Fly Trippin' to MSW

Well, today is the day.... In 20 more minutes I'm heading off to the airport and flying outta here to PA to meet up with Natasha of Luxe Fiber. Check out her blog in my fiber blog links. We are going to road trip it to Sheep & Wool in Maryland on Friday. Look forward to meeting everyone! I'll try and check in when I can... Hugs!

Stuff

Got my copies of Knit Knit in the mail today. I'm trying really hard not to read them till I'm on the plane flying to MSW. I did flip through them to get a sneaky peek though- it was just way too tempting. Here's the scarf I knit up from my yarn I spun this past weekend that I'm sending off to The Renegade Craft Fair. Tomarrow morning my computer is heading to the shop- its acting funny and not letting me transfer files and stuff and I'm switching everything over (finally) to my new laptop. So if you don't hear from me for a few days...

Curious Creek Fibers

Check out the parcel that arrived today! The two silk bricks are headed to MSW for the spin-in saturday night- thanks Kristine! The purple brick is a new colorway that hasn't been released yet. Also check out the ribbon yarns. The photo does them very little justice- they simply shine in person. Gorgeous! And the wicked fiber pile? Pure heaven. I wanted to roll in it. These are end cuts from all of their yarns and colorways. Can't wait to start spinning these juicy little bits into my yarns. Kristine, you have me spoiled!!!!

Finally....

I got over my spinner's block at long last. Not sure what was up with that- though I'm starting to think I was just exhausted. I literally stayed in bed all day saturday and felt like sleeping. That night I perked up and got my yarn finished and another skein started and finshed the following day. Today I knit this yarn into a skinny scarf to send to Renegade. I love they way it looks knit up. Beautiful!

"High Tide 2"

Blended wool with angelina spun with novelty eyelash and fun fur yarns and elastic tule trim. Double plied with visocse, glass beads, mohair locks and sterling silver fish buttons. 101 yds.

"Ganja"

I couldn't resist...

Renegade Craft Fair

Ok, this is huge.... I've have been invited to sell my yarn at The Renegade Craft fair in Brooklyn. I'm still pinching myself and so wishing I could attend- and who knows- I still might try and swing it if I can talk my sister in to watching my kids for a few days in June.
Here's a link so you can check out all of the vendors. Amazing stuff! http://www.renegadecraft.com/brooklyn/index.php
I will be part of Handspun Collective, though I don't think I'm listed on their website yet, cause I was just invited. Check them out:http://www.handspuncollective.com/

???What's on my Bobbin???

This is the yarn that has been taunting me. I've taken it off the wheel and started spinning another yarn project. Crazy I know, cause it's almost finished! Its going to be gorgeous once it's plied... you think that alone would be motivation to work on it... something's seriously wrong with me. How can I not be "in the mood" to spin this yarn???? If you could only see what I'm spinning right now- it's kinda lame compared to this one, but I think it will make up for its lameness in shock value. I'll give you a hint/riddle- today's date: 4/20.

Yarn Art Cards

Here's a sneak peek at the art cards I'm working on. Still have some work to do on these before I'll consider them finished. I'll post more pic's of the finished goods.

Lame Excuses

I have totally sucked at keeping up my blog this week. It's not that I'm being lazy or anything, I've actually been busy doing stuff, but I have this yarn I've been working on that I just have not been able to spin this past week. It's one of those "I have to be in the right mood to spin it" kind of things. Frustrating- cause I keep looking at it sitting there on the bobbin, almost finished, and I just seem to have spinner's block. Grrrrr! It's taunting me.

I did get side-tracked on a total freak accident project though, so not all is lost. I've been making art cards using photos of my yarn. Haven't played with paints in a looooooong long time, so had heaps of fun painting, crackling, pasting bits of stuff, stitching, tossing glitter, etc. I don't have any entirely finished yet, I want to put felt on the backs to clean them up and make them a bit more sturdy. In the meantime I'm embellishing them with fibers and stuff. I'm already thinking of ways to weave fine wire around the edges with some glass beads. I'll try and get some sneak peek pic's today.

Egg Dye Experiments

Dyed easter eggs on Saturday- from our own chickens! All that left over dye begged for experimentation. Tried bits of some novelty yarns I had set aside just for this purpose. A little extra vinegar, color and some alum, simmer in a pot, and these are the results. Punk by Skacel did not take the color well, so the results are pastel. Posh on the other hand, also by Skacel, took the color fabulously. I'll be dying more of this yarn as I use quite alot of it in my spinning projects and their color pallette is very limited.

Maryland Sheep & Wool 2006!

I'm getting psyched about MSW. I was relieved to discover I'm not totally insane for flying across the continent to meet up with people I've never met before. There are others, so I'm not alone! Here are stories from other women who have made the freeform trek to MSW:

http://www.spunmag.com/article/050605msw

"Retro Radiation"

"Euphoria"

Blended wool and angelina spun with pompoms, slubby wool coils and snippets of novelty yarns. Double plied with yellow viscose and sequined black thread.

Braiding Batts

I've been carding up batts the past couple days down at the shop. Today I split them up into threes and braided them. There's been a discussion on the spin list how to present roving/batts for sale. Wound into balls, they start to fall apart when handled too often. Wrapping them like flowers was suggested and rather intresting, but several folks complained they wouldn't have the patience to unwind the intricate design. My solution- braids. Snip the ties at each end, unloose the braid and you have 6 fat rolags ready to spin.

To do this, I've layered two 1 oz batts, one on top the other, and split them into threes. Tie one end with a bit of yarn, braid as tighly or loosly as you like, then tie the other end. A card can be threaded on to the ties with all your info, or if you have a lable you can wrap it around the braid like you would on a skein of yarn. These pack and stack great and are not as apt to go tumbling on to the floor. This idea also works for commercial roving.

Stitch it Up!

Haven't made any new needles in awhile. Mostly cause its so darn tedious and I haven't had the time...but I've got a bunch of needles prepped and I'm psychin' myself up to drag out the dyes and get crackin again. These are what I currently have available.

Ravens on the Road

Not sure if you can see this, but here's what I woke up to this morning- a pair of ravens walking along the road, one leading the other. Notice the one following? He's hauling his wife's fiber stash!

New Threads!

Check out the new threads! I got unsolicted yarn samples in the mail awhile back and instantly fell in love with these. I couldn't wait to spin and ply with them. They are el cheapo at $7.49 a ball. I'll have them up on my website one of these days- whenever its finished. For now they are available in the shop- I do phone orders... (907) 486-0052. The colored ones with the tiny round sequins have the most yardage and the one with beads the least at 49 yds. I plan to cut up the one with beads and spin it into the yarn before plying. Yummy!

Bottom Shelf

The bottom two shelves of my fiber stash. Had a slow day at the shop so I went nuts with the drum carder. Weeeeeeeeeeee!

Velma's Fiber Love

Well Velma, here it is... your fiber love spun into yarn. Thanks again for the swap.