Shawls, sweaters and fiber - oh my!

My recent spinning expedition includes purple. I'm not really surprised, since it is one of my favorite colors. I bought some corriedale wool combed top dyed by Laughing Rat Studios. I was a bit concerned about softness, so I added some naturally colored silver alpaca from Tempe Yarn & Fiber. So I spun two of the corriedale singles and spun a single of the alpaca to create a 3-ply.

Next, I spun up 100% alpaca hand dyed by Luna Bud Knits. This stuff spun up like butter. It's a little on the over-twisted side, but I think after washing the twist will relax and distribute itself.

It wasn't really my intention to spin two things that were so similar to one another. I'm thinking that I might end up knitting them together. I like them side by side.

Next, I spun up some fiber for the SAL/KAL (spin-along/knit-along) shawl at TYF. I spun some Pagewood Farms hand dyed BFL from TYF that my dear friend Sam gifted me. 8 oz. of pure YUMMY! I spun it as thin as I could and 2-plyed it based on Barbara's suggestion. Having never done lace before, it seemed like a good solution to maintain it's softness. Since she is the fiber goddess and all...

In addition to being the fiber goddess, Barbara created the pattern for the KAL. I cast on last Wednesday and I'm pretty consumed with it. I love knitting it up. Here's my shawl in progress:

It will have a square edge to it. The consensus is that bigger girls should not wear shawls with points directing viewers to look at one of their roundest parts. So, I thought I'd try the square version.

I'm also knitting up a February Lady sweater. Several of the girls at TYF are knitting one up and I decided to participate in the fun. I bought some Berroco Lustra specifically for a FLS last summer at Knitting in La Jolla. The store had yarn everywhere, but I got this and some sock yarn. Here's my progress so far:

I found some lovely glass buttons at TYF made locally by Greenbean Glass & Stone. I love these pretty butterfly buttons.

Last Friday, was my favorite day of the month! The Expressions In Spinning group at TYF got together. We were inspired by an animal. "Oyster" was chosen. I was inspired by the inside of the oyster shell. My oyster yarn consists of hand-dyed silk, hand-dyed milk fiber and natural black alpaca hand carded together. I then plied two singles with a metallic shiny thread. I think it's cool.

What does it mean?

What does it mean to be a fiber gal in Phoenix? I recently changed many of my screen names and started a blog using this moniker. I started to think about this and then it came to me! Inspired by the Expressions In Spinning group at Tempe Yarn & Fiber, I would create fibery things inspired by Phoenix, Arizona.

My first project came to me on a drive this morning. My plan is to spin some fiber; here is said fiber:

I was envisioning something silky, coppery, firey, etc. I purchased the above fiber from an Etsy Seller - The Roving Spinners. I plan on spinning the fiber on the thin side. Hoping to get bits of feather in the spinning.

Then, I will find a complimentary wool color and knit both up into two large squares. Felt them down to make a pillow case. On the top of the pillow case, I plan to needle felt a Phoenix.

I know this first project is quite literal. I don't plan on making my Phoenix projects so literal at all times.

Here are some things I've considered using for future inspiration:

The Viad Tower

Freeway signs on Piestewa Parkway

The Heard Museum

MacAlpines

Goddard for Governor (he was the Mayor afterall)

Herberger Theater

Phoenix Dactylifera (we've got them here, so why not?)

The list could just keep going! I am so excited!

I will keep you up-to-date on other fibery happenings (like my first sweater), but I am so excited about the endless inspiration here!