KnitKnit 7 Issues Available

I have issues of KnitKnit 7 available for purchase. They are $4 each plus $2 shipping. Discount on shipping if ordering multiple issues. Please email me yarnpunk@hotmail.com and I'll either send you a paypal invoice or my mailing address for checks/money orders. Please specify your payment choice.

Coming Up for Air

Haven't really been slacking off- I swear! I'm just buried in paperwork at the moment. Attended a fabulous performance by the band Lunasa www.lunasa.ie here in Kodiak on March 21st. I'm amazed folks will travel so far off the beaten path to share with us their artistry and talents. Thank you Kodiak Arts Council for making it possible! Enjoyed a few pints at the local brewery after the show with fiddler Sean Smyth (founding memeber). What a great guy! Hope we cross paths again.

As far as creative works go, I've been spinning off and on- more scrap yarns with glow-in-the-dark thread to list on etsy and an art yarn I really love. It was inspired by a silky, asian floral print shirt I found at a tag sale. The fabric made it into the yarn as did some vintage bobbles and bakelite beads. The colors are mostly red & turquoise with black slubs and hints of white. I'll post photos as soon as I can.

My next project is a vintage sci-fi yarn with tons of add-ins. I'm hoping to get it spun up this weekend. I'm also working on a yarn for a fiber/magic yarn ball swap I'm partcipating in. Liz Mitchell is my swap partner (you can see two of her yarns on my blog: Sweet! & Tossed Salad) Having her for a partner means I can go totally over the edge. Since she loves marshmallow peeps- I'm spinning up an easter grass inspired yarn with felted peeps, and other candy effects for the magic yarn ball. I've got all kinds of treasures set aside ( and more on the way) to wind up in the yarn ball. I'm still trying to decide on colors to card up for the fiber portion of the swap...

Slante!

Happy St. Paddy's Day from Alaska'a Emerald Isle!

Sweet!

This delectable yarn was drop spindle spun by artist Liz Mitchell.

KnitKnit 7

KnitKnit 7 was launched yesterday at The Museum of Arts & Design in New York City. Got my copies in the mail the same day. Wow! Great Issue!! I'm thrilled to be a part of it and seriously wish I could have hopped a plane to N.Y. to attend the launch party. www.knitknit.net

Crikey, I won!!!!

I just got an email today from the editor of Yarn Magazine www.yarnmagazine.com.au trying to track down the winner of the Amazing Yarn competiton held at The Bothwell SpinIn in Tasmainia earlier this month. I had no idea that I had won until I went to their website to see if the competition results had been posted http://www.bothwellspinin.com Would you believe I've been so busy with stuff that I had forgotten all about the competition?!! I would like to know what the yarn auctioned for, as the proceeds were to benefit Steve Irwin's wildlife foundation. Wow...I'm thrilled! Amazing Yarn- how cool is that!?

String Theory- Very Curious!

Experimetnal spinning with yarn end-cuts from Curious Creek Fibers.

Mosh it Up!

This yarn has been hangin' around awhile waiting to be photographed. Its made up of plaid flannel spun around a core thread of vintage grey wool. Black eyelash and assembeld fabric skulls backed with woolfelt have been spun into the yarn.

Be Mine!

XOXOXOXOXOXO

95 yds of blended mohair/wool spun with snippets of novelty yarns, trims and assembled woolfelt hearts. Plied with shredded vintage lace and metallic pink thread.

www.yarnpunk.com

Crikey! Steve Irwin Tribute Yarn

Well, here it is... my tribute to Steve Irwin. Its on its way to the Bothwell SpinIn in Tasmania Australia to be auctioned. Proceeds will benefit Steve Irwin's Wildlife Foundation. It is composed of fabrics and trims spun around a core thread then plied with faux snakeskin and feathers. Pewter wildlife charms were incorporated along with wooden scrabble tiles. Find the charm of Austrailia hidden in the photos?

Spin Me a Treasure Yarn Received

Received my Spin Me a Treasure yarn swap yesterday. My swap partner was from Anchorage. She did a fabulous job combing my profile and went right for my weak spot- ravens! This yarn she said was inspired by the native folktale of Raven Steals the Sun. I'm still trying to decide what to work this skein into- there's over 200 yds to work with.

Spin Me a Treasure

Blended wool and angelina spun with novelty yarn snippets. Mohair locks are double plied with sulky holoshimmer and glass beads on uv color-change thread.

Bubble Love

Blended wool, alpaca & angelina spun with sparkly pompoms threaded on snippets of fuzzy eyelash yarn. Plied with white pompom thread.

Work in Progress...

Here is a peek at my Steve Irwin tribute yarn in the works and the embellishments I plan to work in. I took this photo at night with a flash, so its not a very good shot, but I think you get an idea...

Whoa Nelly!

I might be setting myself up for a major jinx here, but some of my yarns MAY be featured in Pluckyfluff's next book. So far the fantabulous Lexi has chosen three of my yarns for possible inclusion: Fire Bubble, Punked and Screamer. I can't wait to see what she knits with them!

Blog Slacker that I am...

I've been feeling extreamely overwhelmed lately. I decided to take an end of the year break and recover from the holiday insanity and get a little time for fiber play- however life at home has been way more demanding and is starting to make me very cranky. At this point I'm looking forward to getting back to work so that I can take a break. I've been struggling to squeeze in some creative work with very little success. I did manage to get a yarn submitted for KnitKnit 7, which has me thrilled beyond belief, but out of courtesy will wait until it is published before posting pictures to my blog.

Current project in the works: Steve Irwin tribute yarn. This is a project I have been wanting to do since hearing about his death. The yarn will be entered in the 2007 Bothwell SpinIn Amazing Yarn competion in Tasmania Austrialia. I think that this is the perfect place for this yarn to go- my original intentions were to auction it on ebay. They have agreed to auction it and donate the proceeds to his wildlife foundation. I've got most of the materials prepped and will start spinning it this week. Deadline to get it there is January 31st.

Seperate Ways

With all the changes happening at The Rookery, I felt it was time for the retail shop to have it's own blog space. The current mailing list on yahoo groups will be discontinued soon and all shop announcements and updates will be posted on our new blog site. This will allow for easier public access as well as photographs of all the fabulous stuff we stock in our shop- and with a website in the works, you will soon be able to shop with us online! Please visit us at: www.alaskafiberarts.blogspot.com

Update on Life

I was shocked to see that I hadn't posted here for nearly a month! I've been extreamly busy getting the fiber shop ready for the holidays. We hosted the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours last Friday. Chef Joel of Mill Bay Coffee & Pastries catered some delectable treats- I still have truffles in my freezer! Chris Lynch and Sally Troxell presented their works to the public at The Rookery on Saturday. Beautiful stuff! I had to snag one of Sally's felted purses...I'll see if Chris will get me some pic's to post- lots of art quilts, baskets, jewlery, felted bags, hats, scarves and wraps...great turn out!

Its been an intresting month down in the Harbor Building where The Rookery is located. Lots of new construction happening. Viva Mexcio Imports has moved across town and now Emerald Isle Framing has moved into the space. Liz Mitchell bought out Emerald Isle last year- she's planning to change the name and has started offering beads as well as local and original art. The Brewery, incase you haven't heard- can now sell pints thanks to fantabulous legislation that recently passed. I'm thinking that a knitting and beer tasting event needs to happen sometime this winter. Not sure what is going into the vacent space next to us that is being developed.

Seeing lots of new faces in the shop over the last week. I'm so thankful for word of mouth- thank you everyone who has spread the word! The shop has really grown alot this past month- lots of new stuff to inspire! New shipments are arriving every week- this is why I've been neglecting my blog and my spinning wheel. I'm starting to bring in more paper craft supplies and hope to get in some very artsy rubber stamps from the UK. I've stocked some fabulous altered journal kits, handmade papers, felt beads and other scrappy goodness.

Other good news- a website is finally in the works. I've found someone local to work on my site- so keep an eye out for alaskafiberarts.com -there will be an online shopping cart available! Next step is getting an internet connection up and running in the shop- why I have taken so long to get around this this I'll never know- but it will certainly make my life soooooo much easier not having to drag stuff back and forth between shop and home. It will mean earlier hours for the shop as well, as I currently spend my mornings conducting the business end of things at home before opening shop downtown.

Speaking of shop hours- I'm now open on Mondays! New Hours are Monday- Saturday 12-5:30