Fiber Arts Friday 7/8/11

Greetings fellow fiber enthusiasts!  It's another Fiber Arts Friday.  Be sure to check out all the creative folks that participate in our little circus over on Andrea's blog.

It's been a crazy coupla days around here.  Work stuff is wacky.

I've gotten a bit of spinning done, participating in the Tour de Fleece and enjoying the beautiful things that others have been spinning.  I'm making steady progress on my Jacob batts

and hope to get some plying done this weekend.

I have a pretty stalk of flowers for you today

Oh, and my studio has been littered with dogs this week.  All trying to be as still as possible so as not to overheat.

Have a great weekend!  Thank you so much for visiting, be sure to leave a comment so I know you've been here.



I've Gone Batty

Happy Fiber Arts Friday to you all!  Are you looking forward to a fun holiday weekend?

These are a  few of the batts of Jacob I've picked and carded in the past couple of weeks.  I love the variation of color that you get from Jacob.  I'm not crazy about all the vm that's in it however.  I had to run this stuff through my friend Paula's picker twice before I carded it and still found a bunch of bits and pieces still hanging in there.  It's very pretty stuff though and I know  spinning it will be enjoyable.

I did some plying this week...

I had a dream last night that I was kidnapped by a woman in a black suv and forced to visit my favorite fiber/yarn dyer and buy some stuff...

oh wait, I guess I wasn't dreaming, LOL  Isn't this pretty?  The dark braid is called Eggplant (such a dark purple that in the crappy lamp light after dark I couldn't get a good picture of it).  The fiber is Aplaca/Merino/Tussah Silk, super soft and drapey...gonna spin this and make a scarf for my purple-loving Mom for Christmas.  The other braid is called Tangerine and is Blue Faced Leicester, not sure what that one will become.  I plan to get it spun up so I can have something to wear this Fall, when I can pretend it's called Pumpkin.  That single on the bobbin at the top of the pic is also some of Rita's fiber.  She rocks when it comes to awesome fiber and yarn.

I found time to squeeze in some knitting...

a square for a blanket we're making for a friend.  Aren't those little monkey stitch markers adorable?  My friend Emily made them.  I'll bet if you asked she'd sell you some too.

Phew, I'm tired out now.  Glad it's a long holiday weekend coming up...I need that extra day to catch my breath.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks so much for visiting.  Please let me know you've stopped in by leaving a comment.

You'll be in for a treat if you hop over to Andrea's blog and check out the other folks who participate in Fiber Arts Friday.

I survived!

B-93 Birthday Bash 19...I don't believe I'd want to see any more of these for awhile, LOL

tickets, tickets and more tickets

And I don't care to work in a beer tent again any time soon either.

It was a very busy, fiber-less weekend for me but on Tuesday I made up for it by driving 90 miles to pick up Milli.

Then 90 miles back home.  She traveled all the way from Tampa, FL and even though my Dad said he had to strap her on the roof of his van, wink, wink, I found no bugs on her, LOL  She hung out at Dad's for a couple weeks before I could take her on the last leg of her journey.  She's now resting comfortably in my studio, getting to know Viv and The LadyBug...and the rest of the family.  She's in excellent condition and spins very nicely.

On my way to Benton Harbor to get Milli I may have stopped at an art gallery and a yarn shop...and made a couple of small purchases.

I'm planning on knitting and felting a bag to hang on my spinning wheel with the Noro Silk Garden Lite.  The sock yarn was so very soft that I couldn't leave it behind.  There's a video at the link that shows how to get the yarn off the "flying saucer".

Last Friday LittleDog did a great job of helping me skirt and pick a Jacob fleece that Blackie so kindly grew this past year.

Blackie lives at Hillside Jacobs.  It's nice and greasy and had a very nice "oyster" that showed no sign of vm at all.  I saved that part for last as I want to get the super-veggie stuff taken care of first and enjoy the ease of cleaning the nice bit.  The super dirty stuff has been soaking in my basement for several days and I'll be glad to get it cleaned up...ooo, stinky!  I do not recommend soaking really dirty fleece in your basement for 6 days...almost made me barf!

Well, that's about it for this week.  I won't go into all the miles I drove  in 4 days (about 400) or that I've finished the baby quilt and will be passing it on to it's new owner tomorrow.  Nor will I bore you with tales of the GR Yarnies get together.  Seems like I'm cramming so much into life these days that there's not enough room here to tell it all.  Suffice it to say, it's been a busy week.

Hope you all have had a busy week too.  We all need those to remind us how great the slow ones can be.  Happy Fiber Arts Friday everybody.  Hope over to Andrea's blog and say hello to a few other fibery peeps today too.  Thanks

FAF 06 17 11

Hello!  Thanks for visiting.  Don't forget to visit the other creative folks that participate in Fiber Arts Friday over on Andrea's blog.

It's been a pretty hectic week and it's going to roll right on into a working weekend.  I'm really looking forward to Monday and I don't feel that way very often.  I have managed to get half of the binding pinned down on the little quilt and will see how much of it I can get stitched down before bed time.

I posed my  Moebius on The Torso so you could get a better look at the stitches and the pretty color.

You can click on the pic to make it bigger if you'd like.
The LadyBug is officially mine...

and has received a thorough Little Dog inspection.  She spins so nicely.

 I've found the perfect mate for her too.

This chair belonged to my beloved Grama.  I remember it sitting in one of her spare bedrooms all through my childhood.  It's very comfy and the perfect height for spinning.  It has been sitting at one of my vintage machines for a couple of years now, unused as I was afraid it wouldn't hold up to daily use.  I should have given this chair more credit.  I could have been enjoying that comfy seat all this time.  Which is a good lesson...don't put off using things that you love.  Daily interaction with those things can give you such pleasure and why would you want to miss out on any of it?  Anything worth having is worth using...you cannot take it with you.  Seriously.

I wish you all a good weekend.  I'll be Buzzin with the Bee.  Yee-haw!

Fiber Arts Friday 6/10/11

In my garden...

I'd love some fiber in these colors for spinning some pretty yarn.  Someday I'll get the Cormo fleece combed out and spun and dye it these colors.

On my wheel...

and the wheel I'm (cough) test spinning...

this is Merino/Silk that I purchased at the Fiber Fiesta from Jill.  I see she has some very pretty fiber in her shop right now.

On my needles...

a Moebius, knit with some of my handspun yarn.  You might remember this yarn from a previous post. I got the pattern off Cat Bordhi's website. I've run across a few spots that still have pigs tails and there's nothing I can do about it as the tails are in one of the two plies.  Ah well, probably no one will notice them but me.  So what do you think so far?

Hope you've all had a week full of fibery fun.  As always you can visit other crafty folks by hopping over to Andrea's blog and checking out the Fiber Arts Friday post there.

Thanks so much for visiting.  It's always great to have you here.

Missing You

Dear Grama,

I really missed you yesterday.  You know I miss you everyday, but you were especially bright in my mind last night.  I was attending a meeting of the Woodland Weavers and Spinners with my friend Paula.  It was their last meeting of the year and they were having a potluck, in a church basement.  There were many nice ladies in attendance some my age and some yours.  A few of them brought pretty things for show n tell.  And the food was delicious.

There were many things about this meeting that made you a little brighter in my mind.  Then I sat down with a dessert of strawberries, whipped cream and Lady Fingers.  With the very first bite your little light grew to a Nova into my mind...that dessert tasted just like your strawberry shortcake.  No one could ever make it exactly like you did Gram.  Thank you for all the great food you fed me and all the crafts you taught me and the great example you showed me with your life.

I wanted you to know that even though you've been gone so many years, you're still with me every day.  Some days you're memory is like a candle light but sometimes like last night you're as bright as the sun. 

Thanks for loving me so much.

A spinning wheel dilemma

I made a giant batt of Jacob fleece last weekend with Paula's large drum carder.  It was quite the learning experience but we got it figured out and made this...(click on photos to biggie-size them)

We don't mess around!  That thing is 18" wide.  It'll take me a while to spin that up!

It was such a beautiful day on Memorial Day and Grama's Irises were in full bloom.

 

This week I'm taking what my daughter calls a "two footer" for a test drive.  LOL  Thanks Paula!  I love this LadyBug.

She makes pretty nice yarn.  This is that entire giant batt shown above.

I've heard a rumor that my Ashford Traditional is making it's way from Orlando to Benton Harbor.  Here's a picture of her hangin out at my Dad's home in sunny Florida.

I might have to make a hard decision about these wheels someday soon...in the meantime I'll be spinning fiber and hanging out with my GR Yarny peeps.  Fit some fiber arts into your life, you'll be glad you did.  Anybody want to buy some vintage sewing machines?  LOL

Don't forget to visit Andrea's blog and check out the very creative talents of Fiber Arts Friday.