fibergarden

I finally posted a small Temptress Yarn update at Handmade, with a gorgeous self-striping yarn that I spun from babycakes batts I bought from loop (a dream to spin!), a simple singles in lavender and this festive pair of Vegan (no animal fibers) skeins, spun from a drumcarded batt of red and lavender flax, cotton, denim cotton, orange ingeo (from corn), and black and gold sparkle. I plied it with a synthetic textured thread from Habu, my favorite fiber store. Anyhow, here’s a sneak peek of the vegan yarn, “Salsa”:

And a finished object I almost let “get away” without a photo, duh. I did this once before, this Spring. I created a gorgeous felt/knit combo scarf incorporating yarn I purchased from the marvelous Jacey at Insubordiknit. I brought it to a show only days after I finished it, priced it high because I didn’t wish to part with it ‘…but for the right price…” and it sold. An hour or so later I was kicking myself because I have NO photos of the damned thing, aargh!!!!!! (”It took so long to bake it….and I’ll never have that recipe again…oh no!”)

Anyhow…long story longer….I almost let this one get away at the Shelter Island show, and was able to get the buyer to model it for me at the last minute. I didn’t get permission to show her on my blog, so I cut her head off, but at least I have a few pics. The details are not showing well, though. I hand “wove” this on a large bubble wrap, laying pieces of felting roving over and under, then wove in a black and turquoise handspun of mine called “night sky”. After felting, I added ceramic beads on the fringe, and sewed on hundreds of little seed beads here and there in blues and blacks and irridescent hues. I was really happy with this piece. It sold before it got a name:

All my handspun is on sale over at the shop–Handmade. $5 off any skein until Labor Day. Say that you found it at my blog and get US shipping for only a buck (free shipping on any order over $50 as usual).

I thought a sale to help clear out some stock would inspire me to stay up late spinning down some of my ever-growing fiber stash. I may even post a few brand new yarns there in the next day or so if I can get the twist set and dry in time to photograph, so you may get access to some brand new skeins at sale prices. Run right over and check it out!!

Quick FO photo post…to show off a few things I’ve been pulling together lately. Two handspun necklaces–one plain, one with beads. And a hand felted pin with glass beads, sequins and decorative yarn trim. The pin is called ‘Flame’. Necklaces aren’t named yet, but probably will be. These should appear on the web site after the Craft Fair this weekend, provided they don’t sell. I had a lot of fun making the necklaces and will definitely try more. Already have new techniques in mind. It never ceases to amaze me that the possibilities with fiber art just seem to be endless. Anyhow, enjoy the pics…the other photos I took came out terribly. I think it’s time for a new camera (or a new photographer!)

Just a quick note tonight, since I stocked 5 skeins in my store, including the lovely complimentary pair of ‘lovers’ yarns shown below:

On another note, the crochet bowl from yesterday felted all wrong. I guess the yarn I used was not bulky (honestly, it wasn’t bulky at all–next time I bring my wpi tool with me to the yarn shop!), and it felted but kept holes in the pattern, so it looks like a felty beret, instead of a bowl. I think I’m going to crochet a tight edge on it with some fairly elastic yarn, and call it a hat! Oh well, you win some, you lose some, I guess. Editing to add the before photo:

Enough for now…dinner is burning!

My dear husband gave me a lovely book for Christmas, knowing that I did learn to crochet a long time ago (thanks Grandma, and Mom) but would like to get back into it and eventually do the freeform/scrumbling thing. Anyhow, to make that end a reality, I figured I should brush up on my skills and actually learn to do a pattern before I break from using patterns altogether. Why? I can’t answer that question except to say that I think that’s a logical progression of things. No real reason, honestly.

The book is Jane Davis ‘felted Crochet’ and I decided to work on the felted bowl. It looked easy and I’d like to own a felted bowl to store bits of stuff in, since I have so much stuff. So I used the felted bowl as an excuse to go to the lys today Cire Handknits, owned by a friend of a friend. It’s a lovely shop–much more cozy (and full) than her photo shows and Caroline–the owner–was extremely helpful and friendly. I bought two different yarns to try out for the bowl pattern, some tools, some novelty yarns to ply with handspun. Not being one to pass up an opportunity, I did mention that I spin my own yarn, just to plant the seed in her mind. I also found out that my next-door neighbor is a very good customer of hers…small world. Anyhow, I decided to try the Noro Kureyon in a purply/brownish color blend, for my first crochet bowl. Ok…easy peasy. I made it in under 2 hours. It looks great. Took a few photos for ‘before’ to post so I could throw it in the washer to felt.

I chuck it in with some jeans and other non-pilly clothing, to save some water. Completely forgot about it. Go rushing downstairs to the rinse cycle figuring I’d have a sake cup instead of a wool bowl. And, there it was…not even slightly felted. What the heck is up with that? Anyhow, I’m off to the basement for a second run, on HOT this time. Wish me luck. I’ll post pics when it’s done. If it doesn’t felt, it would make a nice beret I guess…

In other news, I actually spun about 7 skeins in the past 7 days! I think that’s a record. Hopefully I’ll update my store tomorrow. I am putting some yarn aside for the (not so) lys that I am desperately overdue to restock, but have about 5 for my own listings…matching sets this time! Recharging camera batteries tonight….ciao!