Laughing Rat Studio

Hiatus

2012-01-01T00:16:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! I'm not sure what the future will hold for Laughing Rat Studio; I've not had the energy the business requires for some time now, and my output certainly shows that. The store is now on vacation mode for the foreseeable future. I want to thank everyone for their support over the years--it's meant a lot.

Best wishes,

Jennifer

Sale!

2011-12-17T01:35:00.001-05:00

Laughing Rat Studio is having a sale in the run-up to the Christmas holiday! All in-stock items are 30% off, no coupon code required. Enjoy!

Oh my goodness

2011-09-11T22:39:00.002-04:00

I forgot to mention the alpaca. There was alpaca added to the shop recently, too! But until tonight, the pics weren't in Flickr. Whoops!

So you see what I mean about there being so much orange lately:

No more orange for a while. Really. That's a lot of orange.

Grandmas are Cool.

2011-09-09T08:20:00.003-04:00

Silk-wool laceweight in "House Finch"

How long has it been since I posted? Not terribly long, but I may have missed an update. Last night I added several batches of silk-wool laceweight to the shop, but last week, I think it was, I added some pretty Merino top and some alpaca laceweight, too.

Silk-wool laceweight in "Hardy Mums"

In other news, I started a rather silly ad campaign over at Ravelry; it's one of the few times my daily life has really intruded on the business. I'm talking about the "Your mom!" campaign, which uses my favorite all-purpose comeback (try it with friends! try it at work!). I'm vaguely curious how people perceive it; some are probably offended (for which I apologize, but there really is no offensive content in the ads); some are probably wondering why a feminist is resorting to "Your mama" jokes. The answer is: I'm not.

Silk-wool laceweight in "Olive"

There's little I dislike more than the "Your mama" joke. It's almost always gross, and I've never heard a version that wasn't hateful. Your mama so fat? Your mama so poor? Dang, that ain't funny. I've always wanted to turn them on their heads. "Your mama so fat, I saw an essay she wrote on fat acceptance and it really changed my way of thinking." You know.

Merino top in "Cicada"

But "Your mom!" Oh, "your mom" is a treasure. It's content-free. It's not without dubious origins, no, but when applied even-handedly and without apparent relevance, it is ridiculous and nonsensical. It is a one-liner in the Marx Bros. style, signifying nothing. "That's what she said" (featured on one banner ad) may be a little more checkered, but oh, a well-applied, semi-random "That's what she said" can really interject that jolt of surreality that makes humor so very lively.

Alpaca laceweight in "Mineral"

The other ad I've been running recently goes, "This is your grandma's [X]." You know those ads that tout some product as "Not your mom's [whatever]"? And for a while, all you heard about was how the new knitting "ain't your grandma's knitting." Oh boy. So much disrespect for ladies, especially older ladies. Grandmas are awesome, and they usually know important stuff. I still can't fix beans as good as my grandma can, no matter how many beans I cook. "Not your grandma's yarn"? Hardly. Grandmas are fabulous.

So really, there's nothing too terrible in all this. It's just a bit of tomfoolery, just a little silliness, and a reminder that everyone is a little awesome, including your mom.

Sneaky

2011-08-20T23:16:00.002-04:00

Well, I was going to wait until ALL the new fiber and yarn was done to upload it to the shop, but then I realized that not only will it be a while before the yarn's available, but my goodness, I'd be working on it all night if I tried to do it all at once. So I sneakily snuck some wool/mohair and some Corrie top into the shop. Enjoy!

Just a taste--more colors in the shop!

...and a sale!

2011-06-10T10:43:00.001-04:00

Now that I've re-opened, how about a sale? 20% off all items in the shop, now through Sunday!

Shop reopened!

2011-06-06T09:22:00.002-04:00

I'm all moved in to a non-floody apartment, hurrah. I'm not completely unpacked, but the important thing is that the shop inventory is handy. As far as I can tell, there's no reason to not be open for business!

Temporary shop closing

2011-05-15T13:10:00.001-04:00

Due to an apartment flood on May 12, I've put my Etsy shop on vacation mode for the foreseeable future. The inventory itself is fine, but getting in and out to my packing supplies will be tough, and I have sporadic internet access at the moment. The shop'll reopen and I'll be dyeing again as soon as possible

Finny

2011-04-30T22:06:00.003-04:00

Finnsheep is one of my favorite wools. Soft and fine, it's not nearly as slippery as Merino, and has a staple length that makes it easier to handle, too.

There's something about Finnsheep that seems to encourage even intermediate spinners to spin finer yarns. My first fingering-weight yarn was from Finn top, even though I was still unable to spin a yarn that fine from other fibers for some time after that. While I'm sure other spinners have had different, even opposite experiences with Finn, a lot of my own friends had an experience similar to mine.

But sometimes it's nice to spin a heavier yarn--a worsted, even a bulky weight yarn--creating something soft and cushiony, something that will spin up more quickly and work up quickly into a finished item.

I spin slowly these days, so such yarns have more appeal than previously, when I had more to prove. Now I'm just trying to prove my hands still work, trying to remember that spinning can be fun. (Physical therapy for the hands, incidentally, starts Monday.)

All of these (plus some Finn top not pictured here) will be in the shop tonight or tomorrow, depending on how sleepy I am after cookies and tea.

Don't call it a comeback

2011-04-01T22:26:00.002-04:00

The shop never closed, but let's face it, things were quiet in Ratville for some time. I'm not sure how thoroughly I've beaten Dyer's Burnout, but I have indeed uploaded a great many fine new yarns and fibers to the shop today. Here's a peek!

Sale!

2011-01-01T13:21:00.000-05:00

New Year's Sale at Laughing Rat Studio, running through January 8th, 2011! Hand-dyed yarn, handspun, and hand-dyed fiber are all on sale. Happy New Year!

Hey! A Raffle!

2010-12-06T08:54:00.003-05:00

I've been on a little hiatus as far as dyeing, but not order fulfillment! So there's no new item pics, but there is an event: the annual Huron Valley Rat Rescue raffle!

Huron Valley Rat Rescue is a non-profit animal rescue in Michigan. They've been around several years and have helped a lot of animals that would otherwise have been homeless, killed, or abused. Rats are civilized, engaging little animals, but they don't get quite the advocacy or respect that larger animals get. That's when folks like the HVRR step in and provide concrete help and rehoming for at-risk rats.

Raffle tickets are only $1, and although many of the prizes are rat-related, many are not--including a $25 gift cert to Laughing Rat Studio, my own yarn/fiber business. You can choose what prize you're entering for and everything, too! If you have a couple bucks to spare, I hope you'll consider purchasing a raffle ticket or two.

Incidentally, my own little engaging rat friend, Ira, passed away last week. Corny as it sounds, if you ever heard one of my rat stories and thought it was funny, or if you ever looked at the rat pics in my Flickr account and thought "Hey, they aren't such scary little dudes after all," then I especially hope you'll consider getting a raffle ticket. :)

Celebration sale!

2010-11-03T22:08:00.002-04:00

Howdy, gentle readers! I just hit my 1000th order and am in the mood to celebrate, so I'm having a sale in the shop! Nothing complicated, just a good solid 20% off sale Friday through Sunday.

However, if you are reading this very blog, as in this blog right here, you can start saving right now, as in this very instant! For you folks, the sale starts today. If you order before Friday, please pop "Blog sale" into your Message to Seller so I'll know to give you a discounted invoice.

W00t!

New fiber!

2010-10-22T23:16:00.000-04:00

What is new in the shop? MOAR FIBER:

Corriedale and alpaca/bamboo/wool tops for your spinning enjoyment!

Autumn =/= Orange

2010-10-14T21:56:00.003-04:00

I said yesterday's shop upload would be inspired by Autumn colors, yes?

So where's the orange? Well, one thing I noticed during recent walks was that as much as I love orange--and red--and red-orange--and yellow-orange--and as prevalent as these colors are right now, they're really not the only game in town during Fall.

OK, I did a little orange.

This is all on a beautiful new Polwarth wool & silk sport-weight yarn (which I'd anticipated as being worsted weight, for some reason; go figure). The skeins are generously-sized, and as you can see from the listing pics, many of the colors go quite well together, even if they're very different. Of course, not everyone has the same "PUT IT ALL IN THE POT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS" color aesthetic I have, so I dyed the yarns in pairs...sort of.

The green from "Autumn Roses," for instance, is the base for the green in "Turning Leaves." The yellow in "Sunny Day" is quite close to the yellow of "Yellow Squash." "Shadow" and "Pleiad" have similar approaches to gray; etc.

Fiber next week; it's dry, but I haven't gotten around to examining it for problems, fluffing it up, braiding it, and photographing it. By the time the upload's all gathered together, there may be batts as well. In the meanwhile, here's some more orange for you orange fans:

I show that off not because I'm selling it--no, it's all mine!--but because I did spin it from Laughing Rat Studio fiber, namely Shetland top in the "Complementary" colorway. If you like the look of the yarn, there's more Shetland top in the shop right now, in a similar colorway! I enjoyed spinning the Shetland; it was easy to get a fairly fine single from it without overtwisting, and it's a lofty, springy fiber. As you can see, even though I smoothed the singles down with my fingertips as I went, they still had the tendency to be slightly fuzzy. The yarn turned out fairly fluffy despite being spun worsted, and clocked in at 3.8 oz./622+ yards.

Autumn trinkets...

2010-10-13T15:36:00.001-04:00

This week's upload will be inspired by the little gifts Autumn brings.

Watch the shop for a new batch of yarn later today!

Lots of luxurious fibers!

2010-10-01T16:36:00.002-04:00

I've been adding some pretty fibers to the shop: Polwarth, exotic blends of Merino, bamboo, and tussah silk, and drumcarded batts.

"House Finch" Merino/bamboo/silk

"Turning Leaves" Polwarth wool

"Heartthrob" Polwarth wool

"Blossom" batts, Corriedale, silk, and alpaca

Coming soon: Polwarth/silk worsted yarn!

Murphy's Law

2010-09-27T17:09:00.002-04:00

Early last week I ordered supplies from two different companies. Both shipped--promptly, I might add--with different carriers, on different days. It is, therefore, quite natural that both packages should be due to arrive tomorrow, the day when I am at work from 8 AM to 9 PM, well after our building management office, who holds packages for tenants, is closed.

Of such things is the world made.

Here, have a picture:

"Aurora," Merino/silk/bamboo. Its cousin, "House Finch," is to be uploaded today. Probably later, as I have pictures to take, orders to send. and a chicken in the oven.

Week 4: catch-up

2010-09-25T11:25:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been quite a busy month for ol' Rat. But with one exception, I've been able to hold to my personal goal of adding one item a day to the shop...not too bad! There's also one last September sale this weekend, and below the sale info are some pics/links for recent items, too.

I'm offering 20% off all in-stock items, through Sunday. The batt pictured is also my latest item, a set of Itty-Bitty Rat Batts called "Nacre." These are full of Corriedale, silk, BFL, silk noil, and mohair, each layer individually carded multiple times until blended, then layered.

More luxury fibers and some Polwarth coming up! And here's some of the other items I've added this week:

Itty-bitty September sale, Week 3

2010-09-17T13:40:00.000-04:00

This week's sale has begun...

Itty-bitty September sale, Week 3: BUY THREE ITEMS, GET FOURTH FREE! Sale runs September 17th-19th--check out my shop announcement for details. :)

Laughing Rat: sluggard

2010-09-11T20:30:00.002-04:00

Not really a sluggard. Minor illness caused some delays in announcing this week's sale (see the end of the post), but I still added something pretty to the shop!

Norwegian wool top in "Bluebird," a fave color of mine.

Itty-bitty Rat Batts, loaded with soft alpaca, Corriedale, Firestar, and bits and bobs of silk and BFL.

There *is* a sale this week, too--free U.S. shipping on orders of $50 or more, with up to $6 off international shipping. And since I wasn't able to announce it until now, it will run through the end of Monday.

The once and future yarns (and fibers)

2010-09-08T14:08:00.002-04:00

I've hesitated on doing a daily post about the items I'm adding to the shop this month, but it did seem like an update was in order!

Today's item is "Steel," a Merino/bamboo fingering weight yarn. I love the shimmer this yarn base has.

Over the past several days, there's been both yarns and fibers...

And a few upcoming items have already had their pictures taken, too:

Keep your eye on the shop for something new every day!

New, upcoming, and an itty-bitty sale

2010-09-03T22:09:00.003-04:00

Greetings and salutations! I have been hard at work dyeing, photographing, uploading, and (yes) advertising for the shop. Yesterday I uploaded a pretty sock yarn; today, a delicate lace yarn:

Tomorrow? HARDY MUMS! It's that time of year, you know. And it's beautiful in BFL/silk blend:

But what I really brought you here to talk about today was the series of itty-bitty sales (maybe I should card up some Itty Bitty Rat Batts for the shop, while I'm at it?) that I'm running this month. I'll be honest, I don't even know yet what next weekend's is gonna be, but this weekend, all in-stock items are 10% off. This runs now through September 6th, in honor of the long weekend for us folks here in the U.S. I mean, the sale runs that long for everyone, but it's only a long weekend for U.S. folks. You know what I mean!

These are not huge sales--just little "gifts," in a way, and having a new one each weekend seemed like a fun way to complement the item-a-day thing I'm doing in the shop this month. Enjoy!

"Thirty days hath September..."

2010-09-01T22:36:00.002-04:00

I've quoted that rhyme for years, and actively used it as a way to remember the number of days in the month, but it's just possible that by the end of this month I'll be tired of it...

It is true: after a month off from dyework, I have decided to add an item a day to Laughing Rat Studio's Etsy shop. Can I do it? Will folks like it? More importantly, will there be sales?

"Hopefully" is a good answer for all three right now. Keep your eyes on the blog for further developments. Today's item, a braid of overdyed natural-silver alpaca and silk, was added a little earlier this afternoon.

Beauty and the Beast

2010-07-30T19:59:00.003-04:00

There's some more unusual wools and laceweight yarns to the shop! The most recent update includes natural gray Swalesdale top (now dyed, of course :)) and laceweight Merino yarns.

Even though most of this week's fiber additions were what one might call "strong" fibers, there's always lots of medium, fine, and even luxury spinning fibers and yarns to be found at Laughing Rat Studio, too. :)

Shiny, durable Lincoln

2010-07-30T11:36:00.001-04:00

W00t! Lincoln top! It's in the shop:

Last night's upload, really, but I was asleep on my feet. Or my chair. So no posts went out, no notifications were made, until today. More later, though!

The strong, silent type

2010-07-28T23:58:00.001-04:00

I'm steadily adding more to the shop. Tonight, alpaca. This was an interesting one for me because the alpaca we usually see out there is the superfine or baby stuff, which is super soft. It's so great. This is actually a stronger fiber, though--a little more coarse, a little longer in the fiber. I really like the way it took the colors.

Masham? I hardly knew 'im!

2010-07-27T13:19:00.003-04:00

I just added some more delicious fiber to the shop: Masham!

Masham is an English longwool breed. The fiber has a long staple and a slight shine, and often spins up with a slight halo. It reminded me a lot of Wensleydale, in that it's a longwool, but on the softer end of the scale. Should be a nice spin.

Another little update

2010-07-26T23:13:00.001-04:00

New to the shop today: bamboo/wool/alpaca top in subtle, shimmering colors.

Tomorrow's update will be Masham top!

A little bit of fiber

2010-07-07T11:12:00.000-04:00

Greetings all! I've been spinning like crazy for the Tour de Fleece, but I still managed to get a few new fibers in the shop.

These are both "Panda" fiber, like some of last week's upload. As always, even more yarns and fibers can be seen in the shop!

You heard it here first

2010-07-01T10:14:00.004-04:00

Unless you follow my Flickr account avidly, I suppose. One of my many failings is the slight neglect of my biz blog, so I thought I'd show off this week's stuff here before it appears anywhere else (including the shop!).

One of the things I enjoy doing with my dye work is dyeing fibers you don't normally see in the shops. They're not always soft, but they are interesting. And besides, soft isn't everything. ;)

Gotland is a breed that seems to have a lot of different possible characteristics, and a lot of argument over what a "real" Gotland sheep should look like. This particular Gotland fiber is long, strong, and somewhat coarse. It was a beautiful natural gray which I then overdyed.

The hydrangeas are going crazy in my neighborhood right now and it's hard to resist creating yarn and fiber in the "Hydrangea" colorway. This beautiful Corriedale fiber is soft and slightly crisp, a very nice spin indeed.

If you want the coolness and drape of bamboo fiber, check out my superwash Merino/bamboo fingering weight yarns. The softness and slight shimmer of this yarn base makes it delightful to work with.

Panda fiber is hot right now--or cool, I should say. A mixture of superwash Merino, bamboo, and nylon, it makes magnificent sock yarn. Don't be afraid to try it for other uses, though! It has lots of shine and is next-to-skin soft. Cowls, mitts, hats, scarves, baby gear...this fiber is great for all of it.

Updates will be ongoing throughout the day--keep your eye on the shop!

Oh, heckfire! (Or, There is a sale)

2010-06-22T09:34:00.002-04:00

In true Rat fashion I forgot to post my sale notice on my actual business blog. This is because I am SMRT. But yes, there is a sale in the shop right now, and it runs from the 21st (er, yesterday, sorry) to Friday the 25th. 10% off all in-stock items!

Going, going...

2010-06-12T17:20:00.003-04:00

Polwarth. This stuff is pretty popular!

I admit it: I don't always get to blog the shop updates as quick as I'd like. Sometimes I have to skip around my work schedule, or sometimes I'm just tired. There are not enough hours in the day. I've checked.

So some of the stuff I've added to the shop in the last few days is already gone! But there's still beautiful Merino and Polwarth tops left, as well as some new handspun:

That's something I'm especially pleased about, since it was made from my very own Itty Bitty Rat Batts. It's rare that I get to spin my own goods.

Actually, what do I have in the shop right now? Lots of good stuff. In spinning fibers alone, I've got the following fiber types available: Lincoln, Corriedale, Polwarth, Merino, Shetland, mohair, tussah/Merino, BFL, superwash BFL, and wool/mohair. Not bad! And in yarns, I've got superwash sock, handspun, DK, sport, worsted, and lace--and that's not going into a breakdown by fiber type. Lots of variety in a small place!

I am Merino, and I am sad.

2010-06-06T16:39:00.004-04:00

Today's guest-poster: "Blossom," hand-dyed Merino top.

Hi. I'm Merino wool.

Remember when I was the crème de la crème of luxury fibers? Remember when showing a braid of Merino top to your spinning pals would elicit a chorus of "Ooo!"s and "So soft!"s and "Dang gurl I would trade you my middle child for this, no lie"s?

It's not like that any more. Now it's all Yak this and Bison that and Cashmere the other. These days I hardly rank higher than Coopworth on the scale of spinners' affection. Dyers treat me any old way, and chuck felty, low-priced braids of me into their shops as a way to draw in customers, and then those customers get their braids of Merino, all tough and felty, and say to themselves, "Dang, I shoulda bought the Polwarth."

That ain't right.

I want to be treated good. I want to be treated like the luxury wool I am. I want people to see a braid of Merino at a spin-in and go "Ooooh, gurl, I have a fancy spindle at home that I will swap you for that. It cost me $50 from the maker but dang, I got to have that Merino."

I am Merino, and I am not a bargain-basement fiber!

("Blossom" is in the shop right now, waiting for someone who will treat her like the special lady she knows she is. More Merino to come over the next several days.)

The call is coming from inside the house

2010-06-04T17:40:00.004-04:00

My shipment of luxury fibers was somewhat delayed by the long weekend, and I was getting antsy. The expected delivery date was June 3rd; it was now midafternoon on that day. I'd been home all day and never heard a knock or the doorbell, and the UPS status page seemed stuck at "OUT FOR DELIVERY."

After an hour's distraction with other tasks, I returned to the UPS website and refreshed it impatiently. "2:39 PM DELIVERED" it now read.

"Nuh-uh," I said, demonstrating that admirable grasp of language I'd developed while acquiring my B.A. in English. I clicked the link to read the delivery details, starting to get a little testy. "FRONT DOOR," the details read. "Nuh-uh," I reiterated, employing repetition as a stylistic device. "No way."

I opened my apartment door to see whether a UPS driver, mysterious and silent as a ninja had padded up, deposited a yellow "Unable to deliver" slip, and then faded into the shadows. Hopefully this hypothetical master of the messenger's arts would have then dropped my package off at the complex's management office, where I could retrieve it before the end of business hours.

Fortunately I looked down before crossing the threshold, because there, an inch away from the "FRONT DOOR," was a cardboard box. Torn between annoyance and relief--is a single press of the doorbell really so much to ask?--I hauled it inside, opened it up, and found the following:

I don't remember all that I ordered, but there's "Panda" fiber there (bamboo, nylon, and Merino wool), silver alpaca/silk, BFL/silk, and two pounds of Polwarth. You could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that. I'll be rolling these out over the next several weeks, so keep your eyes on the shop if you're interested in some very beautiful fibers indeed.

In the meanwhile, don't miss the Wensleydale, Shetland, and Finn that I've added, or the Merino that'll be coming in a few days:

Portrait of the dyer as a young artist; or, Presence: a Manifesto

2010-06-01T13:41:00.001-04:00

A long time ago, I worked in a different visual medium: I drew, or painted. At first I created surreal tableaux, but soon I wished to make still lifes and landscapes, or portraits of the animals and objects most dear to me. I wanted to recreate what I saw in an attempt to love, preserve, and understand it better.

This is still a kind of art I enjoy looking at, but for a variety of reasons, there was a point, a long time ago, at which it no longer felt satisfactory to me to create that kind of work. For years I assumed that this was due entirely to my oldest bugaboo, that inner voice that never ceases telling me that I'm unworthy, a failure, and especially an unworthy failure at any kind of creative work. I assumed that it was for a similar reason that I took up dye work instead, because it allowed me to simply mix colors without any sort of goal or standard other than a basic standard of craftsmanship, of quality in the final product--and there's some truth to all of that.

On my walk today I felt, looking at a new flower that was a particularly devastating shade of blue, the old reflexive urge to reproduce that somehow. As I said, it's something I've felt, off and on, for much of my life--first with painting and drawing, even with writing, too. The drive to capture the shape of a favorite vase, the color of a sky, or the complexity of an emotion can be a powerful impetus to good solid creative work, or it can become all-consuming and self-perpetuating, yielding little beauty or joy for the person so plagued. So it was for me then, and so it was today when I saw this new flower and immediately distanced myself from the experience of it by asking myself, "How can I duplicate this?"

Ultimately, the urge to reproduce, visually or in words, the world around me became deeply unsatisfactory and draining. I fell nearly silent and mostly stopped creating, certainly stopped creating "art," mostly instead taking long walks or observing my pets or other creatures I encountered. Humans, with their constant interpretations of the world and reflections of it, became even more tiresome and exhausting to me than usual. (Even now, in this mood, today, I find myself dreading interacting with my fellow apes; I dread having to navigate their interpretations of their experience, distancing me yet further from any experiences of my own.) Nevertheless, occasionally the urge to reflect, to reproduce, arises and causes me to cease being present for my own life. I wonder how I can dye this combination of colors or describe that chipmunk. In the process, I stop experiencing the joy I felt at seeing the colors, or the empathy and affection I felt for the animal. Usually, the urge to recreate passes before I make an attempt, something for which I'm generally grateful.

My dye work isn't--obviously--disconnected from what I see or experience every day. It's inspired by nature and my own emotions. But it also isn't strictly representative, and it isn't oriented towards a specific goal, other than to have a pleasing and useful finished product. Some dyers work hard to create formulas for predictable, reproducible results; for a variety of reasons, I find that alternately distasteful, exhausting, and terrifying. It is not for me, although I admire it exceedingly in the work of others. Today I realized that's the case not only because of personal baggage surrounding "failure," but because that sort of thinking alienates me from the very experience of dyework itself. If I knew exactly what would happen every time I mixed and poured colors, it wouldn't be worthwhile for me any more. If I couldn't change the balance of hues in a colorway at my own whim, it wouldn't be interesting or fulfilling to me any longer. The room for variation, for the unexpected, for the totally irreproducible--what some people would call "play"--is crucial to my happiness in this work. If I were to abandon that, fiber work would become as miserable and exhausting as every other kind of creative work I've tried and abandoned over the years.

I'll close this essay--this manifesto, maybe--with a poem by Wendell Berry, "The Vacation," about a man who wasn't even present for his own life.

"The Vacation"
By Wendell Berry

Once there was a man who filmed his vacation.
He went flying down the river in his boat
with his video camera to his eye, making
a moving picture of the moving river
upon which his sleek boat moved swiftly
toward the end of his vacation. He showed
his vacation to his camera, which pictured it,
preserving it forever: the river, the trees,
the sky, the light, the bow of his rushing boat
behind which he stood with his camera
preserving his vacation even as he was having it
so that after he had had it he would still
have it. It would be there. With a flick
of a switch, there it would be. But he
would not be in it. He would never be in it.

Yarn!

2010-05-28T11:30:00.001-04:00

Sock and silk/wool laceweight, probably my favorite stuff to knit.

More colors in the shop, naturally. :) US readers--have a great holiday weekend!

Shop update--advance notice!

2010-05-19T19:31:00.000-04:00

Hi all! The shop is updating tonight. Here's a sneak peek of what will be there!

Check the shop later to see everything!

Special Notice!

2010-05-14T08:13:00.002-04:00

One Purly has created a beautiful new lace shawlette pattern called On the High Seas. If you click the link, you can see it knitted up in two different yarns, one of which came from Laughing Rat Studio! This looks like a great pattern--a nice versatile FO, with lace that would be a confidence-builder for a new lace knitter, and a fun project for someone a little more experienced. Stop by Purly's blog to check it out!

In-progress; links; vacation; upcoming

2010-05-14T07:45:00.003-04:00

What do you make with your handspun? This is the first workable stuff I spun on my wheel a few years ago, and this feather-and-fan scarf has been on the needles ever since. I pick it up and put it down at will; lose it and then find it when I move; keep it on the desk in case I want to work on some easy knitting. It's in the home stretch now, and although it's not my oldest UFO--a sweater knit from KnitPicks' alpaca/silk yarn has that dubious honor--I will feel accomplished when it's done.

(Incidentally, if you're on Ravelry, the Laughing Rat Studio group there is a great place to share project pics. It's a quiet group, so just jump in and post!)

Fellow Etsians or other small business owners may enjoy these links:

Ten Things I Learned the Hard Way

Daily Worth: Profits Come From Business Models, Not Ideas 

The craft business world is mostly female, and we carry a lot of baggage with us. Most of us have been taught to be pretty self-effacing and to not value our labor. In addition, there's a lot of cultural baggage about how creative endeavors shouldn't be connected to money, or how artists' work is better when we suffer. Well I don't know about you, but when I haven't had my supper, all I can think about is supper, not what colors oughta go into my new themed colorways! Etsy is not without its problems, but it does furnish some interesting articles that may help businesswomen especially to get past some of those old ideas about crafting, hobbies, and business.

Incidentally, I will be out of town this weekend, so if anyone ever wanted to bust into the apartment and roll in my fiber stash, I guess this is your opportunity. Although all things considered, I'd prefer you didn't--the cat would no doubt also want to roll in it, and nobody wants to buy fiber covered in cat hair, y'all. More to the point, it's unlikely anything will get mailed out between now and Tuesday, just so you know.

Coming up next week: Merino top (already dry!), large(!!!) hanks of superwash Merino sock yarn for gorgeous shawls, tall stockings, or baby clothes; more Lincoln locks. Keep an eye on the shop!

The "I Need a Vacation" Sale!

2010-05-10T23:12:00.002-04:00

From May 10-13th, 2010, all in-stock items in the shop are 20% off! I am going away this weekend for the first time in seven (yes, you read that right, seven) years and it is cause for celebration.

W00t!

What's old is new

2010-04-30T10:33:00.003-04:00

An illustration of the celestial spheres from 1377. Looks kinda like the colors in "Lola-Lola," huh?

A proper shop (and blog) update soon, I promise.

Shop update!

2010-04-08T08:27:00.002-04:00

When getting fiber for the Luxury Fiber Club, I went out on a limb and bought an extra pound of the alpaca/Merino/tussah blend for the shop.

The fiber mix is incredibly soft and warm, with shimmer from the silk. It's a versatile blend and very nice to work with.

There's fingering weight superwash Merino in the shop, too--just had several colors snapped up, but it's something I like to carry at least a little of at all times. This stuff makes very comfortable socks; I recommend reinforcing the points of wear, but wouldn't we do that on a handspun sock, or anything else not spun with nylon?

Hey, I've got this shop

2010-04-02T09:02:00.002-04:00

And I've even been updating it, although you wouldn't know that from the posting frequency here. Whoops.

Last week I uploaded batts, the first in a long while. I'm awful pleased with how they went. The ones that remain are either heavily blended, or heavily blended then layered. Mohair, silk noil, alpaca...lots of nice stuff mixed in with soft, easy-spinning Corriedale.

This week, there was sport weight superwash Merino yarn. This is similar to the 100% Merino sock yarn I also carry, just a little heavier. I've actually gotten a pair of anklets out of this yarn (it knits up firmly on US size 2 needles), but it would also be great for a little cowl or wristwarmers to keep off any remaining Spring chill!

More to see in the shop!

Almost Spring!

2010-03-17T23:59:00.002-04:00

Finally, an update for the shop! Handspun; laceweight Merino; bamboo/Merino sock yarn; lots of Shetland top--all in more colors than I could possibly show here (partly because I don't feel like copy-pasting so much code ;)). Here's some teasers--the rest you'll have to visit the shop to see! :)

Spring Sale

2010-03-03T23:31:00.003-05:00

Howdy! I'm running a little sale in the shop this weekend, Friday-Sunday, all items 20% off. Folks who read the biz blog here, or are in my Rav and Yahoo groups, can take advantage of the discount a day early and start tomorrow! If you purchase early, just let me know in the Message to Seller that you heard it here first, so to speak. That way I'll know to give you the discount early. :)

Out of Cheese Error

2010-03-01T18:03:00.001-05:00

Aloha, all and sundry. My main computer, a good-sized laptop, suddenly died. Although it's probably fixable (keep your fingers crossed, please), in the meanwhile I am making do with a wee netbook-type creature. I feel keenly the good fortune I have to have such a creature around for backup; before last Christmas, this would not have been the case. Many people do not even have one computer, etc. etc. However, I do not have all the files I might wind up needing from my other computer, and I may find some things difficult with the baby computer (not sure why, but I'm just covering myself here), so please be patient with me in the coming weeks until everything is fixed.

Yours,

Laughingrat

Shop update; how this crafter does business

2010-02-26T14:27:00.004-05:00

I like to add a little bit to the shop every week. Keeps me from having to somehow deal with dyeing, drying, and storing 20 braids of fiber at once (in an apartment! A crowded apartment!), not to mention the yarn, not to mention the cat and keeping him out of all of it...well. You can see how it is.

Locks are something that hasn't appeared for a while--I had a bag of undyed ones that I'd forgotten, from early last year...

Same with the wool/mohair top--extra bought against disaster when I did a custom job for a pal. I love the stuff; it's soft, but has that ribbon of mohair dancing through it for shine and strength. It could go either way, this fiber: firmly spun for socks, soft and fluffy for hats and scarves.

I do things on a small scale, it's true. Sometimes I wish I could hoist the business up one level in production, have a little more stock, a little more advertising, a little more...business. I could sell at shows, sponsor giveaways, things like that. Some of why I don't is the energy level, some of it's my schedule; some of it might just be the way I like to do things. Ever since I first started crafting, I wondered how I could sell what I made--and when I say "first started crafting," I mean at age 10, selling weird clay medallions and beaded, carved branches to the local mystical shop. You would think I would be more capitalist about it all, love running the business aspect of it more than anything else, but really, I don't. It's not like that for me. Crafting and earning do go hand in hand for me, and I wish it was like that again for more of society--that we could take the best aspects of industrial advancements and global commerce and mix them with the best aspects of the old world of small local producers and artisans--but the earning part, the running a business part, is no pleasure to me outside the craft part.

This can be seen in my reluctance to sell, the slight awkwardness of my advertising prose as I close with the reminder that you can see all of these items and many more, both yarn and fiber, in the shop.

Shop updates; vendors of note

2010-02-13T14:42:00.000-05:00

Before I get to the shop update, I want to direct your attention to a couple of fiber-related artists who are producing great work!

Gannet Designs (link goes to Ravelry shop) is a new pattern shop just opened by Ravelry's Gannet. Gannet works hard to create beautiful, accurate patterns, and her Pinion lace tam is already getting a lot of positive notice.

The other is a husband & wife team, Helen and Allan Krummenacker, whose work can be seen at their Etsy shop. Helen created full sets of stitch markers to be included as a final gift for some of my club subscribers:

In the shop, the Krummenackers have jewelry, paintings, accessories, costuming items, and more; they're also a member of the Fantasy Artists of Etsy team.

After all that, the shop update may not seem so exciting, but I enjoy the way this yarn turned out to be an unclassifiable color:

I also dyed up some Blue-Faced Leicester top in several colors, including a striking "Forest":

Lots of spinning fiber to come over the next several weeks. Were you one of the many who didn't get a chance to take part in this year's fiber and yarn clubs? They were such a success this year (despite a few bumps along the way) that I am 99% certain I'll be doing them again next year, and possibly expanding them in terms of time or number of subscribers. Amazingly, I really have to start thinking about this stuff now in order to make sure it all goes smoothly next year!

December

2010-01-13T19:57:00.002-05:00

A drive-by post: February's fiber will be inspired, color-wise, by the month of December from Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, just about one of my favorite artifacts ever.

First link does go to a gory hunting scene, though (hey, it showed all aspects of daily life) so if you just want the pretty, click the second link. :)

Hats, scarves, cowls, mitts, legwarmers, more hats...

2010-01-09T10:43:00.002-05:00

What do you make with your worsted weight yarns? I'm sure I missed something. :) There's a lot of worsted in the shop this week...

You know how I am about this "Sunrise" colorway. It just keeps showing up.

Something a little more subtle: "Silver Nitrate." Yeah, I like old movies, why d'you ask?

Hey Ma, can I keep this one? I swear it followed me home. "Amber" is on the Blue-Faced Leicester yarn base; there were a few on that this week, and several on Merino wool. Both are fabulous yarn bases. The texture and yardage differ slightly between them, but you could still use them in the same project without a lot of problems if you wanted to mix up your colors.

Next week: not sure! Got to get going on next month's fiber and yarn clubs right away, so new items for the shop may be back in two weeks.

New Year's Sale!

2009-12-31T11:44:00.002-05:00

Yup, from the 1st-3rd, you can get 20% off in the shop. However! You blog-readers out there, like my Rav and Yahoo folks, can start shoppin' today. Just let me know where you heard about the sale, and I'll send you a revised invoice reflecting the discount. (After today there's no need to let me know, since everyone will have the discount.)

To recap: I have a sale running all weekend, blog readers start early, woohoo! And Happy New Year.

(Upcoming updates: lots of worsted weight yarn!)

2010 Fiber and Knitting Clubs

2009-11-30T09:29:00.000-05:00

Update 12/26/2009: The 2010 Clubs are now full. Thanks to everyone who made these a success!

New! Laughing Rat Studio is offering a new subscription service for our artisan-dyed yarns and spinning fiber! Every month you will receive a beautiful skein of yarn or a braid of combed top carefully dyed in a limited-edition color by yours truly, and every package will include tantalizing extras provided by indie artists and fiber-producers.

Payments are on an easy automatic installment schedule that will be handled by PayPal. Payments start when you subscribe and will repeat monthly for two months. No need to make a huge payment up-front or worry about making your payments on time. PayPal handles it all! Shipping in the US will be via Priority Mail; shipping prices to other countries can vary, so please contact me if you need international shipping on your club packages!

There are three installments in all and shipments will be monthly starting January. Slots in each club are extremely limited, so sign up now!

But what exactly will the clubs be? I'm glad you asked!

A sneak preview of one of the Club yarns!

Knitters and crocheters who enjoy making socks, gloves, or otherwise working with fine-gauge yarns will enjoy the Sock Club. (Isn't every dyer now required by law to do a sock club?) Every month, a generous hank (4 oz. approx.) of hand-dyed sock yarn will arrive in the mail, and each month will bring a different type of yarn: superwash Corriedale/nylon, superwash Merino, or a bamboo blend perfect for warmer weather. Installments are $30 US; price includes Priority Mail shipping to US destinations.

Update 12/26/09: The 2010 Sock Club is sold out. Thank you to everyone who subscribed!

Lace is increasingly popular as many crafters discover the challenge and beauty of these openwork patterns. Laughing Rat Studio's Lace Club will provide one multicolor and two semi-solid yarns in exquisite luxury fibers: alpaca, silk, and Merino wool. Each 4 oz. (approx.) skein will have yardage sufficient for a shawl or several smaller projects. Installments are $35 US; price includes Priority Mail shipping to US destinations.

Update 12/18/09: the 2010 Lace Club is sold out. Thank you to everyone who subscribed!

Spinners and felters must feel spoiled for choice these days, what with the ready availability of so many beautiful fibers. Crafters accustomed to working with ordinary wool will enjoy branching out with Laughing Rat Studio's Luxury Fiber Club, with fibers such as cashmere, Merino wool, bamboo, tussah silk, and alpaca. A generous 4 oz. (approx.) braid of beautifully-dyed fiber will arrive every month, with a special gift: a 1 oz. sample of processed natural-colored fiber from a small family farm! Each shipment will provide a different breed of sheep (or camelid) for you to try, as well as other fiber-related goodies. Installments are $35 US; price includes Priority Mail shipping to US destinations.

Update 12/2/09: the 2010 Luxury Fiber Club is sold out. Thank you to everyone who subscribed!

Sale!

2009-11-13T15:09:00.000-05:00

From 11/13 to 11/15 there is a semi-secret sale at Laughing Rat Studio! All in-stock items are 20% off, but only folks who pop a sale code into the Message to Seller will get the discount. For folks hearing about this through my shop blog, the code is "Blog." Nope, nothing fancy 'round here. :)

Don't wait until the day after Thanksgiving--get first-rate hand-spun, hand-dyed yarns and fibers now and get ahead on your holiday crafting!

Silk and Merino

2009-11-06T14:09:00.002-05:00

Spinning fiber in the shop this week, yes indeed. Tussah and Merino wool top.

Mostly in the 3-4 oz. range, but this last one is nearly 7 ounces--great for several matched items or larger projects.

Rich Colors

2009-10-28T22:44:00.003-04:00

Deep, crisp, and Autumn-y. And just added to the shop, too.

I was in Macy's this afternoon and saw a lot of clothes in colors that could have come straight from Laughing Rat Studio: vivid aqua, rich yellow-green, deep magenta. Who knew I was so fashionable?

Fresh new yarns!

2009-10-08T10:21:00.002-04:00

Some really luxurious new yarns this week--lots of silk and Merino, and some alpaca, too.

The first is a soft, lofty singles yarn made of Merino and silk. Think Malabrigo but softer. Gorgeous yarn base. I worked up four different colors in this one, with skeins of approx. 4 oz. each--enough to mix in with a larger product as an accent or edging, or to create a special smaller project.

The other yarn is a multi-ply, DK weight yarn made of alpaca, Merino, and a little silk. This is wonderful stuff, very soft with just a little shine.

This new color, "Cecil," will probably be changed considerably before it's "official." The name doesn't tell you much about it, but I knitted up my first hand-dyed yarn several years ago while keeping a wonderful little rat named Cecil; she loved to dash at my ball of yarn and try to wrestle it. Cecil was a rescue rat and was ill when I got her. My vet and I tried to save her, but it was too late. I named the socks after her, and like the color enough that I thought I'd try to duplicate it.

There's lots of spinning fiber new to the shop this week too! Blue-Faced Leicester:

And Corriedale:

There's more colors of each in the shop!

Fluff 'n Stuff

2009-09-14T20:37:00.002-04:00

"Just what the heck is Fluff 'n Stuff?" you might ask. Well, I will tell you.

Fluff 'n Stuff is a box of fiber and fiber-related items put together by the Fibery Co-op. Actually, we just sent stuff in, but Jackie and Curt are doing the real work assembling, packaging, photographing, and promoting this thing. You can see pictures of all the great stuff in this month's box over here; there's some seriously amazing stuff in this, including spinning tools. That's right, you can get not only fiber, but TWO things to spin fiber with. It's practically a learn-to-spin kit right out of the box, no pun intended, and it would be an amazing present for someone interested in natural fibers. Or for yourself, too. *grin*

Here's Jackie's list of what-all's in this particular box:

Alpaca Joe- 1/2 ounce pure alpaca

Luann Stovall- Hand-spun, braided bookmakes, pkg. of 3

Made for Ewe- Sample of Shetland-Alpace blend
Made for Ewe- pair of jeweled angel stitch marker
Made for Ewe- Sample of hand-spun yarn, Shetland, soy silk, Firestar

Down In The Country- Red oak Rakestraw Spinner in project bag

Laughing Rat Studio: 1/2 oz Falkland Wool Combed Top, plus 10% off coupon

Whorling Tides Fiber Arts: 1/4 ounce hand-dyed fiber samples

The Bead Chic- package with 2 beaded stitch marker

Can't Resist Fiber- Hand-combed Shetland Top

Raven of Sky Bear Design- Beaded copper orifice hooks

Village Farm- Handdyed, carded rainbow batts, 2 1/2 oz, wool/mohair

Sweet Spring Farm- "You Decide" top or bottom whorl spindle

Embroidery by Vicky- heavy canvas totes, 14 1/2" square, embroidered
with "I (heart) Knitting with Handspun"

Karen Moore- Beribboned pouches with 2 double-pointed cabling needles
and instructions for a right or left cable

Moonstruck Farm- Five samples, total weight 3.5 ounces. 2 Jacob, 1
Tunis/Jacob, 2 Icelandic

I'm really stunned by the generosity of the donors. That's right, "donors": all proceeds for the Fluff 'n Stuff box are going straight to Heifer International to purchase a sheep for a family in need. It seemed only appropriate, you know?

Purchasing the Fluff 'n Stuff box will be super easy, because Curt, the Co-op's webmaster, has set up a shopping cart that lets you purchase straight from the website. The boxes will go on sale at noon on September 15th at the Co-op website!

Time gets away from me

2009-09-14T20:30:00.002-04:00

It's just one of those things.

Let me tell you a little about the most recent upload in the shop, right, and then I'll do a much cooler post about the Fluff 'n Stuff box, which goes on sale tomorrow!

I uploaded approximately seven million colors of sock yarn last week! 100% superwash Merino wool, very bouncy and soft.

I realize that is not seven million different colors, but I'm only one woman! That's just a sample. Head on over to the shop for the rest.

What else? Oh, several braids of superwash Blue-Faced Leicester, a New Thing for the shop:

And some silk/Merino top:

And some Falkland, which I regret to say has been utterly snapped-up. All very fab, although I'm a bit biased of course. This week there may be some batts, if I can get off my fat Rat butt and card 'em. *grin*

Crossing the palettes would be bad

2009-09-09T19:36:00.002-04:00

People, let me tell you a little something about brown.

Brown is some difficult stuff to mix.

If you are mixing brown, then do not get some brilliant idea about making it neutral by throwing in your warm palette and your cool palette. Yes, this is clever thinking, but all it gives you is black.

People, I learn these lessons so you don't have to.

Anyone want some of my "Grackle" yarn or fiber? Been a long time since I dyed it up, and, well, I've got a lot of black...

And the first person to get the movie reference in the title of this post gets 10% off their next order. No fooling. I'm even helping you by telling you it's a movie. :) And it's a movie from after 1940, and that's a heck of a thing for me, am I right?

"Holiday," my eye

2009-09-07T18:24:00.003-04:00

This is part of the work I've done this weekend. It's great work if you can get it, though. ;)

Eight skeins of superwash Merino sock yarn (100% wool, not the new wool/nylon blend), four braids of, yes, superwash Blue-Faced Leicester top (NEW! NEW! NEW!), two braids of Merino/silk top, two braids of Falkland top. Gosh, it doesn't sound like much when you list it, but let me assure you, there is No More Room in my house for drying fiber/yarn, and I have been steadily attending the dyepots for going on three days now.

I think it slipped my mind once again to show off what I'd dyed for this past week's upload! It was all brand-new yarn--a sport weight Blue-Faced Leicester yarn, incredibly springy and lofty. Like all BFL, it's got a slight shine but is also next-to-skin soft. These yarns are truly fabulous and I don't know why more retail stores don't offer them, but hey, it's good for a small business to have a niche item, so who's complaining? :) I dyed up my entire stock of this, but I will get more eventually. Here's a few samples:

All dyed in intense hues because, well, not only do I like those, but they seem to become more popular in the Fall. There's four semisolids and four multis, which allows you to mix and match multiple colorways for startling and unique effects. The sport may actually be fine enough for stranded knitting or slip-stitch knitting, but it would be really gorgeous in a striped hat, cowl, mittens, or scarf, too.

Yes, I did have trouble giving these all up for the shop, why do you ask? ;) I'm having that problem with all my new stuff lately--it's not that I think my colors are the Best Ever, although I'm certainly partial to them, but that the new yarns and fibers are so fabulous. It's sort of renewed my enthusiasm for this whole craft!

New sock yarns!

2009-08-27T02:31:00.003-04:00

This is the new yarn base from Ashland Bay. I'm still going to carry the Louet Gems yarn base, but it's nice to also have something with nylon in it for folks who want hard-wearing socks.

I encourage you to click through on that one to see the full-size pic. The texture of the new yarn comes through really well in that one.

It takes dye beautifully, of course. 75% superwash Colonial wool/25% nylon. I've spun Colonial before and enjoyed it; Ashland Bay refers to it as a "Corriedale type." Makes sense to me.

The new sock yarn looked and felt really weedy and thin at first. I bought a cone anyway, because why not give it a try, right? I've wanted to carry a nylon-blend sock yarn for a while now. Well, once it was soaked, dyed, and re-dried, it fluffed up to almost twice what it'd been on the cone and is extremely soft.

With the percentage of nylon that's in it, it should be a good solid sock yarn, but the softness and plumpness of the yarn are superior to a lot of the stuff you find in the commercial yarn shops. I'm really impressed with this stuff and will definitely continue to carry it.

There's a lone braid of Wensleydale, too:

The remnant of a large special order in this fiber and color. "Why not do the whole pound," I reasoned, "when 'Fresh Beets' tends to be popular anyway?" Why not indeed.

I've had a special project in mind for some time, ever since reading Barbara Kingsolver's article on Heifer International called "The Color Red." In a way, this post, with its sock yarns and its red fiber, are a perfect time to bring this up. See, my idea was to knit a pair of socks, document the hours spent, and then sell the socks for what it would cost if I paid myself a living wage for the hours. I see a lot of really talented knitters and crocheters on Etsy who undersell their work, and it's always frustrated me. Between messages from society that say women's work isn't valuable, and the pressures from a Wal-Mart economy to buy and sell everything as cheaply as possible, it's hard for most artisans to earn a living wage from their work.

The idea sat idle in my head for almost a year until I read Kingsolver's piece, and then it clicked: the socks could be a charity item. See, I always figured that they wouldn't sell, after all--the idea was more to make a point than to expect someone to shell out for $300 socks--but selling them for charity would be a way to not only expand the potential attention for the project, but actually benefit women in need. Since then, the idea has seemed a lot more concrete, a lot more doable: donate the proceeds to Heifer International, and in the process give assistance to women in need while also raising questions about the price of handmade items.

More on this as it develops. I've had some tentative "I'm interested!" remarks from other crafters, so if you think you would want to do your own benefit item for Heifer, that would be really cool. If we had enough people involved, we could actually do a project blog, put out press releases, etc. Why not go as big as possible?

New combed tops!

2009-08-21T09:11:00.002-04:00

Pardon the slightly lackluster titling and wording here. It's been a long ~~week~~ ~~month~~ ~~summer~~.

Got some alpaca, some BFL, and some superwash Merino in the shop this week. Very pleased with these! The "Fluorite" BFL was very difficult not to squirrel away for me. :)

I've brought back the original "Opal" (on white) for the first time in ages!

And I've been doing some color experimenting lately:

Some of these colors I come up with are one-shots, others may return in limited-edition form (well, all of my stuff is limited-edition by definition, but some colors show up more regularly than others!), and some will be exclusive to my upcoming fiber and yarn clubs for 2009. Watch this blog for more info!

In less colorful, but just as hotly-anticipated news, the giant shipment of yarn and fiber from Ashland Bay has arrived:

I anticipate a weekend full of reskeining and dyeing!

Big News!

2009-08-07T10:56:00.005-04:00

Wow! I've been so busy with the nuts and bolts of business that I haven't updated here in a bit. Well, the biz is steadily growing, and part of that should be a refreshed biz blog full of interesting content. And if anyone's got ideas for that, please let me know, because I'm too tired to think. *grin*

So the big news is that I just placed my first order with Ashland Bay! I will still be carrying the same great yarns and fibers I already work with, but purchasing from Ashland Bay will permit me even greater variety in what I can offer. The first shipment will include some beautiful blends, superwash Blue-Faced Leicester spinning fiber, BFL worsted weight yarn (so springy and soft!), and a new superwash/nylon sock yarn for folks who like a thinner, harder-wearing yarn. This is just a hint of what's to come. Very exciting!

So last week's update contained some beautiful, versatile yarns and some "prototype" spinning fibers. The fiber in question was a natural-brown superwash Merino/alpaca blend, dyed with Laughing Rat Studio's signature colors. These sold out really quickly! I liked the results too, and decided to try the experiment again with moorit Shetland instead. It's on the way as we speak, so it won't be long before I'm dyeing up more of these. Here's an example of the first batch:

There was superwash Merino sock yarn, and the lustrous, drapey superwash Merino/bamboo yarn as well. This stuff's incredible, and the colors turned out so rich this time.

More colors in the shop, of course!

-----------------------

In other news, I'm a little disappointed with myself: I started this entry last week, the day I actually uploaded the above items! Now what's the point of a business blog that isn't updated regularly, I ask you? So I'd like to think really hard about what I want this blog to be for, and how I can make it actually useful to people. We all have so many things competing for our time, fiber people as much as anyone: Yahoo groups, Ravelry, independent blogs, business after business, and of course the crafting itself--not to mention our jobs, families, and the necessities of daily life. What would make this blog a place people look forward to visiting?

Belated update notice

2009-07-11T03:06:00.004-04:00

Oh my, this day went fast.

Well first, let me tell you about the new wool/mohair top I got from Louet. This stuff is fabulous. They don't specify what kind of wool, but it's a soft, fine wool. The mohair is only 12% of the mix, but it makes itself known by its silky texture and shine. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous blend.

I have a limited (like half a pound more) quantity on hand, but will plan on carrying this on an ongoing basis. It's great stuff.

Then there's the sock yarn:

And the lace yarn:

And the handspun:

Some of them have already been snapped up, but there are, as always, these items plus a fine assortment of other yarns and fibers over at the shop.

Independence Day Sale

2009-07-03T00:03:00.000-04:00

Friday, July 3rd through Sunday, July 5th: it's the Laughing Rat Studio Independence Day sale! All items in the shop 20% off: spinning/felting fibers, drumcarded batts, and hand-dyed yarns of all sorts.

Have a great weekend!

New to the shop: Wensleydale!

2009-06-26T11:30:00.002-04:00

But first, Finn:

Now those last two, those were Wensleydale.

Handspun, too:

More handspun and more combed top in the shop!

Smuggery; update

2009-06-19T14:43:00.002-04:00

OK, I am super in love with this new colorway:

Named after a bird, of course.

There's other new sock yarns in the shop, too, including a very soft version of "Iris":

--and some Itty Bitty Rat Batts, too!

More of both, and more of more, over in the shop!

Have I got yarns for you

2009-06-05T19:08:00.003-04:00

No, really, I have yarns for you. Some superwash Merino/bamboo fingering weight, a couple skeins of that, and four of laceweight alpaca.

"Lola-Lola" is one of my favorite colors. It shouldn't work, but it does.

"Twilight," an olllld color of mine. There's so many colors I don't do anymore, and so many that sort of blended into other existing colors. "Pleiad" was really similar to what "Twilight" is now, for instance. And the differences between "Violets," "Crocus," and "Hyacinths" can be practically academic at times, although I still like producing each of those.

Bet you haven't seen "Peony" in a while, though. Yup. Although I did this up slightly less ridiculously intense this time.

More to see in the shop, of course!

------------------

As I ply a fairly plain-jane green Merino yarn (for me, not the shop), I'm listening to a lot of music. I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that klezmer is the best music in the known universe, and I'll go best two falls out of three with anyone who disagrees.

Naftule Brandwein, an old-skool player from way back in the day:

The Klezmer Conservatory Band, an amazing group who are still going strong today:

I am so dedicated to y'all

2009-06-05T10:28:00.002-04:00

How dedicated am I? Well after my delicious ten full hours of sleep, I awoke and immediately began reskeining two hanks of fingering weight that I knew would just be more gorgeous if folks could see how the colors mixed together. Immediately! Well, I might have stopped to put the oatmeal on the stove first, but I'm just sayin', y'all are the first thing I think of in the morning, and that should give you a warm, fuzzy feeling.

The other things I've been thinking of this week include, "Oh lord, how am I going to get through this day without snapping?" which explains why I am not at work today; if I have the temptation to choke people with my mind, it's time to schedule a day off work already. And that, in turn, explains how I got ten hours of sleep last night.

Something else I've been thinking of is:

Namely, "How can I afford this thing?" and "Where am I gonna put this?" and "Can I maybe give spinning lessons?" Obviously, I did not just get the wheel, but rather an entire, disassembled, gently-used Ashford Traditional. It's a gorgeous beast. I've got her almost completely put together, but need to put the drive band on and learn more about tensioning and adjusting Ashfords. They're not made anything like the Fricke, but putting the wheel together certainly helped me learn how it will work. Needless to say, the other thing on my mind this week was, "Where is my wheel?!" since it was being sent from New Zealand.

Update later. I'm gonna take a walk.

Look, a Treasury!

2009-06-01T21:00:00.001-04:00

Please, check it out! Treasuries are good for two days.

How did I, The Laughing Rat, get an actual Treasury, one of the most coveted things in the history of the world ever, right up there with gold, nutmeg, and a cure for impotence?* Through this frabjous countdown timer. Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about this kickass website.

So go and peek! It's all sky-themed!

*List of coveted things may vary depending on sex of reader.

New sock yarns!

2009-05-28T11:11:00.002-04:00

I updated a little early this week. Some of the colors are unusual for me...

Some not:

I spent most of yesterday afternoon baking a pie and skeining laceweight, so next week's upload is, by default, going to contain some laceweight. Someday I'll get automatic skeining machinery--someday...

New laceweight alpaca, more superwash top

2009-05-22T23:31:00.001-04:00

I kind of like the stuff I produced this week!

Head over to the shop to see the rest!

Hey, howsabout I update this thing occasionally

2009-05-20T10:32:00.002-04:00

Between telling Twitter, Ravelry, and every fiber group on Yahoo that I am having a sale this week, I forgot to mention here that, hey, I'm having a sale this week. It's one of my 20% off sales, and runs through Thursday. You know the score: purchase as usual, but wait to pay until I send you a revised invoice reflecting the sale price. Voila, discount! :)

New yarn is here!

2009-05-15T16:54:00.000-04:00

Laceweight alpaca and more of the drapey, soft, shimmery bamboo/superwash fingering weight yarn. I think I'll be busy re-skeining and dyeing this weekend!

More combed top, some yarn

2009-05-09T13:55:00.003-04:00

OK, I swear sock yarn is on the way. It's been ordered! As has been alpaca laceweight yarn and some more of that bamboo/superwash fingering weight stuff.

For now, top:

I feel like I had a little more fun than usual this time--or rather, I usually have fun, but I had different color fun this time. It was pretty enjoyable. The first pic is of a color called "Complementary," which I decided to create since I enjoyed the spinning batts I made with roughly the same colors:

Looks like I could tweak up the grey in the dye job, and use a more teal blue. But still, I liked that one.

Just a little bit of lace yarn, too:

Not much else happening--just waiting and waiting for my next yarn to get here. *taps foot impatiently* May hold off on uploads for a week and just concentrate on personal spinning and knitting, which I've finally started to pick up again, against all my expectations. It's a bit of a relief.

Whoa hey guys omg

2009-04-24T23:22:00.004-04:00

Wow, it's been a month since I posted. That's pretty sad.

It's been almost that long since I updated, too. I hear about people feeling dormant in Winter, but Spring is when I seem to hibernate. And Summer, and Autumn, and...well.

Falkland wool top this week--hopefully yarn soon. I'm getting some more sock yarn any day now, too.

Also, I cannot say enough good things about Etsyhacks. If you are a Firefox user, I recommend them. They're invaluable for folks like me who list many similar items.

*waves* Off to bed.

New yarns!

2009-03-28T11:20:00.001-04:00

A small sample of a small update. :) Visit the shop to see the rest!

At this very moment

2009-03-20T20:01:00.001-04:00

the sky is a particularly beautiful shade of blue.

That is all.

Some batts, some locks

2009-03-07T22:04:00.002-05:00

I feel a little pleased with myself over a couple of batts I've done up lately:

"Complementary"

"Black Opal"

I'm really loving the sharp, crisp diagonal I got on the last one.

Both are good old Corriedale, the latter with some alpaca thrown in. I've been dyeing up the last of the Border Leicester locks and the mohair, too--in fact, I think I need to get back to Brigitte at Wandering Ewe Farm about getting some more Border Leicester!

I'm still here!

2009-02-21T19:20:00.003-05:00

The last two months have been kicking my behind, to put it politely. I was going to be able to show off at least a couple new batts and some locks this week, but fell victim to The Creeping Plague and had to leave off doing pretty much everything but being sick.

So no new items this week, no new pictures. I'll leave you with the most emblematic thing I can think of at the moment, and then wrap this up.

Yup.

New yarns woohoo!

2009-02-07T12:31:00.002-05:00

WOOHOO!

Ahem. I have uploaded many fine worsted-weight yarns, some straight Merino wool, others Merino and alpaca, for your persual and enjoyment. I envisioned uses for these that involved striping and other multiple-yarn techniques; anyone who's seen the "Turn A Square" hat or the numerous striped or chevron scarves out there knows how striking the results can be when you stripe handpainted/semisolid yarns!

A few of the listings show two colorways together as a suggestion for how to pair colors, but I'm a big fan of "throw things together and see what happens!", so I am sure all the yarns could be mixed and matched pretty happily.

I also have some of the "licorice twist" worsted weight around this week--one in "Twilight," one in "The Navigator"--and that's a yarn that creates stunning effects on its own or mixed with other yarns.

About half the yarns are unique skeins (1 per colorway), and the others have two skeins in the colorway for folks who'd like to do a two-skein project.

I've been having fun with stripes in my own personal knitting, which is probably what drove this week's dye session. I hope you have fun, too!

Huh.

2009-01-30T19:49:00.002-05:00

I'll be darned, I mis-named this "Pacific" fiber and called it "Shoots." Serves me right for updating at 1 AM on a Monday.

And hey! I updated!

It is very important to have fiber every day, you know.

Green, leafy fiber!

YARN is on the way in the next update--look for worsted weight merino/alpaca, and...I haven't decided what else yet. I should think up a good pre-Spring sale, too!

Three Haiku

2009-01-10T12:28:00.002-05:00

1

Arriving early
like the tender crocus buds
my fancy new scale.

2

I missed UPS--
they would not leave my package--
where is my order?

3

Birds nestle sweetly
waiting out a sudden storm--
my scale, too, is safe.

---

I bet I missed Mr. UPS Man by like two minutes, and now my scale is in the apartment manager's office until Monday. Argh!

That last haiku gave me some problems.

Shipping News

2009-01-07T08:42:00.003-05:00

Batts are problematic to ship in that they are fluffy, voluminous, and fragile.

So far, my batts have been getting where they need to go in reasonably good shape, but I wince every time I compress them to make them fit in a mailer. After some hesitation, I've decided to use cardboard boxes for mailing the batts.

Shipping on the batts has increased correspondingly; cardboard is heavy. My goal is to get a steady supply of one size of box so that the shipping cost will be predictable every time. The trick is to balance what is cost effective for me versus what is cost effective for you, the customer. I suspect that I will eventually just go Priority Mail-only on these items, but I'd like to explore options that might cost less for customers first.

Thanks for your patience while I work out the details. As always, any shipping overage of $1.00 or more will be promptly refunded.

You gotta laugh

2009-01-05T09:45:00.004-05:00

I wanted to dye yarn, but I'm all out of yarn, so I thought I'd dye fiber. I tried to weigh out the fiber, but my scale died. Whoops. So I can't dye fiber. In the process of picking out fiber I found a cone of laceweight Zephyr, but of course can't divide it properly because I can't weigh it, so...

Salter scales are pretty ubiquitous around here in both high-end and discount stores. I've had two Salter scales, and both have died on me--the most recent within 6 months of purchase. I am feeling really done with Salter scales.

My solution was to purchase an actual postage scale from Amazon.com; this behemoth (relative to my earlier scales) sounds like it will do everything I need for it to do, and much better than the previous scales: it's more precise, more durable, larger, and has a warranty. I am wondering if it's too good to be true, because it was also on sale for $30. We shall see. In the meanwhile I am waiting, waiting, waiting for it to ship. It's a pity the scale chose to go, since I was going to use the money to buy new stock, but I can't dye new stock anyway until I get a scale, so...

I thought about carding batts, but how could I tell customers how much fiber was in the batts without a scale? Argh! So Laughing Rat Studio is on very temporary pause at the moment, at least as far as production is concerned. Phooey.

EDIT: And now, the scale supposedly won't ship until the 15th. Er...I'm pretty sure that's not what I was told when I placed the order!

I've got lots of pretty stuff already in the shop, though... *grin*

Are you updating the shop this week, Rat?

2008-12-29T20:52:00.003-05:00

Good lord, no. :-P In the immortal words of Madeline Kahn, "I'm TIRED!"

However, there is a nice thing I would like to direct your attention to, as long as the knitter in question doesn't mind: an entrelac scarf spun and knitted from some Falkland from the shop. Connie did a really awesome job on this and I feel kinda humbled seeing the finished product. Connie, you make me want to be a better ~~person~~ knitter. Wow!

It's that time again

2008-12-25T23:33:00.002-05:00

That's right! 20% off all in-stock items now through the 1st of January. Happy New Year!

Something nice

2008-12-22T11:03:00.001-05:00

You hear about authors and directors self-quoting; Chaplin re-used gags from his early shorts in his later features, and I just read a Raymond Chandler short-story that effectively functioned as a rough draft for The Big Sleep. I've never quoted myself before, though.

Recently the FiberSource Yahoo group popped a photo of my work on the group's front page. Any list member can submit photos to the front-page pool and the plan is to rotate our photos in and out of circulation. The picture is actually of two different colors of yarn, one a clear amber brown and the other a fairly electric version of "Aguirre," and the two together really blow my mind. That's probably why I photographed them together in the first place.

After seeing the picture for a couple days I thought, "Why not see if I can combine these colors in one skein?" So I did, and I liked the result, and I named it "Medea," which is also a kind of self-quoting since my primary e-mail address has included the name since I was in college. The name Medea has a root in common with Medusa: "med-," meaning "cunning."* I don't feel particularly cunning, but maybe that's why I adopted the name. Sometimes we imagine for ourselves what we admire.

Not that I admire Medea's child-murdering (which only happened once, I might point out, it's not like it was a habit or something), but other than that one can really empathize with the character. Euripides, for instance, wrote a famous play about her that showed her in a very sympathetic light, and I was really taken by the story when I had to read the play for a literature class. Old Mr. Euripides wrote a lot of sympathetic stories about women, actually, and that just Wasn't Done back in ancient Greece, where men were men and women and children were chattel...so another playwright, Aristophanes, wrote a scathing parody of Euripides called "The Poet and the Women."** Needless to say, this makes me like Euripides (and Medea) even more. And ironically enough, the parody includes self-quotation, too.

*The root "med-" seems to be related to rule, protection, or power, too. I don't know whether it's a different origin or a lot of meanings packed into one syllable.
**Strangely, the plot of the parody gets things somewhat backwards, claiming that women of the day were mad at Euripides for showing the suffering they went through and its eventual bad outcome. Heck, maybe that was so.

Who were those people?

2008-12-20T17:38:00.005-05:00

Many of you who were interested will probably know these, or have clicked through to the Flickr pages for the picture info by now, but the photographs in my previous post are:

Douglas Fairbanks Sr.

Peter Lorre from the film "M"

and Buster Keaton in a publicity still for "Sherlock, Jr.".

A delicate subject

2008-12-16T19:43:00.007-05:00

You are warned. This am srs post.

Mostly.

When a lot of different people play with the same colors in roughly the same medium, there are going to be a lot of recurring combinations, a lot of colorways that look like each other. This is, in my opinion, almost always a coincidence; if I get a funny twinge when I see something on Etsy that looks just like mine, I also feel deeply embarrassed when I've created a "new" color combination, only to see that someone else made it first (and probably better, too). I always feel a little guilty when the latter happens, even though I know darn well I had no idea about the other person's work before I threw green and purple into a pan and made "Violets" (or whatever). It's obvious that this sort of thing is totally innocent and bound to happen.

What gets me a little skeeved out is when for the third time in a year, a major "hand dyed" manufacturer has debuted a new colorway that is almost entirely like one of mine in its hues and intensities. [EDIT: To clarify this: not three different manufacturers, but yes, the same manufacturer three times.] One might argue with some conviction that large companies don't need to steal from independent artisans, but in fact, large companies do this all the time. They do it, and get away with it, precisely because public opinion in these matters is strangely against the indie artist, and because it is incredibly difficult to prove that the similarities aren't just a coincidence. I know, for instance, that if I were to call the company out by name, I'd probably be reviled from one end of the knitting 'net to the other, and I can't afford that kind of publicity. Heck, I fear that I will be considered bad-mannered simply for writing a post about the experience in very general, vague terms. God help me if I named names!

Needless to say, I don't like this. Folks say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but that rings kinda hollow when someone's waxin' fat off your innovations, such as they are. If that's even what's happening--and there's the rub: there's no way to prove it's happening without recourse to, say, expensive attorneys and court orders and a whole lot of things that indie crafters can't afford, which is precisely why these companies trawl Etsy for ideas with impunity. Remember that gal who made the chunky cabled bags? She was making a good living off 'em, too, working hard and getting paid for her work, the American Way you know, until some fashion company spotted her bags in a magazine and hired some starving kids in Malaysia or somewhere to make 'em for 25 cents a day. The knockoffs, of course, were sold for something like $80 and made the company a massive profit, and let's not even talk about the knockoffs of the knockoffs.

Small crafters can't go around at each others' throats looking for who did what similar to whom. That's not what I mean. I acknowledged above that there's always going to be similar work among people in the same medium, and we've all had that experience where we realize our brand new colorway looks like someone else's (or vice-versa). It's unavoidable. But...three? In a year? From the same people? Aw, come on now.

So, thanks for reading, if you got this far. It felt good to get this off my chest. I hate coming off as self-important or with an inflated view of my work, and I'm sure to some people I seem so after this post, but I can only take "coincidence" so far before it starts seeming a little unlikely. I hope the ironic use of my macros--their source photos themselves borrowed, albeit not for personal gain--has lightened an otherwise grumpy and altogether-too-leaden post.

At the last second

2008-12-14T13:56:00.003-05:00

Once again I'm updating the blog well past when I should do so, showing off what I added to the shop near the end of last week.

Wool top: five colors, soft, fluffy, easy to spin, great for a fast project or an encouragement gift for a new spinner. Great for needlefelting, too. It's a non-breed-specific fiber that I get in gigantic, fluffy bags once or twice a year. It's always hard to resist picking up the bag and squishing it and carrying it around like a security woobie.

Ahem.

O hai, there's more fiber. Fiber is nice.

Anyway, if you too are a last-second kind of person, I just want to let you know that I totally support you in that. That is why I am happy to offer Express shipping on any order. Now, this Express shipping costs extra, because the post office charges more for it than my usual First Class shipping (imagine that!). But if you drop me a convo, I can give you a shipping cost estimate and stuff like that. If you have not yet purchased an awesome holiday gift for the fiber person in your life, some Laughing Rat Studio yarn or fiber will go a long way towards impressing them with how much you care. You can say to the recipient, "This yarn/fiber/whatever was meticulously hand-dyed/drumcarded by an independent female artisan/crazy woman in her very own studio/cramped apartment dwelling, then dried on a real wooden drying rack/rickety old sweater dryer and lovingly/hastily photographed and meticulously packaged, then driven to the post office with great care/extreme trepidation and sent off to you in a blissful haze of peace and goodwill/while the artist was flailing at the other frenzied post office customers with a large stick and a barrage of blue language." So, yeah. Nothing says "love" like fiber made by a crazy rat lady, basically.

Oh hai, there's gonna be a sale

2008-11-27T02:40:00.003-05:00

I keep forgetting to use this blog for its intended purpose, such as letting people know IN ADVANCE that there's going to be a sale on. Whoops.

So, yeah, there's going to be a sale, starting Friday the 28th and going through Sunday the 30th. It's 25% off everything in the shop! Not bad at all. I also uploaded a few more batts this week; they're super time-consuming to make, but once again I like the results:

I have trouble photographing items that are mostly in one end of the color spectrum--the white balance on my camera gets real weird with those sorts of things, and being pretty ignorant about cameras, I don't know how to change that. I think the white balance is adjustable, but how? It's not always something I can fix in the GIMP, either, since I'm also pretty ignorant about photo editing. I commented on this to a friend, and noted that whenever an item has two complementary colors, it photographs pretty well. She suggested that I put something complementary in the photos, then, to trick the camera into using proper color balance. OMG! So putting the tumbler in the photos is a variation on that idea; the tumbler itself has two complementary colors in it, and it did seem to "ground" the camera (not actually a technical term) and make it take a more true-color photo. Note how in the photo with the tumbler, the background is true white, but it's not in the other two pics. I'll be playing with this idea some more in the future.

Not dyeing, but carding

2008-11-25T08:13:00.002-05:00

I'm up in the air over which is the faster process. Batts are done in a shorter amount of time on the calendar (one-two days depending on how much else is going on at the time), but I have to be there with them the whole time, whereas with dyeing, the personal attention I give to the fiber comes and goes as needed.

The last few days have been a period of experimentation with the drum carder. How much fiber will that drum really hold? How thoroughly can I blend this stubborn mix of fibers? Do I really want it blended all the way into homogeneity? (No.) I've produced a few more layered batts and a few more ultra-blended batts, which take absolutely forever to do. The more lofty, slippery, or curly the fiber (mohair, alpaca, silk), the fluffier the resulting batt. The drum can hold 1 oz. of a 100% wool batt as long as it's laid on smoothly, but only a half ounce or so of a fluffy mixed batt.

The "Sunny Day" set above had to be done up as eight half-ounce batts, for instance. There was just no way around it. Any more than that and the fiber wanted to bunch up and wrap around the licker-in.

I've tried to make sure all batts will spin smoothly. I tend towards blending locks until they no longer have a distinct lock structure, for instance, although there are artists out there producing beautiful batts with visible locks and interesting discrete bits of fiber in them. We each have our own style.

I'll be photographing the other batts sometime today, probably; I may have time to make a few more before upload, or I may not. We'll see.

Online marketing tips

2008-11-17T10:00:00.002-05:00

Modish, a craft-oriented blog, has an ongoing series of posts about marketing for crafters on the internet. You can sign up to get the posts e-mailed to you at http://modish.typepad.com/modish/newsletter.html.

Super secret surprise sales!

2008-11-15T21:15:00.005-05:00

If you are interested in the above, consider joining the Laughing Rat Studio Yahoo group! Just this week, group members received 25% off during a spontaneous, group-only sale. Group message volume is very low and currently restricted to sale notices from yours truly only--although if enough people seem interested, I'd be happy to open it up to showing off your projects made from LRS yarns or fibers, or asking for help on said projects, or even discussing projects not actually made from stuff bought from Laughing Rat Studio, too. ;) You can join by going to the group's home page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laughingratstudio, or click the button on this blog's sidebar. Memberships (and messages) are moderated to avoid spam, too!

Some people have living rooms

2008-10-29T15:48:00.000-04:00

I have a dye studio:

Almost all the way unpacked. I guess the stuff I moved into my bedroom temporarily to make room while I unpacked sort of reverses all that good-lookin' progress, though.

It's true

2008-10-29T15:38:00.002-04:00

I have spun since the 15th, repeatedly, but the photographs were so poor, and my time so generally reduced, that I haven't had much to say about it here. The yarn is finished, though:

And I've moved on to another project, spinning up some hand-combed Border Leicester that's been sitting around. It wasn't without its problems, because I'm relatively new to combing and don't often work with long-stapled fibers, so what should be a smooth, worsted yarn has a halo from little flyaway hairs, and there's little slubs here and there where the fibers got disarranged. It's not bad, though; I'm plying it now, using a Mabel Ross method again, where the bobbins sit on the floor (or near it--I have them on top of something) and one plies only about 18" or so at a time. Once again, it's been less painful for me to work this way. Mimicking Mabel isn't such a bad idea after all.

Given that my lazy kate is just a board with some pegs in it, it needs to be tilted back a bit to really work when it's on the floor next to me. This makes me wonder about the possibility of getting one of those Ashford kates that seem designed for floor use; I don't know if a Fricke bobbin will fit on those or not. To the Internet, Boy Wonder! Away!

Custom Spin Journal, Day 3

2008-10-15T20:15:00.000-04:00

1:15 PM: Set up wheel, with some trepidation. Spinning has been hurting my back and shoulders, not to mention my hands. How does Mabel Ross manage it at her age? Spinning is a craft even the very old can do; if I am injuring myself at it, I'm doing something wrong.

1:20 PM: Set up wheel much as Ms. Ross seems to have done: chair squarely in front of the wheel, up close to it. How can I spin like this? Where will my arms go? My arms need to be pulling back, allowing me to spin longer and longer before I let it be pulled in to the bobbin...don't they? But isn't this what hurts so much?

1:25 PM: Decide to spin with hands and fiber in lap, feeding a bit of spun singles at a time to the bobbin. I do not like it one bit. My back and shoulders are pain free.

1:30 PM: Find myself having to completely reorient to the wheel, to the singles, to spinning. How I hold the yarn, how I examine it as I go, how I correct my mistakes, is all changed by the change in my position. Am still pain-free.

2:30 PM: Still pain-free. Still not liking the relative immobility of the new position. Not caring as much. Still bewildered by large changes in perception that arose from such a small alteration.

Custom Spin Journal, Day 2.5

2008-10-15T02:00:00.000-04:00

Sometime Late to Sometime Early Morning: watch most of a Mabel Ross video. Feel overwhelming urge to sit at her wise old feet and learn everything she is willing to teach. Consider that I must re-learn how to spin; problematic in the midst of a project.

Laughing Rat Studio

Hiatus

Sale!

Oh my goodness

Grandmas are Cool.

Sneaky

...and a sale!

Shop reopened!

Temporary shop closing

Finny

Don't call it a comeback

Sale!

Hey! A Raffle!

Celebration sale!

New fiber!

Autumn =/= Orange

Autumn trinkets...

Lots of luxurious fibers!

Murphy's Law

Week 4: catch-up

Itty-bitty September sale, Week 3

Laughing Rat: sluggard

The once and future yarns (and fibers)

New, upcoming, and an itty-bitty sale

"Thirty days hath September..."

Beauty and the Beast

Shiny, durable Lincoln

The strong, silent type

Masham? I hardly knew 'im!

Another little update

A little bit of fiber

You heard it here first

Oh, heckfire! (Or, There is a sale)

Going, going...

I am Merino, and I am sad.

The call is coming from inside the house

Portrait of the dyer as a young artist; or, Presence: a Manifesto

Yarn!

Shop update--advance notice!

Special Notice!

In-progress; links; vacation; upcoming

The "I Need a Vacation" Sale!

What's old is new

Shop update!

Hey, I've got this shop

Almost Spring!

Spring Sale

Out of Cheese Error

Shop update; how this crafter does business

Shop updates; vendors of note

December

Hats, scarves, cowls, mitts, legwarmers, more hats...

New Year's Sale!

2010 Fiber and Knitting Clubs

Sale!

Silk and Merino

Rich Colors

Fresh new yarns!

Fluff 'n Stuff

Time gets away from me

Crossing the palettes would be *bad*

"Holiday," my eye

New sock yarns!

New combed tops!

Big News!

Belated update notice

Independence Day Sale

New to the shop: Wensleydale!

Smuggery; update

Have I got yarns for you

I am so dedicated to y'all

Look, a Treasury!

New sock yarns!

New laceweight alpaca, more superwash top

Hey, howsabout I update this thing occasionally

New yarn is here!

More combed top, some yarn

Whoa hey guys omg

New yarns!

At this very moment

Crossing the palettes would be bad