Fiber Addict

Art show in Tucson

2010-02-10T21:59:00.002-07:00

My parents and I did an art show last weekend in Tucson. We showed Dad's and Mom's paintings, their photos, Mom's jewelry and my quilts. We also had copies of Dad's book on Energy "Running on Empty" available for sale. I sat and spun almost all weekend and attracted quite a few onlookers. The display was beautiful thanks to Mom and Dad who did a wonderful job of setting it all up. I also had some of my yarns there and gave out a lot of cards. It was a successful show for us and we did what we set out to do, so that was great.

The Whisper Stripe Sweater

2010-01-04T22:41:00.003-07:00

This is my new sweater, that I'm going to make. You can find the pattern at http://www.interweavestore.com/Knitting/Patterns/Whisper-Stripe-Pullover.html?a=ke091230

I have 3 hanks of mohair done and will do another one just to be sure I have enough. I'd hate to run out because matching a color would not be possible. I started spinning some cashmere though for a change of pace. I have to put a lot more twist in the cashmere to hold it together because the fibers are very short, less than 2" long, closer to an inch really. If I don't twist it well, it just pulls back apart. So I will also ply the cashmere for strength and hope plying softens up the yarn enough that it will bloom a little bit. It is so very soft as roving. I just love feeling it slip through my fingers but it is challenging to spin. The silk will be tricky too because of the length of the fibers and the fact they tend to clump a bit from the roving. I will probably pre-draft both the cashmere and silk, and pull the rovings into thinner pieces to help make it easier to spin. That seems to help with the cashmere and I believe it will help with the silk too. I have spun it before.

I'm going to dye all the fibers the same color, they will just be more or less intense because of their fiber content and density. The mohair should be fairly see through and the cashmere and silk will not be. The silk will be shiny and the cashmere will be more satin finish. I can't think of the right word now. But I am still waiting to see what color will inspire me. I am leaning toward periwinkle, or a blue purple because that is my favorite color and looks great on me. It always brings out the color of my eyes. I love the color of the scarf I am making but would I be sick of it after knitting both pieces? Probably not. But the other sweater I made is a soft periwinkle and I do not want all my sweaters to be the same color. That would be unimaginative! So I wait to see what catches my eye after I get everything spun up and get out my dyes. Then we will see.

I can't wait!

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T00:54:00.002-07:00

I am spinning out the old year and in the new one. I am working on my next project. That is happiness for me. I am tired of people asking me if I made my sweater when I have to say no. So I found a new pattern I would like to make and I am spinning up the yarn for it. It is all luxury yarns with mohair, and silk and cashmere. So I am spinning up those fibers which I have in abundance, thanks to Kathy Withers. And I will be knitting a new sweater before you know it. I will have to get more dye though. I wonder what color to make it?

I also washed some icelandic fleece today. One less bag of the smelly stuff. It was looking bad and I was worried that it was molding or something. It washed up lovely, soft and mostly snowy white. So all is well and I just have to decide what to do with all that icelandic fleece. It's pretty nice but how much icelandic can you spin?

Time to go to bed and dream of my new sweater. Some of the yarn is already drying in the bathroom. I will make more tomorrow.

Experiment in color

2009-12-27T22:33:00.001-07:00

I decided to try a scarf with stripes of color with 3 strands of different yarn knitted together. It turned out rather well in my opinion. It will go to one of my son's girlfriend.

I am also still working on the lace scarf but running low on yarn so I'll have to wrap it up soon. It's not very long. I can block it a bit bigger though. It's very pretty.

Lace scarf

2009-12-09T22:47:00.002-07:00

This is a picture of the scarf I designed and am knitting from my own handspun cobweb yarn. It's one of my favorite colors and so soft. I started it on the long trek to Kansas.

It will look better after I block it. It is spun 2 ply from Border Leichester lambs wool and Angora blended together. I will just keep knitting until I run out of yarn. It will be a short scarf. But pretty and warm too.

I finished my sweater and will do pictures of that soon.

In kansas

2009-11-26T23:07:00.001-07:00

I am in Kansas this Thanksgiving for a family reunion. I taught my 7 year old cousin to spin. Plus we did some string games. I took a picture of her with her first Jacob's Ladder.

I also found another older cousin who was interested in spinning. She knits and was facinated by my spinning.

I also wrote a new lace scarf pattern that I am making now for a prototype. Family get-togethers have lots of down time so I've been creative.

Moving!

2009-11-16T09:42:00.003-07:00

I moved this weekend, 15 miles north to a smaller, less expensive house. The worst part was that I had to face my fiber addiction as I pulled boxes and bags of fiber out of cabinets and cubby holes to move them. I have a 10 x 12 room in my new house that is filled with 3 feet high boxes and bags with just a path to the window. How on earth will I ever manage to get all that unpacked and organized? Plus the garage will not fit a car just yet.

I felt like I was in the twilight zone with unending boxes to unpack and no matter how many I did, there was more to do. I do have one room kind of organized, but I will be working on this for weeks to come. So no more playing with fiber until I get it all organized! Or, maybe not too much playing with fiber. The good part is that you see all the stuff that you did not remember you had. :-) So it will be fun. Wish me luck!

Piles of Fiber!

2009-10-19T21:58:00.001-07:00

Here is Kathy digging through her piles of new fleeces. All of them were fabulous. The wool festival was a success even though the temp was 99 degrees. It was great and well attended.

Patagonia

2009-10-16T14:23:00.001-07:00

Saturday I went with Kathy to the Patagonia Fall Festival. They had many vendors there and lots of goodies to buy. I managed not to buy the place out but I saw a lot of wonderful artwork and stuff I'd love to have.

I was exhausted by the end of the day from doing spinning demos and talking to people. I'm not used to talking that much for that long. LOL. But it was fun. I think Kathy sold some things and I can't tell you how many people said they'd come to the wool festival next weekend. So it was a successful show. Beautiful weather too. And it was a lovely area.

Dyeing Weekend and more sunsets

2009-09-21T07:56:00.002-07:00

This is another sunset from Tucson. It was a wild one with brilliant colors and light. I find the colors that nature provides endlessly fascinating. I had a weekend of trying to emulate nature by dyeing some more of my white merino fiber. It was fun and I didn't always get the color I wanted, but I am getting closer all the time. It's an art, that's for sure.

Here are three of the last colors I did. I wanted more of a Burgundy on the nearest one, but it didn't get as dark as I hoped. I have lots of red and pink and may need to overdye. I am trying to do more fall colors but I love the jewel colors. I overdyed the green as I had a lighter green before and needed a darker one. So at least I did get the darker green I wanted. The periwinkle is my favorite color and I always can use it. It looks amazing mixed with many different things. I have not organized my rovings but will be doing so this week and hope to get some out on etsy. Plus I now have more colors to create roving with. It's an endless process. Thank goodness for Kathy and her new carder. I'd never get this much done 1 to 2 ounces at a time!

Sunset over Tucson

2009-09-12T19:06:00.001-07:00

I had a full day of carding fiber with Kathy today. I have way too much pink and purple and blue. But I am always inspired by the sky. So I now can spin a lot of sunset yarns. I will post pictures later of all my purple fiber combinations.

Socks!

2009-09-04T13:36:00.001-07:00

Sitting here, recovering from surgery has given me time to finish the purple socks I have been knitting. They are Merino and Silk. Very cushy and warm. Next is a crazy rainbow colored pair.

Green roving spun up

2009-08-25T22:26:00.001-07:00

This is the next color in the lot of rovings. I am deciding whether to ply it for socks or coil it. It is pretty so far.

Spinning the fiber

2009-08-23T21:36:00.004-07:00

Yep, my test with the iPhone app worked. I like it. It's nice to be able to post a bit here and there, and I will get the version with the pictures capability. Today, I finished spinning some of the dark roving and coiled it. Before and after pictures are below. It spins up nicely.

Test

2009-08-23T13:41:00.001-07:00

I have a new app on my iPhone to write blogs with. Way cool! We will see if it works and increase my blogging.

I took a break from spinning and went out to lunch. Wildflower Cafe in Goodyear. Went to the bookstore for inspiration but didn't find anything.

Carding Frenzy

2009-08-22T21:00:00.003-07:00

My good friend Kathy from Unique Designs By Kathy in Tucson got herself an amazing Pat Green carder. It is huge. It holds about 10 oz of wool at a time. So last weekend, I took all the wool I had dyed and trucked it down to Tucson. Then Kathy and I put together colors and she carded up a bunch of it for me on her fancy new carder. We did about 60 oz of wool. It works fabulously and everything comes off the carder so soft and pretty. It does a fabulous job. I am including a picture of my 60 oz of roving just waiting to be spun.

Everything turned out fabulous and the wool spins so easily now. It is so much cleaner and carded so well that it spins smoothly and creates beautiful yarn. I started with the black one in the middle. I think it's pretty dark but my expert Kathy tells me it will be fine coiled. So coil it I will and post it up for your approval. I am excited to be able to spin some of my own wool again. Doing an ounce or two at a time is so tedious. This carder is a dream come true.

I am also getting read to post my patterns online with Ravelry. I have a designer shop now and will be putting things up as I get them ready. I have 3 or 4 to start with and hope to have time to do more designing. It is time consuming but very rewarding. My name on Ravelry is FiberAddict2 and that's also my Etsy shop. Not that I have anything up there now, but maybe one of these days I'll get stuff posted. I should have a lot of time to spare after next Friday as I'll be convalescing for a few weeks. So I will be on my wheel if I feel up to it.

Sheep to Shawl

2009-07-08T20:54:00.005-07:00

Recently I finished a shawl made with handspun yarn that I washed, dyed, carded, spun and knit. Here are some pictures of it. I don't have any of it before washing, but believe me, it was dirty!

Here are the batts before spinning, after carding and below is the yarn on the wheel?

Below is the finished shawl, after blocking. I am still wondering whether to crochet and edging or not.

And below is a closeup of the detail of the shawl.

Artistic Adventures

2009-06-22T22:21:00.004-07:00

A few weeks ago, my parents and I went to the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix to see Chihuly, the blown glass exhibit. It was an interesting experience and quite colorful. It's always invigorating to see other people's work and how they interpret things. This sometimes imitation and sometimes enhancement of nature was interesting. I must admit I enjoyed the Butterfly exhibit as well. But the glass was stunning.

Unfortunately, Chihuly is over now, but it was fabulous and the Botanical Garden is worth seeing all by itself. It was fun to see how glass and color could merge with the natural beauty of the dessert.

Virtual Fibering

2009-04-06T23:01:00.002-07:00

Most of my work lately has been online. I've been creating a new webpage for IAGARB. They are having a membership drive and wanted their sign up sheet online. So I did some PHP scripting for them and made a map to show their districts, etc. It turned out pretty good. I also like the site as it has some fun information about Angora bunnies on it. So if you want, go check it out at www.iagarb.com

I've been reading Kathy's blog and she has babies galore! Her ewe Pearl had 4 lambs! Wow! I wouldn't want that task of feeding 4 at once. I'll bet her farm will be fun to visit with all those little ones running around. They are so cute and bounce around like crazy. Of course, it is tough raising goats and sheep and all the other things she has. It's not for sissies. But she loves it.

I am trying to clean up my spare rooms which I am using for projects. I have a wall of fiber, and a whole bunch of fabric too. I have been washing and carding shetland and merino wool in my spare time, which is not much. But I have a few batts done. I plan to spin some sock yarns.

New Hat

2009-02-15T16:40:00.004-07:00

I finally got my newest version of the Celtic Cable hat done. The top is a 6 pointed star that I drew myself. I went to a website that taught me how to draw celtic knots and designed it from there. I will be finalizing the pattern and then it will go on the web for sale. I really like it and am pleased with how it turned outl.

I need to post pictures of the fiber I got dyed. Maybe this week. I have been spinning the lovely fiber Leslie gave me.

Much to do, but I spend most of my time working and hanging out with my sweetheart Wayne. When I get to Kathy's for spin group I get some done so thank goodness for that.

Prayers for Kathy that she does not lose any of her momma's and babies. Birthing time is always hard I think.

My new studio

2009-01-19T22:16:00.002-07:00

I finally got around to fixing up my studio (spare bedroom) this weekend. Wayne put a ceiling fan in and I hung my quilt wall. I started unearthing all my bags of fiber and putting them into boxes. I can't believe I have so much! LOL I guess I am a fiber addict for sure. I bought a table to work on and I am continuing to move the fiber into the small bedroom for storage and the quilt supplies into the main room. I have been doing a little bit of carding of my colored fibers and I did get my new wool picker delivered a week ago. I like it OK although it's not as thorough as the Pat Green picker that Kathy has. It does a pretty decent job on some things but I have not tried everything in it yet. I need to do some more work with it and see how fast it processes things and what works best in it.

I am happy to be back working in my fiber and have been spinning some amazing fiber that Leslie sent me. It's 65% Angora, 10% silk, and 25% Fine Merino. It is so beautiful and only has some small noils that I have to pick out as I spin because the Angora was way longer than normal. But it's gorgeous and I should have enough for a shawl. I think I got 337 yards out of 1 ball and I have 4 of them. I spun it as a single and it should be great for a garter stitch shawl of some kind. I imagine I'll find a pattern or make one in the Orenburg style like I did before.

Well, it's bedtime. More and pictures soon.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-29T08:16:00.004-07:00

I know I have been negligent in writing lately. I have been working a lot up here in Phoenix AZ at my new job and when I'm not doing that, I'm hanging out with the new love of my life, Wayne. :-) I did make a new pair of my lacy half gloves to show in Kathy's store and I was told they were well received at the New York Sheep and Wool festival. Now I need to modify my hat pattern as I am told it is similar to someone else's. So I will change my design to keep it original and in the clear. I don't want to steal anyone else's ideas certainly.

My picture of the glove is on the IAGARB blog, hmm. I should link my blog to that one (note to self). It's where I get the yarn for most of my creations because my friend Leslie is the president of it and she always asks me for designs for her yarn. We will be putting up a link to sell some of the patterns on the IAGARB site soon so that will be cool. I have so much to do...

Well, off to work. But I shall try to make this more interesting. I did a ton of dyeing and washing yesterday. FINALLY! Some fiber work. I will post pictures soon. I dyed some skeins of wool I had spun as well as a bunch of my beautiful Merino lambswool. I owe a friend some wool to play with and I had to be sure I had some pretty colors to send her. So now I do. I ordered a small bench picker this morning. My darling Wayne had said he would make me one, but I don't think he will have time and his tools are in Alabama. So instead, I got a small portable one from Kaydessa at www.woolpickers.com I sure hope it works as well as it looks like it does. I don't have room for a big one anyway and would like the portability. Plus it's a much smaller investment. I made my own yarn winder yesterday and was quite pleased with myself. I will post pictures of all. Now I just need a new yarn swift because my old one won't stop collapsing down onto the table. Then I will have it all. BWAHHAHAHAHA Ooops, sorry. That just slipped out.

Lace Half Gloves

2008-10-19T20:47:00.003-07:00

I finally got the half gloves done for the New York Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend. It should be over by now and I haven't heard it they were well received or not. I hope they got there OK. I Fed Ex'd them at the last minute of course. I've been moving and unpacking in Phoenix and didn't have as much time to knit as I'd hoped. But I did get the two cowls and the gloves done. I'll do more later as I'm sure she'll do more shows and have more yarn to sell.

I'm very pleased with this pattern. I like it a lot, so we'll see if others do.

Short post, more later.

New Version of the lace Cowl

2008-10-01T21:44:00.003-07:00

OK, I have been goofing off, or rather working now. I started my new job in Phoenix last week. But I did manage to get the next version of the cowl done and I even have a test knitter trying it out. It's different than the other one. I will be offering both versions of the cowl. Here is me modeling it again.

And here is the back of it.
I'm happy with it. I'm finishing up a multi colored version of the first cowl. And I'm also working on a set of fingerless gloves. I need to hurry up because it is almost time for the NY Sheep and Wool festival. I don't want to let Leslie down.

I have so much to do and work is getting in the way. LOL But it's a cool job, so I should not complain. I have a house now too or will in a week or so. So things are good. I also started dating someone a few weeks ago and am completely smitten. He is the most amazing guy I've ever met and I feel so lucky to have him in my life. Fortunately he's not around all the time or I would never get anything done!

We went to Sedona a few weeks ago and it was so much fun. I will post pictures of that soon. Sorry to be so negligent! I need to go up on Ravelry too. I have totally not been there for months!

On the road

2008-08-04T04:12:00.003-07:00

I have finished my degree and decided to drive up to Chicago from Tucson. This is an 1800 mile trip. I made it in two days though with a lot of perseverance, audio books on the iPod and lots of friends to chat with on the way. It was still torture though for my hips. Now I have to pack up all the rest of my worldly belongings including a fair amount of fiber and bring it back. I'm starting to worry about managing a trailer, but I am pretty good at driving and have watched my dad maneuver trailers for years. So I hope I learned by osmosis or something. When I get back, we will literally be awash in fiber as I have accumulated a lot in the 7 months I've been in Tucson as well as all the stuff I had back here.

My friend is going to drive back with me for the sheer fun of it (he's more than slightly mascochistic) which means I will have time to KNIT! LOL So I am looking forward to the company as well as the additional time to work on things. I have an initial prototype of my next piece and am already redesigning it a bit. But I do have pictures, so I will put one up. It's made out of my friend Leslie's angora yarn and she will be selling it as a kit in October at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival.

I actually made this a bit longer and now Leslie has it. I am doing a second one that is not so large. it fits closer to the face which I think is good. She also wants me to make lace gloves and a scarf pattern. So I need to get busy. Plus she can sell the hats I make, so I need to make more. Busy busy busy. And I have to chart up a pattern for a headband or hat band in the Celtic knot variety. So guess what I will be doing for the next two months? It is fun being a designer though. I rather enjoy it. She gave me a bunch of colored fuzz and some felting needles. But first, I need to pack all my crap up here and maybe go through the boxes that Crystal packed for me. I hate to, but it is necessary so I can get out the things I need, and choose what to get rid of. (Sigh) But first I pack what is not packed and then go through what I can before we leave. I have 4 days for this activity. Wish me luck.