Spinster in the Spotlight

Started spinning again after what seems like months... I'm plying actually, and can tell its been months. Had my wheel spinning clockwise trying to figure out what the heck was going on with my yarn twisting all out of whack- why it wouldn't ply properly. If you're a spinner you'll know exactly why.

Check this out... I'm featured in this months Arts Council newsletter! Not sure if this will be readable on the blog, but thought I'd share. Recognize the pictures? I've only recently discovered photos can be copied from my blog, so I guess I need to let everyone know that all photos of artwork featured here are the sole property of the artist- thats me- and if you would like to use these photos elsewhere on the web, etc. please contact me. I'm pretty good about sharing... most of the time.

I have a mailing list in the works for The Rookery so I can update folks on the arrival of new products before they hit the shelves, featured works of local artists, upcoming classes and workshops as well as special offers and discounts for subscribers. As soon as I finish getting it organized I will post a link here on the blog.

Recent Works

Feeling a little burnt out after the art show and gearing up for the holidays, hence the lack of creative enthusiasim as of late. These peices were part of a show at The Fly-By which ran the month of November. The scarf was knit with the handspun yarn featured in my post Autumn Leaves. I combined it with Antonia from Skacel using a 60" circular needle size 11.

The felted peice, Fire Dance, was needle felted- incorporating tule, cotton string, novelty yarn, mohair locks, silk, wool and a bronze petroglyph button from Worldy Goods. The small felted vessel was created with similar materials and has a few buttons stitched into the sides: two silver fish, a large clam shell and a couple small nautilus shells. The photo does it zero justice. All three can be seen at The Rookery.

Current projects: several scarves on circulars, handspun on the bobbin waiting to be plied, quivit waiting to be picked and carded and spun (one bobbin down, one left to go) and another wall hanging in the works. I've been playing with the angelia fibers and am working with needlefelting, quilting and beading on this one- if I can find a way to work in knitting I will...

Fabulous Fibers

Here is a sampling of fibers I have lying around the shop: hand painted silk bricks from Curious Creek Fibers- a dream to spin! Hand carded batts, dyed mohair locks, color packs of wool with bits of novelty yarns and shredded mylar for needle felting or spinning projects... I also offer wool fleece, undyed silk,mohair and fine merino roving and roving from Harrisville and Ashford in a variety of colors.

Angelina!

If you haven't seen this book, you're really missing out. Very inspiring! I'm looking forward to playing with some of the ideas and techniques in this book and incorporating fusable fibers into my feltwork. Can't wait!

The Many Facets of Chris Continued...

Some of these photos are a little blurry- sorry! Hope you enjoyed viewing some of Chris Lynch's work. I hope to feature other local fiber artists here in the future. Great show Chris!

The Many Facets of Chris

Here is a sample of Chris Lynch's baskets and beadwork. I will be posting photos of her quilts and knitting. To be continued......

Featured Artists

I'm completely disgusted with my scanner right now. I wanted to upload a flyer and it wouldn't let me. Grrrrrrr... The idea of a blog entry without a picture is, well... annoying to say the least.

The Rookery is hosting "The Many Facets of Chris" featuring the works of local artist Chris Lynch. I know she reads my blog, so I'm going to embarass her right now by saying she's this amazing jack of all trades sort of person. She is an engineer working in a male dominated field, surrounded by construction work, heavy equiptment, grime, dirt, sweaty guys, etc.... so if you can imagine her in her work grubbies sitting in her pick-up truck knitting up an equisite shawl during her break, you'll understand why I think she's so cool.

Another announcement I'd like to make is that Worldly Goods Buttons has featured my work on their website. I was really thrilled to get their invitation. I love their buttons and use them in my feltwork. I also sell them in my shop.

http://www.worldlygoodsbuttons.com/artists_&_designers.htm

Well, I'll be taking pictures of Chris's work tomarrow and get them posted to the blog this weekend. She weaves baskets, quilts, knits, makes jewelry and paper art and is starting to explore needle felting.

Handwoven Baskets

I love these baskets! They are so beautiful and so well made. Some of the best made baskets I've ever come across for toting around projects or stashing yarn and wool. A new shipment arrived yesterday, so the store is now stocked for the holidays.

The "Shoppe" Sign

Finally getting around to posting a picture of my "shoppe" sign. I'll be posting photos of new products that come in as well over the next couple of weeks, so be sure to check back and see what's new at The Rookery.

Something Fishy

These two peices I had left over from the art show. There were two salmon originally, one with a teal border that sold before the show even opened. I decided not to sell this one, wanting to have a physical representation of my work to share with people. I had nothing this summer to show of my work when visitors stopped by and began inquiring about felting and my work in general. Big oversite on my part. I was glad the halibut didn't sell. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. I'm going to hang on to both while I create some new pieces.

Handspun Happiness

I've fallen in love with this yarn since I knit it up. It was fun to spin and looked nice in the skein (you can see it in my post Hot off the Bobbin) but knitted up....wow! It's sooooooooo long. Double wrapped around my neck it still hangs to my knees. I knit it on 60" circulars, size 17. Had it up for sale in the art show and was happily relieved that it didn't sell. I don't want to part with it now!

Off the Warp

These two bags came from a single weaving. The warp consisted of Harrisville's Highland Wool. The weft, a wonderful Japanese yarn called Diadrey. Diakeito is the name of the company. Their yarns are incredible. You can see them at www.dancingfibers.com.

Artful Yarns

The black and white handspun was created by Liz Mitchell using a drop spindle. "Jack's Back" was inspired by Tim Burton's film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Love the spiders and sequins! The pile of skeins were created by me using an Ashford Elizabeth with a jumbo flyer attatchment.

Artful Knits

Felted Bag and Norwegian Poppies sweater handknit by Karen Millstein.

More Featured Works

Batik Quilt (with petroglyphs) by Bonnie Dillard and Sally Troxell. Sally is responsible for all of the tedious little stitches on this project. I'm afraid the photo doesn't show the designs at all. They are quite intricate and very organic. This is a queen size quilt. "A River Runs Through" is also by Sally. Lots of beadwork done on this quilt- I really admire her work. The last quilt was created by Kristen Wertanen. "It's Eating Away at Her" is a tribute to her friend's personal battle with anorexia.

Featured Works Continued....

The small quilt,"Jigsaw", was created by Chrissy Johnsrud. Hand-dyed silk batik and mixed medium "Truly Happy" was created by Amy Barnes. Felt bowl, "Sea of Life" was created by Chris Lynch who will also be featured in a solo show at The Rookery in November.

Featured Works

Here are some of the works by local fiber artist Elizabeth Lehmer.

Art Show Aftermath

Whew! I survived hosting my first fiber art show... nothing fancy by all means, but the turn out was great! I sold several pieces- some of which I've posted on this list (check out the posts High Tide, Fiber Fishing and Felting Frenzy to see) so the work sessions until the wee hours of the morning actually paid off.

I'll be posting pictures of some of my current work that also hung in the show so bare with me, as I've lots of pictures of work by other artists I want to feature first. Enjoy!

Fiber Art Show

Finally got flyers up around town for the upcoming artshow. Ended up gathering leaves from my yard and photocopying them for the background and ripping out the text. Cheap, easy and hopefully eye-catching. Lots of other visual competition on those community bulletin boards!

Fiber Fishing

This is one of two whimsical renderings of flatfish. The second one is in the works and is slightly larger in size. Kodaik is mainly supported by the fishing industry and boasts one of the largest fishing ports in the United States, so fish are a big part of everyday life for most of us. This peice will hang in a fall fiber art show we are hosting at The Rookery at the end of the month. I'll be posting updates on the show as it draws nearer and hope to share some photos of the event.

Abstract Anenome

Well, here is the anenome inspired vessel I've been working on. The main body is constructed of wool with shredded mylar, snippets of handspun yarn and tule felted into it. I used mohair locks to simulate tentacles. There are several openings in this vessel that are hidden by the mohair locks. A large central opening, a deep, narrow pocket that runs completely around the inside egde and four corner pockets that are perfect for tucking knitting needles into. I've been thinking about tucking in a pair of hand-dyed needles and spinning up some funky complimentary yarn, winding it into a ball and tucking it into the middle with a small tail exposed. With the yarn hidden inside, you'd have to start knitting with the needles provided and slowly expose the surprise within. I think it would be hard not to peek at the ball of yarn hidden inside though. If you could restrain yourself, it really would be quite the knitting adventure.