The Blog

Last, I'll be republishing my sleek cabled fingerless mitts pattern. This one isn't for free, but I will be adding notes (and making a couple of typo fixes!) for using handspun yarn. I didn't realize this when I first made the mitts that they're actual quite handsome when worn by a guy. Mr. IT Guy wore them for the photo shoot, and he looks SO GQ. :D

Here's the pattern link: Download Yuna Shrug Pattern

P.S. I'm sorry I haven't posted much lately! I'm doing vlog videos instead, since I have the ability to really explain what I'm talking about..doing it here would mean writing a book every day. I just don't have that kind of time! There are mountains to climb and rivers to cross. Gotta get out and see Korea sometimes. And if you want to see pictures, they're usually posted up on FB in a timely manner. Be back soon!

If you decide to make any alterations to the pattern (which I encourage you to do!), please write down the notes and send them over to me. I want to make a companion pattern full of user submitted changes to make this pattern part of the Expertly Dyed community. All credit will be given back to the creator, and if you used a handspun or artisan dyed yarn, include that info too!

And as always, if you're having a problem and you can't figure it out, I'm always here to help. You can email me or post it on my FB wall. Share photos when you're finished too! I'd love to see them. :)

Well spoken, no? I was truly inspired to make it, so I hope you will be too. If you make the shawl, be sure to send me some photos. I'd love to make a shawl gallery for the website. :)

Here's the pattern link: Download Cora Shawl Pattern

His fleece was coated year round, so there was almost no vegetable matter. Also, her scouring process was very gentle on the wool. When I picked apart the fleece to prepare it for my carder, I still felt a teeny bit of lanolin (really, just enough for it to feel “conditioned” and not dirty or greasy). I managed to pull open several ounces of the locks in about an hour. That’s really the time consuming part about preparing a fleece. Since this guy was so clean to begin with, I flew through this stage. I’m a happy camper. :)

Now, for the spinning results. Here is a picture of the lock staple. I don’t own a ruler, so you’ll just have to estimate based on the size of the pen.

Sample number one. I picked open the locks and just started spinning them. What I got was a poofy, lightly spun bulky 2-ply yarn:

Sample number two. I flick opened the locks and combed them together to make sure I kept the fibers aligned. What I came up with was a truly worsted yarn. It’s a 2-ply fingering/sport weight yarn:

Sample number three. I also did a worsted preparation for this yarn too. It’s a 3-ply, Navajo-plied yarn. This one is a DK weight:

I really enjoyed playing with this fiber. It was very easy to work with, and the small bit of lanolin was enough to make the spinning process smooth and effortless.I think that if you want fiber for a special project, get a coated fleece if you can afford it (or if you can’t, find someone to help pitch in). I can’t stress enough how enjoyable this experience has been for me. I think Kathy has spoiled me rotten. :)

Pity the tussah. Also, pity the lost potential. I could have done a much better job presenting the materials in my pictures to make them mouth-watering, though a little fuzzy. I mean, I researched the photographs of other fiber artists, but I also had to balance what I wanted with what I was capable of doing. Which wasn't much.

I called out to my facebook friends to see if I could scam a better camera, and luckily, I was offered an excellent camera for sale instead. I bought a Canon Rebel for an embarrassingly cheap price (thank you amazon.com for your low-ball pricing schemes!), and thus began my entire photograph revamp. And only 2 months after I initially launched. I had just taken all of my pictures, and here I was doing it all over again. But, the results were much better:

Oh yes, I was an instant pro. My old digital camera had its battery compartment emptied and sealed in its eternal tomb after I had this photo session. What stunning photos I could take now! I was zooming in like crazy to get ultra detailed shots of the individual fibers. I was essentially taking glamour shots of my products, and they certainly played up the star role.

Even my yarn got to take center stage. Now I could be like everyone else I had admired up to this point. However, I still had one problem. Though I could take accurate and clear pictures, I still was unable to capture that Je ne sais quois. Did I get the French right? It's been a while. Here are some more attempts I made to photograph batts:

I went back and looked at what others were doing more recently with their batt photos. I realized that photography for batts had reached a new level of sophistication. And that also meant rolling up the batts in a different way. So, I headed back to the table with batt in hand and snapped some shots from a new perspective:

Ooo, nicely done! What gorgeous colors and textures, and even the rolling of the batt impacts the ultimate outcome of the picture too. I have triumphed--for now. My goals for the near future are to begin taking pictures of the batts in new ways and be a trendsetter rather than a season-late trend follower.

I'm trying to focus on one feature of the batt, as in this example where I zoom in on the pulled sari silk which is off-center. I like how the rest fizzles into a clump of sparkly orange without concrete definition. Whenever I sell the fiber, I'll surely post "normal" pictures, but for that eye-catching, wheel-whetting impact, I think I may be on to something. Time shall see.

You can also check out more pictures of these batts and other current projects on my Facebook page. If you want to see more of my daily vlog videos (and my videos of Korea--always a crowd pleaser), check out and subscribe to my channel.

It’s been tough trying to live up to my resolution to get out a new colorway a day. So far, it’s been more like 3 of 5 each week. I try to make up colorways on the weekends, but I also want to spend time exploring Korea. But, I think I’m getting there. Hurray for being ambitious.

Also, I’m getting back on the mini-fiber review blog train. My next post will talk about merino. Specifically, merino which hasn’t been commercially processed. I’ve worked with a ton of merino and a variety of fineness. Still, I think I’ve fallen in love with unprocessed merino wool. For those of you who are frequent blog readers, you’ll know that this is the fiber I used for my legwarmer(s). I wish I could post a sample of this merino for ya’ll to touch.

I’m also making some leg warmers. I bought an award-winning fleece for myself (a Christmas present, if you will), and I’ve decided to spend my hard-earned money on prime fleeces. Especially when I’m still in the phase of making wearable items. I’m not into weaving rugs/tapestries just yet. (Ask me in twenty years.) Picking and opening the locks for Orry has been a relaxing and simple task. He’s a merino who was coated all year long, and was heavily skirted to reveal a perfect fleece. Did I already mention it was a dream to pick open?

I picked a little over 4 ounces, then I combined it with a touch of brown merino, chocolate bamboo, honey tussah silk, and a super teeny pinch of angelina. I think I got around 150 yards of worsted-bulky yarn. Then I needed a pattern.

However, I wasn’t feeling any of the patterns for leg warmers online, so I just made up something. It’s a pretty easy pattern, and involves increases via needle changes. I didn’t have enough yarn to make two (I was guess that 150 yards wouldn’t be enough, and I was right), so I’m in the process of preparing more fiber to spin more yarn. However, here’s a picture of the unfinished legwarmer:

Normally I don’t name my own yarns, but this one I did. I call it “Winter Cabin.” I’m thinking that I might need to add some sort of tie at the top to keep them from falling down. We’ll see when I walk to work with them on.

I’ve never needed leg warmers since the age of eight, but I’ve found that without a car, my legs get cold as I walk from place to place in town. Since I wear business casual most of the time (that means wearing knee-length skirts in the winter), my legs notify me how bitter cold it is outside of my thrummed mittens--I’ll show ya’ll a picture of those when I wash them again (my hands are essentially encased in a dual layer of yarn and fiber). Lots of people in Korea will wear legwarmers and/or tights, so I find that I need to adopt their idea of staying warm.

So, when I’m done with this project, I’ll post some pictures and my project notes for everyone to use. I’m hoping to get these done before spring begins. :)

At Nambu Bus Terminal (the orange subway line), there is a craft/floral floor actually in the terminal. It was a Christmas jackpot! It was a long, skinny area, with tons of vendors and their wares. Most of the shops were so packed with stuff, I was afraid to walk around. My parents used to call me a "bull in a china cabinet," and I’m unfortunately still that clumsy. It’s like I have blinders on or something.

Anyway, I marched up and down the aisles, looking at stuff and checking prices. I basically dragged the hubby through each vendor’s stall twice--it took me so long to find a craft store, I didn't want to buy the first thing I saw that would be suitable, only to find something better a few stalls away. In the end, I found our Christmas 2012 ornament. It was a handmade glass ornament with glass decorations. Sounds like it’s lame, so here’s a picture:

I also bought some items to make a holiday craft--one of my favorite past times. When you’re in a country for a temporary stint, you don’t want to go overboard on stuff you’ll have to leave when you’re ready to go home. I budgeted 10,000 won for my project, and came in under budget. Here’s my cute, one-hour-long project:

The best part is, I can use it for all sorts of stuff after the holidays. How neat would it look holding all of my scrap fiber? Or odd balls of handspun yarn? Perhaps a plant? (I’m starting to become obsessed with terrariums.)

I haven’t decided when I should take down our holiday stuff. There’s not much to put away, and it doesn’t really bother me. (Let’s be honest, I love the winter holidays--I would only take this stuff down for the summer months if hubby didn’t complain!) One year, we were so busy after Christmas that our tree stayed up until Spring Break--in mid-March.

I’m feeling less mopey about "missing" the holidays now. We had a few skype calls with family, hubby and I opened presents together, we had some wine (a cheap-o pinot that turned out to be really good from the Emart in our basement), and a holiday-style brunch, which included eggs, maple bacon, bread, and coffee. It just didn't feel the same because we had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so the atmosphere didn't feel like a celebration.

So, what’s my New Year’s resolution? Well, my professional one for Expertly Dyed is to crank out new batts once a day and return to regular blogging (see, I’m making an effort!). My personal resolution is to tell people what’s on my mind before it accumulates and I explode. And now that I’ve put this resolution on the internet, I am forever reminded that I need to stick to this plan.

I’m thinking that I might post a Tuesday Seoul about the sights and sounds of my local area. There is a very different feel here than small towns of 10,000 people.

One last thing. Happy 4 year Anniversary to my incredible (and understanding) husband, Brandon.

Trying to find holiday decorations has proved rather difficult for me. Costco has trees, lights, garland swags, and ornaments. If you have a membership, you will find it easy to get a full-sized tree and decorate it like you want. However, since it’s unclear how long we will stay here (a minimum of one year, but we could potentially stay longer), I didn’t want to buy a huge tree and decorations, and then have to unload it to another foreigner before we have to scoot. Also, where can you store a six foot tree in an apartment that’s only 179 square feet? (Yeah, and there’s two people living in that apartment—thank goodness I love my husband!) I managed to find some modestly-sized decorations at Daiso, a Japanese company that also has stores in Korea. They’re kind of like a Dollar General store. I bought a small 1.5 foot tree, tiny red and green ornaments (yes, with glitter!), and a sting of thin garland. It took me five minutes to decorate, but already my holiday decoration bug has been sated..well, for now at least.

Because finding holiday stuff here has been difficult, I think it might be a fruitless search to find our yearly special ornament. Every year since 2007, we have bought an ornament that encapsulates the year. You know, something which had meaning, and would easily remind us of what happened that year. I’m thinking that we might have to settle for a homemade ornament this year, since I doubt we’ll be able to find a good ornament here that has Korea on it or something. Maybe I’ll make a needle-felted flag or something. Maybe I gave up too soon. You can always find exactly what you’re looking for if you look for it long enough. If anyone has an idea, please shoot it over my way.

Okay, so you can’t talk about the holidays without talking about snow. Korea is a peninsula, so the air here is a bit moister than in Illinois during the winter. I was super thrilled when the weather finally got cold enough to make snow and ice. However, I forgot that many of the walking surfaces here are made of granite instead of concrete. Let me rewind here. During the monsoon season in Korea (roughly July through mid-August), it rained a ton. Like, everyday it rained. And the humidity was through the roof. It was so humid I couldn’t keep bouncy curls because they were limp from the moisture. Also, wet granite is like a slip-n-slide. Add in the fact that I’m super clumsy, and you get disaster. I was an accident waiting to happen the moment I walked outside and it was raining. Okay, now snow and ice are worse than water. Granite + snow = I fall down. I was carefully walking up some snow-covered granite stairs (and there was no railing either) and then, boom! I trip and cover my face, hair, mittens, and stairs with a medium sized coffee (which costs a fortune). I got a big ol’ bruise on my knee and forearm—both bruises are still there, the one on my knee is still a lovely green and purple color—and someone asking me if I’m okay. Really? I just fell up some stairs and smeared coffee on myself..and my knee is killing me. Sigh. I’m just aggravated because granite looks lovely, but in a rainy country, it provides hazardous conditions.

Rant over. I just wanted to point out how silly I thought it was that there is granite all over the walking surfaces here. On to some business. I finally got that box of wool delivered (nope, didn’t make a video of the unveiling like I said I would), and I’ve already made about 7 repeatable batt colorways. I’m going to try and get them shipped to Darn Good Yarn before the end of the year. That’s a lot of optimistic thinking, but it’s good to be hopeful. Right? And because I know you’re dying to see some eye candy, here are some of the batts I’ve made so far:

The only real downside to the job is the fact that I don't get to teach anymore. I miss my students terribly, and I worked very hard to see them succeed. However, I know that the work I do now will see more students succeed than one person can do in the classroom.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to start posting regularly again, now that we've gotten through a few deadlines (and working a bit late). As always, if you have suggestions for posts, please let me know (jennifer[at]expertlydyed.com)

I'll have a new batch of batts heading to Darn Good Yarn in another few weeks. I'll be posting photos of it on my Facebook fanpage. I'll try to get some uploaded here too.

In regards to Tuesday Seoul, I have to give up on the crafting aspect of it since there isn't much fiber/yarn stuff to talk about in Korea. I basically need to import it all, since the sheep's wool they have here is sold to the commercial market. I'll put other things in its place, like Christmas in Korea (spoiler title for tomorrow's post!). Thanks for reading!