Fiber Arts Friday ~ Artistic Endeavors

The last couple of months I've been researching mixed media art and decided I'd start my "New Year" by giving it a try.  The first thing I learned is how hard it is to decide when the project is finished!  Right now I'm not sure any of them are finished but I'm having an awesome time and I'm sure they'll let me know when their done.

Using "used" dryer sheets, handmade papers and decoupage glue......two fabric pieces.  I'm calling them fabric because they turned out to be really flexible.  Just waiting for them to dry completely and then I think I'm going to try sewing on some embellishments...kind of like a crazy quilt.  Uses????  cover journals.....cut them up to use in other mixed media projects...who knows....right now it's just all about trying something new.

I bought some canvas.......YIKES.....big, white, blank.....scary!!! ....a sample box of Golden Acrylic Gel Mediums & Molding Pastes and dove in.  

 Now I've seen this picture....definitely not done.  Way to much white showing.....maybe some buttons....hmmmmm how can I add some fiber?  Love all the textures.

Next try...... 

Now I'm getting to the mixed media part.  Still needs something at the top right....maybe a clock? 

The wonder of mixed media (unlike my knitting) is if I can't figure out what to do next......just grab a fresh canvas and start a new piece!  Why can't I let myself have more then one knitting project at a time?  Who knows....maybe this artistic endeavor will help me to relax in my fiber arts.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!



Fiber Arts Friday ~ Painted Ladies

How many of you use those pure white styrofoam heads to either display or take pictures of your beautiful handmade products?  As my last post shows......I sure do.  The stark whiteness of these heads have been bothering me for quite a while........they actually kind of creep me out.  So I decided I would try to do something to make them more pleasing to the eye, at least to my eyes.  

My first head transformed into a art deco-ish, fantasy creation........

Then I wondered if they could be painted.  After a bit of research I found a product that seals the styrofoam so the paint will adhere to it.  I really like how this one worked out.  

I must admit, I love transforming these plain white forms into lovely, stylish ladies.  No more scary, crazy looking white heads for this girl.  I'm on a mission! 

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

I whipped up this pair for my granddaughter using 2 strands of worsted.

Fiber Arts Friday ~ Simple Things

With the craziness of the holidays upon us, I thought this would be a great time to knit up some simple things.

I completed the Drawbridge cowl.......

and then moved on to Bandwidth.  Both from Westknits Book 2. 








I was planning on using my handspun  to knit these projects but after uncovering all the yarn I had stashed around the house, I decided to just use what I had on hand.

With that in mind, I knit up this hat from Kalamazoo Knits called "Just for Him" by KellyJ.  This was a really quick, simple knit.

During the black Friday sale at Your Local Yarn shop several ladies were talking about  the Mukluk Slippers by Knitting Purl & Simple so I thought I'd give them a try. 

I made this pair on Tuesday with the help of my dad.

Dad has Alzheimer's   and during my visits he likes to sit right next to me and share a blanket. At the lower edge of the picture you can see he's holding my ball of yarn.                       Simple things......precious memories.                    

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!            

Fiber Arts Friday ~ Where did all this yarn come from?

I've been doing some organizing this week and was shocked at how much yarn I had stashed around the house.  A little bag here....a bag there......the next thing I knew there was enough to fill a large tote.  Shocking!!!  So I decided I'd better get my you know what in gear and get to knitting.

I don't know what designer you might turn to but for me it's Stephen West.  Out came my patterns and books and after a couple hours choosing colors from "the stash" my knitting began.

I decided to start with Spectra

and just a day later.....

the pattern is so simple....just short rows and an incredible easy pattern repeat.  Somehow watching those little wedges appear just seems to take the boredom out of knitting this scarf.

I started Drawbridge Wednesday night at Your Local Yarn Shop knit night.  Super, super simple pattern....I'm hoping to get this done by tonight.  When I bought Westknit Book 2 my plan was to use my handspun for the patterns but since I found all that yarn......hmmmmmm you know how that goes.

On the spinning front......I had a line up of bobbins from the last couple of weekends that needed to be plied.

At the bottom of this pic is the yarn I spun at the MIAF alpaca show, the middle is the last bobbin of  coil yarn I started at Ann Arbor Fiber Expo and the top is what I'm spinning for my Stripe Your Fancy shawl.

All in all a very productive week....now I need to get ready for a special day at YLYS for the "Opening day of Yarn Hunting Season".   Yep....yarn hunting season.  Since it's 11/11/11....everything is 11% off....buy 10 items and receive an 11th item free.....spend $111.00 and receive $11.00 in "Yarn Bucks" for future purchases....."hunt" for special featured yarns that will be hidden through out the store and last but not least.......you can have your picture taken with your "big catch" of the day. 

Sounds like the perfect way to spend the day......oh, no worries, I'll just keep up my montra........use up my stash, use up my stash....

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Fiber Arts Friday ~ Ta Da

I did it.....I did it....my first coil yarn!  I must admit it seems I got a little carried away on spinning my singles.  By the time I used up my batt and most of Wonder Whys batt, I had 2 1/2 bobbins filled.  So I plied......and plied.......and plied.... hoping to get it all on my jumbo bobbin.  Wrong!!!... I still have 1 full bobbin left.

The nice thing about having spun that much singles.....it helped me get a good rhythm going for making the coils.  The down side.....it took me 2 1/2 hours to do the plying.

 6.7 oz and 160 yds 

In these close up pics, you can see I have various sizes of coils.  Not actually the look I was wanting but now I have a better understanding of how I should spin my thick and thin singles.  Some were to small and some to large but I love how the two separate colored batts helped give extra pops of color to the finished yarn.

                           mostly my batt                                                                                Andrea's batt

I don't have the last bobbin plied yet because my husband volunteered our services for the MIAF Alpaca show last weekend held at the Delta Plex in Walker.   We worked in the South West Michigan Alpaca Association booth with Tim and Jane Talbot/Grand Alpaca Company talking about alpacas, our organization and spinning. 

Nope, this is not a pic of Tim and Jane.....it's my husband, Jim and Jane taken by Tim. Tim seems to be one of those behind the scenes people.  We didn't get 1 picture of him the entire weekend.

It was amazing how many people I spoke with about spinning over these two days.  You can see my coil spun yarn peeking out next to the pumpkin.  It turned out to be a favorite with the ladies....I could have sold it 20 times over before the weekend was out.  Just goes to show I might be headed in the right direction with the art yarn.

Since art yarn spinning takes my full concentration, I decided I'd better take something mindless so I could spin and talk at the same time.  I took a blend of Suri, Silk and Merino which I spun thin so I can have a fingering yarn when it's plied. I started with 3.5 oz and got it all spun but haven't decided if I'm going to ply it back on itself or with something else. I'll have to wait for inspiration to strike.

.

Beautiful Suri's from Wind Walker Ranch in Middleville

It seems I've been a little spinning crazy the last two weeks.  This last pic is of the new "kids" on the farm.......

Jim traded an alpaca fiber boy for these two pygora boys.  Oh boy, oh boy...... new fiber to learn about!

 Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Fiber Arts Friday ~ Coils

Well at least I'm attempting coils....only time will tell.  I've been devouring my Intertwined book and decided I'd have a go at coils.

Since I was helping Miss Wonder Why Gal at the Fiber Expo last weekend, I thought this would be a good time to try this technique.  I took a couple of my hand carded batts using suri, merino, silk and angelina intending on mixing them together.......

but when we were setting up the booth out came this wonderful Halloween batt that Andrea had created.

How fast can you say SWAP?.......I couldn't say it fast enough!   Andrea's batt is a blend of alpaca, merino, bamboo, silk, nylon and glitz.

Hmmmm....don't they look like their getting cozy?

So off I started on my new technique......what a challenge this turned out to be.  The only way I could make the thick parts was to completely stop spinning, draft out a larger amount and then start spinning again.  But I figured whatever works, right?  Actually this gave me the perfect opportunity to explain to people that even if you've spun for a while....new techniques can still be a challenge.

A fellow spinner, who'd stopped to watch, told me it would be easier if I was spinning from top instead of batts.   Oops..already committed....



First bobbin complete



I was hoping to get both bobbins filled so I could try core plying them this week.  Didn't meet that goal...working shows can be sooooo exhausting.  But this is what I had spun by the end of the show.

I thought no problem...I can get that second bobbin filled in no time.  As luck would have it, while unloading the car, my drive band got stuck on my suitcase and snap went the band.  Of course I didn't have any bands on hand so there sits my almost filled second bobbin.  Hopefully, the new bands will arrive today so I can get this bobbin filled and move on to trying my hand at core spinning.  With luck I will have my yarn complete by next week so I can share.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!

Fiber Arts Friday ~ This and That

This is the best way I can describe my week.  I was determined to finish up some projects that somehow just kept being put on the bottom of my list.  So out came my UFO's.......

I started these Jammies by Chris de Longpre' KnittingAtKNoon back in April as a store sample for Your Local Yarn Shop.    I used Fixation yarn by Cascade.....love how the variegation worked out in the top.  Happy to have them finished!

The Key to Warmth was a project I started to use up some of my hand spun.  The darker color was one of my first carded batts from a couple years ago that I paired with a commercial yarn.  I've done several of the KellyJ patterns in her Key series because they work up quickly and are a great way to use up smaller amounts of hand spun.  Their a win, win situation.

My last two projects were not in my knitting basket but just as persistent in wanting my attention.  Neither one is finished but their moving along nicely now.

My first skein spun for my Stripe Your Fancy shawl.  Finally got my second bobbin filled on my Ashford and plied it (drum roll please) using my new Lendrum.  Love, love, love the Lendrum and it's jumbo flier.  The skein measured 290 yds....not one knot....yeah!  Now to finish the last of my  batt and then I'll need to start working on the accent yarns. 

and last but not least....... 

my bead embroidered bracelet.  I'm pretty sure all the accent areas are complete.  Now all I have to do is sew on the back ground beads and attach it to the cuff blank. 

I probably won't get much further on these last two project in the next week.  Our farm is taking part in an Arts and Eats Tour on October 15 and 16 from 10am - 5pm.  If your local, please stop by and meet our alpacas (and my husband's pet goats) and introduce yourself.  I'd love to meet you in person...bring along your wheel/knitting/felting and join in along with some of my friends who will be demonstrating through out the weekend. 

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!!