your support!

A Quick Post

Please consider supporting my fundraising efforts for the Make-A-Wish Foundation! Click here to find out more.

When I took a weaving class earlier this year, I really didn't expect to enjoy it that much. But I'm hooked and fascinated by the fabric I'm creating. I made this incredible scarf in a day.





I made this out of Noro Sock Yarn. Either this scarf, or a very similar one will be a prize in my fundraiser.

I also finished a skein of handspun that has been on the wheel for awhile.



628 yards, Falklands Wool.

Prizes, Prizes, Prizes

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I am going to be competing in August in the Denver Oyster, an urban adventure race. Team Cupcake Mafia, which is made up of me, my little sis, Mary and my friend, Tali, will be running, biking and completing crazy tasks all over Denver while covering a distance of 20-30 miles.

One of the requirements of this race, is to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Our team is currently leading the fundraising at $780. Thank you to everyone who has made a donation so far! Our original goal was $800, but since we've done so well and there still is a month and a half before the race, we're going to be increasing our goal to $1,500. We want to do as much as we can to help this wonderful charity and we can do that with your help!

On top of helping make the dreams of sick children come true by donating, you will also have an opportunity to win some wonderful prizes. With every $5 you donate by July 31, you'll receive an entry in the drawing. I'm donating several skeins of my handspun yarn. There will be at least five skeins and if I can spin more during the month of July that will also go in the drawing!

I teased you before with these two skeins...



Sparkly 3-ply sock yarn and...



...unbelievably soft cashmere which is soon to be a super squishy laceweight yarn.

I'll also be spinning these gorgeous fibers:

First up is this lovely BFL fiber dyed by Gale's Art. It's going to become a 2-ply fingering weight yarn. Perfect for a lacy shawlette.



Next is a superwash BFL dyed by Spunky Eclectic. This one will be a 2-ply heavy fingering/sport weight. I think it would make a cozy pair of socks for a cold winter.



Finally, this is South African Fine wool. It's a new fiber to me, so I'm not sure how it will want to spin, but I think it would make a gorgeous sport weight yarn. It's pretty soft, so I think this could make an adorable Baby Surprise Jacket for the baby girl in your life



In addition, some of my generous blog readers have offered to donate some awesome prizes! I'll post those as soon as I have photos. Also, for you non-knitters, don't feel left out! The drawing will also include the chance to win a hand knit winter hat in the color of your choice. The drawing will be held and the winners posted on my blog by August 15.

Click here to make a donation. Select Denver, Team Cupcake Mafia and then Lynn Zimmerman. You can read more about Team Cupcake Mafia's fundraising efforts here.

Thanks again for your support!

Ashford is so excited about raising money she's showing off her rarely seen soft white underbelly and adorably irresistible orange chin.

Estes Park Wool Market

Please consider supporting my fundraising efforts for the Make A Wish Foundation! Click here to find out more.

Two weeks ago was one of my favorite events of the year - the Estes Park Wool Market. One of the best things about living in Denver is that I live within driving distance of this fiber paradise. And this year I managed to talk Denise and Megann to come to Denver and go to the Wool Market with me.

It was unseasonably cold in Colorado, but that didn't stop us from having a great time. We stayed up in Estes one night so could get to the market early and enter some of my handspun in the handspun competition. We even had a chance to meet up with our friend Lynda - a fellow Spring Flinger and fiber junkie. I can always count on seeing her at Estes and Taos.



We ooh'd and ahh'd over the Paco-Vicunas, Alpacas, angora bunnies and the goats and I made friends with one of the goats. He was so soft!



If you happen to know this goat and would like to send me it's fiber to spin, I wouldn't complain!

One of the highlights of the weekend for me was the handspun competition. I entered two categories, thin wool singles and goat fiber other than mohair.

My wool singles won 1st place!


And my pygora won 2nd place!


Not bad for the first time I've entered! I learned a lot from sitting in on the judges comments session at the Market and can't wait to enter again next year.

The rest of the weekend, we spent our time knitting, spinning and setting up my new loom. Since I didn't have enough hobbies, I decided to take up weaving. I'm really excited to see what I can make. This is my first project in progress.



This photo makes it look much more neon than it really is. These are the skeins I used:



The purple is the warp and the green/blue is the weft (look at me go with the weaving terms!). I've finished it, but haven't had an opportunity to take photos yet. I'll show it and the dish towel that is currently on the loom off in a future post.

Happy Adoptiversary to Purl and Ashford! It is hard for me to believe that three years ago my sweet tortie girls came to live with me and Xena. I'm so lucky to have these goofy cats in my life.

An Urban Adventure

In August, my friend Tali, my little sis Mary and I are going to be competing in the Denver Oyster, an urban adventure race. The three of us are competing in the full course, a 4-6 hour race where we get clues, find our way to a checkpoint somewhere in Denver, then complete a task that could include a physical challenge, a puzzle or any other type of crazy challenge the organizers can come up with before we are given our next clue. Sort of a mini Amazing Race. We can't wait!

One of the requirements to competing in the race is that we raise money to support the local Make a Wish Foundation. This is a fantastic organization that helps make the dreams of sick kids come true. Our team's goal is to raise $800. We'd love to have your support!

In order to entice you to make a donation, I'm going to hold a drawing. For every $5 you donate by July 31, 2010, you will receive an entry to win a skein of my handspun. I will be giving away at least four skeins of handspun and I'm sure I'll find a few more goodies to add to the prize list, including something for the non knitters. I'll post photos of all of the prizes by July 1. The drawing will be held between Aug. 1 - 15. Here's two of the skeins to start:



1. 400 yds of 3-ply fingering weight, spun from an Enchanted Knoll Fibers Happy Hooves Club Sparkle Batts "Roses in the Snow" (mauve, gold and white with a hit of pink sw merino fiber and sparkles, sparkles sparkles!). Photos can't capture how sparkly this yarn is!



2. This may look like a plain ball of brown fiber, but looks can be deceiving. It is 2 oz of cashmere fiber, purchased this weekend at the Estes Park Wool Market and soon to be spun by me. Based on past experience, I expect to get at least 400 yards (more likely 500-600 yds) of gorgeous and oh so soft 2-ply laceweight yarn.

Additionally, a person or business that donates $50 or more will have the option of their name or url on the back of our team shirts and recognition on my blog.

Any business donating $200 or more would receive their logo on the back of our team shirts and recognition on my blog.

To donate, just click here and select Denver, Team Cupcake Mafia, and Team Member Lynn Zimmerman.

Thank you for your support!

Just one of those days

Waking up at 5:30 a.m. to a blaring carbon monoxide detector followed by a visit by three of South Metro Denver's Bravest is not a great way to start the day. Fortunately, it was a false alarm and I've purchased a new CO detector. I hope I'll get a good night's sleep tonight.

It turns out that 2.5 years after you move into a new house is when things start to break. Last week, I fixed a toilet, and this afternoon my doorbell started buzzing so I had to dismantle it. So, if you're coming over to my house, please knock and walk carefully. Hopefully, this isn't a sign of bigger things to come.

In happier news, Colorado decided to skip spring and after a mid May snowstorm we have gone straight into summer. While I would have liked a little bit of a spring, I'm just thrilled to see the sun. I've been able to get out and ride my bike and go hiking with friends.



Last night, I met some friends in downtown Denver and we wandered around the Denver Chalk Art Festival. The artwork was amazing. It is hard to believe it is chalk on concrete.







And Xena and I have spent a lot of quality time sitting out on our front porch. She loves to roll around in the sunshine.



This coming weekend is the Estes Park Wool Market and this year my friends Denise and Megann are flying in to go with me. It will be great to see them again and I'm looking forward to a weekend of knitting, spinning and weaving! I'm also frantically trying to finish a two skeins of yarn before they arrive on Friday to enter in the handspun competition.

I finished my first skein this morning. This is some Pygora (really really soft cashmere-like goat fiber) that I bought at the Taos Wool Festival. The goats the fiber is from were raised on a farm in western Colorado so I thought it was appropriate to enter in a local competition.


(Pygora fiber, 1 oz, 192 yards)

I'm not sure if it's spun well enough to win because the fiber was a little nubby, which makes it hard to spin smooth, but it is the softest yarn I've ever made. And I think it's really pretty, nubs and all. I'm still trying to decide what skein #2 will be. I think it will be a low twist single spun from a long fiber like Wensleydale.

I also recently finished spinning this fiber from the Southern Cross Fibre Club. This fiber is dyed by a very talented dyer in Australia. The fiber is Shetland, which is one of my favorites.

Before:


After (4oz., 612 yards):


I have way too many projects on the needles and haven't made much progress on any of them. The one I'm most excited about right now is my second Daybreak Shawl (see Daybreak #1 here)

This version is made from Zauberballs, which is a single-ply self striping sock yarn. The colors in this yarn are amazing, but I have been disappointed with the quality of the yarn. I'm not even halfway through one of the balls and I have already come across three knots and numerous frayed areas. Not a good thing. That said, I'm very happy with how this is turning out.





Purl and Ashford are more interested in the project bag I'm keeping the Daybreak in than the actual shawl.



And another Purl photo just because I think it's adorable.

Never a dull moment

It has been a busy month here at Chez Zimm, plus I am fairly certain Colorado is trying to kill me with all of the pollen that is in the air right now. I have never sneezed so much in my life! But in happier news...

In March, I met six of my best friends for our annual girls weekend. This year we decided to meet up in Sedona and we rented the most incredible house. It was the perfect place for us to make dinner, hang out and catch up.



It was also a quarter mile from this.



The view from the top of that looks like this.



And the woman who owned the house is a wedding cake baker and she made us a fantastic cake. Yum!



Of course, I didn't manage to get a photo of the group of us. I'll have to do better next year!

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in St. Louis for The Loopy Ewe's Spring Fling. One of the highlights (aside from shopping at The Loopy Ewe!) was getting to take a class from Jared Flood, who is an incredible knitter and an equally incredible teacher. He helped make sweater knitting a lot less mysterious. I took my handspun Girasole - made from a pattern he designed - to class and I was beyond thrilled that he thought it was beautiful. It was a great compliment that someone who knew the pattern inside and out spent time looking at the detail. It was a proud moment for me. :)

It was a fun weekend full of spinning and knitting where I got to spend time with friends from past Flings and make new ones. It always goes by so quickly! I got to room with my good friend Stacy, and if you want to get a taste of what happens at the Fling, check out The Knit Girllls videocast - episode 7 was shot in my hotel room and features Stacy (I was in the studio audience and some of my projects make an appearance!).

In finished object news, I completed my Daybreak Shawl. It was also a big hit at the Fling and I think several other Flingers went home with yarn to make this easy and beautiful pattern. Mine was made from two different skeins of Madenlintosh Tosh Sock. Project details can be found here.



I loved making this so much, I've already got the yarn ready for number 2 - and maybe #3.

I also finally finished the Baby Surprise Jacket and it went to little Jasper in Taos. It probably couldn't have made it to him any later, because the sleeves are a bit short and he slightly resembles a sausage wearing it, but I still think he looks awfully handsome.



The BSJ pattern is the perfect pattern for handspun yarn.

Speaking of handspun yarn, I made some yarn as a gift for Sheri from The Loopy Ewe as a thank you gift for inviting me to attend the Fling.



This is 425 yards of fingering weight yarn spun from black BFL dyed by Gale's Art. The colorway is Cherry Blossom. Sheri happens to have some of that colorway in stock. It's a beautiful fiber to spin.

It is springtime in Colorado, which means it could be snow one day and a heat wave the next, but there is always sunshine. The girls have fallen in love with the sunbeam on the stairs.

Xena had to squish herself up against the wall to enjoy this one.



And Purl knows that the sunlight brings out her colors and makes her look serious.



It's not a sunbeam, but Ashford seems to have found her doppelganger.