This has been truly the worst and most stressful holiday in history for us. I guess that happens sometimes. Our car died, never to be driven again, forcing us to scramble for funds to get a new one and trying to do it with all the storm and holiday closures of business and gov't offices. Then there was our New Year's party ... a very small function for two couples which was crashed by a bunch of Yahoos who ate and drank everything in site and finally had to be thrown out on their butts, and all topped off with the sad loss of a dear friend, who passed very suddenly. It hasn't been fun and I'm hoping for a much better year.
I haven't written anything here in a long time, mostly because I've been knitting and spinning wool, which tends to be very boring to the spectator. There's only so much you can write about yarn and socks. All my closest friends got socks for Christmas. The last pair is nearly done and they are for ME! I finally get a pair for myself. I have lots and lots of wool here that still needs to be carded and spun into fine yarn, and it's safe to say I'll be busy with that all winter.
As you can tell from the pictures, I've found an alpaca farm nearby. My husband and I have taken on the project of installing a man door in the alpaca barn. We were out there working all day yesterday and the door is in now, and just needs to be trimmed out. My husband has to move some wires for them too, then that project will be finished.
Alpaca wool is much finer and warmer than sheep wool. It's cloud soft and very luxurious. There is also the added bonus that alpacas don't produce lanolin, so there's no grease to deal with and this actually makes it great for folks who are allergic to wool. It takes dye very well, almost too well at times but I seem to prefer the natural colors. They come in 17 registered colors but there are a few more shades as well. Lots of colors to choose from. I like to ply a light and a dark together as shown in these booties I made for a friend who is going to be a new father very soon.
I have two books here I have to read cover to cover ... one on wet felting and one on spinning. I've very determined to get that done this month so I can get back to some felting and do things the correct way, knowing it will work instead of muddling through and hoping it will work. I got some nice silk and glitzy threads, curly locks, etc to add to my projects. I'm very well stocked in fact, so it should be a productive winter. I shall try to blog more often, but given the turmoil over the holidays, my heart just wasn't into it. Today is devoted to housework, then we're back at the alpaca farm tomorrow to finish up (and take more pictures of the cuties!)
Happy New Year to all my loyal followers.
Here is the finished scarf. The knitting part was pretty easy once I got onto the pattern. I think this was the first triangular scarf I've ever made.
Many thanks to the Troll from Norway for modelling for me. The husband flatly refused. Once it was washed and pressed out, it hangs really nicely.
The beads stand out and although it's very hard to photograph the effect of the crystals .. they're there and glitter like crazy when the light catches them just the right way.
It certainly was a lot of work to spin all those beads into the yarn. I think the end result was worth it. Not sure it would be a practical item to retail though ... as the hours involved are great and it's only a scarf so I can't price them highly enough to make it worthwhile. They will remain on my " special commissioned items " list and will be made only on request.
A little blurb about the yarn I'm working on. I started with some lovely Corridale roving in a solid medium grey color. I pulled off little whisps and, using a needle threader, I added #8 seed beads and 4mm crystals.
I added the beading roving wisps to the first single ply, trying to keep it as fine as I could manage. The seeds are placed every meter or so, and there is one crystal for every 10 seeds. It's shown here on the bobbin.
I also finished painting my wheel. Cute eh? There are some flatback crystals on it as well ... you can sort of see them here. They glitter like mad!
I made another plain single ply from the same roving and plied both singles into a double. Shown here is approximately 120 yards of fingering yarn on the niddy noddy made by my husband.
This is the yarn wound into a ball and all ready to knit.
This is the yarn knit into the pattern I selected for a triangular shawl. Now, I just have to do all that two more times and I should have a very nice shawl to add to my inventory. Keep in mind it has to be washed and blocked out to get it to drape and hang properly.
Yes, I know I've been very tardy with the blog but I really have been rather busy. We just wrapped up the In Hants Christmas Craft Show this weekend. We both pulled a shift in the canteen and had to just generally be around in case there was a need for more staff. The show itself was a great success. The revenue was flowing again this year. That's such a good sign as last year was pretty much a dismal bust for some sellers. My husband didn't do very well with selling his woodworking, and another gentleman was practically giving away his intarsia pieces but they weren't moving either. All my small needle felted sculptures sold. I have a bunch more that need to be made right away too, as I have an order for Colorado, and I need some on hand for next week in Dartmouth, so I'm thinking of getting started on some of them this evening. I have to make a bunch of small birds and a couple of Woolfins. I'm up to G with the names of the Woolfins, so I'm thinking of a fishing outport kinda guy named Garge and a female named Hilda. I haven't dreamed up a persona for her as yet.
The spinning has been going very well and I have a great stash of wool yarns for my felting projects, as well as some for knitting mittens. I just love to knit mittens. My next plan with the wheel is to make some laceweight beaded yarn for a drapey triangle scarf/shawl. I using grey Corridale roving and size 8 white opalescent seed beads. There will also be a generous smattering of 4mm Bermuda Blue crystals throughout. I'm hoping the project will turn out a very elegant piece.
On the wet felting scene, I've taken a step back to catch up with some bookwork. I purchased Uniquely Felt and I'm not making anything else until I read it all, cover to cover. It's an amazing book and I'm now going to be able to correct bad habits, do things the correct way and have all the methods and reasoning right at my fingertips. I can't believe I was muddling through the process so awkwardly. I'm hoping all this knowledge will be making the felting process more enjoyable. A couple of projects are stewing away on the back burner of my brain just waiting for a chance to emerge and evolve into 3-D tactile objects. Stay tuned for more creations.
It took several days, but I think I've got it! Finally and not without some pain and frustration. Ok, the first thing I did wrong that was of any major significance, was to not realize that my feet were creeping forward on the treadles. It was a new thing to me ... trying to coordinate both hands and both feet at the same time. There was a lot to think about and I just forgot that my feet were not in the correct position, until my left big toe slid over the front of the treadle and under the frame. That was a major shock to the system. My husband found it terribly funny and kept asking me to demonstrate the "emergency brake" again! Thankfully, I wasn't going too fast and the toe is fine ... it didn't even bruise too badly.
After a few bobbins full of junk, I finally got the tension and twist to a place where it was acceptable. Here is the two ply I spun from some long curly locks that were dyed by my friend Linda Koch from Ohio. It's a fine weight ... almost a lace weight but not quite. Lace weight was what I was striving for so much more practice is required.
Feeling like I've died and gone to heaven, my head is still spinning just like this new Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel. I've been searching all over for a used wheel but all I could really find within a reasonable geographic distance were old antiques. They aren't suitable for today's modern fibers and techniques. Well, last Wednesday, my sweet darling hubby decided it was a wonderful day for a drive so where would I like to go for a day trip? My answer was quick ... Gaspereau Valley Fibers.
I had previously done business with these people and wanted to see their shop, so off we went, headed for Wolfville. It certainly has a great location. It's in the cutest valley I've seen in quite sometime and the property is adorable. The shop is a converted garage and so rustic, yet inviting with tons of restoration. The original wooden interior is a perfect spot for wool. It's roomy and well stocked, with a large open area for their workshops. The lady waiting on me was friendly and helpful and much to my amazement, my darling hubby was convincing me I really had to have that Ashford Kiwi that was already set up. We tried to rationalize the cost and Don was insistent that since my birthday was fast approaching and Christmas too near for comfort, that the spinning wheel would cover all those and more quite nicely. Well, it certainly gets him out of gift shopping. Who was I to argue and I've been in wool heaven ever since. You can see that I've painted my wheel. It still needs to be varnished, but it hasn't been still long enough. I'm simply having a blast with this thing and wonder why I never did it sooner. Mind you, I've been getting lots of help from internet friends, which is very welcomed at this point. My skill sets have been improving and I've progressed to the point where I can turn out a fairly decent knitting yarn in a two ply.
Here is 55 grams of 100% local wool, which I have spun into a singly ply, then dyed with food colors. It's almost what I was aiming for, but I went a little too heavy with the yellow and turned almost all the blue into the bright green tones.
All is not lost however. The next batch of single ply will be all blue, then it will be plied with this to make a strong, bright mitten yarn which will be incredibly warm.
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| Ukpik |
Well, these days my husband, Don, is hard at work in his woodshop making some scroll sawn products for the craft show next month. Therefore, he's tracking all sorts of debris up through the house, which is keeping me busy with Mr. Vaccum. I've got most of my products packed up for the show, and that leaves me to make some sort of thing to display some of the smaller jewelery items. I have to go for a little walk out back later, as I'm thinking of cutting a small hardwood and trimming back all the branches, then spray bomb it some Christmas color and secure it in an attractive and simple base. That ought to solve the problem rather nicely and after all, it is a pre-Christmas show.
Since we had several days of wet and cold weather, I've been playing with some little critter designs, trying to capture the cute factor. Who's old enough to remember the Ookpik rage? I was a kid but I remember everyone had to have one. I got one at some point and it was really cute .. all furry and big eyes. Of course, ookpik is simply the Inuit word for snowy owl and it's more correctly spelled Ukpik in the Canadian north these days. However, they were to die for cute so here is the rendition I came up with. These are needle felted and around three inches in height. The feet and tail form a tripod allowing them to stand alone.
