Blank Slates

Don't you just love a blank slate?  One of the things I love most about my job is every day I start with a blank slate.  There is nothing better than taking raw fleece washing it, dying it, and spinning it. Each day brings new tactile experiences, new fibers, new colors. It excites me to no end when I am immersed in a day of dyeing yarns and fibers.  

Over the years, I have reflected on the colors I choose to dye, as well as how well colors turn out each day I dye.  When my mood is bright and cheery, the colors tend to reflect that as do dark and dreary, wild and funky, and dull and brain-dead.  The best colors come from bright, cheery, wild, and/or funky day. On the other types of days, well, let's just say it is a great thing I keep excellent notes on repeatable colors and color combos ;)

In all seriousness, in the past, I have held quite a few different types of jobs, some I enjoyed, some I hated, & a few I was indifferent to. Working with fiber is the first thing I have truly been passionate about and I hope it doesn't change anytime soon!

 

One of my blank slates. 

Buddy Sock Yarn in color 'Orchidea'. 

Picked cloud of mohair in the new colorway 'Poseidon'. 

The mohair being spun and finally plied. 

Artist Or Craftsman?

As a fiber person who sells handspun in addition to handdyed, I have quit using the term 'Art Yarn' and prefer the term 'Handspun'. It was not something I took lightly in making the conscious decision to quit using the term. Basically it was with quite a bit of soul searching that I came to the conclusion....  I don't want to be known as a fiber artist.  Because, I simply am not. 

What I am is a damn fine spinner and dyer with an excellent sense of color who can create a plethora of awesomely textured or sublimely smooth handspun yarns for my customers who make my pretties into gorgeous wearable/useable works of art. Seeing the beauty my customers make is why I do this!  It fills me with joy and pride in knowing my hands created something that enabled them to bring their beautiful ideas, garments, and creations to life!

I don't want to be an artist. I want to be and feel that I am a craftsman (or woman).  I work everyday to perfect my craft and share it with the world or at the very least those who can truly appreciate the work put into it. 

Yep. I'm definitely a Craftsman. 

The shop

As it is Valentines day this week, a treat was in order.  We had a great evening filled with laughter and red velvet hightop cupcakes with cream cheese icing centers....... YUM!

There is an awesome array of knitters, crocheters, spinners, and all around fabulous fiber folks who come to the knit night on Monday nights and knit day on Thursday days.  It makes every meeting that much more special!  

One of the more interesting facts about the Sit and Stitch groups currently running is that the majority of knitters who attend are not local.  It really warms the heart to know that something as simple as creating something with a bit of string can bring together so many.

With that said....... I LOVE what I do!  I love how it brings people together.  I love how we sometimes come to find how small our world really is.  I love when we have conversations at knit night about two people living in the same town in another state around the same time, but not meeting one another until they come to the little shop in Nicholasville.  I love how each of us are so different, but still the same!  I love my fiber peeps!  

If you are ever in my neck of the woods, aka Central Kentucky, please stop by the shop, A Tangled Yarn.  We would love to have you on Knit Night or Knit Day!

Fred is of great help assembling afghan squares.

He is also the Mack Daddy of fiber weights and is happy to help keep your fiber from floating away!

The beginning of the second 'Fish Hat

Don't forget to check out our fresh off the carder batts too!

GGAF

Have no idea how I totally forgot to post about GGAF last year!  For those who don't know, GGAF is the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival and it is absolutely AWESOMENESS!  2012 was no exception!  Met new fiber/yarn people, sold some yarns I miss, and managed to pack and load before the rain hit.  That in itself is a great hit in my book.

Have I every told you....  I love my yarns.  Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that my yarns are better than everyone else's yarn.  What I am saying is that a little bit of me goes into every yarn/fiber dyed and spun, so it is like saying goodbye to a little piece of myself every time I sell one.  That definitely is not a bad thing, especially when my fabulous customers show off the lovelies they made.  It makes my heart warm inside.

This is the long stretch on Johnson Beach and is also where we were married.

My booth behind the rainbow adorned 'Wool Girl'.

Finally had a chance to finish spinning some very lovely hand dyed teeswater locks!

Don't you just love this knit hat!  Traded with a friend, yarn for knitting me this lovely hat using my Glammy yarn.  I seriously think I got the better end of the deal.

Very appropriate colors set up in the booth as the festival was in Florida!

Loved the Teeswater spun locks so much that they had to be shown again:)

Met a few Floridian friend for Pho (pronounced foe).  LOVED the fish sauce too!!!

Another Florida friend gifted me eggs, delicious, home-raised EGGS!  The little yolks come from eggs called and I kid you not.... 'Farters', a very technical term for the very first egg a chicken ever lays...hehehe

Had to show off some spindle spun yarn at the Barnes & Noble Knit Night...  PS, it is every Monday night at the Barnes and Noble by the airport in Pensacola.  Fabulous group of knitters and I LOVE THEM DEARLY!!!

A sand dune shot, just because I could.

Did anyone ever tell you they grow cotton in Florida!?! Well they do and in Alabama too!  This field of cotton was near Floamaton.

And why is there a picture of a room here?  Well, as chance would have it, these were my lodgings for the return trip through Georgia.  It was a darling room and I was a terrible guest... I broke part of the coffee table... Sigh, when will I ever learn!

Taught classes in Georgia on Carding and Core Spinning underneath this gorgeous chandelier.  This is one of those lovely places that one wishes they never had to leave.  Oh, I was so depressed leaving Georgia to go home!

Wonder if this sweet little guy missed me.  Probably not for long...lol

Luckily the fall foliage in it's gloriously colorful autumn splendor will cheer even the glummest of outlooks.

Seriously, I drove through this on the interstate.  Gorgeous no?

SAFF

SAFF was awesome!  Made a ton of new fiber friends, hugs'n'kisses with old friends and sold a little fluff.  What more can a gal ask for?  The threat of Sandy scared a few folks off, but all in all, it was fabulous week end.

Shot out the window along i-75

Another pretty view along 

I always knot SAFF is just a wee bit further down the road when I see this view.

My LunabudKnits booth

My booth neighbors Renee & Esther lugging loot in my new sheep bags:)

My little friend spun some yarn with me most of the week end.

Linda got to hold the giant angora bun-bun.

Some of my hand dyed wool on the 'Wool Girl'.

What kept me busy during SAFF... Dizing roving like a mad woman!

Renee tail spinning.

The sweet and lovely Tunis sheep.

Carved pumpkins at Grove Park overlooking Asheville.  We dined on the patio and had a delicious meal with great friends:)

Southern Indiana FiberArts Festival SIFAF

It has come and gone, one of my favorite fall festivals of the year, Southern Indiana FiberArts Festival in Corydon, IN.  While, definitely not the largest festival I vend at, it is one of those charming festivals where you can talk to and get to know your customers as well as fellow vendors.

The town of Corydon is a charming little bedroom community and has a rich history as Indiana's first state capital.  Every year, I book a room at the Kintner House  which is within walking distance from the fair grounds.  Breakfast is served piping hot from the oven at specific times and all occupants sit at the huge dining room table.  Makes for great conversation where you meet many new people and share snippets of your life.

My booth set up this year for 2012

Dinner at 'The Real Enchilada #2'

On the drive to set up on Thursday.

Beautiful fall colors of Indiana in October

A stack of batts at the festival

My handspun yarns

This is my favorite batt from my mad carding sessions during the festival.

My huge score from Pam of Rooster Run Farm!

Felted Wool Pebbles Tutorial

These three little guys started it all.  After washing then reaching into the pockets of several pair of jeans on wash day and pulling out cute little felted grains, I thought, 'I so need to make more of these and totally on purpose and totally bigger!!'

So I have spent some time working them out and find that really anything goes when it comes to felting in the wash.  This is so simple and the end results are so fun that for a change..... I actually look forward to doing the wash.

Here is a simple pictorial on how to make felt balls in the wash.  My washer is set to run on a GENTLE cold cycle and I don't change to a warm or hot setting to get the little pebbles.  Of course, if you wanted to use a warm or hot setting to your wash, I bet they would felt faster.  Use your regular washing detergent and load  your machine as normal adding these little steps.....

Have a few little balls of wound roving or picked fluff ready.  One pair of jeans will do 2 pebbles.

As you put in your jeans in the wash, fill each front pocket with a tangerine or tennis ball size of fluff.  Make sure they are stuffed to the bottom of your pocket and if you have smaller pockets fold the jeans in half with the front, stuffed pockets on the inside.  Oh and do not use the little pocket on the front; for some reason fiber does not like to felt in there.

After a GENTLE cycle in the wash, you will have something similar to the ball of fluff above.  Notice that you can still see the seams where it was wrapped.  Do not worry and put your little compact ball back in the jeans pocket and toss your load of laundry in the dryer as normal.

When your jeans are dry, you will have a lovely round pebble!  Note, I have had a couple of pebbles come out of their pockets in the dryer, and the end result was the same.  A lovely felted pebble:)

From left to right or top to bottom:  Ball of fluff, out of the wash and completely felted.

The end result, fun little felted wool pebbles!  Notice the little purple tape yarn in one pebble!  It is a nylon yarn and the I had no idea it was in the pocket when it went through the wash.  Love that it is completely attached to the pebble!  Wool and angora goat locks felt great as well.  They felt slower than the other fibers so are a great way to add texture!