Spinlympics with Paradise Fibers

I've entered the 2019 Spinlympics with my favorite fiber store: Paradise Fibers.  I purchased the Springg Blossom mix of dyed merino fiber and carded and blended.  The first picture is what the fiber looked like when it arrived.  The second picture is what it looked like as of last night. The rest of the pictures are showing what I did yesterday.  The only thing I added was a bit of white firestar for some subtle sparkle.

More progress to come...

If you like the fiber, check out Paradisefibers.com

Cat Hat and more dyed wool

Being a spinner, I used to wonder what it would be like to make something using dog or cat fur but for a long time I had no source.  Last year, a friend of mine gave me a bag of her cat's fur--I believe it is a Maine Coon cat.  Anyhow, this Summer I finally got around to carding it with some wool and silk (there is probably about 20% cat fur in it??) and spun it up.  There were some obvious white sections of fur which I saved out so I ended up with a grey heathery color and white.  The carder I used wasn't "fine" so the bats were a little textured and then so was the yarn.  I knit up a hat and here it is:

There was a little extra grey yarn but I used all the white.  It was a worthwhile experiment, but I won't repeat it with cat.  My husband is very allergic and I had to do all the carding and spinning away from home.  I knit it while he was out of town and vacuumed my place on the couch afterward.  I have made a couple of things with my dog's fur, and I will continue to do that!  I got her last Fall.  Her name is Sadie and she's a retriever mix.  Check back a few posts to see a pic of her.  She's darn cute!

Not long before knitting up this hat, I did some more dye exploration and dyed up the rest of my Suffolk wool.  One color way is greens and yellow-greens, the other is greens and blue-greens.  I like the results.

I'm getting into this dyeing thing...I'm sure there will be more!

Practice Makes Perfect...

Practice makes perfect...right?

So, this Fall I sewed a practice shirt to test my pattern on some commercial fabric I had on hand.  Here it is...

I've got my hand woven fabric all marked but I'm not sure how I want to stay-stitch it before cutting.  I've put it aside for a while partly because I'm undecided about how to proceed, partly because this Fall we acquired a new family member through Coco's Heart Rescue.  Meet Sadie--a cuddly companion and home-grown fiber source.  :)

She's a Golden Retriever mix (St. Bernard?) and since this picture has filled out and fluffed out some more.  She's one year old now.  We're pretty smitten.  :)

Flash Back to Spring 2012

I can't reveal my latest project because it include belated Christmas presents that haven't been finished or presented yet.  Instead, I'll flash back to Spring of 2012...

Madeline,  lovely woman at the WGM had offered to be a mentor to me and teach me the ins and outs of weaving on a floor loom.  So, in a mad dash before my kids were done with school, I rented a loom at the guild for 2 weeks and under Madeline's generous tutelage created 3 woven items.  The first was a plain weave scarf with three colors of Harrisville wool that was kind of a large green and blue plaid.  (photo is a little wonky because I cropped it out of a photo of a group of items)

The second item I wove was a blue and yellow scarf with the same type of wool yarn using 4 shafts.  This one was featured in a HUGE picture on the outside of the guild this past Summer to inspire people to sign up for classes.  :)

My third and final project completed during those two weeks on the floor loom was woven on 8 shafts.  The warp is some of my hand spun (merino and silk--some of which was hand died and blended with commercially prepared fiber) and the weft was a commercial yarn that was some sort of wool/synthetic blend.  I played around a bit with my treadling on this last one.  :)

All in all I was very pleased with my work and very tired from late nights at the guild.  I'm so happy to have my very own floor loom now in my house.   :)

New Beginnings

It's time I started a blog to keep track of my fiber formations and other creative concepts.

I want to start by thanking Jesus for creating me in His image and giving me the appetite and ability for making things with my hands.  May all glory and honor be to Him.  

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship,created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  (Ephesians 2:8-10)