A Success!

Well the Oregon Flock and Fiber Show was a success!
Jen and I had such a great time there while being in the company of so many other wonderful fiber fanatics! I had a chance to meet a lot of new faces through Jen. She has been in the fiber industry for I don't know how many years and she was nice enough to introduce me to some folks. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. There were many names I recognized too from Ravelry and I had to chance to see everyone's work in real life. I also volunteered to photograph the festival and I have to say I enjoyed it tremendously. I had a chance to use my Rebel and anytime I get a chance I love using my new camera. Here is a link to those photos here OFFF We had a beautiful sunny day on Saturday and even complained a bit about it being too hot. Well, we must have complained too much because Sunday greeted us with some Oregon rain. We had a few moments of sunshine and took advantage of them while moving our yarn display out. Sunday also hosted the parking lot fleece sale. I would have bought more probably if it weren't for the rain but I did manage to get a lovely lincoln fleece and some beautiful mohair curls. I am not fond of raw fleece, but I was able to get one that wasn't too dirty and I actually used the washer to clean it. It worked out really well, so I will definitely try that next time. I sooo love the mohair curls, they were already washed and I am wanting to dye some in a variety of deep rich colors. I did however use some of them in my first ever needle felting project, my little sheep. She's a beauty and I had so much fun creating her. I took her to work with me and she now resides on my desk so I can look at her sweet little face just about everyday. I have also been spinning like crazy trying new techniques. I was able to do a coiled yarn and my next thing to try will be to corespin. I have attempted it once, but had to go back to youtube to see more demonstrations. So for the crafty side of my life all is going great :) I am so still in love with fiber and my spinning wheel. I also made melt and pour soap this summer and worked on some jewelry projects and felting items. I have also been thinking about my gift list for the holidays and hope to be on top of it this time. It will be a totally handmade Christmas! As for my home life, the boys went back to school last month. We had a few milestones happening too, Connor is my senior in high school and Quinn officially started middle school. I only have one left in elementary school! Where has all the time gone? I usually don't think about how busy my life is as a single parent until times like these and all I can do is just "breathe!" tata for now :)

Where have I been? Again

I swear I am such a laggy blogger! I have been so busy getting ready for my first fiber festival that I haven't had much time to do anything else! I have been super busy though keeping up with Etsy which I am so thankful for, and getting more and more sales. It is nice to know that I can supplement my income with my craftiness and support my habit, one of them anyways! Well, as for the festival it is starting next friday and will run the entire weekend. It is called the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby Oregon. I went last year for the first time and this year Jen from Hanks in the Hood and I will be sharing a booth. It is going to be so much fun, plus I have volunteered to photograph the festival so I am sure I will be having lots to share when it is over. In the meantime I will post some of the things I have been working on. Jen and I are both going to be selling 4 oz. Corriedale Cross hand dyed rovings for only $5! We have been doing this on Etsy too and they are a hit. I have been doing some hand painted Merino braids too, dyed firestar, beautiful dyed silk hankies and more. Here are a few photos of the dyed lovies! Oh, I almost forgot, I decided I wanted to try needle felting so I made a whimsy tree, here it is before felting.

Where have I been?

I am such a laggy blogger I didn't realize it had been so long since I was on. It must have been baseball season for the kids that took up all my time, plus my normal day job! The summer is coming to and end and it went by so quick too. I have been super busy trying to get ready for the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival that will be held the last week of September. Jen and I will have a booth there and we are so looking forward to it. It is nice to be surrounded by other fiber fanatics. I am sure I will have lots of photos to post of the event as I have volunteered to be a roving photographer. I just love my Cannon Digital Rebel SLR it makes it easy to get professional results. There is a lot more in regards to new news, I will just have to add it a bit at a time! I'll post again soon, I promise!

Spring Swap

I have been participating in a swap on one of my fiber groups on Ravelry. I have included a photo that I have mailed out to my swapee, the photo with the drop spindle and blue batt. I think she will be pleased! I have also included a photo of what I received; a pretty blended batt of pink and black, 1 oz of raw alpaca, .5 of Suri and .5 oz Sari Silk (which I am so excited to try) and some firestar and candy. It has been a fun way of getting to know others. The last photo is of another batt spun up that I received, I really liked this one!

Dyeing Time

I have been feeling a bit homesick for my family in California so I decided it was time to step it up a bit creatively and dye some roving over these past few days. I have been holding onto a pound or so of Merino so I experimented with some Cushing Dyes and Kool aid dyes too. My first batch turned out pastel like and the second I definitely used a more concentrated formula to get some intense darker colors with some white shining through. I have used the microwave in the past but decided I better just steam it this time since some of them were acid dyes and I don't have a specific microwave dedicated for this purpose. I really, really want to try some kettle dyeing outside in a huge cauldron this summer and get some of those great combinations I see from the Manos yarn from Uruaguay and some from Chile too. I have some research to do though before I start building a fire pit outside! Our weather here has been crazy....over the weekend we had a 60 degree day and yesterday morning we had snow! Who knows what's going to happen in Oregon! I am still in love with my Kitty Carder and have been debating on whether to buy the electronic assembly for it. I know it would speed things up but I don't really mind using the hand crank. I have been sorting through my mill ends and roving including some hand dyed and just enjoying the different color combinations I can achieve. So that has been the latest of my fiber adventures. As for knitting, I started a pair of socks using the magic loop and I am proud to say I have completed the first one with some help of course! Tonight as I was working on the second I was watching some tutorials from Knitpicks and I must say they are great! I am hoping to order some of their circular needles next week and hope to post some photos of the completed socks soon! Happy Knitting Everyone!

I have been using my carder like crazy blending some custom batts with my wool mill ends. I love seeing these "scraps" have a second chance at life, aren't they beauties?

TA DA! My new Fancy Kitty Drum Carder has arrived!

Yay, I had my brother call me when it arrived and sure enough it was right on time, friday afternoon! I didn't have anytime available to use it though until after 11pm because friday also happened to be the first night of skiing and snowboarding for the boys at Timberline. Dana, Anthony and me and the boys all rode up together. The boys had such a great time and us as parents did too! It is so gratifying to see your children with smiling faces as they learn new things. I had a chance today to play with it more today and here is a photo of some of the batts. I am very happy with the results!