I discovered a new (to me) hand spinning technique. I planned to make a standard 2-ply yarn but then used a core thread to make it a supercoil. I made a “tutorial” (one picture, haha) to show how I hold my hands to make the technique work.

My left hand holds the core thread and I usually wrap it around my fist once for extra tension. My right hand holds both plies of handspun. I use a grip similar to a long-tail cast on: my pinkie and ring finger grasp both strands, and I use my thumb and index finger to keep them apart. The separation prevents them from twisting around each other so that each ply will wind into the coil smoothly. Then spin a few inches at a time, pausing to pull the core thread tight and scrunch the coils up toward the orifice.

Below are pictures of the two yarns I’ve made with this technique so far. On the left, the yarn was spun using the fractal spinning technique. (I used dyed top. The first half was spun in one big chunk with long color repeats. The second half was split into tiny lengthwise sections for short color repeats. I wound it into a center-pull ball and plied from both ends.) On the right, I combined two yarns from separate bobbins.

Gritty Knits bumper stickers are finally here! The funny part about calling them “bumper” stickers is that if they actually end up on a car bumper, you’ll need a telescope to see my logo. But that’s part of the plan. I figure their main purpose is to advertise your love for knitting, and the website part is more subliminal. I already put one on my laptop, one will go on the car when Adam get’s home, and I’m searching around the house for more things to put them on. Maybe I’ll stick one on the cat.

These are available in the shop with free shipping, I’ll be sending one to each of my fiber/yarn of the month club members, and they’ll be at my booths for DFW Fiber Fest and Yellow Rose Fiber Producers Fiesta.

Here’s more news you can use: many of the colors of Angelina that I thought were gone forever have come back in stock. They arrived a few weeks ago, but due to a “computer glitch” (shhh, that’s secret code for “I don’t know how to use my software properly”) they weren’t showing up in the store. I’ve fixed it, and they are now available.

These include the 6 blindingly-bright electric colors, turquoise, marcasite, onyx, lapis, and copper metallic.

I’ve been building up a private stash of Nomlets ever since I cast on for The Beekeeper’s Quilt a few months ago. I decided it’s time to share the love :)

Sign-ups are now open for the Nomlets-of-the-month club. You can choose to receive 3 or 6 minis each month. Some will be standard colors of Nom and others will be spontaneously dyed, limited edition colors. Nomlets are also this month’s sale item: 2 for the price of 1. Everyone who joins the club by March 1 will receive double skeins (6 or 12) in their first shipment! As with all my clubs, there’s no time commitment; cancel any time. You’re welcome to take advantage of this offer even if you have no intentions of staying in the club long-term.

I know there is some discussion in the hexipuffing community about the yardage required for making a puff, whether knitting or crocheting. In my experience, these 22 yards are enough for exactly 1.5 knitted puffs. The leftovers from 2 Nomlets are usually enough for me to stripe together to make a third puff. If you are a crocheter with concerns about running out of yarn, send your address to natasha@grittyknits.com and I’ll mail you a sample Nomlet for a test-puff.