Still plugging away...

I am almost finished with my June Phat Fiber Superbox spinning.  I won this box in June for purchases I made from contributors to the June Phat Fiber box.  This box had fiber and yarn samples, some full size batts, a project bag, full size yarn, a spindle, and patterns in it.  It was like a huge fiber explosion!  I was thrilled to win it, because I NEVER win anything.  I took all of the yarn samples, ran it through my winder and now have a huge ball of cool looking yarns.  I started crocheting already...we will see what I end up with. :)  I decided to spin the fiber and filled up one, two, and am now working on my 3rd jumbo bobbin!  I am loving the chance to spin every kind of fiber that you could think of!!  So far my favorite to spin was the cotswold!  It's such a sturdy fiber!!
Here is a picture of skein 1 and skein 2, still working on 3!

Bolly Batt ingredient sneak peek

Merino is here!

Yeah!  It seems I have been waiting FOREVER for my merino to come in for the shop...but Friday it arrived- lots and lots of it. So, on to the dyeing! Any special colors you would like to see?

I am almost done bagging up my PHAT samples for the Bollywood theme.  I am in love with them!  My favorite so far- maybe because of all the bright colors!  I decided to do them up as Bolly "wool" Bags.  For the full size bags, they weigh in over 3 ounces.  I pulled off approx. 1 yard sections of roving in orange, green, deep blue, pink/purple (merino and Falkland Island wool) added a nice bit of bright yellow firestar, curly yearling mohair locks in a bright turquoise, sari silk, black angelina, a nice fluffy pink sparkly batt and finally a few yards of ladder ribbon done in warm jewel tones.  I will have the full size bags in the shop after the 12th.  I also will be providing the Phat Fiber Blog with a full size bag as a giveaway.  You can spin/felt from the bag, or you can card it up into a super colorful "Bolly Batt"!

It's done!

All I can say is WOW!!!  Height 14 inches......
She is so proud of it!  

First woven scarf

A couple weeks ago I spun up some alpaca that was dyed by my friend Kim.  I decided to use this handspun on my first handspun weaving project.  I used a store bought warp, and used my handspun for the weft.  I learned tons doing this first scarf.  Next time, I will warp with larger spaces so that the bumpy lumpy parts of the handspun are not hidden.  Also, I will make sure if I am doing color changes that I actually keep track of how many rows were woven with each color.  But all in all, I am pretty happy with my first scarf!  And warping was not as scary as I thought it would be!

Needle felting on a grand scale

My DD has been busy again!  She recently sketched out a Suess like character in her sketch book and informed me that she wanted to make a HUGE needle felted likeness of her sketch.  I of course was excited to share all of my dyed wool to help her create this project.  She is still working on this, but of course I HAD to start taking pictures.....
The orange body is the size of a basket ball...it's huge.  The little green fluff is part of the tail.  She is going to work on contouring the body after she finishes covering it in the orange wool.  It has been so awesome seeing the progress on this project.  Okay enough gushing from the mom...:)

Bollywood as an inspiration

Loving the colors and different fibers that I have been dyeing today.  You cannot help but be in a good mood after looking at all of the fabulous colors coming out of the dye pots.  Still have another 1lb of merino to work on and then hopefully will get some of the firestar finished.  It's easy because felting is not a concern.

Back from vacation

It's always nice to be home.  On the fiber front, I am in the process of dyeing fibers for the August Phat Fiber box.  The theme is Bollywood.  I am finishing my dyeing today with yearling mohair locks.  They are soooooo soft!!!

Our vacation took us to the woods for ziplining and then to the beach for lazing around.  The ziplining was amazing and my DD (15 yo) had a blast.  And the beach was wonderful too.  I think we are spoiled here in Florida and probably take the beach for granted.....

Here is a video clip of me zipping the last part over 700 ft. of water.  We started high up above the trees.

TDF day 12......and other wool stuff

I have not spun on all of the days, I have to spread the love between all of my obsessions hobbies.  Yesterday I did spin more corespun. for my DD's hat.  I also dyed some more fiber- some for the shop, more for just some projects I have in mind.  I also felted a small pouch.  I have a workshop in August that I am teaching and needed to do some sampling with the wool I want to use.  I'm glad I did because it did not shrink as much as I anticipated-so I adjusted the template size.  Today will include dyeing more wool- and getting ready for our upcoming camping trip. :)

Silly Sunday Post

Needle felted sheep and alpaca made by my daughter.

Tour de Fleece 2011

Well I accomplished all of my goals for the day.  Tomorrow I will work with the Suri Alpaca fiber.  I will spin some that I have processed into roving and I will spin some that has been finger fluffed.  It will be interesting to see the different textures that I can get.

I also have a goal of learning the techniques in the DVD Sit and Spin by Jacey Boggs. 
Tonight I worked on thick and think yarn.  After spending all of my time trying to make my spinning thin, I now get to make big fat puffs! :)

It was only a matter of time.... ;)

I have a new fur baby.  Yesterday my youngest and I headed out on a road trip about 3 hours North.  I have been looking for an angora breed for a few weeks, but every time I think I have found one, they are all sold out.  Yesterday morning I stumbled across an add for a French Angora.  When I contacted the breeder, she informed me they were gone :(  But she told me she had 3 Giant Angora's that she was selling for a friend who had to move.  She sent me pictures, and I did some research- found out they are perfect for spinners, next I decided I need to see how BIG these GIANTS would get- so we went on a trip.  Now mind you, my husband could not believe I was willing to drive 3 hours one way to go see a bunny (sometimes men just don't get it....)

Anywho....of course one of the females came home with us.  Oh lordy she is going to be a BIG spoiled baby!  Even Morgan our shepard mix is in love with her.  She actually wanted to stay out next to the hutch all night.  Crazy dog!

Now we just need to name her....always the hardest part for me!

oooh look how shiny!

Yesterday I decided to process some of the mohair that I purchased from Southern Mystic, a fellow Phatty for the Phat Fiber Box, on Etsy.  After washing in some Dawn detergent, I started up 2 different dye pots. After mixing and adding colors, layering the colors as the fiber started absorbing the previous colors, this is what I ended up with.  It took longer to dry because it got caught out in a summer rain storm yesterday. But today has been super clear and sunny, and the fiber is warm, soft, and super fluffy.  Might me time for a fiber nap...  I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but this stuff is so shiny!  I thought I would only use it for felting, but I think I have changed my mind. I had to go back and order more today.  I also ordered her Sci-fi spin along, I got a sample in my Phat Sampler box and I was hooked! 

Core spun on wire

This is getting out of control.......but it's so much fun!  Spinning on wire is an experience.  I had to hand feed most of it onto the bobbin.  Next time I might look for a thinner wire.

Speaking of wire, look what my dear blog friend Norma sent me for my birthday!  Thank you once again Norma!  I love her!

Getting Ready....

My Suri fiber is dyed, and now in the process of becoming roving from my drum carder.  I have fiber everywhere!  It's going to take me FOREVER to clean all of the extra fluff off of my carder :)  I am going to card each color individually, and then spin.  I am saving my oranges to spin un carded and just fluffed.  I am gearing up for the Tour de Fleece.  And all of this alpaca fiber I have been hoarding is going to be spun.  I have Huacaya in  rose gray ( about 10 ounces or so), chocolate brown, white, a really pretty lighter brown color, and a beautiful gray.  I think I will be busy enough! In the pile of fiber in the picture, the green is the Suri I have already made into roving,  The rest is fiber that I have processed over the past couple of months.
I think I am crazy, but holy moley it's reaching intervention levels around here with all of the fiber, and I don't even own an Alpaca!!!

My team is Wonder Why Alpaca- Team of Wonder.  :)  Thanks Andrea for letting me join!  

My First Corespun

I decided to take some time yesterday to play with some new techniques I have been practicing on my wheel. So far my favorite is core spinning. I REALLY want to try weaving with some of this yarn. I used some domestic wool that I dyed in pink, turquoise, and a soft almost mint green. I made a fluffy batt and threw in some angelina and crystal metallic fibers. At first I was freaked out at how over spun my core was becoming but I kept plugging away. After I filled my bobbin, I decided to ply it with a hot pink. I LOVE it!! And what makes it so fabulous is it is almost perfectly balanced.......only a slight 1/2 twist at the bottom when I hung the skein!!!!

I think I will take a break from dyeing!!!

I have been having a blast dyeing wool.  Now I need to get busy doing something with it.  I started making some flowers today.  I have also been practicing my spinning.

I found a really simple crochet pattern for a cowl that I really liked on crochetspot.com.  I found a wool blend in my stash of store bought yarn to try it out with.  I am going to try it with a finer yarn and see what I end up with.  I love small projects, that still look nice!

The Ultimate Reference Book!!!

I am a book lover.  I especially love reference type books.  I have found the ULTIMATE reference book for fiber lovers.  Well at least I think so...... :)

It is called, The Fleece & Fiber SourceBook, I am not even through the first chapter and I am in deep like of this book!!!  In short, this book gives detailed information for more than 200 animal fibers.  The book is written for the person who uses these fibers to spin, dye, weave, and create with. 

Check it out, I think you will be happy that you did!

Congrats to my gal!

Well today was the special day.  My oldest daughter graduated from High School!  I am so proud of her!

Felted bag for a friend

I had a request for a black felted bag with pink stripes from a co-worker based on Heather's peanut resist bag that she made for me. I used a rectangle resist for mine. So today was the day to get that project completed.  I actually started it yesterday, but it got too hot in the garage to complete it, so I waited until it was cooler this A.M to work on it.

I have decided that I DO NOT like working with black wool!  I used a dyed merino.  It kinda reminds me of wearing black pants.....it attracts all kinds of fiber and looks messy.  After the photo shoot, I gave it a shave.  It cleaned it up much more to my liking.  I hope my co-worker likes it........giving something I make to someone else always causes me such anxiety!!!

Soooo excited!!!

I get to go to SAFF in October!  I mentioned it to my husband and he asked if I would be able to get off from school during that time.  When I checked the calendar, I noticed that we will have no school on that Friday!  So needless to say we booked the hotel and will be heading up to N.C.!!!!!!  Oh man I REALLY need to start saving now.  So if anyone is also going, I would love to meet you!  I will be easy to spot...... because I will be the gal who is pinging from booth to booth with a crazed look in her eye!  Oh, and I will be followed by a man who will be piled with bags of fleece! 

M-T-W SALE

Yarn & Fiber COMMUNITY Online Sale
June 6th-8th
20% off in my shop. Use code SUNSHINE20 for all fiber/batt purchases!

Winner of my 1st Blog Give-Away

Very high tech method of determining the winner....  :)

Please email me at feltingsunsine at gmail.com with your snail mail address and I will get your goodies out to you!

Thanks for all who commented on my shop.  I think I like this giveaway stuff so keep an eye out for more in the near future! 

Finished 1/2

Well I filled and then plyed 2 bobbins of the alpaca.  I just cannot get over how soft the fiber is.....I did notice after plying that I probably should have spun the singles a little tighter because they loosened quite a bit when I plyed the two together.  But I am still very happy.  First because my singles were thin enough to be plyed and actually look like yarn and not rope, and second because I took this fiber through almost the entire process- except the shearing part.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with the yarn once I finish the other half. I'm sure I will figure something out.

A month of 1st's!!!!----Giveaway!!!

My 1st's this month:

• My 1st Etsy Sale
• My 1st Blog Giveaway
• My 1st born graduating from H.S.

I wanted to have a giveaway and so here it is. Baby batts made with merino, falkland, silk, and firestar.  This baby batt can be spun, wet felted, and even used for needle felting.  I am giving two baby batts(1.5 ounces total) to the winner-plus some other goodies that are fiber related. :)

How can you win?

• Comment under this post about your favorite item in my new shop, or if you don't like anything, suggest a color combo- 1 entry
• Facebook "Like" Felting Sunshine- 1 entry
• Mention this giveaway on your own blog with a link back to this post.

Each person can earn up to three entries into the giveaway.  I will ship anywhere that mail can travel.
The winner will be announced next Monday on May 30th.



Dyeing and Spinning Alpaca

Today was another dye day, along with the dreaded grocery shopping, and a trip to my favorite store The Loft at the mall to pick up some really cute outfits for this awesome warm (read hot as heck) weather we have been having.  I'm really not complaining, we have been very lucky- knock on wood- to have really low humidity so far.  Once that starts, we will probably never get out of the pool.

But anywho, this is not a post to yak about the weather.  Today I FINALLY dyed up some of the alpaca that I have been processing.  After I cleaned it, I ran batts on my drum carder and then used a diz to pull off roving.  I ended up dyeing the batch using a super diluted red, pink and yellow.  I love how they merged together to create what I like to call a watercolor effect.  I pre drafted a small amount and spun it up.  OH MY GOODNESS- it spins like a DREAM!  Alpaca is awesome!!!  :) 

Well I am off to make a brownie chocolate sundae...YUM! See ya tomorrow for the details of the BATT GIVEAWAY!  :)

Oh how I missed you!

I'm still here, reading every single day.  I have been doing fiber related stuff, gearing up for my free time this summer.  I have been dyeing and making batts like a mad woman. I am contributing to the Phat Fiber box for June and July, so I have been trying to make my sample batts- June is done and the dyeing has been focused on my July batts.  I even made my 1st Etsy sale!  So in honor of that, I will be having a batt giveaway! I'm so stoked.....my very first giveaway! Can I hear a wooohooo??!! :) I will post about it on Monday, so stay tuned. 

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you are enjoying yours!

Flowers from my girls....  :)

Oh what could it be?????

Hmmmm...what could make me a happy gal?  I'll give you a hint....it has something to do with this orange container.

Let's just say it has something to do with the fact that I will have an entire summer to create.

And that I have the worlds most supportive husband.  Hands down- the best!  Not one complaint from him about my purchase.

It almost felt like Christmas did when I was a kid when I opened the box.

Oh heck..I'm terrible with building suspense...I will leave that to Heather-she is a pro she always leaves me hanging with her 2 part posts!

So.............here it is......

30 lbs, of the softest, fluffiest, wool......oh my goodness! 

I think I have enough to last me a lifetime...lol

I plan on starting this weekend....I am setting up the garage as soon as I am done posting and I am going to have myself a wool dyeing "fiesta"........  And the first color on my list is ORANGE!!!!

All finished!

I came home today and started sewing on the pin backs for the Mother's Day pins that my class made.  They turned out really cute.  I know they will be happy to pin them onto the handmade paper we made and wrap them up for their moms!  I am looking forward to doing this again with a future class.  Here is a picture of the completed pins.  Next time I will take the time to teach them to sew the backs on.......lol

My two loves merge...

Some of you may know that I am a teacher.  I have taught 2nd-5th grade.  This year I have been teaching 2nd grade, and I love it!  They are like little sponges that soak up learning. So,  I decided to teach my students how to make felt.

They decided that they wanted to make a felt bloom for their moms for Mother's Day.  So I made some mixed batts in pinks and yellows, gathered enough bubble wrap, tulle, and string, and lugged it into school.

I decided to work with small groups, I think it would have been chaos doing it with my entire class all at once...lol

They did a fabulous job and I was impressed with the nice fulled pieces they ended up with.....they loved all of the rolling.  As they worked, they would laugh at the bubbles that came out of the ends of their "felt burritos".  When they rolled they chatted with each other and it was nice as a teacher to be able to step back a bit from the academics and see my kiddos as learners in a different light! 

The pictures are pretty bad, all I had was my phone...Still, what a fun time we had!  Now I get to sew them to pin backs and we get to wrap them on Friday......I hope all the mommies are happy with their truly handmade gifts from their kiddos!

Batt to Yarn

In the spirit of using what I already have, I decided to try out some color combinations. Lot's of sparkle in this batt, I really need to figure out how to take pictures that show the sparkle. I pulled off about 1.5 oz. using my new diz. It made it really quick to spin up since it was almost completely pre drafted. I pulled the rest of the batt off whole. I will pull the predraft off in strips since I carded it pretty even in color across the carder. The darker blue merino really changed the look of this batt. The lighter pink is all alpaca. I am very happy with how soft this batt turned out, and am so far happy with the yarn (it's going to be added to my crazy scarf somewhere along the line).

Here a fiber there a fiber...everywhere a fiber, fiber.....

Oh my!  Today I started culling through my stash of fibers.  This is the part that is organized so far. We won't talk about the bins in the garage..... ;)  Let's just say, I should probably focus more on creating and less on buying.....
I'm not quite sure how to explain my new collection to Mr. Sunshine......:)

I'm sure there are others out there that have the same problem...right???......

Maybe a 12 step program is in order.....

Have a wonderful weekend!

I dipped my toe in....

Well I am going to try it.  Etsy that is....but only for batts.  Since I love making them, and well if they don't sell, I'm sure I will use them somehow.  I'm still not sure about the whole shipping deal so, I mirrored one of my favorite shops.  We will see how it works out.

Anywho...I have been on Spring Break this week.  Basically I have been hanging out with my hubby (who took some time off) and my girls.  We went to a wedding on the beach on Wednesday.  Sometimes I REALLY love living here in Florida...it was gorgeous.....both the wedding and the weather!  We are gearing up for a busy month. My oldest graduates from high school!!!  I am so proud of her and some days it just takes my breath away when I see her for the beautiful and smart woman she is becoming.  i love being a mom! :)  Have a great day!

I finally did it!

Woohoo, I figured out how to knit.  Okay, I can do a knit and purl stitch......but hey it's something!  I am doing "continental style" knitting vs. "english style".  I tried both styles but found that the continental was most comfortable for me.  For some reason it finally clicked for me. 
I know what I will spend my day practicing.

I also made a journal cover.  I included sari silk and silk caps into the cover, but it didn't show up as much as I had hoped it would-the texture is awesome.

Hi I'm Kelly and I spin rope......:)

I am not going to give up!  Yesterday I went to a guild meeting and picked all of the wonderful spinners heads.  These ladies are spinning beautiful yarn!  We had a demonstration on Navajo Plying, it was really neat watching it!  All I do know is that if I decided to Navajo ply any of the "yarn" that I have made so far, it would then become rope.........I did get some questions answered about the settings for my wheel and now understand that I have had the brake set incorrectly, which has caused me to continue to over spin.  I also learned that I need to pre draft even more than I had been.  So today I am going to sit down and try to put into practice what I learned yesterday.  I did promise to bring my wheel to the next meeting ( so that alone will force me to practice so I don't embarrass myself)!  I also met a wonderful spinner and knitter who lives about 15 minutes from me!  She has offered to help me!  So all in all, yesterday was an awesome day for meeting new friends, and learning new things.
Also, Kimberly, of Woodland Hills Alpacas, sent me home with the prettiest rose gray alpaca fleece.  It is amazing and I cannot wait to clean it up and make something!  The Alpacas looked so silly with their pom-pom heads after their shearing and the stories about how they didn't recognize each other were so funny!

Here is a new bag I made yesterday, using these curly cotswold locks!  I'm trying to use all of this blue that I dyed up.....

My week...

Every single day after work, no matter how worn out I was, I made myself work on something creative....it actually made me forget how tired I was!

I started another embroidery class with artist Susan Sorrell, called Dippity Do.  Each week we have a new part to work on for our Dippity Do characters.  This week has been sewing down the applique pieces.  Next week we will be moving into the decorative stitching.  I love her online classes! 

Another project I am working on includes using my hand spun yarn.  Since I am still in the beginning stages of learning, I have decided to take all of the practice skeins and create a project with them together......I am sure it will be very strange looking with all of the crazy color combinations, but I'm okay with that! ;)

The final project I worked on was a wet felted bird.  I saw a cartoon bird on a business card and remember seeing on a web site a similar bird, so I drew it out and put the drawing away.  As I was cleaning my junk table desk, I found the drawing again and decided to wet felt the body.  It is filled with dried beans.  My dog Morgan, who seems to REALLY love my felted pieces has relocated this poor bird a few times.  I ended up putting it up on a shelf that she cannot reach!  Crazy dog!!  Today I head off to my 2nd guild meeting.  I am excited to see the Alpaca that were sheared, they did it on Thursday, so I am sure they look quite different from my visit last month! 

I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend!!

My favorite kind of washing!

Today started early for me.  I'm an earlybird and love the quiet time I have in the morning while the rest of the family is sleeping- I seem to get tons done and don't feel too guilty for taking some me time.
 I decided to start washing some of the Alpaca fleece that I purchased when I went to the last Fiber Arts meeting.  I have sorted most of it and decided I want to try spinning some.....it still needed to be washed, so that's what I spent my morning doing.  When Alpaca is dry it has virtually no smell, but peeeewww, it had a VERY different smell when it was wet.  Now that it's dry, the smell has gone away, but it was kinda stinky! :)

I have about the same amount left to wash as I did wash today....but I think I have enough cleaned to get started.  Now to decide if I am going to mix it with some Merino or just spin it on its own.  Any suggestions out there?  I've decided not to dye this batch....maybe the next batch.

My what big ears you have.......

Ralph our Chinchilla.

My Heather Wanna Be Bag :)

I decided to take a stab at a larger bag.  Similar to the bag that Heather made me, but squared off. I now have a bag perfect for my weekly trips to the library-- since the bag Heather made me is already in use!  I dyed up this wool (BFL) on Saturday, and really wanted to try something with it.   Thanks Heather for the fabulous inspiration.

Blue Spin

Here is what I have started.

I think it's my most consistent yet........

My talented daughter!

I was so happy when my 18 year old daughter showed an interest in needle felting.  She is my go to gal anytime I need a creative drawing or painting done and has always had the "eye" for scale and proportion.  Lucky for me she has started needle felting me a "flock" of my own sheep.  :)  I was at the local plant nursery this weekend and found some moss that reminded me of grass.  I have it potted and sitting on my desk until I decide what in the world I want to do with it.  I had a little photo shoot with the needle felted sheep she has made me so far.....I think this is as close to owning a sheep I will ever come.

Start to finish.......

I only had a chance to play with the green.  I used a bit of everything I dyed on Friday in the batts.  I then made roving out of the batts and spun them up.  I plied the yarn onto itself.