Fiber Arts Friday ~ Making progress

I've slowly been making progress on spinning my yarn for the Stripe Your Fancy Shawl.  Last weekend, I was invited to demonstrate spinning at 4 Musketeers Alpaca Farm during their Alpaca Farm Days event.

Oops...I spent all my time spinning....okay.... and talking, and didn't take even one photo.  What was I thinking?  I did manage to get one bobbin filled and about half of the companion bobbin.

You can't really tell from this photo but the bobbin I'm currently spinning has a lot of bling, bling in it.  Of course, it really doesn't help when I try to take pictures on overcast days like today.  My plan is to ply these two together on my new Lendrum.....I can hardly wait to try it out!

Alice also comes and spins with me at the 4 Musketeers.  She is a fabulous spinner.  She usually only spins for her enjoyment but for this event she brought both spun yarn and some finished goods to sell.    She spins very, very fine singles and then likes to ply 3..4..even 5 singles together.  Her yarns are clean, uniform and just plain awesome!  I fell in love with this one......

It's 793 yds....3 ply natural colors.... in fingering weight.  Yep...fingering weight.  I find this just unbelievable and could not leave without it being mine.  As a friend said when I shared this with her...just imagine how far this skein would reach if those 3 singles were placed end to end?....  unbelieveable!  I'm not sure what project I'll will be making with it...but for now I'm just enjoying looking and touching it.  Whatever it becomes......it will be a wonderful memory of a weekend spent with friends.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.....Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Fiber Arts Friday ~ A New Spinning Wheel

Yep,  I actually did it, I bought a second wheel!  New?....actually used....but that certainly doesn't make it any less exciting.

During the Tour de Fleece I really got excited about learning to spin art yarn.  I have an Ashford Traveller and felt that this wheel, with just a regular bobbin, might be a little limiting after seeing some of the awesome yarns on Ravelry and Etsy.  Off and on for the last few weeks, I've been debating whether to get a different wheel or buy a jumbo flier for my Traveller....checking out pricing...talking with friends about their wheels....wheel vs. flier..hmmmm?

As luck would have it, the decision was made for me when I received an email from a friend who asked if I knew of anyone who might be interested in her Lendrum.  She had purchased it used but found she just didn't use it as much as she thought she would.  After some conversation, I found she had all the accessories and even though she had bought it about 4 years ago she had hardly used it.

Well what's a girl to do?.....I just couldn't turn down this awesome deal.....right?  Tuesday I picked it up and now it's mine!  I was thankful for this awesome deal and she was happy to know her wheel was going to a good home.  Thank you Rita!!

Tonight I'm meeting with friends again for a night of spinning.  Now I'll have to decide which wheel to take.  I never thought this would happen to me!  I was sure when I bought my Traveller 7 years ago it would be the only wheel I'd ever own.  Laugh away.....I can just hear your laughter....at least I made it 7 years.


Here's some other things I've been working on this week....

                                                                                                                                                                      

Yesterday I cleaned and set up an area in my studio for taking photos. So I gave it a go....color vs naturals....how would my set up work?   I spent about 3 1/2 hours taking photo's.....editing...editing....did I mention editing?  I can't believe how much time I spent in the editing process!    I think my new set up is going to work out wonderfully and am hopefull I'll be able to cut down on the time involved with time and practice.

 

My beads have also been calling....I started working on a bead embroidered bracelet and thought I'd share my progress even though it's not really a fiber related project.  Well...that is a fiber based background I'm working on so maybe it counts?.....

and last but not least.....I've been working on getting my etsy shop open.  With some guidance and help from a little birdie, hmmmmm I wonder who that could be?  I'm happy to announce...my esty shop is now open!  Just a few items for now.....more to follow.

 

After this very busy week, I'm soooooo looking forward to relaxing  and spending the day reading about all your Fiber Arts adventures. 

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!....I hope every one has a wonderful weekend.

Fiber Arts Friday ~ Spinning project

Recently I talked with some ladies from a local spinning guild and was told they were doing a challenge called "spinning with a purpose".  They are all spinning up yarn for a knit a long they will be starting in January.  One of them had the newly published book knit, Swirls! and they were picking out which one of the patterns they wanted to make.  If you haven't had a chance to see this book, you need to check it out.   The photo's are stunning!

This conversation made me realize I had not spun for a very long time with a project in mind.  The last couple of years I've spun with the intent to sell the finished yarn and during the Tour de Fleece, I devoted my time to learning to spin art yarns. 

So this week I went through my patterns and found, Stripe Your Fancy by Alexandra Tinsley.  I love the look of this shawl and thought it would knit up well in hand spun.  In August, I purchased a Patrick Green Big Batt carder so I decided I might just as well mix up my own blend as well.

This batt is a mixture of suri, merino, silk and white angelina in colors of brown, beige, white, pink, purple, mauve and eggplant.  

Once I had this done, I decided to card a companion batt using more pink tones of fiber as well as lots angelina in pink, purple and dusty mauve for additional bling bling.

My plan is to spin the two into seperate singles and then ply them together.

I started spinning on Wednesday and tonight several of us are meeting for dinner and a night filled with laughter and spinning fun.

Thanks for stopping by......Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Fiber Arts Friday ~ Breaking my silence

I'm back after what seems to be months and months of missing out on Fiber Arts Friday.

I would like to say "Thank You" to everyone who stopped by my booth at Michgian Fiber Festival to chat and support me on my fiber journey.  Words cannot express my thanks to Linda and Kelly (Your Local Yarn Shop) for all their help.......I am so blessed to have so many amazing friends.  I know...sappy, sappy but sooooo true!

Then I was able to attend Stitches for the first time.  What an experience that was!!!!  I must admit it was a little overwhelming so my only purchase was 4 oz of roving and some fun little scissors from HiyaHiya called Puppy Snips.

Over Labor Day weekend we were off to Lama Fest at MSU for a weekend of camping and vending.  What a hot, hot weekend that turned out to be.  Jim and I had a good time getting caught up with friends we havn't seen since last years show.

So...I don't have to much to share in the way of fiber goodness.  I did spin during Lama Fest and managed to get two bobbins filled and plied after getting home.

This is a blend of Suri/Merino in natural colors of white and fawn.

KellyJ asked if I would make a sample of a pattern she designed for Kalamazoo Knits called The Anne Shoulder Wrap for a new photo shoot. For the bottom and shoulder shaping she had me use one strand of ShiBuiKnits 100% alpaca DK with a strand of Giada trends.  The Giada has lovely little sequins throughout which adds a nice sparkly touch.  The main part of the body was done using 2 strands of the ShiBui.  I just love the way it turned out and the orange color is stunning.

Oops, gotta go..my husbands new Kingquad was just delivered and he needs help geting it out of the crate.  He said "don' forget to bring your camera so you can take pictures for me"!.... so sweet.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!